Work Better, Not Harder

Do you really need any more information than what you’re already getting? Do your readers? How do you compete with ALL that content that’s readily available? You give them something they can’t get anywhere else! A list is easy - here’s one way to think about it: Static resources : original writing, photos, videos, slide shows, presentations, and more Live resources : webinars, teleseminars, lunch and learns, other events, and more The execution is maybe not so easy. Developing original content requires energy and inspiration. Plan your content in advance - even if only in your head. Take advantage of inspiration when it comes because it often won’t at midnight when facing a deadline. So, what if you can’t write, sing or dance? (That I strongly doubt, but let’s pretend.) Does it mean you have nothing to share? Not by a long shot. Think context. It may not be original content pieces - it might be the way you arrange them, the context in which you present the...

"Sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date with us." "Sign up to get company news and other info." Does that make you want to invite yet another email into your inbox? I think not. what NOT to do I did a search on Twitter for #enewsletter . One thing stood out: companies luring people to sign up with the promise of company news. Now, there aren't many instances where I'd be interested in hearing about new employees and new client projects and new branch offices. Here are those instances: you are my friend, you are my client, or you are my supplier. And if you are any of those, it won't be long before I'm telling you what you're doing wrong. If I don't know you, your company news won't interest me or anyone else who doesn't know you. You need to lure me with something useful or interesting first. (And it seems especially lame when those posts are lined up all in a row in Hootsuite.) I'm not saying not t...

“What is the one best thing that you want a reader to do?” That's one question I ask new clients. Research has shown that offering too many choices creates indecision. To be effective, a call-to-action must motivate your reader to, well, take action. It's not as easy as you might think to decide what that should be. After all, there are LOTS of options. It comes down to really 4 types of choices. You want your reader to click on something, send you an email, pick up the phone and call you, or come to a physical location. (Let me know if you think of others that don't fit these choices.) It makes sense to create a list of what action(s) you want your readers to take, ranked from most to least important. Keep it short! Use that list when you design your website and newsletter. Your list may change from issue to issue or it may stay static for a number of months. Just don't forget that there's a purpose behind your newsletter and what that...

Start thinking about your next newsletter issue as soon as your last one has gone out. Set up a place to gather your content ideas - an 'idea catcher'. I use a folder on my Windows desktop. If you're not always sitting at your computer when inspiration hits, there are other more flexible tools: Evernote , Dropbox ,  Google Docs , and many more. (Along with everything else, Evernote even allows you to capture all your tweets, which are usually a good source for content ideas.) Load up your idea catcher. When you have an inspired idea about something you want to include in your next issue, plop it in. This works really well if you regularly include popular quotes, blog posts, book recommendations, and other resources. As soon as you come across ones you want to use, 'catch' them. By the time your issue date rolls around, it won’t seem like such a chore to assemble your newsletter. The bonus of this approach is that you have less stress trying to rememb...

Add social media to your email marketing strategy for a broader reach. It may not be obvious which strategies will work best for you but, if you take the time to work through these questions, you will be closer to figuring it out. If I ask my readers to like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter, do I have a suitable presence? What are readers expecting? Is my newsletter content worthy of sharing? Even if I make it easy to share , will readers want to share it? Why? If my content is  share-worthy, what benefit do I get? How can I measure it? What kind of content will give value to readers, encourage sharing, and give benefit to me through sharing? What is my primary call to action ? Asking readers to share… or something else? Do sharing tools draw attention away from other important calls to action? Am I simply switching people from one channel to another , if I use email to encourage people to follow me on Twitter, read my blog...

Which is more important: efficiency or customer service? Stop and think about it because the answer isn’t as obvious as you might think at first. I spent a good portion of my adult life working in the industrial sector managing logistics people and processes. One of my primary functions was to manage a balance between the ‘ideal’ goals of peak operational efficiency and exceptional customer service. Too often, one had to be achieved at the expense of the other. Many times, tough trade-offs were made. Now as a small business owner I find myself facing some of these same issues. As I strive for operational efficiency, I have to be ever mindful of the impact of my initiatives on my clients. As I’ve been building my business, I’ve been carefully constructing a clear set of expectations with each client and colleague about such things as how we work together, our expectations of each other, and what happens when things go wrong. I’ve created a comfortable status quo – and that’s not a...

Many of the people connecting with you online are arriving at one of your redirect pages at some point. A redirect page is the 'thank you for signing up' page you send them to when they sign up for your newsletter, or the event registration page you send them to when they sign up for your events. Often, these pages contain minimal, basic information. A thank you message in the case of the newsletter or confirmation of event details (location, time, date, etc) in the case of event registration. But why stop there? For one moment, you have managed to connect with that person. You have them at your website and they have already let you know they are interested in what you are doing by signing up for your newsletter or registering for your event. Why not think about what value you can offer them while they are there? How can you expand on that connection? With both your target market and your marketing strategy in mind, take a fresh look at your redirect pages and con...

