Work Better, Not Harder

Does a high open rate mean anything if nobody is reading and acting? Your open rate is an indication of brand recognition. Your click rate is one indication of whether your newsletter actually gets read. (How many newsletters do you open without reading?) Getting read is what raises your reputation and prompts interaction . Did you know that you can actually increase one at the expense of the other? That’s why, when you shoot for one goal, you have to be aware of what else you’re impacting. Being opened, being read, and being clicked – that’s being 'read deeply' . Want to know how to ensure that your newsletter gets read more deeply? Send it at an off-peak time. When there is less available to read, people are more likely to read more deeply. You might be thinking, “That’s nuts! My open rate would drop.” And you’d be exactly right. But the amount of reading in relation to your open rate would increase. Go figure. Email marketing stats show that open rates are (sli...

Number crunching has always been a hobby of mine. For a few months our Klout score has been stuck at 55. Being a numbers person, I’d like to see it increase. It doesn't seem to matter how often I post, how much I interact, how much my content gets shared – stuck fast at 55. To clarify, our Twitter strategy has never been about quantity but rather quality. I've worked hard to improve the quality but that darn Klout score won’t budge. It really bugs me! It seems the only way I can increase it is to up the number of followers. While our followers are constantly growing, apparently not by enough to change that Klout score. I can’t keep up with the 900 people I’m already following. I’m able to interact with only a small percentage of them. Maybe I feel that following someone is more of a commitment than it really is? I've been fighting the temptation to turn Twitter into a numbers game. While I’m a numbers person, I realize there’s an inherent danger in fixating on one...

photo by Linda Daley It might be tempting to take a vacation from your newsletter over the summer. What excuse are you telling yourself to justify this? You can take vacation without putting your email marketing on hiatus too. Tweet this Here are some suggestions: Prepare in advance and use scheduling functionality.  If you're using a bulk email service provider (ESP), you likely have the ability to schedule your newsletters. That means you have no excuse - you can prepare several issues in advance and stick to your regular schedule. (You might even find that this is better time management!) Send out a brief issue instead of your usual format. Cut back on the quantity of content, but not the value . Half a newsletter is better than no newsletter. Solicit guest articles. Ask your clients and colleagues to write articles - or scan their blogs for appropriate content that you can 'borrow'. Ensure you request permission and give proper credit. Re-purpose c...

photo by :::Derek::: Now that I have your attention, I’d better earn it, right? We've all heard it said that advertising is buying people’s attention. Content marketing is all about earning that attention by providing value to readers. There are a lot of different types of content that can mean value to readers. You have to really determine what your target market wants. And that requires gathering intelligence and strategic thinking. Not just doing it once either, but continuing to stay attuned to your readers’ preferences. Once you earn attention, you need to continue to deserve it. Past success doesn't guarantee future success. Don't let your content strategy get stale. How do you continue to deserve attention? Watch your statistics . If your readership dips, be curious and investigate. Pay attention to unsolicited feedback and also seek out feedback. If you want to do better, people are generally willing to give advice and opinions. As with any feedba...

photo by perthclotheslines It felt like doing laundry. Throw in the dusty email addresses and out come clean ones, with all the grime left behind. List cleaning involves 2 basic steps: identifying email addresses in your database that no longer exist or have been spelled wrong removing non-existent email addresses and correcting obvious typos List cleaning was a new experience for us. We had anticipated it might be needed at some point so had done some research – enough to know that there were many options available online. We figured it should be easy to do when the need arose. When the need did arise recently, I clicked my way to those apps we'd flagged as promising. I quickly discovered that it wasn't going to be as straightforward as I had imagined (and hoped). The first 2 apps I tried left me scratching my head in puzzlement. With no time to waste on a big learning curve, I did a new search and decided to try ListWiseHQ. What a pleasant surprise! It w...

It’s already started: people are asking if they should continue to send out their newsletter  over the summer. My reply is a definite YES. I want to convince you to stay the course... and not just with your newsletter. If you're considering taking a break from any of your online marketing over the summer, here are some things to consider. If everyone else thinks the same way and takes the summer off,  isn't  that your chance to stand out in your reader’s inbox and social media feeds? OK, so you might say there will also be fewer readers, what with everyone taking vacation. Yes, you might see a small reduction in readership. But with less content available, people are more likely to open your email and read your posts, and more likely to click – they read more deeply. Consistency is important to online marketing success. People may not notice that you’re missing over the summer but they’ll realize it when they see you show up in the fall. Being consistent s...

Keeping your readers engaged requires content that is interesting and useful... and fresh. This article is a follow up to our previous Content Creation (Wrap-up) , capturing our newer articles about content creation from June 2012 to May 2013. If you're stuck for content, you've found the right post to give you inspiration and ideas. You'll also find some thought provoking strategies to consider. Keeping to a consistent content creation routine has big benefits. Just because you can't think of something great to write about when facing a deadline, doesn't mean you can't Plan to Give Your Best next time. Introducing Your Very First Issue can be a little stressful. Here are some things you might want to include, as well as some examples to get you started. Take some time to search for images that are not overused on the internet. This article provides links to a few Graphic Solutions to help get you started. Finding an idea that inspires you can some...

photo by Gertrud K. You know when you land on a website and, before you've had a chance to take a breath, a box pops up over top of the text you were just reading? “Can I help you?” How does that make you feel? Startled? Annoyed? A little creeped out? I’m a fan of pop-up boxes, but only when I’m the one that can push the button to make them pop up. I've used them lots to solve all kinds of online problems fast. When they pop-up unexpectedly, it makes me feel like someone’s been watching me. And it’s always too soon... before I've even formed my first question. Recently I was searching for a list cleaning application and didn't have time for a long learning curve. After trying a couple of other sites, I went to ListWiseHQ . I was impressed to find all my options and the applicable prices laid out clearly on the home page. I was thinking, “This might be the one.” Then Gladys popped up. Gladys was in one of those pop-up boxes. Not in front of ...

