This is How You’re Blowing Your Budget When Working with a Creative Agency

What any creative agency will tell you if they have an honest conversation with you, is that they need you to work with them in order to maximize your investment. However, the reality that this doesn’t happen for a number of reasons, due to mainly failures in scheduling and failures in communication.Related Articles

1. Big Online Ad Results with a Small Budget
2. Get Massive Publicity by Doing Your Own Study…on the Cheap!
3. You Don’t Have to Be a Creative Genius to Create Genius Content

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10 Twitter Chats Every Blogger Should Follow

The Twitter stream moves at an alarming 9,000 tweets per second. How in the world are you supposed to gain exposure for your blog when the news feed becomes outdated within seconds of posting your tweet?

One of the best ways to break through the noise on Twitter is by participating in Twitter chats. It’s a great way to increase your knowledge of a specific topic, build connections with fellow bloggers and gain exposure for yourself and your blog.

What Is a Twitter Chat?

A Twitter chat is a regularly scheduled online discussion that takes place on Twitter around a specific hashtag. Participants get involved and follow the conversation by using and following the chat hashtag.

There’s usually a moderator or host who directs the chat, asking questions and participating in the discussion. Some chats might also feature a special guest expert.

How to Participate in a Twitter Chat

To participate in a Twitter chat, you’ll need to create a Twitter account, if you don’t already have one. And make sure it’s set to “public” or no one will see your tweets during the chat.

Most chats follow a Q&A format where the host will ask a question, preceded by Q1, Q2, etc. preceding it. To join the conversation, all you have to do is provide your answers, preceded by A1, A2, etc.

First question is for all of our experts… Q1. Why has content marketing emerged as a key trend in marketing? #AWeberHour

— AWeber (@aweber) July 16, 2014

A1 Content marketing represents an opportunity to create useful, inspired marketing people enjoy/want, vs. things that annoy. #aweberhour

— Ann Handley (@annhandley) July 16, 2014

A1: Content marketing is a huge trend because it represents the gap b/t what brands produce and people actually want! #aweberhour

— Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) July 16, 2014

Always include the chat hashtag in your tweets so other participants can see your comments. Without the hashtag, you’re gonna be scratching your head, wondering why no one is talking to you. (If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?)

There are a number of tools that make participating a whole lot easier. These tools will automatically add the chat hashtag to your tweet, ensuring that your tweets are always seen.

• TweetChat
• tchat.io
• Twubs
• Nurph

If you’re planning to host a Twitter chat and want to measure the reach and participation levels of your chat, a couple of great tools to use are Hashtracking or Spider by oneQube.

Twitter Chat Etiquette

While each Twitter chat has its own “house rules” there are some pretty standard points of etiquette to keep in mind when participating.

Converse

Remember, it’s a chat, not a shouting match. You wouldn’t go into a cocktail party and start shouting, “Hey everybody, look at me!” The purpose is to learn, educate and connect, not to pitch.

Relevance is Key

Make sure your comments are relevant to the topic of conversation.

Don’t Spam

Posting the same thing over and over again will likely get you blocked or flagged. No one likes it, so don’t do it.

Top 10 Twitter Chats for Bloggers

While there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of Twitter chats that exist today, here are 10 that every blogger should participate in on a regular basis:

1. #BlogChat

When: Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET
Host: @mackcollier
Topic: Personal and professional blogging

2. #ContentChat

When: Mondays at 3:00 pm ET
Host: @JeniseFryatt
Topic: Content marketing

3. #CMWorld

When: Tuesdays at 12:00 p.m ET
Hosts: @CMIcontent
Topic: Content marketing

4. #LinkedInChat

When: Tuesdays, 8:00 p.m. ET
Host: @LinkedInExpert
Topic: LinkedIn best practices

5. #GetRealChat

When: Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET
Host: @PamMktgNut
Topics: Social business, technology, entrepreneurship, marketing, commerce, and more

6. #BrandChat

When: Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m. ET
Hosts: @MariaDuron, @Mr_Mcfly and @GeraldMoczynski
Topic: Branding

7. #BufferChat

When: Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m. ET
Host: @Buffer
Topic: Social media, digital marketing, automation, productivity and more

8. #Insiderchat

When: Wednesdays at 1:00 pm ET
Host: @BrianHonigman
Topics: Interviews of experts on social media, content marketing, entrepreneurship and more

9. #SmallBizChat

When: Wednesdays at 8:00 pm ET
Host: @SmallBizLady
Topics: Interviews with small business expert on issues related to running and growing a small business

10. #SEOchat

When: Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. ET
Host: @Dan_Patterson
Topic: Search engine optimization

What’s your favorite Twitter chat? Share it in the comments below.

