The Absolute Best eMail Marketing Software

... is the one you don't have to learn yourself.

You don't know what you don't know. Hire an expert and go do what you do best.

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Home Office Holiday Party

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In preparation for our office party this year, I wrote a poem. Then I gathered together the things I would need to have a party with Romeo and Danielle. (The Temptations were for Romeo, the phone for Danielle, and the coffee for me.) Romeo, my cat, is used to hearing me talk out loud as I proofread and he was unusually excited about hearing the poem. Danielle, who lives several time zones away in Saskatchewan, also works alone (and helps me out lots) so I invited her to my office party by phone. It was a good move because she's a master at rhyming words. After much anticipation, I started to read the finished poem aloud to them. As you can see in the photos above, I had their full attention. Ode to a Midnight Blog Silent night, late at night, I've still got my blog to write. My laptop propped up on my bed, I'm hoping ideas will fill my head. Yawns escaping, eyelids drooping, Neck is stiff, my thoughts are looping. My brain is sore, I th...
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Does Your Mother Know What You Do? (Part 2)

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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 ...
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7 Out Of 12 Small Business Bloggers Agree On This

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When I teach marketing courses, the group eventually tires of seeing this list come up on the screen in every class: Build relationships, community Grow your reputation, sphere of influence Be seen as an expert Share valuable info, products, services Increase your social media following Give value to your customers, prospects and colleagues on a regular basis Get found - SEO The items on this list are key reasons for publishing a blog or newsletter . Yes, of course, the ultimate goal is sometimes - but not always - an increase in sales. The problem is, you (and me) can't meet all the goals on that list at the same time. We'd become unfocused and demotivated. So I 'force' these small business folk to pick only two goals  to focus on. Last week I noted the two goals each person called out as we went around the room. I added my own two goals, as well, to round the group off at a dozen. Seven of us chose #2 - growing our reputation - as one of our two ...
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Quick Tip - Avoid Hidden Format Problems

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When you're inserting content into your newsletter, website or blog, you're often copying it from other documents.  I suggest you always compose in Word (or similar) to take advantage of its spelling and grammar-checking functionality. Your formatting in Word may not be the same as your default formatting in these various applications.  While there are a raft of applications that make it easy now to do your own newsletter, website and blog, most of them are converting your content to html code in the background.  When you copy in text that is already formatted, you're possibly creating problems behind the scenes .  As well, you'll end up with differing fonts and sizes that all have to be corrected before you publish. You can avoid the potential for problems by stripping off all formatting before you paste into the application.  An easy way to do this is to use Notepad (or similar).  You simply open a blank notepad document, paste your con...
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Is Your Canadian Small Business Compliant with CASL Yet?

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It's that year - the Canadian Anti Spam Legislation comes fully info effect on July 1, 2017. Wait, before you roll your eyes and click away, read the next paragraph. The average small business in Canada has nowhere near the list size to trigger an investigation under CASL. And the reality is most small businesses aren't yet CASL-compliant... and that probably includes yours (and even mine). There's no need to get alarmed. Here are the 4 most obvious ways businesses aren't yet fully compliant. #1. Subscription process is missing a description of what content the subscriber can expect to receive and how often You don't want to be misleading and you also can't be too vague. Simply "Sign up for my newsletter!" is not good enough. Besides, you want a killer call-to-action ; it makes good sense regardless of CASL. Offering a free download? If you plan to add the contact to your regular mailing list, you still need to say that. #2. Maili...
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Three Words for 2017

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'Focus' has been my 'word of the year' since January 2010. When I did a little checking to figure out that date, I was surprised at how long I've been focussed on focus. Perhaps I'm as focussed as I'm going to get. This year I'm going to buck the 'one word' movement and go with three words: surprised by joy . It's a wish for how I want to be in 2017. The first line of William Wordsworth's poem of the same name is: "Surprised by joy - impatient as the Wind" I stumbled upon it recently while reading books by Canadian author Louise Penny . "Surprised by joy" is a recurring theme throughout her Inspector Gamache series. Maybe it stuck with me because patience sure isn't my best quality. Share your word (or words) of the year in the comments. Whatever they are, my wish is that you will be surprised by the joy of success this year. Click to Tweet this Article
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"But I don’t want to spam my friends!"

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Overheard at a networking event: “But I don’t want to spam my friends.” An excellent sentiment! But if you think your friends would consider your newsletter to be spam, what does that say about your content strategy ? The solution to avoid sending spam is simple. Figure out what your friends (and customers and prospects and colleagues) will find interesting or useful and give them that. You're right. Your friends don’t want spam – so give them something better. Click to Tweet this Article
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It doesn't have to be About You

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Let’s face it: some businesses are in a better position to provide valuable information through newsletters (blogs, social media) than others. Take our own newsletter as an example. We could easily publish a newsletter about publishing newsletters. (Stay with me here.) It would have lots of tips and suggestions and advice. We could really show off our expertise and share our opinions. Now, who would that appeal to? People who are publishing their own newsletters. Perhaps even people who are publishing newsletters for others. These people aren’t our target market - not even close. Our newsletter has nothing to do with our area of specialty. But of course we have to have one. What’s an 'enewsletter boutique' without its own newsletter ? So we found something else of use to our target market:  ideas and tips for small business owners shared by other small business owners. And (big bonus here) members of our...
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8 Tips for Composing Testimonials that Sell

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You've just had a great experience working with another small business owner. You know how important testimonials are , but writing them is not a comfortable experience for you. So, you procrastinate. Here are some tips to get that off your TO DO list. #1. Jot down 3-4 descriptive words or phrases that immediately come to mind about the business, the product or service, the consultant, the buying process, and such. When you start writing and are stuck for a word, refer to this list. (Examples: reliable, honest, practical, creative, solid) #2. Get clear on the benefit. Before you start to write, consider your responses to these questions: What was your problem? What was the solution and how was it unique? What particularly stood out about the buying experience? #3. Start with feelings. You are really writing the testimonial for potential customers of the business. Think about how you felt and tell them how they will feel. Use comparisons, such as "It made me fee...
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Sharing Is Endorsing

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In the press for time to get everything done, it can be tempting to share content from trusted sources that you do not review. Sharing content from other experts, colleagues and organizations is a great way to let your fans know that you: keep up with current trends actively pursue continued learning are an expert in your field are aware of what other experts are talking about are plugged in to the local business community Keep in mind that when you share content, your fans assume that you endorse the content. Even with trusted sources, things can go wrong. Take the time to read what you share. If you don't agree, say so. If you do agree, mention why. Show your fans that you have read the content yourself. The last thing you want to do is mislead your fans by sharing content that is contradictory to your own opinion. And a fan that has come to rely on you for great shares, will be disappointed if you share something of no value to them other than the catch...
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