Archive for the ‘newsletter content’ Category

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Newsletter spam and advertisers

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

If you send out a newsletter, or other email marketing materials, one of the biggest issues you face is getting the message through spam and related filters.

As well as choosing your words carefully to avoid being classed as spam, you also need to watch what advertising you add to your newsletter.

Setting rules on the type of advertising you accept is a different topic, but it is also important to check what words any advertisers use – you don’t want to put time into adjusting your words just to have many spam triggers in ads. Ensure your advertisers understand you have editorial control over their ads, although major changes need their approval.

Apparently you also need to be aware of how your advertisers are viewed online. That is, if you include an advertiser’s URL that has been blacklisted by ISPs for sending spam, your newsletter could also be filtered out.

Some sites that help identify blacklisted email senders are:

MX Toolbox (based on server IP addresses)
Abusive hosts blocking list(based on host name or IP address)
DNS Stuff (based on DNS servers – not free)
Black List Monitoring (based on IP address)

* I don’t know that these are the best, but if they help you avoid being blacklisted (or recover from being blacklisted) they may be worth a try!

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Posted in business tools, newsletter content | No Comments »

Maximising topics

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Last week, I aprticipated in Blog Action Day(BAD09) with over 13,000 other bloggers – we all posted on the topic of climate change in order to make everyone aware of this important topic.

While everyone wrote about climate change as the theme, there were many different angles covered – for example, I listed green decisions for my business to inspire other businesses to fight climate change and I read posts about conserving water, marketing, using local foods, some affects of climate change (affects on western society caused by direct climate changes) and things we can do to stop climate change.

This made me think about using a limited topic can provide many blog posts and/or articles – as well as about climate change of course!

Even if you limited yourself to business related aspects of climate change, there were many different ways you could have participated in BAD09. Here are just some of the business angles to show what I mean:

  • tips of how to reduce a business’ impact around the office
  • discussion of how manufacturing businesses can reduce their emissions
  • discussion of how business can contribute to the solution
  • opinions on carbon pricing and how it will impact small businesses
  • list some business ideas that will help the planet
  • low impact marketing ideas
  • how climate change has impacted on a particular business or industry – or is likely to in the next decade or half century
  • discussion on political and social factors affecting how a business can implement greener processes

So next time you are looking for something to write about to promote your business, look back at old or obvious topics within your business and see if there is a different angle you can discuss – there usually is!

Not only does discussing different angles give you more blog posts/articles, it also:

  • gives you the opportunity to share more of your expertise in a niche subject
  • lets people read about different aspects and therefore be more informed
  • gives people who may use your article (e.g. website owners and other bloggers) more choice about what angle of the topic to use and that increases the chances or your article being read
  • demonstrates your knowledge and that you have more than one dimension
  • enables you to link between posts more easily

Use your words wisely, and your topics thoroughly!

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Posted in blog content, newsletter content, web content, writing | 1 Comment »

Ask before sharing emails

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

We all hate spam. Most of us get too many emails to deal with them all properly. We don’t have time to read every enewsletter, not even time to read all the good ones, so we can’t subscribe to them all and stay sane!

So why then do some business people think it’s ok to subscribe to you their lists without your permission?

Just because I am your friend or I have done some work for you does not mean I want to read your newsletter – rather, I may want to but I probably don’t have the time to read something I haven’t carefully selected.

A number of people have added me to their lists because they know me, or because I wrote for them or because I gave them a quote to write for them! None of these behaviours is acceptable to me – sure send me a copy and invite me to subscribe, but don’t just subscribe me.

A couple of specific recent examples that will hopefully help you avoid annoying potential (or actual) clients…

  • I attempted to watch an online seminar. I gave my email address purely for access to the seminar (there was no disclaimer I was signing to a newsletter) and she started sending me 3 or 4 emails a week. What’s worse is the seminar never worked so I have no reason to read even one of those emails
  • I responded to a newsletter which mentioned a particular offer; I asked for a few details so I could decide if I was interested. Next thing, I am getting emails from two totally unrelated people. What’s worse, both those people are including me in a cc field with a whole group of people! So not only am I getting unwanted emails from people I never gave my email to in the first place, they are sharing my email with other people! Not the way to impress me into using their services I assure you
  • someone who contacted me two years ago, and who has not maintained a relationship with me, recently added a new arm to her business and has subscribed me to that new arm’s newsletter. I have never contacted her or shown an interest in her services, so why can she assume I want her newsletter?

