"If you're looking for a way to build your marketing list—and a loyal constituency of prospects—consider following Diversified Communications' no-cost-to-join association model," Jim Sinkinson of Fired Up! Marketing says.

What is your elevator pitch—your igniter, your perfect question? That's what Jim Sinkinson of Fired Up! Marketing wanted to know at his recent copywriting bootcamp at SIPA Annual 2018. (That session—in video—and most others are available to members at this link.)

I just decided not to renew a certain subscription that I had to a cultural institution. In their last letter to me, they said here's what you'll be missing and listed a few benefits. That makes sense—I recall Jim Sinkinson telling us to remind subscribers of what they would be losing if they don't renew. "Great renewal copy threatens a loss—of security, well-being, opportunity, or all three."

Over the weekend, I was about to send in $100 for a membership to a group I've belonged to for many years when I decided to look again at the benefits. There really aren't any. The ticket discounts I used to get are now offered to higher-level subscribers. The four free tickets are now two. They've done away with their publication. I had just gotten used to giving them money because I support what they do.

"During my early years in the company, I was fairly analytical in how I approached most situations. And although that served a purpose, I later realized that you can be much more effective if you recognize the importance of people in business. The sooner you learn about reading people, listening to others and building relationships, the sooner you will be more effective."

When it comes to getting feedback from customers, Victoria Mellor, CEO and co-founder, Novatum Group and before that Melcrum, does not like most surveys.

Towards the end of a takeaway-stuffed session at our BIMS conference in November titled Bringing Customers Into Your Marketing, Fulfillment & Product Development, Jim Sinkinson of Fired Up! Marketing asked his fellow panelists this: "Do you ever get to the point of asking customers or prospects, 'Would you buy it [if we built it]'? How do you get as close as possible to the answer in your interactions with customers?"

Jim Sinkinson of Fired Up! Marketing led a roundtable at the recent SIPA Annual 2017 Conference in Washington, D.C. focusing on Renewal and Retention Strategies. Here are his five major tips: Improve Content Value. The most direct way to improve content value is to make your content specifically about reader needs—problems and opportunities. Make your content not just about things—news, industry analysis or data—but about helping readers solve problems and realize aspirations. Transform your service into a consultancy focused on customer needs. Your renewal rate is a function not of how much your customers learn from your content, but how much they use your content to become more successful. Promote Customer Usage of Content. Even if your content is spot on—of sterling quality and obsessively focused on the right things—many (probably most) of your customers will not read every article or even every issue. What if more than half your customers ...