Work Better, Not Harder

We're all getting inundated with COVID emails - yes - but I'm glad the companies I do business with are paying attention and communicating their plans. I need to know that my web host and other service providers are taking action to be able to continue to operate. I am glad that local restaurants (Finbars, for example) have staff volunteers willing to help those in need. I'm comforted to know that we're all paying attention. During this time, most business owners are struggling with what to stop doing, what to start doing, and what to keep doing. Communication is more important now. Let's not stop but rather be mindful. Here are 3 reasons why business owners need to keep communicating: #1. To let your customers know you're running business-as-usual or... not. Many bricks-and-mortar businesses are closed, offering pick-up or delivery, or open for limited hours. Even people who work at home (like me) are susceptible to illness and need a back-up plan. ...

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...

Isn't it amazing that it's now so easy to keep in touch with people we met years ago? Social media has allowed me to reconnect with old friends and work colleagues from long before social media existed. (Yes, I'm that old.) It has also allowed me to stay connected with people I've met along my small business journey. Many people have come and gone but I remember the ones I'm connected with because I "see" them sometimes on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn. But I don't see them all and I don't see all their posts. My life gets in the way and sometimes days or even weeks may go by with me paying little attention to social media. I bet this happens to you too. Then there are the people I remember well, those who come to mind when I stumble upon an opportunity that might suit them. Those people are actively staying in touch with me in a way I can't ignore - by email. And I open my emailbox every single day... many times. There is huge value...

"Yes, it's an old marketing trick to "accidentally" make a mistake in an email campaign so you can resend an email shortly thereafter to increase the number of times people see your message." This was the lead message in an email I received recently which included a correction to information which I had indeed received a couple of hours before. Making a deliberate mistake is a darn poor excuse to get into people's inboxes. Making ANY mistake doesn't reflect well on you, deliberate or not. Do your marketing well and you won't need to resort to tricks. And you won't need to fix mistakes. If a *real* mistake happens, here is my advice about how to deal with it . Let's avoid those made-up mistakes completely. Click to Tweet this Article

When I see the words "try this" along with the words "your email subscribers" in a headline, I get a little antsy. The email I received today included "sneaky-favorite email sequences" in the body text. Here's the thing, if you're delivering value to your readers on a regular basis, you don't need to do anything sneaky. If your readership is dropping off, start delivering more value. Keep giving the thing your readers signed up for... or give even more of it. Being sneaky may result in short term gains (i.e. your stats look better for a month) but it will tarnish your reputation and long term results. Being sneaky means you've run out of value to give and you're getting desperate. You're not there yet. You only have to keep discovering the value that your readers want . Do a little research ... get inspired . Click to Tweet this Article

Email bots are coming. Now, your reaction might be "Ugh!" but mine was, "Yay!" And that's part of the challenge. Here's another part: they are heaven-sent for spammers. Yes, that deserves an "Ugh!" What I'm excited about are all the possibilities for improving productivity in our daily routines . As a simple example, I'm currently running an email bot to help me memorize a list of items. It "uses a spaced repetition algorithm to bring some piece of information to (my) attention at the optimum interval for memorization." This coming battle between productivity and bad marketing practices will be epic. It will likely cause the reinvention of email communication. This new technology has such endless possibilities to improve our work (and our lives) but it's already being exploited by spammers. We won't be able to ignore its coming. Email bots can chop through firewalls and other security measures, improving deliver...

Small business owners often arrive at the desire to start an email newsletter from one of two different directions. The route has an impact on the strategy, tactics and tools you will use. A Vehicle Some have already been blogging and, for them, an email campaign is a vehicle to get their content in front of (more) people on a regular basis. It's a way to extend the reach of the content they are already creating. It gives regular readers a way to ensure they don't miss a post. Plus, adding additional content snippets can help advance marketing goals. The Destination For others, starting a newsletter is their first foray into content marketing - their newsletter will be a resource they want their target market to sign up for. It may be something that isn't available anywhere else. The value delivered is the final destination. Why does it matter? If the newsletter you're thinking of starting is a vehicle , you can cruise right past strategic planning . I...

