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So how can small and medium-sized firms make the most of their email communications with clients, leads, and prospects? Use these simple tips to help maximize your email marketing impact.

One way you can reduce your marketing budget as a temporary cost-cutting measure is by taking steps to ensure that the funds you are able to allot can stretch as far as possible. Marketing gurus advise that a simple marketing plan is a great way to help your marketing budget do more for less. Use these simple tips to devise your own marketing plan, and ensure that you'll get the most benefit from each and every marketing dollar you spend in 2009.

Even the best marketing efforts sometimes fall flat, and in tough economic times such as these, it can be very difficult to connect with new prospects and clients. But if you've put a lot of thought and consideration into designing your marketing campaign and you still haven't seen much in return, it may be the metrics you're using—rather than the marketing materials themselves—that are the real root of your problem.

The personalities, tendencies, and instincts of the analytical, reserved, technical types who are drawn to careers in information technology are often drastically different than those of the extroverted sales professionals who seem to be able to establish instant rapport with nearly anyone, anywhere, no matter the circumstances. [...]Don’t despair. Although it is true that certain inborn personality traits tend to dictate the way that we relate to others, you can boost your interpersonal skills by practicing them and deliberately pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

Achieving success as a sales professional is a formidable challenge in and of itself—managing a diverse team of sales pros can often be an even more complicated endeavor. When you consider all that a typical sales manager has piled on his or her plate, it’s easy to see why success in this role often remains elusive.

If you and your team have been encountering some difficulties while trying to drum up new prospective clients, you’re definitely not alone. Sales analysts report that the current economic climate has companies in virtually every industry holding on tight to their budgets and keeping a very close eye on capital expenditures.