    • So to avoid annoying people and therefore potentially loosing clients and getting bad word of mouth, remember:

    • don’t subscribe people to your newsletter. EVER. Send a single copy and invite them, but do not subscribe them without their knowledge & permission
    • if sending a group email, use the bcc field not the cc field unless it a discussion and all parties are aware of each other. Especially as emails can be forwarded so who knows where my email address would end up…
    • don’t give someone else’s email address to others for their newsletter. It’s one thing to give it as a referral (e.g. “Email Tash on … as she’s a great writer”) but otherwise you should protect the emails you have been entrusted with. If in doubt, ask if it’s ok to pass on someone’s details

    Posted in Uncategorized, business info, newsletter content | 2 Comments »

    Accountable communications

    Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

    What are accountable communications?

    It simply means giving a message that is justified and that you are willing to stand by.

    For many jaded consumers, the marketing message in many ads and business materials is not trusted because there have been too many hyped up, false promises in the past. And people understand that marketing companies use many techniques to support their message .

    To make sure your message is seen as trustworthy and is accountable

    • avoid exaggerations (the occasional obvious one may work)
    • justify any claims
    • only give it in appropriate ways (i.e. don’t spam or annoy people)
    • check the details
    • use an appropriate look – colours, layouts, font sizes and so on all influence how your message is perceived. For example, the long letter with yellow highlights style of webpage doesn’t build trust in Australians as much as it appears to in the USA

    What messages have you seen that didn’t come across as accountable or reliable?

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    Posted in blog content, newsletter content, web content, writing | No Comments »

    Over using keywords in articles

    Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

    Yesterday, I wrote about using keywords in articles to help search engines find your articles. I also explained that using to many keywords makes the article unreadable for humans and may get search engines penalising you/your site.

    The following are examples of the over use of keywords to remind us that the focus of promotional articles should be on giving information rather than making a sale or increasing website traffic (as much as we love those results!)

    example 1 – a title for an article: 

    Tractor Parts,Hydraulic Coupling,Hydraulic Pumps,Lubricating Oil Pump,Tractor Spare Parts,Tractorul UTB Spares 

    Not a very interesting title is it?

    example 2 – content of an article:

    Just search on your computer with Keywords like Packers and Movers in Ahmedabad Packers Movers Ahmedabad, Relocation service provider in Ahmedabad, etc. Many service provider of that particular state will appear on your computer screen. Collect information from all the relocation Ahmedabad companies and hire the best one. You can also do the same work to find out service provider of other state and city.

    There is nothing informative or interesting in that snippet, and its a lttle insulting as someone has probably already searched those keywords to have found the article in the first place!

    example 3 – a bio box:

    crib bedding, crib bedding sets

    Apart from not doing much to promote their business, this bio box is boring and doesn’t develop trust or credibility.

     

    Of course, the use of keywords (and avoiding over use of them) applies to blog posts, newsletters, website content and so on just as much as to promotional articles.

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    Posted in blog content, newsletter content, web content, writing | 1 Comment »

    Keywords in promotional articles

    Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

    On Sunday, I presented a workshop on using promotional articles as a business tool and discussed the use of keywords in such articles.

    Keywords are words that a search engine will use to provide search results (e.g. if you type in “promotional articles”, they are the keywords and a search engine will find the sites most relevant for those words.) They are very useful in building up the popularity of your site with search engines.

    So it is a good idea to include your keywords in your promotional articles so search engines will find your articles online and increase your exposure. In terms of attracting search engines, putting keywords into the title is also effective.

    In reality, you probably use keywords in your articles without really trying – it isn’t easy to write an article about business books without writing business or books for example.

    However, it is important to not use your keywords too many times in one article as search engines can actually penalise you for doing so. The easiest way to judge how many times is right is to read it out loud – if it sounds ok and appeals to a human, you probably haven’t over used the keywords.

