How Netflix Maintains a Low Churn Rate by Keeping Customers Engaged & Watching

With over 90 million customers watching a combined 125 million hours of television and movies everyday, there’s no doubt that Netflix has changed the way we watch our favorite shows. It has also become a prime force in our daily lives — integrating into everything from mobile devices to our language and culture. And with

Storytelling and Small Business Marketing Strategies: True Love Forever

In my last post, I asked a short question with a long answer - does a small business need a marketing strategy?

My answer was a pretty emphatic yes, and storytelling is one marketing strategy that really works for small businesses.

Ask yourself — what's your story? We don't necessarily mean that you should be telling every potential client or customer your life story. Instead, we're talking about the narrative for your small business (for example, here's ours!). In an increasingly-connected global marketplace, your potential customers want to connect with you.

Storytelling and Small Business Marketing Strategies: True Love Forever

In my last post, I asked a short question with a long answer - does a small business need a marketing strategy?

My answer was a pretty emphatic yes, and storytelling is one marketing strategy that really works for small businesses.

Ask yourself — what's your story? We don't necessarily mean that you should be telling every potential client or customer your life story. Instead, we're talking about the narrative for your small business (for example, here's ours!). In an increasingly-connected global marketplace, your potential customers want to connect with you.

How to Leverage Your Creativity to Convert Leads

Creativity (cre·a·tiv·i·ty) krēāˈtivədē noun the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work. Creativity may not immediately seem incredibly relevant to CRO. After all, CRO is often thought of as a study in best practices and procedural experimentation. Today, I’d like to challenge you to look a little

3 Copywriting Mistakes That Could Be Hurting Your Free Trial Engagement (And How to Fix Them Right Now)

Find a box with a CD-ROM in it, buy it, then learn how to use it. That’s how I bought software as a kid. So when I first started working, I assumed that if I wanted to start using work-related software, I would have to pay for it the same way: upfront — site unseen!

How Facebook Advertising Help Business Owners Find Their New Customers

Facebook has 1.23 billion daily active users on average, making it the biggest social networking site. Around 85 percent of all these users are from the U.S. and Canada.

 

And, did you know that 1.15 billion of all daily active users access Facebook from their mobile phones? These people have access to Facebook, regardless where they are. In fact, the average Facebook user spends almost an hour every day across Facebook’s suite of applications.

The Four Statistical Concepts Every Online Marketer Should Know

Analytics is a big part of online marketing and therefore, it’s essential to have a good understanding of how to interpret numbers. In this post, I’m going to present four statistical concepts I believe will be valuable to anyone working in online marketing. Statistics: A Sexy Skill To some people, statistics may sound like a

4 Powerful Google Shopping Hacks to Supercharge Your Campaigns

Historically, retail search marketing was synonymous with Google text ads. But fast forward to today, and Google Shopping ads have replaced text ads as retailers’ preferred method of advertising on Google. In fact, 2016 was the tipping point: Retailers spent 53% of their AdWords budgets on Shopping ads — for those keeping score, that’s more

Understand the Needs of Your Subscribers!

Customers are happy to help improve the service you provide them!

Find out what your prospects want and give it to them!

Sounds simple enough doesn't it, although MOST companies simple guess at what it is they need and then wonder why business is not as good as they had hoped.

This is not necessary with the mountains of clever survey software available today. If you already have a list then an email survey is a simple then to conduct and you should do so on a regular basis. I have found a couple articles on the subject I think you will find interesting.

4 Main Benefits of Survey Research

Using survey software to administer survey research is a powerful tool that market researchers use to gather data. Advanced survey software providers have survey solutions for all modes of survey research, including: online surveys, paper surveys, phone surveys, to the more recent introduction of mobile surveys. Available survey solutions have led to widespread use of quantitative surveys, across all survey modes, to collect, analyze, and use data to formulate strategies for a more effective business model, create targeted marketing strategies, enhance customer service, and much more. Executed correctly, survey research can benefit market researchers with reliable and useable data, and improve research ROI.

Read more…

Conducting an survey by email is simple and doesnt have to cost a penny as you can use Google forms which are very professional. Just remember to keep it short and to the point taking no more than a minute or two of your readers time to complete at the most.

John Jantsch also have some valuable advice to share below

5 Ways Surveys Can Help Your Small Business

With so many cheap and easy survey applications online, your business has no excuse for not polling your customers.

While marketers have long used surveys as a key tool, online variations now make the process of surveying your customers so easy, it’s almost a crime not to do it.

By using surveys routinely, you can demonstrate that you value your customer’s opinions while also gaining important information about the kinds of product, services and enhancements they might be willing to actually pay for.

Here are different ways to survey your customers:

1. Market analysis. The most obvious reason for launching a survey in business is to find out what your market prefers, or what needs it identifies as important. Asking questions about the choices people make when interacting with products or services like yours will turn up valuable information for your future plans.

Full article…

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free 7Day  eMail eCourse To Build Your List and Generate Profits!

