Many marketers, both large and small ? and I include myself among the latter ? go bonkers when customers return products for refund.

BK, an executive with one of the biggest and most famous direct marketing publishing companies, told me each refund request drives the company?s owner crazy.

?Our books contain great information, incredibly valuable,? the boss says. ?Why should we allow someone to read the book, benefit from all that great content, and then cheat us by sending it back for a refund??

Perhaps you may feel similarly, or you?re asking the same question. If so, let me share with you a few important facts about refunds in your business.

FIRST, a refund doesn?t mean your product is bad or the customer doesn?t like it.

It may mean that, after reviewing your product carefully, they decide your product is not right for them.

Example: a customer returns your $300 DVD set on investing in real estate.

?It actually seems like a great program,? the customer says in his refund request. ?But after watching it, I?ve decided this isn?t a business I want to get into ? it?s just too much work!?

To me, this is a perfectly legitimate ? and reasonable ? position for the customer to take ? don?t you agree?

In this case, offering a refund is not only a legal requirement, but also eminently fair:

Why would you want your customer to be out of pocket $300 for something he can?t use?

SECOND, offering a refund doesn?t cost you money. It makes you money.

Novice marketers fret about offering a money-back guarantee.

?If I do that,? they worry, ?won?t some customers take advantage of me by reading my book, profiting from the information in it, and then sending it back for a refund??

Yes, some will.

But here?s the thing: offering a money-back guarantee reduces buyer reluctance and increases buyer confidence ? resulting in more orders.

In almost every instance, the greater revenues and profits from the increase you get in orders by offering a guarantee is MUCH greater than the small amount of money you lose issuing refunds.

After all, would you buy a product for $30 or $100 or more ? sight unseen ? without a money-back guarantee?

Of course not.

THIRD, longer-term guarantees are better than shorter-term guarantees.

If you are currently offering a 10 or 15-day money-back guarantee, extend it to 30 days.

Already offering a 30-day money-back guarantee? Test a 60 or 90-day money-back guarantee.

The longer guarantee term invariably increases response rates and sales, because it eliminates the concern buyers have with short guarantees ? specifically, that they will forget to open and try the product — and by the time they get around to looking at it, the guarantee will have expired and they?ll be stuck with it.

But amazingly, the longer guarantee actually reduces refund requests, rather than increases them.

Reason: the buyer is in no hurry to evaluate and return the product, because you are allowing him to try it according to a more leisurely schedule.

Result: the buyer soon forgets about the guarantee ? and whether he actually uses the product or not, just keeps it.

FOURTH, generous guarantees sell more product than miserly guarantees.

Ever see a guarantee that says money back if product is returned ?in saleable condition??

The prospect worries that you?ll claim it arrived scratched or broken, and won?t honor your guarantee because it?s damaged and can?t be resold.

Similarly, some sellers of information products offer a money-back guarantee, but only if you offer documented proof that you followed their system and it did not work for you.

But what if I get your system, and something comes up, and I decide I don?t have time to work through it ? are? you telling me I?m stuck with it because I didn?t use it?

The more unconditional your money-back guarantee, the higher your response rates.

Conditional guarantees depress orders.

Here?s one interesting thing to consider?.

A year or so ago, I began selling e-books online.

With a physical book, the guarantee is: if you don?t like it, return the book, and we will refund your money.

But you can?t really return an e-book.

I thought about eliminating the guarantee, but realized this is absurd.

So instead, I stress the fact that they can get a refund without returning the product in my guarantee, rather than downplay it.

My standard e-book guarantee reads:

?If you are not 100% satisfied for any reason ? or for no reason at all ? just let me know within 90 days.

?I?ll refund your $29 payment in full. No questions asked. And you can keep the e-book FREE, with my compliments. That way, you risk nothing.?

Result: my refund rate on e-books is lower than for any other information product I sell, including CDs and hard copy books.

In fact, I get very few refund requests on e-books, though one could say my guarantee openly invites people to take advantage of me.

My conclusion?

Yes, there are a few con artists out there.

