Mistakes happen. Even to the pros.
My new email service provider, AWeber, (yes, this is a shameless plug) blogged about this biggie blunder by Seth Godin.
But besides calling Mr. Godin out on his blunder, they also provide a handy-dandy checklist of eight “to-dos” to ensure email quality control.
That’s just one of the many things I like about AWeber — helpful hints via blog posts, emails and webinars.
If you’re a small business in need of some help managing your online opt-in email newsletters, follow-up automation, and email deliverability, get a 30-day free trial through my AWeber affiliate page. (Told you it was a shameless plug.)
No CommentsI’m guilty. I admit it.
Sometimes I forget things.
(Not often, but now and then.)
And what I’ve recently forgotten is that sometimes people need a little “101″ on topics such as small business marketing or blogging.
Mea culpa.
To rectify that, I’d like to direct you to a pretty smart 101 on blogging, courtesy of Justin Spring of the PRstore. Because you’re reading this blog, I have to assume you’re not completely unfamiliar with blogging, but reading up on the topic may teach you something you didn’t know, verify what you thought you knew, or help you explain the topic to someone else.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Justin last year for this Business First story and found him to be both personable and knowledgeable. Happy reading!
1 Comment
A few years ago, my former boss introduced me to KraftFoods.com and the free Kraft Food & Family magazine.
Like her, I’m hooked on their robust web site, smart emails and fast-fix recipes.
I’m always impressed with how they get my attention through the flurry of emails that make up my everyday world.
Kraft’s subject lines are always relevant and intriguing, and they deliver on the promise inside the email. Plus, they drive me to their web site.
And, every once in a while — like today — they surprise me with a special offer (today’s is a sign up for Cinco de Mayo recipes).
There’s more to be learned from Kraft than how to get around the kitchen.
No CommentsThis month’s issue of Columbus C.E.O. magazine has a nice little piece by Amy Aldridge on CME Federal Credit Union creating a social networking-type intranet.
“MySpace it’s not,” writes Aldridge, but it is a more techno-forward means of organization-wide communication.
This is a great example of taking the popular and adapting it to the workplace. If you’re looking for new ideas for your company, this is another one for the swipe file.
No CommentsAs many of my regular readers know, I like to keep a swipe file of things I think are well written. They serve as inspiration for me and can get my own writing moving when it gets stuck.
While I prefer to share the positive, every now and then I run across something so ridiculously bad that I have to share.
Like this example from Agency.com. This well-known interactive agency’s home page says this:
“effective interactive marketing campaigns, world-class websites. both are important, but what’s really important is both.”
Huh? I mean, I get it after I read it a couple of times but it’s just, well, dumb. Tell me what your first impression of this “tagline” is and share your own examples of things that have given you pause (for the wrong reason).
1 CommentEven a maven uses an outside source now and then. Such was the case when a new client of mine asked for punctuation rules for quotation marks.
For the record, punctuation typically goes inside the quotation mark; however, I did find an exception from one of my favorite sources, Purdue’s Online Writing Lab.
According to OWL, “Place a question mark or exclamation point within closing quotation marks if the punctuation applies to the quotation itself. Place the punctuation outside the closing quotation marks if the punctuation applies to the whole sentence.”
No CommentsIf you’re interested in mobile marketing (and who isn’t?), you may find this article from Food Management magazine as interesting as I did.
This profile of the University of Texas-Austin’s dining program features some terrific out-of-the-box thinking for reaching the masses with text messages.
No CommentsSeveral years ago on April 1 my husband called me at work and said I had a message from a Mr. Bear. I said that I didn’t know a Mr. Bear and asked if he was certain he got the message right.
Yes, yes, he said. He was positive. Mr. Bear. And then he gave me the number.
I called and reached what was apparently our local zoo. I asked for Mr. Bear. The person on the other end of the phone laughed. Again I asked for Mr. Bear. I told her that I had received a message and that I was returning the call and could she please connect me to Mr. Bear.
The good-natured lady went through this with me until FINALLY I understood that my husband had played a joke on me.
Mr. Bear. The zoo. Get it?
Ah. Now I got it. I have to say that it was not funny to me at the time. It’s hysterical to me now, some 8 years later, because I see how closed-minded I was about any other possibility than a Mr. Bear had actually called me. I could not see past the obvious.
Which brings me to today’s post.
When planning your marketing strategy or writing something for your audience, look past the obvious. Let go of the same-old, same-old corporate-speak and internally driven messaging.
Heck, try something fun and unexpected for a change.
No Comments