Al Matthew's blog

New Blog Address

2010-06-07T09:37:00.000-04:00

Hello,
Thank you for stopping by, Please not that I will be blogging at http://almcleary.com/blog from now on. That blog is update at least 3 times weekly, while this blog is updated once monthly.

Thank you
xoxo
Al
http://almcleary.com/blog

A house with no doors

2010-04-18T19:27:00.000-04:00

A website that has not been optimized is like a house with no doors. A site needs to be designed and coded so search engines can find their way in. Once your site is optimized, that’s it, the doors are open! Now you just need to focus on developing rich content and building quality links to your site.

Don't be stingy with business cards

2010-04-13T15:59:00.001-04:00

Have some with you at all times - leave them at restaurants, banks, gas stations (however, please do not litter)
Give them out to anyone and everyone - give them more than 1, maybe the will pass them on to someone else.
Do you still mail your bills, include one.
Send them along with invoices
Use them as hang tags - attach then to your products
Be Green, print your cards on recycled paper or be bold, print them on discarded cereal boxes.
Try using 'odd shapes - make them stand out.

10 places to leave your business card

2010-04-08T21:54:00.006-04:00

Doctor's office
Dentist's office
Obstetrician's office
Deli notice board
Veterinarian's office
Mechanic's waiting room
Hair or nail Saloon
Laundromat
Realtor's office
Daycare center

If you are required to wait - leave a business card

6 Viral Marketing Ideas

2010-04-08T21:42:00.004-04:00

Publish an e book with your product links and allow your affiliates to add in their own affiliate links.
Make a entertaining video that features your product.
Make a video that others can re-brand with their affiliate links.
Have a promotional competition. Example 'Free gift to the to the next five people to become a fan on Facebook'.
Make your site interactive - give people something fun to do online.
Offer redistributable mp3 downloads.

10 E-mail Tips to Reach your Customer Inboxes

2009-06-16T12:35:00.006-04:00

I am a huge proponent of email marketing. It is an effective marketing method with a very high ROI. Unfortunately, spammers and scammers have made it more difficult for legitimate senders to get their e-mails past Internet Service Provider (ISP) junk filters and into the inbox. Here are a few steps you can take to avoid the spam label and increase your e-mail marketing effectiveness.

1. Avoid using these words in your subject line:- Urgent, money back guarantees, and why pay more?

2. Do not use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks (!) in your subject line and in your E-MAIL CONTENT!!

3. If something sounds too good to be true, the junk mail filters probably agree. For example “once in a lifetime opportunity” etc.

4. Never send out an e-mail that is one giant image. The filters will likely filter it but even if it gets to the inbox, the recipient will have no enticement to turn on images. A good balance is 60 percent text and 40 percent graphics. Do not forget the ALT text.

5. Try to avoid excessive mentions of money in your e-mails as the spammers and scammers have made that hard to get through.

6. Keep your emails simple to maximize your chances of getting into the inbox. Avoid e-mails with red font, flashing objects, etc

7. Do not buy a list. This violate the terms of service of almost all E-mail Service Providers (ESPs) and your recipients are more likely to hit the spam complaint button. More than one complaint out of each 1,000 e-mails sent is very likely to get you blocked by one or more ISPs and make it more difficult to get emails through to your best customers.

8. Do not harvest e-mails from the web to send in bulk. Not only will you run into the same problems as when you buy a list, you will also be violating the CAN-SPAM Act.

9. Keep your e-mail frequency reasonably steady to keep your sending reputation intact. For instance, if you send only once every six months the ISPs and the recipients may have forgotten about you resulting in delivery problems and spam complaints.

10. On the other hand, do not send so often that you annoy your subscribers. Send at least once per month, carefully consider what volume will start to annoy your subscribers—who will unsubscribe from your list or worse, hit the spam button, sticking a label on you that can be hard to remove.

