LAST CHANCE to Save 30% on Constant Contact and a Free Subject Line Webinar 9.15.15

August 31, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Constant Contact

Hi there,
I hope you’re having a great Summer. I’ve been having a nice mix of vacation and work and I’m looking forward to helping you and your business thrive this Autumn. If you’d like to get started with the best tool I know of for online marketing, you have until 9pm PST to sign up for a Constant Contact account – the offer is 30% off for the first three months and ends tonight.
In addition to this offer, I will spend at least an hour with you setting up your account – making sure you have a sign-up form on your website and Facebook fan page; helping you upload your email list(s); create a mobile-friendly template, and work with you to get your first email sent!  It’s an exciting process that often yields great results the first time you do it. Sometimes the results are not what you expect they’ll be! Clients often write back happy to hear from you. Some unsubscribe. Some share your news with their friends and referral business comes your way. You won’t know what you’re missing until you try it, and I can help make the process easy and effective!
In other news, I’m planning to offer a free webinar on September 15th on the art and science of creating fantastic subject lines. Have a look at this free “headline analyzer” to get a sense of some of the possibilities in this area. When your subject line is improved, your open and click-through rates go up – thus, bringing you more attention and prospective business. I hope you’ll tune in.  Everyone who participates will receive a link to a recording of the session and slides, too!
Have a great rest of your Summer and I look forward to hearing how things are going for you and if there’s any way I can support your efforts.
Take care,
Happy Labor Day!
Albert Kaufman
Summertime
My Summertime Look

 

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Online Marketing Checklist

July 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment

email marketing works

Marketing Checklist = Social Media & Email Marketing for Small Businesses

  • Email Marketing – 43% ROI – most valuable tool out there

  • Use Constant Contact – https://albertkaufman.constantcontact.com
  • Consistent Branding
    • Stick with 2-4 colors
    • 1-2 fonts
  • Relevant Message – short and Sweet
    • Welcome Email: What to expect, how often you send and a special offer
    • Newsletters: Blog posts, press releases, events, announcements
    • Promotions: New and compelling offers, clear call to action
  • Consistent “from” name
  • For mobile-friendly emails (which should be all you do at this point) stick to one column and keep logo left-justified or centered
  • Contact information in the body of the email
  • Add in social media links
  • Clear call to action
  • Quality photos
    • Link your logo/photos back to your website
  • Links, Links, Links
    • Give a short description or teaser line and link the rest of the info.
  • Join My List button (always!)
  • Social Share Bar (in header options)
  • Web page version option (in header options)
  • White space is your friend!
  • Use the “Share this email with your friends” option
  • Be yourself… use conversational text!
  • Don’t forget the Humor!

Social Media Suggestions

  • Learn about Hootsuite, Buffer and Sendible (pick one and use it)
    • Buffer has a great daily newsletter
  • Make sure all accounts are filled in
  • Think about a different voice for each type of account
  • Double-check your spelling
  • Think ahead – editorial calendars are great!
  • Are there holidays, other events coming up, tomorrow, a year from today!
  • Follow your competitors – what are they posting?
  • Err on the side of over-posting – with the new algorithms, it’s likely followers won’t see much of what you post (see why Email Marketing is a preferred way to spend your time/$$$)
  • Try things – make mistakes
  • Everyone is learning social media together – no one is an expert – try something clever and your post may go viral
  • Upload native video to Facebook and elsewhere.
  • Be prepared in case anything ever does go viral (have all accounts filled in with website URLs – landing pages where you would like people to get to
  • Think about the what, why, who, kinds of questions often – who am I trying to reach with what message?
  • What would success look like?
  • Consider trying FB advertising – boosting posts vs. advertising

Feel free to keep in touch. I love fielding questions about social media and email marketing. Don’t get discouraged – this is a new field and it’s a constant learning curve! Good luck, Albert Kaufman

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Marriage Equality – Hurrah!

June 26, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Thanks to everyone who has worked long and hard for the right to marry who they wish – it’s been a long struggle.

This one’s for you, Brother Dan!
Celebration Cookies by BakerManDan!

Also great news this week
Also great news this week!

Atlanta, GA

 
Here’s a great, short movie on FB that shows the history of this effort. I’m all about progressive change and I’ll keep working for the rest of my life. Winning one every once in a while helps 🙂

Read about it here – Thanks, VOX!

The final two paragraphs of the SCOTUS’s opinion legalizing gay marriage:
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right. The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed.
 
