En ce moment vous avez peut être vu un concours dont l'agence a créé le site : Wall-E.

Seems poignant enough.

There may be many, many other 10-word platitudes about business, but I like this one. On a different day, I will like a different one.

The last time I appeared in your Inbox, I was complaining about the anonymity of the web. We may all acknowledge the importance of the web, but how can we overcome its inherent anonymity, and use it to create customers?

As was written last month, too many of us cross our fingers, and wait for customers to step forward.

So, what happens? Folks surf in and out of our website, and we never have a chance to connect with them, relate to them, understand their needs, or address their concerns & objections.

If we knew who was visiting, and what they found interesting, we could market to them directly ... Well, nothing is surefire, but ...

Obvious Marketing Secret #1:
Hold something valuable for ransom;
or, if you prefer fishing metaphors:
Use something valuable to bait your hook.
Give the visitor something s/he wants in return for that person's name and email address.

People want two things from us: Discounts and information. Not necessarily in that order. The nature of your business will determine which you should hold for ransom (perhaps both).

DISCOUNTS -- Offer a special weekly/monthly/quarterly discount program that is exclusively for folks who sign up.

The gotcha part, of course, is that you must then follow through -- generate the mailings and give away the money (and it had better be worth it, in the customer's eyes).

Tongue-in-cheek tip:
This approach is not so good if you are in the LIMS business.

INFORMATION - Folks LOVE information. In the old days, you could offer a bibliography of publications citing your instrument or method, and the world would line up at your door. No more (except for those of us in areas with bleeding edge technology or scarce publications).

These days, it takes a cure-for-insomnia white paper to get people's attention - and it had better not be a repackaged brochure.

Another drawing card would be an instructionally valuable dvd or cd -- with a video on sample prep, or how to purge a gas regulator, or a cogent review on regulatory compliance (assuming your product is pertinently topical) - or in some cases, even (purists, close your eyes) a video of a demo.

Another delivery vehicle is web conferencing (instead of dvd or cd) ...

For software purveyors, a lobotomized (but functional) chunk of software will get a user's attention (beware - that software must be downright intuitive to use, or you must be ready to support it ... else you risk a deadly backlash).

Oh, and did I fail to mention the hard part: Creating this instructionally useful information in the first place. Sorry. But let your competitor be the one to fail to do it.

In the end, you win, because you have collected a name, and you know why the owner parted with it.

Obvious Marketing Secret #2:
People who receive your email aren't reading it.
People don't read their email ... but the odds of reading it go up if they have ASKED FOR it.

It's all about "opt-in" ... and technically (according to the CanSpam Act), sellers are required to give the audience an opportunity to opt-in BEFORE sending them commercial announcements. In reality, it all gets gray under the definition of "ongoing or previous business relationship."

"Double opt-in" is even better ... in DOUBLE opt-in, we actually ask the customer to confirm that s/he wants to receive information from us. In the process, we also have the opportunity to ask the customer to add our "from" address to a "whitelist" of safe senders.

Another tongue-in-cheek tip:

Just because a customer opted-in at a trade show does not mean that his/her spam filter is going to let your email through.

Less Obvious Marketing Secret #3:
Your email provider says it's delivered.
Not!
Email audit surveys indicate that up to 30% of blast email is not being delivered to the recipients' Inboxes. Heck, I am not all that certain that you are reading this. (Hello! Is anybody there?)
So when your email provider gives you a report that says "92% Delivered" don't believe it ... at least not completely. And it's not because the provider is trying to pull a fast one.

Some of that email is being swept into Junk or Quarantine folders and some is being filtered as junk and then mysteriously evaporating. Your sender is not getting a bounce or rejection report from the destination server, so your sender assumes it is delivered. All you really know is that the email address is correct.

The remedy for the disease is to pay for delivery audits or delivery watchdogs. But prevention is the better remedy ... and prevention is possible only with double opt-in.

Very Obvious Marketing Secret #4:
Most blog messages are too long.
Ok, I can take a hint.

Et pour tous ceux qui se demandent la largeur maximum recommandée pour un email HTML est de 650px. N'hésitez pas à exploiter des outils comme litmus pour tester votre mailing sur plusieurs plateformes. Sinon MailChimp ou CampaignMonitor sont les 2 services les plus simples et efficace que je connaisse.

The Participants

There were a total of 18 participants who started the survey, all of which answered each of the 4 questions. The participants' responses to their areas of marketing expertise are outlined below. Individuals were allowed to select more than one expertise.

