Work Better, Not Harder

Starting an email newsletter isn't especially difficult if you have a propensity for apps and design. You could start tonight and send tomorrow if you really want to. BUT developing and implementing an email marketing strategy that will serve your business - and your readers - well for the long term requires thought, research and decision-making before touching an app. This month while preparing to teach a 10-week course on email marketing, I've been updating presentations first created 10 years ago. It's been eye-opening to realize how much has changed. Email remains one of the most effective ways to communicate with our target markets. The tools have become more user-friendly but the strategy part has become more complex. It's no longer as easy as it once was to get the attention of new contacts via email - there's a lot more competition in the inbox . Over the past month or so I've focused on email marketing strategy. Even if you're not getting st...

Nine hundred million people use Facebook Messenger as a primary messaging tool. Do you think a few of those would rather receive your newsletter that way - on their phone instead of in their inbox? And wouldn't it be great to give them the option? Now you can build a contact list and distribute your newsletter by Messenger. Here are nine reasons to do that: #1. People tend to have a Messenger account longer than they have an email address. When people change jobs, they will likely get a new email address but will continue to use the same Messenger account throughout their lives. #2. Give your readers a choice of how they want to receive your information. Some of those 900,000,000 people are your customers and fans. #3. Higher open rates - industry leaders are saying 80% is typical. #4. The timing of delivering your newsletter becomes a little less important than with email newsletters. (e.g. it's less important to deliver during working hours) #5. Se...

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...

A simple process was all I needed to promote two workshops and manage registrations. But, as I often do, I decided to use the opportunity to try out some new ways to do things. Yesterday I put the workshops live for registration. Here are all the different applications I used or will use in my campaign to promote and manage the registrations. my website builder Canva Blogger Hootsuite Social Jukebox iContact PayPal JotForm - my newest favourite app Google Calendar Twitter Facebook Google+ LinkedIn and email Phew! Some of these are integrated, some not, but I had fun pulling it all together (mostly). And the next time I need to fill workshops, it'll take me a lot less time to put everything in place. photo by edkohler / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article

... 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. Click to Tweet this Article

If you're a teacher or trainer, you've likely struggled with the process of providing Certificates of Completion (or Certificates of Attendance and such) to your workshop attendees. Using a Word template, your process might be something like this: prepare your spreadsheet for a mail merge, complete the merge, convert each .doc to .pdf, print, fold, mail merge the envelope addresses, print labels, affix to envelopes, stuff envelopes, lick stamps, run to the post office. Even if you're paying someone to do this for you, it's pretty labour intensive and prone to error. Add the cost of printing and postage, and providing certificates isn't cheap. Consider using your bulk email application , such as iContact , to automate this process. There is a little set up involved but, once it's done, it's quick and easy to use. How to set-up your certificates: First design a certificate template in your email application. You can do this in much the same way as you...

Steve Foran is my hero. While he deserves that label for many reasons to do with his altruistic message and goal to make his community a better place, he’s also my hero because of his email marketing practices . First, some background. Steve works with leaders across North America to shift culture and help teams bring more gratitude into the workplace. He’s been on the leading edge of gratitude-based research, writing, and teaching for over a decade and his science-based strategy, Gratitude At Work , is a simple, yet innovative approach to business growth. When I first met Steve I was excited to talk to him because he was running an email campaign that put his name into people’s inboxes every day. To me, as an email marketer, that seemed to be the ultimate success story. I may have even disconcerted Steve a little with my enthusiasm - “You have permission to email people every single day !” Now over 4 years later I’m still receiving Steve’s daily messages reminding me to be gra...

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 advocate reading what you share but, to save time, I have a short list of experts that I share without reading first. They are experts I have vetted and trust. For the most part, they have the same philosophy that I do. One of the experts on my list was a bulk email software company that shares great statistics, infographics and a few good tips. I received an email from them that had an awesome download full of updated email statistics. I was immediately excited to have something to share quickly. Ooops. No sharing buttons in the email - which meant I did not share it. I went on to the next email. I can't afford to get distracted from my inbox. I went from excitement about sharing their content, to not sharing it at all. In 10 seconds. Later, I came back to that email and clicked through to their website. My intent was to follow them on social media to easily share their content that way. It took me far too long to find their buried social media links and when I did, there ...