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The Right Approach To Building A Solid Growth Strategy

Ask any successful entrepreneur why their startup succeeded and they’ll almost always point you to a growth strategy they followed. They’ll tell you how much they believed the strategy will work because it was solid and had a really high likelihood of paying off. For example, Johnathan Dane (founder at KlientBoost, a company that grew

Project Discovery Part 2: Analysis, Strategy, and Planning

Okay, so, we've sat down, we've heard all about your business, the products and services you offer, and who's buying them. Now it's time for us to turn all of that information into a marketing plan that will bring you the quality leads you've been hoping for. Usually all this happens behind closed doors, but because I like you I'm going to give you a "behind the curtain" peek at how Waypost handles post-project discovery analysis, strategy, and planning.

But first, allow me to set the scene:

How 7 Companies are Using Push Notifications to Boost Engagement

Last year, mobile internet usage overtook desktop for the first time. If you’re not tailoring your marketing strategy specifically for mobile users in 2017, you’re losing out. Mobile internet access has soared in recent years and it’s quickly become entrenched in our culture. 50% of smartphone users grab their smartphone as soon as they wake

Never Buy Email Lists!

Don't waste your time or damage your reputation!

3 Reasons why you should never an email list!

1. Most purchased lists have had the hell sold out of them and they are unresponsive as a corps.
2. You run the risk of getting reported and even worse your IP banned.
3. Associating your name or products with overused and often spammed lists will earn you a bad reputation.

So now you have three extremely valid reasons why you should never buy an email list.

If you need more proof I guess you will enjoy the below links to authority articles.

Why Buying Email Lists Is Always a Bad Idea

By: Corey Wainwright

You need people to email, and you need them quickly. Oh, and if you could get them pretty cheap, that'd be great, too.

That's the mindset many marketers find themselves in when they're on the phone with a list-purchasing company: We need new people to email to feed our sales organization. Acting on that moment of desperation, however, can cause them more long-term (and short-term) harm than good.
Download our free email marketing guide here to learn more about how to build an effective email list.

Yes, thousands of contacts are a credit card swipe away, but your email marketing program — a critical part of a well-rounded inbound marketing strategy — will seriously suffer. Curious why buying email lists is a legitimate email marketer's kiss of death? Read on. Plus, we'll give you a list of squeaky-clean and effective ways to build your email marketing list in lieu of list buying.
Methods of Acquiring an Email List

Before we get into the pitfalls of purchasing an email address list, let's review three of the most common ways marketers acquire contact lists:
1) Buy an email list.

You work with a list provider to find and purchase a list of names and email addresses based on demographic and/or psychographic information. For example, you might purchase a list of 50,000 names and email addresses of people without children who live in Minnesota.
2) Rent an email list.

Also working with a list provider, you identify a segment of people to email — but you never actually own the list. As such, you can't see the email addresses of the people you're emailing, so you must work with the provider to send out your email.
3) Own an opt-in email list.

Someone voluntarily gives you their email address either online or in person so you can send them emails. They may pick certain types of email content they wish to receive, like specifically requesting email alerts when new blog posts are published. Opt-in email addresses are the result of earning the interest and trust of your contacts because they think you have something valuable to say.

Read full article…

When you understand just how many of these lists are put together and even worse, just how many other people could be using them at the same time you will find it difficult to find value in them. Listen as this fact is discussed in the below video.

It's nice to get advice and opinion from more than one area so the below article will provide that for you.

The Ugly Truth About Buying Email Lists

Experience, as the saying goes, is the best teacher.

Unfortunately, sometimes that experience is really painful.

This is never more true than when a well-intentioned business, eager to grow, gets suckered into a “quick fix” by someone offering them an inexpensive “shortcut” to building their email list.

I recently came across an example of someone who learned a hard lesson about bulk email marketing, list-building and email deliverability…

Buying an Email List Is An Awful Idea

I can already hear a lot of you saying,

“Yes, yes, we all know… don’t buy email lists, they’re not good prospects, they don’t know you and never gave you permission to email them, blah blah blah…”

I know it sounds like I’m beating a dead horse here.

After all, buying email lists is so… 1999. Right?

Unfortunately, for new email marketers, it’s not always obvious what is and isn’t a bad idea.
Some Companies Prey On These New Email Marketers

They’ve learned there’s money to be made by offering new email marketers a “shortcut” to building their own subscriber lists.

So they compile email address lists and advertise them as…

“Targeted”
“Opt-in”
“Verified”
“Clean” (shouldn’t that be a clue that purchasing lists is inherently dirty?)
“Real Time”

…and a whole lot more.

What those companies don’t advertise are the consequences of sending to purchased email lists.

Read more…

Related Articles:

free 7Day  eMail eCourse To Build Your List and Generate Profits!

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Multi-Channel Mastery: 5 Easy Ways to Squeeze More Profits from Your Facebook Ads

The majority of customers use multiple devices on their journey to purchase. And they’re gonna take nearly a dozen ‘touches’, too. Case in point: people who receive choreographed emails + ads are “22% more likely to purchase” than those that only receive one or the other. That means the likelihood of one campaign, on one

How Uber Uses Data to Improve Their Service and Create the New Wave of Mobility

When it comes to moving people and making deliveries, few companies are more widespread and more widely-recognized than Uber. But how do they do it? And what can we learn from them? As it turns out, there’s a great deal of data being collected, produced and visualized behind the scenes — all working to create

Should I send my emails in Text or HTML?

If you're not certain which to use simply test them both!

Which to use – text or HTML email?

