Quora


A website devoted to answering people’s questions on a variety of subjects. The twist with Quora is that it allows you to interact with others on the site and develop relationships while also giving a sense of fun. Two reasons to use it: to build your expertise and to get answers to questions. Click here to try it out.

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Permission Marketing for Membership Lists

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photo by HowardLake Any of the reputable bulk email service providers (ESPs) will expect you to have received permission to email your subscribers. In many cases, this requirement can be satisfied by having a public sign-up form . Of course, this isn't an option for organizations sending private messages to a membership list. Just because someone has agreed to become a member, paying or free, doesn't mean you have permission to email them - unless you have asked for it during the membership process . Granted, this may seem like overkill. Generally, when someone becomes a member, they'll expect to receive some email communication. But the problem likely won't arise from your members. It'll come when you (wisely) decide to use a bulk ESP to communicate with them. That is when it will be important to be able to demonstrate that you have permission. While you might be asked to provide proof of permission for all subscribers, being able to show a process that ...
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Good, Fast, Cheap

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On the inside of one of our garage doors, in black permanent marker, the previous owner - a mechanic and race car driver - wrote: good fast cheap pick 2! I know Mike was talking about cars but this trifecta has implications for other (small business type) things, like marketing, product development, project management, and problem solving. Let's say you can get a good website built fast; you shouldn't expect it to be cheap. If it's fast and cheap, don't expect quality, and so on. If you think you're getting all three, beware! Economics - and people - don't work like that. Click to Tweet this Article
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Curate to Become a Trusted Resource

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Whatever your specific goals are, your content needs to get read to have any impact and be valuable . It must be useful and interesting to get read. It must get read many times ( consistency ) to be trusted. You want to be that trusted resource. I have a trusted resource for social media updates which is a great example of valuable curated content. Do any of us have time to keep up with all of the changes to the social media platforms? Yet we use them every day. I like to know about new functionality and new apps, but I don't have time to keep up. Getting a point form summary of all the changes in my inbox once a month is extremely valuable. It saves me time, I can dig deeper if I want, and I can use the information to make decisions about my social media strategy. Curating content is a great strategy for providing timely updates about things that change fast. ( Tweet This ) social media update section in newsletter Want to see this great example? Click here to view Twi...
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Consistent and Repetitive

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Keeping a consistent schedule is something we coach our newsletter clients about. Over time, consistency will show up as loyalty - from both sides of the equation. You are demonstrating your loyalty to your readers by creating and meeting expectations. Your readers become more loyal when you do that. Being repetitive is also important. Sales gurus say it takes 7 tries to get someone’s attention . Of course, I don’t mean that you should do the same thing 7 times. Be creative and try 7 different approaches. Over time, repetition will show up as diligence and tenacity . The key words to note are 'over time' because neither of these strategies is instant. photo by an untrained eye Click to Tweet this Article
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Colour of the Year for 2018 is No Shrinking Violet

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If Efficiency is Your Goal, You'll Want These Tools

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Being Opened vs. Being Read

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Summer Marketing Sets You up for Success in the Fall

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You might think blog (and newsletter) readership drops over the summer when many people head on vacation. And you would be wrong. Some people have more time to read during the summer months. In fact, they will read more deeply, taking the time to click links and follow a topic or call to action. Before you start tossing rotten fruit my way... I not suggesting you skip vacation in favour of marketing. Your summer holiday may be as important to your body's health as your marketing is to your business health. In the same way you'll figure out how to take some vacation days this summer, you can also figure out a way to keep your marketing alive and kicking. Make a content plan in advance. I'm not the best person to dish out this advice as I do most of my content creation on the fly as inspiration strikes me. But summer has even me doing some necessary planning. At the least, jot down a list of possible topics to use over the summer. (Do it now; I'll wait for you....
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List Building Using Social Media

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