E-Biz Booster Blog

Email Marketing Tips - My New Blog Carnival

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Thu, 31 May 2012 03:54:00 -0600

Email marketing is more important than ever. It's a very cost effective means to stay connected with your customers and prospects. And you do not only want to stay connected, you want to build a relationship with your members.

While social media platforms like twitter and facebook allow you to be present as a business, as a marketer, they very often change the rules, … You don't want to be at their mercy. Build your email list. Start now and continue to grow it.

Email Marketing Tips - Blog Carnival

→ Submit your email marketing related blog post to the next edition on Jun. 7, 2012.

The Archive

Email Marketing Tips - Edition 28, Jun 7, 2012
Upcoming
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 27, Oct 27, 2010
Includes: (*) Behavioural Targeting, (*) Sharing via Email vs. Social Media, (*) Tips to Improve Your ROI, and more …
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 26, Oct 14, 2010
Includes: (*) False idols: 4 beliefs that can hurt your email marketing, (*) Keyword Research for Email Marketing, (*) 12 Email Marketing Tips For Small Business, (*) 7 Books About Email Marketing, and more …
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 25, Sep 30, 2010
Includes: (*) Email Deliverability; (*) Email Marketing Jargon Explained; (*) Top 3 Sales Copy Mistakes; (*) 8-step E-mail marketing refresher, and more …
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 24, Jul 24, 2010
Includes: (*) Getting to Know E-Mail Recipients; (*) Marketing Sherpa’s 2009 Email Marketing Benchmark Guide; (*) Aweber Tutorial; and more …

Email Marketing Tips - Edition 23, Jun 5, 2010
Includes: (*) The Right Way To Buy A List; (*) Sharing Your Newsletter on Social Media; (*) 8 Eail Marketing Tips; and more …
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 22, May 19, 2010. Hosted at Internet Marketing With Pat Doyle
Includes: (*) Affiliate marketing: $103,789.85 revenue in 2009; (*) Email is not dead; (*) Funny side of customer service;
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 21, canceled
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 20, Apr 7, 2010
Includes: (*) Email marketing on autopilot; (*) How often should send your emails? (*) Increase the open rate; (*) Get a higher ROI; (*) The one missing thing; and more …
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 19, Mar 23, 2010
Includes: (*) Copywriting tips from David Deutsch and Sonia Simone; (*) Email Template Design Tips; (*) “Single or Double Opt-in?” and more, …
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 18, Jun 19, 2009
Includes: (*) Why you should build YOUR email list; (*) How to improve your writing; (*) Better scheduling for your autoresponder follow-up messages, and more …
Email Marketing Tips - 17 (History), Feb 19, 2009
Includes: “Do you have an opt-in form?”
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 16, Jan 20, 2009
Includes: Tips and case-studies on email subject lines, how to send video emails (can you?), much more,… and last issue of Chris Garrett's series about email marketing for bloggers. A real power edition, great start in 2009.
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 15, Dec 12, 2008
Includes: Tips for authors & freelancers, affiliate marketing strategies, email marketing tips for bloggers from expert Chris Garrett, and much more. This is the last carnival edition of 2008.
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 14, Nov 26, 2008
Includes: Email marketing tips for bloggers from expert Chris Garrett, tips on how to prepare for Christmas and clues about copywriting,…
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 13, Nov 10, 2008
Includes: Tips from Yaro Starak about targeting, auto-responder tips from John W. Furst, copywriting email tips for bloggers, and more…
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 12, Oct 29, 2008
Short Edition, because blogcarnival.com is down, again. Includes: Chris Garrett's killer post about how to increase the return of investment (ROI) of your Email campaigns…
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 11, Oct 17, 2008
Includes: A video tip from Ed Rivis about tracking life time value. Chris Garrett writes about plugging holes in your campaign, and more…
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 10, Oct 1, 2008
Includes: Tips about video emails, email etiquette, social networking, and email marketing tips for bloggers by Chris Garrett, and more…
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 9, Sep 15, 2008
Includes: Tips for a more catchy subject line, explains testing, continues with the 2nd article about list building for bloggers from Chris Garrett, and more…
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 8, Sep 03, 2008
Hosted at Internet Marketing Chaos - Internet Business Without Hype
Includes: Tips about list building, choosing subject line, and timing of your campaigns
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 7, Aug 26, 2008
Includes: Tips from Ryan Deiss about increasing the opt-in rate and an email marketing course for bloggers written by Chris Garrett
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 6, Aug 6, 2008
Includes: John Carlton, “Who Gets Read” (about copywriting)
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 5, Jul 23, 2008
Includes: Ed Rivis, “1,035 email subscribers in 35 days”
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 4, Jul 9, 2008
Includes: Marcus Hochstadt, “Freebie Seekers” (about strategy)
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 3, Jun 25, 2008
Includes: Fred Black, “Behind Bars: Could the New FTC CAN-SPAM Rules Land You In JAIL?”, and Ed Rivis, “How to increase sales by 300%”
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 2, Jun 11, 2008
Includes: Manuel Viloria, “Is Listbuilding Just A Dream?”
Email Marketing Tips - Edition 1, May 28, 2008
Includes: Brian Terry, “Become a Listbuilding Genius!”

