Posts with the tag 'Email marketing'
I just got an email from ??? Can’t even tell you at the moment. Whatever they said, whatever they offered, I nibbled, I bit, I got hooked.
They did everything right including thanking me for taking action. On the thank you page was a list of related resources. Many looked interesting and valuable and free. So I selected the ones most relevant for me. Here’s what I discovered…
All are by different authors. How do I know? I got emails from the different authors - the double opt-in type. Each therefore had a link for me to click to confirm I wanted what they were offering. I went to a different website for each information product I had selected. All were nice enough websites…
Some were offering additional products for a fee. Some now had me subscribed to a new newsletter.
And I now have access to lots of new informatin I said I wanted in the first place.
On one hand, I’m impressed with this strategy. A very cool approach in theory… All of this was professionally done. No complaints in that regard.
Here’s my growing concern as I get email after email offering more information. Not just the ones I mentioned above… From lots of other people ~ some I know, some I don’t and have no idea how they got my name in the first place (whether the info they’re offering is valuable or not…)
I’m on information overload – not so much the information itself, mind you. I love learning new stuff. The world’s changing so fast, I’m grateful there are so many people out there keeping up with this aspect or that, and are offering to let me in on their secret.
Free or fee, receiving access to all this information isn’t the problem.
It’s the time involved with reading the original email, clicking, entering my info, getting opt-in email, clicking, either waiting for next email or getting immediate access to the resource – which I usually have to save as I’m not in the stop and read mode.
I know I’m not alone. How are you dealing with it on the receiving end? Deleting? Unsubscribing?
Here’s my BIGGER question:
What if you’re a consultant wanting to serve more people and make more money? What’s a consultant to do to stand out in a noisy and crowded marketplace?
Any ideas? I sure would love to hear from you!
Woops, I just left myself wide open to get yet another bunch of new emails offering me yet another bunch of new information products or services promising to solve this problem or that.
What’s a girl to do?
More important, what’s a consultant to do?
Tags: Become an Expert, Email marketing, Information Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing for Consultants, Marketing for Professionals
December 14th, 2009
That’s the question a client asked me today.
I recommended early Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday morning.
Why?
An email sent over the weekend will probably get lost among the others that accumulate over the weekend. Your potential reader is busy getting a jump-start on their week and might simply delete all non-critical emails to simplify their work.
Those sent on Monday might be ignored as the potential reader is focused on getting things done, especially if some tasks were from Friday’s list.
Friday people are eager to finish all they can as early as they can in advance of the coming weekend.
That leaves Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Why morning? Send it early enough and your potential reader will see it first thing.
Want to increase the probability that people open your emails or ezine?
- Write an engaging title.
- Offer edutaining, valuable information in every email. Edutaining? That’s a combination of educational and entertaining.
- Refrain from including pure directly promotional or sales-oriented content in everything you send. That’s a sure-fire way to get people to unsubscribe.
- Keep the emails short and to the point.
If it’s a long post, consider including a very sizzly introduction in the email with an invitation to read more with a link to your blog or website.
That’s a great way to get readers to take action. And once they’re on your website or blog, they’re more likely to click around.
Wherever you send them, make the destination interesting. Include graphics, audio and video.
Here’s an extra tip: Be sure to go to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networking sites where you’re active and post comment with a link to the valuable information you’re sharing.
Happy emailing. And if you’ve got actual stats to either support what I’m recommending or suggests a different course of action, please comment so we can all learn from your expertise.
Thanks.
Tags: Email marketing, ezine marketing
October 24th, 2009
I’ve been thinking about the subject of this post for a long time.
I just read a great article in a great newsletter by Maria Marsala, CEO of Elevating Your Business, and am finally inspired to the point of taking action… ah, this comment of mine perfectly ties my post to the topic of her newsletter’s article So What’s Holding You Back? Which Excuse Is it?
I’m going to “Just Do IT!
When I evaluate someone’s mixed media tapestry, one of the things I look for is a dynamic balance between inbound and outbound messages.
An outbound message is one you send out to members of YOUR World who have granted you permission to connect with them. In other words, an outbound communication is one you send to your list, like an email, a newsletter, or an ezine.
An inbound message is one you put out into The World for anybody to find if they’re interested in andlooking for what you’re sharing. When people see or hear your message, they come into YOUR World to find out more. For example, advertising is inbound, as are all links to your website. Blogs, articles, and podcasts that are well designed for SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and are posted to online directories area also inbound messages. People search for what they want and if what you’re offering shows up high enough on their search, they’re inbound to learn more.
So what does this have to do with Maria’s article on excuses?
I really liked her article and her newsletter. Great value throughout the newsletter ~ otherwise I wouldn’t have known that Wayne Dyer has a new show on PBS ~~~ Thank you, Maria ~~~
“Did you see the latest Wayne Dyer PBS (Public Broadcasting Station) Special? It’s called “Excuses Begone” It is excellent, just what I needed to hear. Before you watch it take out a pad because I’m sure you’ll want to take notes. Click here to find Excuses Begone on your local station.”
I appreciated her honesty, transparency, and authenticity:
“The show was just what I needed right now as I go through some trying times. The show helped me realize that a good deal of my trying times is due to the fact that I’ve gone back to living my excuses. The last time I was in this space, I wrote an article about excuses myself.
“It’s this week’s tip. May it help you as much as it did me.
Stay positive and be confident,
Maria”
And I appreciated the article which I copied below.
