Don’t be afraid to infuse some personality in your pieces. If you at all want to seem genuine then you must inject some humanness in your message. All too many people think that they’ve got to have a full business-suit mentality at all times to be taken seriously. You know what, the world is way too serious and people are starving for something new, something with some personality. “Oh, but I market to top-level executives.” Oh yea, those execs are bombarded with high-pressure decisions and very serious issues all day long—don’t you think they’ll appreciate the moment of brevity you provided? Besides, any executive worth his salt will be able to recognize a valuable offer when they see it.

As a parting note, these special offers also give people yet another reason to talk about your business to others, fueling your word-of-mouth marketing. Your homework for the next couple of weeks: Monitor how often your friends, family and business associates tell you about a discount, promotion, coupon, special deal, etc. Do this and you’ll realize just how much viral potential there is for these offers.