The facts are as follows:

Description: The tag line says it all! I.e. Tested tips and tricks, copy writing for email campaigns, comparison of providers, scheduling, how to ..., software reviews, web site integration, how to collect email addresses at a fair, legal issues, ..., etc.
Keywords: autoresponder,email,marketing,business,newsletter,list building
Filed under: business
Submission deadline: every second monday at 11pm Pacific time as in Los Angeles, CA, USA
Submission categories: copywriting, tools and services, legal, strategy, general tips
Maintained by: John W. Furst

→ Submit your email marketing related blog post to the next upcoming edition.

I will refine the submission guidelines as I move forward with this. And I definitely don't come up with stupid rules, like “1 submission per author, per blog, per edition, but only when the sun shines on the other side of the country you are living in”. It's cumbersome for authors to keep track.

What kind of content seems appropriate?

Again, the tag line, “How to successfully use email autoresponders and follow-up newsletters in your business”, says it all.

Subjects like:

Tested tips and tricks
copy writing for email campaigns
comparison of providers
scheduling
how to …
software reviews
web site integration
squeeze pages know how
how to collect email addresses at a fair
legal issues
the more recent the better
specific advice better than general blabla
…, etc.

I'd like to see a lot of original, recent articles from real people on real Blogs with about info and a real email address.

First edition will be hosted here on this E-Biz Booster Blog on Wednesday, May 28^th, 2008.

Yours
John W. Furst

Sign-up for my newsletter at http://blog.fcon21.biz and receive ‘Become More Productive - Get Email Under Control, and more …’ To claim your free gift go there now and sign up”.
Copyright ©2012 by John W. Furst. Some Rights Reserved. Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0.

Building And Running A Content Marketing System

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Sat, 26 May 2012 03:19:11 -0600

Dear business builders,

You might have heard it many times before, “Content Is King!”

This little phrase gets everyone excited who is especially afraid of paid advertising.

Countless blogs and worthless article directories have been started with the hope to attract traffic and turn it into money without spending a dime.

But this is not about it.

Content Marketing is serious business!

Toby Murdock of SEOmoz wrote a detailed article about “How to Build and Operate a Content Marketing Machine.”

He says, “The question is not ‘why?’ your organization should start with content marketing — that should have been answered already — it is ‘How?’”

Check it out, take notes, and most importantly define action items and set a due date for each.

To Your Success

Yours
John W. Furst

SOPA Is Off The Table For Now

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:55:00 -0700

“SOPA is on hold”

When I heard the news that SOPA in its current form has been put on ice, I was relieved. I had outlined the reasons why I am opposing SOPA (↑) a couple of days ago on this blog.

Another battle in this ongoing war has been won, but the war is not over yet. Will there ever be an end to the debate?

Like look at this article in the Forbes magazine about what happened 30 years before SOPA, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) feared the VCR (↑) (video cassette recorder).