We often talk about the importance of making it easy to unsubscribe. I thought I would share with you my recent experience demonstrating the frustration that can occur when it is not. I decided to unsubscribe from Air Canada's onAir newsletter several issues ago. When my issue arrived, I clicked to unsubscribe and landed on a 'No Update' error page. No big deal, the internet can be glitchy, I would just do it the next issue. This went on for 4 or 5 issues at which point, I started to feel like they were sending me to the error page on purpose. I was getting a little hot under the collar. Last week, on a bad day for me, the current issue arrived and I landed on the same error page. I then went back to the newsletter and clicked the "contact us" link which took me to a form on their website called 'Let Us Know'. It was a lengthy form and the first section was my contact information in which I had to fill out my address, email, phone number and ...

“Write when you’re inspired,” I always suggest. But sometimes deadlines loom, we need content, and inspiration is nowhere to be found. Here is a checklist you can use to come up with quick content when you’re out of bright ideas: Fix a problem. You solve problems for your customers all the time. What are they interested in or anxious about? This won’t require much prep because these will be the same problems you solve every day - the stuff you know like the back of your hand. Answer a question , provide advice , or share a resource . Express an opinion. If you're good at what you do, you will have lots of opinions. Share your opinion about someone else's article or on a hot topic under debate in your industry. Tell a story. Telling a funny, strange or engaging anecdote is a great way to deepen relationships. The topic doesn’t have to be strongly related to your subject matter but it does need to resonate with your readers. You can share a success story,...

If you're considering starting a newsletter , there are a whole lot of little details that will be important to its success. Our clients are often surprised… and glad that they don’t have to figure it all out themselves. Here are just a few of the things you’ll need to consider. Return address: Regulations require a physical address to be included in commercial email. This is not something you can avoid. Most bulk emailing applications will prevent you from sending even test messages without an address.   example of sign-up form   Sign-Up Form: Most applications will produce a snippet of html code that is your sign-up form. You need to think about where you’ll put it. I recommend you put it on a web page of its own . Remember that you will be putting links to that page in your newsletter and other places. When people arrive there, don't make them hunt for your form. Subscribe process: When creating the code for your sign-up form, you’l...

If you want to reach a wider audience than just your own contacts, you will need to create content that people WANT to share. This is the primary way to grow your audience and make new contacts in the online world. How do you create content that people want to share? Here are some tips that apply not only to your newsletter, but also to your website, blog, and social media strategy. Appeal to your readers’ motivation to connect with each other – not just with your brand. Build community among your clients, prospects and colleagues. Trust is the cost of entry for getting shared. Your content has to be trustworthy and so do you – and that will mean different things in different industries and to different market segments. Make sure you know what trust means to your target market. Keep it simple ... and it will get shared. And your message won't get muddled as it gets passed along. Appeal to your readers’ sense of humour. If you can make your readers laugh, yo...

example of sharing buttons I'm such a critic - an enewsletter critic that is. Of course, critiquing other newsletters is partly how I get better at my job. I'm often disappointed when I receive a newsletter or promotional email that doesn't give me buttons for easy sharing, especially when it's something I want to share. In many cases, with the amount of information to read these days, I will shrug and move on. I would have shared the information but the sender turned it into a job. Another job I don't have time for in my already busy day. How often do people shrug because they can't share your information easily? Think about your own activities, what encourages you to share? And how easily do you give up? Click to Tweet this Article

Is email marketing an untapped component of your marketing strategy? Here’s what an eNewsletter can do for you. It can... Enhance your reputation. Increase lead generation. Provide invaluable information about who is interested in what, so you can follow up with contacts in a more strategic way. Be a very cost-effective communication channel with your clients, customers, colleagues and prospects. Quickly identify obsolete contact information, so you know to re-connect to get an update. Leverage your other marketing efforts: website, social media, blog, etc. Provide immediate measurable results. Give your contacts the opportunity to easily and immediately interact with you. Provide a higher response rate because it is being sent to a receptive audience. Be more cost-efficient and environment-friendly than a printed newsletter - no printing or mailing costs.  Which of these benefits are important to you? Click to Tweet this Article

How do you spell it? During a recent workshop with Twirp Communications , I was updating the keywords on my LinkedIn profile . After proudly doing the update quickly, Anita searched on one of my keywords. Immediately she spotted a disconnect. I had spelled 'email', but she had spelled 'e-mail' when she searched. Now I have to admit, I'm prejudiced against hyphens. I don't know why, but I try to avoid them unless they're necessary. We had an 'internal communication' here at Daley Progress (Danielle and I talked) about it just a couple of days before the workshop and we had decided to standardize all our usage to the un-hyphenated versions of 'email' and 'enewsletters'. How foolish of us to think that prospects and colleagues will use the search terms we want them to use! Now we will have to re-visit all of our online content, with a view to making it more 'search friendly' - rather than about what we like. Who knew ...

If you’ve been in business for more than a few months, you’ve had the discussion about accountability with at least one other business owner – and will continue to have that conversation with other business owners. We all struggle with staying focused and getting things done. One way that we combat this is by setting up systems of accountability. Our systems vary greatly, from detailed plans and deadlines to mastermind groups and more. One strategy that can be effective is bringing another person into your system to be accountable to. Telling someone else about your goals and deadlines is a step in the right direction. But accountability works best when it’s more than deadlines and reminders - when there’s the real potential for loss. That could be the loss of money, if we are paying someone to keep us accountable. It could be the loss of opportunity, if we aren’t acting fast enough. It could be the loss of integrity or trust, if the opinion of the person we are letting down is i...