Don't over compliment the process as the decision of whether you should use text or HTML email will keep you awake if you let it, I have been there. If ever I am asked my

If ever I am asked my opinion of the best type of email to get results I have to say without question always the one with the best content. If you write highly relevant killer content your subscriber will love your for it and interact with you.

Which Is Better? [New Data] by Niti Shah

In the world of email marketing, opens and clicks are everything, which means email marketers are always testing ways to improve these metrics. We'll tweak subject lines, calls-to-action, images, headers, layout, link positioning, copy, length, tone, content … the list goes on and on.

Through all of this testing, there's one hard truth we've discovered: Aside from proper list segmentation, nothing boosts opens and clicks as well as an old school, plain-text email.
Click here to download our free email guide for more email marketing and deliverability tips.

While the plain-text emails we created had some formatting capabilities (hyperlinks, tracking pixels, etc.), they were as close to plain-text as we could while maintaining the ability to track opens and clicks for testing purposes.

With that said, here's how we came to that conclusion.
Beyond Deliverability

The (relatively) old debate of plain-text vs. HTML is mostly centered around email deliverability. We won't be covering all of the deliverability best practices in this article, but it is important to have some context around that metric.

Having an HTML email does not hurt your deliverability as long as you have two things: a properly coded HTML email and a plain-text version.
1) The HTML email needs to be properly coded.

If there are broken tags in your HTML, the email provider and users can mark it as spam. That'll hurt deliverability — not just for that email, but also for any emails coming from that particular email address in the future.
2) The email should also contain a plain-text version.

Most email marketing tools will let you easily create plain-text versions within their email editor, so take those five extra minutes to create and optimize the plain-text version of your email. Otherwise, email providers such as Gmail or Outlook might think your email is dodgy — they expect legitimate companies to follow this basic best practice.

Sourse article…

The fact is that you will never please all of your subscribers and which some will enjoy a rich HTML formatted email others will prefer plain simple text. Not only that but subscribers to one list will be different to another so the simple solution is to test or even ask your subscribers which they prefer best.

Below is another article I particularly liked on this important subject by Heinz Tschabitscher

When in Doubt, Send Plain Text Email, Not Fancy HTML

Richly Formatted Messages Are Nice, But Not for Everybody

Using fancy formatting in emails is both nice, of course, and often useful to stress a point or pick just the font you like for legibility. Then, all these stationery (for the like of Outlook Express and Windows Mail) or letter (for IncrediMail) creations are fascinating to get started with rich emails.

Not everybody can or wants to receive rich-text messages with formatting and layout, however.

Some email programs are not fully capable of rendering the HTML used for rich formatting in email messages. Others try, but fail miserably (or crash), rendering your message unaccessible to the recipient. Even the programs and services that do support rich formatting can display your emails in unintended ways.

Other recipients have email clients that can properly render HTML messages, but despise rich formatting in email for various reasons (purity of the medium, bandwidth issues, security and privacy among others).
When in Doubt, Send Plain Text Email, Not Fancy HTML

So, whenever you are not sure a recipient appreciates email communication using rich and fancy HTML formatting,

send plain text emails by default, especially
if you have not previously exchanged emails with the recipient.

How to Send Emails in Plain Text

Here's how to send plain text only messages using various email programs:

Windows:
Windows Mail or Outlook Express: Send a Message in Plain Text
Outlook: Send a Plain Text Message
Mozilla Thunderbird: Send a Plain Text Message
IncrediMail: Write a Plain Text Message
Mac OS X:
Mac OS X Mail: Send a Message in Plain Text
Mozilla Thunderbird: Send a Plain Text Message
Outlook for Mac: Send a Plain Text Message

Web-Based
Gmail: Send a Message in Plain Text
Outlook Mail on the Web: Send a Message in Plain Text
Yahoo! Mail: Send a Message in Plain Text
Linux and Unix:
Evolution: Send a Plain Text Only Email

Send HTML to Users of Web-Based Email Services?

It is usually safe to send HTML-formatted emails to users of web-based email services like Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail.

Heinz Tschabitscher

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Double Opt-in is a Smart Choice

This is one way of improving the quality of your subscribers!

Is double opt-in is a smart choice in list building?

For a long time I used single opt-in while list building because it certainly adds more names to your list, but in truth, your are fooling yourself.

You see, the all important fact here is the QUALITY of your subscribers and if they find difficulty in confirming their email address they probably won't be the sort to investing into themselves of future income generating potential either.

So why have them on your list? and I know the answer to this already. It makes us feel good to have a larger list when actually after understanding this point it is simply false security. If you want high-quality subscribers always use double opt-in email campaigns…

Here's what Yaro Starak has to say on the subject:

What Is A Double Opt-In Email List And Why Is It Important?

A double opt-in email list is like any email based newsletter or e-course where people can sign-up through the Internet either on a webpage or sending an email to mailing list management software. What makes an email list “double opt-in” is that any person who subscribes must confirm their request twice.

The first time is when the user submits their email address to the web based form. For example, anyone who submits their name and email to my Blog Traffic Tips Newsletter at BlogTrafficKing.com must enter their first name and email address and then hit the button to submit their request to join the newsletter.