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10 Questions to Ask In Your Business Demographics Survey

Discovering valuable information about your customers has always been coveted in the business world. The reasoning behind this is logical. If you understand who your customers are, you can strengthen your relationship with them, build trust and credibility. You can also collect the information needed to make the right decisions for your company. A business demographic survey is a great tool to unearth and collect this kind of insight.

Choosing the Right Questions

When conducting a survey, you first need to decide the type of questions to ask based on the goal of your survey. When looking to understand your market, use a business demographics survey. This data can help you widen your customer base. Or, use the information collected to tailor your product or service to better serve your customers.

Here are 10 sample questions to consider:

•      How long has your company been in business?
•      In which industry is your business?
•      What is your title at your company?
•      How long have you been in your current position?
•      How many people are employed at your company?
•      What was the annual revenue for your company last year?
•      Does your company have more than one location?
•      Does your company do business online?
•      Does your company serve consumers, businesses, or both?
•      Which marketing channels do you use to promote your business?

Number of Questions

While we’d all like to ask our customers 100 questions, that’s not realistic. So how many questions should you ask? According to SurveyMonkey, “the relationship between the number of questions in a survey and the time spent answering each question is not linear.”  

Chart via SurveyMonkey

What this means is the more questions you ask, the less time people devote to each individual question. While there are no hard and fast rules on how many questions to ask, keep the question count low to receive higher quality data.

Tips to Increase Response Rate 

Not only will you receive more reliable responses by asking fewer questions but also higher participation. No one likes to click through pages of questions so this is one way to boost the rate of response. Additionally, make it easy to answer your survey from any device. A questionnaire that is mobile-friendly prevents people from abandoning the process simply because the interface is funky.

Don’t be shy about throwing in a little extra for devoting time to your survey. Everyone likes to be rewarded. Give your survey recipients some motivation and thank them for filling out your survey. This can be done on an individual basis, or as a drawing for all who participate. It doesn’t take much more effort and it’s an easy way to increase response rates.

That said, expect an average response rate of about 10 percent. You’ll want to send your survey to a large enough pool of recipients in order to make it statistically relevant and meaningful. 

Survey Tool

Finally, to conduct your survey, use a simple tool like SurveyMonkey or GetFeedback. This will ensure your questionnaire is mobile-friendly. SurveyMonkey offers a free option that allows you to send 10 questions and receive 100 responses, and VerticalResponse has an integration with Survey Monkey so every time you get a new survey response, it creates a new contact in your VerticalResponse account. 

These business demographic survey questions and tips should get you on your way to collecting the information you need to grow your business. For more tips, check out The 4 Questions to Ask Yourself When Creating a Survey, and see the survey category of our blog to learn more. 

© 2015, VerticalResponse Blog. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

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The State of Email Marketing Mergers and Acquisitions

The email marketing world continues to be shaken up by multiple mergers and acquisitions. What does this mean for the industry?

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The Anatomy of a Good Video

Video is great. Why? Because it lets you show and tell, rather than just tell.

And that showing and telling can go a long way towards marketing your business. According to a study by EyeView, they found an increase of 80 percent in conversions from visitors watching a video on a landing page – and that’s only one of the many benefits of using video.

However, making a video is more than winging it with your laptop camera, or whipping out your iPhone and recording something on a whim (although, I will admit that iPhones have pretty good cameras and mics – but that’s a topic for another day).

Not sure how to make the best video possible? Well, we can help fix that by dissecting good videos and studying their anatomy.

Below you’ll find two types of videos that you can get started with: a “talking head” style and a screen recording. Let’s take a look at when each one is appropriate and how you can make it great.

What Makes a Good Video with “Talking Heads?”

Before we go any further, take a quick moment to watch this example of a good video:

So what makes the above video “good?” Well, for one, we made it. But seriously, it all comes down to quality. Throughout the process of creating a video, you want to keep in mind things like visual and audio quality. Here’s how you can enhance each aspect:

Lighting

Lighting is key to making clear and clean visuals, such as the set and people you saw in the previous video. While you don’t need a super-expensive light kit to get the job done, you just want to make sure you’re not filming in the dark.

Cameras don’t have to be super fancy either – just something that can shoot clear and in focus; and yes, iPhones are great for this, but pretty much any camera will do. The only thing you might want to avoid is your laptop cam. (Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never had luck with those.)

Audio

As far as microphones go, a relatively inexpensive option is an iPhone compatible clip-on mic; it’s cheap and will deliver better sound than most on-board mics.

