One of the greatest fears that people have is public speaking — people would rather deal with snakes, spiders, even death than have to get up and speak to an audience.

It’s too bad, because one of the best business-building tactics is to demonstrate your knowledge to a receptive audience. It pays to be able to speak well in public, and of course it helps if you have a little charm as well.

Public speaking is particularly effective if your business has a service or consulting component (actually if you are not selling services along with products you may be missing a high-margin bet). People like to be educated rather than sold, so if you are an expert in, say, interior decorating or adventure tours, you could hold a seminar entitled, “The Ten Interior Decorating Improvements that Increase Your Home’s Value Most” or “Planning an Adventure You’ll Remember for the Rest of Your Life.” Retail shop owners can offer in-store demos or hands-on workshops like the ones you see at Home Depot and the other “big box” stores.

Naturally you won’t have time to provide all the secrets you have learned about your subject in these sessions; after all, this is your business and you don’t want to make yourself redundant. But if you carefully plan an interesting agenda that informs, educates, and whets the appetite of the attendees, you’ll likely get some inquiries on using your services — not everyone wants to do it themselves!

And what’s more, you will have identified yourself to people who are obviously interested in what you provide; otherwise, why would they even come? If you want to make sure they’re the right people, identify who should attend. You could say something like, “if you are thinking of selling your home in the next six months, this seminar is for you.” Or, “if you have never been on an adventure vacation, this is the seminar for you.”

But whatever you do, be sure to plan your program and do a few practice run-throughs. You’ll need to see how much time it will take – count on it taking longer than planned. Make sure there’s two-way communication with the audience; ask for questions from time to time.

Have some handouts, like a sheet of “tips and tricks,” insider techniques that you use to do what you do. Or give samples of your product.

If you’re going to do this more than once, ask for feedback and hand out a survey form at the end to ask how you did or what could be added.

And if you’re really serious about building business, hold a drawing for a small prize of some kind, and in doing so, get everyone’s name and contact info. Put a check box on the entry form asking if they’d like more information from you. If they say “yes,” you have permission to market to them in the future.

Public speaking can open a lot of doors. Try it and see.

About the Author

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

Web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca

blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

By Joe Constantino of Business Marketing Solutions

In my experience, one of the biggest mysteries surrounding marketing is the lack of understanding by many business owners about what marketing is actually supposed to do, or its purpose. I have been asked this purpose question so many times that I have actually devised a very simple test to determine if a business owner is utilizing their marketing efforts in the most productive way.

So, here’s the million-dollar question: what is the purpose of marketing?

Marketing’s purpose is actually three-fold.

The first purpose of marketing is to capture the attention of your target market. It’s impossible to market to anyone until you can get them to listen to your messages.

The second purpose is to give your target market the hope that, by reading or listening to your marketing piece, it will give them enough information to facilitate their making the best decision possible when buying whatever you sell.

The third purpose of marketing is to lower their risk in taking the next step in the buying process so that you can further educate the prospect about what you do.

So, did you pass the test?

If your marketing isn’t doing these three things, then you’re not getting all you should be from your marketing efforts. And you’re probably not turning as many prospects into customers as you should be.

It’s really pretty simple.

All you have to do, as the business owner, is figure out what is important to your prospects, educate them about what constitutes the best deal in your industry, show them quantifiable proof that you actually provide that best deal, in terms of price and value, and communicate to your target in a way that they will pay attention to you, believe you, and take action on your offers.

But, here’s the problem. Many companies don’t give the consumer what they want. Instead of using marketing as an educational tool to facilitate the decision-making process, build a case for why they should choose your company, and give the customer a low-risk offer, most companies create marketing messages that basically say “buy it from us for no good reason and now, or we don’t have anything for you.” That’s why your prospects resist your marketing efforts.

Here’s a simple method to improve your marketing:

Get attention – with benefit-promising headlines

Educate your customers and prospects with messages that show them what they need to know about your product or service and why you can deliver this better than anyone else in the industry.

Provide a low-risk way for them to try you with a free trial, 100% money-back guarantee, free whitepaper, etc.

