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How to Create Marketing Emails That Get Opened

September 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
no spam!

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Are your email marketing campaigns opened all or most of the time? If you’re experiencing lackluster results, follow the guidelines below to increase the number of times your campaigns are opened. Remember to avoid SPAM words such as Free and Urgent. Proofread emails carefully — you never know who’s reading them!

How to Create Marketing Emails That Get Opened

1. Create an identifiable look and feel of email campaigns.

2. Use consistent a color pattern.

3. Use a short and simple subject line. Remember, mobile devices don’t read that many characters. Incorporate a specific benefit for readers. Why should they care? Why should they open your emails? What’s in it for them? Also, don’t forget to include your brand in your email campaign. Capitalize and punctuate carefully.

Layout of Email Marketing

Business to Consumer

1. Use a newsletter layout.

Incorporate equal images to text, i.e., lifestyle shots, product shots, etc. Remember, 60% of email readers view with images ON.

Business to Business

1. Use a card layout with ALL or mostly text.

2. Give facts about the product/service.

3. Have a clear call to action.

Note: Most business to business email readers view emails with images OFF. If images are off, type out your business name. Make sure your brand is present by including a description for an image; make it a clickable link. Also, add to Safe Sender List.

FYI: The text version is viewed by 15% of your list.

4. Place important links at the top. Include an engaging message before the links. Shorten the link it it’s too long.

FYI: Smartphones now show HTML emails.

LESS IS MORE! 15-20 SECONDS IS SPENT ON A CLICKED MESSAGE

LIMIT YOUR NEWSLETTER OR CARD 3 TO 5 TOPICS

5. Use power words such as New, Introducing, Save, Discover, Results, Top-Notch, etc.

6. Avoid weak words such as Maybe, Hope, Try, Wish, Perhaps, etc.

FYI: Assist email readers with scanning your emails. Be mindful of bullet points, whitespace, bold headlines, keywords and columns.

Calls of Actions … What’s the Objective?

• What’s the next step?
• What’s in it for them?
• What do you want the reader to do?

BE DIRECT AND SPECIFIC BY USING WORDS SUCH AS:

BUY NOW … LOYAL CUSTOMERS … LEARN MORE (Include multiple links for newer relationships)

Effective Calls of Actions

• Direct readers to the correct landing page by including the proper link.
• Typically, the home page isn’t appropriate.
• Use Readable URLs … must be a legitimate URL.

Insert a video in your Email because this increases click through rate by 300%.

Note: The video doesn’t have to be yours. It could be a video that compliments your business/industry.

Other

1. Include share buttons such as social media, forward to friends, etc.

2. Include a JOIN MY MAILING LIST button which makes it easier for people to join your list.

3. Preview emails BEFORE you send them out.

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Filed Under: Clients, Freelance Writers, Freelance Writing, Overcoming Obstacles, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Five Surface Errors that Make You Look Unprofessional

September 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I recently signed up for a newsletter and downloaded the ‘free’ eBook that was promised to me. I started reading and proofreading the eBook (habit) and found a couple of errors within it.  Mistakes happen from time-to-time; however, if they happen more than once, it may be time to pay closer attention to who’s proofreading your newsletters, brochures, web content, policies and procedures manuals, blog posts, articles and eBooks. Content matters — but error-free content matters more.

Five Surface Errors that Make You Look Unprofessional

1. Misspelled words. Let’s face it; spell check doesn’t catch all errors. Remember, some words sound the same (homonyms) but aren’t spelled the same. Examples are: there, their and they’re; pair and pear; know and no; its and it’s; you’re and your; hear and here; to, too and two; and many others. Proofreading your eBook or newsletter is the best way to catch errors. Spell check can only do so much.

2. Improper use of quotation marks. A period and or comma belong inside not outside of quotation marks. A semicolon does not.

3. Off-the-wall paragraph spacing. It’s important to have enough white space but too many spaces between paragraphs makes an eBook or other written material out-of-balance.

4. Too many spaces after a period. Most people were taught to use two spaces after a period; however, it’s best to use one space. You may be shocked to learn that some elementary and high school students across the U.S. are still being taught to use two spaces after a period. Only one space is needed.

5. Too many em dashes and exclamation points. Use em dashes and exclamation points sparingly; I even have to remind myself of this one. Too many exclamation points can be seen as obnoxious. Too many em dashes can overwhelm readers.

Surface errors happen; even Number One Best-Selling Authors aren’t immune to the occasional misspelled word. However, it’s important to present a polished end product. If your newsletter is filled with errors, your clients and customers may email you about it. Whether or not you pay attention to their complaints is up to you. Surface errors could deter clients/customers from utilizing your services or purchasing your products. Like it or not, presentation matters. Present a clean, error-free eBook, brochure, newsletter, direct mail card, white paper, etc. and you’ll make a good lasting impression.