More Tips for Growing Your Business

2009-05-05T14:32:00.004-04:00

Have a contest where visitors and customers submit a favorite picture of them wearing a handcrafted earring (jeweler), favorite dog picture (groomer/kennel/vet) or favorite pose or strut (retail clothing). Ask them to post the video or picture to Picasa, flickr, or YouTube so you don’t have to host anything. Then post information about the contest to your web site and send an email campaign to your current email list announcing the contest. They’ll upload their content, and send their friends to see it, and you’ll end up getting more traffic. Make sure you reward the contestants with discounts or other cash and prizes.

You may also ask your customers to take videos of themselves talking about how they love your product or service. Then upload the videos right to YouTube. Tag the video with your company name and some keywords so you’ll come up high in the search engine rankings. There’s no better advertising than your customer testimonials. This can get you a better ranking in the search engines as well.

Marketing for Mother's day

2009-04-21T19:38:00.005-04:00

Mother's Day is the perfect time to reach out to potential customers with gift ideas. Our lives are hectic, and trying to find the perfect gift can be stressful. By giving your customers something of value such as gift ideas and special holiday offers, you are showing them that their interests are the motives behind your campaigns — building greater trust in your brand." Here are six tips for successful Mother's e-mail promotions:

Promote your special holiday offers up front: Make sure your customers can immediately see that you are offering Mother's Day specials starting at the subject line. If your customer sees an offer they can't refuse, your email will be opened.
Offer gift ideas: Rather than letting your customers browse your site, offer gift ideas. This is a great way to help your customers find the perfect gift. Consider creating a 10 Popular Gift section to help aid their search.
Welcome those last minute shoppers: Let last minute shoppers know that they can shop with you. Offer guaranteed shipping or pick-up options to reel them in to shopping with you. This is a sure way to make an impression with a customer and to make sure they remember you next holiday season.
Offer additional incentives: Offering additional offers like online-only coupons, discounts off future purchases, free shipping upgrade, or special membership pricings, are enticing ways to grab the attention of potentials shoppers.
Think outside of the box: Flowers, and jewelry aren't the only things that make good Mother's Day gifts. No matter what kind of business you have, think of creative ways for people to want to do business with you. If you are a restaurant, offer a special Mother's Day menu.
Gather additional customer information: If you don't already have customer 'friends and family' profile data, or an email list, Mother's Day can be a good opportunity to gather additional information from your customers such as important dates for them, friends, family and significant others, including birthdays and anniversaries.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) FAQ Part 2

2009-04-06T15:47:00.007-04:00

I submitted my site to the search engines, but it was not accepted

Search Engine listings are not guaranteed to everyone who launches a website on the Internet. Search engines are for-profit businesses and have the right to refuse to list any site for virtually any reason. If done properly most sites can get listed on search engines. It is important to cover all bases and all necessary elements are present before submitting the finalized site to the search engines or directories. it is important that new websites arereviewed by SEO professionals before being launched.

How long before I see results?

It can take between 2 - 12 weeks or longer to see results, depending on each search engine. Sometimes it can take longer if you don't follow industry standard SEO procedures. To get in the top (3) pages (top 30 listings) requires proper optimization along with extensive link building which can take months if at all.

How does the Search Engine find websites?

There are two ways a search engine can find a website to add to its database. The first and most direct method is to accept submissions from website designers, optimizers or website owners. Most search engines have a "submit your URL" section inviting submissions from website owners. The second method of finding websites is that search engines send a "spider" to follow each and every link on, off, and through websites which in turn link to other websites. If you have links from other sites then your site eventually will be found.

What is a "Spider"?

A "spider" is an electronic robot that travels the web examining websites in order to add them to a search engine database and rank them according to the specific ranking criteria for that search engine. Most search engines use spiders to quickly and efficiently canvass the web for information. The spiders will periodically come back to your site once indexed in their database. That is why it is important to constantly refresh your content, because the spiders will stop coming to your site if your content remains the same. One should add new content as frequently as possible as well as refresh their websites at least every six months to a year.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization is the process of making websites search engine friendly. The process often involves minor modifications to, or additions of, several standard elements of a website such as: keyword rich content, meta tags, alt tags, header tags as well as robot .txt files and site maps.

What do you mean by Search Engine Friendly?