For any filming you do on location (basically anywhere that isn’t a dedicated room for filming or recording), you also want to keep an ear out for environmental noises, such as people talking or even the humming of an HVAC system.

To help you identify if your recording is picking up background noise, keep a pair of headphones handy to check the quality of your recordings.

What Makes a Good Screen Recording Video?

Now you might not always want to film anything or anyone on camera. If you’re looking to show off a website or give some sort of tutorial, for example, you could do something like this:

With a screen recording, you don’t need to worry about cameras or lighting. Just open up your recording software (QuickTime is a great built-in tool on Macs; Windows users can download CamStudio for free) and start recording!

Since a screen recording will capture sound, make sure you record in a room with little to no HVAC noise, and silence any phones or other gadgets you may have.

What Do I Say in My Videos?

Before you can start filming, you want to make sure you have a script to help you stay on track and focused. You may think you can wing it, but stumbles and too many “ahhs” and “umms” won’t sound good (and it might hurt your credibility, no matter how good a mic you use and how much editing you do).

As you write your script, consider timing as well. You want to get your message across clearly, but as quickly as possible. Instructional videos make take longer, but generally you’ll want to stay in the 1 ½ – 2 ½ minute range.

Not sure what you want to create a video about? The good news is: choosing a topic is the easiest part! Here are some ideas to help you get started:

1. Use video as a hook to explain what you do.

2. Create a video showing off your software.

3. Provide an instructional “how-to” video that shows the benefits of your software.

4. Film a testimonial from your customers so they can preach to others how awesome your business is.

Already have an idea of the kind of video you want to make? That’s great! You’re ready to get started.

Once your video is ready, get it up on YouTube or Vimeo and make sure to share it with your email list.

Start Filming Today

Video is a great medium to showcase products and people, helping viewers around the world see what you see in your business every day. So what are you waiting for?

Have you seen really great examples of video marketing? Share it below!

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Confessions of an Email Marketing Hoarder

At this precise moment, I have exactly 48,979 emails in my Gmail account. Most of these are email marketing campaigns.Related Articles

1. Email Marketing Content: Trawling the Customer Service Files
2. Email marketing delivery: reviving an old email list
3. Email frequency: offer a “light” version of your email newsletter

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3 Emails You Should Send to Increase Customer Appointments

Looking to fill your appointment book? If your business runs on appointments or scheduled service calls, you can use email marketing to fill your calendar.

From small insurance agencies to lawn maintenance companies, if you make money through service calls or consultations, you can increase the number of appointments that you set up. How? It’s all about sending the right emails.

Here are three emails you can count on to fill up your calendar and get customers coming back again and again.

1. Schedule an appointment email

Sometimes a little electronic nudge is all it takes to encourage someone to make an appointment. People are busy and appreciate a reminder.

This email draws on your list of current customers. It’s not only a great way to boost appointments, but it also can promote customer retention.

You can even segment your list for better results. Separate your list by the kind of service customers have requested in the past, and send specific emails that remind them it’s time for another appointment. For example, if you have a auto shop you can remind folks when it’s time to change their oil, rotate their tires or do other maintenance.

You can provide an incentive with a limited-time offer to create a sense of urgency. This auto repair company offers a complimentary oil and filter change. In the same email, there’s a call to action that leads customers to book an appointment.

Don’t have an online appointment service? There are several free tools that can help. Try Calendly or YouCanBook.Me. Both of these tools integrate with Google Calendar.  Customers can see your public calendar, select a time that works for them and set up their own appointment.

2. Get a quote email

When you have a handful of prospective clients, one of the best ways to get them on your books is to encourage them to get a quote. Let’s say you run a cleaning service, or a lawn maintenance company. Send an email that explains the benefits of your service and suggest the recipient email or call for a quote.

Here’s an example from a health insurance company. Notice the text is simple, and the recipient is given multiple ways to get a quote.

This is an easy way to gauge interest. When you get a request, you can follow up with more detailed information about the service you offer and pricing plans.

3. I’ll call you email

Both of the email options above put the power in the consumers’ hands. When they open your email, it’s up to them to schedule an appointment or ask for a quote. If you want to take a little more control, you can try to do something a bit different. Rather than ask customers to make an appointment, tell customers that you’ll reach out at a specific time to talk more about your services.

Let’s say you run a small insurance agency. You can send an email that touts the benefits of your services and plans a follow up phone call. So, after you highlight the benefits, you can add a line that says, “I’ll give you a call tomorrow at 2 pm to discuss our services with you. I look forward to connecting with you.” (Of course, this presumes you have the client’s phone number as well.)

