Posts Tagged ‘Email Marketing’


The Best RSS to Email Program

Friday, October 7th, 2011

What’s the best RSS to Email option out there?

Like jetpacks and flying cars before it, RSS still doesn’t have the market share we were promised.

For those of you who don’t know what RSS is, it stands for Real Simple Syndication.

For those of you who have no frickin’ clue what that means, you just need to understand that every time you update your blog, it updates a document with the new post. People can subscribe to your RSS feed and get an updated version of your blog post in their newsreader.

Unfortunately, that’s still confusing to most people. That’s why I created a blog post and how-to video called How to Subscribe to an RSS Feed. Still, you don’t need a how-to video to subscribe to an email newsletter, a magazine or to turn on your TV. RSS is too complicated and esoteric for the average Internet user.

But one nice thing about RSS is that it is extremely flexible. A few years back, some companies started offering automatic RSS to email conversions. This way, people who weren’t geeky enough to understand RSS could still subscribe to your blog via email.

Even though not everyone gets RSS, everyone gets email newsletters.

However, the functionality of most RSS to Email tools is lacking. In fact, it almost universally sucks.

Here’s a list of what an RSS to Email tool needs to be world class:

  • Easily convert RSS > email (duh!)
  • Allow the blog owner to create branded templates for the emails sent to subscribers
  • Allow the blog owner to determine when the emails will be sent out; weekly, daily, or immediately after each blog post (my preference would be the last, because of the following bullet point)
  • Ability to create a unique subject line for each email pulled from the most recent blog post title (this is critical for open rates!!!)
  • Ability for subscribers to override the default delivery schedule (some people just want weekly digest)
  • Ability to track where the signup took place (this will improve my marketing efforts and ROI)
  • Allow the blog owner to send out additional messages to the subscriber base that don’t appear in the blog (special offers, downloads, events, etc.)
  • Allow the blog owner to offer an incentive to sign up, like an ebook or free consultation. (This is how we built our email list in Constant Contact. See this post on email bait for more info.)
  • Ability to use the same system for an email newsletter as the email feed, and cross-promote

I’m not suggesting this should be a free service. I’d happily pay for it. In fact, in a perfect world, it would all be offered by Constant Contact, who we run our regular email newsletters through as part of my monthly service fees.

Because they don’t (yet, I hope) offer RSS > Email I just dropped $200/yr on AWeber, because they come closest to offering everything on the list above. I’ll be switching this blog’s feed from Feedburner to AWeber in the next few weeks…unless Constant Contact is reading this and wants to make me happy and keep all my business. :)

What did I leave off? What would you like to see in a world-class RSS to Email tool?

Rich Brooks
Blog Marketing, Served Your Way

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Business Blogs and Blog Marketing, Email Marketing, Web Marketing | 7 Comments »


Web Marketing Course in Maine at USM

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

John BelushiLearn the fine art of web marketing and social media in a classroom setting this fall at the University of Southern Maine.

The first autumn leaves are starting to land in our yard, which means it’s that time of year again; time to start promoting my Web Marketing and Social Media for Entrepreneurs course at the University of Southern Maine.

On four nearly-consecutive Thursday evenings from 5-7 pm, I’ll be teaching entrepreneurs how to develop a web strategy that helps build their business (or non-profit) using the web.

We’ll cover:

  • SEO (search engine optimization)
  • Social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)
  • Blogging
  • Online video
  • Email marketing
  • E-commerce, and
  • Developing a website that increases your online visibility, drives more qualified traffic to your site, and helps convert that traffic into business.

If you live within driving distance of the University of Southern Maine, and are looking to grow your business, you can take a closer look at the course description and register at the USM site.

Dates: 10/20, 10/27, 11/10, 11/17/2011 (note no class on 11/3)
Time: 5pm – 7pm
Place: Abromson Center, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME (directions)
Cost: $215

Register now!

Rich Brooks
“Teach”

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Entrepreneur & Small Business, Social Media, Web Marketing | 1 Comment »


Yellow Page Ads: How to Maximize Your Yellow Page ROI

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

Phone Book Tunnel

So, you’ve been running a Yellow Page ad for several years and it’s not generating the business it used to. Is it the size of the ad? The colors or lack of colors? Is the design too busy or too plain? How do you get more ROI (return on investment) for your Yellow Pages ad?

Cut it in half.