The new target is the Internet

There will always be a struggle between those who wish to defend the status quo and those who embrace change.

Don’t be afraid of “the New,” embrace it and look for opportunities.

As a side note: I was positively surprised that Neelie Kroes (↑), Vice President of the European Commission, responsible for the Digital Agenda for Europe, criticized SOPA very publicly.

Neelie Kroes tweets about SOPA and defends a free Internet.

To sum it up, here is a rundown of some articles I found useful.

+Pete Cashmore (↑) of Mashable posted a couple of links about the demise of SOPA. It’s a battle won but the war might go on.

SOPA Is Dead: Smith Pulls Bill (↑)
RIP SOPA: The Internet Kills Its Attackers (↑)
Facebook ‘Relieved’ That SOPA Is Dead (↑)
Could SOPA Rise From the Dead? (↑)

Stay tuned as the protectionist will fire back as soon as they have caught their breath.

To Your Success

Yours
John W. Furst

SOPA And Protect IP: Free Internet At Risk

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:11:52 -0700

Welcome in 2012!

My first post this year will be a short one but nevertheless a very important one.

The Free Internet in the USA is at risk!

It is challenged by two proposed laws which basically will allow or even require censorship.

While the intent of the legislation is noble, “Stop online piracy and copyright theft!” The means the law provides will do more harm than good. And not only in the USA. There will be some global collateral effects as well.

At least this is my personal take.

Some say, “This will break the Internet as we know it!”

Here is what I wrote in a private forum earlier today.

Interesting sometime “hot” discussion here.

My take:

Successful pirates move faster than any law enforcement. They always have been and always will. That’s their business model.
They need to be stopped where they are.
No US law will stop them.
This law might stop some amateurs with a negligible volume, but not the big boys (and girls.)
… and this law will cause more collateral damage than the society will benefit from it.

More Links:

End Piracy, Not Liberty (↑) on Google.
In Face Of Protests, Congressmen Begin To Abandon SOPA Ship (↑) on TechCrunch.
When the world changes... (↑) by Seth Godin.
Why We’ve Censored Wired.com (↑) by Evan Hansen on Wired, saying, “SOPA and PIPA represent a legal strategy that focuses the attention of business leaders on stopping losses rather than promoting innovation and building new products. It obfuscates the fact that piracy is, in the long run, an unavoidable cost of doing business, one that should be bearable provided the fundamentals of the business (say, customer satisfaction) are sound.”
A technical examination of SOPA and PROTECT IP (↑) by Jason Harvey on Reddit.

And did you notice that Wikipedia (↑) is blacked out as a protest. Here is more info on that (↑).

People discussion, protesting, debating, …, putting pressure on those who have been elected into office (most likely based on a set of totally different issues—don’t forget that!)

That’s democracy alive!
Let’s hope it wins.

Bravo!

Now, do yourself a favour. Get the information, make up your mind, and take action if you choose to.

To Your Success

Yours
John W. Furst

Your Best Idea Might Be ... (One of Many Things)

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:21:56 -0700

Brand Catalyst and Verbal Designer Bernadette Jiwa is a Linchpin as Seth Godin has redefined the word almost two years ago.

Here is her piece of Art

The Idea Manifesto

Find out more at http://thestoryoftelling.com/idea-manifesto/

A compelling piece of Art that is supposed to spread.
(And it can be spread rather easily.)

Let’s pick it up and share it.

That is what I am doing right now.

Pick up your free copy and help spread the word.

Yours
John W. Furst

New Legal Hurdles For Email And One Big Change

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 01:50:00 -0600

Pick One - Spam or not Spam

I came across two interesting articles on internet Retailer (↑) in my email inbox today . I thought I’ll share them with you. Let’s start with the not so good news.

New Email Laws in Canada in 2012

Canadian law makers create FISA -- Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act -- which will be in effect in 2012.

As long as you want to reach Canadian consumers or by Email you will need to adhere to this new law.

The law will apply if:

You want to reach Canadian consumers
You are using equipment (e.g. servers) inside Canadian borders.

It doesn’t matter where you are located or where you are sending your commercial emails from.

