5 Surefire Tips for Effective Email Marketing!   By Toni Harris

Over the past few years, research has continued to prove the benefits of email marketing for business:  low costs, high conversion rates, and detailed tracking are all notable features.  But email marketing is becoming much more than just a tool for spammers and e-businesses.  Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy on the differences between spam and permission-based emails and more and more of them are accepting permission-based email marketing as a positive replacement for direct mail.

The best news is that the majority of people who receive permission-based e-mail open, on average, 78% of them.

Jupiter Research reports effective email marketing campaigns can produce 9 times the revenues and 18 times the profits of broadcast mailings.  But crafting an effective business email is both an art and a science.

Here is a list of factors, potential problems, and effective solutions to keep in mind:

1. Spam!  Spam!  Spam!  I don't need any Viagra!

The average consumer receives more than 300 emails a week, 62% of which are spam. No wonder there's such hostility towards the industry.  But spam filters, bulk folders, and "report spam" features are helping consumers become more at ease about the perils of spam.  While 89% of users cited spam as a major concern in 2003, that number dropped to 85% in 2004, proportionally to an increase in the use of spam-fighting tools.

So, as a permission-based business email marketer, what can you do?  One tip is to remind your subscribers to add you to their "safe senders" list.  The second and most important tactic is to make sure your email marketing service provider has a good relationship with ISPs.  This will ensure that your email marketing campaigns go into your subscribers' inboxes, not their junk mail folders.  When choosing an email marketing software, make sure the company has strict anti-spam policies and complies with the guidelines of Can-Spam.

2. Images and formatting:  Why do my emails look broken?

Broken email campaigns are an increasing concern among email marketers, especially since several companies and web-based email providers now block graphics as a measure to combat spam.  A good email service provider allows you to create a webpage for your email marketing campaign.  The email is sent to a secure location on the web.  The technology ensures you can track your users' behaviors, even if they are reading your email campaign at the secure web location.

3. Personalization and relevant content:  In a business email, one size does not fit all.

In a recent study, email users were 72% more likely to respond to a business email if its content was based on the interests they had specified.  That number points out the absolute importance of allowing users to choose their own interest groups and have control over which business emails they receive.  The most popular interest categories, according to the study, are coupons and household goods.

But your coupon is no good unless the user opens the email.  Users in the study said the most compelling reason for them to open a business email is the name in the "from" field.  So it's a good idea to make sure your company name is clearly stated there.  Another major factor is the "subject" line.  Users cite discount offers and interesting news as the most compelling subject lines, followed by new product announcements and free shipping offers.

4. Click-through and conversion:  Show me the money!

So the user has opened your email and read the content.  Great!  But where's the sale? There's good news here.  For one, consumers are increasingly likely to make purchases as a direct result of a business email campaign.  One-third of users in the DoubleClick study had purchased something by clicking a link on an email.  Another 42% clicked on an email link for more information then purchased the product at a later time.  Second, online couponing is booming:  73% of consumers have redeemed an online coupon for an online purchase and 59% have redeemed an online coupon offline.

5. Stats tracking:  Who are my real consumers?

First off, if your provider's email services for business do not include detailed, real-time tracking, you're getting a raw deal.  Real-time tracking is now an industry standard and it's highly valuable.  It allows you to see the exact moment a user opens your campaign, clicks on your link, and makes that purchase.  Studying your users can help you improve your communications efforts so each campaign performs better than the last (several email service providers also let you compare the performance of your campaigns).

In email marketing, a blind shot won't take you very far.  But if you aim properly by following these essential rules of play, you should soon be reaping the same major results as so many online and offline businesses.

Toni Harris is a marketing strategist, author, and an authorized local expert with Constant Contact.  Follow Toni on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and YouTube.  You can contact Toni to speak at your next event at toni@drasticonlineresults.com or 713.397.9273.

GPS for Phenomenal Success         By Howard Partridge

Have you ever used a GPS (Global Positioning System)?  Of course you have.  GPS is used by many to get from “here to there” these days.  When I started my business almost 30 years ago, we used something called a “map,” and it was made of this interesting material called paper!

But today, we simply get out our smart phones and it gives you turn-by-turn directions to get you to your destination.  Do you know where you want to go? Are you clear about where you want to go in life and in business?  And more importantly, do you really know where you are now?

The first thing a GPS does is determine where you are.  In addition, it is the first step toward getting you where you want to go.  One of the biggest weaknesses one can have is not being able to accurately assess where they presently are. 

