ideas and tips for busy business owners… like you!
You may have several goals you want to achieve by way of your newsletter (substitute website, blog and/or social media as it applies to you). Probably you want to increase sales. Here are some other possible related goals: ‘Touching’ your customers, prospects and colleagues on a … Keep reading…
A newsletter is not one of those ‘build it and they will come’ things. It takes work to both maintain and build on each relationship that you (re-)start with each issue. Maintain: Give your readers what they want, not what you want to give them. Deliver … Keep reading…
I’ve been talking to a lot of people lately about creating and organizing their content for various purposes and places. In the process of conducting a recent lunch and learn on the subject, I collected lots of tips and ideas, and here’s a good one. Share … Keep reading…
As a follow up to my last article about managing what you measure, here is something else you should pay attention to: Do you know what your email marketing campaign is doing for you? That will lead you to answer the question: Should you be doing … Keep reading…
What you want are fans. Let’s dispel a newsletter myth. The myth is that you want to keep as many subscribers as you can. That’s simply not true. You pay for subscribers. If someone is not reading or forwarding your newsletter, why do you want to send it to … Keep reading…
Different types of marketing content will achieve different things. You can educate and inform, build trust, establish your expertise, expand your community, and generate sales. Building trust is one strategy that is appropriate for just about any type of organization or independent professional. It can … Keep reading…
Equally important, how much is too little? Too much and too little can both be bad when it comes to email marketing. People ask me how often they should send out their newsletter and I always answer the same thing – as often as you can bring value … Keep reading…
If there is anything visual about what you do, you should be using Flickr. It’s another social media tool and a whole other community that needs to know about what you do. (As an example, see this photo I posted last year which garnered unexpected … Keep reading…
I came across this excellent example of how to promote your newsletter sign-up on your website: It’s not visually appealing, but it says all the right things. It tells me what I can expect by signing up and teases me with what’s coming up next. The only thing … Keep reading…
Your website is about what you do and your blog is about why you love what you do. I wish I could say I made that up but I read it somewhere. It has really stuck with me though. What an easy rule to follow! … Keep reading…
It feels like someone was messing with my credit score this week. My domain daleyprogress.com was blacklisted. There are a couple of things about this I’d like to share. How did it happen? Apparently, a link to an event in one of my newsletters pointed to a … Keep reading…
You might be surprised at how many small business owners don’t collect testimonials on a regular basis. When I ask clients for testimonials to put on their newsletter, brochure or website, there is often a big scramble to start gathering them. I was like that … Keep reading…
Sometimes things are easier if someone else will just tell me what to do. That way of thinking especially applies to our websites and newsletters. Your call-to-action is critical – it’s the reason for people to contact you. Use your website and newsletter to convert … Keep reading…
I am fortunate to be good friends with a sales and marketing consultant. After years of advice, some things are definitely sticking. One of the most useful has been the P-O-S formula: Pain – what is your clients’ pain?Outcomes – what will be the result of working … Keep reading…
How long should a blog post be? It’s a common question that has no definitive answer. Some experts recommend keeping your posts under 800 words and others, under 500. One thing we all seem to agree on is that you have a brief moment to capture the … Keep reading…
A routine is not necessarily a bad thing but if blogging topics have become routine for you, chances are that your audience feels the same. One way to break the routine is to put very short survey questions on your blog asking your readers what … Keep reading…
Keeping blog content relevant to your target reader is a key factor in blog success but can easily get lost in our rush to get everything done. One way to slow down and remember your audience is to sit quietly at your keyboard for even … Keep reading…
Although I’ve set up the odd blog for other people, I’ve never really considered having one myself… until 2 days ago. My friend, Danielle, convinced me to contribute to a ‘photo a day’ blog. In 2 days, we’ve explored WordPress, Tumblr and Blogger, but ended … Keep reading…