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Category: Business Activity

How Effective is Your Email Marketing?

A question of effectiveness

If you are a business owner who utilizes email marketing campaigns to promote your products or services and advertise your brand, the question of how effective your email marketing is might occupy a prominent place in your mind. In fact, questions regarding the effectiveness of any type of marketing effort should be entertained as frequently as deemed practical in order to ensure that such marketing efforts are producing desired results. Asking these questions on a regular basis and continually evaluating the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns will help to determine their effectiveness on an ongoing basis, especially in those instances when changes are made to the marketing strategy.

In view of the above, this article will discuss the importance of frequently evaluating email marketing strategies, while also providing a few tips which we hope will be helpful to you in evaluating your email marketing strategy.

First and foremost

First and foremost, it is important to evaluate your email marketing strategy on a regular basis because failure to do so might very well result in a complete waste of your time, money and efforts; and although email marketing may be a cost effective way to advertise your business the activity doesn’t get done without input from you, the business owner/advertiser. There is still some time, money and energy involved in planning and executing email marketing campaigns. In other words, if an email marketing campaign is ineffective and nothing is done to attempt make more effective your business is wasting resources by continuing to invest in this type of marketing strategy when it is not generating profit for the business or even creating interest in your products or services.

Second, and perhaps just as important, is the frequency with which a business owner or marketer evaluates the effectiveness of his/her email marketing strategy without setting goals before s/he begins the evaluation process. The importance of goal-setting is highlighted here because failure to do so might help to undermine the email marketing efforts of any business or marketer.

This is due to the fact that without goals it can be difficult to determine whether or not such email marketing efforts are effective. If, for example, you set a goal to increase the number of sales you make per month, then it will be rather simple to determine the results based on the number of monthly sales generated and therefore just as simple to evaluate the effectiveness of that particular email marketing campaign.

Deciding on method

Once you have determined how you intend to evaluate you progress you should be able to easily determine the effectiveness of your current email marketing strategy as long as this is the only marketing you are currently doing. Of course, if you have more than one marketing strategy in use simultaneously you cannot be sure which strategy is driving customers to make purchases, or attract visitors to your website.

When you decide to evaluate your email marketing strategy according to specific goals you should take care to ensure you are not currently running other types of marketing in conjunction with your email marketing campaign(s). This will help to prevent confusion about which type of marketing is producing the desired results. It will also help to prevent business owners from mistakenly believing email marketing is producing a positive results when, in fact, it is another marketing strategy that is actually generating all the positive sales and traffic activity.

Customer surveys

While on the subject of evaluating effectiveness, one strategy that comes to mind is the use of customer surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Asking customers how they heard about your products or services have proven to be an excellent way to determine whether or not customers are making purchasing decisions based on one marketing strategy or another; so this strategy can also be utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.

Additionally, these surveys can be used to obtain more detailed information about email recipients’ reaction to a particular email marketing campaign. Customers can, and often does, provide valuable feedback about topics such as the layout and appearance of email and the ease and readability of content included in the email. This feedback and other customer-generated information can help a business owner determine how to design future emails designed to achieve the most positive results in a campaign. Armed with such information the business owner can design subsequent emails that might incorporate many of the qualities previous customers found to be useful, and avoid qualities that were viewed to be useless.

03/23/2018
A Good Fit: Email Marketing & Your Business?!

To email market or not

If you are connected to the Internet as most of us are these days – circa 2018 – chances are that you have an email account or multiple email accounts, beginning with the one provided by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and perhaps one or more free email accounts provided by Google for personal use (GMail) and for business use if you operate a business. For those who do not own or manage a business the decision about how you use your email account is a simple and straightforward one which need not be explained here; but for those who own businesses, big and small, the use of email account(s) creates the need to make a few critical decisions.

First and foremost, when you own a business and have to decide whether or not your email account should be used for, or dedicated to, Email Marketing (EM) and whether this type of marketing is a good fit for your business, your decision-making process can be a difficult one; because although the concept of email marketing is very simple to understand, the process of determining whether or not it is right for your business can be significantly more complicated.

