The Holiday Season has kicked off and it’s full speed ahead to all of the upcoming special occasions.  Regardless of your faith or background, this is the time of year when you often reflect on your personal place in the world.  Almost all of us can find something that we consider to be a gift we have received or something we can be thankful for.  It is also a time when your senses become more aware of those that could use a little help to brighten their celebration. 

A few years ago, we decided to discontinue sending paper cards to our valued partners and clients.  Instead, we send electronic greetings and invest the money we would have spent into a worthy cause or organization.  I hope you can part with our holiday card, knowing we are helping people in need or brightening the days of others.  We also adopt needy families in our city.

What things does your company do to help out others in your community during this time of year? 

What worthy causes/organizations do you support on a regular basis?

Let us know, we are in the process of selecting our charities for 2010 and are always open to suggestions.  All the best, Doug

It is amazing that we all don’t weigh 300 lbs with the celebrations we have around here! We kicked off the Thanksgiving holiday yesterday with a dessert buffet including homemade banana pudding, pumpkin chiffon pie (healthy – no white sugar or dairy), pumpkin bars, cherry pie, chocolate chip & thumbprint cookies, dolly bars, cupcakes & more… Yum! And as always, we had our festive pasta art to decorate:  

What is the New LifeStyles family thankful for this year?

“My Family & friends and our health.” – Jennifer

“My Church!! My Wonderful Husband & My TWO Beautiful Babies the Lord has Blessed me with!!” – Tanya

 “I’m thankful for family, job, home, health and chocolate!” – Vicki

 “…that the Rangers kicked some serious tail this year!!!” – Luke

“I’m also thankful for the invention of the cotton gin, the availability of good pizza in Dallas and ability to download show tunes 24/7.” – Doug

“That it is almost over!” – Bob

“Also that the office is closing early today” – Luke again

“…our clients and partners, as well as my friends here at New LifeStyles that make our success possible and every day a fun challenge.” – Doug

What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Michele Vasquez – (Sales Director: Tarrant County – Ft. Worth)

Michele has been with the company for more than 15 years. She knows all aspects of the business and is always willing to go the extra mile for her customers. She also works in our accounting department, creating invoices and more.

On the personal side, Michele, a Texas Tech grad., is married and lives in Frisco, TX with her 3 kids and dog.  Michele is a family person & true friend. If she isn’t volunteering at the school or church, she is car pooling, attending a dance recital, game or having lunch or dinner with friends and extended family. And no one can tell a story like Michele! Your sides will hurt after spending lunch time with her.

You can reach Michele at (800) 964-9118 or Michele@NewLifeStyles.com. She can help you with your ad decision or any invoicing questions.

Jennifer Campbell – (Sales Director: Austin/San Antonio/Hill Country)

Jennifer also just celebrated 15 years with New LifeStyles. She attended high school in San Antonio, so trips to the area are a home coming. After graduating from Texas Tech, she started managing our web site in 1995 and is now our director of online services. She has spoken at numerous state & national industry meetings addressing online trends, so she can answer any questions you have about online marketing, advertising, etc…

Jennifer lives in Plano, TX with her husband & daughter, who just started Kindergarten. Jennifer enjoys working out, traveling, water sports, snow skiing, and spending time with her friends and family.

You can reach Jennifer at (800)975-9439 or Jennifer@NewLifeStyles.com.  She will be happy to find the right ad option to meet your goals.

The next six weeks can be tough for businesses.  You have laid out your plans for the new year, have some great ideas to implement, some problems with solutions in your heard and Boom!, along comes Thanksgiving and the six week holiday period.  Days off, the distractions of preparing for Christmas, kids being off from school, vacation days, and parties all combine to shift the focus of your office from the business at hand. 

How do you navigate this period?  Do you channel your inner Scrooge, chain your company to their desks, disconnect the internet and have armed guards frisk people at the door for pumpkin pie?  Probably not.  Do you dress like Santa, put out a daily buffet table and open bar, pipe in the holiday tunes and allow employees to online shop til they drop and come in when it works for them?  Probably not.

While I wish I could ban Christmas music until December 10th (at least) and keep the stores from decorating until the morning of Black Friday, that ain’t happening.  So, for now, here some tips for keeping your focus and making progress while not missing the holiday season:

-          While you don’t want to implement any big new plans during this time, meet with people, get them excited about what’s coming and work out any kinks that come out of these discussions.

-          Don’t put off solving problems.  Yes, it’s the holiday season, but delaying a firing or not addressing an issue just adds stress and hurts the company. 

-          Make sure you communicate company activities, hours, days off and other pertinent information to employees.  Have them schedule their vacation in advance, so you know who will be around and what areas may need a little help or covering.

-          If things are a little slow, do some of those internal projects that always get pushed back.  Clean out some store rooms, files or even try to organize/clean out folders in your computer.

-          When you do have company holiday activities, enjoy them, learn something new about a fellow employee or their family.

-          It’s a great time of year to do something as a company to help somebody.  We do something every year and it’s amazing to see how it brings everyone together and the response is always overwhelming, even in these challenging times.

-           Try not to sing holiday tunes at your desk during work hours or have a talking Santa on your desk.  It’s just not right.  Do bring in some cookies or pies that are fresh, we don’t mind if they are leftover from your parties out of the office, just make sure they are fresh.

Overall, this next six week should flow about like any other six weeks of the year, just with a few distractions, a few days off, a little less focus and a few less employees in the office.  Business has to continue, problems need to be solved, and final planning for next year needs to happen.  Keep a balance, enjoy the holidays and things will go smoothly.

How do you keep your team and yourself focused through the holidays?

