In content delivery be the tortoise, not the hare.
Welcome to the last installment in a three-part blog series about how to ensure you’re reaching all members of your target audience, taking their content processing preferences into consideration. (Click here for the first installment and here for the second.)
Last Thursday I gave you some ideas of ways you can diversify the content you create for your business, in an effort to reach more members of your target audience and today I have some more suggestions for you.
- Don’t forget the dessert. Not all readers are created equal and they don’t all utilize RSS feeds. Offer your readers another option that allows your readers to subscribe to your blog via email. Feedburner offers this option within your administrative settings. But if you really want to show off, Aweber takes this to another level by allowing you to create Blog Broadcasts! Similar to a Broadcast message, the same where you would send out your e-Zine, a Blog Broadcast allows you to use or create your own custom template (hello…branding!) and send your blog posts out to subscribers at whatever intervals you choose. I use it on my blog and love that it is totally automated so my subscribers never miss a post…you know…because they’re so busy they may not have time to visit my blog to see what’s new.
- Articles. There are many ways to get your content out there and publishing your articles to various sources is definitely a must. How do you do this? Let me count the ways: 1) submit them to article directories, 2) republish your e-Zine’s main article to your blog, 3) republish your e-Zine’s main article to its own web page, thus creating an article directory on your own site, 4) create an RSS feed specifically for this article directory that people can subscribe to, and 5) allow others to use your content in their own publications – just remember to specify the rules first.
- Give your content a voice. When you’re ready, try adding audio and/or video to your content. People can read your e-Zine, blog, or articles all over the Internet, but nothing compares to being able to hear or see you. No, it may not be live and in person, but it is definitely the next best thing to being there. With video and audio, people can relate to you so much better, they can feel your enthusiasm, and they can hear the tone in your voice.
To say that your business should encompass ALL of the above and suggestions I offered last week might be a stretch…or is it? You’re not expected to create all of these forms of distribution in a day…a week…or even a month. Can it be done? Sure, but it isn’t necessary. Remember the Tortoise & the Hare? Slow and steady wins the race, and if you can begin incorporating just one new form of content distribution each month, or every other month, then you have a powerful, viral mechanism to grow your business, increase your subscribers, and build a following.
Start spreadin’ the news (better)
Newsletters are one of the most popular marketing tools used to market small businesses today. Whether you’re sending a printed newsletter via snail mail or an electronic newsletter via email, it’s a win-win for everyone. For the subscriber, they benefit from receiving up-to-date information about your business; helpful articles, promotions and giveaways. For your small business, this is your opportunity to stay in touch with your audience. The beauty of the whole thing is, they’ve given you their permission to market to them!
In this post, we’re gonna focus on electronic newsletters, also known as the sophisticated and sleek-sounding “eZine” or the regular old email newsletter.
An eZine is a really great tool for many reasons:
- It’s cheap. No commercial printing with a hefty price tag involved.
- You can send one out almost instantly. You don’t have to wait 7-10 days for it to be printed, then another 3 days to prepare the mailing, then another 7-10 days for the recipient to receive it via snail mail depending on whether you mailed it 1st class or bulk mail, and again, no postage required.
- It works. It’s the ideal opportunity to keep in touch, gain feedback from your subscribers, customers, and potential customers, and to gain new subscribers…a new audience for your business.
Now just hold on a second. Before you decide to jump on the newsletter bandwagon, there are a few crucial elements to consider. Even if you already have a newsletter, you should be following these tips so consider this a refresher and if you’re not doing the following, then make it a point to rework your publication so your readers get the most value.
Tips to be the best you can be-Zine:
- Stand out: People receive tons and tons of email every day and there’s a lot of junk to wade through. If you want your electronic newsletter to get opened, your email subject line better catch your reader’s attention in an instant because if it doesn’t, it’s never getting read.
- Size Matters: HTML emails can be great…unless you’re using font size 4. You’re not sending a newsletter to a 13 or 20 year old in most cases. Be sure to use fonts that are easily readable for all of us and at size that is appropriate for everyone.
- Build it like Cliff Notes: No one has time to read everything that comes into their inbox, especially if it’s the length of a Stephen King novel. Your newsletter should allow subscribers to easily scan the document to determine which parts they are really interested in. Your text should not be crowded, paragraphs should be spaced and headings should be easily noticeable with larger text and/or a different color.
- Personalize It: Lose the business or corporate tone and have a real conversation with your subscribers. Kind of like I do here with my blog. The way I write to you is the way I would actually speak to you face-to-face. Make your newsletter fun to read, interactive, and involve your reader by asking questions or for participation. They’ll make yours the newsletter they’re sure to read every time it arrives.
- No News is Better than Fluff and Sales: If you don’t have anything to say, then skip it all together. If all you’re doing is broadcasting how great you think you are, or your entire newsletter is nothing but buy this and buy that, you’re better off utilizing your time doing something else. All you’re doing is talking and never listening and your subscribers know the difference. They won’t be fooled with all your sirens of “only the first 10 people who purchase,” or “get this but only for the next 2 hours.” They’ll unsubscribe faster than you can say “My friend, so and so, is offering my subscribers the world for only $19.95.”
- Lighten Up: Skip the oodles of images and media and give them what they want…great content. If you have an audio or video, link it back to your website.
- Full Disclosure: Your subscribers want to know their email is safe in your hands. Be sure you have clearly stated your privacy policy and they know where to find it. Also make it easy for them to unsubscribe by making it easily visible at the bottom of your newsletter.
- Plano Text: If you’re intent on having an eZine design that is dependent on tons of images, be sure to always include a text version as well. Not everyone turns images on in their email client and some opt to receive text only emails just to keep things nice, tidy, and neat.