The next day, follow through with your phone call. Leave a message if no one answers.

For some business owners, this kind of marketing might seem too pushy. For others, it’s an effective way to increase appointments. As always, you have to decide what works best for your business.

Additional tips

Here are a few extra tips to keep your appointment book full:

• Try more than once

It’s okay to reach out to customers more than once. Maybe your customer is on vacation and didn’t open your email, or maybe he or she meant to call but didn’t get to it. If an email goes unanswered, send another in a few days with a slightly different message.

• Make continual efforts to grow your email list

The more email contacts you have, the more opportunities you have to make appointments. Keep adding email contacts to your list by setting up a sign up form on your website and social media channels so customers have an easy way to get more information about your business.

• Get help when you need it

If you need help making calls or setting up appointments, ask a friend or an intern to help. Don’t let your email marketing or follow up calls slip. This is especially true if your business is seasonal, or has a busy streak. Plan ahead so you have the help you need to maximize your appointments.

Get your free signup form and send your emails for free with VerticalResponse.

© 2015, VerticalResponse Blog. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

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Quick Tips Video: 4 Easy Tricks to Grow Your List

Whether you’re new to email marketing or you’re an email marketing champ, gaining more subscribers should always be on the top of your to-do list. But how?

There are lots of ways you can grow your list, but we’ve narrowed it down to four easy tricks you can put to work today. Check out our latest episode of Quick Tips now:

And just in case you missed something, here’s the full video transcript:

Olivia (O): Hey, I’m Olivia.

Monica (M): And I’m Monica, and welcome to another episode of AWeber Quick Tips!

O: If you’re just getting started with email marketing, you may be stumped trying to figure out the best – and easiest – way to grow your email list. There are a number of tactics you can use to boost your subscribers, and we’re going to take a look at four specific tricks you can implement today.

M: Let’s get started, shall we?

O: Tip #1: Make the most of your sign up forms

M: Your sign up forms should clearly inform your website visitors of the value of your emails. So if you’re sending a weekly newsletter or updates about special promotions, be sure to tell them!

O: Your pop up form should also be easy to find – add it to the sidebar of your website and appropriate landing pages. And while you’re at it, consider a lightbox popup form.

M: Really?

O: Yep, despite their bad rep, they can actually help you collect hundreds, or even thousands, of new subscribers.

*BANTER*

M: Tip #2 Run a contest

O: People love to win prizes – I know I do! And hosting a contest can be a great way to collect new subscribers. Tools like Heyo and Contest Domination make contests easy to set up – and they integrate directly with AWeber.

M: And of course, don’t forget to promote your contest like crazy on social media and your website so more people see it.

O: Tip #3 Incentivize new subscribers

M: Who doesn’t want free stuff? Encourage people to sign up to your list by giving away a freebie item and feature it on your sign up form.

O: If you’re a foodie, share an eBook of recipes created exclusively for your email list.

M: Designers and bloggers can create a printout, like stationery or a checklist, to help readers with their next project.

O: You get the idea. Be creative, and give stuff away that people actually want!

M: Tip #4 Add new subscribers on the go

O: You never know where you’ll meet someone interested in your services, so adding new subscribers on the go is crucial for any small business owner.

M: Download a mobile email sign up app to your phone or tablet…

O: (like AWeber’s Atom app, for example *wink*)

M: …So you can add new subscribers at any time, anywhere.

O: That’s it for today – Have other ideas for growing your subscribers? Tweet us at @aweber. And be sure to sign up for the AWeber blog for more marketing tips!

M: Thanks for joining us and check back in two weeks for the next AWeber Quick Tips!

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Picture Perfect: Executive Image Consutling with Sylvie di Giusto

We've pretty much all been on the job hunt at one point in our lives and know all the nerves that come with it. What should we wear? What should we say? Sylvie di Giusto has all those answers and more. As an Executive Image Consultant she'll teach you how to look and act any part for which you're auditioning.Related Articles

1. The Small Business Guide to Bigger and Better Blogging
2. Image Is Everything: Tools to Beef up Your Image Marketing
3. Getting Your Photographs to Tell Your Story

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10 DIY Ways to Get More Visits to Your Website

Every business needs a website to survive, but is your website getting as many visitors as you’d like? It’s a rhetorical question, really. What business wouldn’t want to increase visits? After all, when potential customers visit your website, you can increase brand awareness, educate consumers and drive revenue.

However, you might be stumped on how to get more folks to visit your website. Not to worry. We’ve created this list of ten ways to increase visits. This list of actionable, do-it-yourself ideas is aimed at busy businesses just like yours.