By understanding and applying the three purposes of marketing, you will earn more customers and generate more revenue for your business.

About the Author…

Joe Costantino is owner of Business Marketing Success in Boston, a marketing company that helps professional service firms learn how to effectively market their businesses with a step-by-step marketing system. He is also a certified Duct Tape Marketing Coach and East Coast Regional Guide assisting in recruitment and training of new Duct Tape Marketing coaches. Joe also provides keynotes, seminars and workshops on a number of marketing topics. You can learn more about Joe at www.businessmarketingsuccess.com or by email at joe@businessmarketingsuccess.com

I’m coining a new marketing Web metric here—Pay-Per-Ignore.

Most of us have heard about, or use Pay-Per-Click, where we pay a search engine or affiliated website dollars and cents each time a potential customer clicks a link on their page which brings that customer to our website. It is a wide-spread practice, and can be a major part of a business’ marketing plan, marketing activities, and marketing expenses.

Pay-Per-Ignore is similar. In PPI your business spends money to get a potential customer to your website, and then you ignore that lead completely. Does that sound silly and foolish to you?

An example. A couple summers ago we were getting the family house in a Great Lakes state ready to sell. I live in Oregon, so I’d been using the faithful search engines to contact painters, realtors, estate sale agents, dumpster haulers…the works.

I found plenty of listings and associated Web pages. They had lots of pictures, good text, mission statements, service descriptions, and, very important for me, “For more info, contact…” links and some had built-in interactive email contact frames. But the results from my contacts were dismal!

I contacted three estate sale agents. One never responded — Ignored. A second sent me an email in a couple days, asking for more info, and then nothing — Ignored. The third emailed me right back and followed up with a phone call the next morning. Guess which one got our business?

I emailed two trash haulers about a dumpster. Neither responded — Ignored. One of two painters emailed me back. The other ignored me. The list goes on. Now, maybe these companies are in the enviable position of having so much business that they don’t need new customers, but I doubt it.

From my business viewpoint, this behavior seems like a unconscionable waste of time and money. From my viewpoint as the jilted customer I become annoyed, unsatisfied, exasperated, increasingly impatient, and left me with a very negative “I’ll never deal with those jerks” attitude.

The goal of your marketing efforts should be to introduce yourself to prospective customers, get them to know and trust you, and convert them from prospective leads to cash spending customers. You need a process for following up with each lead who asks for more information, who leaves their email address or phone number with your “Contact us” link. You need to connect promptly via a return email or phone call. This isn’t a cold call after all, the potential customer invited to contact them! They are asking you to convince them to give you their business.

So, ask yourself this: how much Internet marketing money are those businesses I mentioned above spending in Web design, hardware, infrastructure, search-engine optimization, etc., to attract me as a potential customer, only to ignore me? What is their Pay-Per-Ignore?

What do YOU spend on YOUR P-P-I?

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

by Cidnee Stephen of Strategies for Success www.strategiesforsuccess.ca

I love to write – creatively as well as for business. So last year I decided to take a course at a nearby college to learn how to hone this skill. I learned a very valuable lesson that REALLY should be the GOLDEN RULE for your marketing.

It’s always better to SHOW your audience than TELL them.

Speaking is a great way to do this, especially for those of you in service based businesses. Here are just a few of the key advantages of integrating this into your marketing:

• You have the opportunity to educate your target market in your area of expertise
• By demonstrating your expertise, you increase trust and credibility with attendees
• The content you create can be used in multiple other ways – articles, audio CD, teleseminar, webinar, report or book.
• You get to hone your public speaking skills and may find that you can even get paid to speak!
• Most importantly, you have the opportunity to attract more prospects to you and your business

Okay, so you know that speaking is for you. You do after all possess some public speaking ability. Maybe you have even done some talks already. If this is the case and you are finding that you STILL are not getting the leads you think you should, it could be because one or more of the following areas are not aligned.