But most people ? especially when you are open and fair with them ? are honest, and will be fair with you in return.

So, follow my advice on refunds in your business. Then watch your sales volume ? and profits ? soar.

I guarantee it ? or your money back!

My job is writing, and I have always found it fun as a rule, though not for every minute of every day.

I was thinking about what it takes for a job to be fun and I think three conditions must be met:

1. You find the job interesting. For a writer like me, that means you find the subject matter interesting.

2. You go about your work as if it were valuable and important — even if it is not.

3. You have the right amount of work — enough to keep you productive and busy, not so much that you can never dig out of it.

Do you agree with these 3 requirements of having a job that is fun to you?

Any I am missing?

For decades, I have made it a practice to refer my clients to vendors who can provide services those clients need ? and that I don?t offer myself.

?I have also made it a policy never to accept a referral fee from any vendor, though many offer it, and some even argue with me when I turn it down.

?I do not accept referral fees for this reason: my primary mission is to give my clients the best recommendations I can ? and that means being totally objective.

?It follows logically that I make recommendations that are the best for my client, not the most profitable for me.

?And yes, sometimes what?s good for the client is not good for the vendor.

?For instance, I have many people calling who are eager to pay me thousands of dollars to write a promotion for them.

?In many instances, I turn them down, advising that their idea won?t work or their product won?t fly.

?By telling them this, I am saving them from financial disaster ? but I am also talking myself out of a nice, fat copywriting fee.

?Even worse, my recommendation that they not proceed is based on my nearly three decades of marketing experience.

?Therefore, the advice is valuable to them ? but I am not getting paid a dime for it, as they have not engaged me on a consulting basis.

?I want my clients to know that the advice I give them is always in their best interest ? and if I took referral fees from vendors, it would create a potential conflict.

?I sincerely believe I would always recommend the best vendor for the job ? not the vendor who paid me the highest commission.

?But could I ? or the client ? be 100% certain I was always motivated by their best interests, and not a juicy referral fee?

?The reason I bring this up is that PF, a copywriter, recently contacted me asking for referrals.

?But unlike the many other copywriters who want referrals from me, PF was offering me something in return ? a free lobster.

?Or rather, a $50 gift certificate to a Web site selling Maine lobsters for each new client I referred to her.

?Now, while I am against taking referral fees, I do make it a practice to send a small thank-you gift to people who refer business to me.

?So if it?s OK for me to send a small gift to a referral source, it seems like it should be OK for vendors to send small gifts to me when I am their referral source.

?Now, I don?t want them to do it. And I openly discourage it.

?But, if a nice gift arrives in the mail, I usually don?t send it back. I keep it and thank the vendor for it.

?I don?t think a small gift influences who gets my referrals ? except, PF?s free lobster offer sticks in my mind.

?Actually, I don?t eat lobster, which I know is unusual.

?Any food that comes in its own armor is not for me ? and truthfully, I don?t even like the texture or taste.

?But ?.

?My oldest son Alex loves lobster ? and a $50 lobster would put a smile on his face.

?So when I am asked for a referral to a copywriter these days, by clients who can?t afford my fees or to wait until I am available, I find PF?s name popping up in my mind first.

?Should you take ? or give ? referral fees from and to other vendors?

?That?s up to you.

?But my position on this issue is: make your recommendations ?pure,? unbiased, and objective ? and let your clients know it.

?That way you get something far more valuable than the referral commission the vendor wants to pay you.

?You get your client?s trust ? and a reputation in your industry as someone who is honest and trustworthy.

?That?s something ? unlike a lobster ? that money can?t buy.

A reporter once asked legendary pool player Minnesota Fats what made the difference between a great pool player ? which Fats was ? and one who was merely good.

?The good pool player makes the shot,? said Fats. ?The great pool player not only makes the shot, but does so in such a way that the balls are lined up for the next shot.?

I think the same applies to marketers.

Are you a good marketer ? or a great marketer?

A good marketer creates a product, runs a promotion for it, gets a healthy response rate, and makes a nice profit.

A great market does all that too ? but he also designs the product, promotion, or both so that the next sale is ready to be made.