We use this term to describe a website that has specific elements added or modified to attract and please search engine spiders or live directory editors. In other words don't structure your site to obstruct the ability of the search engine robot spider to navigate your site such as: frames, flash pages, splash pages with no relevant content, "dirty URLs", no site map or Google site map, not using proper programming code and not using good web page format.

Sometimes you may need extra elements added to your website. A search engine spider is an automated program that electronically probes every URL submitted to its database. As the spider is a computer program, it is designed to look for and rank very specific items on each page it probes. If those elements are present, the spider computes a higher ranking than it would if those elements were not present. Each page needs to be properly optimized to have the best possible chance for a favorable listing. Unfortunately, Most website designers don't know or have the experience to properly optimize the web pages. Also they don't want to charge you extra dollars to take the time to properly optimize each page because you may decide the project is too costly. In most cases the site designer is a highly skilled and creative person whose job is to put your ideas on the web. Again more often than not, the designers have not received extensive training in search engine optimization and don't think about it while pursuing a cool looking design. Search engines are also constantly changing their ranking criteria. They do this to prevent gross manipulation of their search tools. Often, website designers are not fully up to date with changes taking place with the search engines.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) FAQ Part 1

2009-03-27T12:16:00.008-04:00

What is a Search Engine?
A search engine is an online database of websites that allows Internet users to search for information contained on websites listed in the database by "Keywords" and "Keyword Phrases". Keywords and Keyword Phrases are words or string of words used when looking for information on a specific topic. Google, Excite, Lycos, AltaVista, Infoseek, and Yahoo are all search engines. They index millions of sites on the Web, so that Web surfers like you and me can easily find Web sites with the information we want. By creating indexes, or large databases of Web sites (based on titles, keywords, and the text in the pages), search engines can locate relevant Web sites when users enter search terms or phrases.
Each search engine has slightly different behaviors and characteristics. Search engines use a robot spider that patrols the Internet through navigation links looking for new websites, web pages as well as new content on websites. The robot spider has been programmed with an algorithm based on established ranking factors which is used to index the new information properly.

What is a Directory?
A directory is a search tool much like a search engine but with a few major differences. Directories tend to employ human editors to review and rank websites submitted to their database. Yahoo! is the most well known example of a directory. Most directories catalog websites based on a variety of topic categories such as Business and Economics, or Arts and Culture. Most directories request payment before assigning a website review to one of their editors.

What is Pay Per Click (PPC)?
is an Internet/online advertising model used on search engines, advertising networks, and content sites, such as blogs or social networks, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. Major search engines and directories offer Pay per Click rankings. Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing etc allow webmasters and website owners the chance to purchase placement through an auction system, bidding on keywords and keyword phrases. The cost per click Depends on how many bidders want a particular keyword or keyword phrase. A customer can determine the maximum amount per month so that they do not spend more than their budget allows. They can also attach a stats program (e.g. as Google Analytics) to track the click thrus.

How do I get top placement?
There is no simple solution to obtain high search engine rankings (there is no secret sauce). It is desirable to be listed with the top (3) pages (top 30 listings) in order to get the best visibility. Search engine optimization is time consuming work and requires a healthy knowledge of how the Internet functions and how search engines operate. The basic elements of top placement include longevity of the site at about 10% / proper optimization of the website and prominent web pages 30% / linkbacks from high traffic, high ranked, related website 60%. It also takes a long period of time, sometimes months before favorable listings can be seen.

Are all search engines the same?
Each search tool uses their special sauce - their unique algorithm. Each search tool has found ways to make its service slightly different from other search tools. I am told that Google uses over 200 ranking factors to decide where a website should be indexed.

Will my website stay at the #1 position if it is indexed there?
Search Engine rankings fluctuate frequently, however, if your site is properly maintained by search engine specialists, month to month, then it is likely that the movement will be confined to within the top10 positions. Periodically the search engines re-index the listings in their database, with the latest information, to keep the listings fresh, up to date and relevant. The search engines periodically change their algorithms to reflect new criteria used to index sites. Just keep doing it. Do not allow your site to become stagnant.