After the initial request is received by the email list software a special confirmation email is sent to the address the person input into the form. This is the second opt-in. The email contains a link which the recipient must click to confirm their subscription request. Once they have done this they have “double opted-in”.

You can see an example of the confirmation email also on my BlogTrafficKing.com page here – http://www.blogtrafficking.com/thank-you.html. This is the page I present to people after they fill out the subscription form to make sure they understand how to double opt-in and to ensure the confirmation email doesn’t surprise them and they delete it thinking it is SPAM.
Why Is Double Opt-In Important?

Full article…

I think the below video makes the case perfectly:

If you're not yet convinced I have one more article on double opt-in vs single opt-in emails:

Email Opt-In: Single Opt-In Versus Double Opt-In

Before you begin to build your email marketing list, you'll need to decide if you want customers to use a single opt-in or a double opt-in to your email list. Of course, in order to do that, you'll also need to understand what a single email opt-in and a double opt-in are and how to implement them. In this section, we'll explain both techniques and the pros and cons of each.
What is a Single Opt-In Email Sign-Up?

When you hear somebody say “single opt-in” in reference to email marketing, it means a sign-up process in which a user does not need to confirm that he or she signed up. In short, once the user enters his or her email into the sign-up or join box, the email address is instantly added to your email list and the new subscriber instantly starts receiving emails from you.
What is a Double Opt-In Email Sign-Up?

Unlike a single email opt-in sign-up, a double email opt-in sign-up requires that a user confirm that he or she has actively joined your email list.

This is typically done by generating an email to the user after he or she signs up. That email then requires the user to click a link in the email in order to confirm that he or she is the owner of the email address and does want to receive emails from you.

This process eliminates many of the “bad” email addresses that get entered into a system (typos or incorrect email addresses) and also protects against instances where somebody may be taking “revenge” on another person by using their email address to sign up for numerous email marketing lists. It essentially insists that the new subscribers confirm that they do own the email address that they signed up with and do want to receive emails from you.

If you are using a third-party email marketing platform such as Comm100, you will most likely have the option of simply turning a double email opt-in feature on if you wish. If you are creating your own in-house email sending solution, you'll need to create this process with your own development team.

Read more

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free 7Day  eMail eCourse To Build Your List and Generate Profits!

Sign Up now and get started with the course.

Getting Started with Analytics Attribution

As much as we’d like to think that a conversion is a nice, neat and organized path from one point to another, the conversion process is often more like a twisting road map of tangents, intersections and loops that involve a whole host of customer touch-points. Analytics attribution can help you not only make sense

What To Expect During A Project Discovery Meeting

The project discovery phase is so much fun for me. This is where I sit down for the first time with a business owner and I listen to them talk about their business. Their business is something they love, it’s what they’ve put their life’s work into, and it fulfills them on a lot of levels. They are contributing to something greater than themselves; they’re building their legacy.

Their enthusiasm is contagious.

I learn so much in these meetings, and I get to learn about so many different industries. I am always fascinated.

My objective during the discovery phase of a new project is not simply to be dazzled by a passionate business-owner, however. I’m there to discover the end goal. Does this seem like I’m putting the cart in front of the horse? Allow me to explain.

How to Align Email Marketing to The Buyer’s Journey (With Examples)

Online search has changed everything. Years ago, acquiring a customer online was easy: reassure the potential buyer your product is the best on the market and push for the sale. Not anymore. Today, consumers can research a product online, compare brands on cost, reputation and more, and decide which provider is best for their needs.

Email Marketing for Beginners

They say you should hustle.

They brag about working all hours of the day and night, about slaving away on weekends and not recognizing holidays. Overworking is seen as a badge of honor, as something that should be revered.Life’s too short for that mess…

Entrepreneurship can easily become a game, if you’ll let it. You’re always watching the Joneses, trying to keep up and do what they do. They brag of their riches, accomplishments and beachside views. Jealousy and envy bring out the worst in you.

Life’s too freaking short for that…

The minute you celebrate this month’s record-breaking results, they are no longer good enough. You’re on to do better next month. And then next month. You’re never satisfied, and feel the pressure of doing more and more.

Life’s too short not to enjoy it…

You realize that no matter how well you do, there are bills to be paid and problems to solve. Whether you’re putting in the extra hours to keep the electricity on or pay for that new car, the anxiety of providing more will overwhelm you.

Life’s too short to allow it…

You work those extra hours while your kids play outside. You seclude yourself in your entrepreneurial dungeon while your spouse watches your shows alone. You do all of this, you think, to create a better day. A day you aren’t guaranteed will come.

Life’s too damn short…

We took our youngest son out of school on Wednesday. Drove him a few towns over, dressed in our best. Taps played and guns blared. We celebrated a man’s life taken far too soon. A father and husband. A man my age.

During the service, words spoken of the impact of his life focused on the little things. His guitar and favorite songs. How he spent endless hours with his son, coaching him and watching him grow. How he cared for and shared life with his wife. About how he helped others. About how he made you feel when you were around him.

There was no mention of educational honors or personal accomplishments, though he was an accomplished man. We don’t know how much money he made or how many things he accumulated.

And that’s what struck me that day. It’s so easy for us as entrepreneurs to get wrapped up in the things that don’t matter that we neglect the things that do. We forget what we’d regret, all with an assumption of another day that may never come.

