I think you’ll like this from Jeanniey Mullen at ClickZ:

We All Get Old Eventually

I’ve been working at my company for two and a half years. During that time, I’ve had a number of learnings that shape my future thinking. Many times these learnings aren’t new items, as much as they are reminders of things I should remember to do. Usually, after one of these learnings hits me, I walk away thinking about it for awhile. Today, I thought I would share two of these with you.

• The first happened when I was showcasing our free iPad app and gushing about how good the high def images of professionally designed magazine pages looked on it. I was showing one of my favorite magazines on the iPad, Us Weekly, and I looked down and saw a beautiful photo of Cameron Diaz and…her crow’s feet. “Yes!” I thought, celebrities my age do actually look like they’re aging. I was so happy that, for one second, an iconic beauty was caught on camera looking like a real human.
• This lead to my second realization. Oddly, it too is about aging. It was the day I realized that, “Yes Virginia, your e-mail offers will get fatigued” no matter how well you treat them. After watching one of the best performing campaigns start to show signs of lower and lower results, even though it was being sent to a new batch of readers.

Who knew? I mean, no one believes that as things age they aren’t working quite as well as they did when they were younger. There’s nothing you can do to stop it, but knowing about it enables you to be ready with a backup plan.

E-mail offer fatigue is a real occurrence. It happens, no matter how well you take care of your lists or how strong your brand is. I’m not speaking about list fatigue, I’m speaking about offer fatigue. The times where your welcome e-mail, your confirmation e-mail, or even your on boarding e-mails just start underperforming. In some cases, you need a creative lift. In others, you need a revision of your offer. And in some cases still, you need to redefine the strategy.

How do you avoid e-mail offer fatigue? Here are three ways:

• Refresh your creative on your “notification e-mails” (e.g., your welcome and confirmation series) quarterly. Even though it’s a new audience, trends for reading e-mail are changing fast as new devices come out, and you’ll be surprised at the minor enhancements this will make.
• Pull your website’s top 10 search terms, and search.twitter.com’s last day of entries about your brand and update all of your e-mail copy with phrases real people (not your marketing team) use to discuss your brand and offers. This can drive up to a 10 percent increase in results.
• Test a “holiday” e-mail to people who have been on your list for over a year. By “holiday,” I mean anniversary, birthday, or “thanks for your last purchase” e-mail. Sometimes people call this an unanticipated delight e-mail. This will spice things up.

These three ways can often wake up a consumer who has become tired or bored of the same e-mails from you. Or, it can help drive improved results from a loyal shopper.

In any event, this will help the bottom line, especially as we head into the holiday retail season. After all, you’re only as old as you feel, and I’m not about to let my e-mails feel old and slow. Are you?

Here’s another list from my friends at Vertical Response:

blog.verticalresponse.com

These are from retailers so you can edit to match your business.

Remember: the subject line’s job is to gt them to open your email BUT it must be congruent with your message and your market.

Offer, Offer, Offer – Lead with the Offer

Enjoy [Special Offer] at Our New Location

25-40% off – Email-Only Offer – Today Only

Invitation-Only 2 Hour Event Starts 11:30 AM CT

Ends Today! 20% Off Friends & Family

Top 10 under $10

Free shipping – offer ends in 3 days

Free product with purchase of [product name]

[New Product] has arrived. Order now before we run out.

Earn double points for [insert product or action].

Last Chance: Get up to $25 now

Save 10% on your next order

Enjoy [season] with rates from $65

Service Notice: Exciting new changes at [your company]

An Exclusive Offer for You

[Your company] October Specials

Last minute deals, special offers, and new [product name]

Act Now to renew your [subscription name]

Online only: 25% off friends and family

Introducing our latest…[product/feature here]

[Product name] Promotion week. Save 25%

Extended for a day! Get Free shipping through Friday

Stock up and save 15%

Limited Supply: Limit 2 [product name] per customer

Ho-ho-ho: The [your company] holiday catalog is here!

Email subscriber exclusive: [Product name] sale is here

Ends Today: Take 20% off your entire order

Private Sale Ends Today

Your choice of amazing items $50 + under

Great gifts for [Dad, Mom, etc]

Best Sellers every [girl, boy, man, woman, dog, etc.]