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Filed Under: Clients, Freelance Writers, Freelance Writing, Overcoming Obstacles, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Is Your Administrative or Personal Assistant Costing You Money?

September 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

How can your administrative or personal assistant cost you money? By writing and sending poorly written emails to existing and potential new clients. If you don’t review emails, you won’t know if your assistant is properly conveying the tone, voice and style you want. Like it or not, your administrative or personal assistant is a reflection of you. Let me give you an example. I emailed someone, who’s in the public eye (radio, TV appearances, etc.), about the use of their services. However, I didn’t receive a ‘fuzzy feeling’ when I read the email from their personal assistant. Here’s a ‘paraphrase of the email: “So and So can assist you. It’s $X.XX dollar amount via email and $X.XX dollar amount via phone. So and So has This and That Book. If you want to figure this out on your own, I suggest you purchase the books to learn all about it. If you want to make an appointment, please respond to this email.” I declined the services and found someone else. The personal assistant cost her boss a sale, future sales and revenue from me. I also opted out of the monthly newsletter.

Here’s how I would have responded:

Thank you for contacting So and So who’ll be happy to assist you. Services cost $X.XX to $X.XX for (fill in the blank). Please note: So and So wrote This and That Book which can also be used to assist you with your inquiry. Please visit www.BuyTheBooks.com to learn more and purchase the books. To schedule an appointment with So and So, please respond to this email with your contact information and best times to contact you; we’ll schedule your appointment straightaway. Again, thank you for contacting So and So and inquiring about her services. We look forward to working with you. Have a great day!

Which sounds better? “I suggest you …. or Please note: So and So wrote This and That Book which can also be used to assist you with your inquiry. Please visit www.BuyTheBooks.com to learn more and purchase the books. Furthermore, I contacted this person so they could assist me and figure it out for me. Why would I pay their fee if I can figure it out for myself? Translation … I’ll solve my own problem! I don’t need their services.

Let’s face it; people buy on emotion. I’m not saying this is right or wrong, but nine times out of 10, clients and customers buy with their ‘feelings’ versus their ‘brain.’ If your administrative or personal assistant answers emails for you, make sure they know how to professionally write them. Better, yet hire me, and I’ll write them for you!

As a writer, I’m fully aware of tone, voice and style. Sometimes, administrative and personal assistants don’t understand how tone, voice and style can and will affect a sale. They don’t put themselves into the shoes of the recipients and think, “How will clients/customers react to this? How professional does this sound? What’s the tone and voice of the email saying? How will this email close the sale?” Quite frankly, some do not possess business acumen. While your administrative/personal assistant can’t be responsible how clients and or potential clients will react to their words, it’s better to err on the side of caution and read and re-read emails before they’re sent out.

If you’ve noticed a drop in sales or complaints from existing and new clients, read the emails sent by your administrative or personal assistant. If you want to grow your business, consider reevaluating your administrative/personal assistant’s business and soft skills (communication). This may be difficult if they’ve been with you for a long time. However, if you want to increase sales and revenue, it must be done. I couldn’t imagine Donald Trump keeping someone around just because they’re a nice guy or gal. He’d probably try to find them another position within the company; however, he wouldn’t allow an employee to cost him money. It’s something to think about.

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Filed Under: Clients, Freelance Writers, Freelance Writing, Overcoming Obstacles, The Bottom Line with Rebecca, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

How to Become an Organized Business Owner

September 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Organization Keeps you moving-Vin

Image by nist6ss via Flickr

How organized is your office or home office? What about your files? What about your computer files? I love organization! Clutter does not work for me — it never has. My home office must be neat, clean and tidy. I can get overwhelmed by too much office furniture, books and other reference materials, papers and other office items. Organization is thy name; communications is my game!

Becoming an organized business owner will set you free. You won’t stress out when clients call because you can’t find their files. I know what you’re thinking, “Organization isn’t for me. I can find everything I need; I have a system.” However, your clients may not appreciate being kept on hold while you dig through mountains of files and papers. Give organization a chance — it could work for you.

How to Become an Organized Business Owner

Make the decision to become an organized business owner. If you’re sick and tired of having to look for pen and paper, the phone, files or anything else, it’s time to embrace organization. You can buy office organizers from any local retailer or office supplies store. In fact, you may want to purchase brand new office supplies to mark your first step into the world of organization.

Take it one file at a time. If your office or home office is covered with files, purchase file cabinets and organize your files. Go through each file, scan documents and create file folders on your computer (if you haven’t done this already). Shred papers you don’t need or save them to your computer.