Read full article…

Unboxing SaaS Data to Increase Customer Renewals

SaaS teams are living a lie. They believe the same value that acquired a customer will lead to a renewal. While focusing on customer retention is commendable, teams must reexamine their data to exceed customer expectations and achieve business growth. “With the right insights, you can target your efforts in a meaningful way that will

9 Activation Secrets You Need to Be Using

Your problem isn’t what you think it is. More traffic can definitely paper over some cracks. Likewise, more downloads, installs, or sign-ups always help. But that’s not it. That’s not the thing holding you back. Because if 70% of free trials are useless (as reported by one study we’ll get to in a second)… more

An Inspirational Email Case Study

This motivational email case study will provide you food for thought!

This email case study has inspired many people

If you think that you need to invest thousand to get good results from email don't believe what you hear because someone is either telling you lies or trying to get you to open your wallet.

The study I am about to introduce you to happened to someone in the most unlikely of professions who took the simple email tools she was introduced to which at that time was Gmail, and used her campaign to build a powerful community.

These became highly engaged subscribers and repeat purchasers.

Why not learn from this interesting email case study as this type of success is very repeatable.

Below I have shared some Gmail advice yet because you can run a highly effective and profitable campaign on this easy to use and inexpensive email alternative.

Get started with Gmail

What can you do with Gmail?

With Gmail, your email are stored safely in the cloud where you can get to them from any computer or device with a web browser. You can also quickly organize and find important email, add your professional signature to email you send, and read and draft email when you don’t have an Internet connection.

What you’ll need:

? G Suite account

? 10 minutes

Switching from a different mail program?

Learn more from these guides: Switching to Gmail from Microsoft Outlook® or Switching to Gmail from IBM Notes®.

Note: If your administrator hasn’t already migrated your old mail for you, you may want to import your old mail before starting this tutorial.

email case study

If you enjoyed the above article then the below video will compliment it perfectly.

I am often asked how I drive subscriber for my email lists and the answer is from many places but one of them is Facebook as it is a great source of ready-made audiences just waiting to interact. For that reason, I thought that you may appreciate the following article by Jeraldine Phneah.

5 Secrets of Creating Shareable Content

With the changes to the Facebook algorithm, it has become increasingly difficult for marketers to reach and engage their target audience.

From earlier this year, the number of interactions of photos and link posts has been on a decline. In June 2016, Facebook announced a change in their algorithm to favour posts in News Feeds that come from friends and family members over fan pages by brands and publishers. Two months later, they announced another change to marginalize clickbait stories and keep its News Feed reader centric.

However, this doesn’t mean that social media marketers should give up on organic content strategy. Rather, all the more they should figure out how to get regular users who are mainly ‘friends and families’ to share and engage with their content.

Here are five useful tips to help marketers create content that users would share and interact with.
1. Be personable and appeal to emotions

The first important ingredient of great content is that it can creates a connection and empathy between content consumer. In general, most people are only interested in things they can relate to and would share things if it makes them think – “This is so true and related to my experience!”

A great example of this would be the highly popular posts you see on Thought Catalog which often achieve virality because others relate to them.

Read full article…

Related Articles:

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Do You Need a Website?

You probably don’t need a website!To become good at getting great email marketing results doesn’t require you to have a string of websites or tons of experience at HTMP or PHP. Most of my list haven’t required me to have a website at all, although you will need a web page and opt-in form which are often referred to as squeeze or landing pages. I have literally dozens of these and I use a simple and inexpensive solution I think you are going to love, so

Most of my list haven’t required me to have a website at all, although you will need a web page and opt-in form which are often referred to as squeeze or landing pages. I have literally dozens of these and I use a simple and inexpensive solution I think you are going to love, so click here to discover more.

So there is my favorite alternative to having a website, but there are many other also so for completeness I have included an enlightening article below:

7 Best Services For One-Click Landing Pages That Convert

You know your landing pages are a crucial cog in the conversion funnel.

You’ve probably read a few articles on crafting a solid landing page and perhaps even performed some A/B testing on a page you made. You also might have been less than impressed with the results.

As I discussed in a previous article, when it comes to your specific website landing pages, the universal rules don’t amount to much. What works for your site may or may not work for anyone else’s, and furthermore, when something as simple as one word can double or halve conversions, it can impossible for you to identify whether you need more tweaking or a brand new concept.

As a copywriter, my biased opinion is that the best landing pages are made from scratch with your specific audience in mind. As a copywriter, I am also aware that this option is much more expensive than a ready-made page. When you have a fantastic copywriter, the investment is absolutely worth it. But if you don’t…

A few reasons to go with a one-click landing page are:

Typically the cheapest option
Nix the hassle of finding the right copywriter
All you need to add is headlines and bullet points
Skip the graphic design process
Guaranteed to at least not suck

Well there you have it. If a one-click landing page sounds like it’s right for you, I’ve compiled a list of the best services out there to get you started.
More Productive

Source: Placeit.net
Elements I Considered

The primary criteria for making this list was quality. Would the landing pages provided actually convert?

Next, I considered price, features, and support. How much does it cost to get a handful of landing pages? What sort of feature set is included? And how easy is it to contact this company?