Most important implication: Opt-in first is a strict requirement!

You’ll need the permission from consumers before you may send commercial email to them. The usual opt-out method which many US-based businesses use today will be prohibited.

Read the full article: A new hurdle for e-mail (↑).

As usual the law will affect regular businesses only. Spammers don’t care.

The One Big Chance: The inbox Goes Mobile

It is a trend that people are connected to the Net and to their email inbox more often and on multiple places. You don’t need to wait till it’s raining and people stay at home at their desktop computer. They take their email everywhere, anytime.

That’s an opportunity, isn’t it.

But you need to be prepared for it. Do your commercial emails display nicely on those mobile devices with the tiny screens? If not, change that.

Thanks to the fact that most if not all social media and networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and G+ as the latest star, connect to your email inbox to some extent. I.e. even the young generation knows what email is. It does not main that they like to consume email but email has one big advantage over the walls on Facebook or the Twitter and Google Plus streams.

It’s an archive, one can sort and use filters. It’s much easier to find a specific message in email than on social media

Read the full article: With consumers communicating on the move, e-mail must go mobile, … (↑)

Hope you like the tips. Let me know.

Yours
John W. Furst

Bye-Bye Chris Brogan And Company - Feature Request For Google+

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 11:52:00 -0600

Chris Brogan on Google+

Before we get started I want to put the title of this post into the proper perspective, right away.

No, I don’t have anything to hold against Chris Brogan (↑), not at all. He is a fine person! Otherwise I would not follow him on Twitter, in Google Reader, now in Google+, and probably elsewhere.

Unfortunately for him -- I hope his ego can cope with that -- he becomes my poster child for something he is not even responsible for himself. (Life can be tough, isn’t it.)

Chris posts a lot on Google+ (at least now) and his followers are eager to comment and share. The result is that he (as well as other heavy posters like Robert Scoble (↑), Trey Ratcliff (↑), … show up first almost every time when I look at my stream.

Don’t get me wrong, I follow them, because they usually have blurbs of value to share. Anything from entertaining to educating …

It’s just that I don’t want them right in my face all the time whenever I look at my stream.

When taking this screenshot above it just happened that Chris Brogan was up there twice in a row. It was not planned. Seriously. It could as well have been someone else. Sorry, Chris.

Robert Scoble has addressed the problem and has described how you can organize your circles to take your stream back into your possession. You can read Scoble's tips for newer users of Google+ (↑) (a post on Google+, I believe you can read it even without being signed up for G+). Note his point 2.b.

But wait a second! Your stream should not be hijacked in first place.

Isn’t that something the user interface is supposed to protect you from? That question might be a bit philosophical and we don’t need to address it here but why should you be foreced to arrange your circles in a certain way so that your stream remains usable?

Nevertheless, I found a cure (theoretically.) You can see it in the screenshot.

The solution is rather simple:

The user should be able to toggle each circles to be included or excluded in the stream.

Turn circles in the main stream on and off

Currently you can only select one circle at a time. I think it shouldn’t be that way.

Of course you could switch from circle to circle but probably all you need is to exclude one or two from your streamin order to do just fine.

That’s what I propose here.

Tell me what you think? Could this solve this initial G+ hick up?
Since many people are writing about that issue it might be worthwhile tackling it. I have scribbled other, smaller ideas somewhere on my notepad but who cares about those.

From that list:

On the +1 tab of the personal profile I’d like to see a share and comment link next to the items I have previously 1+’ed.
I’d like to be able to hangout with audio / texting capabilities only (skype like). .Don’t require me to hookup a webcam and show my face.
I don’t have a remedy for this one: Maybe it is only me, but sometimes I feel insecure when selecting members. “Is this really the person I mean?” I am so used to see unique identifiers like an email address or an ID#. Now, it’s only a name and a photo. I guess I have to get used to it.

That's it for the start.

It seems that Google is really actively listining to the tons of feedback they get from users. And Google is implementing some popular and important user requests fast (↑).

Update

While I suggest what Google could do to improve the user experience with G+, my friend Dr. Mani shared his personal tricks and shows how he organizes his circles.

