On Wednesday,March 31, 2010, I enjoyed attending a Constant Contact workshop by Pamela Adams and sponsored by Ladies Who Launch. I ended up winning the book – yeah for me! I have already been utilizing Constant Contact as a tool for both Virtual Harvest and other clients. I would like to share with you some of the best practices and tips that I notated, which will enable me to even more effectively conduct email marketing.
1. Avoid spamming – There are implied and explicit permissions. You want to be careful to comply with the laws. Constant Contact helps you to stay in compliance with unsubscribe and removal options. If a domain categorizes you as spam, your email address can be blocked from even everyday communication. For instance, AOL could block you from emailing any of their users. For more details about the Can’t Spam Act, go to http://www.FTC.gov/Spam.
2. Share your knowledge & expertise– Equate emails to magazines as your audience will put up with ads for the exchange of information. It is helpful to collect content and information throughout the month or in between your distributions. You may also consider serializing your high interest topics. Be sure to set yourself up as an expert in the industry and share the current trends and resources in your industry.
3. Don’t put full articles in your emails– Avoid lengthy articles or link your article to the full article on another site like your blog site or another online location.
4. Schedule distributions appropriately– Understand when your recipients will review their emails. Most businesses experience the best results between Tuesday and Wednesday during the hours of 10am-3pm. This avoids the start of the week and day rush deletes. Constant Contact makes it easy to compose the emails in advance at your convenience and customize your schedule. Do what works and be consistent as they will come to expect and anticipate your email, which is a challenge for me as I get sidetracked with client work. Along with establishing consistency,determine your frequency. Monthly is usually best depending on your content, but no less than quarterly.
5. Short& sweet, but specific “From” & “Subject” lines – Statistics show that 60% of people open emails based upon the “From” line while 30% of people open emails based upon the “Subject” line. Do your recipients recognize your name or your company name? What email address do they trust? You can set your reply address to any email you prefer. It is best to limit your subject line to 45 characters or less. Get creative. Customize against spam messages. Add numbers to increase attention. Formulate action statements about them. Focus on benefits rather than just the features. Avoid the use of the word “FREE” and other emphasis characters as they get caught up in spam filters.
6. Effectively use the white space –Utilize the white space for calls to action and advertising. Make sure the banner is not too high. Do not distribute graphic only emails. Understand the concept of “before the scroll”as what the reader sees as content to entice to scroll down. What is the email about for them to further interact and read your email?
7. Embed video – Perhaps the most valuable tip I learned during the workshop was how to embed video. The use of YouTube is on the rise and more people are utilizing video to communicate to their customer base. Link to the location online to avoid the video being stripped from the email and also to track the views. Capture and save the image. Download a play button, insert over the image as a watermark, and resave it. Copy the video address online. Upload and insert the image to your desired place within the email. Make the image clickable and paste the link. Voila! You have embedded a video!
Tom Koulopoulos, President and founder of The Delphi Group, and also a known author, futurist, and leader in the technology industry, centered his speech on building connections. He defined an invention as an idea, while innovation creates value. He also pointed out that technology used to be what we did not grow up with and now it is what we do. Technology has become a behavior used for collaboration. It has become an experience about sharing. One major example he explained was the evolving avatars, specifically he demonstrated the Land’s End Avatar used to tailor and order clothes. In light of the technology evolution and the unpredictability in behaviors, he emphasized that leaders have to learn to adapt to the changing behaviors. Leaders must provide latitude for ...
<< MORE >>When I first
started exploring home business opportunities a few years ago, I learned right
away to be careful. There are tons of
get-rich-quick schemes out there and scams running rampant out there. I think the Better Business Bureau and
federal authorities have their work cut out for them trying to regulate and
control the scam artists. Most of them
are operating outside the country in hard to track areas and move around
frequently.
They are
getting more and more creative and clever in their attempts to lure innocent, naïve,
and desperate individuals into their money making traps. Have you gotten these emails claiming you
have been a beneficiary to some inheritance or someone in some far off place
like Africa needs your help to process some funds? All you need to do is wire them some
processing money? Uh… yeah… right! Or you have won the lottery in Europe that
you did not even enter to win? Let’s use
some common sense. Those are easy email
requests to immediately delete and do not even entertain.
A little more
deceiving is a fabricated company advertising an opening on job boards. They respond back that you have been selected
for a position in so many words to conduct money laundering and check
fraud. They just need you to process payments
and checks through a US bank account for faster customer service. You take a nice percentage for your
processing fee. What’s that saying? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably
is. This is another illegitimate
business to immediately ignore and do not send them any personal information.