That’s right; when the Yellow Pages rep comes knocking this year cut your ad spending in half. The reason is that no one uses the Yellow Pages any more. The only time I use the Yellow Pages is if I see a bug infestation in my house. To call an exterminator? No, to crush the little buggers under that 10lb, yellow-stained block of dead trees they send me every year without asking.

OK, I hear you: you’re in a business where people still use the Yellow Pages…like you repair fax machines or you manufacture AOL install disks. That’s why I suggest not stopping your ad spending all together, but rather cutting it in half. If you didn’t know this, the Yellow Pages has a service where they’ll set you up with a special 800 number that appears only in the phone book…that way you can measure how many leads actually come from the book.

So, what do you do with your new found cash? Start putting some of it towards your online marketing budget instead, and measure that. With the money you save you could hire a copywriter to create a new, keyword-rich blog post once a week.

At the end of a year of your Yellow Page ad you need to renew your ad buy. New books arrive and the old ones are recycled. (At our house the new ones are recycled, too, but that’s a different story.) Any benefit, any sales you got out of that ad are now done and in the past.

At the end of a year of SEO copywriting for your blog you’ve got 52 keyword-rich blog posts…52 unique opportunities to rank well at the search engines for the type of searches your best prospects are doing. At it doesn’t end at the end of the year…those blog posts will continue to bring in traffic for as long as you keep your blog running. In reviewing the statistics for this blog, one post I wrote back in October of 2008 continues to bring in hundreds of unique visitors a month. No 2008 Yellow Page ad is going to do that.

And yes, of course you could write your own blog posts and pocket the money, but maybe you’re too busy. After all, you’re running a business. Plus, I’m trying to compare apples to apples here to show you the benefit.

And yes, there are other web marketing options open to you besides business blogging. You could improve your website’s search engine visibility with some SEO, start an email newsletter, or engage in social media marketing and communication. Any of these options will take advantage of the well-established, well-documented trend of people leaving the Yellow Pages for the Internet and the mobile web.

Whatever you do with your marketing dollar, make sure you measure the results to see what’s really working. Make sure Google Analytics (or something similar) is installed on your site, have your receptionist or inside sales force ask how the prospect heard of you, use a special phone number and other tracking techniques. The important lesson here is to use the tools that your prospects and customers use. If they start using smoke signals, you better light a fire.

Rich Brooks
Web Marketing for Small Business

Photo credit: Coaly Bunny

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Business Blogs and Blog Marketing, Entrepreneur & Small Business, Web Marketing | No Comments »


Should You Use QR Codes in Email Marketing?

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

QR Code Design ExampleMany of the QR Code marketing articles right now talk about how to use QR codes in email marketing.

I have to ask: why?

Some of the articles talk about the benefits of QR codes, how they act as URL shorteners. I have to ask: who is retyping a link from an email newsletter into their browser’s address bar? Email newsletters are like any other web delivered information, in that they can include links like this one that doesn’t have to show the whole URL. Even if it did, it’s still a clickable link.

From a user standpoint, which is easier: clicking a link (as you’ve been trained to do), or reach into your pants pocket, pull out your smart phone, fire it up, launch your QR code scanner, wait for it to scan the code, and be (finally) taken to the web page in question?

Now, that’s not to say there’s no place for QR codes in email marketing. You may be trying to engage customers who are smart phone users and get them more engaged. (Remember those Columbia Record one penny deals? Getting people to take the extra step of taping a penny Columbia House provided increased conversion rates enough to more than offset the cost of “lost” pennies.)

You might also be trying to cash in on the novelty of QR codes, and in so, be branding your business as ahead of the curve. That novelty will soon wear off, however.

I’m excited about the possibility of QR codes in marketing and communication, but I feel they’re a tool that will work best in certain situations, for certain industries, and for certain audiences. This is a not a one-size-fits-all marketing solution, so don’t get swept up in the hype.

[Update: I just posted a new article on QR code marketing here.]

Rich Brooks
Email Marketer

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Email Marketing, Web Marketing | 9 Comments »


Web Marketing Presentations: A Busy Week Ahead

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Somehow I have six speaking gigs scheduled for this week. May have to break into my emergency Red Bull stash.

Today’s a prep day, and then…

Tuesday, 5/11/2010: Performance Foodservice Food Show, Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, Maine

  • 10:00 am: Social Media 101
  • 11:15 am: Social Media Marketing That Works
  • 12:30 pm: Social Media 101
  • 1:45 pm: Social Media Marketing That Works

I believe this is only open to Performance customers, but I could be mistaken. You can check the Performance web site for details.