• eMail Marketing (9)
• Research (6)
• Print Media (6)
• Social Marketing (10)
• Internet Marketing Strategy (1)
• Organic SEO (1)

Their current situation in regards to email marketing varied- some used in-house, some outsourced, and some did not currently participate in email marketing.

The Question

The main question that was being asked was, ideally, would the participant prefer an in-house email marketing campaign manager, outsourcing your entire email marketing management, or doing a little of both.

The Answer

The survey showed that 50% of those polled would prefer to keep their email marketing in-house, and hire an email marketing campaign manager to handle the design and execution full time.

• Twenty-two percent would have preferred outsourcing their entire email campaign management to an outside company or specialist,
• while 11% wanted a little of both: outsourcing some larger campaigns and managing the smaller ones themselves.
• The remaining 16% polled said that they simply did not use email marketing and did not have a preference.

Analysis

This being my first survey offered to my readers, and not considering how it was to be analyzed, the design of the survey was not ideal, and could have been drastically improved. Also important to point out, there was only 18 individuals that completed the survey.

However, I believe the overall result of the survey accurately portrays what many marketing managers would feel. Ideally, they would like an email marketing expert employed by them full time to completely manage their email marketing campaign. This situation has many advantages over outsourcing, including:

• More power over what is included in your campaigns
• Saving money- you will not have to hire an agency at a ridiculously hourly fee
• Consistent branding- your email marketing specialist will know your company and its goals, resulting in a better portrayal of your company through the messages.
• Better communication- there will be less chance of misunderstanding between the company and the email marketing management company.
• Correction of mistakes immediately- if there is a last minute change that needs to be made to an email, you'll be able to easily make it, instead of having to worry about if you'll be able to contact your email marketing management company at an odd hour, or even during normal business hours.

What do you think? Do you agree with these results?

Prudential Preferred Realty Weblog

Some polls show that Barak Obama is doing better than John McCain when it comes to younger voters for the 2008 presidential election. According to Newsweek:

Overall, voters see Obama as the preferred agent of "change" by a margin of 51 percent to 27 percent. Younger voters, in particular, are more likely to see Obama that way: those 18 to 39 favor the Illinois senator by 66 percent to 27 percent.

One reason why Obama may be leading with younger voters is his sophisticated web campaign. Internet marketers may learn a thing or two by how he has handled his online presence. One particularly strong aspect of his campaign has been the social networking. His site, My.BarakObama.com, has the familiar patriotic color scheme of red, white, and blue, but its layout is innovative due to its ingenious simplicity and rich interactiveness. But how does it succeed in reaching out to visitors and getting them involved in Obama's campaign?

By following 3 simple rules of social networking marketing (or campaigning in this case).

Rule one: Make it all about the web user. The first page you encounter is a sign-up form so that YOU can have your own personal "My Barak Obama" profile. From there, the Dashboard gives you the opportunity to express yourself (via profile and blog) and gives you control on how others can see your profile, much like a MySpace or Facebook page would. Every time you commit an action, such as creating an event or joining a group, the site awards you "points" to further encourage your interest.

Rule two: Offer side benefits to using the site. A strong social networking campaign will NOT have a laser-like focus on the product or service. It should give users plenty of opportunities to discuss related topics or share related media. Obama's site gives users to voice their political concerns and raise awareness on their own grassroots networking events. On your own site or social networking page, you should offer free downloads, applications, or share news and media that would be of interest.

Rule three: Create a feeling of transparency, which sometimes means permitting a little criticism. For an e-commerce site, this could take the form of allowing bad product reviews from customers to show up. For Obama, this means allowing a group of dissension to organize on his site. It's up to you to decide the degree to which users can express negative thoughts about your product or service. But little concessions like these may help your site seem trustworthy and your company admirably receptive to critiques.

It might seem a little cynical to compare a political campaign to a marketing one. But if you think about it, many of the underlying principles in marketing are about appeal and trust, which are basic goals for any hopeful candidate. And a smart candidate who wants to to reach out to younger voters should keep abreast of technological and social trends on the Internet. After all, only last week, Merriam-Webster announced 100 new entries to its lexicon, among them being "Netroots (2003): grassroots political activists who communicate via the Internet, especially by blogs."

See... the thing is... I receive numerous newsletters every day from different agencies, companies and whatnot. So today when I received Vanksen's newsletter I looked at it like I usually do.

Except that today one of the title really intrigued me.

"Faceless people are invading London"

It was tempting so I clicked on the link... and was immediately shocked to see the similarities between that street marketing campaign and one of episodes from (new) Doctor Who series 2.