Read full article…

In fact, and I have done this very successfully many times, you can build excellent landing pages on your own facebook site or business page. Below is a nice video that will show you how. By the way, you can find lots more excellent email tips on Positive email results.

If you’re still in need of ideas below are some more website alternative to get you up and running as well as profitable really quickly:

WordPress Competitors – 16 Popular Alternatives to WordPress

WordPress is popular, and we love it, but it is not the only publishing platform. There are WordPress alternatives that you can use to build your website. Recently one of our readers asked us to write about WordPress competitors. In this article, we will show you 16 popular alternatives to WordPress.

1. Medium

Medium

Medium is a popular publishing platform. It is different than WordPress in many ways. It is not a full content management system. There focus is on blogging and the community aspect. It aims to connect people with stories and ideas that matter to them.

Medium is designed to provide a clutter free writing area for publishers and a similar reading experience for the readers. It looks beautiful on all devices and screen sizes. Users don’t have to worry about themes or plugins because there are none.

Instead of comments, Medium has in-line notes and responses. You don’t need to worry about the software as Medium is a completely hosted platform. Medium is expected to allow custom domains for publishers, so you can use your own domain names on Medium.

2. Ghost

Ghost

Some WordPress users who want to focus on blogging felt that WordPress is going in a totally different direction. This gave birth to Ghost, which is a NodeJS based blogging software.

The difference is that Ghost is entirely focused on blogging and keeping the clutter away. It provides a clean writing and browsing experience for bloggers and readers.

3. Joomla

Joomla

This year Joomla will be celebrating its 10th birthday. It is a strong, multi-purpose, and open source CMS. It has a large community of users and developers.

Joomla comes with all the things that WordPress can do, and then some more. It has extensions and templates. It is already used by millions of users, small businesses, corporations, government and nonprofits all over the world.

Just like WordPress, Joomla has a community support system, extensive documentation, and it runs on most web hosting platforms.

Source article…

Simply Generally Works Best With Cold Email

The shorter my body copy got the more success I enjoyed!I have had many questions from my latest article on how to be successful with cold email campaigns. For that reason, I think this a place to repeat that you have got just SECONDS to capture the attention of your email recipient before they bin your email so the subject line has to be good and stand out from all of the other emails they receive.

If they decide to open your email you’ve got to keep their attention with benefits that keep them curious and enthusiast to learn more. The shorter you can make your email the better because you want them to click your link to learn more and the moment they do that you have an advantage. You can now give them the longer copy with all the details as well as retarget them.

It was Albert Einstein who said; “If you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it well enough.” Though it is often mis-reported as being; “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it well enough.” What Einstein was driving at was a particular application of “keep it simple, stupid”.

From scientific concepts to products the end-user doesn’t care how clever the creator or designer of something is. They care about being able to take that person’s output and make it useful to their own lives. The simpler the explanation and the simpler the product, the more likely it is that the output will be useful to others.

The phrase; “keep it simple, stupid” is thought to have been coined by the late Kelly Johnson, who was the lead engineer at the Lockheed Skunk Works (a place responsible for the S-71 Blackbird spy plane amongst many other notable achievements). It is worth noting that Kelly’s version of the phrase had no comma and was written “keep it simple stupid”.

Read the full article…

I think that Albert Einstien put that into perfect perspective.

If you’re considering testing a cold email campaign put yourself into your recipients position if you can and then you will fully understand why short and simple generally works best.

Bellow is another useful article on the importance of keeping your email simple…

3 Simple Mistakes You Might be Making with Email Design

You want your customers to be able to read your email with ease. Though this seems obvious, it’s important to take into account that many customers are now reading emails on smart phones or tablets; increasing your font size is a good idea, however, you don’t want to get too big. Size 14 for body text tends to be a good rule. Also, keep your fonts simple, consistent and web-safe – not just within a single email, but also in all your follow-up emails.

If you choose to use various fonts, stick to two max – one for headlines, the other for the body of your email. And, avoid script-like fonts, as they’re usually harder to read. The goal is for your marketing communications to be recognizable. With font color, avoid color on top of color; keep it simple and dark, such as black or dark grey against a white background. Lighter colors make for tough reading. Save your brighter, richer colors for your call-to-action buttons. Also avoid text on top of a patterned background

2. Complex or confusing images

Compelling imagery is an important aspect to grabbing your readers’ attention, but you don’t want to use an image that’s going to overpower your content or potentially distract or offend your customers. Keep your images simple, relevant and fun. It’s best to use basic, clear images that everyone will immediately associate with your message, and then move on to the content.

Avoid images that could be puzzling or confusing. You don’t want your customers to stop and wonder why the image is there or what it means. Also, consider your audience when you’re choosing an image. If the image is referencing something specific, take a minute to make sure the majority of your audience will understand the reference. You’d hate to use an image that unintentionally alienates a potential customer.

Read source article…

Cold Email Marketing Requires a Compelling Subject Line

It’s the fist thing that seen so it must grab attention!If your email doesn’t grab your readers attention it is unlikely to get opened and you have just lost and wasted a load of your valuable time. For that reason, your subject line is where you should invest the majority of your effort, especially if it’s for a cold email marketing campaign you’re preparing. If you take the time to A – B split test your subjects you will soon get a good feel and idea of what is working best in your specific market place.