The process of starting an email newsletter for your small business involves focusing on these aspects: strategy, tactics and tools. It makes sense to approach them in a logical order from high-level thinking through to detailed work. Strategy First This is where you consider that your newsletter strategy flows from your overall marketing strategy . These are the  goals typically related to email campaigns : 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 From that list, identify 2-3 goals that relate directly back to your marketing strategy. These will guide your thinking and planning moving forward with your email campaign. Aside from goals, your newsletter strategy also needs to consider 'who' . Depending on the breadth of your target market, this ...

After sending out clients' newsletters, I'm often asked by them why someone would have unsubscribed. The worry seems to be that something in that particular issue made them disconnect. This is rarely the case. I can't tell you all the reasons people unsubscribe but I can tell you that it is always about them. Lives change, interests change, jobs change, priorities change, time changes... all of these things can result in unsubscribes.  You should never take unsubscribes personally. You can typically expect list attrition - the natural pattern of unsubscribes you can consider normal - to be 25-30% per year. That industry-wide benchmark is not as useful as the one your own list will give you over time. You will see what your typical unsubscribe rate is. As long as you are growing your list faster than that rate, you shouldn't spend too much time worrying about unsubscribes. On the other hand, if you are experiencing a sudden spike in unsubscribes, you will want t...

Long ago and far away, when I worked for a multinational, sometimes I brainstormed with my team by email. I was working in Georgetown ON and had staff in Toronto, Regina and Abbotsford. Email was fairly new back then, and a welcome alternative to scheduling group conference calls across the time zones. I could start with a discussion question sent to the customer service reps, asking them to add comments and send onto the production planners. The planners would give their input and send it on to the warehouse staff. Eventually, I'd get back an email that loosely mapped out a process. I've never used email so productively since. Now, I don't have staff but I still have a team. And I'm usually brainstorming ideas, not processes. Here's the funny thing, I can sit by myself and scratch notes on paper... and get overwhelmed with ideas. So I start writing an email to my cohorts explaining and asking for feedback. And through that process, I often find clarity - wit...

Have you ever sent an email you regretted as soon as you hit Send? There can't be many who haven't felt that in their gut at some time or other, including me. Facts are perfect for email communication; feelings are not. ( Tweet This! ) This is particularly important when it comes to our business communication. While I haven't been completely successful in curbing this tendency, the thing that works best for me is to keep myself from hitting that Send button until the next day . Most often, a cooler head prevails and I end up deleting the draft instead of sending. But there's catharsis in the rant. Rant privately (not on Facebook), then cool off. This is one time I'm asking you NOT to use email.  Emails are not conversations. Click to Tweet this Article

You wouldn't hug a complete stranger. So, if the red-head in the photo approached you on the street, you'd likely back away and think WTF. Even if he wants a date, that's a pretty lame approach. We don't have much room for needy strangers in our small business lives. It's enough work to keep up with friends and colleagues. So why the heck would any business person send a newsletter to a stranger that starts like this... ? We spent many hours and resources on researching, writing, proofing and designing this newsletter. As a valued customer, we are offering this newsletter to you for FREE! newsletter example It's too bad they spent all those hours and resources. And too bad they didn't know FREE newsletters haven't been unique for a very long time. Next, they'll wonder why email marketing isn't working for them. Especially for your very first issue , there are a few basic things to include. The most important is to give value or poi...

"Everybody knows who you are. How do you know so many people?" I hear it every so often... and my answer is really easy. It's not because I'm such a charming person. It's absolutely because my name shows up in their inbox every single week. The thing is, people don't know me - they know of me, whether they open my emails or not. (Or even if they think my subject lines are boring .) Repetition and consistency do pay off but, by their nature, the results take time . There is no shortcut, so start now. Click to Tweet this Article

You work hard to attract new subscribers who find value in what you're offering. Someone makes a decision to sign up to your mailing list expecting to receive that great value and... they don't hear a thing from you. I'm not talking about businesses who have sign up forms yet never send a thing - that's a different blog post (and hopefully that's not you). Delivering your precious content to your fans has always been a challenge - what with spam filters, corporate gateways, and then trying to stand out in the inbox. What you may not have realized is that Google has become society's censor, whether you use it yourself or not. Google decides what gmail users see in their inbox , and what gets (sometimes arbitrarily) moved to the promotions folder - out of sight, out of mind. Even if you want to receive newsletters from your clients, or get this week's sales at the mall, Google may decide you don't. This is interfering with: satisfying your subsc...

