Showing posts with label Social Selling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Selling. Show all posts

Thursday, 24 October 2019

7 Habits of Great Email Marketers

If you want to get your email marketing off to the right start, it helps to think like the pros. There aren't many rules with email marketing and it's important to find your won approach. That said, if you start with these ideas in mind, you'll skip a lot of pain. https://ezinearticles.com/?7-Habits-of-Great-Email-Marketers&id=10154973
Habit 1: Always Add Value
Assume your reader is busy. Also assume they're annoyed and looking to take it out on someone. If you do this, you'll write emails in the right way.
You'll be entertaining.
You'll be useful.
What you won't be is annoying, long winded for no reason, insulting or a waste of time.
Every email you send should be valuable. It should offer a unique insight or provide something useful.
I know one marketer who hadn't quite figured this out. She would send a weekly email talking about what she's up to and the latest offers. The problem was this only changed every month or so, meaning she sent the same email - word for word - three times in a row.
Sometimes you need to say the same thing more than once. That doesn't mean you have to say it the same way. Keep it fresh and reward the reader for opening your email.
Habit 2: Focus On Success and Forget About Losers
Let's say you create an amazing bribe to entice subscribers onto your list.
Then you see someone subscribe, download your bribe and unsubscribe 20 minutes later.
You might be tempted to get upset and start rethinking things.
Don't. You can forget about people like that. Freebie-seekers won't buy from you anyway, so who cares?
Focus on making sales. If a bunch of subscribers opt out of your list but you make record sales, that's a win.
Focus on building the relationship. Someone might be on the fence now and that's okay. Give them time, keep offering value and they'll probably buy later. And if not, who cares, right?
If your readers are trusting you more and more over time, then email marketing is working. If you're making sales, then it's working. Forget about individuals who just want your free bribes - they're not worth thinking about.
Habit 3: Learn From the Best
Who are the best email marketers in your niche?
Who are the best on the planet?
Have a read of their emails. Subscribe to their list. Notice what they say and how they say it. Compare their bribe to yours.
What can you learn from them?
What shouldn't you learn from them, because it won't work for you?
Trust me - the best marketers ask themselves this a lot too. Marketing always changes, so even the best know they need to keep learning.
Habit 4: Find Your Unique Voice
I said learn from the best. I didn't say imitate them.
When you study the best marketers, you'll notice a lot of amateurs imitating their style. I don't recommend it.
For one thing, it doesn't work.
For another, it's harder than figuring out your own voice.
Pay attention to how you speak in person. What's your energy like? Are you upbeat or crotchety? What strange phrases do you like to use?
Write your emails like this.
Yes, you want to come across as professional. Definitely do that. You also want to come across as human, though.

Habit 5: Be Reliable and Consistent
If you say you'll email five times a week, then email five times a week.
If you imply you'll add value with every email, then do so.
Consistency is key. Is it the most important thing? I don't know, but if you're consistent and you live long enough, success is guaranteed.
Habit 6: Sell
Your email marketing exists to sell. This is part of the value you add to the world. If your product or service helps people, then you owe it to them to convince them to buy.
Yes, you get something out of it.
But so do they. If there's mutual benefit and you're transparent about it, then it's the most ethical thing you can do.
Some people sell with every email they send. Others like to break it up with useful content. That's up to you to figure out - though you'll notice I sell with each of these. No matter what you choose, though, don't let a week go by without selling something to your list.
If they don't like it, they can leave. Say good riddance, as per Habit 2.
Habit 7: Keep Growing Your List
Over time, people will opt out. It doesn't matter how good you are or how amazing your emails are. It happens.
This means you keep needing new subscribers, even if you want to keep your numbers stable.
You need to keep growing just to stay in the same place.
Some part of your marketing efforts need to be dedicated to capturing subscribers. In between writing sales letters and emailing your list, you need to go out there into the world to find new readers.
Put your ethical bribe in front of them. Wiggle it enticingly until they can't resist anymore.
But remember, not all subscribers are equal. Go to where your ideal clients live - haunt their forums and Facebook groups and, if it's not against the group's terms, invite people to subscribe.

Tuesday, 22 October 2019

5 Tips To Get Your Blog Read

You put a lot of time into writing your blog posts - heck, you spend a lot of time just figuring out what to write about - so you want to make sure your blog gets opened and read. Here are 5 tips to make sure your audience will want to read yours.https://ezinearticles.com/?5-Tips-To-Get-Your-Blog-Read&id=9941605
#1. Ignite the Spark.
It can take time to come up with a relevant topic (and "relevance" is key) so do your homework. Research what your audience wants to read about then make it interesting.
It can help to subscribe to similar blogs and create a "sample" file where you search for topic inspirations. That doesn't mean copying what they write (not cool)... but instead look for the spark that triggers an idea you can work with, especially one that you can create a unique twist to the subject matter or tie it in with something going on within your industry, your community, or perhaps a global trend.
#2. Do Not Sell!
Your blog is a place to give new insights. Share ideas. Inspire others. Educate. It is not a place to sell - that is the purpose of an advertorial.
There is nothing worse than reading a great article that has given you a plethora of new insights, only to discover half way through that the author has duped you and turned the content into a blatant advertisement. You no longer trust anything you just read and will probably never read anything from this author again.