At a recent workshop, I was asked about free email marketing applications. My answer provoked a lively discussion and not everyone agreed with my position. You have many choices of bulk email service providers and each has good points and bad points. Turning out a good looking newsletter depends on using suitable software and on being quite proficient with it - whether it’s a free app or not. Free apps (or free versions) will have some or all of these drawbacks: limit on the number of subscribers limit on the number of emails you can send limit on image storage space limited options for layout and design limited or no available statistics no archive of past issues no RSS-to-email functionality limited or no auto responder functionality limited or no segmenting functionality inability to manage subscribers on multiple lists poor functionality of social media sharing buttons no auto posting to social media accounts YOU ARE ADVERTISING FOR THE APPLICATION Most of the...

Aside from your traditional newsletters and promotional messages, you can also use your bulk email application to automate some other processes. You might not think of iContact (or whatever app you use) as a productivity tool, but it can be. Here are a couple of examples. Patient/client reminders You’re familiar with those postcards we get in the mail reminding us it’s time to book our appointment with the dentist, or optometrist, or pedorthist. If that is a standard practice for your business, consider sending these reminders by email, automated to go at appropriate intervals. One of our clients claimed this is saved her money every month. Certificates If you use a mail merge to create certificates in Word for course attendees, you can do the same in iContact and send them out by email at the same time. You can use merge fields for the name, date, and any other info that you want inserted into the certificate. We recently sent Certificates of Completion to several hundred...

@DaleyProgress How long should a newsletter be in this day and age? — Lino (@LinosVersion) December 5, 2013 The ideal answer is: as long as it needs to be to give value. The real answer is: it depends. Here are some of the things it depends on: Frequency Typically, the more often you send your newsletter, the shorter it will be. In my experience, though, that tends to be a function of the work involved with preparing it. Is there such a thing as providing too much value? Goals If one of your goals is to build your reputation as an expert, your newsletters will need to include a fair bit of content in the form of original articles (or images). If you have well-defined goals, these will always help you decide what to include and what to leave out. When in doubt, ask yourself if any of your goals are being met by the content you’re considering. Your commitment The perfect strategy is to put out as much amazing content as you can. Your actual strategy will depend...

Do you know what happens when someone signs up for your newsletter? When they click that little SUBMIT button, where do they go? If you don't know, now is a good time to find out. Your sign-up process is a critical piece of your newsletter strategy. Plan it from your potential subscriber's perspective. Of course, you need a prominent, simple form and a clear call to action with an explanation of what they'll get by subscribing. But what happens once that button is pushed? Test it yourself, start to finish. Likewise, your unsubscribe process is something you should understand as well. Do your subscribers have an option to be on some lists but not all? Is your unsubscribe process simple or does it require entering information? Is it a 2-click process? Caution: Don't unsubscribe yourself from your own newsletter to test this process. Use an alternate email address. These processes will vary greatly depending on the bulk email service provider (ESP) you us...

photo by Anirudh Koul In simple terms, there are two things which affect the deliverability of your newsletter. The first is the content itself - the words, links and graphics included. The second is your own reputation . These things below impact deliverability and have nothing to do with the content in your email: The blacklist/whitelist status of your email address, domain, DNS settings, IP address, etc. Blacklisting can happen when you have high unsubscribe, complaint, and bounce rates resulting from (among other things): buying mailing lists using misleading subject lines and generally being sneaky not providing an easy way to unsubscribe The reputation of your bulk email service provider (ESP) All of the issues above also apply to them. They must work hard to ensure continued deliverability of your emails. This is part of the service you get when you use a bulk ESP and why it’s important to choose a reputable one. (We prefer iContact !) Click to Tweet ...

screen shot of email header There's nothing like getting an email addressed to 'fname' or 'subscriber' for making you feel valued. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. This is definitely  not the message you want to send to your readers. You want to make a personal connection with your readers but using form fields is not the way to do it , even if you use them correctly. A form field is simply another automation. People know. Am I blown away when I get a newsletter addressed to 'Linda'? Not usually. Sure it takes a little more time to set up and maintain. Various experts will tell us that using a person's name will have a subconscious impact. Is the sender suddenly my trusted advisor? No. Let me start at the beginning. What do I mean by a form field? They're places in an HTML document used to insert specific data from a database. As an example, [fname] will insert the person's first name from the database. You can type "Hi [fname]...