Here is what Vertical Response has to say on the subject:

Testing options offer choices for better open rates

So how does A/B testing work? As its name implies, it helps you make decisions in your email campaign by temporarily presenting two different options to your audience, then gauging response rates to determine which option is better received. Here’s what the process generally entails:

Determine which factors you’d like to test. Before getting started, you need a good handle on the subject-line variables you’d like to compare. Industry research in that regard is valuable, but you often can’t determine what will work best for your specific audiences and circumstances without going directly to the source.

To think about elements to compare, consider the questions that have occurred to you as you’ve tried to finesse your subject lines in the past. For example, you may be wondering:

Are short or long subject lines more appealing?
How would my audience respond to numbers and dollar figures?
How would recipients react to their names in the subject line?
How much other customization is advisable?
Should my subject line be phrased as a statement or question?
Are exclamation points OK?
Should I use industry jargon or more colloquial terms?
Will humor be well received, or should I maintain a straightforward tone?

Once you’ve established your most burning questions, you can create a spreadsheet allowing you to record and compare results.

Establish logistics. In designing your test structure, you must establish ground rules so results aren’t skewed; that way, you gain real, scientific insights. Aim to control as many extenuating variables as possible. For example:

Your test groups should be equal in number.
Your tests should run for an equal time interval.
The tests should go out at the same time of day.

Run your tests as frequently as you’d like. After the completion of each, you can fill in the results on your spreadsheet, after which you can take them up for consideration when crafting future emails.

Read full article…

Work tirelessly at writing good quality intriguing subject lines and you will be rewarded with your email open rate. How high is high? The truth is you will never know until you push yourself and it’s always worth going that extra mile and experimenting with that extra subject line.

It’s spring as I write this which a great opportunity to include this fact in your next subject line. I have already written out my spring related headlines for the next couple of weeks which I know will keep my open rate pleasingly high.

Below is a spring related article I found I think you will find interesting:

Put a spring in your emails with 25 fresh subject line suggestions

Last week we discussed some of the ways to spring clean your email marketing efforts. This week we’ll work on digging up some fresh springtime subject line inspiration.

From April Fools’ to Easter to graduation, and everything in between, there’s no shortage of seasonal events to draw from for creative copy. Will retailers encourage their readers to do a little “spring cleaning” of their wardrobes and get a head start with 2017 lines? Are gardeners and landscapers sending out specials on their services for perennial blooms? Have restaurants redone their menus with the season’s freshest new produce?

Whether you’re emailing customers with a seasonal offer, celebrating an event like the Kentucky Derby or the kick-off of the Cactus and Grapefruit Training Leagues, or simply saying “Hello,” it’s the perfect time of year to put a spring into the step of your email campaigns.

25 springtime subject lines

Read more…

Get Control Over Your Entire Growth Cycle with Kissmetrics’ Populations

As a people-based analytics platform, Kissmetrics tracks users through every step of the growth cycle – from first visit to signup to every step thereafter. Today, we’re taking the next step in analytics by releasing Populations, a new feature that makes it easier for growth marketers and product teams to track and understand key groups

Does a Small Business Need a Marketing Strategy?

Whether you've just gotten started with your own small business, you're a small business owner looking to grow your bottom line, or you've been brought in from outside to help facilitate small business growth, you're probably feeling pretty swamped by all the advice online. Every business coach or marketing agency out there is looking to jump on your most common questions, but not all of them are actually prepared with answers.

We understand that you're not looking for a sales pitch. You want to know the answer to one simple question:

Does a small business need a marketing strategy?

Simply Generally Works Best With Cold Email

The shorter my body copy got the more success I enjoyed!I have had many questions from my latest article on how to be successful with cold email campaigns. For that reason, I think this a place to repeat that you have got just SECONDS to capture the attention of your email recipient before they bin your email so the subject line has to be good and stand out from all of the other emails they receive.

If they decide to open your email you’ve got to keep their attention with benefits that keep them curious and enthusiast to learn more. The shorter you can make your email the better because you want them to click your link to learn more and the moment they do that you have an advantage. You can now give them the longer copy with all the details as well as retarget them.

It was Albert Einstein who said; “If you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it well enough.” Though it is often mis-reported as being; “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it well enough.” What Einstein was driving at was a particular application of “keep it simple, stupid”.

From scientific concepts to products the end-user doesn’t care how clever the creator or designer of something is. They care about being able to take that person’s output and make it useful to their own lives. The simpler the explanation and the simpler the product, the more likely it is that the output will be useful to others.

The phrase; “keep it simple, stupid” is thought to have been coined by the late Kelly Johnson, who was the lead engineer at the Lockheed Skunk Works (a place responsible for the S-71 Blackbird spy plane amongst many other notable achievements). It is worth noting that Kelly’s version of the phrase had no comma and was written “keep it simple stupid”.

Read the full article…

I think that Albert Einstien put that into perfect perspective.

If you’re considering testing a cold email campaign put yourself into your recipients position if you can and then you will fully understand why short and simple generally works best.