Factors to consider

This is because you have to consider a number of different factors before making your decision. Such factors often include members of your target audience and their tendency (or lack thereof) to use the Internet; whether or not your message can be effectively stated in an email; and whether or not your message is likely to be misinterpreted as spam. These factors and many others are important and devoting serious thought to them can go a long way in helping you determine whether or not email marketing is a good fit for your business.

That having been said, among the most important factors which must be considered when deciding whether or not to , energy and time into email marketing is understanding the extent to which a significant percentage of your target audience will use the Internet regularly. This is important because an email marketing campaign is not worthwhile if members of your target audience are not likely to use the Internet to purchase or research the products or services you offer; and even if they use the Internet for other purposes it may not be worthwhile if they are not likely to become online customers for your products or services.

Message to the audience

On the other hand, if your target audience is comprised of significantly more members who are very likely to use the Internet when making purchases of products and/or services, including those offered by you/your company, and to research these items online then an email marketing campaign may be a very good fit for your business. In this case it is absolutely worthwhile because you will be providing information that the members of your target audience will find useful, information which they may already be looking for elsewhere.

Next you should consider the products and services you offer in an effort to determine whether or not your message can be effectively stated and delivered in an email. This is important because if you offer a product or service which is difficult to explain, the emails you use for marketing are not likely to be understood or well received by members of your email subscriber list. This is critical because you want to be able to convey to potential customers the need that exists in the marketplace for products and services you offer, instead of making them feel more confused.

Refine your subject

Perhaps the most important aspect of email marketing to consider is the possibility that your email messages will be viewed as spam. This is a mistake that you never want your audience to make because emails which are viewed as spam are not likely to be well received by recipients and may not even make it to recipients’ inboxes if their spam filters tag these emails as spam. And on those occasions when your emails do reach the intended recipients, keep in mind that many Internet users have grown accustomed to weeding out spam rather quickly and therefore recipients will likely be quick to delete your messages, without reading them since they’ve mistakenly regarded them as spam.

In order to avoid such a mistake on the part of your recipients it is important to consider the subject of your business, and therefore the emails you send out. In other words, the subject of your emails must be as closely related to the theme of your website and the nature of your business as it can possible be so as to immediately alert your recipients that the content of your message is relevant to them and consist of information which is useful and, perhaps, valuable to them. This exercise is important because certain subjects such as weight loss pills are likely to be viewed as spam more quickly than other subjects…

Diligence begets a good fit?!

Meaning that if you are in the business of marketing products/services that would likely cause your emails to be viewed as spam, an email marketing campaign may not be a good fit for your business, unless you’re willing to create and test a number of specialized promotions to cover certain aspects of your company, brand or selected professional employees that could set your business apart from the negative connotation(s) associated with certain products similar to those which you offer. But creating such promotions entail even more thought, money and time in addition to difficult decisions, so be careful.

03/16/2018
Photo Editing Software Options for You

A more perfect image

Ever since the introduction of digital photography and subsequent improvements (including accessories and equipment) that help to refine digital cameras, more and more people have used these marvels of technology to achieve better quality photos; and yet – in spite of such the excellence in digital cameras – users sometimes still don’t get as perfect an image as they’d like. However, because of the existence of digital photography software, we all now have the ability to modify and edit our photos in order to get the more perfect image we want.

There are many examples that can be provided in support of this viewpoint, but the list of digital photography software below, which consists of various types, is a better and more powerful way to demonstrate the many ways you can use such enhanced accessories as they are made available in the marketplace. So without further elaboration, here are those software options.

Adjustment of graphics/photos

Infran View. With this software program you can alter the graphics at the same time as you crop and cut your graphics, produce slideshows and even enhance those graphics; and all these features are made available in one simple, free software program. This, by the way, is also perfect for group processing.

Image Force. This is a free software program with editing and painting tools which also has an image editor. This software will also let you transfer images from digital cameras and scanners; but it is best used for modifying, sending and printing you photos; and even though it is a rather complicated program, you can be rest assured that you’ll have a quality output.