He has some pretty smart ways of doing this.

Read his blog post here:

Circles = Sharing : How I’m Using Google+ Circles (↑)
Google+ In Ten Minutes a Day (↑)

__________

Now, what do you think?

Yours
John W. Furst

P.S.: Besides that I am having a very positive Google+ experience. Thanks to the team of Google+.

P.P.S.: Don't of think that I am focusing on what might not be working that well so far. I must confess my Google+ experience is really much better than when I got started with Twitter, Facebook or Google Wave (remember that one?)

Sneaky Email Marketing Tips - 7 Universal Laws for the Email PS That Gets Prospects to Click (Now)

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 11:14:58 -0600

Image Credit

Email marketing is supposedly dead. I love it when I hear people say this, because it usually comes from one of the people that pound their list everyday with a the “latest greatest offer” for that day.

Email marketing should be dead for those folks because it gets old really quick. Think about it, if this is the latest greatest offer, does that mean that yesterday’s offer now stinks. And what about tomorrow’s offer? Etc. etc.

But, if you are taking really good care of your list community your emails will be welcomed. Here are a few ways to increase the open rate of your emails with strategic use of the PS.

Many people will scan down to the PS in an email, just like they do in a sales letter. So why not make yours powerful for pulling in prospects and profits.

For each tip, be sure to include in the PS the link you want your reader to click. (I know that sounds so obvious, but you should see what I see sometimes…

7 Universal Laws for the Email PS

The Law of the Recap - Since many people scan to the PS of an email for the bottom line, this is a good place to review what you have said in your email. Here’s a template: This is what I have for you, this is what it will do for you, this is what I want you to do next…

The Law of Scarcity - Remind your reader that their is a limit to what is offered in the email. For example: only 200 lines available for the call, just 17 slots left, only selling 20 more packages, etc.

The Law of Urgency - Best used when you want someone to act quickly. For example: Offer ends at midnight tonight, last chance to register, register before all the lines fill up, etc.

The Law of Colombo - Some of you will remember the great character Lieutenant Columbo, the detective in the rumpled overcoat, played by Peter Falk. He had a way of waiting until someone thought the conversation was over before driving home a point with “Just one more thing…” So an example for our purposes would be: “And, of by the way…”

The Law of Humor - You are allowed to have fun with this, ya know? Sometimes just to do something different, and spread a little good will, I’ll stick a short clean joke. Just Google “short clean jokes” to find ones you can use.

The Law of Oops - Related to the Law of Columbo, this is when you start your PS off with “Oh, I almost forgot…” and then add in something that will get them to click on the link you want.

The Law of Blank - This is a bit silly, but it’s fun and spreads goodwill. Since folks will almost always look at the PS, every now and then I’ll type in after the PS - “This PS left intentionally blank.” It’s funny because now it is no longer blank. I got this idea from the phone company that used to print that on a previously blank sheet of paper in the bill. I am not making this up.

And so now here’s a way to get many more great tips and tools on a regular basis, on my blog at http://JeffHerring.com

You’ll find leading edge tips and tools for Article Marketing, Content Creation, Traffic Generation, List Building, Online Visibility, Info Product Creation and so much more…

From Jeff Herring - The Article Marketing Guy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Herring

Google Adwords Guide 2011 Released by Perry Marshall

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:04:31 -0600

Perry Marshall
Google AdWords Expert

HOT NEWS: As you can probably tell from the advertising that I have on my site and blog you see that I am a big fan of Internet Marketing Expert Perry Marshall.

Perry's Adwords course has saved me from “Adwords bankruptcy” a couple of years ago. Now, I just saw that Perry has released his new edition 2011.

Definitive Guide To Google Adwords 2011

50% of the book rewritten.
The gap between Adwords winners and losers never has been that huge.
6 brand new modules!
From affiliate marketing, PPC marketing in the U.K. and Canada, … to the content network.
Choose one or get two or even all modules at a discount price.
A must have for everybody working with Adwords.