Let’s say you want to go to your favorite spot in Florida but you have been blindfolded, driven around for hours, and dropped off by the side of an unmarked road.  Unless you know where you are, you can’t get to Florida.  The GPS picks up where you are.  Then you can type in the location in Florida and it will give you step-by-step directions to get there.

GPS - Goals, Plans, Systems

G is for Goals.  Without clearly defined goals, you will never know where you are going or if and when you will get there.  You must have clearly defined life goals and business goals.  They must be written down.  They must be yours.  They must be meaningful to you.  They must be specific and measurable.  

P is for Plans.  You need a map.  Would you try to go somewhere you’ve never been without a map?  You need to have a simple business plan that includes your business goals, your mission, a 12-month budget, and a marketing plan.  It sounds like a lot but it can be really simple.  It is vital that you create a really good map and follow it closely.

S is for Systems.  You must choose what vehicles you will use on this amazing and exceedingly important journey.  Your business is a vehicle, and like any vehicle, it has a number of systems that work together to operate it.

A bicycle has the wheel system - the gears, the frame, the braking, and steering systems all work together as a system.  An automobile has a number of systems such as the combustion system, the drive-train system, and the steering system that work together.  A Boeing 747 aircraft has many systems that work together and can take a lot of people a long way!

There are five systems of a business that make up the vehicle necessary to get you where you want to go and help you stay there:

1.    Marketing – Everything you do to attract prospects.

2.    Sales – Everything you do to convert prospects into customers.

3.    Operations – Everything you do to serve your customers, clients, patients, or guests.

4.    Administration – Everything you do to track the numbers.

5.    Leadership – Everything you do to guide your business.

The stronger the systems, the smoother they work together and the better your trip will be.  It’s no fun running out of gas or breaking down on the side of the road!  It’s no fun having to rely on a vehicle that is falling apart, which is the case for many small businesses.

So, set your Goals.  Develop your Plan.  And build Systems in your business.

________________________________________________________________

Howard Partridge, President of Phenomenal Products, Inc., is the author of 7 Secrets of a Phenomenal L.I.F.E. and 5 Secrets of a Phenomenal Business. You can contact Howard by phone at 281-634-0404 or visit his website at www.HowardPartridge.com.

More at sbtmagazine.net

Stress Less to Live a Balanced Life

By Dr. John Demartini

With the hustle and bustle and intensity of life today, it’s almost irrational to believe that getting through a day without some form of stress is possible.  Stress affects all seven areas of life:  Spiritual, mental, vocational, financial, family, social, and physical.  So, what can we do to moderate the immediate and long-term effects of this inevitable life-affecting feeling of stress?

First of all, it’s important to clearly define stress.  Since change is inevitable, we can define stress as the inability to adapt to an ever-changing environment.  The source of our perceptions and response to stress is rooted deeply in our inner ecology and biology and relates to earlier predator and prey dynamics.  Either we fear the loss of something we require for sustenance (prey) or we feel fear of the gain of something that will interfere with or jeopardize our survival (predator).

Each of us has a unique set of values; things that are most important and highest on our list of priorities down to things that are lower on our list of values or priorities.  Predator and prey can be explained as becoming vulnerable and gullible; “prey” to that which supports our highest values and skeptical and invulnerable; “predators” to that which challenges them.  Our hierarchy of values (what’s most important to least important in our lives)  literally dictates the way we perceive our world, make decisions in it, and acts upon it which therefore governs our destinies and our adaptability to changing environments and stress levels.

This is the nature of the predator-prey food chain within all living ecosystems which includes our own.  We maximally grow and develop at the border of support and challenge.  This has been biologically demonstrated in every species including our own.  We have something that supports us which is the food - the prey that we eat.  We have something that challenges us - the predator that keeps us on our toes.  We must have a balance of both in order to continue to grow, adapt, and maximally evolve as a species.  Therefore, we require both support and challenge in order to adapt to our ever transforming environment. When we have difficulties adapting, we feel stress.

Our infatuations occur when we perceive more support than challenge from a specific source and distress occurs when we experience the fear of loss of that source.  When our values are supported, our dopamine and oxytocin levels are elevated in our brains.  Our infatuations are actually forms of addiction to these elevated brain chemicals.  Conversely, our resentment occurs when we perceive more challenge than support and the subsequent distress is a fear of the gain of the source of resentment.             