DW - The Idiot's Lantern

Faceless People as seen in the streets of London

Except none of the articles I read seemed to have noticed it except the Telegraph.

Of course and as hinted by the article I doubt that the campaign is indeed a stunt from the BBC to reveal the name of the 11th doctor (especially that the "reveal" website is clearly tagged "Lotus Cars"). But it would have been an AMAZING campaign for us sci-fi fans.

Lotus ?! Let me tell you that your agency has some weird ways of dealing with cultural references and that you should change for one that actually knows what's going on in the media. One could be arguing that I'm talking about it so it still worked in a way but... I can't get around the fact that the reveal will be ludicrous. Why would you associate people's faces getting sucked by their television and a car ?

Here's some helpful marketing and business tips to succeed in your design business.

Do you know about Ebay to go?

Example:

To get your own free widget to use on websites, blogs and me pages, click
Ebay to Go

Marketing Tips

Free Web Class on using Email Marketing

Using Search Engine Optimization

Advice on how to get customers to become repeat buyers

       1.  Expect to have a business ideas.if you believe you are incapable of coming up with ideas,then you wont come up with any.Put aside any negativity about yourself or your creativity and expectto have ideas.

       2.  Keep an open mind.Ideas cancome from anywhere and some of the best ideas will seems impossible base on your current knowledge,experience and assumptions.Try to beprepared to explore new ideas and change your view about new ideas in your world.

       3.  Keep a written record of your ideas,ideas that inspire you or ideas that are new to you.When you write things down you are more likely to remember them and if you don’t you have got a record to refer back to.Ipersonally keep a record of all the ideas I see,read or hear about or ideas I have already ,then I review them.

       4.  Try to learn something new everyday.Talk to other business people,talk to your friends and neighbours,talk to anyone that looks interesting and he/she will also talk back to you.Read websites,magazines,books  or whatever you prefer,try to read something that will expand your knowledge on basic business ideas everyday.I personally enjoy business/entrepreneurs biographies and history,especially those that explain where business ideas come from.

         
    5. Talk about your ideas.talk about your ideas to anyone who will
listen,who will not fail in explaining the ideas.The point is that in explaining the ideas,
you will spot flaws or areas for improvement thus making the ideas better
    6. Ask questions and listen to people problems,hopes,dreams and aspiration.
People hopes,dreams and aspiration can provide ideas.weight watchers appeals
to those loosing weights.
    7.Research,see what else is out there that is similar.Evaluate potential competition
and keep notes of what you find.Use search engines to search for similar ideas,business or
products and take note of them.
    8. Draw a mind map.A mind map is a diagram used to represent words,ideas,task or other
items linked to and arranged radially round acentral key word or idea.
It is used to generate,visualise,structure and classify ideas and as an aid to study,organisation,
problem solving,decision making and writing.
    9. Synthesis ideas.Put two or more ideas together.one way to do this is to brainstorm with
your team.You will get the best results if you have followed steps above first as you will have a
pool of ideas to combine.
    10.Sleep on it.Go away for a while and think of something else,often your subconscious mind
will continue to work on the problem and will come up with new ideas or
refinement on the ideas you already have.

                           www.pickriches.net

1. Show ecommerce websites by the number of people who purchased products and let me sort by number of returns, frequency of customer visits, and standard shipping rates.
2. Let consumers rate 1-5 stars next to the search results for how closely the site/landing page matches with common search terms. Filter out sites with many 1 ratings.
3. Let me sort websites that advertise the least/most.
4. I want to know how highly the company is ranked within their industry amongst industry leaders (bloggers, commentators, etc.).
5. I want to know what price points their products are at - should I expect high quality at a low price, low quality at a low price, etc.
6. I want to be able to sort the websites by informational content, transactional pages, and navigational pages (pages that simply link to other pages) results.
7. Establish relationships with sites that allow me to compare products and only allow these quality sites to place sponsored links.
8. Sort websites by the number of friends they have on Facebook or similar social media sites.
9. Show me how many informational webinars are sponsored by the company and their next event.

Is your website currently set up to help move us in this direction?

You don't need to be an expert copy writer or hold a marketing degree to be able to write display copy for paid search advertisements that will get prospects clicking.

Writing effective copy is simple and if you stick to the basic tips below, you will be able to put together ads that will yield a positive return in no time.

Let's say, for the sake of this post, that your business sells accessories, such as handbags online. We'll take a look at the simple tips below and see how to apply them practically to PPC ads.