I really hate the word SPAM. For me, it usually means a sudden sick feeling in my stomach that has nothing to do with the unwanted visual of canned luncheon meat. Clicking that SEND button on a newsletter is the last step in a meticulous process. It’s like that little high we get from checking an action item off our to-do list. One thing done and onto the next. So when that SPAM checker pops up flashing ‘FAILED’ with a BIG RED X , I start feeling sick because I know I've got extra work ahead of me. (It doesn't actually flash and it’s not really so big, but that’s the way it seems to me when it happens.) My first reaction is "D*mn!" But of course, the SPAM checker is there to help us, not hinder us. It helps to make sure our newsletters get delivered and don't end up in SPAM folders. Still, I feel like shooting the messenger. There is a multitude of reasons that a newsletter can fail a SPAM check. The combinations and frequency of certain words and ph...

photo by photosteve101 I'm such a newsletter critic. I think it makes me better at what I do - learning from others' good and bad examples. Here are the things that often stand out during my critiques: You didn't use a bulk email application. This is such a big mistake, it deserves its  own post  to list all the reasons why! You didn't include a  link to subscribe. If your newsletter is good, your readers will share it with their friends. Don’t make those friends have to hunt for your  sign-up form.  Not everyone is tenacious. You used a misleading  subject line. Perhaps you felt that you had to trick people into opening your newsletter. Don’t do this! Readers will feel like they've been duped if you don’t deliver on the promise in your subject line. I see  obvious errors. There are spelling errors and, oops, a hyperlink doesn't work. Always get another set of eyes to check your newsletter. Don’t forge...

I recently received an invitation to purchase mailing lists... lots of them! Informational email marketing is quite different from promotional email marketing and they have very different goals. If your goals are to build your reputation and relationships, then buying email addresses is definitely not for you! Reputable bulk ESPs (email service providers) insist that you have permission to email the contacts you add to your databases with them. So if you buy mailing lists, there's the potential risk of having your bulk email account shut down. The trigger for this would be a high number of bounces on your first send. Aside from being a nuisance, there are other downsides as well. You don't even know if you're buying valid email addresses ! Daley Progress has 17 imaginary employees who regularly receive email because someone made up their names.   Click to Tweet this Article

Mistakes happen – appointments get missed, deadlines slide by, and that phone call doesn’t get returned. These things happen to everyone sooner or later. Sometimes these are things that can be avoided next time, sometimes they’re unavoidable, and sometimes they’re just plain old stupid mistakes. I get so stuck on details sometimes. I know that’s because I make snap judgments and any kind of mistake distracts me. This isn’t the case for everyone though. I value flawless execution… sometimes at the expense of showing up at all. Many of my friends would say that showing up is most important, even if imperfectly. In my world, imperfect might mean a subject line with a spelling error, a hyperlink that doesn’t work, or a bunch of weird html code showing up in a newsletter. These are all little nitpicky details that can have an immediate and negative impact. Here are some tips to help you make sure those little details are right: Haste makes waste. Slow down and concentrate. A...

Many organizations are engaging in email marketing these days – informational newsletters, promotional emails, or both. Some of these organizations have even done a great job of integrating email marketing with their social media efforts as part of a comprehensive online marketing strategy. But few have made the connection between email marketing and sales . This is an opportunity that deserves your attention. Make the most of your email marketing activities by taking advantage of all the ‘intelligence’ you can gather about your subscribers. Email service providers (ESPs) have functionality that enables you to review your overall statistics (opens, clicks, etc.). They also have the functionality to take your sales prospecting to a whole new level – you can actually see who clicked on what link. Yes, dear public, marketers have been collecting this info for years. For example, if you offer two product lines, let’s say Brand A and Brand B, and you include links to more information ab...