Both our infatuations and resentments take up space and time in our minds which distract and cloud our thinking.  It’s imperative to neutralize the intensity of these in order to gain a balanced and poised state of mind and being.  The stronger our infatuations and/or resentments, the harder it is for us to adapt and the more chaotic our minds become.

In Buddhism, these two poles were called attachments, but they can alternatively be termed likes and dislikes.  The stronger these attachments are, the more distressed our lives become.  Knowing how to calm down those attractive and repulsive emotions can reduce their effects.  Stress is actually a feedback mechanism to help us to be more authentic, productive, and inspired or more balanced or poised with our perceptions. 

Infatuations and/or resentments can occur in any of the seven areas of our lives and can be connected to anything that is perceived as offering more challenge than support or more support than challenge including business deals, relationships, family situations, and fantasies of anything that is unrealistic.

In addition, a valuable exercise is to write down at the end of each day what we learned, what we accomplished, and what we have experienced that we can be grateful for.  The more gratitude we have in our hearts, the more events we will be given to be grateful for.

We all deserve to have balance and this can be achieved quite easily by asking quality questions and not allowing our emotions and misperceptions to cloud our minds and unnecessarily distress our lives.

In addition to being an internationally published author, Dr. John Demartini is an educator, business consultant, and a human behavior specialist.  Contact Dr. Demartini by email at info@DrDemartini.co.za or visit his website at www.DrDemartini.com.  To download a free Value Determination Process Workbook, please visit www.DrDemartini.com/pm_determine_your_values.

 more info at www.sbtmagazine.net

Give Up, Give In or Give It All You Got!

 

August greetings everyone!

As Executive Publisher of SMALL BUSINESS TODAY and Co-host of SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE TALK SHOW, I have the opportunity to go one-on-one with some of Houston’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million dollar and sometimes multi-billion dollar businesses despite the odds against their doing so. They also share with Barbara and I their thoughts on creating wealth, starting and growing a successful business and happiness.

All of these amazing business leaders have offered up the same piece of advice: “Don’t quit at halftime!” If starting and growing a successful business were easy, then anyone could do it. It takes passion, purpose and perseverance.

I am not ashamed to share with you that almost every endeavor that I have succeeded at (apartment leasing, residential real estate and “Yes” advertising sales and publishing (which I am now in my 36^th year of that pursuit), professional speaker and trainer, etc.). I was convinced early on that each was not for me and wanted to quit each one. Luckily, there was always someone there to talk me out of quitting.

My very dear friend and monthly columnist Ruben Gonzalez shares in this issue a little of his own story and early fears in an article entitled, “What’s Holding You Back?”

Ruben shares with us that when he decided to take up the sport of luge and train for the Olympics four years away, he knew he had two major obstacles to overcome. Two things that HAD to happen or else he would be watching the Olympics on TV: first, he had to learn how to luge (back then he couldn't even spell luge) and second, he had to be ranked in the top 50 lugers in the world to qualify to compete in the Olympics. Ruben would only have only two luge seasons to learn how to slide, because the last two seasons he needed to race internationally to work on his world ranking. Most people would have looked at those obstacles and quit before they got started!

You can read the story of how he succeeded in "The Courage to Succeed." What's more important than the rest of the story is how YOU can develop the mental toughness to
look at an obstacle and become fired up and excited about the challenge ahead.

This month’s cover honoree, Elizabeth Stone had every reason to give up after setbacks that would have put any small business owner out of business! Being flooded out by Tropical Storm Allison, having major setbacks as a result of 9/11 and the Enron crash she had more than enough reason to close her doors then. Add to that that Elizabeth had drained all of her cash building out a new facility and due to the recent incidences, her business sales dropped off by 40%.   Over the next three years, Elizabeth “begged and borrowed” to keep herself and her company alive and her doors open.  She became really behind paying her vendors and went to everyone in person and said, “I can’t pay you what I owe you right now but I need to keep doing business.  I promise that I will pay you back every single penny.  If you let me pay C.O.D. on every new order, I will pay you an extra $50 each time until I have paid you in full.”  It took Elizabeth six years but she paid back everyone she owed! 

Elizabeth reflected, “It made me a stronger person.  I have the same vendors today.  I am loyal to the ones who worked with me and they have trust, faith, and respect for me because they know I paid every penny back even when so many people did not!”

It is time to let you get started on this very special issue.

 

Good Reading, Good Sales, and Success to You,

 

 

 

Steve Levine

President & Executive Publisher