1. Use your keywords in your headline.
   This is a pretty basic tip, but you'd be surprised how many copy writing professionals seem to overlook it. If we were targeting searchers looking for "genuine" or "pure" leather handbags, we would want to include that as part of our headline text.
2. Don't waffle - include the most relevant information about your business first.
   When writing your copy, remember to focus on user benefits. In addition to the standard descriptive text about quality and style, make your ad stand out from the competitors by telling buyers why they should choose your product instead of anyone else's. What sets your offering apart? If you are the only online handbag retailer in your area to offer 24 hour delivery free of charge, put this information in the ad copy. 

3. Make sure you have a clear call to action.
   Don't leave your prospects guessing - make it clear what you want them to do, and, more importantly, why they should do it. Continuing with our online handbag retailer example, we should include an instruction telling potential customers to "View online catalogue now" or "Order online today."
4. Choose the most relevant landing page - or build a new one.
    Prospects don't like to have to work to purchase your product or sign up for your services. Make it easy for them to find what they are looking for. If they searched for "genuine leather handbags", don't sent them to your homepage which lists all the other accessories you have for sale - point them straight to the handbags. And if you sell both genuine leather and imitation leather handbags, make sure you point them to the page for genuine leather handbags. 

5. Write more than one ad per ad group, and test the results.
   Come up with a couple of variations on your ad copy and see which versions work best. With time you will learn which phrases or variations generate the best click through rate and will be able to put these learnings to use.

Now, let's take a look at examples of the type of ads we could put together to test based on the tips we have just read:

Pure Leather Handbags
Imported brands. Next day delivery
View full range online. Order now.
StylishAccessories.com/leather_handbags

Genuine Leather Handbags
Real Italian quality. Free 24 hour
delivery. View online catalogue now
StylishAccessories.com/leather_handbags

Handbags - Pure Leather
Match style with quality. Free delivery
within 24 hours. Order online today
StylishAccessories.com/leather_handbags

According to Google, "ad text is a crucial distinguishing factor in luring a user to your website. Successful ads are clear, well-written, specific, and compelling."

By sticking to the simple tips above, you will be well on your way to writing effective PPC ads and soon enjoy the return on your investment!

Happy writing - and to your prospects, happy Googling! :-)

Los usuarios de esta red social que contraten el Depósito 16, que Uno-e estrenó el pasado mes de marzo, conseguirán 100 euros de regalo. La promoción no será accesible para los que no tengan cuenta en esta red social.

Según Cristina de Parias, consejera delegada de la entidad online, el propósito de esta iniciativa es "tener una relación mucho más directa con su público y con sus clientes", para lo que consideran una herramienta ideal las redes sociales, un "lugar de paso" en el que el banco ya está presente".

Facebook, que cuenta con versión en español desde el pasado mes de febrero, es en la actualidad una de las redes sociales más visitadas en todo el mundo. En 2007, superó los 50 millones de usuarios y consiguió atrapar la atención mediática cuando Microsoft pagó 240 millones de dólares por hacerse con el 1,6% de su capital, lo que valoraba la compañía en unos 15.000 millones de dólares -más de 9.500 millones de euros-.

Since I'm involved in so many other types of social media, it will be interesting to find how relevant it will be to me- and how often I'll end up using it.

If you're at all interested in eMarketing and the different types of new media, or if you're interested in knowing what I'm doing from time to time, follow me on Twitter to stay updated!

I'll be sure to keep you informed on the success rates I achieve with Twitter, and how it compares to the types of social media I've used before.

That was in 2005. Facebook has come a long way since then- becoming a vital social marketing tool for many companies, along with many other social media mediums. I've put together a list of some social media tools and how they can be used for marketing purposes. Enjoy!

Facebook:

Where it all started (for me). Start your own group and begin building members. Create your own company and begin gaining fans to notify of your new products or services. Create an application that is fun, functional, and advertises your brand. Or, if you are your own brand, create your own profile and begin adding your friends, and networking with potential clients.

For more information on Facebook Marketing, be sure to check out "I'm on Facebook-- Now What," a book that's on my reading list, written by Jason Alba and Jesse Stay. This book explains the different parts of Facebook and how to get the most out of Facebook. It helps you learn how to use Facebook to further your career, business, or job.

Blogging:

There are endless marketing possibilities in blogging, so long as you play by the rules. Blogging is essentially your own publication- you are free to market yourself as often as you would like. The key is to maintain a balance between relevant quality content for your visitors and marketing yourself. Remember that the content you provide will help to add to your reputation and build you up as a thought leader and expert in your field. Blogs also give you the forum necessary to address and clear up any controversy or attacks on your company.