Everything you need when the temperatures [rise, fall]

Free Shipping–Limited Time Offer

Catchy & Creative

Sometimes all you need is a little vase lift  (retailer selling vase’s)

We’ve got you covered from head to toe (retailer selling hats, shirts, pants and boots)

How La Perla got its name (retailer selling lingerie, telling a story inside the email)

Temperatures Fall, Style Rises (retailer selling coats)

Celebrity Favorites (selling accessories that Hollywood is wearing)

Did you remember to get a gift? It’s ok, we did. (retailer wanting to get people to register for gift reminders)

10 Gift Ideas for your little ones (retailer listing top 10 suggestions for kids)

Manhattan View for a Song in the Shower (retailer selling shower curtain with Manhattan skyline on it)

Take your pick: Our 9 Favorite Dresses (retailer suggesting by popularity)

Coolest modern desk on the job…for $149 (retailer including price in the subject line)

Score Great Savings on Game-Time Gear: HDTVs, Furniture & More (retailer selling TV’s with a sports slant)

Party Like it’s 1999 Aged Cabernet Special (wine retailer)

In our store: Last minute Mother’s Day combo ready to go (retailer getting the last minute shoppers with a catch “combo to go”.)

Adorn Your Home Now & Through the Holidays (Home decor retailer)

Mind-Blowing Grenache (wine retailer)

Bring this email to a Gap store and win! (retailer trying to get store traffic)

Show us your creative adaptations of these subject lines (and what kind of response you got) – add your comment below!

Thanks – Lee

This is from a blog I read frequently: blog.verticalresponse.com/

It’s a post they did last fall and has a lot of good ideas. Why not try one or two new ones and see how your list grows?

“ There are a ton of ways to get people to sign up for your email marketing offers. I’ve put together a list for you to read, so you know all of the ways you can be growing your list.

1. Put an offer on the back of your business cards to get people to sign up for your newsletter.
2. Trade-shows - Bring a clipboard or sign-up book with you to trade-shows and ask for permission to send email to those who sign up.
3. Include a newsletter sign-up link in your signature of all of your emails.
4. Send an opt-in email to your address book asking them to join your list.
5. Join your local chamber of commerce, email the member list (if it’s opt-in) about your services with a link to sign up to your newsletter.
6. Host your own event – Art galleries, software companies (one here has a party every quarter and invites the neighboring businesses), retail shops, consultants (lunch & learn) can all host an event and request attendees to sign up.
7. Offer a birthday club where you give something special to people who sign up.
8. Incentivize your employees – Give them $ for collecting VALID email addresses.
9. Giving something for free like a PDF? Make visitors sign up to your opt-in form before you let them download it.
10. Referrals – Ask you customers to refer you, and in exchange you’ll give them a discount.
11. Bouncebacks – Get them back! - Send a postcard or call them asking for their updated email address.
12. Trade newsletter space with a neighboring business, include a link for their opt-in form and ask them to include yours in their newsletter.
13. SEO – Make sure you optimize your site for your keywords. You need to be at the top of the natural search when people are looking for your products or services.
14. Giveaways – Send people something physical and ask for their email address as well as their postal address.
15. Do you have a postal list without emails? Send them a direct mail offer they can only get if they sign up to your email list.
16. Include opt-in forms on every page on your site.
17. Popup windows – When someone attempts to leave your site, pop up a window and ask for the email address.
18. Include a forward-to-a-friend link in your emails just in case your recipient wants to forward your content to someone they think will find it interesting.
19. Include a forward-to-a-friend on every page of your site.
20. Offer a community – Use Ning as your easy-to-set-up community and have your visitors interact and sign up for your newsletter.
21. Offer “Email only” discounts and don’t use those offers anywhere but email.
22. Telemarketing – If you’ve got people on the phone, don’t hang up until you ask if you can add them to your newsletter.
23. Put a fishbowl on your counter and do a weekly prize giveaway of your product – then announce it to your newsletter. Add everyone who put their card in on to your newsletter list.
24. Include an opt-in form inside your emails for those people who get your email forwarded to them.
25. Tradeshows – Collect business cards and scan them into a spreadsheet. Make sure you ask permission to send email to them, then mark the card.
26. Use Facebook – Host your own group and invite people to it, then post new links often. From time to time, post a link to sign up for your newsletter.
27. Use Facebook – Post the hosted link from your newsletter into Linked Items to spread the word.
28. Use Facebook - Include an opt-in form on your Facebook Fan page.
29. Use Twitter - Twitter the hosted link of your email campaign every time you launch.