Wednesday, 5/12/2010: Maine Business Technology Expo & Conference

  • 2:30 pm: Search Engine Optimization: Rank Higher, Sell More!

This is part of a full day of presentations, including Lynnelle Wilson talking social media and a big expo. If you’re around Greater Portland, you should make your way over. For more information and to register, visit the Greater Portland Chamber Web site.

Thursday, 5/13/2010: Email Marketing Webinar

  • 1:00pm (ET): How to Use Email Marketing to Grow Your Business

This is open to the public, and available to everyone! If you’ve been looking to learn how to grow your subscriber base, get your emails delivered, and get your subscribers to take action, please register now. You can even save 40% off the regular cost with discount code: “bullet”.

Friday I don’t have anything scheduled, but I have to prepare for my “social media traveling road show” that I’m doing with the Sustainable Forest people; 5 social media presentations in 5 different places: Montpelier, VT, Glens Falls, NY, Utica, NY, Concord, NH and August, ME.

Maybe I’ll see you on the road…

Rich Brooks
Will Present for Food

Photo credit: Angela Coulombe

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Email Marketing, Entrepreneur & Small Business, flyte news, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »


How to Keep People from Unsubscribing from Your Ezine

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

We recently did a post on How to Build Your Email Subscriber List and another on How to Segment Your Email Subscriber List, so this Q & A seemed an appropriate bookend to the series:

Dear Rich,

I’m getting a lot more unsubscribes lately from my email newsletter and I’m not sure why. What can I do to keep people from unsubscribing from my list?

Frustrated in Farmington

Dear Frustrated,

There are a few tried and true methods to keep people from unsubscribing from your list:

  • Stop publishing new email newsletters; if they don’t get them, they won’t unsubscribe.
  • Threaten them with bodily harm if they do.

Unfortunately, the first option won’t help you grow your business and you’ll still be paying monthly hosting fees, and the second one isn’t very cost effective given all the necessary travel.

If you are suddenly getting a spike of unsubscribes look to your behavior:

  • Did you stop delivering on expectations? If you promised monthly information-rich email newsletters during signup and you’re suddenly sending weekly discounts from the company store, you may get a lot of unsubscribes.
  • Did you recently make a major change your email newsletter? People want consistency. A change in design, layout, name, or adding lots of advertising or banners can all turn subscribers off.
  • Did you stop providing value? Let’s face it: none of us would be too upset if we started getting less email. Every email newsletter you send out comes with an implicit invitation to unsubscribe. Sometimes the value to provide is no longer relevant to a subscriber; if you sell kids clothing and they suddenly became an empty-nester, your email newsletter no longer holds any value. Other times you put your own interests, such as selling your Webinars or widgets, before the needs of your audience. Whatever you send out, make sure that it provides value to your audience, otherwise they’ll unsubscribe in droves.

Rich Brooks
Email Marketing for Small Business

Photo credit by saneboy

Tags: ,
Posted in Email Marketing | 7 Comments »


How to Segment Your Email Subscriber List

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Dear Rich,

I don’t want to send information to subscribers that they’re not interested in and risk having them unsubscribe. How can I do a better job delivering only the information they want to receive?

–Confused in Cornish

Dear Confused,

You ask a good question, and your solution probably lies in segmenting your list and delivering on subscribers’ expectations.

The signup process is an excellent time to have people self-select their interests. Most email service providers, (we use Constant Contact,) will let you create multiple lists that target the different interests of your readers. This is email segmentation.

For most small businesses I wouldn’t recommend having too many choices; first off too many choices can lead to the would-be subscriber feeling overwhelmed and choosing nothing at all, and also it puts an increased burden on you to create multiple email newsletters.

If you already have a list, you can still create segmented email lists.

Some email service providers (ESPs) allow you to create interest groups based on subscribers’ behavior. For example, if you run a pet store and a number of subscribers click on a link to see your baby snakes offer, you may create an interest group around reptiles and send out targeted messages to that group.

If you have had a list for a long time, you might consider sending out a survey to your subscribers and ask them what type of content they’re looking for. Depending on your industry and your audience, their needs may shift over time. Once created, you can invite people to sign up for these new segmented lists.

If you’d rather not run separate lists, you might consider just putting a table of contents at the top of each newsletter, and let people click down to the article they’re interested in. This may prove to be easier to manage, and has the added benefit of some cross promotion. People who would have subscribed only to your gardening tips lists might be intrigued by your articles on patio repair and maintenance.

