Howard Fleischmann, that award-winning proprietor of Community Tire in Phoenix and other AZ cities, a faithful subscriber to our free monthly e-mail feature, Marketing Quick Tip, took good-natured issue with my last mailing. Yes, Howard, contrary to the impression I may have left, advertising specials are OK in newsletters because, indeed, they can be beneficial to the reader. Therefore, yes, they are meat, not gristle.

One of our clients called me recently with a quandary. He was in search of the answer to what, seemingly, is a simple question. After he had given a business card to a prospective client, the prospect put him right on the spot, asking,