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  [...]

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... [...]

As you may know, many marketers of information products seek affiliates to help them sell their products. The idea is that these affiliates reach new prospective customers (at no cost to the product developer), customers that the developer would otherwise not reach, and, consequently, sales would rise. To attract affiliates into the sales campaign, the product developer often provides extra incentives and sales tools so the affiliate is motivated to come on board and work hard. Incentives include monetary prizes and physical prizes (we have seen prizes as large as a new car) for the affiliates... [...]

If you are an online marketer, it’s worth your while to follow me (@pcullum) on Twitter. On the IM NewsWatch website, we typically cover 30 news items daily, all intended to help you be more successful online. Due to our publication deadline, that’s about all we can manage. In my Tweetstream on Twitter, though, I can share additional stories throughout each day that could not be included in that day’s edition of IM NewsWatch. By checking once or twice daily, you will get new marketing information that will contribute to a more up-to-date picture of your competitors and the arena... [...]

It’s an old marketing adage that you must know your customers if you are going to succeed. Without this knowledge, you won’t know: • What products and services to offer • What prices to charge • Where to advertise • How to write persuasive sales copy and • You’ll be flying blind for a lot more marketing decisions you will have to make. If you are an offline marketer, finding out who your customers are (or can be) may involve study of the census data, doing surveys and questionnaires, checking out what existing merchants in your niche are doing, etc. Online,... [...]

Many of us use MS Windows in our business. Occasionally we fall victim to the dreaded Blue Screen of Death or BSOD. Our computer is frozen, our in-process work is lost, and there’s nothing left for us but to re-boot our computer and hope for the best. We just learned that Microsoft has a whole rainbow of screens of death. They have chosen different colors to distinguish various types of errors. This distinction helps Microsoft technicians find the problem more quickly and thus solve it, with less phone support time (and cost to Microsoft.) There’s an interesting article on The Windows... [...]