1. Register your business with online directories

There are dozens of online directories that you can take advantage of. Think of them like electronic telephone books, but better. With online directories like YellowPages you can create a business profile, which includes a link to your website. Here’s an example.

There are several benefits to online directories like this. First, you can make them as detailed as you’d like. From business hours to a profile picture, you decide how much information to put in. Second, they’re free. Any opportunity to increase your audience through a free service is worth looking into.

Below you’ll find a list of the top five most popular business directories with links to get your profile started. You can also check out our post, The Top 20 Places Your Business Should Be Listed Online.

• YellowPages
• Google My Business
• Bing Places for Business
• Yahoo! Local Listing
• Merchant Circle

Pro tip: For service-based businesses, Angie’s List is a great online directory. It has become the go-to spot for customers to find reliable service providers. Customers can rate your business and generate positive word of mouth.

If you need some help getting your business listed in directories, our sister company, Orange Soda offers a service called LocalSync to manage your business profiles across 40+ local directories, apps and mapping sites to make sure your local customers get the right information every time.

2. List your business website in your email signature

You’re constantly writing and sending emails, right? Well, every email you send is an opportunity to get your website out there. Make sure your business website is listed and “clickable” in your email signature. If you need help setting up a signature, just check out these support links below:

• Outlook
• Gmail
• Yahoo!

3. Facebook ads

When it comes to social media advertising, you have a lot of options. However, one of the easiest ways to bump your website visits is through Facebook ads. When you set up an ad, Facebook asks you to pick an advertising goal. In this case, you can select ‘increasing website traffic’ as your objective.

Once your objective is set, you have several ad options. A lot of small businesses chose to set up an ad that appears in the News Feed. This ad typically offers a discount on a product or service, which gives customers enough incentive to click on the ad and land on your website to place an order.

4. Leverage your LinkedIn audience

Many businesses don’t have time to write and manage a blog. Instead, you can use your LinkedIn page as a mini blog. LinkedIn has a popular publishing feature that allows you to post articles right to your page. Your connections can see the post in their feeds.

Not sure what to write about? Share your thoughts on recent industry changes, write a post about a news story that involves your line of work or talk about a new tool that’s helped your business grow. You want to write something that’s thought-provoking, not promotional.

This idea is especially helpful for service-based businesses. When you’re selling a service, you want to show your authority in the niche.

Of course, to send visitors back to your website, you have to include links. Make sure you link several spots within your post to lead people to your site.

5. Be a resource for reporters

As a business owner, you have expertise in a certain field. Reporters are constantly looking for experts to help with stories. How do you connect with these reporters? Take a look at this website: Help A Reporter Out.

On this site you’ll find a list of stories that reporters need help with. When you find a story that’s in your wheelhouse, you can send the reporter an email through the platform. If the reporter likes your response, he or she will reach out to you and set up an interview. You’ll be quoted in a newspaper article or blog post, and a link to your website will be included in the article.

You need to set up an account, but you don’t have to pay to belong to it. It’s a great way to get free publicity for your business and drive traffic to your website.

Pro tip: MyLocalReporter is like Help a Reporter Out, but in reverse. Business owners can search for reporters that fit their niche and reach out to them. It puts business owners in control, rather than waiting for a reporter to post a query that fits.

For more tools to get free publicity for your business check out this post.

6. Set up an online store

Does your website serve as an informational placeholder? In other words, does it offer basic information about your business and product with minimal interactive features? If so, it might be time to upgrade. Many visitors expect a more interactive e-commerce experience. 

To get your website up to speed, check out Shopify. Using this do-it-yourself platform, you can create a website that has shopping features. You can set up a digital store, create an online shopping cart, enable credit card payments, collect taxes, set up shipping options and track your sales.

If you don’t want to do a complete website upgrade, you can start by adding a Buy Button to your current website. It’s a nice way to take Shopify for a test run.  

Pro tip: When you use Shopify, you’ll be able to collect email addresses at checkout. VerticalResponse is integrated with Shopify, so all of those new contacts will flow seamlessly into your VerticalResponse email account. You’ll be able to use these new contacts to encourage even more website visits.

7. Send visit-boosting emails

With so many websites out there, you need to remind your audience to visit yours. How? Email. Your email list is one of the most valuable marketing tools you have in your arsenal. By sending targeted messages to your customers or clients, you can funnel them to your website to schedule an appointment or make a purchase.

