The Blog Squad

Ok, I'm totally stoked (gives away my generation, right)!! I'm the special guest on The Blog Squad's Blogging and Beyond Podcast.

We'll be talking about using multimedia to raise your website's visibility, your own credibility and your business profitability through podcasting and webinars.

The Blog Squad specializes in working with bloggers to make their blogs stand out amoung the millions of blogs. They've been blogging since 2004 and really know their stuff. If you want to take your blog to the next level, check out The Blog Squad

Publishing Your Own Ezine, Part 6 The Three Factors Of Email Marketing Success

Success can be broken down into components. It's the little things that pile up into fulfilling rewards eventually. Like ingredients to a wonderful delicacy, success is cooked up by introducing the right mix of components.

Success in email marketing is no different. It can be broken down to three distinct and critical factors that will ultimately make or break any campaign centered on such. All three factors should be complied with, as the non-performance of one can cripple the entire system.

What are these factors? How can you ensure that they will be at their peak?

Factor 1: Attraction

Your emails should be attractive in order for the recipients to open the same. A bland email will just be left untouched, even if it finds its way to the recipient's inbox. The first thing that the recipient will see, is of course, the subject title of the email. Hence, much care should be exercised in crafting the subject title so that it may capture the attention of the recipient and prompt them to click on the same and read your email.

There is a challenge here. You cannot just add any subject title you wish, least you violate the Can Spam Act which mandates that the said subject title should be relevant to the content of the email. You can't say "Congratulations, You Just Won," when the recipient never won anything. The title may be catchy, but it is deceiving, as it is illegal.

The trick is in developing a subject title that is witty, one that will capture the interest of your audience without breaking away from the spirit of the content. Hence, "A Personal Message" and "I've Got Great News For You," though vague, have been considered as great attention grabbers.

Factor 2: Readability

Would you read an email containing purely technical jargons you could not understand? How about an email that is so poorly written it's almost unintelligible? Or a comedic one when you’re expecting something serious?

Poorly prepared messages affect readability. And your recipients should read your content to be able to get your business message. The only way you can get them to read your mails is by grabbing their attention and never letting go, through compelling content that is pretty much difficult to resist.

The way your mail is written plays a big part in all of this. A poorly written email will just turn off your readers. Worse, it may brand you negatively.

Take time to formulate an email that you can be proud of, and your read rate is sure to increase.

Factor 3: Response

So, your recipients actually receive your emails, and they actually read the same. But do they respond in the manner you want them to respond? Do your emails help you reach your business goals?

If not, then your email marketing campaign is suffering from a low response rate.

To increase the response rate, you must have some effective calls to action in place. Calls to action are the mechanisms you implement to compel the subjects to do what you want them to do. In marketing, this may be in the form of special offers, urgency offers, and gratuitous offers. Mastering these mechanisms will greatly help your online business. Including them in your eZine will be the coup de grace, as you'd be able to reach a lot of people with just one message.

Study successful sales pages. Ask yourself this question: why did such a sales page make me want to buy what was being offered? Chances are, it's because of the potent call to action that was put in place. Copy these calls to action and make some adjustments to include them in your campaigns, and you will enjoy a higher response rate.

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Publishing Your Own Ezine, Part 5, HTML or Text

There are certain issues you have to contend with when developing your eZine. For beginners, these issues may pose some problems. One wrong move and you can potentially place your entire email campaign in jeopardy. You wouldn’t want that to happen, right?

Of paramount concern among these issues are those related to formatting. Creating an eZine is more than just putting together a group of words with any word processing program you can get your hands on. Creating an eZine requires skill, knowledge and proficiency on the right techniques to utilize for a better and more fruitful campaign.

Let us take a look at some of the challenges that await you, as well as answers to the most pressing questions about eZine development.

HTML Or Text?

You have an option to deliver your eZine in HTML or text formats. Which format to use? Now, that is the question.

Each of these file types have their own pros and cons.

HTML will allow you to beautify your eZine by adding pictures, hyperlinks, and lively texts. The problem with this format is that quite a number of email clients do not recognize it. The result? Your eZine may arrive as a piece with jumble, unintelligible characters due to the inability of the email client to recognize the content.