• You are not presenting your subject in an appealing way or with a catchy title -Create at least 3 various topics to present. This allows the organizer to choose the one that is most appropriate for them. Research various topics that other speakers in your area of expertise use to give you inspiration in catchy titles and content.
• You are not attracting the RIGHT type of speaking engagements – Look for speaking engagements that have your qualified prospects in the audience. Don’t be afraid to ask about the audience or expected numbers. There is nothing worse than doing hours of preparation only to find a handful of people in the room when you are expecting 50!
• You are giving too little or too much away in your talk – you should be looking to explain why your topic is important to the attendee and what the key areas are they need to address. You are giving away too much if you start explaining HOW they address each area.
• You have no mechanisms in place to capture leads AFTER your talk – This is probably one of the biggest mistakes many speakers make. If you walk away after a talk HOPING that people will contact you, you are losing valuable control in your marketing system. Think of ways that you can contact them. Perhaps you can offer to send them the PowerPoint slides for your presentation or a special Trial of your product or services. By having a lead capture system in place you will be able to measure your results and implement a strong follow up campaign to move prospects closer to a sale.

How do you know you have been successful? That depends on your goals. I am looking to speak at least 20 times per year to an average audience of 50+ solopreneurs and business owners (so let me know if you are aware of such opportunities). At each event, I am looking to capture information on over 80% of them, and to close a minimum of $5000 in sales through each one (not on the day, but through my follow up campaign).

What are your goals? Remember, if you would like to build a system to reach those goals quicker, check out our Speak for Leads & Expertise Program.

About the Author
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget minded small businesses and professional services.  She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success.  Cidnee is also a sought after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations.

Oprah and Ellen say yes! Isn’t that enough? It was for the masses, but you’re a busy business owner who’s a little apprehensive about spending the few precious moments you have tweeting instead of tweeping (that’s sleeping in Twitter-speak).

Well, I have the answer for you! Yes…and no. Allow me to explain.

Small businesses all over the world are using Twitter to boost their business; from local pizzerias to your neighborhood mechanic. Just jump on Google, or use the Twitter search engine, and search the words “Twitter success stories” and you’ll see hundreds of stories about the small-town guy or gal who tweeted their way to a 400% increase in revenue. But for every success story, there are a hundred other stories that can be summed up in three words: waste of time.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s ok for you to fall on either side of the statistic. Just make sure you don’t flounder somewhere in the middle. That’s when Twitter becomes most dangerous – a time-sucking habit that provides no return on your investment (time)! I’ve outlined a plan for you below, and by staying consistent and scrutinizing your results, this should help determine if Twitter is right for you.

So here’s some guidance in giving it the old college try:

• Set up a Twitter account for your business. It’s ok to be the owner that is representing a business. People love knowing the owner is on Twitter!
• Tweet at least once a day. What should you tweet about? Anything that your customers (or potential customers) would find interesting/valuable/amusing about your business. Also, engage people. Don’t make it a one-way tweet. Ask questions and answer questions.
• Use Twitter’s search feature to find conversations to engage in. If you are a florist in Atlanta, Georgia, search for “flowers Atlanta” and see where you can add value to a conversation.
• Use Nearbytweets.com and find local people to follow.
• Offer occasional offers/coupons/discounts to get people from Twitter inside your store or on your Website!
• Measure the results! Ask people where they found you. Allow them to print a coupon that you only put on Twitter so you can track its effectiveness. This is critical to deciding if Twitter is right for you.
• Give it at least three months before making a decision. It takes time to get good at Twitter.

Once you’ve completed the above list, evaluate how Twitter is working for you. Have you seen results? Has it become quick and easy for you to keep up with? Bottom line: is it worth your time? If the answer is no to one or more of those questions, take a break or stop all together. Just like with any other marketing strategy, you have to evaluate and be willing to abort mission if it’s not producing results. And don’t be discouraged to admit that it’s just not for you. That might be the best time-saving decision you’ll ever make.

I hope this has given you some insight as to whether or not Twitter is right for you. I’ll leave you with the three keys that I believe are critical to having success with Twitter: engage people, be consistent, and have fun!

