Social Mention is a social media search engine that searches user-generated content such as blogs, comments, bookmarks, events, news, videos, and microblogging services. http://socialmention.com/
Whenever I get together with other business owners over lunch or coffee, the conversation often flows to a discussion of how to be more productive. What processes are we using? What contractors are helping? And what tools or apps are useful? I love this sharing of ideas and found out about many of the tools I use regularly from these chats. Those listed below are ones that I use at least weekly - often daily - and consider essential to managing my business. Google Calendar In the newsletter business, we have to keep track of a lot of dates - reminder dates, preparation dates and issue dates - for all our clients on varying schedules. Google Calendar has been invaluable, not only as an organizational and tracking tool, but also as a communication tool because it lets me share my calendars with work colleagues. I have my own calendar of appointments and events, plus a calendar to track all of the important newsletter dates. I use the email and pop-up reminders so I don’t forget a...
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...
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
example of sharing buttons I'm such a critic - an enewsletter critic that is. Of course, critiquing other newsletters is partly how I get better at my job. I'm often disappointed when I receive a newsletter or promotional email that doesn't give me buttons for easy sharing, especially when it's something I want to share. In many cases, with the amount of information to read these days, I will shrug and move on. I would have shared the information but the sender turned it into a job. Another job I don't have time for in my already busy day. How often do people shrug because they can't share your information easily? Think about your own activities, what encourages you to share? And how easily do you give up? Click to Tweet this Article
If you're considering starting a newsletter , there are a whole lot of little details that will be important to its success. Our clients are often surprised… and glad that they don’t have to figure it all out themselves. Here are just a few of the things you’ll need to consider. Return address: Regulations require a physical address to be included in commercial email. This is not something you can avoid. Most bulk emailing applications will prevent you from sending even test messages without an address. example of sign-up form Sign-Up Form: Most applications will produce a snippet of html code that is your sign-up form. You need to think about where you’ll put it. I recommend you put it on a web page of its own . Remember that you will be putting links to that page in your newsletter and other places. When people arrive there, don't make them hunt for your form. Subscribe process: When creating the code for your sign-up form, you’l...
These questions about email marketing should never be answered, “It doesn't matter.” When is the best time to send my newsletter? Do I need a sign-up form ? Where do I put my sign-up form? How often should I send my newsletter? Should I use a free bulk email application ? How do I get email addresses for my list? Where can I get images to use in my newsletter? How do I look at my statistics ? How long should my newsletter be? What about social media posting? These are just a few of the things you'll need to know and decisions you'll have to make when you start your own enewsletter. The answers to these questions can have a significant impact on the success of your campaign . Don't let anyone tell you differently. Click to Tweet this Article
Unlike some of the other marketing initiatives we undertake, email marketing can have very specific measurable results . Consider... The marketing consultant who locked down a $5000 contract as a direct result of a call to action in her newsletter The speaker who was asked to write a column for a national magazine in response to his newsletter The advisor who launched a speaking career when a speakers bureau responded to her newsletter The trainer who filled a workshop The entrepreneurs who filled a conference The therapist, the nail technician, the coach and the spa that each booked many appointments The wine store, the shoe store and the health store that sold more products The author who sold more books The many sold out events! Certainly the ROI of some email marketing campaigns can’t be measured as specifically as this. And there are lots of smaller benefits which accrue over time. If you're wondering how an enewsletter might benefit your business, contact m...
A recent iContact webinar listed "lack of presentation skills" among the top content marketing challenges . The others are no time, fear, and lack of imagination. The term "presentation skills" makes me think of PowerPoint, not online marketing. It's certainly an apt description but what does it mean specifically? Technical skills related to using software applications Technical skills related to graphic design Creativity and an eye for design Hyper-attention to detail If you don't excel at these things, you should be delegating them to someone who does... and spend your time doing what you do best. An expert will help you overcome those other challenges , too! photo by alexander.lissa / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article
There are several different actions that your subscribers can take when they receive your email in their inbox. While some of them are certainly more desirable than others, most of them aren't as bad as you might initially think. Email is deleted, unopened. This is the simplest thing to do and usually 2/3 of your list will do just that. Does that mean you should stop sending to these people? No way. They see your name in their inbox every time you send. They begin to realize they will hear from you again. Often they intend to read your emails... and sooner or later that might happen. Another thing to note is that many subscribers will read the text-only version of your message or disable images from loading. Your bulk email software will not be able to identify and flag those as 'opens' in your statistics. Your open rate is always higher than your stats show. The difference is increasing with the use of more mobile devices. Email is ignored. It...
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 that's portrayed more and more frequently as essential. It's actually been a strategic decision for my business... not an oversight. Why? SEO is complicated, time-consuming and expensive. It's a skill I've never desired to acquire. It's technical and behind-the-scenes, whereas I like doing work that can be seen (and yes, sometimes admired). Hiring help for SEO would be a big expense. The goal of SEO is generally to attract strangers. Over the years, I've wasted time with a few 'tire kickers'. Those are people who have stumbled across my website, know nothing about my experience or the quality of my work, and have focused on price comparisons. I have never competed on price - my ...
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