Kodak EasyShare Freeware. Kodak has been a well-known name in the photography industry for a long time and still is, because the company has adapted to the digital transformation of this industry by creating such software products like this EasyShare Freeware that is widely used for modifying, sharing and even printing your photos. This product is great for amateurs since it is easier to use.

PhotoFilter. This is a simple software program, and although it has limited features, it is elegant in such a way that it has a user interface and lots of image adjustment buttons, effects and filters.

The list continues

VCW Photo Editor. This free version of graphic editor provides lots of editing and painting features, as well as tools such as: a text tool, color replacement, gradients, editing in any scales, selections by region or color, special effects and much more. You can also upgrade to a higher version of the tool for added and better features.

Picasa. This is a freeware from google which gives you the ability to share and edit all photos saved on your PC; but the good thing about this digital photography software is that it instantly sets all the images and then sorts them by album with the date on each folder which would help you to easily recognize all your pictures. You simply drag and drop to organize your albums, as well as to create labels on each album. Moreover, Picasa like any other software, gives you the ability to share and send your pictures by uploading them in your emails, and blogs.

Serif Photo Plus. This digital photography software includes features such as: editable text, image slicing, export optimizer, image maps, smart shapes, selection tools and other image enhancement tools. The current version has been available online free of charge for sometime, but you can order a CD with a shipping charge if you choose to.

ADG Panorama Version 5.0. Like other software programs, Panorama also lets you share your photos easily and generate them quickly; and it has added features that embed, edit and publish 360 degrees of interactive panoramic composition directly on the web. This software is internet dependent, however.

Picture Shark. PS is freeware allows you to “inscribe” visible text or logos on the photos; but it offers additional features which include, the Wizard user interface and the capacity to produce real watermarks; but it also has a feather that create edges between the picture and the stamp in order to make the image smarter; and it supports any image format.

Explore!

These are some of the available digital photography software available at the writing of this post, and there is sure to be more to come as technology continues its rapid pace of change and progress. As a digital photographer you can always play with your image by using a little creativity; so don’t be afraid to explore. Practice and research more on the software program that you think would work best for you.

10/19/2016
A Boost to Your Affiliate Marketing Business

Affiliate marketing is a very popular business on the Internet (Web) which consists of a partnership between merchants and affiliates. An affiliate’s role involves advertising and/or promoting a merchant’s products and services at no cost to the merchant until a customer referred by that affiliate makes a purchase from the merchant’s website, at which time the affiliate is credited with that sale and paid a commission in accordance with a previously agreed-upon percentage rate.

Affiliates’ commissions have at times been thought of in terms of a portion of the profit realized by the merchant from customers purchases; and based on this school of thought, the relationship between affiliates and the merchants is also known as revenue sharing partnership.

However, whether the relationship is viewed as a partnership, an independent contractor-client or an agent-principal, the fact remains that both parties derives benefit from that relationship as long as each perform his/her duties satisfactorily.

Considering that affiliate marketing has long been recognized the best way for merchants to sell more products on the Web, and affiliates (also referred to as webmasters at times) have long been known to derive income with their own website via their affiliate marketing activities, the relationship is seen as a “win-win” for both parties since each has the opportunity to make really good money – the merchant by increasing sales, and the affiliate by referring more customers – from each other’s participation.

Keep in mind also that affiliate marketing is a business (would industry be too strong of a word?) that already has widespread popularity; but having said that, it is also true that affiliates must be willing to work hard, and be diligent, persistent and consistent in making their websites stand out from the crowd in this highly competitive field.

No, the work is not easy for affiliate or merchant; but if the merchant creates unique and affordable products, and affiliates devise effective USPs (unique sales propositions), these secrets will lead to each being successful in his/her respective roles.

If you are an affiliate you’ll need to find new ways to increase your earnings or commission and turn your business into a success. You’ll obviously need to manage it the right way, since proper management will make yours and most other businesses grow. One other aspect of affiliate marketing which must be touched on is the fact that success does not come overnight as some sales people will have you believe; but having the right mindset for a long term commitment and sticking to the business pay huge dividends down the road.

