Work Better, Not Harder

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

Many business people are busy preparing to attend large conferences this fall. It can be quite an expense and a lot of hard work to prepare for these big events... booking sales meetings with other attendees, preparing marketing collateral, booking flights and hotels, and maybe even training in sales skills. Certainly when you return from the conference, you'll have lots to write about for your blog or newsletter. 1. Summarize the overall experience of preparing and attending. Perhaps include 'what to do or not to do' tips for future attendees. 2. Summarize the conference itself , highlighting key learning points. 3. Write articles about each of the presentations , focusing on what's important to your readers. 4. Capture and share the data , the important statistics and trends impacting your industry and customers. 5. Interview presenters and attendees. Prepare a series of questions in advance. This could be video or audio transcribed into text. The re...

What's the marketing strategy for NOT attracting new clients? Is it to stop marketing all together? Or to scale back, everything or some things? There are many reasons why a small business may not want to receive new customers for a period of time; I just hadn't considered it till now. I'm working on another business project so I need to free up some of my time and energy. I'm also trying to squeeze in some vacation time this summer. Here's what has brought all this to my attention: the thought of sending out my monthly newsletter is making me nervous because I don't want anyone to call or email when they receive it . If that's not messed up thinking for a marketer, I don't know what is. So, what is the answer? There are some obvious things, such as scaling back my social media posting and blogging a little, removing promotional posts from my scheduling, changing or removing my calls to action (in more places than I've thought of yet!), ad...

You sell services or you sell products, or you sell both. Whatever your product mix, a component of your small business content strategy needs to be informing potential customers about those products and services. Make sure your promotional messages fit with, and flow from, your informational content. It’s a balancing act. We’re all familiar with the feeling of being blasted with too many repetitive sales offers (not good for us). At the other end of this spectrum is creating great information but having no call to action (not good for you). Direct promotion This includes things like advertising and special offers. A banner ad is pretty direct. A BUY NOW button is also pretty direct. Indirect promotion This is where you work your promotional messages into your informational content, writing articles that naturally lead into a call to action. Success stories are an example of this; at the end you can say something like, “If you want to feel like this, get in touch.” A ‘How...

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...

Once you've started your mailing list and are working to turn subscribers into fans , don't stop selling your newsletter. You'll lose about 30% of your subscribers over a year, so continuing to build your list is important. One way to encourage sign-ups is on your social media accounts and profiles. "Please sign up!" doesn't cut it. You need a compelling call to action . Here's a great example I found on Twitter from my friend and organizing guru Jane Veldhoven. Dare you to Go Ahead and Get #Organized by signing up for my monthly #newsletter http://t.co/ZRH8cwCMg1 — Jane Veldhoven (@organizerjane) February 2, 2015 Click to Tweet this Article

When I sent out my last newsletter, almost 400 people opened it in the first 2 hours. If you need to reach a lot of people fast and at the same time, email is definitely the medium of choice. For one thing, sending an email is faster and easier than phoning 400 people. (My jaw just clenched in horror!) And broadcasting a tweet or Facebook post is not the same as putting a message in someone’s inbox; it’s hit or miss. Direct mail is costly and the results are minimal. Some say the ROI on email marketing is over $40 for every $1 spent. I haven’t gotten those results for myself (yet) but I have seen some very quantifiable successes . For example, it’s easy to calculate your ROI when selling event tickets. Let's say you spend $300 to sell $6000 worth of tickets, which is a pretty darn good return. More to the point, consider if - and how - you’ll sell all those tickets if not by email. One of the big benefits of email over other options - the phone, social media, snail ...

For the first time in 4 years, I've been working to build a list of prospective clients. Mary Jane Copps, aka The Phone Lady , asked me to describe my target market for her. That was easy to do when we were sitting in Starbucks enjoying lattes. I have a pretty clear picture of my ideal client – I’m fortunate to have several of them already. Translating that description into a prospecting list has turned out to be more of a challenge than I anticipated. First, I decided to take my own advice and check out who’s been reading my newsletter. Because my own newsletter isn’t about what I do though, it isn't easy to identify readers who might be interested in starting a newsletter just by looking at who’s opening it. On to LinkedIn... After a little grunting and groaning about the search process, I was able to make some progress, but not as much or as easy as I had imagined. There are 2 lessons I've re-learned through this venture: It’s easy to give out and read advice a...

Do you know that an email marketing campaign can improve your 'conversion funnel'? Do you care? If we want our potential customers to understand us, we have to speak their language - not expect them to learn ours. Our customers don't care about conversion funnels. They want their newsletters to excite their readers enough to pick up the phone, or buy a book, or register for an event. What do your customers want? Use their language to talk to them, not your industry's. photo by allenjaelee Click to Tweet this Article

Click to Tweet this Article http://www.blogher.com/4-ways-grow-your-list-prospects Original article:  http://www.workbetternotharder.com/2013/04/4-ways-to-constantly-grow-your-list.html

Keeping a consistent schedule is something we coach our newsletter clients about. Over time, consistency will show up as loyalty - from both sides of the equation. You are demonstrating your loyalty to your readers by creating and meeting expectations. Your readers become more loyal when you do that. Being repetitive is also important. Sales gurus say it takes 7 tries to get someone’s attention . Of course, I don’t mean that you should do the same thing 7 times. Be creative and try 7 different approaches. Over time, repetition will show up as diligence and tenacity . The key words to note are 'over time' because neither of these strategies is instant. photo by an untrained eye Click to Tweet this Article

OK, so you're all set up with your branded design, great content and a bunch of subscribers that want your emails. What about paper newsletters? So 30 seconds ago? Rethink that. Depending on what you do, you may be able to get more mileage from your electronic newsletter in paper form. Here are 3 ways: Prospecting and Sales Print paper copies of your newsletter to take on sales calls and to networking events. Include an issue in kit folders. If you do speaking or training, take copies to hand out to participants. Your newsletter shows off your expertise - put it in people's hands. You can also use it to encourage new subscribers. Point of Sale If you have a cash register, put paper copies of your newsletter beside it. Use it as an example of what subscribers can expect. Even better, make it easy for your customers by offering to sign them up right on the spot. If you have office space, place paper newsletters in the reception area. ...