Last but not least, you need a good distribution company to deliver your newsletter and so you can track your subscribers as well as who is opening what messages and clicking on what links.
We’ll talk about that in detail another time. Until then, I hope you’ll take what I’ve given you today and apply it in your own newslettering!
Ciao ‘til Thursday!
Be responsible – practice safe WordPress
A couple months ago, my life was swallowed up by hackers.
I was consumed by the meticulous clean-up of several hacked sites, all built on the WordPress platform, and incidentally, all of which are hosted by GoDaddy. Now, I won’t go into a tirade about GoDaddy because that is a blog post for another day and today’s post is the first in a series of how to secure your WordPress site or blog.
Before your eyes start to glaze over because you don’t want to deal with this type of thing or because you’re smarter than the rest of us and you think you already have it all under control, I’m telling you, you NEED to read this post. Don’t you want to know you did everything you could to prevent your site from being hacked? Cause take it from me…clean-up sucks.
Know how much time I spent cleaning up those hacked sites for new-to-me clients I mentioned earlier?
8-10 HOURS EACH! Imagine having to shell out that kind of moolah to pay someone like me, who works on an hourly basis, and who knows what they’re doing, to clean up your site after it’s been hacked. It’s much cheaper for you to read this post. But if you’re going to stop reading here, though, at the very least Bookmark this post or put my contact information in your address book because one day you are going to need it!
Secure your WordPress Administrative Login
Your login is as good a place as any to get started. If you’re still using that same old password you’ve been using since 1992 (you know who you are), or if you’re still using the standard ‘admin’ username and ‘password’ password, it’s time to wake up! You couldn’t possibly be more vulnerable.
Change your username and change your password to NON-dictionary words. Don’t use your blog’s name as your login either – it’s too easy for those Internet hackers who apparently have nothing better to do all day but to wreak havoc on us poor, unfortunate, unsuspecting souls.
Your password should be at least 8 characters including uppercase, lowercase, symbols, and numbers. I know, I know. How are you supposed to remember stuff like that? Simple. Get a password manager. I personally love RoboForm Pro and they even have Robo2Go if you bounce around from computer to computer. Or you can use an old-school notebook and write them down! P.S. You can download these programs directly by clicking these links: RoboForm or Robo2Go
A big problem with passwords is many people use the same one for all their five million online access accounts and that is bad (again, you know who you are). If someone hacks your computer and guesses your password, it’s their lucky day! You’ve just given them access to your entire life.
I know it’s hard to keep up with all those passwords for your five million accounts but you have to do this.
Remember, your password NEEDS to be 8-10 characters, contain letters AND numbers, and preferably at least one symbol such as ! & % @ $ or #. Remember to mix upper and lower case letters, too.
Check back next Tuesday and I’ll share my favorite WordPress Plugins to help keep your site as secure as possible. In the meantime, go change your login information. Please!
Ultimate Guide to Productivity: A Tip That Worx
I’ve been tagged! One of my very good and long-standing clients, Gillian Hood-Gabrielson of Healthier Outcomes, has tagged me once again. The last time she tagged me, I didn’t have a chance to participate because I was busy launching two new products: a resource site for the virtual assistance industry and a series of books I wrote with Jaime Lee Mann of Mann Made Time. As you can imagine, these projects took every spare second of my time, and then some. I didn’t want to miss out on this topic, although it is a little late. But better late than never, right?
The topic for this tag is favorite productivity tips, which was started by Ben Yoskovitz at the Instigator Blog. I have to admit that I haven’t been as productive as usual for the past few months, so this will be a hard one for me, especially after just returning from a much-needed vacation. I’m very good at helping my clients get organized and get things done, but lately I’ve had a harder time getting MY stuff done! My business has grown so much—and I’m certainly not complaining—but I often find it hard to keep up because I’ve taken on too much or overextended myself, even after adding several subcontractors to my team. For months I have been searching for that perfect system which will allow me to communicate with my team members and clients in a cohesive environment, and nothing seems to fit the bill. I am now testing yet another system and have high hopes that this will be THE ONE! Read more
Connie McVicker Nominated for the Janet Jordan Achievement Award
There is only one word to describe what I am felling right now…WOW! I was just notified that I have been nominated to receive the 2007 Janet Jordan Achievement Award presented by the Online International Virtual Assistant Convention (OIVAC). The award honors a newcomer Virtual Assistant who has been in business for less than 2 years and has reached a milestone in their short career in the industry. This milestone needs to be an accomplishment that has helped to boost their new business to an overwhelming success.
It is extremely humbling that my peers, people I work, collaborate, and share with every day, have nominated me for such an honor. It sincerely means a lot just to be nominated and I personally thank those, from the bottom of my heart, who took the time to submit a nomination for me.
Janet Jordan, who passed away in January 2006, was a recognized industry leader in the virtual assistance field. Mrs. Jordan’s virtual assisting career began in 1980, long before the term “Virtual Assistant” was coined. Along with running her private VA practices which included clients who spanned the globe, Mrs. Jordan also trained aspiring entrepreneurs to launch their own up-to-the-minute, compelling and relevant virtual assistant practices through Virtual Assistance U. Jordan created future leaders in the VA industry.
The OIVAC Judging Panel for the Janet Jordan Achievement Award consists of experienced Virtual Assistants from around the world. The winner will be honored during the International Virtual Assistants Day (IVAD) event which will be held online May 18th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm EST. The celebration coincides with a three-day Online International Virtual Assistants Convention (OIVAC) scheduled for May 17-19, 2007. Visit the OIVAC website for more information.




