Change can lead to new opportunities

2009-03-18T21:10:00.003-04:00

If your expertise or passion is helping people to live happily on a budget, restore balance, get back to basics, reduce stress, or reduce expenses , this is your time. If you can take your expertise and use it to create products or services that are currently in demand, get out there and get started. There is always opportunity to make money in any economy, so think about it, pray about it - use this time to brainstorm and get started.

This could be the opportunity you have been waiting for to start your business. it's ironic - but it seems when we have money, we have no time and when we have time, we have no money.

Start reading - there is a blog on virtually every topic you can think of.
Start a Mastermind group with a few friends and meet at your home or the local library rather than going to an expensive restaurant for a social lunch or dinner.
Take an online class (if you can squeeze it into your budget) increase your expertise - learn more about publishing or marketing instead of traveling to a high-cost seminar.

The economy is cyclical - make the inevitable down times work for you while waiting for good times to return. Stay focused on your game plan and look for ways – (like writing a book or learning a craft) – to invest your time and money wisely.

Create the Right Email for the Job

2009-03-13T13:35:00.004-04:00

Email marketing can take a variety of forms. The format you choose depends on the type of information you want to communicate, your objective for that communication and its intended audience. For example, one of my retail clients send out bi-weekly promotional emails alerting customers to sales or new products. My Construction client, on the other hand, focus on a more educational monthly e-newsletter that covers news and insights related to construction trends and DIY projects.

Here are the common types of email communications and their suggested uses. (source: Constant Contact)

Bring in the Business

2009-03-06T21:49:00.009-05:00

1. Create quality-marketing tools. "Sit down and make a list of everything you're going to need each time you make contact with a prospective customer or client, including a stationery package, brochures and presentation tools if you can't [afford] to print it all at once, at least work with a designer and a copywriter to create the materials so you have an e-file.

Try Hiring an art or marketing student from the local university, or barter your services with other entrepreneurs.

2. Greet clients with style. Voice mail may not seem like a component of your marketing plan, but if a potential client calls and your kid answers, that client will be gone before you can even technically call him a client. So get yourself a professional voice-mail system with several boxes, so callers can press "1" to hear more about your services, "2" for your web and e-mail addresses, etc.

3. Focus as narrowly as possible. Instead of trying to reach all the people some of the time, narrow your target audience to highly qualified prospects. Instead of going to seven networking groups once every two months, go to the two groups with the best prospects every week. "Instead of marketing to 5,000 companies, [find] several dozen highly qualified companies and make regular contact with them. Call them, mail your marketing materials, and then ask to meet. It'll save you money and time.

4. Make the most of trade shows.
If you don't get a booth beforehand, try to find someone who might want to share their space with you. You help them run the booth.
If you decide not to get a booth, go anyway. You can always do business with the exhibitors--just be sure to respect their time with "real" customers before you approach them as a peer looking for some B2B action.
After the seminar, be absolutely, positively sure that you follow up on your leads. What's the point of attending if your leads end up in the trash

5. Conduct competitive intelligence online. Find your competitors' are doing - check out their web sites...

6. Offer your help. Volunteer - People should know you are a good businessperson as well as an all-around good person. One of the biggest business-getters for your business is word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth can be generated by not only your good work, but also your good deeds. I will be offering my know how for free at the Florida Women Business Center.

Another way to help out your community and your business is to align yourself with a nonprofit organization. Patrick Bishop, author of Money-Tree Marketing, offers this idea: "Set up a fund-raising program that benefits a school, like a discount card. At the same time the kids [are selling them, they are] promoting your business."

7. Offer work samples. for example, you're a web designer, find a potential client and send them a few tips they can use to improve their site. Or offer a small job for free just to show the potential client the quality of your work and to get them used to working with you.

8. Network. If this piece of marketing advice sounds like something you've heard before, there's a good reason: It works. Join your local chamber, leads groups like LeTip International Inc. or Leads Club, your industry association, etc. When you go, ask the people you meet what leads they're looking for--and really listen to what they have to say. They'll repay you in kind.