Wouldn't you like to be getting a dozen new subscribers every day? I've been doing small business email marketing for a lot of years and have a pretty good idea of what will work and won't. I'm rarely surprised but this week has been the exception - building a list from zero to 68 in five days using social media almost exclusively (no paid advertising). This is even more surprising because the Facebook and Twitter accounts started at zero, too. Now I didn't do this on my own; in fact my part was quite small. I've got two partners, Anita of Twirp Communications and Tina of Lift Communication, and we're launching the Social Media Day Halifax 2018 marketing conference. Here are the success factors that have gained us this great momentum: Synergy : The social media networks that each of us have been building for our businesses and ourselves have paid off in spades when we all started promoting at once.  Messaging and Visual : Taking time to craft c...

This email message below arrived in my inbox shortly after sending out my weekly small business event listing (for Halifax, Nova Scotia) . I love it when instant blog posts arrive by email. Hello Linda I've been getting emails from you for a couple of years and, sorry to say, I've always ignored them. Here are two reasons: 1— your subject line is boring. I get lots of emails like these but only open the ones with an interesting subject, e.g. "How to fight your phone fear" or "Learn web design in our latest WordPress meet-up." 2— There is no website that collects these items in an easy to scan format. As a WordPress developer I can set you up with a terrific visual calendar that can easily talk to your personal appointment book. We can talk about improving your business any time. It was a well-intentioned message; here was my response: The subject line is boring on purpose - you can easily ignore it if you're not interested in knowing about events...

OK so the joke is ancient... and really only works when spoken. The answer has even changed - now it's news letter instead of news paper . But people are still reading, and more than ever. Whether you choose informational or promotional marketing or both, you're missing opportunities if you're not using email to market your small business. B2B: Email is the third most influential source of information for B2B audiences, behind only colleague recommendations and industry-specific thought leaders. ( source ) B2C: 80% of retail professionals indicate that email marketing is their greatest driver of customer retention. ( source ) If you're going to invest time and money in email marketing, you want to step out strong. Feel the pressure to get it right. Here's a checklist to help you gauge your readiness. originally published in Work Better, Not Harder newsletter October31, 2017 Click to Tweet this Article

An email newsletter is a well proven way to provide value to your customers and contacts. But the competition for space in people's inboxes is fierce. If you're going to invest time and money in email marketing, you'll need to step out strong. Your first message will set the stage for what your readers can expect in the future. Feel the pressure to get it right. The trouble is, you don't know what you don't know. While there are many things you'll learn from trial and error, there are a few critical things you need to do well from the start. Here's a checklist to help you gauge your readiness: 1. Have you clearly defined your goals ? If not, write them down now. Here's a list to help. 2. Do you know what your potential readers want ? What's of value to them? If not, get this straight before you go further. Here are some ways to think about that. 3. Are you ready to commit to a schedule ? Once you start sending a newsletter, an erratic sc...

As you get back to your routine after summer’s break, remember there are lots of ways to make the return to school and work useful to your small business content marketing plans. Back to School Stress and excitement go hand in hand for many families as they prepare for the start of a new school year. You have many opportunities to give every family member value in the form of organization tips, tools, worksheets, checklists, shopping lists, how-to’s, recipes and much more. Plus, think ahead and start planning your marketing messaging for all of those upcoming school related activities, like sporting events, exam schedules and school breaks. Teachers are an important segment of this market; don’t forget them! Back to the Grind Summer vacation is over and businesses are gearing up for that last big push before year end. Business people are looking for productivity and project management techniques and tools to help them meet their annual goals. And it’s not just kids goin...

If you give someone a $25 giftcard to a shop where the lowest priced item is $50, is it a gift? What if a complete stranger gifts you 50% off the price of a conference ticket? Is that a gift? The headline said: Our Gift to You: A Special Discount for Generators Summit . When I followed the link in the email to get my gift, I was taken to an Eventbrite ticket purchase page. Currently I can get the early bird price. What a generous gift... not. Usually I would tweet or otherwise share information about such an interesting event, even if I won't attend. This particular event is actually getting a whole blog post. Be aware of the perceptions of people opening your emails or clicking on your links.   Using the word 'gift' in any marketing context is tricky because it mixes up social values with economic values. Just because others do it, doesn't mean it's right (for you). Click to Tweet this Article