It is so ordered.”
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The Eleven – June 2015: Summertime

June 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment

The Eleven
Hello, and welcome to my monthly e-letter, The Eleven. This is where I have shared my latest thinking about the world and my life for the last 8 years. The newsletter goes to about 3,000 people. If this doesn’t interest you, and you’re more interested in my classes and such – please take a moment and update your profile below. Thanks.
Jerry Garcia
Albert as Albert Einstein
Me, thanks to Zen Achilles

I want to talk about the classes I teach for a minute. I started by teaching classes on how to use Facebook in my living room. I loved it – I really have taken to teaching. That led to connecting up with Constant Contact 3 years ago. They like how I teach and brought me into their Authorized Local Expert program. I’m provided with content about email marketing and social media to present locally and via webinars. Generally, the ideas are sound and I add in my own special sauce derived from my personal experience and that of my clients. That has led to me knowing a whole lot about newsletters and other online marketing tools. Here’s my current thinking on the topic.

Please come join me for one of these classes and send your friends to me. Whether this is your world or not, everyone can use new skills and I think you’ll find my presentation style refreshing. Also, my classes offer a safe and easy opportunity to network – they are filled with small business owners who are often looking for people to hire or collaborate with. So, if you’re looking for opportunities; are considering beginning a new venture; or are curious about small business issues, come on down. Also, I have been inviting some really interesting and cool marketers into the mix. For tomorrow’s class – David Baer of Baer on Marketing will be joining me. He’s a driven and exciting guy – and makes Facebook marketing a lot clearer. Later in the month I’ll be joined by Tshombe Brown, an inspiring coach and speaker.

Music break: Click on the title above for a taste of what the Grateful Dead were doing 50 years ago. And will do again in a few weeks in their fare thee well tour. My dentist is going. My best friend from college is going. Due to climate change and ears that don’t love flying, I didn’t try for tickets, but I hope to watch some of the action via pay-per-view in Portlandia. This may also have to do with my Early Onset Grumpiness.

Life continues to be interesting. The other day my friend, James Curtis, sent me this beautiful mandolin. I’m loving playing it – click on the pic to learn more about this master luthier!

James Curtis Mandolin

Personal News: I’ve been off sugar (mostly) for the past month. That’s led to some weight loss, and Eecole tells me my body is probably a lot happier without the white devil! I’ve been doing a bunch of reading/listening/watching, lately, and I’m especially enjoying Tim Ferris’s podcasts. I’ve noticed feeling jealous when friends tell me they’re in school, so I’m making a point of spending as much time as I can studying – reading, learning Spanish and watching inspirational videos. If you have anything in this realm you’d like to recommend, please let me know. Thanks!

Meanwhile, our sunflowers are growing taller by the day. Oh, and I started teaching a co-counseling class for men. If you’re interested, let me know, we’re just getting started. We’ll meet bi-weekly for now at my place in SE Portland.

The world keeps turning and we all are doing the best we can.  Me included 🙂 If you need help with something, please let me know. I could use some more connection in my life so feel free to reach back if you feel moved to. Being car-free, I’d especially love invites to get out and hike in the hills!

Take care and have a great Summer!

touch of gray, kind of suits you anyway :)
oh well a touch of gray, kind of suits you anyway 🙂

Sincerely,

Albert
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What’s happening in the world of email marketing

June 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment

email marketing report June 4th 2015 (updated 6.8.23)

As I prepare for my next live class on email marketing, I thought I’d share some of what I’m seeing these days in the field. I’ve been using Constant Contact for the past 15 years to send out a monthly e-letter called The Eleven. Originally, this went out to friends and family, and then, eventually, as I got more involved in teaching email marketing, I developed a few lists of people who came to my classes who have shown interest in learning more about marketing practices.  Along the way, I became a Constant Contact authorized local expert – offering regular classes on email marketing, event marketing, and social media in the Pacific Northwest. By now I’ve probably spoken to about 1,000 people and my list has grown.  Here are some of the changes I’ve seen recently in the marketing world.

First of all, email is not dead, far from it. The more media attention I see social media getting, the more I’m convinced that if you actually want to succeed in reaching people in an easy and affordable manner – you want to be building an email list of interested people.  I hear people constantly talking about building a Twitter following; an Instagram following; or getting more “likes” on their Facebook fan pages. If you’re able to pay for advertising on one or more of these platforms – then, great – you may have a chance to build up your email list.  But, honestly? Unless you either have some amazing content (beautiful photos; fantastic articles; or you’re suddenly in the media limelight for some reason and something you do is going viral) I wouldn’t put that much energy into social media. I tend to think of a fan page as a good Yellow Pages ad. There it sits – if someone searches for your business they can find you. Fantastic! And then they can come to your website, join your email list or call you. Great!  But when you post something on social media these days and you get 0.01% reach to the people who are your fans or followers – it just doesn’t seem worth it to me.