9. Cross-promote with other businesses. Whom do you share customers with? Find them and figure out how you can promote one another. If you're a PR person, hook up with a copywriter or graphic designer for client referrals. Another option is to add a brief note at the bottom of invoices or newsletter referring your accounting clients to "an excellent computer consultant," and have that consultant do the same for you.

10. Go where your best prospects are. This is called play-space marketing. If you have a pet-sitting business, ask your local vet office and groomer if you can display brochures. Are you a landscape artist? Offer to do a display for the local nursery. Do you throw children's birthday parties? Buy a slide at the local movie theater to be shown before their family films. Just be sure the environment is appropriate - If you're a business consultant, you're not going to run ads on the movie screen. [Advertise somewhere] where people are [likely] to be thinking about what you're selling.

11. Become an expert. Write articles to show your talents and give them as filler to any Web site owner that you feel is fitting. Not only does it bring you more traffic and potential customers, but it provides you with an international business portfolio to demonstrate your business sense [and your] product or service. Answer questions in online forums; get yourself listed in a directory like Experts.com, Profnet.comor The Yearbook of Experts; send tip sheets to local media outlets; write a book or pamphlet.

12. Gracias, merci, thank you. Shower the top 20 percent of your clients who yield you the most sales (either in volume or dollars) with thank-yous, whether it's gifts, personalized notes or lunch. It doesn't cost a lot of money, but it's a great way to let your best customers know they're special.

13. Offer a guarantee. More people will be willing to try out your business and recommend your business if you offer "satisfaction guaranteed."

14. Get them talking about you. Word-of-mouth marketing is just about the cheapest thing you can do to boost your business. The main way to attract referrals is to just do a great job: Impress your clients, and they'll tell everyone they know. But there are more aggressive tactics you can use as well. Ask everyone you know to evangelize your business. Hand out several business cards to people rather than just one so they're more likely to pass them on.

15. When in doubt, pick up the phone. Instead of lamenting your lack of business, drumming your fingers on your desk and forming new worry lines on your face, call a customer. Touch base, see how they're doing, visit their office when you're running an errand, see if there's anything you can do for them, even if it's not a paid piece of work. It'll improve your relationship, and you may jar their memory. After all, you'll never hear "I've been meaning to call you!" if you don't pick up the phone.

E-Marketing Techniques

2009-03-02T15:34:00.004-05:00

E-marketing is the process of marketing a brand using the Internet. However, it seems that most people I encounter, have the misconception that it is all about having a cool web site. A website can be very dynamic, including animated graphics, even audio-visual experiences, but unless your website actually engages its visitors in an exchange of information, it’s still brochure ware. Your website should be a valuable corporate asset, rather than an overhead expense.

Your website should respond to visitors as would your receptionist in your office, It should serve as your virtual receptionist. It should direct visitors to the location in your website that is relevant to their purpose for being there, just as a real receptionist would. Your site should have clear and simple navigation and regularly updated with relevant content. You can effectively communicate aspects of your company’s knowledge and expertise that your clients and business partners might not otherwise learn about. Also, with the appropriate input forms and search engines, you can allow clients and potential clients to tell you something about themselves that could help lead to a future sale for your company, while receiving specifically requested information that they may find useful and valuable.

E-Marketing Techniques
An effective e-marketing program should consist of, at a minimum:

Company website.
An online sign up form.
Email client/application capable of sending and receiving HTML-formatted messages
Examples of company projects.
Personnel contact database.
Adobe Acrobat software for producing universal-format electronic documents (PDF)

Here’s a list of website content items that can keep visitors returning to your site regularly.

News – updated stories about company events, people, awards and customer stories.
Free stuff - people do like free stuff. For example, you can have a monthly “free” newsletter offering that anyone can download.
Do a podcast - offer expert advice.
Discussion groups – Share your expertise in an interactive manner. If you specialize in a particular area, invite clients and prospects to an online discussion through one of the many inexpensive chat room services such as webex, dim-dim or yugma.