Podcasting or Videocasting:

Provide your viewers / listeners with some useful information and content, once again building yourself or your company as the expert in your field. You can also feature some new or popular products either as a podcasting series (if it's interesting enough), or as a feature in each episode.

RSS Feeds:

Get creative! Some think that RSS feeds can only be applied to your blog- updating your regular readers when there is a new post. RSS feeds can reach much further than that- think of adding a feed to your product page to notify customers of new products or services being offered. Or use RSS feeds to deliver your email newsletters to those that wish to receive the content in a reader. Offering a choice will greatly increase the perceived value of you and your brand.

Twitter:

Several companies have began to use Twitter's 140 available characters in each 'tweet' to market their brands and companies, as well as reach their customers on a more personal level. Twitter can be used to inform "fans" or followers of upcoming products, special events or promotions, addressing controversy or bad publicity, and any other company announcements. For more information on how to use Twitter to better market yourself, visit the PandemicBlog post Twitter Marketing by Bernardo Sosa.

So, how do you use social media to market your company, its products, or yourself? Please share with us!

This post was written as an entry in An Island Life's first ever group writing project.

I'm one of the engineers at Cherryone Web Design, also known as Cherryone for short.

I will be posting here some educational entries about Website design, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, and Internet Marketing in general. Please, feel free to ask me questions if you are interested in the subject and I will try to explain the stuff you might want to know to the best of my ability.

I think I will start by explaining the nature of the World Wide Web, why would somebody need a website, and how to make sure it generates revenue. Later on I will get into more specifics and technicalities of the subject.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog and once again, feel free to comment or ask questions and I'll do my best to answer!

- Cherryone

The 2003 CAN-SPAM Act requires that ALL lists be PERMISSION-BASED Lists. By using Industry BEST PRACTICES when gathering contacts, you maintain integrity and reputation throughout your email marketing campaign. Collecting emails from existing or new clients through physical forms, online signup forms, and through any type of permission-based system, will protect you from potentially devastating fines for SPAM.

OLD LISTS: If you have an OLD list that you have not maintained regular contact with, you may want to consider not using the list, or at a bare minimum, you should utilize our Double Opt-In system to allow them to "Opt-In" to your List.

SIGNUP FORMS: If you have a signup form on your website, or decide to add one, please remember to place a permission statement on the same page as the signup form. The statement should clearly state that by signing up, they should expect to receive emailed content from your organization.

TRADE SHOWS & PERSON-2-PERSON LEADS: If you meet contacts in person-2-person type situations, verify that you have their permission before attempting to send emailed content to them. This simple gesture, can help maintain your organization's integrity and reputation, and is a professional courtesy to your potential clients.

Tip #2: Email Content Design

Your email content should be simple, easy to navigate, and visually pleasing to your target audience. Your content should be focused to the segment or grouping of individuals in your List(s). In most cases, a short but direct email design can be more effective than a long and bloated email.

INFORMATIONAL EMAILS: If the goal of your email is to provide information to your readers, then clearly and simply provide that information as cleanly as possible. Readers seem to be less likely to read long drawn out emails, verses shorter more direct emails.

WEBSITE CLICK-THROUGHS: If the goal of your email is to direct the readers to a particular website, then provide short 1-2 line "teasers," and have links that direct them to the full articles on the target website. This will provide your readers with a short and easy to navigate email, while also directing them to your target website(s), and thus, increases your click-through rates and email performance.

IMAGE INTENSIVE EMAILS: If your email primarily consists of images, or is based solely on images, you may want to consider email client compatibility and SPAM-filtering software. Many of today's Email Clients (Yahoo, AOL, MSN, GMail, Outlook), will automatically block images until the reader ALLOWS images to be downloaded. This feature is designed to help reduce spam, as well as malicious hacks by SPAMMERS. If the basic message in your email relies on the images alone, then your message may be deleted without the reader ever seeing the true content of the email. Messages with images only, which the reader has not clicked on "download images," will appear BLANK, and therefore, have a higher chance of being prematurely discarded.

USING NON-HTML BASED EDITORS: All emails are coded in HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) code, and therefore, you should always use HTML-based Editing software to compose your email content. From personal experience, using programs such as Microsoft Word*, Publisher, and other Desktop Document Publishing software packages, will result in "quirky" emails containing added line breaks, broken images and links, missing background colors, lost font faces and sizes, and even truncated emails; due to invalid proprietary coding produced within NON-HTML software. HTML Software packages (examples include Dreamweaver, Adobe GoLIVE, & FrontPage), are specifically designed to produce reliable HTML documents.