Over half of the New LifeStyles team is involved in the direct sales effort.  As a small company, growing but trying to manage the hazards of growth, we have many people that wear multiple hats.  There are seven people that exclusively handle sales, while are other markets and lines of business are spread throughout the organization.  This worked well as we grew and still works today, giving the customer years of experience in their respective market and also some insight into the rest of our business.  Over the next couple months, we will introduce you to our sales team. 

Barrett Criswell – (Sales Director: both Pennsylvania guides, Portland, Seattle and St.Louis)

Barrett is one of our most energetic sales directors, who has grown his markets by forging great local relationships and always thinking about the needs of the advertiser.  He has a great knowledge of our product offerings and does a great job of finding something that works for the customer.  He is always smiling and leaves a lasting impression in each of the communities he visits.  He treats each community on its own, not painting all of his markets with the same broad brush.

On the personal side, Barrett was married this summer and lives in Austin, Texas.  Barrett is a great athlete, with a passion for cycling and triathlon, which is shared by his bride.  He is very involved in his church and the triathlon community in Austin, recently voted the “Most likely to stop and help another competitor during a race, sacrificing his own time”.   He can be found most mornings preparing for work by going for a ride or swim, followed by breakfast at the local Waffle House.

You can reach Barrett at (800)974-4618 or Barrett@NewLifeStyles.com.  He is always up for a discussion about virtual tours or the best new running shoes.

Bill Porter – (Sales Director: San Diego, Boston, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut/Rhode Island)

Bill has been with New LifeStyles since, well, let’s just say a long time.  You won’t find someone in the company with a better knowledge of our programs or a better understanding of the benefits to our clients.  Bill grew the East Coast guides from scratch, fighting through the tough early years to be the proud architect of some of our most popular, widely-distributed offerings.  Bill has also been the developing force behind many new company gadgets, including e-mail templates, the online media kit and other things that you use today and people will be using in the near future.

Bill has a background in education and a deep passion for music.  He spends a lot of time in his studio, while also playing lead guitar in a Tom Petty tribute band and fronting a Rush tribute band.  He and his wife have an athletic, outgoing daughter who does not play in any cover bands.  The three of them are trying to talk me into joining them in an ABBA tribute band, but I have no musical talent, a bad Swedish accent and a fear of Dancing Queen.

You can reach Bill at (800)975-9374 or Bill@NewLifeStyles.com.  He will be happy to discuss the benefits of a preferred position package or the greatness of Ann and Nancy Wilson.

Employees No Longer Baggage, but Blessing

Marketing to Veterans As a Subgroup of Mature Consumers

Successful Direct Mail Starts with a Good List

Dreams for the Future – What are yours?

Your domain name (example: companyname.com) is an extension of your company, branding and your image. So it’s very important!

Don’t let this happen to you (Dallas Cowboys’ website down during peak interest) :

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-cowboyssite_09bus.ART.State.Edition1.3f151c1.html

Once you have purchased your domain, you must renew it at the end of the purchase term. If you or someone in your company purchases the domain, make sure numerous people in your organization are listed as contacts so they receive renewal notifications and that they all have access information (usernames & passwords) so they can handle the renewal. I can’t tell you how many times our clients have let their domains expire and then contact us in a panic because their site & sometimes email is not working. The site isn’t really down, but the domain was not renewed so it is no longer pointing to the website &/or the mail server, so mail to this domain will also no longer work! Even worse, if the person who set-up the domain is no longer with the company & their email is not forwarded & no one else knows the password, it takes even longer to get everything back online. And that’s the best case scenario!  If you don’t notice your site is down for a long period (which is why all sites should be monitored), someone else could actually buy your domain and you will either have to get a new domain & re-print everything with your new URL, replace old links, etc… or go to battle over the domain (usually only worth it if it’s a trademarked name).

Have I scared you?

Most web hosting companies offer to purchase & handle renewals on your domain as long as they are hosting your site.  You have to make a judgment call here on the stability of the company? How long have they been around? If you aren’t sure they will be around in 1-3 years, you should probably handle the domain yourself, or at least make sure you are listed as a contact on the domain and have the access info. If you feel the company is stable and trustworthy, then just make sure that you can transfer the domain when/if you move your site or change providers.

Take 15 min. today and find out who handles your domain. How many people have access & know how to get into the account. Who receives notification at renewal time? If you do not have a high traffic site, make sure you check daily that it & your email is working or look into site monitoring (if you need help on any of these items, let us know).

Take a lesson from the Cowboys: don’t find your site and email down at when people are looking for information about you, especially when you are 1-7!

We are all hearing it’s what we have to offer now to make it in these times.  We at New LifeStyles have been coming up with more ways to give our advertisers the most value for their advertising dollars.

Our most recent additions have been our digital guides, giving our clients more ad views and leads for the same money. We continue to look for more distribution locations and events and test advertising our guide in venues like Newsweek to bring our advertisers more leads.

We are now working on these new value ad options:

Monthly sales coaching webinars with Patty Cisco– help us decide the focus of these webinars at 

http://surveys.marketnet.com/TakeSurvey.asp?SurveyID=44I463LI36l3H

Free use of CRM lead tracking system – Let us know if you are interested, as we must have enough initial participation to kick-off the program.

We hope these options, as well as our long standing value in advertising, including: Affordable print & online only ad options

Online ad views included in print rates

Numerous Lead Options, some included in ad rates

Large Distribution

High Traffic web site

We aim to offer the best customer service in the industry & offer many payment options from monthly to up-front, credit card or invoice, plus free production assistance with ad design and more.

What can we do to give you more value for your money? The more feedback we get from you, the better our product will be!”