Bellow is another useful article on the importance of keeping your email simple…

3 Simple Mistakes You Might be Making with Email Design

You want your customers to be able to read your email with ease. Though this seems obvious, it’s important to take into account that many customers are now reading emails on smart phones or tablets; increasing your font size is a good idea, however, you don’t want to get too big. Size 14 for body text tends to be a good rule. Also, keep your fonts simple, consistent and web-safe – not just within a single email, but also in all your follow-up emails.

If you choose to use various fonts, stick to two max – one for headlines, the other for the body of your email. And, avoid script-like fonts, as they’re usually harder to read. The goal is for your marketing communications to be recognizable. With font color, avoid color on top of color; keep it simple and dark, such as black or dark grey against a white background. Lighter colors make for tough reading. Save your brighter, richer colors for your call-to-action buttons. Also avoid text on top of a patterned background

2. Complex or confusing images

Compelling imagery is an important aspect to grabbing your readers’ attention, but you don’t want to use an image that’s going to overpower your content or potentially distract or offend your customers. Keep your images simple, relevant and fun. It’s best to use basic, clear images that everyone will immediately associate with your message, and then move on to the content.

Avoid images that could be puzzling or confusing. You don’t want your customers to stop and wonder why the image is there or what it means. Also, consider your audience when you’re choosing an image. If the image is referencing something specific, take a minute to make sure the majority of your audience will understand the reference. You’d hate to use an image that unintentionally alienates a potential customer.

Read source article…

Let's block ads!(Why?)

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Poor Sitewide Conversion Rates? Focus on Page-Specific Conversion Funnels

An important metric in any marketer’s dashboard is sitewide conversion rate. Of course, that broad metric alone can be misleading. Though most marketers typically segment their data by traffic source (e.g. organic search, Facebook ads, affiliate traffic, etc.), another way to analyze the data is by tracking page-specific conversion funnels. For instance, when customers land

Use These 4 Jobs To Be Done Questions to Uncover Your Customers’ Key Activation Events

Picture this: it’s your first time in a new city. You flew in last night for a conference, and this morning, you need to grab coffee on the way to the convention center. You find a nearby cafe on Yelp with great ratings, so you make the walk over from your hotel. But when you

Cold Email Marketing Requires a Compelling Subject Line

It’s the fist thing that seen so it must grab attention!If your email doesn’t grab your readers attention it is unlikely to get opened and you have just lost and wasted a load of your valuable time. For that reason, your subject line is where you should invest the majority of your effort, especially if it’s for a cold email marketing campaign you’re preparing. If you take the time to A – B split test your subjects you will soon get a good feel and idea of what is working best in your specific market place.

Here is what Vertical Response has to say on the subject:

Testing options offer choices for better open rates

So how does A/B testing work? As its name implies, it helps you make decisions in your email campaign by temporarily presenting two different options to your audience, then gauging response rates to determine which option is better received. Here’s what the process generally entails:

Determine which factors you’d like to test. Before getting started, you need a good handle on the subject-line variables you’d like to compare. Industry research in that regard is valuable, but you often can’t determine what will work best for your specific audiences and circumstances without going directly to the source.

To think about elements to compare, consider the questions that have occurred to you as you’ve tried to finesse your subject lines in the past. For example, you may be wondering:

Are short or long subject lines more appealing?
How would my audience respond to numbers and dollar figures?
How would recipients react to their names in the subject line?
How much other customization is advisable?
Should my subject line be phrased as a statement or question?
Are exclamation points OK?
Should I use industry jargon or more colloquial terms?
Will humor be well received, or should I maintain a straightforward tone?

Once you’ve established your most burning questions, you can create a spreadsheet allowing you to record and compare results.

Establish logistics. In designing your test structure, you must establish ground rules so results aren’t skewed; that way, you gain real, scientific insights. Aim to control as many extenuating variables as possible. For example:

Your test groups should be equal in number.
Your tests should run for an equal time interval.
The tests should go out at the same time of day.

Run your tests as frequently as you’d like. After the completion of each, you can fill in the results on your spreadsheet, after which you can take them up for consideration when crafting future emails.

Read full article…

Work tirelessly at writing good quality intriguing subject lines and you will be rewarded with your email open rate. How high is high? The truth is you will never know until you push yourself and it’s always worth going that extra mile and experimenting with that extra subject line.

It’s spring as I write this which a great opportunity to include this fact in your next subject line. I have already written out my spring related headlines for the next couple of weeks which I know will keep my open rate pleasingly high.

Below is a spring related article I found I think you will find interesting:

Put a spring in your emails with 25 fresh subject line suggestions

Last week we discussed some of the ways to spring clean your email marketing efforts. This week we’ll work on digging up some fresh springtime subject line inspiration.

From April Fools’ to Easter to graduation, and everything in between, there’s no shortage of seasonal events to draw from for creative copy. Will retailers encourage their readers to do a little “spring cleaning” of their wardrobes and get a head start with 2017 lines? Are gardeners and landscapers sending out specials on their services for perennial blooms? Have restaurants redone their menus with the season’s freshest new produce?

Whether you’re emailing customers with a seasonal offer, celebrating an event like the Kentucky Derby or the kick-off of the Cactus and Grapefruit Training Leagues, or simply saying “Hello,” it’s the perfect time of year to put a spring into the step of your email campaigns.

25 springtime subject lines

Read more…

Let's block ads!(Why?)

Let's block ads! (Why?)