To grow your affiliate marketing business, you’ll need to advertise your site, and in so doing, the merchants’ products; and the most common (effective?) way to accomplish this is with banners and links, as they also help you to get paid from your merchant. Banners and links are often placed on affiliates’ websites or blogs; but they should be placed very carefully as too many on a single page can be very annoying and confusing to your potential customers.

Another way to make your affiliate business grow is by going to forums and message boards that relate to the products you are marketing. This method can be a smart way to boost your income, since you’ll meet many different people with similar interests and, perhaps, effective techniques you could use. When you first start commenting try not to promote and sell anything; rather you must develop and nurture relationships in a genuine way, and these relationships have great potential of blossoming into reliable customers later on.

You can also make yourself a free ebook with advertisement tips and links to your affiliate website, as this can be a great resource for potential customers, and it helps to demonstrate your knowledge of a particular topic, as well as letting potential customers know that you are there to help. If you use the proper methods for advertising and letting customers know about your affiliate programs, you’ll be well on your way to making a lot of extra money as an affiliate marketer. It is truly one of the best ways to make money on the Web and all it takes is work, dedication and commitment.

06/17/2015
Google AdSense Can Enhance Affiliates’ Earnings

Why Affiliate Marketing?

Are you a webmaster who needs funds to keep your website running? Or is your website the only way for you to increase your earnings? Whichever category you identify yourself with, for as long as you are a webmaster or a web publisher and you need cash, affiliate marketing may work well for you. With affiliate marketing you may get a lot of cash pouring into your bank account as easily as some of the successful affiliate marketers, or it might be a little more difficult; but if your website is rich in great content and you want to earn money, why not get into the Google AdSense program as well?

Put simply, affiliate marketing is among the easiest – and probably – best ways to earn money online unless, of course, you own a business and would rather sell your own products online instead of advertise products and services owned by other businesses… on your website. But even online retailers can benefit from affiliate marketing programs, because affiliate marketing actually works for merchants as well as it works for the affiliates.

Affiliate marketing, simply stated, is a relationship or agreement made between two websites, with one site being the merchant’s website and the other being the affiliate’s site. In this relationship the affiliate agrees to let the merchant advertise his/her products on the affiliate’s site. The merchant, in turn, would agree to pay the affiliate in whatever method they have agreed into when affiliate-generated sales of the merchants product/service are made.

About affiliate compensation

This would generally mean easy income for the affiliate as s/he would do nothing but place the merchant’s ads on his/her site. This would also be very beneficial for the merchant, as getting affiliates to advertise their products would be a lot more affordable than hiring an advertising firm to promote those products.

There are a variety of methods on how the merchant would compensate the affiliate for his services, and for the webmaster, these methods simply translates to the method by which he would earn easy cash. Among the more common methods of compensation are the pay-per-click method, the pay-per-lead method, and the pay-per-sale method.

The pay-per-click method is the method most preferred by affiliates, for their site’s visitor would only have to visit the advertiser’s site for them to gain money. The other two methods, on the other hand, are better preferred by merchants, as they would only have to compensate you if your visitor becomes one of their registrants or if the visitor would actually buy their products.

Getting much profit on affiliate marketing programs, however, does not depend so much on the compensation method as it does on the traffic generated by your site – if you are the affiliate. A website that can attract more visitors would generally have the greater chance of profiting in affiliate marketing programs.

What about Google AdSense?

Google AdSense is actually some sort of an affiliate marketing program. In Google AdSense, Google act as the intermediary between the affiliates and the merchants. The merchant, or the advertiser, would simply sign up with Google and provide the latter with text ads pertaining to their products. These ads, which is actually a link to the advertiser’s website, would then appear on Google searches as well as on the websites owned by the affiliates, or by those webmasters who have signed up with the Google AdSense program.

