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list building
Leads or List-building… Decisions, Decisions
It’s so easy to get distracted when doing our own marketing work. Even when we have a plan and the supporting processes in place, losing focus is a daily challenge. Recently while masterminding with a friend, we were reviewing an email automation that she’s been … Keep reading…
Talking to More Than One Market? There’s a Strategy for That
It can be hard enough to figure out a marketing strategy for one target market, let alone two or more. Yet it’s absolutely worthwhile to create content as specific to your contacts’ interests as possible. Because if you are trying to satisfy everyone, no one … Keep reading…
Get to Know Your Contacts Better
This post was going to be titled “What You Need to Know About Segmenting” but that sure didn’t seem like a good reason for you to open and read. Even I tend to avoid articles making use of those marketing concept words. Segmenting is a … Keep reading…
Answers to Email Marketing Strategy Questions
Over 13 years of specializing in email newsletters, I’ve been asked a lot of different questions. And I’m pretty sure you’ll find answers to most of them here on my blog. But of course, nothing stays the same for long when it comes to marketing. … Keep reading…
To Drip, or Not… What is the Goal?
If you’re new to the lead magnet game, you may be confused… and rightfully so. There’s a lot of info and advice out there, much of it is conflicting. This article comes nowhere close to covering the whole gamut of options but my goal is … Keep reading…
I Want to Start a Newsletter for My Small Business – Where Do I Start?
It’s easy to get hamstrung by what you don’t know… and then do nothing at all. If starting an email newsletter for your small business has been on your to-do list for a while, here’s the perfect place to start. Below I’ve gathered my best … 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…
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…
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…
“Why Didn’t I Start an Email List Sooner?”
If you’re a small business owner without an email list, at some point your future self is going to think, “Why didn’t I start an email list sooner?” It takes years to build an engaged email audience. If you’re successful (and of course, you want … Keep reading…
Protect your Investment in List Building
Building a contact list is a long slog, which is why most business owners don’t have a good one. And why, when you have a good list, you need to appreciate every single entry in it. One of those contacts will bring your next big … Keep reading…
Why is List Building so Important for Small Businesses?
Your contact list should be the most valuable asset your small business has, like a privately owned gold mine. Once you have added someone to your contact list, you can create more chances to get them as a client or fan, sell them a product … Keep reading…
The Undiscovered Gold Mine in Your Own Backyard
There’s a reason that finding new clients is described as prospecting, and researching our contacts is called mining. It really can be long hours of hard work for little immediate return. In 1849, when Dr. Matthew Fleming Stephenson proclaimed, “There’s gold in them thar hills,” … Keep reading…
Call to Action: Why Would I Subscribe?
Aside from having a catchy subscription process on your website, you can use calls to action on your social media platforms to attract new readers. While doing a little research recently on Twitter, here are some examples I found – bad examples first. I have … Keep reading…
Tweet to Promote your Newsletter and Blog
Sure you’re doing lots of writing but is anyone reading it? Social media is a great way to promote your newsletter and blog to get more reading and more subscriptions. Particularly on Twitter, you could post a different call-to-action as often as daily. Here are … Keep reading…
Let them Unsubscribe if they don’t want your Stuff
Recently the first fine was handed down from the CRTC for violations of the new Canadian Anti Spam Legislation (CASL). The abuse had two parts: having no unsubscribe function content not relevant to those receiving it Those two parts go hand-in-hand. If you have an … Keep reading…
4 Ways to Constantly Grow your List
Over a year, your mailing list will decrease by 30%. That’s an industry average but we’ve seen it with our own and clients’ lists. You’ll lose contacts in several ways, not just through unsubscribes. People change their email addresses, for example, or have other difficulties … Keep reading…
Make it Obvious
“Put a sign-up form on every page of your website.” You’ve heard this, right? Well, it’s good advice… sort of. Half the story is missing. Here’s the other half… with context. Imagine your best friend has just forwarded to you a newsletter they’re raving about. … Keep reading…
Up the Value of Your Redirect Pages
Many of the people connecting with you online are arriving at one of your redirect pages at some point. A redirect page is the ‘thank you for signing up’ page you send them to when they sign up for your newsletter, or the event registration … Keep reading…