3 Unstoppable Forces Will Either Propel You to Victory or Bury You on Page 2-3-4 of Google's Search Results.

You Either Win or Lose.
(Perry Marshall)

Check it out now!

All backed up with Perry's crazy guarantee. Watch the video as he explains everything you must know.

You also could sign up for Perry's 5 Day Google Adwords Course by Email.

Yours
John W Furst

P.S.: Perry writes much better copy than I do, therefore, I save you from having to bear with me and urge you to go over to his site and read what he has to say about Google Adwords in 2009/2010 and why you need to get his book.

Actually you don't even need to read everything.

Play his video, listen, and then get your copy of his book for as little as $49.

Catching Up ...

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:03:36 -0700

I will be catching up with a couple of editions of my

Email Marketing Tips Blogcarnival

at once shortly.

Apologizing for the delays.

I even kept your submissions for the issues which have already been deleted from BlogCarnival.com

Stay Tuned!

Yours
John W. Furst

Support of Web Standards - 4th Blue Beanie Day

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:44:03 -0700

John on the Fourth Annual International Blue Beanie Day

Today, on Tuesday, November 30th, 2010, the Fourth Annual International Blue Beanie Day ought to remind the Internet community to stick to Web standards.

It will make on-line life so much simpler then.

Imagine how much easier development could be if you could trust your code to work on all major platforms.

It's a call — an outcry — to the big guys like Google and Facebook to make sure their APIs, widgets, and plugins are within the standard and pass validation.
It's also an outcry to the standards committees to adopt innovative ideas and integrate them into the standards more rapidly.
Two examples:
- The relatively new social plugins from Facebook, e.g. LIKE button, comments, …, does not validate to the (X)HTML(5) standards.
- Same is true for the embedded YouTube Player.
And I could go on, and on, and on …
You might say it doesn't matter if a website doesn't validate 100%. However, one could detect true and serious issues with the code with less hassle in the absence of all those defacto standard violations.

Please, participate by doing the following:

1. Take a self-portrait wearing a blue beanie (toque, tuque, cap) and upload it to the Blue Beanie Day 2010 (↑) pool on Flickr.

2. Add a blue beanie to your social network avatar on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc.

3. Write a web standards haiku and post it on Twitter with the hashtag #bbd4 for your chance to win web design books from Peachpit and A Book Apart in the Blue Beanie Day Haiku Contest.

4. No blue beanie? No time for Photoshop? Try face-sticker.quodis.com (↑) to the rescue!

Have a nice “standard” day.

Yours
John W. Furst

13 Free and Inexpensive Ways to Promote Your Website

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:29:00 -0600

The following article contains 13 free and inexpensive ways for you to promote your website.

1. Viral Marketing is an approach that persuades people to pass along your message. Like a virus, the message then spreads to more and more people. The persuasion to pass along the message typically comes in the form of humor. If one person thinks the ad, email, video, etc. is funny and/or entertaining, they will pass it on to their friends. If you’re creative, give this a try.

2. Creating a blog, or web log, is becoming more and more popular. A blog will allow you to create a running commentary focused on your products or services. Interested parties will have access to this running log information. WordPress and Blogger are two of the most popular blogging platforms, and both are free to use.

3. Joining an affiliate program will cost a bit of money but can make a huge impact if you’re selling merchandise. Interested parties join your program and sell your products. When they make a sale, you pay them a set commission.

Just one example: Search Engine Marketing

4. What better way to grab people’s attention than to offer them something for free. Using free giveaways like sample products or offering a free consultation is a great way to grab people’s attention and to garner more interest in your products or services.

5. Posting articles focused on your products or services is a great way to promote your business. People are constantly surfing the internet for the latest tips, tricks, and advice… just like you. Adding links in your articles that refer readers to your website is a necessity to increase traffic.

6. Target your audience. Join forums and other online groups that are within the scope of your business, products, or services. Be sure to supply these forums or groups with a steady stream of applicable information. Constant, focused information is a great way to catch a prospective customer’s attention.

7. Make prospective clients feel wanted and special. When your marketing does draw prospects to your site, you want to close the deal. Make someone browsing your website feel good about themselves, and try to relay how much better they’ll feel when they buy what you’re selling.

