What's being said about you online?

An easy way to monitor your online reputation is to set up a Google Alert. It's quick and free. Follow this link www.google.ca/alerts and enter your full name with quotation marks around it - like "Linda Daley". It's a good idea to set one up with your company name as well. You'll receive an email every time your name shows up on the web. (If you have a common name it's a little trickier to filter, so read the FAQ to find out how.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Does Your Mother Know What You Do? (Part 2)

Image
It's hard to believe it's been over 4 years since I took my mother to her first (and only) business networking event and wrote about it here . I'm a big fan of the "Mom test" for simplifying our small business marketing messages but I didn't fully appreciate it until yesterday morning. I was driving out Waverley Road taking the long, more scenic route to Bedford with my mom in the passenger seat. Because she's my biggest fan, I was telling her about some of the exciting new things going on with my business. Oh, she was making all the right noises and nodding, as moms will, but that's when it hit me - she really had no clue as to what I was talking about, much less about why it's interesting and valuable work. I thought I passed the Mom test years ago when I explained I do newsletters and websites and generally help small business owners implement their marketing plans. She could, and does, tell people that. But since she's never used ...
Keep reading »

What Name Are You Using?

Image
This morning I deleted an email from a good friend and past client. I didn't realize it was from that wonderful lady because it didn't show up in my inbox from her name or her company's name. I only dug it out of my trash after deleting because the wording of the subject line seemed familiar. 42% of people check out the sender name when deciding whether to open an email. - source:  https://litmus.com/blog/6-shocking-myths-about-subject-lines My own newsletters, my blog posts and my weekly event list all go out from my own name - Linda Daley - and have for years. I absolutely know that if I suddenly changed the sender name on my emails, to say Daley Progress, my open rate would drop significantly. This is an experiment I don't need or want to try. Personal names often do better as far as email opens go but it can depend on how well you know your subscribers. More importantly, don't switch the sender name once you're well established. You want your su...
Keep reading »

Regular Contact is Critical

Image
"Other bands had mailing lists, but one of the secrets to GN’R’s success was how much time and effort we spent building and maintaining ours." Bassist Duff McKagan describes Guns N' Roses' email marketing campaign in his book “It’s So Easy (And Other Lies)". They used some aggressive and unusual tactics to build their mailing list, including sending strippers into the audience at their concerts. "At first we had to hustle really hard, but we grew our fan base faster as a result; as our mailing list expanded, it was easier and easier to sell tickets to our shows." GN'R didn't just send a message when they had something to promote; they maintained regular contact with their fans. They were one of the first bands to adopt email as a marketing strategy and attribute much of their early success to building their fan base through regular contact. Once you have gone through the hard work to build your list, don't neglect it. Maintaini...
Keep reading »

How to Set Up a PayPal Link to use in eMail

Image
When promoting anything, it's always best to have a way for people to pay right away. PayPal is usually an easy way to do this but sometimes I need a PayPal button in a place where I can't embed the html code, like in an email, Word document, or social media post. You may not know there's a simple way to get a PayPal link without the button code . It's a link just like any other url and can be shared anywhere online (although it's an ugly link so you'll want to hide it behind text). Here's the caveat: you have to avoid using any of the 'customize button' options. Once you're finished creating your button, on the next screen, click the tab for 'email' and copy the link. (see image) Now you can have people 'Buy Now' using that link instead of having to embed a PayPal button. Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Do you want to be an eMail Marketing Campaign Manager?

Image
Potential clients are sometimes a little uncertain about what we do as campaign managers . Others might not see the immediate value in working with a campaign manager instead of doing it themselves. Assembling and publishing a polished, error-free newsletter is our most visible contribution. But did you know about these invisible - but critical - contributions campaign managers bring to your marketing effort? Consult with you, making strategic recommendations about content development, timing, layout, list building, promotion, extending your reach through social media, new tools, and other ways to make the most of your newsletter. Manage the schedule and keep you on track with reminders and deadlines. Review your statistics with you periodically to monitor progress. Stay current with changes to the bulk email application software; troubleshoot as necessary. Periodically refresh your design and layout to prevent staleness. Stay current with industry trends. These contrib...
Keep reading »

Join Me!

This is a no charge online meeting service that allows you to gather people and allows them to see your computer screen as you demonstrate, teach or collaborate. The applications for your business are endless:  https://join.me/ Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

I Love Uphill Graphs!

Image
I've been known to fixate on graphs and measurements . See, I really hate working for no reason. I like to know that my efforts make a difference. If not, I either tweak and retry, or I give it up and put my efforts elsewhere. You can imagine that I've been keeping an eagle eye on all this online stuff - blogging, social media - since I took those first tentative steps . And it's really cool that the stats get dished up for me! I was delighted when I saw this graph of our blog statistics:  Before December, the highest number of page views we'd ever had in one month was in October - 997 views. I was kind of happy when that happened. In December,  our page views more than quadrupled! We did something right... but what was it? How do I replicate it? I think this happened because 3 or 4 times a week I started posting links to older blog posts on Twitter and LinkedIn. But, well, doesn't that seem just a lit...
Keep reading »

Make a Personal Connection - A Success Story

Image
Brenda Fay and her husband Dan of BrenDaniel Productions Corp. have trained people all over the world on project management. As a result, they have many contacts across several time zones. They had been using email marketing to promote their services. A couple of years ago I suggested to Brenda that she can get more out of her email marketing if she also gives some value to readers . Now her brief newsletter is bringing her success every time it goes out. Recently I asked Brenda where she gets her ideas . “From things that happen every day – talking with people, listening to CBC radio, and reading books are three main ways. I write about ideas that strike me as related to project management in one way or another.” Brenda told me that her goals are to stay in touch with people and to get information out about public programs she’s offering. It’s not a one way street. “It is fun for me to write the articles, and I am very pleased when people write back giving comments on the ...
Keep reading »

Ink It when you Think It

Image
Do you lose track of your great ideas? I do and I know my clients do, too. I've written before about using an 'idea catcher' . Mine is a notepad but sometimes that's not good enough. Many people have said they get their best ideas in the shower ( here's a tool for that ), while driving or walking, or standing in line. Our ideas are precious but fleeting, and it may not be easy to capture them all in one place. The important thing is to capture them somehow. Handwritten notes : If your notebook isn't handy use the back of a receipt or a napkin. When you eventually write the article, include a photo of your note for visual interest. Typed notes : There are many ways to capture your ideas if you're sitting at your computer. I tend to use Word for lengthier articles or series (kept in a folder called 'content ideas') and I start a draft on my blog for brief articles. Phone or tablet : When you're out and about, use notepad apps, or se...
Keep reading »

A Few Good Reasons

Image
"Why do I care if I get along with my co-workers or not?" This bold statement came from a young woman participating in a workshop I was delivering at a Halifax cosmetology school a couple of years ago. It was more of a statement than a question. Oddly, it actually shut me up for several seconds. Not because I didn't know the answer but because I was surprised that she didn't. That day we brainstormed 6 key reasons why getting along with other people is critical to any success. Working together, we can achieve these things that we cannot accomplish alone: More creative solutions. When we bounce ideas off each other, we arrive at better solutions than we would alone. Implementing complex plans and strategies. Because the work can be divided, together we can tackle complex projects more effectively than we can alone. Learning from others' skills and experiences. When we work with others, we also learn from others. Endurance. If one person is resp...
Keep reading »