I was up late last night writing the advertisement for the new video creation software, Create by Vidello. I was forgetting that I needed to wake up on time to go to my physical therapy appointment. In the end, when my Alexa alarm woke me up, I only had about 4 hours of sleep. When I woke up, I was in the middle of a vivid dream that I still remember in its outline. A friend and I, both of us musicians (he, a banjoist; I, a singer), had found two guitar players and were performing in concert at some venue I don’t recall. I announced to the band that we would perform “You are my Sunshine”.... [...]
Archive for the 'Marketing Commentary' Category
Don’t think of e-mail as old news. If done well, it can contribute to any marketing campaign. In fact, effective email marketing can change your business outcomes. “Aye, there’s the rub,” as Hamlet said. Knowing what it takes to make e-mail effective is the challenge. It requires designing and sending: • The right message in • The right format to • The right person at • The right time. In other words, you need to understand what your audience is interested in, what devices they use to read your message (so your format is compatible), choosing the target... [...]
There are several Captcha engines available with technologies such as solving an equation, copying a character string or the one invented by Google, checking a checkbox. On the question and answer site, Quora, recently someone asked, “Why can’t bots check ‘I am not a robot’ checkboxes?” You have seen those boxes. We all have checked them from time to time. On Quora, someone took the time to give a detailed answer to the question, and the extent to which Google goes to assure that robots don’t sneak through is amazing. It’s worth 5 minutes to understand... [...]
We need: ► clicks, ► page views, ► bigger and more engaged mailing lists, ► sales. Of course we do, but is this all? What about ► a healthy life ► a positive relationship with our clients, ► a chance to have fun with families and friends, ► peace of mind, ► satisfaction, ► a reason for living? We are people, after all, and we need the things that people need. We just came across this classic article by Tony Schwartz in the Harvard Business Review. Think about the implications for your marketing and for your life. 30 Things We Need — and 30 We Don’t Harvard Business Review [...]
A Microsoft Office version had an animated character called Clippy. He gave hints and tips for using the features of MS Word, etc. But Microsoft retired Cippy several years ago. What has he been doing since then? Our friends at Spiceworks.com did some digging and got the answer. Clippy Could Use Some Help Spiceworks.com [...]
Here’s a guest post by Sherisse Rogers. When you’re starting off as a blogger its seems like there is a neverending list of things you need to do to make your blog successful. You have to: Have a nice design Posts regularly Build an email list Create a lead magnet to help grow your list Network with other bloggers Find good affiliate offers And a whole host of tips for new bloggers!! Geez! Then, once your blog is gaining some traction some jerk tells you that you need to do on-page SEO so that your site shows up organically. First of all, WHAT IS SEO? Secondly, WHAT IS ON-PAGE... [...]
Blue, red, green, yellow, purple – what difference does it make if you choose one over the others for your branding or web design? After all, it’s a personal choice, isn’t it? As it turns out, your color choices make a big difference, one that can significantly affect your conversion rate in either a positive or a negative way. This is what the study of color psychology is all about. If you’re curious to find out more on this intriguing topic, have a look at the infographic created by DesignAdvisor called “40 Facts About How Psychology of Color Can Boost Your Website Conversions.” Maybe... [...]
If there’s anything that will annoy a potential customer, it’s filling up their inbox with redundant content. We just unsubscribed from a mailing list that regularly sent 7 emails every day. Perhaps we are more sensitive than most because we monitor so many marketing teams, but more than one email from a marketer a day looks like spam to us. What do you think? [...]
On the Quora website, someone asks, “What are your 10 laws of making money online?” I think all our readers would be interested in this topic so I have written a response. The first point is that the online laws are about the same as the offline laws. For example, persuasive writing is about the same. The steps of attracting a customer are the same, in principle, although new tools may be used to present the information. The old acronym, AIDA, still holds true. You need to create, in the mind of the reader: • Attention • Interest • Desire • Action But I need to step... [...]
When it comes to digital marketing, to succeed, businesses need to leverage all available content platforms. And email marketing is central to that effort because, unlike social media platforms where your message can be viewed fleetingly in the newsfeed, your email message gets delivered directly to your target audience’s inbox. As a result, if they respect you, they will likely respond because your message is front and center, not a passing news ghost floating by for a moment, soon to be replaced by some later news. The Sikich consulting firm discovered that 70% of marketers regard email marketing... [...]