#3. Write Well.
Yes, proof reading and editing are important. Read your article out loud - backwards, even - to ensure there are no mistakes, or least minimal typos.
• Bold your subheadings.
• Use bulleted points.
• Write short paragraphs.
• Keep sentences short.
• Include keywords so your blog will be found online.
And be creative! Paint a picture for your reader by using specific words to describe settings and characters. Instead of saying, "the building was very tall," tell the reader exactly how tall: "The building was ten stories high."
Eliminate weedy words, which waste space, such as just, very, really, some, certainly, etc.
#4. Give Your Article a Great Title!
Just imagine you've picked up your favourite magazine. The first thing you do is open it up to the index page and scan the titles. The title that jumps out at you first, is the article you'll read first - it has impact.
Make sure the title of your blog post jumps off the page - or off the screen - so it gets read first!
#5. You Don't Have To Be a Writer.
This may sound odd, but if you can talk you can write. Remember, you're sharing a story. But you may not have time in your schedule to write - so hire a ghostwriter! A good ghostwriter will write in your voice so it sounds like you've written it, it will say you've written in, and you will be gain expert status to help your business.
The key with writing articles is be known for your expertise... to be remembered when your prospect is finally ready to buy your product or service... and to help drive traffic to your Web site - so keep your blog active.

Friday, 18 October 2019

The Impact of Online Social Communities on Your Business

When it comes to online social communities, people naturally gravitate toward them. Humans, by nature, are social animals. They are comfortable in groups and they feed off of each other's energy and they like to bounce ideas off of each other (among other things).https://ezinearticles.com/?The-Impact-of-Online-Social-Communities-on-Your-Business&id=10029710
Being Engaged and Engaging Is Essential
You definitely need other people to succeed in business. In fact, without them, you will not have any business at all. You need them to eventually buy what you are selling. For that reason, online social communities work well for many things, including giving each other what the other wants and needs. You want your relationship to be mutually beneficial.
Whether you start an online social community or you join one that has already been established, your approach will be the same (minus some possible administrative responsibilities that you may have if you establish the community). It is important to remember that you are not in it by yourself no matter what. A community is a group of people who share one or more common interest.


Social media is the backbone of online social communities
Social communities are very important to the success of most businesses. It is a classic case of one hand washing the other. Businesses need online social communities to help them to fortify the social aspect of their institution. On the other hand, online social communities need businesses because they need to live and grow somewhere. Businesses can provide just such a forum and a platform for those online social communities to do just that. It is very important for you to remember that online social communities are not just for personal use. They are extremely beneficial to businesses as well.
From the marketing perspective, combining online social communities with business is truly a marriage made in Heaven. Those communities are the power behind successful marketing efforts on the part of the business. Some of the positive results that come out of that alliance are that the online social communities allow businesses to:
  • Develop solid, enduring relationships and networks that are built on trust
  • Bring people together who can share a mutually beneficial relationship
  • Participate in active, successful engagement
A wide variety of online social communities
The online social communities that you choose for your brand/business will depend on the goals that you have in mind. Those goals will drive you to pursue certain groups and certain people. You certainly have a great deal of communities from which to choose. Your chosen communities can go a long way to satisfying your business' marketing needs.
Now that you understand how online social communities work (more or less), it is important for you to understand that engagement is an essential part of the successful functioning of those communities. You should keep in mind that even though the communities are social in nature, that doesn't mean that your business will not benefit from them in the ways that you want them to. In fact, there are many effective tools that you can leverage in order to get what you want out of your engagement in those communities. Interestingly, there may be aspects of your communities that are not obvious (or even apparent).

For example, if you are a member of a community that has 2,000 members, you may still find that only 50 of those members are actively engaged in discussions and other interactions. The truth is that not every member has a desire to be heard. Some people only have enough of an interest to listen and learn, which, of course, is okay too. However, you still need some people who are more vocal than that. Otherwise, nobody would be interacting about anything. You will want to encourage as many group members to participate in the discussions that occur but you don't really have too much control over it in the end. There are many different ways to engage other people in addition to leaving a comment or a thought-provoking question. You can put out a survey (with three to four questions) or run a contest with an incentive (a discount on your products and/or services, some sort of prize, etc).
Participating in online social communities doesn't happen by itself
Undoubtedly, you understand clearly that online social communities are about people. The platforms and forums that are used are helpful (you might even go out on a limb and say that they are essential) but they are still not as important as the members of the community. In fact, the choice of platform and forum are not nearly as important as the people. Many platforms/forums can be used by communities simultaneously. One added benefit to being a part of an online social community is that it gives you the support that you may need to embrace what your competition is doing and to gather some really valuable competitive intelligence.
Conclusion
The effectiveness of your online social communities depends, in large part, on the community members and their ability to act as effective resources. In turn, you (and each one of the members) will help each other to get what is needed and wanted. After all, you are all part of the same community (think of it as a family) and that is what families do. They help each other whenever it is needed. You can use your online social communities in many different ways, including discussing products and/or services and gaining valuable feedback, which will help you to bring your business to the next level.
Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has over 25 years of experience in IT and web technologies. Mr. Cohn spent a significant amount of time at a major telecommunications company, where his main focus was on initiating and leading synergy efforts across all business units by dramatically improving efficiency, online collaboration, and the company's Intranet capabilities, which accelerated gains in business productivity. He also reduced company travel and travel costs by introducing and implementing various collaboration technologies.
His expertise includes business analysis; project management; management of global cross-matrix teams; systems engineering and analysis, architecture, prototyping and integration; technology evaluation and assessment; systems development; performance evaluation; and management of off-shore development.