*If you MUST use Microsoft Word to produce your email content, then please verify that the software which you are using to compose your HTML document, has a filter which will filter out proprietary Microsoft Word code

TIP #3: Subject Line CONSISTENCY & Brand Name Recognition

Avoid using generic subject lines like: "July's Newsletter," "Daily Newsletter," "Weekend Sale," or any other generic email subject lines that everyone else will be using at the same time. If at all possible, incorporate your organization's name into the subject line, and then include a short "issue description," such as "My Company News - July 2008."

A subject line that is short yet direct, can dramatically increase the performance of your email campaign, as well as produce valuable name brand recognition. Your readers will be able to quickly and easily pick out your email content from their inbox full of SPAM. You want your email to stand out from the crowd, and not only be noticed, but read as well.

But I contend that social media never really began -- not on the web anyway.

What it seems to me that people fail to realize is that social media is not some fad like the Pet Rock or Ugg Boots (ugh indeed); it's been going on since the dawn of time as club-wielding cavemen built -- and leveraged -- social networks to snag a bigger feast or a more spacious dwelling.  And it has continued throughout history as large sects of the population broke off into sub-sets forming religious groups, political parties, and public houses (today known as 'pubs' -- isn't the web really just a virtual bar that never closes?), all leveraging some type of social media vehicle to organize like-minded individuals and gather together.

And while most of that 'gathering' today happens online, the concept itself was not born with the advent of the Internet.

It's an inherent part of our make up as humans to congregate and socialize.  Where that congregation takes place is irrelevant.  What matters is that it does take place, and more importantly, that substantive relationships are formed through it.

Relationships.  A critical element of the process that no one ever seems to talk about, opting to latch onto the word 'social' because it's 'hot' right now.  And, interestingly, where most sites -- and initiatives -- fail.

The social aspect of the engagement is only step 1, and the easiest part of the process in my opinion.  And it's really just a catalyst for communication and conduit for connection anyway.  With the right amount of hype and viral buzz, you can easily draw the masses (e.g. Plurk).

But the trick is keeping them there.  And building, cultivating and sustaining the relationship.  That's the attraction -- and the power -- of the social web.  Creating meaningful encounters that are relevant to you and your circle of friends/peers/colleagues.  And then leveraging those relationships -- and your sphere of influence -- to some actionable end.

As a marketer, social media is just a set of tools that I employ for clients.  And it's not even the only set.  Nor is it limited to the web.  When the focus is aptly centered around connecting people, in this case, a business with its customers, the relationship is paramount, and then you simply bring in the tools needed to achieve that objective.

One of the tools employed could be the web.  Or it could be an e-mail.  Or a text message.  Or, dare I say it, even a print communication.  And, in all likelihood, it's a combination of all these things (or, at least, it should be) so that you have a fully integrated marketing mix -- and multiple touch points -- to engage in a two-way conversation with your audience.

What makes it 'social' is that conversation.  And the ability to interact directly with customers.  Not shouting one-way at throngs of users, with little to no relevancy, on oversaturated social networks under the guise of 'social media' or 'social marketing' or some other equally glib term.  It would be more accurate to refer to it as 'harnessing relationship media for social sustainability' but that's not just pithy enough for the divas.

Email is still one of the best ways to reach and maintain relationships with customers.

Let's say, though, that after growing a big enough mailing list, you're noticing a lower open rate. What if your emails were being sent to the spam bin? Egads, are you considered a spammer?!

In some cases, you're stuck with a lazy person who labels your email as spam, instead of taking the trouble to unsubscribing. You can't stop that from happening.

However, sometimes the addressee mistakenly marks an email as spam, and there are a few small things you can do to lower the chances of that happening:

1. Let's start from the beginning: NO PURCHASING OR RENTING OF MAILING LISTS.

Don't want to be labeled as a spammer? Then don't be one. Services that sell or lend mailing lists for marketing purposes usually collect addresses that were used for sign-ups or were posted publicly on websites such as forums. They haven't solicited your marketing campaigns.

Also, consider that online users are more savvy than ever. Some use disposable email addresses. Many users have multiple email addresses, some of which are for public spaces and sign-ups. These addresses are used as collectors of spam, where the user simply logs in from time to time to clean out the inbox without looking at any of the messages. Their primary addresses, on the other hand, are used for personal correspondence and are fiercely protected.

2. Protect those addresses.

Once you've earned sign-ups for your mailing list, be careful not to post or distribute them elsewhere.