About the Author
Corey Perlman is the author of the #1 Amazon.com bestseller eBoot Camp: Proven Internet Marketing Techniques to Grow Your Business. The book provides easy-to-do strategies and techniques to help market your business on the web. It covers topics such as social networking sites, Web site optimization, online articles and press releases. You can follow Corey on Twitter or learn more about how to purchase the book at www.eBootCampBook.com.

by Cidnee Stephen of Strategies for Success www.strategiesforsuccess.ca

Social bookmarking is a cool concept that allows you to save bookmarks to websites you find interesting or useful.  It’s a great idea from a personal standpoint because you can access your favourite bookmarks from any computer. But how can social bookmarking help your business?

Okay, I must admit – it definitely has taken me a bit to figure out how to explain this simply (like I wish someone could have explained to me)!  But here it goes.

If you would like:

• Increased Traffic To Your Site
• A quicker way to access new business resources, and/or
• Another way to strengthen business relationships 

Then subscribing to popular social bookmarking sites such as Del.icio.us, Digg or Stumble Upon is worth considering.

Social bookmarking differs from search engines in that other people are ranking and tagging your content.  So you don’t need to be a Google “whiz” with keywords or rely on their bots to drive traffic to your site.  But you DO need to submit great content in terms of links, articles, photos and videos.

Increased Traffic To Your Site – Just how well does social bookmarking drive traffic to your site?  Well put it this way.  If your submission makes it to the first page of a site like Del.icio.us or Digg your server may not be able to even handle the traffic!!  An interesting problem to have if at the moment your web traffic is less than stellar!  

Social bookmarking sites also track the links each user accesses.  You can use this information to understand the demographics of those who visit your site.  This data will show if you are reaching your target market.  This information may also reveal new markets that are interested in your business.

The reasons these sites drive traffic to your site are because you have committed to taking the following steps:

• You are creating bookmarks of your own site when you sign up as a start!
• You are encouraging others to bookmark certain pages on your site or your blog
• You are building your new bookmarking community and sharing bookmarks with these contacts.

Effect - Targeted New Traffic to Your Site
Cost   – $0 but a time investment to work it

A Quicker Way to Access New Business Resources – (and some fun personal ones too).  With new information appearing on the internet at an exponential rate, it can be mind boggling to try and keep up.  But with bookmarking sites you can use your community and RSS Feeds to stay on top of those sites and information that is relevant to you.  Add them to your bookmarks and then when you need them they are there.

Strengthen Business Relationships – Think about that next big client you are wooing right now, or perhaps some that you are dealing with at the moment.  You can start looking for valuable information for them too and use this to show your interest in them and their company.  Overall, it’s an extra tool you can use to build better business relationships.

To Get Started:

Sign up for at least one major site – I find del.icio.us  very easy to use, but am also researching StumbleUpon and Digg.  Each one is a bit like learning a new program, so starting with one and building one community at a time is probably all you have time for.

• Make sure to submit content from your site, or blog
• Start to build your network and share bookmarks
• Promote your affiliation with your bookmarking sites and
• Encourage people to add you to their network and add your web site, web page or blog to their bookmarks (or on some sites like Digg, vote on it).  
• Start seeking out relevant bookmarks that can help you and your business 

And of course, if you found this post valuable or interesting, please share this page with your favourite social bookmarking site.

About the Author…
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations. Subscribe for Free to her bi-weekly marketing tips for small businesses and also receive a special report on the 7 Steps of Marketing Success.

by Cidnee Stephen of Strategies for Success www.strategiesforsuccess.ca

Marketing to a prospect is like dating, especially if your prospect is a “trysumer.”    

For those of you who are experiencing marital bliss let me remind you of this age-old, sometimes confusing, but always entertaining ritual.

Back in the caveman days dating was easy.  The caveman hit the cavewoman over the head and dragged her home – a behaviour that still exists today in the form of annoying telemarketers who won’t take no for an answer, or people who corner you at a business function, and try to shove their business down your throat.  
 
Luckily we have evolved and the dating ritual has become less painful, but – let’s face it – more expensive!  Now more time and yes, more money has to be invested before a date (or prospect) is going to become involved with you (or your business).   
 