Do your
research before divulging your personal information. Get as much information on them as you
can. It is risky applying for jobs online. Companies want to limit their information
just as much to better manage the responses they receive. Nevertheless, they should be willing to share
about themselves and provide you with all the information you want, especially
in an interview process. If they are
vague and only interested in your information, then halt the process
immediately. They should also never
require any application fees or any tasks that require your credit or debit
card information.
The
sophisticated scammers and spammers may also misuse your information to spread
viruses and capture information. Be
careful opening up emails, especially with attachments. It is a wise investment to maintain a good
anti-virus program on your computer constantly updating with the latest viruses
to protect your computer.
If you get
pulled in through their increasingly creative and deceptive practices, you can
report them to the proper authorities and file complaints:
·
Federal
Trade Commission: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
·
Internet
Crime Complaint Center: http://www.ic3.gov
As Craigslist
is frequently misused, they have a great resource page to help you understand
the types of scams: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.

I have known Carla Still for three years, when we took an online course together in Virtual Assistant Business Management. Even though we have never met face-to-face, a very close business relationship has developed between us.
Carla has an extremely conscientious and professional work ethic. Her ability to find the best solution to solve a problem or make a process work better is a rare gift that she uses without hesitation. This talent has been extremely valuable with the projects we have worked on, primarily, when she assisted with developing my website.
Carla is very knowledgeable about Web site development, internet navigation, and online networking sites and applications. She is not timid about exploring new realms and is always ready to take on a project with a positive attitude and enthusiasm.
It is always a joy to work with Carla. I can rely on her expertise, knowing that she'll put my interests firsthand with any project. She will continue to be an asset to my business and a vital business associate for years to come.
A remarkable specialization has naturally evolved in our business services. A common thread in my work with clients this past year has been developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). This skill began while I was working with the federal government. There was a need to have all the specific procedures and processes in writing.
Why is it so important to have a developed SOP? What if the time came for me to move on to another opportunity and into another position? All the other secretaries, executive assistants, and I working with the federal government understood the importance of coverage and supporting each other. What if one of us had a medical or family emergency? How would we know how to fill in and properly provide the assistance to the staff they supported? Of course, in general, we answer the telephones, arrange conference calls, set up travel, serve as timekeepers, provide the necessary assistance with training, sort mail, and other administrative duties. However, what is often misunderstood is the fact that each office has a different personality and set of preferences.
While a generic SOP of contacts and general procedures can be copied, it must be properly detailed and tailored to the needs of each specific office environment and supported staff. What are the travel preferences? What are the routine ...<< MORE >>
Craigslist has been in the news recently in a negative and adverse way due to a recent slaying (http://tinyurl.com/craigslistoncnn). As a result, the advertising site has become very controversial. It’s a very diverse classified listing site, and just like most anything can be misused for wrongful purposes. I am glad they are restructuring and monitoring the ads more closely. I have found it to be a very responsive tool for marketing. The diversity generates a tremendous amount of traffic and users benefit in numerous ways – both in business and personal capacities.
There are a few other minor down sides to posting ads. I am encountering a limited amount of spam, scam mail, and phishing off sites like Craigslist. I have reduced it by "disguising" my email through an anonymous and appointed email address through Craigslist. That way they can monitor and help fight the spamming. My Web site is listed on my ad, so potential clients can view my Web site and email me directly that way. With ...<< MORE >>
Business is booming!!! Praise God! The time has come for me to turn the "m" upside down to "w" - from me to we. Can you relate? I have partnered with a number of other other qualified virtual professionals with additional skill sets and availability. Together we can harvest a greater crop! I am excited about what this business development can mean for all involved.
For more information on how we can assist you, please click here. You'll also find a tool you may be able to utilize to contact me via instant messaging. If my skills and availability do not directly match yours, perhaps one of my partnered associates will match your project needs. After gathering more information, I can send you the applicable resume and Web site for your review.
https://admin.connectpro.acrobat.com/_a754148897/p63466681/
This past week I listened to a great Webinar that discusses a number of tools in a jammed packed one hour session. The session is very concise and informative for the small business budget. You can listen too by clicking on the above link. Three gentlemen (Ryan Hinricher, Steve Mullen, and Greg Smith) speak on search engine optimization (SEO) for your business Website, to writing press releases, to researching and getting to know your customers.
You learn the importance of link gathering and unique content creation. A huge emphasis is on blog writing. They explain how to get started and offer “The Blogging Formula”. There’s a discussion on writing press releases and how it can build your business. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of getting to know your customer through proper research.
I found the connections in the instruction on social media very enlightening. The connection was made for podcasting through audio files like iTunes. You can create these files simply through http://www.talkshoe.com. Likewise, video files are like YouTube loads that can be developed using a basic camcorder. Podcasting and video casting are on the rise and it is important technology in relating to your niche client base.