New Media Mavens Blog

How to Use This Summer to Move Your Business Forward

I love summer! Just last week, I had the great opportunity to visit one of my favorite places, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and see the glorious roses in the Cranford Rose Garden. It looks like a Monet painting come to life! (For more pics, friend me on Facebook and see the whole album!)

And this weekend's holiday just cemented all the reasons summer remains one of the best seasons in the year. Life slows down. We get to remember what's important.

It's so easy to get caught up with the day-to-day practice of working in your business that you don't have time to work ON your business. That stops today.

Nine weeks from today will be Labor Day. That means if you commit yourself today, you can do something amazing so that by the end of the summer your business could be further ahead than before.

Here are some things that can move you forward that you might consider:

• Tackle a new market: create a whitepaper, a new landing page for your website, book speaking engagements to your new target, submit articles to industry publication.
• Grow your online presence: Join Twitter; go to sites such as www.whoshouldifollow.com and start following others in your sphere of influence.
• Give your website a facelift: Shift to wordpress.org and create a blogsite instead of a separate website or blog.
• Engage in conversations on a daily basis: Commit to blogging daily instead of 3-4 times a week; ask your customers to join you and ask the questions they want answered; direct message people on Twitter talking about what you specialize in; go to LinkedIn.com and answer questions.

The goal of all of this is creating a new thought process around your business. If you want more out of  your business, you're going to have to invest more. Make this summer more meaningful.

Life is not static, it's dynamic. Make sure your business reflects where and who you are right now.

What will you commit to this summer? Join us and let's make this summer the most impactful yet!

Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven

What's your call to action?

Memorial Day

It's Memorial Day and the call to action is: Remember those who have died in our nation's service!

However, in marketing our businesses -- whether on our websites, newsletters, in print or in video we're so committed to what we're saying that we sometimes forget the call to action.

What is the call to action?

Here's a definition below from the Business Dictionary:

Words that urge the reader, listener, or viewer of a sales promotion message to take an immediate action, such as "Write Now," "Call Now," or (on Internet) "Click Here." A retail advertisement or commercial without a call-to-action is considered incomplete and ineffective.

Allbusiness.com's marketing advisor, Jim Logan explains the call to action in this brief video:

Regards,

Lena Claxton

What Every Business Owner Can Learn From Steve Jobs

The news of Steve Jobs' leaving Apple for the next few months while he recouperates sent shock waves through the business community. More than any other CEO, Jobs is identified by shareholders as Apple, the company he founded. The upside is that he's a brilliant catalyst and innovator who has been able to lead the company to success. The downside is that the company's health is inextricably tied to his own.

One of the tennents of creating a successful business is to make sure you insulate your business from these ups and downs. That's why it's a good idea to not just have your company's blog, e-zine or social media site only represent the view point of one person.

New media products used to promote a business should come from several points of view within the company. Ask all the leaders in the company to blog, not just the CEO. Let the Chief Technology Officer or even a frontline sales person write the introduction to some of your e-mail marketing pieces not just the VP of Marketing. Not only will this give your audience different voices and perspectives, it helps your company avoid being associated with anyone person.

In a fluid and volatile job market, this also helps you extend your company's brand, not just the particular employee in charge of your new media marketing.

What variety of voices do you use in your new media marketing? Click on the "comment" button to add your thoughts.

Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven

How to Use LinkedIn to Boost Your Business

Wondering how to take those LinkedIn invitations in your inbox and use them to propel your business? You're not alone. This month our e-zine delves deeply into the eight ways to use the social media tool to further your success. Sign up for our e-zine by visiting our website.

As the Stock Market Takes a Rollercoaster, Use New Media to Connect with Customers

A little over an hour ago, Wall Street's stock market opened and numbers started to fall. Who knows how this day will end but the most important thing is to remain calm. If you are a business in the financial or insurance sector, this is the time to reach out to your customers and reassure them that you and your team are on the job and looking out for their best interests. If you are in a business owner in any market, the general instability of the stock market may make customers jittery. Find a way to address your customers' fears.

You can use your e-zine provider to create a postcard or a simple blank e-mail. Assign someone to post daily updates on your blog. Use Twitter to let your community that you are watching, waiting and acting proactively.

During times like this, when news is changing moment to moment, you can use the power of new media to keep your customers and clients informed, and not alarmed.

Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven

3 More Quick/Easy Ways to Stay Connected with Customers

All month we've discussed the impact of an e-zine (online newsletter) on your business. Even though we are staunch advocates of sending out a value-packed e-zine, some may consider it quite a challenge to churn out an e-zine every two weeks or every month.

In the previous post, Alternatives to an E-zine we talked about how sending brief e-mail postcards can help you keep in touch with customers. To wrap up, we'll explore three more ways you can stay connected without producing a full e-zine:

1. Create an e-mail course. Think of seven ways to do something in your business that your customer or prospect will value. Then create a seven-day course and deliver via e-mail. Or, break up the chapters from an e-book. If you don't have an e-book invest in the time to write a report, white paper or long article. Use an autoresponder like Get Response or AWeber to deliver a section each month. You write it once and forget it! The autoresponder will automatically deliver your content like clockwork while you're busy taking care of other things.
   
2. Write an evergreen e-zine. It's easy to write 52 brief tips on your expertise ahead of time. Try writing "52 Ways to ________" "52 Secrets to _________." Again, schedule the tips in an autoresponder to send every week for an entire year without you lifting a finger for the other 51 weeks.
   
3. E--mail your blog posts to your list. No I don't mean that you become a pest and send a blog post every day to your customers' in-box. You will get more "unsubscribes" faster than you can say jack rabbit! But, compile your most important ones, in a blog digest if you will, and send once every week or two.

With these three quick and easy ways to stay connected, you can now say: "I have enough to write about" or "I have time to do this." Staying consistent, in providing value and staying top-of-mind, with your customer is key.

How do you stay connected with your customers? Write a comment and tell us.

Regards,

Lena Claxton

Want the full enchilada on using new media to skyrocket your business? Try our 30-Day Marketing With New Media Makeover but hurry, it begins on Monday, August 4, 2008!

Alternatives to an E-Zine

The key to a succesful strategy when marketing with new media is consistency. But some business owners say they neither have time nor the inclination to create a full-blown e-zine. What's a business owner to do? There are alternatives.  Some of the best promotions used by businesses are postcards.

The best of the best comes from Nordstrom. Their colorful image entices the reader to click on the visual and go straight to the store's website where more information can be found and a purchase can be made. They also send them regularly and have great subject lines, the key to getting the e-mail opened.

Don't have time to write an e-zine? Consider a postcard.

Alison Woo

Chief Media Maven    

E-zine Secrets to Success: How One Life Coach and Boompreneur Does it

One of the most common complaints of writing an e-zine is that it is time consuming. Life coach and boompreneur Jeannie Fennell (CEO of Lifeworks) has solved that problem by creating two e-zines -- one full lenth e-zine and one short e-zine that offers tips. Fennell also uses her e-zines to promote other businesses, all while garnering a steady stream of revenue for her new media products. To hear how shes does it, listen to the interview. Plus we offer tips on how to promote your own e-zine.

Alison Woo

Chief Media Maven

All E-Zine Writers Should Be Aware of New SPAM Guidelines

If you currently write an e-zine, or online newsletter, or are thinking of writing one for your business in the near future, you need to be aware of new stricter SPAM guidelines that went into effect on July 7, 2008. Four new rules were added to existing guidelines. Here are some of the highlights:

• The "From" and "To" portions of your e-mail need to be clearly identified as coming from your organization;
• You cannot use an incentive to forward your e-mail, such as "Forward this e-mail to 10 new readers and you will get a 10% coupon;"
• You can now use a valid P.O. address;
• Your opt-out method must not be complicated. Your reader must be able to go to one single page to opt-out of receiving your online communication.

For a comprehensive explanation of the new guidelines, visit http://www.ftc.gov/os/2008/05/R411008frn.pdf.

Using an e-zine provider can help e-zine writers stay compliant with SPAM regulations. Don't use your own personal or business e-mail, such as Outlook, Yahoo! or AOL to send your e-zine out because it can be read as SPAM by your customer's e-mail program. You don't want to go through the effort of producing an e-zine without knowing it will get to your target.

Choose an e-zine provide that can meet your needs. The three main e-zine providers are Constant Contact, iContact and Get Response. Take the tour that each provider offers and find the one right for you and your business.

Alison Woo

Chief Media Maven

Succesful business owner discusses the secrets to a great e-zine

Hear Frazer Dobson, owner of legendary Park Road Books, an independent bookseller in Charlotte, NC discuss the secret to success to the store's amazing e-zine, or online newsletter.

Alison Woo

Chief Media Maven