So, which emails offer the visitor influx you’re looking for? While every email has the potential to boost your visit numbers, here are three emails that we suggest sending:

• Promotional email

Get your customers to visit your website by emailing a promotion or an incentive. If you sell a product, offer a discount or free shipping. If you don’t sell a product, you can still use promotional emails, you just have to be more creative. An insurance business can offer free consultations, a cleaning service can offer 10 percent off services, a software company can offer free demonstrations to any company that sets up an appointment, and a furnace repair company can offer homeowners a free energy audit. There are no limits to promotional ideas. Offer free webinars, small gifts or ebooks. 

• Email invitation

Hosting an event? Send invitations via email. First, make sure you have a page dedicated to your upcoming event on your website. Make sure that page has all of the event details on it, including a way to RSVP for the event. Now, head over to your email account and prepare an invitation. The call to action in this email will take the reader right to your event page. In addition, the email should contain at least one link to your website’s main page.

• Announcement emails

When you have a new product or service, share it with your email subscribers. Describe what’s new, how the item benefits them, the cost and how they can get it. Your call to action should direct customers to your website where they can sign up for the service or buy the new product.

Here’s an example of an email that Picjumbo sent out for a new product.

8. Invest in affordable marketing materials

Headed to a conference? Is your business exhibiting at a local trade show? Anytime you’re meeting-and-greeting people, you should be able to offer some sort of “takeaway.”

Of course, you have to be careful. You can spend a lot of money on business swag, so you’ll want to come up with a plan. Have something like a brochure or postcard. Offer an educational reference that allows customers to recall your business or service later on. We also suggest a trinket or fun giveaway. Whether you opt for branded pens or key chains, it’s up to you. VerticalResponse offers a wildly popular brand box with over 1400 promotional items. 

9. Go old school

Handing out marketing materials might seem a little old school, but there are plenty of offline ways to promote your business that you should consider. Here are a few ideas:

• Put your website on your business card. Every time you hand out a business card, you’re introducing a prospective customer or client to your business. If they want to learn more later on, they’ll look to your business card to get more information.
• Become a public speaker. Offer to speak at your local chamber of commerce meeting and be sure to include your website in your presentation.
• Hang fliers in local establishments. Ready to launch a new product? Hosting an upcoming sale? Create a quick flier with tear-off website information and hang them at local hotspots like laundry mats and community centers.
• Sponsor an event. When local charities are looking for sponsors, consider contributing. Look for possibilities where your name, logo and website are placed in front of an audience. For example, a local theater company could highlight your business and website in its programs.
• Use your vehicle to advertise. Every business owner travels around town. Why not advertise while you’re headed to the bank or post office? Consider purchasing a sticker for your back window or a magnet for the side of your car that has your business name and website on it.

10. Try something out of the ordinary

When you’re trying to promote your website, it’s good to get creative. Here are a few out-of-the-box ideas to turn heads and drive website visits at the same time.

• Chalk art advertising. Know an artist? Several brands have had success with chalk art advertising. When Planet of the Apes came out, Warner Brothers used these chalk drawings to promote word of mouth and website visits.

• Flash mob. Ready to get your groove on? Try a flash mob to promote your website. What’s a flash mob? It’s a group of people who meet in a public place and break out into a choreographed dance. Leave your website address in chalk on the sidewalk behind you, or hand out fliers to the audience after.

• Project your website on your building. Turn heads with a projection of your business name and website on your building. Projection advertising is a popular way to drum up attention, so why not give it a try for your business? You can go all out and hire a company to do something like this, or you can buy a small projector and project your website address in your window at night.

How do you get more visits to your website? Please add to our list in the comment section below.

© 2015, VerticalResponse Blog. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

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Inbox Impact and the First Impression Factor

Just as they do in the worlds of dating and job interviews, first impressions matter in the email marketing arena as well.

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New Feature: Simple Layout

We’ve introduced your Simple Layout. This is a new layout that helps you create simple and basic emails, while keeping all HTML formatting options such as text styles and the ability to add images.Related Articles

1. Email Marketing Software: How Our RSS to Email Feature Works
2. HTML Email Tips for Web Designers
3. New email templates - and more to come!

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Q1 2015 Retail Email Campaign Metrics

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The 4 Emails Retailers Should Send for Mother’s Day

This year, Mother’s Day is May 10 and if you don’t already have a plan in place to reach out to your customers by email, it’s not too late to get started.

As a retailer, Mother’s Day isn’t a holiday you want to miss out on. Take a look at these stats from Statistic Brain:

            • There are 85.4 million moms in the U.S.
            • The average American will spend $168.94 on mom for Mother’s Day.
            • 28.5% of Mother’s Day gifts are bought online.