The Trysumer – “Freed from the shackles of convention and scarcity, immune to most advertising, and enjoying full access to information, reviews, and navigation, experienced consumers are trying out new appliances, new services, new flavors, new authors, new destinations, new artists, new outfits, new relationships, new *anything* with post mass-market gusto.” – Trendwatching.com

Spurred by an abundance of product, the internet, a higher demand for solid products and a general cynicism of name brands, TRYSUMERS are transient, experienced consumers who are becoming more daring in how and what they consume. 
 
Where lack of choice and distribution channels in the past made it simpler to market and sell to prospects, today small business owners need to EARN the trust and credibility of this new breed of consumer by allowing them to TRY before they BUY.

Last year, Nike Trial Vans toured the UK/Ireland, France, Italy and Spain, stocking 1,000 of pairs of shoes. It was a free trial, no strings attached. To deliver on the crucial element of TRYVERTISING, total relevance of placement, the vans popped up in places where people actually ran. From athletic events to well-known running spots.
 
The Cons
Just like modern day dating – adding a trial step to your marketing system will extend the amount of time the sale takes and cost you more monetarily.   
 
The Pros
Assuming your product or service satisfies the needs of your target audience, they will choose to buy from you rather than from your “caveman” competitor.

TRYvertising or introducing yourself and your products by letting people experience and try them out first is quickly becoming the new form of advertising.  This can take the form of a free sample or free workshop, a LITE version of a bigger product, or a 30 day trial.

Taking It Up A Notch

Strategic Product Placement
Ritz Carlton Hotels and Mercedes Benz teamed up to offer the hotel guests free use of their Mercedes CLS500.  Dozens of guests chose to buy the car based on their experience.  

Similar success has happened by placing health and beauty products in boutique hotels.  Can you offer sample products or services at locations such as ski resorts, universities, festivals, spas, gyms, charity auctions, golf tournament, restaurants, etc?  

Consider posting products on trial sites like thefreesite.com.   

Professional Service Based?
Offer a free workshop, article or consultation as a gift to a strategic alliance.  They can give it away.  Last year at a 2-day conference, we offered to help members of an association to create their online directory listing.

Create articles and whitepapers and distribute online to sites like ezinearticles.com.

About the Author…
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations. Subscribe for Free to her bi-weekly marketing tips for small businesses and also receive a special report on the 7 Steps of Marketing Success.

by Cidnee Stephen of Strategies for Success www.strategiesforsuccess.ca

If any of you have ever been so lucky to attend a multi-level presentation or even better a pyramid scheme, you are well aware of the Numbers Game.  I always think about it when I recall an old Faberge Shampoo commercial where a women “tells 2 friends and they tell 2 friends and so on and so on and so on”.   A lot of times with referrals we think that if we have this base of clients and they can refer us, then we will have more clients who will refer us and so on and so on too.  But you know this isn’t what really happens in your business, does it?   If you think about where your referrals have really come from, no doubt a handful of people come to mind (if you are lucky)!  So why is it that some people refer us and some people don’t?  There are many factors that come into play that make someone a good referral source.

Timing
The most obvious factor is timing.  If someone has seen or heard from you recently and then a friend just happens to ask them if they know someone in your field, you have been the lucky recipient of timing.  This is why it’s so important that we stay in touch with people over an extended amount of time.  Timing also plays a role if a client is currently working with you or has experienced your product or service and has found it to be a tremendous experience!  While this enthusiasm level is at its highest, they will refer you usually more than once.

Natural Promoters
Some people can sell ice to the Eskimos.  These people will refer you more because its part of the natural personality.  Because they are naturally charismatic and enthusiastic others will listen and even get caught up in this enthusiasm.  When something YOU have done for them is the focus of their attention, the referrals are usually not far behind.

The Right Network
Other people have the right network.  Simply put they know the right people that need what you do.  Maybe they are a maternity nurse and you sell something for newborns, or maybe I’m a realtor and you run a moving a company.  Often we think that our clients MUST know others like themselves that need what you offer, but usually they are being very sincere when they say no one comes to mind.