3. Don't use generic subject headings.

In the daily blur of constant email messages, a user may accidentally mark your email as spam when they see a generic subject heading. Titles like "July Newsletter" or "Get a Discount" are unlikely to encourage opens.

4. Remind the addressee with a postscript.

Web users are used to scrolling to the bottom of a marketing message or newsletter for a postscript. Here, remind the user that they signed up for the mailing list. Also take advantage of this space by advising the user to add you to their address list or safelist.

5. Provide a visible unsubscribe link.

It sounds like a contradiction, but laying out an unsubscribe link in the postscript helps your cause. Without it, you don't appear to be transparent and trustworthy. You also want to populate your mailing list with customers who are capable of being interested in your promotions. It's better to filter out disinterested parties, as opposed to allowing your email campaign getting marked as spam.

6. Comply with the Safe Harbor Privacy policies and with U.S. law.

Read through this checklist to make sure that you are abiding by policies set down by the European Commission. This proves to be helpful when you have international addresses on your mailing list. While you're at it, make sure you know about the U.S. laws regarding spam.

7. Don't just send one huge HTML image.

Email clients are more likely to block large HTML images. Clients like Gmail and Outlook block images by default, so a number of your recipients will only see a broken up message initially. Take care to include text apart from the image so that readers will get an idea of who you are and what you are conveying.

8. Personalize.

When you ask people to sign up for your mailing list, ask for a first name at least. This way, you can automate your message to include the recipient's name in the greeting line. "Merry Christmas David!" is an example of how to alert a reader to the fact that he signed up for the email.

9. Perfect the timing and frequency of your emails.

Sending an email too often or too seldom can get you blacklisted. Although a monthly newsletter seems standard, you should attune the timing and frequency of your promotional emails based on the needs of your subscribers and the relevancy of your promotion.

Too often companies remain outside the circle of influence because of an inability to establish personal customer relationships. It’s easy to fade into the background after the sale, missing opportunities to cross-sell, up-sell and generally deepen the relationship.

Think you have nothing to say? Customers actually do care about issues like:

• Marketplace trends that impact their businesses
• How your products can help them acquire new customers, get to market faster and increase their ROI
• Pertinent new product developments
• Products that enhance the performance of what they purchased from you
• News of how other customers are using your products

So How Could a Newsletter Improve My Social Life?

The truth is a newsletter won’t help much if your entire focus is on your equipment. If you want the cool rich kids (translation: leading companies with big-budget opportunities) to notice you, there has to be some credibility established.

A well-positioned newsletter can help make the case that your knowledge extends beyond technology. What’s more, you can send the newsletter to C-level execs who set strategy and influence decisions but may not be part of your everyday contact base.

How Do I Communicate the Product Message?

The best way to promote the value of your equipment is by providing content that lures the strategic folk while still weaving in the product message. For example, you might create a feature article on multicultural marketing opportunities that points out the growth of emerging ethnic markets, their increasing consumer expenditures and who is buying what and why.

Then you create a secondary article pointing out studies indicating that members of the most lucrative emerging minority markets—Hispanic, African American and Asian—are direct mail responsive, but tend to receive far less mail than the average U.S. household. So if you were a manufacturer of digital presses, for example, that’s when you introduce your equipment’s ability to create targeted mail that enables marketers to develop versions in the recipient’s language of choice as well as vary offers by segment.

Digital presses aren’t what you manufacturer? It’s just as easy to develop a newsletter issue around other topics that matter to your customers, like the need to compete with new media by shortening production cycles and many other topics that have a marketplace perspective.

Who Will Write the Articles?

The obvious answer is to go outside if you don’t have the inside expertise. Check with your media contacts for good freelance writers. Or email marketing strategist Larry Bauer and the Mondovox® Creative Group. We write and design award-winning newsletters as well as provide support services ranging from managing your marketing database to electronic distribution and real-time results tracking. Most importantly, we offer special expertise in the graphic arts industry.

Regardless of your approach, the takeaway is that you need to build credibility by demonstrating knowledge of the marketing issues impacting your customers. Then you have a chance of making the “A” list for your customer’s next strategy meeting. Newsletters can provide the vehicle.