With stats like that, you’ll want to kick your email marketing into high gear.

We recommend that you start marketing at least two weeks before Mother’s Day to make the most of it. Research by Experian found that 80 percent of email-generated revenue occurred in the 11 days leading up to Mother’s Day and on the holiday itself.

Need a little inspiration? Here are four emails you should send to celebrate Mother’s Day:

1. Gift suggestion email

Who doesn’t need a little gift inspiration now and then? Help your customers by offering gift ideas. Whether you highlight your main product or create a gift guide, you should showcase gifts that mom’s would like. Think about organizing your gift guide by interest, style or price points. 

If you need help creating a gift guide, check out this post that walks you through the process.

Gift guides are also great to share on image-centric social sites like Pinterest and Instagram. With sales on the line, it might be a great time to try out using Promoted Pins and see if they translate into revenue for you. 

2. Invitation email

Use email to invite your customers to an event, class, sale or contest.

Contests can increase customer engagement and increase visits to your brick-and-mortar store or website. A florist could have customers post photos of their mothers on the store’s Facebook page for a chance to win free flowers. A bookstore or kitchen store could hold a Mother’s Day recipe contest for a free cookbook.

Local retailers could also invite customers out to a mom-themed sale or event. Clothing shops can run a Mother’s Day sale, a local spa can host a mother-daughter event.

If you plan ahead, you can organize a class that focuses on Mother’s Day. Hobby stores, for example, can invite customers to a craft class to make a gift for their special someone.

Be sure to include all of the necessary details in the invitation email that you send.

3. Last minute sale email

People tend to wait until the last minute to buy gifts, so give them a nudge with a last minute email. Sweeten the deal with a promotion.

Use clear messaging in your subject line to indicate that time is running out on a certain deal, a limited item or free shipping. Whatever the enticement, put your offer right in the subject line to make sure recipients open the email and take action.

Take a look at the example below. This retailer creates a sense of urgency and offers an incentive to get subscribers to act.

4. Celebrate the holiday email

When Mother’s Day rolls around, send an email that celebrates the holiday. There’s no sales push, just an acknowledgment of appreciation. You could send this email to everyone on your list, or just those who made a purchase. If you send an email to those who made a Mother’s Day purchase, be sure to thank them as well.

How will your business utilize email marketing during Mother’s Day this year? Tell us in the comment section below.

Send emails for Mother’s Day using VerticalResponse – It’s free up to 1,000 email contacts.

Wendy Burt-Thomas is a full-time freelance writer with four books and thousands of published articles to her credit. Contact Wendy at WendyBurt@aol.com. 

© 2015, VerticalResponse Blog. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

The post The 4 Emails Retailers Should Send for Mother’s Day appeared first on VerticalResponse Blog.

Advanced Segmentation Tactics

How to Use LinkedIn to Build Awareness for Your Brand

The following is a guest blog post from Jamie Turner, an internationally-recognized author, speaker and marketing thought leader. He is the host of The Jamie Turner Show, which is sponsored by AWeber.

If you’ve ever looked for information on using LinkedIn, odds are you’ve come across helpful material from Viveka von Rosen.

Viveka is an internationally known LinkedIn expert and author of the best-selling book, LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day. She’s taught a whopping 95,000 (and counting) people how to create business relationships and how to generate business leads using social media. Viveka has even been recognized by Forbes as a key social media influencer for four years running.

The amazing thing about Viveka is that she never imagined that she would become one of the world’s leading LinkedIn experts.

Growing up, Viveka dreamed of being an actor or a professor. Those plans were abandoned somewhere along the way, but the passion to connect and instruct remained. She’d spoken and performed on stage since the age of 7, but little did she know that she’d be giving her first speech on social media in front of an audience of 500 millionaires and billionaires in a Waldorf Astoria ballroom.

Recently, I was able to interview Viveka on The Jamie Turner Show, a podcast sponsored by AWeber. In the interview, she reveals a number of fascinating facts and insights, including the fact that she made a meager 9 cents an hour writing her book. However, when asked, she said she’d do it all over again. Why? Because that’s what really took her career to another level.

So, what can you learn from Viveka’s rise to social media superstardom in the podcast interview below? A lot.

The secret sauce for Viveka’s success is made up of:

Drive

Having a goal or a dream isn’t enough – you have to go after it.

Adaptability

Sometimes things don’t go as planned, but you can’t let that determine your success.

And, not surprisingly…

Connections

Here’s the thing: proximity is power, and social media is a great way to get you closer to those with power.

Find out more about how Viveka used her drive, determination and leveraged the power of connections to achieve success, and how you can do the same in the podcast below.

