Let’s keep this short since I know you just want your coupon code — get 25% off when you spend $100 or more on Network Solutions website. Click on “redeem offer code” in the shopping cart and enter the code GCXXX02962.

Happy shopping! Oh, and this sale ends on 6/24/2009.

Between Tuesday, May 26th, and Tuesday, June 2nd, you can get Network Solutions web hosting for 50% off. That’s right, five-zero. Packages start at only $4.98 per month with an annual purchase.

You’ll still get a free domain name with your web hosting package along with other goodies, such as 99.99% UNIX® uptime reliability, our website builder tool,  easy 1-click blog install, 30-day money back guarantee and 24×7 phone and email support from our award-winning customer service team.

Just click on this link to get your 50% off discount on web hosting — remember, this offer ends June 2nd.

I just received a Network Solutions coupon code for $9.99 new domain names. It’s good for .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .name and .us, and it’s $9.99 per year regardless of how many years you register your domains for.

To get this $9.99 domain name deal, just search for domain names that you want on NetworkSolutions.com, click on “Redeem offer code” in your shopping cart and enter coupon code SOC999DOM1.

Warning: the coupon code is case sensitive, so it’s best to just copy and paste it. Or you can memorize it in case you wake up in the middle of the night realizing that you’ve come up with the best website idea ever and you need to register a domain name right there and then. So here it is again: SOC999DOM1. By the way, the two Os in that code are the letter “O,” not the number zero. And better hurry, this coupon is only good until May 31st.

So help yourself and get the domain names that you’ve always wanted!

So I leapt for joy when I received coupon codes for our blog readers!

Here’s the latest deal: get $25 off when you spend $75 or more on NetworkSolutions.com. Just click on “Redeem offer code” in your shopping cart and enter coupon code SOC2575001. This coupon is good for new purchases only until May 31st.

Stay tuned for more discounts from Network Solutions!

It generally costs eight to ten times more to acquire new customers than to keep your existing customers. Needless to say, any business, no matter what size or location, must have a customer retention program. If you run a local business, don’t think that you can skip this because you don’t have a fancy CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software.

I’ve encountered several great local businesses that have won my loyalty as a customer. Simply put, they make me feel special.

Special Events
Hold events to let your customers know that you appreciate their business. My favorite day spa holds a monthly gathering for regular customers and their guests. We get our make ups done, massages, paraffin hand treatments and product samples, all for free. The result? I continue booking my bi-weekly appointments there.

Special Follow-Ups
Follow-up with your customers after they use your product, whether or not there is an issue. My favorite Thai restaurant always (yes, always) calls a few hours after they deliver my food to see if I’ve enjoyed my delicious meal. My vet calls the day after an appointment to make sure that my dog is doing fine. No wonder I put them on my speed dial and rave about them to my friends.

Special Offers
Offer special discounts to your customers just because. I was feeling a bit frumpy after I had a baby, so I went to a local designer jeans store to splurge. Not only were they willing to pay for my tailoring costs, but they also sent me a thank you note a few days later with an invitation to a private sale.

Special Knowledge
When you know your customers, you can anticipate what they need and personalize it for them. The minute I walk into my local coffee shop, the barista starts making my drink without having to ask me what I want.

Special Surprises
This next example is not from a local business, but it’s definitely worth mentioning. It happened almost 10 years ago and I still remember it because I was just so pleasantly surprised. I registered at TheKnot.com after I got engaged and I received a free wedding planning binder a few weeks later. Honestly, I forgot that I had registered on their website, but after getting the free planner, I obsessively visited their website several times a day.

Special Treatments (No Membership Required)
Most businesses these days have customer loyalty memberships, from frequent customer cards (buy ten cups of coffee and get your next one free) to membership discount cards at local supermarkets. So nothing new there, but your customers will even be more delighted if you give them special treatments without asking for their email, mailing address or birth date. Once, my auto shop washed my car at no extra cost because they thought I would enjoy driving a clean car (now, if only they fill up my car for free…). A hostess at a local restaurant surprised my daughter with a kid-friendly appetizer for free as we were waiting for our food to arrive.