Print Newsletter

Pros

• Ability to reach everyone in your database
• Easier to rent print lists for expanded circulation
• High resolution reproduction that delights the eye
• Ability to demonstrate the power of print
• Portability—easier to take to a coffee break, read on an airplane, etc.
• People tire of reading computer screens all day
• Less competition—fewer print newsletters being produced
• People enjoy receiving relevant print publications

Cons

• Expensive
• Slower production and distribution process
• More difficult to present timely news
• Limited tracking ability for generating marketing metrics

Electronic Newsletter

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Virtually instant distribution
• Easier to present timely news
• Trendy
• More interactive capabilities—instantly link readers to deeper, related information or contact with you
• Superior tracking ability for better marketing metrics

Cons

• Permission based
• Email address availability tends to be spotty even in customer databases
• Limited list rental options for expanded circulation
• Easily ignored, deleted or cancelled
• Lots of competition

And the Winner Is…

There is no winner. They are different channels with different sets of pluses and minuses. The answer is a milk toasty “it depends.”

What is clear is that different channels work best in combination with one another. Our most successful newsletter clients use a blend of print and electronic media to communicate their message.

They produce quarterly print versions, usually in 8-page formats, then provide short, one- or two-topic HTML editions on a bi-weekly schedule. This approach not only allows the printers to communicate important information on a timely basis, but also demonstrates that they are multichannel players who understand today’s media environment.

I'm talking about the all important email subject line.  This is a crucial first barrier to your message being heard.  Think: Gate Keeper in cold calling.  

So here's the plan: Shock prospects into paying attention!  Compel them to open your email!

Now we're not talking "Shock & Awe" here, but it's still easier said than done, right?  And an effective mission depends on subject line success! 

Goal:  Create an email subject line that will lead to an email openned, NOT trashed or junked!

There's no perfect process to creating foolproof subject lines, but through research, consulting with others who are successful and my own trial and error I've gathered some useful strategies to ease the pain:

1.  Personalize (aka: use the person's name)

How many times have you heard to use people's names to get their attention and give warm fuzzies?  Well personalization is just as useful in subject lines as it is on the phone and in person.  

Thankfully, technology allows most bulk email programs to easily merge individual names into your email.  (I use GetResponse.com) 

A word of caution, though - don't be the cheesy salesperson who says your name over and over and over to the point of annoyance.  I recommend once in the subject line and once in the greeting, maximum.

2.  Write the Subject Last

The reason is simple: writing the subject last can save time and reduce stress.  Subjects are so important and so darn succinct that it helps to have the completed, written, concrete email in front of you. 

Consider the alternative: attempting to squeeze the deep purpose and meaning of an abstract concept into less than 50 ridiculous characters!  Experience has shown this takes too much time and wastes too much energy. 

To review: Email body first, subject second.

3.  Ask Who Cares

Look at your completed email and consider why someone would care about the information it contains.  Will it save them money?   Save them time?  Give them an edge on the competition?  Reduce stress?

Knowing a good reason to read your email will tell you why they would choose to open it.  Use this key information when deciding on your subject line.

4.  Shock (aka Grab their attention!)

Do you thoroughly read each email subject in your InBox?  Probably not.  

Like you, most of your customers will quickly skim through email subject lines while the voice in their head says "blah, blah, blah."

Your job is to jolt the world's internal voices out of boredom!  Stop the "blah, blah, blah"!  What can you say that would jump off the monitor and make your customers look twice?

5. Compel

Now that the recipients are looking twice at the subject line, what do they actually see?  The subject line must peak their curiousity or otherwise give them a solid reason to open the email and spend precious time on the content inside.

Be creative and have fun!

Yup, this headline made me sit up too :-) While trawling the RSS feeds for bite-size chunks in interesting news, this article posted on the New York Times website really caught my eye. Reading it made me realise 2 things that guys who spend too much time online are either waaaay out of shape or that too much stress and pressure can be dangerous to your health... then again every job has pressure and stress, right?

There is an interesting blog post debunking this whole article though after reading this, I feel as though my online consumption habits are still within safe norms and I think am in no danger of “logging off” while hunched over my keyboard especially while doing something incongruous like blogging....

But just to make sure that I keep the pressure and stress off, I thought I would get involved in a greener and healthier online environment... Yup, to ease the daily pains (and to help your social conscience) visit and sign-up to Greenopolis. People band together online, to date, discuss politics or lose weight ... this all happens in a community whose members help each other live in a more earth-friendly manner. Pretty cool!

See, don’t you feel better already...

And the, some cool news snippets from the advertising front, with the focus on Interactive of course :-)

· Louis Vuitton has launched an impressive “where will life take you” full marketing campaign. they have used an impressive list of celebrities to convey the message and emotion of the campaign.. Check it out here (click on the Core Values Film)

· New York Pizza launched a series of ads on YouTube to promote their great pizza’s ... great fun! Watch the series here

· And finally, when you have had enough... (http://www.dearagency.com/) – Definitely one of the more innovative ways that ad agency, citrus, lures prospective customers...