What You Do Helps Your Referral Source
I know a mortgage broker who very cleverly made sure his mortgage calculator appeared on the websites of some local realtors.  It was very helpful for the realtors to have that calculator there and they knew he could also help them get that mortgage faster.  While certainly some of the aforementioned characteristics are also in play here, this little tool was also VERY helpful

Referring You is Easy
If someone finds it a “no-brainer” to refer you, they also will tend to be a stronger source of referrals.   I recall someone telling me that if I came across the right person, if I could just give them this spiel, and then collect their contact information and then write it in an email and send it to them, that would be great.   NOT!!!  Consider developing a small promotional piece, such as a special business card or postcard that you can distribute to these people.  If there is a time limited offer on the piece and the lead is qualified, then the offer should encourage them to take action.  This is much simpler for your referral sources and therefore much more reliable.

While these are key reasons that someone WILL refer you there are also some reasons why people don’t.  You need to make sure you address these as well.

1. They are busy with their own careers and referring you just isn’t a priority.
2. They really aren’t quite sure what you are looking for.
3. They honestly don’t know anybody that is qualified…..right now.
4. They actually weren’t overly-wowed by your offerings.
5. They are worried about “giving up a name” in case you corner them into a sale.
6. They feel responsible if things don’t go well.

While these lists are certainly not finite, they do highlight the intricacies you face with referral sources.   The good news is, when you find strategies to embrace both these strengths and concerns, you will discover the endless possibilities available to increase your overall number of referrals.

About the Author…
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations. Subscribe for Free to her bi-weekly marketing tips for small businesses and also receive a special report on the 7 Steps of Marketing Success.

by Cidnee Stephen of Strategies for Success www.strategiesforsuccess.ca

I admit it.  I am a golf-aholic and unfortunately one who has come nowhere NEAR to making it on the pro-circuit.   No surprise then, that I was out whacking balls at the driving range the other night trying my darndest to attain some semblance of consistency.  It drives me crazy when one goes left, one goes right, one goes a mile and one goes nowhere!  So in an effort to find a happy middle ground, I started running through the various components of the swing (and then proceeded to book my umpteenth golf lesson to boot)!  Good news…I discovered I was guilty once again of not following through with my swing. 
 
A funny thing happens when you don’t follow through with a golf swing. You end up putting all your efforts into the back swing which causes the ball to head in a million different directions inconsistently. 
 
The same thing happens with our marketing.  We can put all our money and time into the preparation and stop short of the follow through.

As entrepreneurs, we are usually great at coming up with ideas to promote our business.   We know that it’s not rocket science, and yet we struggle time and time again getting our ideas off the ground.  This isn’t really surprising because on top of wearing our marketing hat, we are also wearing our operational, financial, IT and HR hats.  Yet when we look at all the different roles we have to play in our businesses, it is truly our sales and marketing hat that can fast track our business to the next level.

So how can we ensure that we allocate it the time it deserves?  More importantly how do we know that we are fully following through?

Here are some tips:

Treat Your Marketing Like Your Most Important Client – You wouldn’t miss an appointment with a high income client, would you?  Then make appointments in your Calendar with Marketing and do your utmost not to miss these appointments.

Promotions are Only The Beginning – When you decide to advertise, network or mail out a postcard, you are only taking one “big backswing” with your marketing efforts.  To leave these expensive and time consuming activities with only a phone number or web address as “leave behinds” is a tragedy.  You should make it EASY for them to contact you through a free or trial offering, an invitation, etc.

Think Multi-Channel – What other marketing channels can you tap into to promote the same thing?  What about your strategic alliances, peers, friends, clients, the press?

Think Multi-Touch – If you can capture lead information or entice people to “try you out” now you are in a position to stay in contact.  Make sure this contact is:

• Timely
• Professional
• Provides Great Quality and Consistency

Review Revise Revisit – Just like my driving range experience.  You need to try it, try it again.  Measure it.  Make some changes and try again. 

Remember your marketing isn’t about perfection, it’s about improvement.  Keep trying, measuring, learning and you are already 50% there!

About the Author…
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations. Subscribe for Free to her bi-weekly marketing tips for small businesses and also receive a special report on the 7 Steps of Marketing Success.

By Jeffrey Gray

Breaking News for Email Newsletter Publishers: You can do more with your online newsletter!