8. Purchase business cards and company stationary. Use these two for any and all correspondence. Whether it is something personal or related to your website, the more hands you can put your stationary and/or business cards into, the more likely you are to increase site traffic and sales.

9. Sponsoring events is a great way to get your company name in the public eye. Depending on the type of event, sponsorship packages will vary in price. Make sure to select events that are likely to draw your customer demographic and give you the most exposure for your buck.

10. Focus on your uniqueness. While promoting your website, you need to focus on the things that set you apart from your competition. My online business, OBrienMaDe, is an online social marketing company. Our homepage clearly tells prospective clients what sets us apart from the myriad of other marketing companies on the internet. Check it out for yourself- http://www.obrienmade.com.

11. Use e-mail and snail mail campaigns. Obviously, we don’t want to spam prospects or bombard them with junk mail, but you do want to use a calculated mail campaign. Almost everyone has a large database or personal e-mails. Start by advertising to your friends and family; you never know what might come of it. Also, mail out ads to your demographic… and be sure to use company stationary.

12. This one is a no-brainer, but just in case here you go… create a webpage. Having an online presence is very vital. If you’re an online business you have a website, if you’re a brick and mortar establishment you may not have a site. At the very least, create a single web page highlighting your offerings. There are many free web hosting providers you can use. Just search “Free Web Hosting”.

13. Google AdWords offer pay-per-click (PPC) advertising for businesses. Your ad will appear in the Google search engine. When someone clicks on the ad and is directed to your website you pay an amount of money pre-determined by you. You can establish a budget that is not to be exceeded. Once your PPC reaches your monetary limit, the ad will no longer be visible to web surfers.

If you would like help establishing and running a social media marketing campaign, or creating a website, please feel free to visit http://www.obrienmade.com or email: .

About the Author

Tom O'Brien is owner and operator of OBrienMaDe, an online business focused on helping small businesses increase online visibility and traffic.

This article has been originally posted on GoArticles.com - The Web’s Largest Free Content Article Directory (↑)

What Should You Put In Your Newsletter?

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:07:00 -0600

Carlo Leon Guerrero

Despite all of the new ways to promote yourself and your products on the internet, email marketing still remains an essential part of any online marketing campaign. A newsletter is a great way to promote yourself, and your products. Let’s take a look at what you should do with your newsletter to ensure that your subscribers will keep reading it.

Entertaining, and Informative

Your newsletter should be both entertaining and informative. Obviously, you’re going to want to send out sales information to your subscribers, but if that’s all you send out, your subscribers will stop reading your newsletter very quickly.

It’s a good idea to send out entertaining and informative content in each email. If you find something interesting that’s related to your niche, pass it along to your subscribers. Entertaining videos, funny comics, and interesting news stories all make great content for your newsletter.

Of course, send out some promotional information too, just make sure to add additional value for your subscribers with entertaining and informative content.

Clear and Concise

If you want your subscribers to keep reading your newsletter, you have to keep it clear and concise. Don’t make your readers sift through a wall of text to find the interesting, or useful information in each email.

The harder they have to work at finding the useful information in your email, the less likely they will be to read the next email you send out. Stick to short paragraphs and bulleted lists. Be sure that your content is clear, and easy to read, and your subscribers will be more likely to keep reading your newsletter.

Sales Copy

If you’re sending out a strictly promotional email, be sure to include all of the necessary information for your readers. If you’re telling them about a sale, make sure you mention any exceptions tot he sale in the email.

Use bulleted lists to give your readers all of the details about your sale. The easier your sales copy is to follow the more likely your readers will be to absorb, and react to it.

Email marketing can be tough, but if you keep these tips in mind, you’ll have a successful newsletter.

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Email Marketing Tips - Edition 27

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:05:00 -0600

Welcome to the 27th edition of email marketing tips on October 27th, 2010.