If you’ve got any additional ideas, let’s hear them!”

I could defiantly try a couple of these – I’d love to hear from you how you’re using any of these or something else to grow your email list – comment below!

Thanks – Lee

We’ll let this note speak for many subscribers:

I just want to drop you a note (and take my time) to tell you what I appreciate about your newsletter (email) A few points:

• They do not come too often (it’s a bi-weekly email)
• They provide solutions
• They provide inspiration
• They are concrete
• They are NO LONGER than they need to be
• They are NOT SELLING But see my next line….
• They build up my confidence in you over time.

If I am ever in need of more of the knowledge you and your team possess – you will be a natural source (even though you’re if half way around the globe).

Putting up a pretty brochure website on the internet instead of a site designed to get you  real results.

One of our subscribers sent me these as an email – I hope you get a few laughs from it like I did but also take note:

I’m fairly sure you don’t want your subscribers laughing at your stupid email subject lines?

…and How To Fix Them Before They Crash Your Company.

The majority of people in the modern world (and many parts of the developing world too) are almost constantly connected to the internet. Nearly everyone you know, young, old and especially the boomers, is communicating regularly by email, chats, Tweets and audio/video over the internet. Tablets and smartphones are accelerating the always connected trend.

Most people in your target market have purchased something online using their credit card, PayPal or both.

A huge percentage of people with disposable income to spend are now:

• Searching online for products, services and other information
• Shopping or making initial inquiries online to businesses they’re interested in purchasing from online.
• Communicating with friends, family and service providers online not just with email but they’re also using online chat services, Facebook and Twitter, voice communication like Skype and Google Voice, Instant Messenger services from Yahoo and Microsoft and even using web cams to communicate with real time video.
• They’re getting most of their news, entertainment and social interactions from online video and social networking sites.

So, if you’re not using the internet as part of your business marketing strategy you’re missing a fundamental and vital media channel and the preferred communication channel for your most lucrative clients and prospects.

The internet is replacing 20^th century media like newspapers, yellow pages, radio and television and it’s already more effective and more economical than postal mail and the landline phone.

Exactly what does this mean for your business?

Online Marketing Mistake # 1: Trying To Run Your Business Without Using the Internet…

…It’s Worse Now Than Running It Without A Phone Or Mailing Address

If you’ve got a shop or an office where the public is welcome then yes, you still need a LOCAL phone number and physical address. In fact, the #1 purpose of local internet searches is to find the phone number for the desired product or service provider.

A Google Local Listing will help you do this – no website required (get a free guide to getting a Google Local Listing at the end of this post)

But if you see clients or open your shop only by appointment (or don’t have a fixed physical location), then having a website and email marketing system is arguably more important than the phone/address combo.

Now we know most business owners aren’t totally clueless, they’ve forked over hundreds, even thousands for a “pretty” website; but a website that attracts leads and keeps your customers returning is a whole other thing. If you’ve found yourself wondering what good paying for a brochure site has done for your business then you know what I’m talking about.

Next we’ll talk about mistake #2: Using your web presence improperly (and wasting large chunks of cash in the process).

You can claim your Google Local Listing free report by clicking here.

You’ve heard of the popular review site Yelp.com?

If not, you will. Last week Inc magazine ran a long article about the site that started off with a cautionary tale about a small local bookstore owner and a critical shopper’s interactions via the site (and in person). I cringed as I read what transpired.

First off, a semi-anonymous review can be very valuable or very vindictive. When people think they’re protected by an online “username” they say (write) things they’d never say to someone’s face. In this case, the reviewer was echoing what others had said about the shop. And he offered a suggestion on how to correct the problem. In my experience, most people who post internet reviews have a bone to pick and it’s often personal (ie they didn’t like the color scheme of a restaurant or some such thing).

But the shop owner took it personally (how can you not?) and decided this particular reviewer was going to feel her pain. I won’t repeat all the details; just suffice it to say the interaction did not turn out positively for the local business owner (read the full story at Inc.com – You’ve Been Yelped).