Purchase organizers. You can buy office and or home organizers from local retailers. They don’t cost much and are easy to install. If you’re not handy, hire someone to install the cabinets and shelving. Once you’ve organized your office and or home office, you’ll feel better.

Hire an organizational consultant. Believe it or not, you can hire a professional organizer. They’ll help you organize your office and or home office. Some are skilled in the art of ‘Feng Shui‘ which means they’ll create the perfect ‘chi’ for you and your office. You should notice a difference in the flow of energy; business could increase.

Some experts believe they can tell how ‘functional’ you are by the way your office or home office is organized. For example, if your office looks as if a cyclone went through it, most experts would probably say your business, finances, relationships and other areas of your life are disorganized. Sometimes this is true, but not always. Test this theory by looking at your life. How is your financial situation? How is your business? Is it thriving or dying? How strong are your relationships? Do you have close connections with business associates, clients, co-workers, family, friends and others? If you’re out of balance in any of these and other areas of your life (especially your professional life), chances are you’re disorganized. Get to the ‘root’ cause of your disorganization in order to become the organized business person you can be.

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Filed Under: Clients, Freelance Writing, Ghostwriter, Networking, Overcoming Obstacles, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: , ,

Don’t Allow Hackers to Attack and Destroy Your Website

September 16, 2011 By 5 Comments
No sign

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Many small business owners and solo professionals are D.I.Y enthusiasts or do it themselves because they haven’t found a business with the products and services (customer) they’re looking for or expect. I tend to fall into the latter. When it comes to web design, I cringe and run screaming from the room when I view web designs. I have no idea what web designers are thinking. I often wonder, “Where did you learn web design? Was graphic design a part of the program? What makes you think the layout looks good? How does a huge photo at the top of a website look good? Do you understand the meaning of white-space?” Finding a clean, chic, elegant, optimized and streamlined website is like finding a needle in a haystack; at least it is for me. That is, until, I discovered the ‘Foundation’ web design. It was neat clean lines and looked very professional and seemed easy to customize. Little did I know the web designer used an outdated timthumb.php file (had no idea what this was) that could potentially open up my website to uninvited guests known as hackers. I was flabbergasted. Luckily, Blue Host (hosting company) is vigilant. They noticed the ‘outdated’ timthumb.php file and patched it. I decided to delete the WP theme and use my former theme. I’m determined more than ever to learn web design.

Here’s the email I received from Blue Host regarding timthumb.php:

Dear customer,

This is a courtesy notice that we have found and corrected exploitable timthumb.php file(s) on your account. While we have corrected these files, we do recommend you ensure all potential exploits are corrected on your account. This is best done by updating all scripts, plugins, modules and themes on your account to the latest version.

As the owner of the account, you are responsible for keeping your hosted content free of malicious software. For technical assistance, you can also reach our chat team from Bluehost.com or by going directly to http://www.bluehost.com/chat.

The timthumb.php file is a script commonly used in WordPress’s (and other software’s) themes and plugins to resize images. The exploit allows an attacker to arbitrarily upload and create files and/or folders on your account, which can then be used for a number of malicious tasks, including but not limited to defacement, browser high-jacking and infection, data harvesting and more. After a site has been exploited, it may lead to becoming labeled a “Malicious Website” by Google or other security authorities.

Any timthumb.php file below version 1.35, but above version 1.09 is considered vulnerable, unless patched. To prevent being compromised, we advise you update all instances of timthumb.php to version 2.0, or patch the existing vulnerable files. Note that patching the files requires more in-depth knowledge of the PHP scripting language.

Additional information regarding the compromise can be found at the following two websites, as well as others; note that all external websites in this email are not affiliated with Bluehost.com in any capacity, and are for your reference only.

http://markmaunder.com/2011/08/01/zero-day-vulnerability-in-many-wordpress-themes/

http://redleg-redleg.blogspot.com/2011/08/malware-hosted-newportalsecom.html

How to protect your website from hackers

1. Use WordPress themes and templates from reputable companies. If you download ‘free’ themes make sure there is no timthumb.php or the file is up-to-date.

2. If you hire a web designer ask questions such as, “What is timthumb.php and do I need it? What is the security level of the web coding?” and other questions.

3. Learn about web coding.

4. Use a reputable hosting company such as Blue Host, HostGator, etc. to ensure your website is secure.

5. Always check your website. Test out links. Review your pages and make sure everything looks alright. Update plugins or limit the amount you use. FYI: You could always install the WordPress Firewall 2 plugin which “monitors web requests to identify and stop the most obvious attacks.”

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Filed Under: Clients, Freelance Writing, Ghostwriter, Overcoming Obstacles, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, The Bottom Line with Rebecca, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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