As in the previous edition of this blog carnival I have exclusively handpicked the entries. Now I am back on carnival schedule.

general tips - editor’s pick

Jordie van Rijn presents What is the marketing value of an “out of office” reply? posted at The Email Guide, saying, “Most of us filter them from the ‘real’ replies as soon as they come in. Or we even block the replies altogether. But that doesn’t do justice to the nature of that automated reply message. So what is the value of an out-of-office reply?”

John’s comment: The takeaway is, “Even out of office replies can provide valuable data and an opportunity to score points with your subscribers if you think outside the box.”

Ricardas Montvila presents Behavioural Targeting, meet the Audience. Audience, meet Behavioural Targeting. posted at Email Marketing News, saying, “Behavioural targeting email marketing has been in the headlines for some time now and there is a good reason for that. It works!”

John’s comment: A case study and practical tips included.

The E-Marketer Blog How Effective Is Sharing via Email vs. Social Media? posted at The E-Marketer Blog, saying, “In a statistic that has been backed up by other studies, including the August one by CMB, SocialTwist reported email was the most common channel used to share content.”

John’s comment: Reveals different patterns in social media and emails.

copywriting - editor’s pick

Barbera Grim presents Copywriting Tip – Lucrative List Building: The Squeeze Page, saying, “There are a few techniques you can use to capture your visitor’s information and build a lucrative list. Here are the three ‘biggies’.”

John’s comment: A no-brainer.

Karen Scharf presents Email Copywriting: 5 Tips to Improve Your ROI, saying, “While writing email marketing copy is very similar to writing direct mail copy there are several nuances that are unique to email marketing.”

John’s comment: Important differences to “regular copy” that you should know about.

That concludes this edition of email marketing tips. Past posts and future hosts can be found on my email marketing tips blog carnival home page.

Yours
John W. Furst

P.S.: If you like this edition, check out the previous email marketing tips - edition 26, too.

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Technorati tags: email marketing tips, blog carnival

Business To Business Email Marketing

info@fcon21.biz (John W. Furst) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:34:00 -0600

Robert Carlton

Email marketing is an extremely efficient and effective method of increasing your sales and your customer base, but as with so many other marketing tools, if you don't know what you're doing it can actually cause more harm than good. Don't ever forget that you are marketing to other companies and not individuals so your messages need to be tailored to your actual audience. When your company is trying to establish a business to business email marketing strategy, there are significant differences in your approach then if you were working on a business to consumer campaign. Here are a few of the major points you need to consider in order to create a more effective and profitable email marketing campaign:

1. Keep it simple. If you were to meet with a prospect in person you would make sure that your pitch were straight to the point. When sending B2B emails you want to achieve the same no nonsense tone. Their time is valuable and you want to prove to them that you appreciate that fact by getting right down to business in your email, just as you would if you were talking to them in person.

2. Don't forget the "WIIFM" (what's in it for me) approach to your email messages. Make sure that you clearly articulate what advantages your company can provide to their company and why it just makes sense for them to do business with you. You have to structure your email message in such as way as to set yourself apart from the competition.

3. Don't be afraid to ask them for their business. If you don't have a clear call to action such as 'click here now', for example, they may not do anything. It's one of the most common mistakes marketers make, they don't ask the prospect to actually take action, they fail to ask for the sale. Don't make this mistake.

4. To optimize the effectiveness of your email campaign make sure you take the time to learn more about your prospects business and what you can do to help them. This information can prove extremely helpful when you are composing your email message. By being able to add specific points to your email that would only apply to their particular business you are letting them know that you've taken the time to learn about their company and their needs which will help you build trust with them.

5. Remember, this is a business that has their own marketing campaigns and they are familiar with all the tricks. Don't try too hard to 'sell' them. Keep your message short and on point and then follow up with a firm and clear call to action.

6. Track your results. You want to keep track of open rates as well as an increase in sales and/ or customers. It's important for you to know which campaigns work and which ones didn't. This information will allow you to tweak the ones that work and reuse them and start from scratch on some of the less effective campaigns.

Email marketing can be a huge benefit to any business building strategy. Take the time to research your market before you implement your business to business email marketing plan. This added step will allow you to make more money and increase your customer base for a very small investment.

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