The article concludes with the story of another shop owner who has learned to deal with and even use the review site for improving and growing her local business.
While Yelp.com is strongest in the California Bay Area market (where the start-up is based), the concept of internet based reviews is here to stay and you need to form a plan to not only deal with it but use it to your advantage.

Becoming active in the popular social media channels is a good start. Did you create a Facebook page? If not, get my step by step guide to setting up a Facebook page here. Do you have a Twitter account? You don’t need instructions, just go to Twitter.com, and get started (be sure to upload a picture, it is a personal medium).

Now go take a look at Yelp.com in your local business area. If you’re not listed, go ahead and set yourself up. You’re not supposed to solicit reviews but if you let your email list know you’re listed one of your folks might be inspired to give you a nice review. Then put a Yelp.com visit on your weekly calendar.

Part of this new social media world is spending time to keep in touch; and you might just learn what people really like (or don’t like) about your products and services and stay on step ahead of your competition.

Anyone have a Yelp or other review site story to tell? Comments below, please!

Start by taking a look at how many versions of “YOU” your email has.
Remember, we’re all looking for “What’s In It For Me” when we open an email (or any other piece of information).

But that doesn’t mean we want the writer to talk AT us. We want a reason to get involved, to make a connection.

As you create messages for your subscribers you’ve got to let them know there’s a real live person, who cares about and even shares their problems and has some insights into how to fix those problems.

Telling stories – your own or by putting a local “spin” on national or celebrity news stories – draws your reader in.

Don’t be afraid to reveal a bit about your beliefs, habits, family & friends, in addition to the inside scoop on your business. Will you offend or drive some subscribers away? Probably.

But those that stay will be a much better fit for you. Many of us believe life’s too short to mess with people who don’t “get” us so start letting your prospects and clients get to know you better.

Do you have an ideal customer? 

One you wish you had a dozen just like? Well write to them. Use their name while you’re drafting, get a picture of them and keep it near your screen. Write to them like you’d talk to them when they come into your shop or you see them at the local Starbucks.

If you don’t have one perfect customer, take time to build a composite. Give them a name, an age, sex, marital status. Dress them, know what kind of job they work at and what they like to do with their time off. Find a photo and paste it up near your computer display and write like you’d talk to them.

This isn’t some wooowooo exercise you can just blow off. If you want to write engaging emails that keep customers coming back for more of your services, you need to know who they are.

Most businesses should have three objectives online: to have a presence in the 21^st century medium, to stand out from the competition, and to capture leads.

You need 4 elements or components to accomplish your goals:

The Website

Your home or landing page will generally be the initial point of contact. It needs to answer the questions “What do you do?” and “Why should I trust you?”  By talking about the reader NOT about you and your business.

Consumers will make a split-second decision on whether they’ll stay to learn more or go to a competitor. Don’t lose them at the start.

An ABOUT US page builds the trust factor. Explain exactly what your company does. Remember, your visitor wants to know:

Who you are, why you do what you do, and what makes you special.

Finally,  a CONTACT US page to clearly explain how to reach you. Make sure it includes all methods:

• • address,
  • phone number,
  • email address, and
  • a Google Map with directions to your store or office.

These three pages create a basic online presence, but not much more. Now, to set your business apart from everyone else, you need to create a company blog.

The Blog

A Blog is just a continually updated news or content section of a website.

So why is a blog important?

• For one, it shows that you know what you’re talking about. It helps you identify yourself as an expert and your business as unique.
• Secondly, a blog is constantly updated. It gives people a reason to come back to your site. The more contact you have with your consumers, the more likely they are to buy from you.
• Also, consumers have become savvier and will search out information. They want more than a simple explanation of what your product does. They want to know how to use your product, examples of interesting things people are doing wqith your products, and how you can make their life easier (remember WIIFM).

Email List and Newsletter

You need a service provider for effective email marketing. I use Aweber obviously (look to your right for a trial offer). Getting visitors and customers to sign up for your email list means you no longer have to wait for them to come to you, you can go to them. You can offer specials and keep them up to date on new products.

This is where you start to see the payoffs!

Your Social Media Accounts

Your blog is part of your social media profile and should be the central hub. The hub directs people to your  social media profiles to build a connection. And all your social media accounts link back to your blog. Every time you post to the blog you’ll tell everyone via your SM accounts.