More email marketing strategies

2009-02-20T22:43:00.005-05:00

Three out of four leads will not buy from you within the first six months. E-mail marketing allows you to nurture those prospects until they’re ready. one way of building that relationship, is to encourage them to opt in.

Here are some more strategies you may use:

Tradeshows/networking events. Make a note on business cards of contacts that have chosen to be added to your e-mail list. Try sending a follow-up e-mail to new contacts, and mention your newsletter as a way to keep in touch. Also, try having a raffle/contest at your next show. Not only will it drive traffic to your booth, but it’s an opportunity to collect e-mail addresses from anyone entering. Let entrants know they will be added to your newsletter list.

Viral marketing. Include a forward to a friend link in your email campaign. You can also run a “Forward to a Friend Contest” in your e-mail newsletter. If readers use the Forward link, they’re entered to win a prize.

Subject line. Try adding “Pls. Forward” to the end of your newsletter subject line.

E-mail signature. Include a “Join Our E-mail List” link at the bottom of your e-mail signature—and your staff’s. Try to make the language more compelling!

Customer support. Have your customer-support staff request e-mail addresses. Familiarize them with your newsletter content.

Squeeze page. Create a Web page that “squeezes” contact info out of a visitor. Use a free download or more information about your services as a lure.

Web site. Have a sign-up box on every page of your Web site. Each is a potential landing page.

Show list. Sometimes tradeshow organizers will provide a list of attendees’ e-mail addresses. Send out a newsletter a few days before the show introducing your company. you may also includes a link to set up an appointment and a download of your latest items.

Competition/contest. Offer a contest to win a voucher or gift certificates for your products or services. Promote your contest in magazines, at tradeshows, and on your Web site.

Customer events. Hold events where you push e-mail sign-up. A lot of retailers hold in-store parties around Christmas. Think of holidays that appeal to your customer base, or just make one up, a la “Girls’ Night Out.”

Pop-up/ pop-over. Use a pop-up box or pop-over on your Web site. Spiegel has a Java-based pop-over sign-up form; GQ has a pop-up box on exit. I know, some of us hate pop-up boxes, but they are effective.

Business card. The back of your business card is a great place to promote your newsletter, i.e. “Stay in touch via our monthly Tips newsletter.”

Cross-promotion. Team up with complementary businesses. Try not to hijack each other’s newsletter; introduce yourself gradually to your partner’s readers. Make sure you design your creative to fit in with theirs. Have you noticed how Daily Candy cross-promotes, using its own artwork and copywriter for its dedicated e-mails? It’s not so jarring and feels less like spam.

Business associations. Contact your association for its membership roster. There are thousands of associations and trade organizations. Many provide their list to members for free. Send colleagues an incentive to sign up for your newsletter.

Articles. Write an article (like this one!) and publish it for free in other newsletters and on Web sites. Add the line, “Want to receive more articles like this? Click here.”

Online sign-up page. Subscribers like to know what they’re getting into. Your sign-up page needs to sell your newsletter. Include:

• A clear outline of the type of content your newsletter covers

• Explain the benefits of receiving your newsletter

• Testimonials from current subscribers

• A link to your privacy statement

• A sample of past issues

• Set the right expectations by stating your frequency

Long subscription forms. Keep your subscription process simple, requiring name and e-mail address only. If you ask for a postal code, tell them why you need it. (To send information about local stores, for instance.) You can always survey subscribers later for additional information.

Reprint your newsletter content. Let others reprint your newsletter/blog articles. You gather links back to your site and new readers. Just ask that they add your contact information/link details.

Direct mail list. Chances are you already have a mailing list. Send out a postcard with an incentive to sign up for your e-mail newsletter.

Checkbox on all your forms. Wherever you have a form on your Web site (and off), add a checkbox or extra entry where contacts can sign up for your newsletter. Never force someone to deselect a checkbox; leave them empty by default.

Bills, receipts, and invoices. I read recently how a restaurant successfully grew its e-mail list by attaching cards to each bill. One of my clients adds stickers to invoices and store receipts encouraging customers to sign up.

Online video. Promote your newsletter in your online videos. Do this early on; most Web videos do not get viewed all the way through. If posting on YouTube, remember to add your URL to the title.

