Google Dictionary

(this tip first appeared in the Software Africa Newsletter - February 2017: subscribe here)

Not sure of a word? In the Google Chrome browser, or on www.google.co.za, or in Firefox with Google as default search engine, you can easily get the dictionary definition of any word. For example, enter "meaning of life" or "meaning of word life", and Google will give you a handy display:

Simple email Marketing Course, Continued: Say "Thank You"

Do you like people who appreciate you?  I do.

Would you be more likely to buy from someone who said "Thank You"?

Last month I suggested that you keep a spreadsheet (or even a text list),  with your customer's name, email address, SMS number and, preferably, date and product bought, in separate columns. Now we will start putting them to use.

Start an email.  Address it to the first customer on the list (copy and paste their email address).  Using the <data> for that customer, say something like,
Dear ...
Thank you for buying <product> from us on <date>.
We really appreciate your business!  In these difficult times, it allows us to be here for when you need us next."

Personalise it as much as possible.
If you have any tips or useful information for the customer, add them.
Send.
Repeat for the other customers who bought on that day.
Don't ask them to buy anything, just say "Thanks".
Next day, do a few more.
Repeat.

A Business Surety Can Cost Your Family House!​

Business guru Peter Carruthers writes:
"Easter always brings back memories of the worst month of my adult life. At the end of May 1992 I was wrestling with a decision. Close my business? Or not?
Most business owners face this decision. It was my turn after eight wonderful years. I did what I thought was the most honourable thing for my staff and my creditors and my clients.
But I had no clue about the storm looming. That storm began brewing the day I signed the first suretyship contract. That was during my second visit to my bank within a week of starting.
A suretyship is one of the contracts in that sheaf you sign whenever you borrow money or sign a lease.
All the bad things that happened during the next 10 years resulted from those suretyship contracts.
I still ask myself why my attorney and my accountant never told me about the risks.
Each person I had asked said that signing these contracts was normal. What they meant was that we all sign them. And we all sign them because we think everyone does.
I later discovered that many business owners do not sign suretyships. As I felt first-hand the evil fallout, I realised that I should have asked different questions.
For each clause in the suretyship contract I should have asked, "What happens to my wife and children if the business cannot repay this?"
So I have written a free email course to tell you what each clause means, in simple English. Get yours here.
I could give you all the detail now but it is so scary that it is best delivered in small doses.
Bottom line: If you have signed a suretyship contract you want to un-sign it as fast as you can.
99% of the fallout from a business closure results from those contracts you, your spouse, your partners, and your parents may have signed.
Suretyship contracts have changed since 1992, of course. After 25 years of being tested in court, they hurt the suretyship signatory even more now than they did then. Please join the free course here."