Has the Recession Arrived?

Whichever candidate comes out on top of the electoral college today, (and not the popular vote) he may just be inheriting a full-blown recession in addition to two wars and several other national security issues. According to the National Association for Business as reported in BusinessWeek, demand—as in supply and demand—is on the downturn for the first time since 2001. And that might just be the one defining factor when taking in the current economic reality:

From BusinessWeek:

“U.S. business conditions worsened in the third quarter and are likely to deteriorate further, according to an industry study released Monday.

The National Association for Business Economics said more respondents in its quarterly survey of business conditions reported declining demand than rising demand—the first time since 2001 that has happened.”

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Really? Just an E-mail Address?

Spam. It’s a word that belittles the value of e-mail marketing. Sure, Viagra (or v1agra or vi-agria) e-mails fill your inbox. They pop up right next to those from the lewd-act-committing member of your neighborhood (who’s waiting to meet you), but such a shortsighted approach to e-mail and your list of contacts is bound to leave dollars on the table and future customers slipping out of your grasp.

Check out this feature from Target Marketing Magazine to find out how to calculate your LCV (and just what it stands for) and make the most of the names you have. Hint: Not all e-mail addresses are made the same, so stop thinking about your list as one homogeneous unit. It’s the easiest way to make the most of your list.

From Target Marketing magazine:

Today, smart marketers are beginning to tie their marketing activities to the lifetime customer value of various segments of their databases.
E-mail is a key ingredient in this approach and can be used to target marketing dollars more effectively by sending more relevant messages and offers.
Instead of blasting out a single message to an entire database, a marketer can tailor messages to customer segments based on their lifetime values, both to solidify the relationship with those customers and to try to build the value of lower-performing segments.

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