Here’s the thing ~~~ I had to copy and paste all of the above into my blog post instead of simply copying and pasting the link to where I found the article.
This would have saved me time ~ copying a link takes way less time than copying and pasting all this content.
And, from Maria’s perspective, she would have created a powerful inbound message for others to find.
And here’s the good thing ~ because the newsletter is a private, outbound media, search engines don’t find and catalog it to offer in future search results. That means even though Maria has included the exact same content in two places, the search engines don’t consider it double content. Double content is when you post the exact same content on several different websites.And that’s good because you get penalized for having double content on the web.
So, the point of this part of today’s blog post is: If you have valuable information whether in the form of a tip, an article, or a link to another valuable resource (yours or someone else’s,) share it with people on your list AND with the rest of us out here in The World who might want to become part of YOUR World.
In other words, yes, include the info in your newsletter AND put it out into cyberspace for others who are hungry and searching for you and your expertise.
It’s a win for everyone. We who are looking for get what we need. And you get to be well seen and well heard so you can be well paid. And aren’t those both great reasons we’re here sharing our messages.
So, share your expertise every way you can.
No excuses! Just Do IT!
Thank you, Maria, for motivating me to write this post and for your valuable article.
And now, Maria’s article ~~~>
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So What’s Holding You Back? Which Excuse Is it?
Summary: Want to be happier? Start to remove all the excuses you use… and gain more time and energy too!
I’m not sure what the history of “excuses” is, except to know that a majority of the time excuses equal some sort of self-dishonestly.
They’re part of what we thought we “should do” vs. being a “must do”! Excuses come from us not being able to take our own “no’s”. They’re what we say to people so that we “don’t hurt their feelings”. Excuses are what we say so that others don’t hurt us. Excuses are part of what we’re tolerating in our life (that which draws out our energy and squashes it)!
Excuses come back to haunt us unless we look at them as gifts from clients or friends or even ourselves. Have you ever received an excuse for “something” and thought — Is that person kidding with that excuse? Why didn’t they just say NO? OH! … I am doing the same thing to “so and so”.
Say NO!!! Sometimes saying “NO” to someone means saying “YES” to someone even more important — YOU!
What can you do when you give someone a “no” that they don’t accept? Take the time to think about what type of answers you can give and things you can do to protect your boundaries so that you can raise your standards. Check out these Top Ten Lists about boundaries. They are just wonderful! “Things to say pleasantly when people attempt to invade your boundaries” by Coach Diana Robinson, Ph.D. www.topten.org/public/BG/BG1.html and another wonderful Top Ten by Coach Dennis Tesdell www.topten.org/public/BN/BN1.html
Integrity Lesson
This month, write down all the excuses you hear yourself giving others and giving yourself. Look for the patterns. Are you not setting boundaries? Are you setting boundaries and the person isn’t listening? Are you setting boundaries and you’re not enforcing those boundaries? Or what other patterns do you see.
And remember: Yes, No and Maybe are all complete sentences.
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© 2009 Maria Marsala is a Strategic Business Advisor, Speaker, Author and former Wall Street Trader. She supports and teaches high-achieving, big thinking business women to expand their businesses strategically and get results — faster. See where your business is leaking profits. Take our Business Check up today at www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com
Tags: Email marketing, Information Marketing, Marketing for Professionals, Strategies for Success
June 6th, 2009
John Flynn of Orlando, FL, posted this question to the LinkedIn Mastermind Networking Group.
Do email blasts work as sales/marketing tools?
We are exploring options to reach potential clients and we were wondering if email blasts are effective. I own a retouching studio in Florida with a good client base and portfolio but i need to create more exposure for us and hopefully land new business. Any suggestions?
Of course, I had a few. I hope you find they help you, too.
Great question, John! I know there are things you can do to improve the likelihood that your email would get opened:
* Use great headlines. You can do a search and read lots about how to create a great headline. Hint: search on both email subject lines, article titles, ad headlines.
* Be as clear, concise and compelling as possible about the purpose and benefits, the expected outcomes of your products/services —
* Do this above the fold – imagine what someone would see when they open their email without scrolling. They’ll scroll if you grab their attention above the fold.
* Include a clear and sizzling Call-To-Action and a link to where they take that action.
* Make sure the link takes them to exactly the page where they can take that action. If they can’t take that action on your home page, don’t take them there. They will leave unless you make it absolutely clear to them they are in the right place to do what they came to do.
* There are certain words and how you type them that increase the likelihood that your email will be flagged as spam. I don’t know where you can find this info – I just did a search on Google & Ask… no luck … so maybe someone else who reads this will know. If not, write me back and I’ll find out. My resources are not available at the moment…
* Plan on doing an email campaign. A single email will get you some results, especially if you do all of the above. But some will be deleted before they’re opened. Some might get lost in cyberspace.
For each follow-up email you send, your open and response rates go up higher and higher.
* Be sure you know the limitations your isp (internet service provider) imposes on sending out lots of emails. For example, some limit you to 50/hour.
To avoid getting into trouble with your isp AND if you really want to know how successful your email campaign is ~ bounce rate, open rate, etc. AND if you want to send out a sequence of emails AND you want to automate your email marketing campaigns, THEN you’ll want to use an email management software. The most popular on the market right now is Aweber. Some full-featured e-commerce solutions include automated email management software.
Tags: Email marketing, Information Marketing, Marketing for Professionals
June 2nd, 2009