Special Respect
Finally, give your customers the respect that they deserve. If they ask a question, give them the appropriate answer. If they complain about your service, listen to them and see how you can improve it. My handyman not only does a good job fixing things around the house, but he also shows up on time and finishes his projects on time. He also smiled and nodded when I asked,”would you mind going around the house instead of taking the shortcut through the kitchen while carrying that heavy thingymajiggy since I just scrubbed the kitchen floor?” I appreciate that he respects me, my time and my house, so I always refer him to my neighbors when they need a handyman.

These are simple examples that keep me coming back to those local stores. What will you do to make your customers feel special?

With over 533,000 people laid off since November 2008 as reported by Forbes.com, it’s no surprise that many people choose to start their own business and become consultants. If you’re just jumping into the field as an independent consultant or starting a new consulting business, here are five do’s to follow.

1. Do focus on your objectives
Before starting on any projects, discuss and agree on your objective. If your objective is tied to revenue or cost saving, ask your client if they are willing to give you additional compensation if you exceed your target. If you use deadlines as your objective, include client reviews and approvals in your timeline. If you have multiple objectives, ask your client to prioritize them so there are no questions later on when you’re juggling multiple tasks.

2. Do communicate your progress
You’ll get less questions about how the project is going if you’re proactive with your status updates. Just don’t send daily status updates with every little thing, or they’ll send your emails (including important ones) to the junk email box. Ask your client about how often they’d like to see a progress report and how they’d like to see the report — an executive summary, one or two presentation slides or a brief email with bullet points.

3. Do be selective with your recommendations
Making the initiatives is what you should be all about, but you don’t need to recommend every single thing that you can think of. Focus on the major initiatives instead. This way, you can put in some extra care in making your recommendations. Plus, by focusing on major initiatives, you’ll be more likely to give your client the wow effect.

4. Do know their competitors
Sometimes you get so caught up in your projects that you overlook what your client’s competitors are up to. Go through the competitor’s website and take notes on things that they’re doing (that’s what the PR/News page is for!) and compare their offerings to your client’s.

Search for news, blog posts and tweets of the competitors. Go beyond Google when you search — browse LinkedIn to see what their employees are up to and who they are connected with. Use Twitter to check tweets of their employees and use Twitter Search to see real-time conversations and updates about them. Sign up for Google alerts with your competitor’s name as the keyword.

Network with people in the industry, even befriend the competitors, and you’ll get a few insights here and there. You don’t need to lie about working for your client; mentioning your client’s name is actually a good ice breaker!

5. Do keep up with industry trends
You’re supposed to be the expert in this field, so how embarrassing is it if your client is the one who keeps telling you about new technologies and trends? No matter how busy you are juggling projects, set up at least a half hour a day to read industry news. Set up RSS feeds to get your news in one place (try Google Reader or Bloglines) and bookmark articles that you may go back to time after time (try delicious). Take notes on industry jargons that you’re not familiar with.

Network with others in the industry, whether it’s through local meet-ups, conferences or social media. Join industry groups or associations and follow twitterers who are subject experts in the industry.

6. Do listen
Okay, there are really six do’s, not five, because this is the most important one: really listen. It’s amazing how much more you’ll contribute if you just stop talking and start listening. Many people make the mistake of trying to convince their clients by talking about how good they are instead of listening to what the client needs. Your clients will even like you better for simply listening to them.

So keep projects coming your way by projecting a can-do attitude and being diligent about the six things above. Soon, you’ll look like a seasoned consultant rather than a newbie.