The other part of the equation is to deliver on expectations: if people are expecting information-rich articles and you start delivering Sunday flyers, they’ll unsubscribe in the time it takes to hit a button.

Do YOU have any techniques on segmenting email lists?

Rich Brooks
Email Marketing for Small Business

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Email Marketing | 2 Comments »


How to Build Your Email Subscriber List

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Dear Rich,

How do I build up subscribers to my email newsletter?

Listless in LaGrange

Dear Listless,

Let’s start with what not to do:

  • Don’t buy a list. A good, quality list can’t be bought, it must be earned.
  • Don’t add everyone on your contact list to your email newsletter subscriber list. Just because you met them at a networking event, once did business with them, or found their card at the bottom of your briefcase doesn’t mean they want to receive weekly or even monthly missives from you.

Now that you know what not to do, here are some suggestions on increasing the number of subscribers.

  • Create an incentive for your Web site visitors to sign up. This is often called “email bait.” It could be a raffle entry, a white paper, or a discount in your online store. It must be compelling enough that people are willing to share their contact info with you.
  • Leverage speaking gigs and similar opportunities. At the end of a presentation say, if anyone wants today’s slides (or some other offer), please give me your business card so I can email you. You’ll be automatically added to our email mailing list, but you can unsubscribe whenever you like.
  • Leverage your retail space. Create a giveaway for a product that requires a business card (or short form) where you collect email addresses. Again, just make sure that entrants are aware they’re also being subscribed to your email newsletter.

Here are some technical suggestions to help increase your subscriber base, too:

  • Keep the signup simple. Don’t ask for too much information; it’s a first date, not a marriage. I recommend asking for just an email address and a first name. (Engagement goes up when you use someone’s first name.)
  • Keep your confirmation link “above the fold.” After someone has subscribed to your list, they will receive an email that requires them to click a link to confirm their subscription. Many people are only half-paying attention when they receive this email, so make sure the call-to-action, in this case clicking on the confirmation link, is right up at the top so they don’t have to look for it.
  • Provide value. Remember that every email you send is an opportunity for people to unsubscribe. Make sure that every email you send is targeted to your audience and overflowing with value.

Also, if you follow these tips your email subscriber base will grow. Because of that I recommend you don’t send out emails from your Outlook or other email program. Instead, use an email service provider (ESP) like Constant Contact (which flyte uses and recommends.)

What other tips or techniques have YOU discovered that help build your email subscriber base?

Rich Brooks
Email Marketing for Small Business

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Email Marketing, Web Marketing | 18 Comments »


Web Marketing Articles: The 2009 Edition

Monday, December 14th, 2009

2009If you’re looking for some Web marketing advice, from which content management system to use, to how to leverage Web video, to how to build a business blog that generates leads, we’ve got you covered.

I gathered the last twelve issues of flyte log, our monthly email newsletter on how small businesses can use the Web to build their business.

Hopefully you’re already subscribed the flyte log, but if you’re not, there’s no better time than the present. Once you do, you can download the following articles:
  • 10 Questions to Ask Before Setting Up a Web Site
  • The 11 Commandments of Writing Web Copy for the Non-Copywriter
  • The 11 Biggest Mistakes Small Business Bloggers Make
So what are you waiting for? A prosperous 2010 awaits!
Rich Brooks
That Web Marketing Guy
Photo credit: Mosieur J.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Business Blogs and Blog Marketing, Email Marketing, flyte news, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Web Design & Development, Web Marketing | 9 Comments »


How Does Web Marketing Help Your Business?

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

At flyte we have a model called Holistic Web Marketing; it’s a way of explaining how Web marketing helps improve your online visibility, drive qualified leads to your Web site, and convert that traffic into business. There are four pieces:

  • Attraction: How do you drive qualified traffic to your site?
  • Retention: How do you keep the lines of communication open after they leave your site?
  • Conversion: How do you get them to make a buying decision or move further down the sales cycle?
  • Measurement: How do measure your site’s effectiveness and whether your Web campaigns are working?

We recently created a cheat sheet around Holistic Web Marketing that you might find helpful. You can download What Is Holistic Web Marketing? here.

Holistic-web-marketing-big

Rich Brooks
 Web Marketing for Small Business

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Business Blogs and Blog Marketing, Email Marketing, Entrepreneur & Small Business, flyte news, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Web Design & Development, Web Marketing | 4 Comments »