Work Better, Not Harder

Natasha in her studio (guest post by Natasha Marchewka) ***  Click to listen in rather than read Have you considered adding audio to your blog or eNewsletter? As a voice actor, someone who uses and sells their voice for a living, showcasing my voice and having an archive of recorded blogs is an obvious choice for me. Adding audio to marketing adds to the multimedia dimension, offering readers more engagement. Lucky for me, Linda Daley of Daley Progress has embraced my audio blogs as she is able to listen to it weekly while completing other tasks! But adding the element of an audio file isn't limited to voice actors. Including a voice in your content, be it a blog, newsletter, website, or social media is just smart.  When you want your client or customer to have the perception of a personal connection with you, offering more of yourself, like a photo, audio greeting, or even video is another step closer to making your way into their hearts and minds. Who might...

I recently had the pleasure once again of hearing Toni Newman speak about innovation and being different. If you haven't attended an event featuring Toni, you won't hear the energy and conviction behind her message, but an important message it is. Below is my attempt to share it with you – quotes are from Toni. Each of us has a default set of expectations around just about everything we do, even things we haven’t done. My default will be different than yours, but we both have one. Toni’s example was about tipping in a restaurant and a delightful experience with a waiter named Stefan. My default might be to give a 15% tip before taxes; yours might be different. For me to tip more or less, the experience has to break my expectations, either better or worse. “The unexpected moves people beyond their default mindset.” Toni says that in order to be better, we also have to be different, because being different is what breaks those default mindsets. And ‘different’ doesn...

“Nobody signs up for newsletters anymore.” I heard as I sat in the audience during an Infusionsoft presentation. I gritted my teeth. The presenter went on to say that newsletters are all about what’s happening with the company and have no value. A filling popped out. I kept my mouth shut till I could get home to my keyboard. Here's why... I was chatting with a new client recently and asked her if she had a chance to look at the newsletter examples in my online gallery . She told me she had actually signed up for several of them. This is just one example that shows people still want interesting and useful information delivered to their inbox. People say YES to value. When they know you deliver value on a regular basis, they'll sign up because they won't want to miss it . In fact, stats say that 1 in 5 people actively seek out and sign up for newsletters to get the information they want. Creating that perception of value happens over time as you consistently mee...

If you've ever tried to send a newsletter with the word 'sex' in it, you'll know that spam checkers don't like it. Likewise they don't like 'ass'. Or 'financial' and 'freedom' anywhere near each other. Or many swear words. Sometimes this can be a challenge when talking about certain topics. For example, I've had to change the word 'sex' to 'gender', and another time to 'sexual'. But what do you do when 'kick ass' is exactly the right message you want to send? It doesn't have to be a show stopper. Find some creative way around it. Here's an example. Debi at New Life Business Solutions sent me her content with the subject line filled in as "Need a kick in the ass?" It had to change. The alternative was "Need a kick in the posterior area?" Hardly catchy, but maybe intriguing. I tried to make up for it inside. view full email message Click to Tweet this Articl...

You might think it’s a good idea to use a subject line that will make people curious about what’s inside the email - a teaser. That tactic can work well if the sender is familiar. But generally, if that’s the case, there’s no need to trick people into opening. And, if that isn't the case, there better be something really amazing within the email or your reader will feel duped - not a good thing! Instead, consider a subject line that clearly signals what’s within . When people know what they will get and it’s relevant to them, they'll open. If it’s not relevant, they can ignore, and ignoring is much better than unsubscribing . Consider this example: Among the many emails in my inbox every day, I found one from my local pub with the subject line ‘Open me. I’m Irish!’ The combination of the sender and the subject line meant I immediately knew they're writing to tell me about what was going on for St. Patrick’s Day, perhaps food specials and entertainment. If I was pla...

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 unsubscribe function, subscribers can easily signal that the content isn't relevant.   ( Tweet This! ) And that's likely the only step they'll take. This is a relatively easy solution to a risky situation. Reputable bulk email service providers (ESPs) are not that costly to use. It also sends a message to your subscribers that you care about their opinions and are willing to pay for them. If you make unsubscribing easy , it will be a non-experience rather than a bad one  - for both you and the subscriber. photo by 28 Dreams / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article

I've been thinking recently that launching businesses are likely having difficulty getting their desired domain name or even something partway relevant. It makes me happy to have my own little stash of domain names. I'll always recommend buying a .com domain, and a .ca domain would be your second choice if you're in Canada. The short, snappy, relevant domain names are mostly all snatched up. I know because I'm often searching for domains for clients or event promotion. If you're unfortunate to be stuck with very limited options, you might instead opt for a domain name that's more memorable, if perhaps not so easy to guess. The first round of new domain extensions are already live, and more will be launching - in fact, 243 of them! Here's what's trending for March 2015:   (source: Netfirms) .space .website .nyc .club .ninja .solutions .photo .global .buzz .guide Aside from choice and variety, there's fun to be had, too. How ab...

One question I get asked a lot is, “When is the best time to send my newsletter?” If the person asking has an hour or so, we might chat about how it can depend on a lot of things about their business, strategy and target market. Then I might tell them about the overall industry statistics . But really, do you pick Tuesday because it’s half a percent better than Monday? That will only make a difference if you have thousands of subscribers. Consider your own email habits. How do you vet that backlog of emails you find on Monday morning? Keep in mind that, if you aren't part of your target market, your habits will vary from your subscribers’ habits. Don't project your own judgments onto your readership. Ideally, you want your newsletter to arrive when your subscriber is using their email. And when they read is often dictated by where they read - at home, at work, or out and about. So, the answer is simple: figure out when your subscribers are using their email and s...