Interested in learning more about social media and email marketing from the world’s leading experts? Click here to listen to additional episodes of The Jamie Turner Show on Stitcher Radio.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Creating a Must-See SlideShare Presentation

You’re effectively using Facebook for your business and you can tweet with the best of them, so what social channel should you conquer next? SlideShare. This social media network, which helps you create and share presentations, is perfect for businesses. 

SlideShare averages 60 million unique visitors a month. By creating and sharing presentations you could boost your exposure, brand awareness and sales.

The network has ready-made templates, color schemes, easy-to-populate charts and a simple editor so you don’t need a lot of experience to create great presentations. But, we know that learning your way around a new social platform can be tricky, so we created this six-step guide to help you create and share must-see presentations.

1. Create a must-read title

The title to your SlideShare presentation is just as important as an email subject line. Your audience could decide whether or not to open your presentation based on your title. Here are some tips to create a great title:

• Ask a question. What question does your presentation answer? Use this information to create a title. For example, “What Can Make-a-Wish Foundation do With $5?”. 
• Solve a problem. If your presentation solves a problem, play its strength up in the title. A title like, “10 Ways to Make Your Sluggish PC Run Faster” is an attractive solution to an audience.
• Intrigue people. Make your audience so curious that they have to open your presentation. A title like, “5 Ways Your Retail Business Can Make an Extra $10,000 This Month” is enough to piqué curiosity.
• Shock your audience. A title like, “10 Reasons Your Presentation with Tank” will grab attention.

2. Select a presentation structure

Set up your presentation in an easy-to-digest way. Here are a few options:

• Step-by-step guide. Show your audience how to do something. For example, if you run a photography website you can create, “How to Shoot Family Portraits Outside.”
• Informational Lists. SlideShare lends itself to a list format. For example, “10 Ways Non-Profits Can Attract New Donors” would work.
• Crazy statistics. Similar to the list format, you can also create a presentation that showcases unique statistics about your business, product or industry. Here’s an example: “10 Presentation Facts You Should Know.”
• Storytelling. Use each slide to tell a story. For example, a non-profit could share the success story of one person. Each slide provides a little more information about the person, their background and how the non-profit was able to help.

3. Find great visuals

If you want to attract an audience, you need great visuals. There are backgrounds that you can use within SlideShare. However, you might not find what you’re looking for. This means you might need some stock photography sites. Shutterstock and iStock are popular options.

• Tip: If you’re on a budget, there are several free stock sites that you could try out. Picjumbo,  Pixaby and Death to the Stock Photo are all searchable sites that have free options. You won’t have the same selection you have with paid sites, but they’re worth a look.

4. Create killer content

Whatever your topic, make sure the information you provide is worthy of another person’s time. You can’t just create ten slides for the heck of it and expect people to click through it. Create content that you’re proud to share and your presentation will get noticed.

Take a minute to look through some of the featured presentations on SlideShare before you get started.

5. Add call to action links

At the end of your presentation, you should add several clickable links to serve as calls to action. You can encourage people to visit your website, suggest that people follow you on social media or ask people to sign up for your email list.

If you want people to visit your website, include the full URL and tell people that it’s clickable. For example, write something like, “Learn more about our marketing services by clicking the link below.” Don’t hyperlink text, put the entire link in the presentation. This way your audience has options: click the link or copy and paste it into the search bar.

• Tip: If the link you want to include is long, use an online tool like Bitly to shorten it. A long URL takes up too much space and clutters your page. Shorten it before you add it to your presentation.

If you want people to follow you on social media channels, tell them to click on the icon in your presentation to do so.

To get people to sign up for your email list, add a link to your VerticalResponse sign up form. You can say something like, “Click the link below to get interesting information like this delivered to your inbox.” It’s an easy way to collect email addresses and grow your list.

6. Share your presentation

Now that you have a phenomenal presentation, it’s time to show it off. Here are a few ways to share it: 

• Social media channels. Share a link to your presentation on all of your social media channels, including your LinkedIn page. LinkedIn and SlideShare are both professional social networks so they work well together.
• Get picked up by SlideShare. SlideShare picks a few presentations each day to feature on its homepage. Obviously, being featured is a big win in the audience department. Fortunately, the tips we’ve listed increase your chances of being featured.

• Tip: SlideShare put together a presentation to help you with this too.

• Put the presentation on your website and blog. You can embed your presentation on your website or blog to encourage more views.

Have you used SlideShare? Tell us how you use it to promote your business or product in the comment section below.

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© 2015, VerticalResponse Blog. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

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