January, 2011

  • 5 Unique Ways Non-profits Can Utilize the Social Web

    Posted Jan 31st, 2011 By in Social Media With | 3 Comments

    Summary:In a complimentary UC Irvine webinar to introduce my new online course for not-for-profits, I discussed five unique ways non-profits can utilize social media.   I have listed these below for those of you who missed the webinar.  The 4-week course also starts Wednesday, February 2, 2011.  To register for the course, please visit http://ht.ly/3MWA5.

    social media for non-profits

     

     

    Google Grants is an in-kind donation program that awards non-profit organizations free sponsored ads through Google Adwords.  Sponsored ads through Google are an extremely effective way to drive visitors to a website, blog, or social media platforms.

    Facebook Causes is a unique platform or a tool where members can discuss the issues, share their experiences, post media, and sign petitions.  Causes can choose whether or not to fundraise by selecting a beneficiary organization to receive donations; these donations are automatically delivered monthly by Network for Good.

    YouTube’s Nonprofit Program offers non-profits to deliver their message through non-profit channels and non-profit video pages.  This program provides call-to-action overlay, the option to drive fundraising, increased uploading capacity, posting a video opportunity on the YouTube Video Volunteers platform to find a skilled YouTube user to create a video for your cause as well as the option to embed donate links right in videos.

    Eventbrite for Causes is a program for non-profits who want to manage, promote, and raise money through successful events. Eventbrite is committed to helping non-profits leverage technology and best practices to raise money and build sustainable programs.

    Group Forming on any online platform can be an extremely powerful way to engage constituents.  The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has found that 75% of all American adults are active in some kind of voluntary group or organization and Internet users are more likely than others to be active: 80% of Internet users participate in groups, compared with 56% of non-Internet users. Social media users are even more likely to be active: 82% of social network users and 85% of Twitter users are group participants.

    Again, I will be teaching UC Irvine Extension’s new distance learning course for not-for-profits, “Using Social Media to Make a Difference.” The 4-week online course will be held February 2 – February 23, 2011, 7-9 pm Pacific. Course registrations are open through February 2 and anyone from around the globe may register. All sessions will be live through WebEx and will be recorded. To register for the course, please visit http://ht.ly/3MWA5.

  • 5 Reasons Why Your Emails Aren’t Opened (And how to fix it)

    Posted Jan 25th, 2011 By in Email Marketing With | No Comments

    Imagine this: You sent an email to your entire list to generate sales for an end-of-the-month push. Later you check your reports and see that your open rate were abysmal. What a blow! Not only did you fail to generate sales, a bunch of contacts unsubscribed from your list.

    There are a few reasons why this may have happened, but here are the four most likely reasons along with advice for how you can fix it.

    You send junk

    Would you sending the stuff you send to your list to your friends and family? If not, think about a different way to touch base with your contacts and provide something of relevance. Not sure if you send junk? If your email message is “useful,” it’s resourceful and people want to save and archive it. If your message is “interesting” it’s funny, relevant and usually good for forwarding to their contacts. If your message is neither interesting or useful … it’s junk.

    You use unoriginal, boring subject lines

    People are tired of receiving the same emails with the same boring subject lines. They get it. Really, that’s why they don’t bother reading them. Be imaginative and creative and make people think when they read your subject line.

    You are still emailing customers from 1998

    Do you use the same email address for everything? Probably not. Chances are, you have a primary address for friends and family and a secondary address for commercial offers. Your contacts are the same way, and are probably using their secondary address with you.

    Email permission tends to expire in about 10 months – so the more opportunities to confirm and re-confirm their interest (beyond an opt-out link), the better. To fix this, consider using an alternative follow-up campaign (phone/direct mail) to have people update their contact information and re-opt-in to your marketing. Disciplined email marketing pays off when you have a truly engaged, interested and hungry list – and you can really cater to the people who matter.

    You send just like the rest of ‘em

    We all get our nighttime to morning email flood. I admit, sometimes I just use my Delete key more liberally during those hours and my reply button during the daytime. To fix this, try mixing up and allowing people to choose if they want your message in the morning, in the evening or mid-day.

    You emailed to your entire list

    Not every subscriber is interested in everything you have to offer. Slice and dice your email list into relevant, targeted groups and send to those groups of users where the message is attractive, engaging and relevant.

    Not everyone’s open rates will always improve. It’s fact. However, the more you pay close attention to the result of your emails and more importantly, your recipients’ expectations and satisfaction – the more your email open rates will rise with your fine-tuning.

    To learn more about email marketing best practices, download a free report about Email Marketing 2.0.

  • The Lost Art of Conversion Optimization

    Posted Jan 21st, 2011 By in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Website With | 2 Comments

    Commercial websites aren’t cheap to build and maintain, and if you own a business with a website you probably want something to come from that expense. For some businesses that means a sale, for others a lead, and for yet others it’s clicks on paid advertisements.

    Regardless of what you want from your website, it seems obvious that more traffic to the site would help with all of the above…right? Yes and no.

    Before you drive more traffic to a website, it is important to make sure that your website is doing what you want it to do as efficiently and effectively as possible. There’s no point pouring more water into a leaky funnel. Enter conversion optimization.

    If one were to define conversion optimization, the definition would be quite simple: making a website simpler and easier for customers to use.