Ask not what your readers can do for you; ask what you can do for readers. That’s right, every single time you publish a newsletter and send it you’re your subscribers, you should be asking yourself one question; “Is this newsletter informative AND engaging?” Basically, the point is your newsletter could be the best, most well written, Pulitzer Prize contending piece of writing anyone has ever seen, but what if no one reads it? What if they read it, but they still don’t feel like they’ve gotten anything out of it? Compare it to text books and college. Sitting in a loft bed in a tiny dorm room reading text books on Western Civilization to me, was the most mind numbing experience I’ve ever felt. Once we brought it to the classroom however, was different, there were discussions, videos, questions and answers—we became engaged in the content, instead of just reading it. It was the combination of taking in the material and then acting upon it that made it the most valuable. Your newsletter can function the same way.

Surveys

The most original and common form of interacting with your customers through email newsletters is probably the survey. Including a survey is an easy way to get your readers engaged in your newsletter and sometimes even a sly way to get some marketing research out of your newsletter (especially if you can give something away for free to entice them to take the survey)

Your surveys could be about numerous things including customer satisfaction, industry related surveys, who will win the Stanley Cup, anything to get your readers active in your email.

Pictures

Adding images is the original way to peak interest in a newsletter and break-up all the words. Take a cue from newspapers and magazines; if you use a picture add a caption. This way, the reader can get a quick glimpse about what they’re about to read and have a nice visual reference to go along with it. Images related to your story can do a great job of breaking up the monotony of words, enticing readers to do more than just read your newsletter (which is ok!).

Videos

Got something funny, interesting, or relevant to share with your audience? If you have a bowling newsletter, maybe you can point your readers to a YouTube link of the charity bowling event and show highlights of the woman who bowled a perfect 300. Can you show readers in a video how to do something? Upload it and share. With the Internet and websites like YouTube at your disposal, you can be taking advantage of any avenue possible. The glamour of video can bring your newsletters to life, make them more than just still images and words—emphasize them with online video!

Blog Post

Do you maintain a blog? Incorporate it into your email marketing efforts. Your blog is an interactive piece of your company; it’s easy to bring part of your newsletter into your blog. Ask your readers if they have anything to share for your blog. In your blog, you can ask your readers if there is anything they’d like to see in your next newsletter. If you’re having a contest (we’ll talk about this later) announce your winner in a blog post (as well as the following newsletter.) Doing this will not only create interaction between your newsletter and your readers, but promote your blog a little more.

Contests & Giveaways

WIN FREE STUFF! No three words could ever offer more incentive than these three. The thing about a contest is, even if the readers are REALLY only interested in winning free stuff, it still keeps them around longer than they might have. This means more perusing of topics, headlines, or other offers in your newsletter—increasing over all awareness of your newsletter. While they’re scrolling your newsletter for the giveaway offer, they’re reading other items that may be of interest to them. Everybody…. ahem…wins!

Questions and Answers

They’ve got questions, you’ve got answers. You’re the professional; they come to you for products, services, or information—let them ask some of the hard hitting questions and prove your worth to them by answering them. It gives you interaction for your current newsletter and content in the next issue.
Conclusion and What do you do? Share with us

So there you have it. Put some life into your newsletters—engage your readers. Pull them into your email marketing and interact. We can’t sound hypocritical so, in an ongoing effort to keep our own newsletter interactive…write us, tell us how you keep your newsletter a two-way street of online communication. From traditional to ordinary and from unique to extraordinary, we want to know. We’ll post as many responses as we can in a future blog entry and in next months edition of iContact Marketing Monthly. Email me at Jgray@icontact.com and tell me how you make your newsletter interesting and interactive!

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Jeffrey Gray
http://www.icontact.com/blog

About the author:

Jeffrey Gray is the Marketing Manager at iContact, a leading email marketing application based in Durham, NC. He managers all advertising campaigns and marketing initiatives, is the editor for “Email Marketing Monthly,” and writes for “Ask the Marketing Guy” on the iContact Blog. He writes about Marketing, Advertising and Life in General on his blog at www.jeffreygray.wordpress.com. Want to connect with Jeffrey directly? Follow him professionally and personally on LinkedIn or Twitter.