Email Marketing Tips and SPAM Triggers
January 9th, 2010Email marketing is a very effective tool for businesses (both small and large). Successful business owners and their sales people know that building business, converting leads into sales, and keeping clients happy all involve staying in touch and keeping the conversation going.
Being one of the cheapest marketing mediums out there (averaging about 2 cents per recipient), email marketing is much more cost effective than direct mail and costly magazine ads. Most importantly, email marketing enables you to tailor messages to your recipients interests. This allows you to become a resource to those individuals.
Last week, we were honored to give a short presentation on email marketing to a group of sales reps. During the presentation we focused on one main point: the importance of becoming a resource. Becoming a resource means giving your prospects and clients what they want. It does not mean focusing exclusively on what you want (for them to buy more product).
Get to know your prospects, find out what they are interested in and deliver it. This is how you will be positioned as a resource and become a trusted information source and vendor. You will soon see your sales increase because you are now listening to your prospects instead of screaming at them to purchase your goods.
During the presentation, we learned that our audience was most interested in SPAM triggers. Below, I’ve included a list of words, phrases and other elements that will put your email newsletter in a SPAM folder faster than you can say “buy my product.”
Words and Phrases that trigger Spam Filters:
(both in the subject line and body copy)
FREE
Free Quote
Free Trial
Free Gift
Free Offer
Free Offer Guaranteed!
Guarantee
Guaranteed!
100% guarantee
One Time Only
$$
Apply Now
Limited Time Offer
Email Marketing
Information You Requested
**This is not a complete list. We encourage you to do a quick internet search on the topic if you’d like to learn more phrases.
Other Factors:
WRITING IN ALL CAPS
Lots of punctuation!!!!!!!????
Actually writing in the email that you conform to spam laws
Sending completely HTML emails (all pics and no text)
Not sending a text only version along with your HTML email
Not including an opt out or unsubscribe link
Now get out there and start connecting with your prospects and clients! Remember to put thought into the content that you are sending to specific groups. Think about what the recipients want to hear about and focus on that.
Did You Know 4.0
October 3rd, 2009The media landscape is changing, as more and more of us rely on our phones, internet news, and social media. This has a profound affects on all of us, whether we are in the advertising industry or business owners looking for a better way to connect. The enclosed video provides mind blowing stats and figures. It’s very enlightening and quit fun. Enjoy!
How to Avoid Web Designers who Take the Money and Run
September 9th, 2009“My web designer took my money and ran,” is something that we hear more often than you would think. Although I keep hearing the same sad story, I am still amazed each time I hear it. Usually the story goes something like this: the client hired a web designer or web design firm and put down a 50% deposit. After the deposit was received the client never heard from the web designer. If they did hear something, they were shown a bare bones site that didn’t work. The client tried and tried to reach the designer and could not get a hold of them. This is a very common occurrence that gives our industry a very bad name and I’m just tired of it.
Whether you choose to work with us at Good Work Marketing or not, we do want you to receive a quality product. In order to help others avoid the perils of losing deposits and receiving nothing in return, I’ve put together 5 key rules for finding a reliable web design company.
#1 Does the Company Have a Website
Common sense would tell you that a company that claims to specialize in website design should have their own website. If they do not, take caution. Now if they do have a website, it should contain a portfolio of their past work. Browse through the portfolio and see if the company has the design sense that you are looking for. Also make sure to check that the sites that are listed in their portfolio are in fact live and working. This is a key indicator of whether or not they pleased the client.
#2 Ask For References
If the web design firm is professional and as good as they say, they should have no problem providing references to you. If they refuse, an alarm bell should go off. The best way to find a credible company is to ask others to refer you to a designer that they have used and trust. This is how we are introduced to most of our clients here at Good Work.
#3 Pay Attention During The Initial Meeting
When meeting with the web designer or firm, make sure to pay attention to every detail. Did he or she ask you about your business, goals and target market? Did he or she take detailed notes and offer suggestions of what type of site would be effective for your business? Was the web design process explained to you, so that you would know what to expect?
These are all things that any professional web designer should do during an initial client meeting. If he or she didn’t take notes and asked you nothing about your business, that is a big indicator of a sketchy company.
#4 Don’t Be Afraid To Ask Questions
During the meeting ask the company how familiar they are with your industry?
Ask them what programming languages they use? Ask them if they can build content management websites or sites that will allow you as the client to update the site in the future. Have them detail their web design experience and tell you how long they’ve been in the industry. Also ask them if they are familiar with search engine optimization techniques. You are the client, so do not be afraid to ask questions.
#5 Go With Your Gut Feeling
Most of us have pretty good intuition. If something seems fishy, it most probably is. If this is the case, continue with your search until you find a company that you can trust.
Death by PowerPoint
July 2nd, 2009I’m sure that we’re not the only ones who have had to sit through a horrible PowerPoint presentation. It seems to happen time and time again, where the speaker includes every word in the presentation and just stands there reading it verbatim. This is the worst possible thing to do in a presentation. It is painfully boring for the audience and makes the presenter seem ill prepared.
Please check out the below video entitled Life After Death PowerPoint.
It is sure to make you giggle and remind you of what not to do.
Hello world!
June 28th, 2009
The team at Good Work Marketing And Design is pleased to announce our new website. The site is built utilizing the WordPress framework. WordPress is a blogging platform that has been making great strides as of late in the areas of content management and SEO effectiveness. WordPress is trusted by large organizations such as The New York Times and you can’t argue with that.
The most important goal for our site was to show off our creativity and take on the task of making a WordPress site that looked nothing like a blog. Great care has been taken on every aspect of the site down to the little fun details.
So by all means, browse around a bit and let us know what you think. We’re always looking to improve the way that we do things, and appreciate feedback. We hope that you enjoy our new site.
Yours in Good Work,
Summer White
Co-founder / Marketing Director