    Have you ever made a purchase online? Filled out an online form for more information? Signed up for an online service? If yes to any of these, how was that experience? Easy? Frustrating? Keep those experiences in mind as you read the following.

    Though conversion optimization techniques can range from the ridiculously simple to the incredibly complex, the process can be broken down into 3 steps: Research, Measure and Test.

    Research

    One of the most beneficial things you can do, both for your business in general as well as your conversion rate is to exactly define and then thoroughly research your target audience. Only when you really know the people you are trying to reach can you craft a compelling message that will get them to do what you want them to do.

    Visit successful websites in your industry, as well as successful websites in different industries that cater to the same demographic, and make notes about the site. Go through the following steps on each site:

    1. Start at the home page, search for and locate a product you want, and add it to your cart (or start at the home page and find a contact form, if lead generation is your goal.) Make a note of how many steps were in that process, whether it was easy or hard to find the product/form, and anything else that stood out to you.

    Also pay attention to how you feel and the colors being used for backgrounds, headers and buttons. Colors can evoke an emotional response, so keep that in mind. (more…)

  • 11 Information Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

    Posted Jan 19th, 2011 By in Business With | 2 Comments

    I get approached by many who want to start Internet-based businesses, so I asked one of my favorite marketing mentors, Adam Urbanski, to share a guest post that would help my readers avoid common Internet marketing mistakes.  Adam is also gives fantastic tips in his complimentary tutorial videos.  Check them out here: http://ht.ly/3FyCn.

    Every day I get calls from my clients asking me questions about doing business online. Each time they cite something they just heard from some “Internet Marketing Guru.” Unfortunately, more often that I care to admit, what people are told about building a profitable online business – specifically information marketing business – is little more than a bunch of crap!

    If you’ve followed a lot of that crappy advice, tried your hand at building an Internet-based business and haven’t yet reached the success you want, these 11 deadly mistakes and tips how to avoid them are for you.

    Mistake #1 – Not Treating What You Do as a Business.

    The difference between a hobby and a business is that a hobby doesn’t make you money – it costs you money.

    If you’re serious about starting a building a profitable online business approach seriously and focus on generating revenue.

    Treat your online business as if you would any regular business.

    Mistake #2 – Being Distracted by Too Many Good Ideas.

    You can light up a room with a light bulb, but you can cut through steel with a laser beam. The same is true with your effort and ideas.

    Too many Internet-Entrepreneur-Wanna-Bes lack the will power to stay focused on one business venture from beginning to end. Chasing too many ideas at the same time often leaves them exhausted, frustrated, and with little results to show for their hard work.

    The key to success is to select one business idea and to develop it completely before moving on to another project.

    Mistake #3 – Not Selecting a Specific Niche.

    Perhaps the biggest mistake of all is trying to be everything to everyone. You can’t – so stop!

    It’s very counter-intuitive to focus on a smaller slice of the market and most people are afraid to do it. But when you do, your business will grow faster, and you’ll be more financially successful in less time. (more…)

  • 5 Great Ideas to Help You Build a Blog Following

    Posted Jan 14th, 2011 By in Blogging With | 5 Comments

    Everyone out there with a blog wants a bigger following.  If it is brand new, you want to get a piece of the pie.  If it is already established, you want to get a bigger piece of the market.  Still, the toughest part is getting that initial following which will make your blog relevant on the scene.  How can you build that following?  Here are the ideas you need to have your blog hit the ground running.

    1. Corner a market. People will wonder what the point of your blog is if it does not have a certain piece of the market cornered.  You are new, so you have to stand out.  Surely, you have thought of something new or would have little reason to get out there in the first place, right?  Nail your themes down very early on so people know they can count on you from the outset.  If they know they are getting something special when they visit your blog, they will continue coming back – as long as you deliver.

    2. Spark a controversy. Well, it doesn’t have to be a major controversy.  In fact, it doesn’t have to be anything ridiculous at all.  What you ought to do, however, is take a concept which is integral to your overall message and get it out there in the boldest possible way.  If you hit a nerve, people will associate you with that relevant style.  If you back it up with real substance, you are going to have a number of readers ready to follow wherever you might lead them.

    3. Have some relevant links. Having your niche in the field you write about is different from being isolated on a far-flung island.  You want to be part of a community, so team up with websites and other blogs that don’t tread on your ground but instead help you achieve your goals.  You may benefit a lot from these associations.  Keep in mind that you can also be considered guilty by association, so take your links seriously.

    4. Mix in some quality video. One of the great things about writing in the twenty-first century is that you can also be a rock star at the same time.  YouTube can be your MTV and you can make your blog sing in ways that never will happen in print.  It’s important that you don’t look like most bloggers (bespectacled and bearded) if you want to stand out.  However, for a literary blog, that might just be the look you can pull off.  Whatever you do, make sure your videos have the goal of more readers, not viewers.

    5. Troubleshoot the other blogs. Blogs that are similar in your field will always have problems.  If you notice them surely others do as well.  Why not be the go-to place for solving the issues on the scene?  People always have some feeling that a void exists when this is the case.  If you fill that void, you’ll instantly gain a number of readers.

    Guest Author: This article was written by Mona Pennypacker of Acorn Creative Studio who specializes in web site design in Colorado.

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