I firmly believe that you manage what you measure . Numbers provide context so we know when we’re doing good or not so good. Sometimes we’re not even sure what the numbers are telling us and that requires a little more research and reflection. And sometimes we don’t know what to do as a result of the numbers. Take website stats for example – does anyone really know what to do with those? Reaching milestones - now those are numbers to celebrate! This newsletter is our 50th issue. That’s 250 articles we've shared – almost 100,000 words of wisdom for small business owners from 150 different authors. We hope that you've found some useful and interesting things over the years. Why are we celebrating? Our newsletter has brought us lots of great things. More social media contacts More subscribers = potential clients and referrers Enhanced reputation Improved technical skills Better writing skills - practice makes perfect More pageviews - blog and website More ref...

Your newsletter has to be both useful and interesting to be successful. If one of your goals is to be seen as an expert, consider that the usefulness of your content can have a big impact. What types of content are useful? Here are some suggestions. Hot-off-the-press information: Timeliness is important if you have access to information (or photos) in advance of your target market. How-to’s, quick tips, detailed instructions, diagrams: The goal here is to save your readers time and effort – to shortcut the learning curve. Examples, case studies, templates, worksheets, maps, directions: You can make use of document-sharing and photo-sharing applications to provide access. An example of this would be our own newsletter gallery on Flickr .   Links to useful resources and people: Share exceptional items that you have created or already vetted. Reviews, summaries and recommendations: You can do this for books, articles, white papers, videos, TV/radio shows, and mo...

I've been a Flickr Pro member since long before I was on Facebook or Twitter. That's because I'm a gardener and it's great for photo-sharing with friends. Flickr also provides a good way for me to organize my photos and keep track of them. It doesn't matter how many times I change computers, my garden photos will always be online where I can find them. Daley Progress has also been using Flickr to display examples of our work - an easy interface for potential clients to browse. I was delighted to discover yesterday that Flickr introduced a new user interface that is so beautiful - and so long overdue. While Flickr was always great for organizing, browsing wasn't nearly the experience is it now. screen shot of a Flickr set While it may not be obvious (and perhaps should be more so), Flickr is also social. I'm connected with other gardeners in different places. I can tweet and like and favourite other's photos. I still think Flickr could be more...

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 ...

The first thing I said when he answered the phone was, "Josh, I really feel sorry for you today!" Josh is a pleasant fellow who answered the phone last Thursday when I called the Centre for Arts and Technology in Halifax. I was just a little upset. I was pretty sure that mine wasn't the first call of this sort that he had received, and it wouldn't be the last. It started when I received 17 identical promotional emails to 17 imaginary Daley Progress employees from the Centre for Arts and Technology back on April 17th. ( Click here to get the back story on our imaginary staff.) That's the footer of an email addressed to mikehopkins@daleyprogress.com. (There is no Mike Hopkins.) At the time I replied and asked for all email addresses ending in my domain name to be deleted from their mailing list. Of course, I also took the time to preach a little about the dangers of buying mailing lists. I was disappointed that a reputable organization had been duped . ...

“...at some point along the way, gathering and managing their subscribers' info became more important than their subscribers' experience.”   I made that statement a year ago in response to an article that Danielle wrote explaining her troubles when trying to unsubscribe from Air Canada’s newsletter . Don’t let this happen to you. While your newsletter is your marketing tool, your readers don’t care about that. They don’t care about your processes. They don’t care how much work goes into your newsletter. And they don’t care how successful it is. They only care about the value you’re providing... if you’re lucky enough to get their attention. "Build it and they will come."   Don’t hold your breath while waiting. photo by CarolBEE_blogger Put yourself in your potential subscriber’s shoes. How often do you sign up for newsletters? What triggers you to do that? How do you feel when you’re expected to do extra work? Do you give up? Getting new subscribers ...

I know, I know! Doesn't it sound dreadful? The Audit. Conjuring up images of spreadsheets, accountants and bad hair days. But wait... this isn't about that kind of audit. This is much less stressful, yet just as important. We have talked about auditing your website before. But if you are online, you need to be auditing your entire online presence. It should be done on a schedule. We suggest quarterly. Review all online content related to your business, testing all links and reading every word . Broken or irrelevant links are an annoyance to readers. Make sure there are none when they visit you. When testing links, stop long enough to ensure the referenced content is still there. Some places to check in addition to your website are: Profiles. Remember when we found out that online profiles helped search engine ranking? Suddenly, we had more profiles than was manageable. Check them. Find your log-in or request a new one and keep the profiles current. If they are ...