The Fortune is in the Follow Up

You're looking at a picture of the cleverest thank-you card I've ever received.

Look closely -- that's my business card on the left side. It got 100% of my attention, very fast :-)

This was mailed to me by Gary Leonard, a designer and advertising copywriter, from Leonard Creative. He sent it after he and I sat down for coffee to discuss how to send each other leads and cooperate on projects.

Gary used Send Out Cards to create and mail this thank-you card. On the cover is a photo he took of both our business cards; inside is a nice message from him.

Now. Anybody can say they're creative. But words without actions mean nothing.

Gary, however, proved he's creative by building and mailing me this card. That's something.

Beyond creativity, Gary proved he has the people skills to take care of any prospects or vendors I refer to him. That's important.

And beyond that, Gary is leveraging 80/20 Marketing principles by following up with the leads and potential joint-venture partners he already has.

Think about it: How often do you talk to or meet a prospect ... then fail to do anything strategic after the fact? More often than you'd care to admit, probably.

Smart people, like Gary, know that the fortune is in the follow up.

By putting your prospects through a structured system of follow-up marketing and nurturing -- which should include thank-you notes -- you can turn more leads into sales, automagically.

UPDATE: I later got these comments from Gary:

"I sent the thank you card to an attorney. She thought it was cool enough to give to the firm's marketing manager, who now wants an appointment with me. Not only is it a small sample of my creative work. It also has all of my contact information right on the front of it."

Bio: Kevin Donlin can help you grow your business and enjoy the breakthrough results your hard work deserves. If you're interested in boosting your revenues and profits, please click here.