A peer asked me yesterday whether one of my fan pages, Email Marketing Guru – actually led to any new business.  I said that it used to, but even with some targeted advertising, I don’t think it’s doing me much good.  It looks good – yes, it gives me some sort of credibility that I have over 1,500 fans on a couple of fan pages.  That and $1 will buy me a cup of coffee.  If one searches on “Email Marketing Portland” my fan page comes up 3rd on Google. OK, that’s probably worth something.  But honestly, I think being able to send an email out to people who have expressed interest in what I do is so much more powerful that I really shouldn’t be spending as much time on social media as I do.

In terms of email marketing, things are shifting, too. Emails are going to mobile-friendly formats. If you’re doing email marketing and you haven’t moved to a mobile-friendly template, that’s the #1 thing I’d recommend doing. Now.  Word has it that 65% of people are reading their emails (your emails!) on their mobile devices.  So, learn about mobile-friendly templates and move to one ASAP. Second, the formats for newsletters are shrinking.  I’m seeing more and more newsletters that are a banner, a couple of sentences, a call to action, and that’s it.  Because these do well on phones. Because people’s attention spans are shrinking. So, if you haven’t tried doing a very short newsletter yet, give it a try and see what happens with your open rates and click-through rates (which are way more important, because responses to your call to action are what really counts, right?).

Thanks for reading, I think that’s a good start.  My recommendation? Stop worrying about social media and put more time into getting a robust email marketing program up and running, or strengthening what you’re already doing. If your website doesn’t have an email list sign-up form, get one. And, if you need any assistance with this, let me know. This is what I love to do – check out my Managed Care Program for an idea of the service and encouragement I offer.

Here to help.

Sincerely,

Albert Kaufman

PS – if you’d like a 2-month risk-free Constant Contact trial – click here. That’s what I use. It’s easy and worth every penny.

Try Constant Contact Free for 60 Days

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Be Idling Free

May 28, 2015 by 2 Comments

Be Idle Free Everywhere
no idling young lungs at workIT’S YOUR E-MISSION!

Have you ever left your vehicle idling for more than 10 seconds while waiting to pick up your child at school or while at the drive-up window at the bank?  Most of us have.  Here are some very good reasons to rethink this common habit:

Vehicle emissions are the largest contributing factor to air pollution.  The combustion of fossil fuels releases several types of air pollutants that are detrimental to our health.  These include sulfur dioxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and other toxins contributing to the formation of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels.

Children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution.  Children breathe 50 percent faster and inhale more air per pound of body weight than adults.  Studies have shown a direct link between many respiratory diseases and pollutants found in vehicle exhaust.  In fact, asthma is the third leading cause of hospitalization for children under the age of 15.

Excessive idling is expensive.  Over 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting your engine.  Idling for 10 minutes a day uses an average of 22 gallons of gas per year, and gets zero miles to the gallon.  Excessive idling is not good for your vehicle either.  It can actually damage your engine components, including cylinders, spark plugs, and exhaust systems, whereas frequent restarting has little impact on engine components like the battery and starter motor.

For the children, for yourself, and for the environment, please remember to keep your emission down and turn off your car if it isn’t moving!

1-2-3 TURN THE KEY!

Please join our Portland effort to change this

Here’s a suggestion for how to avoid idling – see what happens when you do things in this order:

1. Make your phone call or map out where you’re going first, then..
2. Get in the car
3. Put on seat belts
4. Turn on Car
5. Go where you’re going.

1st Article by WA Post on the uselessness of idling in the Winter and follow up by WA Post: This is why people still think they should idle their cars in winter.

Here’s a great Brochure on Anti-Idling

Some good news from Obama regarding airplanes and emissions. btw, why not military jets included?

This is just in thanks to Evan Manvel: Oregon Greenhouse Gas Reduction Toolkit: Strategy Report: OREGON SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION INITIATIVE: Eco Driving PDF

Be Idle Free Boise

Oregon Department of Transportation’s EcoDrive website https://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP/Pages/ecodrive.aspx

The American Lung Association https://www.lung.org/healthy-air/school/protecting-air-at-school/ government.html

US Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Campaign https://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/sector-programs/csb-overview.htm

US Environmental Protection Agency’s Idle Free School Zones website https://www2.epa.gov/region8/idle-free-schools

US Department of Energy, Idle Reduction website https://www.afdc.energy.gov/conserve/idle_reduction_basics.html

5.25.24 – OEC Article which makes everything very clear.

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