While one can find a lot of similarities between Google AdSense and other affiliate marketing programs, you can also see a lot of differences. In Google AdSense, all the webmaster has to do is place a code on his website and Google takes care of the rest. The ads that Google would place on your site would generally be relevant to the content of your site. This would be advantageous both for you and for the advertiser, as the visitors of your site would more or less be actually interested with the products being advertised.

The Google AdSense program compensates the affiliate in a pay-per-click basis. The advertisers would pay Google a certain amount each time their ad on your site is clicked and Google would then forward this amount to you through checks, although only after Google have deducted their share of the amount. Google AdSense checks are usually delivered monthly. Also, the Google AdSense program provides webmasters with a tracking tool that allows you to monitor the earnings you actually get from a certain ad.

The end game!

So, where do all of these lead us to? – Where else but to profits, profits and even more profits! Affiliate marketing programs and the Google AdSense program simply work, whether you are the merchant or the affiliate. For the merchant’s side, a lot of money can be saved if advertising effort is concentrated on affiliate marketing rather than on dealing with advertising firms.

For the webmaster, you can easily gain a lot of profits just by doing what you do best, and that is by creating websites. And if you combine all your profits from both the Google AdSense program and other affiliate marketing programs, it would surely convert to a large amount of cash.

06/12/2015
Entryway to eCommerce and Affiliate Marketing
A HBB/WBB lifestyle

Our lives were changed forever with the creation of this marvelous resource we know as the Internet (the Web), as well as the mass production of computers from the late 80’s and beyond. Today everyone has the potential to be their own boss, whether the individual identifies with a specific group such as stay-at-home moms, manual laborers, multi-level marketers (MLMers) or home-based business (HBB) owners in general.

Any individual interested in starting a business would need only to do search on Google for business opportunities and such a search will provide more results, in more industries, than s/he could ever imagine. However, even though an individual may think it’s easy to make a living on the Web, such an endeavor actually requires a solid business plan and a lot of hard work.

Although making enough money to support the average lifestyle is admittedly not easy in a HBB and/or Web-based business (WBB), it is possible to start and build such a business while continuing to work on your your current job, and as such, your potential market – once your business gains adequate exposure on the Web – is a lot bigger than that of the typical offline retail stores.

A few WBB types

The first thing you will need to do when starting your own home-based/Web-based business is decide what type of business is right for you, and then do the necessary research to support the viability of your business type. Some possible business choices open to enterprising beginners are:
- Affiliate Marketing
- AdSense-Type Programs
- Ghost Writing (if you’re good with words)
- Blogging
- Scrap Booking
- Selling Information Products (ebooks)
- MLM (Multi-Level Marketing)
- Selling on eBay
- Network Marketing
- And many more to choose from!
The methodology

A sampling of how the top 3 choices work

Affiliate marketing programs will pay you a commission for promoting and selling products owned and serviced by companies and individuals commonly referred to as merchants. According to this kind of arrangement you, the affiliate, will have very little contact with customers, as role will be to provide sales leads to the merchants with whom you have m ade agreements to promote products/services.

AdSense-type programs will allow you to place contextual advertisements on any website, blog or video you own or produce. These advertisements are most often in the form of links, banners, buttons and badges produced by Google (originator and regulator of the AdSense program), Yahoo/Bing Network, or other such network. You, as the member and website owner/publisher, will receive compensation (few cents at the most) when someone clicks on a banner or link on your website.

The third method is ghost writing which allows you to use your talent as a writer (word smith?) to compose articles, blog posts, and various types of literary works, including press releases, resumes, sales letters (copywriting) etc., for others who may not have the time or skill to do it themselves and therefore are willing to pay you for doing it.

Starting out

You will probable have to start out as an associate (member) of an already established company such as Freelancer or Fiverr that has the system in place, before branching out on your own. But either way your earnings are virtually guaranteed as long as your work is good and you deliver on time.

When it all comes down to it, you’ll need to set up a business and web site to derive the most benefit from either eCommerce or affiliate marketing; and as mentioned earlier such an undertaking entails a lot of hard work, long hours and dedication – although in the end it will prove to be well worth the investment in time, energy and the limited money required to get your business up, running and flourishing.
06/02/2015