Start a blog. A nice side effect of starting my Style Campaign blog is that my newsletter subscription list has grown dramatically. Blogs increase your site traffic and allow the reader to get a taste of your newsletter content. Be sure to add a newsletter sign-up link on your blog sidebar so it can be accessible at all times.

Comment on blogs. No time to start a blog? You can still comment and get involved in discussions on other sites. Often your name will be linked back to your Web site, which can generate newsletter subscriptions.

Improve communications, boost customer loyalty and attract new and repeat business

2009-02-17T20:11:00.004-05:00

In the times of economic uncertainty, Business owner need to improve communications, boost customer loyalty and attract new and repeat business.

Here are a few ideas:

■ Define Your Objectives. Understanding what you want to achieve with an email campaign should determine your content, and thus, your success. A promotional campaign is the best format to drive more sales or registrations for your business. To create brand recognition and reinforce your expertise in your industry, educational newsletters are the way to go. The most effective email strategies are those that offer value to your subscribers: either in the form of educational content or in the form of promotions.
■ Build a quality list. A quality, permission-based list is a vital component of any email marketing campaign. Ask for permission at every customer touch point such as your website, on the phone, At trade shows and networking events or at the register,.
■ Listen to your customers. It is critical that you understand your customers’ needs. You may use an online surveys tool to ask specific questions about customers’ preferences, interests and satisfaction, arming you with valuable information you can use to improve your products and services to best meet the needs of your customer bases.
■ Send only relevant/targeted communications. Don’t alienate your customers by sending irrelevant communications. Find out about their specific interests when they sign up, and then, send only relevant content to those subscribers. Your customers will appreciate the extra effort.
■ Leverage your brand. Brand recognition is important. Use or design templates that expresses your brand identity. Templates allow you to promote your local activities and events while ensuring brand consistency and increasing awareness.
Email communications are the best way for small businesses to keep in touch with their customers – easily and affordably!

How can you grow your list?

2009-02-11T14:21:00.009-05:00

Place a “Join my email list” sign-up box on your website
Have a Website Contests—give away something of value, tickets to concert, samples of your products etc. to get people to join. One of my clients offer people who subscribe to their list a 10% discount plus 3 free sample packets of their face cream.
Encourage your customers or members to spread the word - Give prizes to active members who forward the newsletter to friends and get them to sign up.
Have a raffle @ a trade show - tell customers they will be placed on your mailing list.
Run an internal contest to get all your employees involved
Collect email addresses everywhere Are there organizations or businesses you could cross-promote with? find some and do so!

Here is a sample sign-up form.

Here are places that you can place this handy form:

Place them Near cash registers - as customer make their purchase, you can invite them to sign up.
At registration counter - as guest check in and out, the form will be right there.
At a fundraising event - participants will want to hear from you.
At places of worship - as people leave the service, they can opt in to receive your newsletter.

How to get your e-mails read

2009-02-07T11:53:00.007-05:00

Many of us have a big problem with e-mail marketing - how do you get the recipient to open and read your e-mails. I know I delete e-mails without actually opening them and I am sure there are millions of users who do the same. Here are some things you can do that may get your e-mails opened and with luck, read and acted upon.

News: Use breaking news as your subject. News headlines create curiosity with the recipient and will lead them to opening the e-mail and reading the contents.

How To: Providing solutions in the form of how to’s, or perhaps get better use out of a product are always popular.

Questions: Turn your statements into questions. If you ask the right questions you will spark the curiosity required to get your e-mail opened and read.

Command: Command your reader using language that directs them to open your e-mail. Time sensitive commands can work well for example; ‘act now’, ‘last day’.

Challenge: A challenge can often spark curiosity in an e-mail. Challenges use key words such as ‘dare’, ‘are you game’, ‘do you have what it takes’.

The one common thread amongst all five subject lines is curiosity. E-mail marketing relies on sparking that curiosity that is within all of us. The best way to spark curiosity is to use an emotional hook. Tug on the emotions and your campaign will at least get read.