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Marketing
Email Marketing: Text vs. Images
Have you ever opened an email to a big blank nothing? Probably you saw a little icon that tells you there should have been an image… but it wasn’t loading for you. Ugh, what a waste of time opening that email. Of course, you don’t … Keep reading…
Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About
THIS is yet another good reason to be creating marketing content: “Conversation is king. Content is just something to talk about.” – Cory Doctorow While I would argue that content is more than just something to talk about (or should be), I love this sentiment! … Keep reading…
Consistency Comes from Having a Process
Late in the ’90s, after an intense SAP implementation with my employer at the time in Toronto, I spent the better part of a year working with all of the different business groups to document and improve on their process workflows. This meant travelling to … Keep reading…
Books and Games: Enlightening and Strategic 2020
Like you, this past year has been one of changing and adapting for my business. And also like you, it’s meant big changes to my personal life. For one thing, I had more time to read. But instead of escaping into my usual murder mysteries … Keep reading…
Easy Solutions to Complex Problems?
“For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” – Henry L. Mencken – Henry was not a small business owner. Instead, he was a journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic and scholar who penned that quote a hundred years ago. … Keep reading…
If Starting to Write is What’s Causing You Pain…
A glowing white screen can be mesmerizing in its utter emptiness, taunting you to type something… but not just anything. It’s got to be useful or interesting to your blog and newsletter readers. It’s got to be better than the last article you wrote. It’s … Keep reading…
Ideas for Your Holiday Email Campaign
It’s that time of year when our email boxes quickly fill up each day with special promotions – Black Friday will kick it all off. Depending on your type of business and target market, you may be (should be?) considering doing some extra promotional emails … Keep reading…
List Building Questions Answered
Back in June, I had the honour and pleasure of being a guest on Mary Jane Copps’ monthly webinar. The topic was “How to Continually Grow Your List… and Why It’s Important”. We had a wonderful chat and answered common questions about list building. You can … Keep reading…
Avoid Marketing Emergencies by Planning Backwards
I’ve joked to friends that no one ever needs to reach me in a hot rush because there are no marketing emergencies. In fact, there are some things that might constitute an “emergency” (Sheldon quotes), such as a website going down or an app not … Keep reading…
1,000,000 Pageviews Happy Dance
I’m tickled pink because I finally reached 1M pageviews here on the blog. It feels like a #VanityStat but I know it has led to lots of great opportunities over the years… ten years, in fact. This wasn’t even a goal when I started blogging in … Keep reading…
Perpetual One-Question Survey = Evergreen Content
You and I both know it can be a lot of work to keep the content machine going – blogging, email marketing, social media and more. When I find an idea I can execute in 15 minutes that will give me social media posts and … Keep reading…
How to Avoid Iffy Language in Your Marketing Calls-to-action
If your ideal client has finally found you – your website, your blog, your social profiles – you want to be strong and confident with your calls-to-action. I’ve written before about ‘just’ and ‘feel free’ and other wishy-washy language. It doesn’t serve you well. Here’s … Keep reading…
The Truth About Magic Bullets
There are no 3-easy-steps to becoming a millionaire. If magic bullets and passive income really existed, we’d ALL be sitting around enjoying the view from our yachts. Cambridge Dictionary defines a ‘magic bullet’ as “a quick and simple solution to a difficult problem”. None of … Keep reading…
Sudden Appearances and Why They May Not Work
Have you noticed a sudden flurry of emails recently? Here are a couple of examples I’ve received: The nail technician who I haven’t heard from since before the pandemic suddenly shows up telling me she’s open for appointments. But not a word earlier about the … Keep reading…
Basic Set-up for a Lead Magnet
Recently several small business owners have asked me about how to set up a lead magnet to encourage more subscriptions to their newsletter. Here are instructions for you DIYers. First, prepare your lead magnet – the thing that you’re giving away. It should be something … Keep reading…
The Bottom Line About Newsletter Bottoms
There seems to be some thinking that getting people to read to the bottom of a newsletter is a most desirous goal. And, if getting people to read to the bottom (read the whole newsletter) is so important, isn’t putting the really good stuff at … Keep reading…
Testing Theories: Marketing Experimentation
Advice is one thing but thought and research are still necessary. Theory is another thing (I’m all for it) but experimentation is where the rubber hits the road (and many other analogies). Now is a good time to try new things and figure out what … Keep reading…
Watching, Learning and Stopping
A client recently wrote in her newsletter about how reducing her social media presence over the past few months hasn’t impacted her sales results. Here’s what Natasha said: As the weeks and months fall away, it’s glaringly obvious to me how I can let go … Keep reading…
Should You Be Concerned with SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) has been low on my own priority list throughout the 15 years I’ve been marketing my own services. Yes, I freely admit I’ve been mostly ignoring it while doing just the basics. This may seem like a blatant disregard for something … Keep reading…
Find Gems in Your Sent Mail
Perhaps you’re wondering, “What the heck am I going to write about this week?” Look no further than your Sent mailbox. Over the past month or so, I’ve answered a lot of questions by email. I bet you have, too. Have you considered that, if … Keep reading…
Social-Media-Friendly Blogging
You’ve just finished editing (and proofing!) your latest blog post. You pause for a mental happy dance, then you click Publish. Ahh. And now the rest of the work starts. Because, of course, you need to let people know about this new useful and interesting … Keep reading…
Newsletter Audit Checklist
Whether you’ve been doing an email newsletter for a while or are just getting started, there are always ways to improve. Not all of these items will apply to every business’ email newsletter but include as many as are appropriate for yours. Link to view the … Keep reading…
The Biggest Mistake You Can Make in Your Small Business Newsletter
It happened again today. I am blown away by how often I see this particular mistake. I received an email newsletter from a business I wasn’t familiar with. That’s OK but I wanted to go to their website to investigate more. And there was not one … Keep reading…
How to Start Building Your First Email List
Like many things, list building seems pretty straight-forward… until you start. You may expect it to be tedious work of copy/pasting and spreadsheets and looking things up online. Yes, it likely involves some of that but I get asked a lot of questions about who … Keep reading…