For instance,?Friendly?s restaurant, regardless of what you think of their food, is often a great marketer.

Yes, when you walk in, there are always specials, enticing you to buy more during your visit.

These specials often include an ice cream desert, which many customers, after the big meal, are too full to eat.

Instead of letting the customer walk out without getting their desert ? which would slightly increase the restaurant?s margin on the meal ? my local Friendly?s gives away a certificate entitling you to get your free ice cream on your next visit.

Are they being generous?

Yes. But they are also being smart.

Because when you return to claim your free ice cream, you will most likely buy ice cream for the people with you ? or pick up a quart to take home ? or stop and have lunch.

Friendly?s is a great marketer, because they are thinking ahead to the next sale ? not just focusing on today?s transaction.

How about you?

Are you a good marketer ? or a great marketer?

Good marketers focus on the front end ? the immediate sale.

Great marketers strategize ways to maximize revenues from every product, promotion, and customer.

Good marketers make a good living.

Great marketers make a great living ? and become rich beyond the dreams of avarice.

I have to confess: I once hated PowerPoint. Now I use it in nearly every presentation, mainly because the conferences and webinar producers who ask me to speak insist on it.

Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post is not a fan of PowerPoint.

“Enduring a PowerPoint presentation is rarely informative and never efficient,” Marcus states. “The inevitable cutesy graphics — why think through a tough problem when you can spend your time surfing for clip art or experimenting with fonts — add a bullet point of insult to the injury of having to sit through it.”

“PowerPoint may help speakers outline their talks, but convenience for the speaker can be punishing to both content and audience,” writes Edward Tufte in Wired magazine. “The standard PowerPoint presentation elevates form over content, betraying an attitude of commercialism that turns everything into a sales pitch.”

Adds Marcus: “The seductive availability of PowerPoint and the built-in drive to reduce all subjects to a series of short-handed bullet points eliminates nuances and enables, even encourages, the absence of serious thinking.”

I use PowerPoint when giving presentations. Do you? Do you agree that bullets and PowerPoint are inherently mind-numbing and boring? Or does it depend on the speaker?

A lot of social media evangelists tell me that e-mail marketing is old school and rapidly dying.

But a 2010 study by ExactTarget found that 56% of U.S. Internet? users interact with brands only via marketing e-mails, compared to 1.3% who interact only via Twitter and 0.7% by Facebook.

And a 2010 StrongMail study found that business leaders still choose e-mail marketing as the top area of investment growth (65%)? in 2011, above social media (57%) and search engine marketing (41%).

“E-mail is still very much a heavy hitter in the online marketing game,” concludes Ali Brown, who provides the above statistics in her special report “Ezine Publishing Profits.”

I’ve gotten in the bad habit lately of reading too many books at the same time.

Right now I am reading:

1. Snap Selling by Jill Konrath (highly recommended for anyone who sells anything).

2. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon.

3. The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene.

… plus a few assorted paperback novels.

What are you reading now? Would you recommend it to the rest of us?

In his column in the April 2011 issue of DM News (p. 58), Scott Donaton proclaims “junk mail sucks.”

He says our industry is populated by “junk mailers and cheesy infomercial pitches.”

He asks the question, “Why does so much of what we’ve defined as direct marketing suck?”

Donaton states that “most pieces of direct mail are poorly designed, off-target messages easily separated into a trash file without a second glance.”

“Some of these mailbox missives move past irrelevance and inch close to the border of sleazy.” He gives as examples mailings that say “last notice” and those that try to look official.

He threatens us direct marketers, saying that they must “face my wrath as I tear [the mailers] into pieces and sprinkle them with curses before sending them down the garbage chute.” (What? Scott Donaton won’t respond to my latest DM package? I am trembling in my boots.)

Donaton is just as critical of direct response TV, saying “most of it is insulting drivel with the production values of a middle school holiday singalong.” He particularly doesn’t like the repetition of the toll-free number in the commercials.

I think Donaton is an idiot. Or at least that his opinions are idiotic.

Your thoughts?