It is no secret to anyone who has every attempted to send an HTML email newsletter that coding can be a tricky thing. Designing a nice newsletter with background images, lots of color and text perfectly wrapped around your images is not that hard. Getting it to show up that way in your recipients’ mailbox, however, is a different kettle of fish (as they say across the pond).
The davemail team wants to give away a year’s worth of email newsletters, including all the extras, but we need your help. We are looking to the small-business community to nominate non-profit organizations that are making a big impact with limited resources. We realize that describes most non-profits, but we are looking for a group that could not normally afford to outsource their communications.
The issue of using lists of email addresses generated by someone other than you continues to be a hot topic. I received an email this week asking for my opinion about using a list provided by the organizers of a trade show.
In searching for keywords that people use when seeking information about email newsletters, I made a rather disturbing discovery. The No. 1 term searched for was “email lists.” Apparently, last month more people searched for information on purchasing a list of email addresses than newsletter design, writing, deliverability or email marketing combined.
Even in a world where shocking images are delivered on a daily basis through the Internet and cable news channels, what is happening in Haiti right now is difficult to comprehend. The devastation is so complete — both physically and emotionally — as survivors try to hang on, the displaced seek shelter and the world tries frantically to find ways into the tiny island nation to care for its people with supplies and hope.
And there is hope.
In my business, every day is different, which is a big reason why I like it so much. Over the last two days, I have been writing about the falling price of recreational land in southwest Georgia, the governor’s visit to a local manufacturing company, and the virtues of a new wellness center.
Tomorrow, it will be law enforcement and eye care.
I need to be honest about something. After a few weeks of monitoring online conversations through TweetDeck and Google Alerts on the subject of email newsletters, I had become a bit disheartened. There apparently are a lot of people out there complaining about getting newsletters they didn’t ask for, can’t unsubscribe from, or simply add to the chaos of their bulging inboxes.
Does that mean that email newsletters are no longer viable, and we will be communicating in 140-character chunks for the rest of our online lives? Hardly. In fact, after momentarily doubting my life calling and expenditure of all available (and future) funds, I was struck by a bolt of truth that reminded me why I remain so excited about this powerful tool.
I was walking through Wal-Mart the other day, when I passed three young kids just kind of messing around. As I zipped pass them on my way to find a phone cord, the biggest one looked around and said, “Hey, where’d Mom go?” After paying attention long enough to make sure they connected with someone, I went on my way thinking about how applicable that question is for business. (Kind of weird, I know.)
While waiting for my 15-year-old daughter to exhaust the rest of her allowance at the mall (with the help of a friend), I sat in the café area at Borders reading the September issue of “Entrepreneur.” I was pleased to come across an article entitled “The Twittering Class,” about the use of social media tools, but was flabbergasted by how far the article missed the mark.
How many experts out there, much less regular business people, are simply missing the point of Twitter as it relates to business?
Running a business well is like riding a bike. Not because you never forget how, but because getting off to a good start does not always ensure long-term success.
Riding a bicycle in a straight line, even pretty fast, is easy to learn, as my son discovered right away. But a couple days ago, we went for a little skills training. Instead of just riding around the block, we spent some time at a nearby cul-de-sac going really slowly and working on fundamentals. I would have him make sharp turns and maintain his balance by shifting his weight, turning the front wheel and pedaling just enough to stay up.