Plain text is the safer option. You are sure to deliver your eZine free from unwanted mishaps. But it will be, as the format denotes, plain, and people may find this boring.

I’d suggest plain text. Spice it up a little, however. The only way you can do this is by adding wit to make your eZine more engaging. Content will fuel your eZine, so your campaign will rely on the strength of the same.

On Length

Some eZines are terribly, terribly long that once the readers open the mail, they often decide not to read it. This should be avoided.

Keep your eZine as clear and concise as possible. If you have something to share, share it in a straightforward manner. Do not add unnecessary details. You wouldn’t want to waste your readers’ time, and you wouldn’t want to give them that impression.

In the event that length cannot be compromised, organize your eZine properly. This means adding a table of contents so that the readers will know what’s in store for them, and they can jump right into the parts they want to read.

Use Dividers

Use dividers to separate the portions of your eZine. Your dividers should form thick lines so that they may stand out and remain attractive. See the example below:

#########################

Such is an example of an effective divider. There are other characters you can use which you can play with to come up with something unique. But whatever you do, do not use dollar signs ($) as repeating characters because that will simply grab the attention of spam filters.

Number of Characters

When formatting your digital newsletter in plain text, make sure that the characters for each line do not exceed 60. This is standard. Otherwise, your mail may expand the page and it will be difficult for your readers to read your eZine by scrolling from left to the farthest right.

You will want your eZine to fit the page readily available on their screen. The only way to ensure this is by keeping close watch on the number of characters per line.

You can do this manually, which is the traditional method. Or you can make use of eZine assistance programs that will automatically parse the characters in the appropriate format. The latter is an easier step, and it will save you a lot of time.

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Publishing Your Own Ezine, Part 4, Writing For An Online Audience

You are most familiar with print publications such as your local dailies or some magazines. Some of these you may be following religiously, what with their timely and highly informative articles as well as the news and tips they provide.

Naturally, you will want to achieve the same with your own eZine.

Doing such haphazardly will prove to be fatal. Why? It’s because there are distinct differences between print publications and online materials. Primary of these differences is the manner by which content is written. You simply cannot write for an online audience the way you would for print publications. They are two very different markets.

Online materials are read from monitors. They are not like print publications which can be taken to the bathroom, the bedroom or the public transportation system to be read. Reading from monitors can be stressful in the long run, will tire out the user, especially when he is tasked to read something from his screen. This is what you will want to avoid. If they get tired, they’ll give up reading, and they won’t be able to receive your business message.

Writing for an online audience entails a unique set of rules:

1. Keep your sentences short. People will be reading from their monitors. Their eyes will get tired easily. Allow their eyesight to rest by keeping your sentences short so that they can easily be read.
   
2. Keep your paragraphs short. Same reasons as number one. Additionally, you will want your readers to feel a certain sense of accomplishment for reading your piece. This can be achieved by presenting short paragraphs so that they’d know that they have read a lot of what you have to say.
   
3. Avoid using technical jargons. You will be writing for a wide array of people with various reading comprehension levels. As such, you will want to pull them into your piece by making your works easier to understand. Jargons – especially highly technical ones - will only confuse people. So keep your words simple. The rule of the thumb is this: write as if you’re writing for a 12 year old. This is so because the average reading comprehension level is likened to that possessed by someone of such an age.
   
4. Use bulleting and numbering as much as possible. This will make it easier for your readers to scan your copy. Even if they decide to skip some parts, bulleted and numbered items will not escape their attention, and you will still be able to convey your business message.
   
5. Avoid using all caps, not even in titles. All caps is a form of digital shouting, and you wouldn’t want to give your readers that impression. This is a form of net etiquette that has been in existence in years. Its principles apply in eZines as well.
   
6. If you need to emphasize some phrases, use quotation marks. Since you cannot italic certain words or place them in bold fonts, quotation marks will suffice as replacements.
   
7. Find the right tone appropriate for your audience. You can’t be too serious when your market is demanding something amusing. And you can’t be too relaxed when your market is demanding something formal. Know your market, and write correspondingly. This way, you’d be able to relate with them better, which is the purpose of an eZine in the first place.
   

Again, writing for an online audience is very much different from writing for print publication. You have to adjust accordingly to please your target market and to better your chances of achieving your industrial goals.