PS: If you’re looking for consulting gigs or freelancing jobs, here are a few ways to find them. Freelancing/consulting job websites, of course: Sologig.com, HotGigs.com , Elance.com, oDesk.com and Guru.com. Connect with local recruiting companies that specialize in working with independent contractors. Check out industry websites and newsletters for help wanted. And as you meet more people in the industry through your networking effort, don’t be shy to tell them that you’re up for new gigs when your project is about to end.

Fast forward several years later, she now works with major brands such as AOL®, AARP™, the Wall Street Journal®, NASCAR® and Condé Nast Publications.

Here’s how she did it.

Brooks was tasked with designing advertising creatives for AOL back in 2003, where she delivered better results than other agencies. Soon word spread within AOL, and more and more marketing teams at AOL used her services.

Getting referrals was how Brooks grew her business in the first 2 years, by “making clients totally ecstatic with results and providing outstanding customer service. We have no formal sales force and no marketing. That works because of the business that we’re in. In large companies, it’s about who you know and how they talk about you.”

She still gets word-of-mouth referrals, but she also goes to conferences to meet new clients and build relationships with industry professionals. She speaks at marketing events to establish herself as a thought leader. One of her recent speaking engagements was at MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2009, where she showcased lessons learned from an AARP e-newsletter program.

As many large companies cut travel budgets recently, she can no longer depend on going to conferences to grow her client base. So she changed her strategy. Instead of focusing on going to conferences, she now focuses on partnering with other agencies.

With more clients to cater to, Brooks grew her company to 18 people. She recently organized everyone into teams, where each team is assigned goals that are aligned to the revenue. To keep her employees motivated, she introduced a bonus structure that’s aligned with metrics. With this new strategy, she has seen some friendly competition and more leadership to achieve the company goals.

So how can you apply Brooks’ experience to your own business?  Know who your customers are, make them your biggest fans by delivering results and excellent customer service and know how their system works. More importantly, be flexible — don’t be afraid to change how you grow and manage your business. That’s certainly how Brooks and her team have doubled their revenue goal so far this year.

Sisters Jeanny Lee and Janice Kim started Free For All Cupcakes about 6 months ago. Having little kids with food allergies, Jeanny had to develop her own recipes since her kids can’t eat store-bought food. As she met more parents of kids with food allergies, she started developing recipes for other parents. In September 2008, she and her sister Janice launched the Free For All Cupcakes website and started taking orders from customers.

As they found a niche market to serve, they also found a joy in being business owners. The best part about being small business owners according to Jeanny is that they are “able to provide a product that people need and enjoy, especially children.” Janice also revealed that running a small business allows them to have personal relationships with their customers. “When you work for a big company, that personal customer service is kind of lost. It’s nice to have one-on-one relationships with customers. We want to maintain that if and when we get bigger.”

As many other small business owners do, they wonder about how big their business should grow. “We can stay small, where we work out of our kitchen, which is licensed and certified, and it keeps us busy. Or do we want to take the next step with a major marketing effort? The hardest thing for me is to figure out what I want.”

One of the things that they want for sure is a nice website. They feel that it’s very important to have visual representations of their products because they don’t have a brick and mortar store. They also want to provide product details as customers ask for a lot of information, such as ingredients and how they prevent cross contamination when preparing food.

They found that it was nerve-racking in the beginning to launch a website. Not knowing anything about creating a website, they hired a Web Designer. They sent photos and concepts of what they wanted to have on the website to the Designer and FreeForAllCupcakes.com was born. They like that the website is easy to navigate and that it has enough information without looking too busy. But they are also looking for ways to enhance the website, such as adding a blog to keep in touch with their customers.

With pretty much no marketing, Free For All Cupcakes currently generates their business from referrals from current customers and local food allergy support groups. To help them get started (and they promised me free cupcakes!), I’ll be working with the cupcake duo to build an online marketing program. I’ll record our journey along with online marketing tips relevant to other small businesses in this blog.

So I’m off now to work on their online marketing plan. If you have any ideas for Free For All Cupcakes marketing or website enhancements, please leave your comments. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll share some cupcakes with you!