    I will share some examples tomorrow on overuse of keywords, but thanks to Suzie of Suz’s Space asking a question in my  workshop, let me explain that it is repetition of one or two words that is the potential problem – using a lot of different keywords in a suitable context is not a search engine risk.

    For example, writing an article about a style of writing which includes a list of authors does have a lot of keywords (each name for instance) but is not over using the keywords (such as books and authors) for Suzie’s site.

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    Posted in newsletter content, web content, writing | 2 Comments »

    Recharge your business with promotional articles

    Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

    I will be presenting the above topic at the Business Mums Conference on 20/21 June in Melbourne. I will be covering ways to help people get the most value out of the promotional articles they write (or pay to get written) as I believe it is a valuable, low cost way to promote any business.

    What is a promotional article?

    Any useful article can be used as a promotional article, although they tend to be around 300-600 words long. At the end of the article, you include an information section (called a bio box or resource box) about yourself and/or your business.

    To be a good promotion for your business, it is best to use topics that build your credibility in your industry. For example, if you are a hairdresser you could use articles about choosing shampoos, the best types of hair accessories and hair care tips, but if you sell children’s party accessories, you would be better using articles about how to plan a birthday party, dealing with invitation lists and party game suggestions.

    Note that a promotional article is not an ad. An article about the services you offer or how you are better than a competitor is not a promotional article – it is an ad. The aim of your article is to provide information, and/or entertainment, to readers.

    ** If you are going to the conference, please come and chat to me – I’ll be there all weekend as I know from experience that is a positive, information pack weekend that will benefit my business.

    If you havent bought tickets yet, Save Time Online is offering an advertising bonus if you mention them when booking.

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    Posted in About Word Constructions, blog content, newsletter content, web content, writing | 2 Comments »

    Spam denial…

    Friday, May 15th, 2009

    Following on from defining what spam is, I thought I should mention why adding ‘this is  not spam’ to your emails isn’t a good idea.

    1. As I posted recently, certain words can trigger spam filterswhen an email arrives. The word spam itself rates highly in these filters so referring to spam in any way can actually prevent your email reaching your recipient(s)
    2. Most of us are sick of spam and therefore are suspicious of emails we don’t expect or that include questionable content. As soon as you mention you aren’t spam, we are going to wonder why you feel the need to tell us that - a genuine message should speak for itself.
    3. If the person reading your email disagrees and believes your message is spam, they will perceive you as having lied to them and any trust you may have had is gone or at least badly dented.

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    Posted in Uncategorized, business info, newsletter content | 1 Comment »

    “This is not spam”

    Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

    Yet again, reading some spam gave me a topic to blog about!

    This time “Sid” added a footnote to his spam message that read “This email is not spam, it was manually sent by us, our sole purpose being to introduce ourselves to you with no obligation on your part.”

    Hmmm, the definition of spam is unsolicited commercial email. I most certainly did not ask for him to contact me, not even indirectly, so his email was unsolicited. It was commercial as it was about his linking business. It came into my inbox. So Sid, it was in fact spam regardless of your claim!

    The definition of spam does not mention details such as how many emails you send or if you do it manually or via software. A number of people seem to think that sending an email to one person isn’t spam although the same message to sent 1,000 people is spam. They are wrong – if I did not give you permission to send me commercial emails then it is spam even if you only email me.

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    Posted in business info, newsletter content | 5 Comments »

    Keep your emails out of junk folders…

    Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

    Last week, I wrote about reducing the amount of spam you receive in your inbox. The other side of the issue is having your legitimate emails being caught by a spam filter and not reaching the recipient.

    isp providers and email programs both use rules to sort out real emails from spam – that’s how some emails never reach you and others go into your junk folder instead of your inbox. That’s great for keeping your inbox clear, but not so good when your emails aren’t arriving…

    I spoke this morning at a seminar and mentioned how certain words can get your email classed as spam even if you use those words in an innocent way. Many mass email tools can review your emails and tell you which words may cause a problem, which is handy. Alternatively, you can find lists of such words online (some examples are here  and here.)

    For words that are in the spam rules, you have a few choices:

    • use the word where necessary  as some words are just too hard to avoid – for example if you sell fishing rods it is very hard to avoid writing ‘fishing’ (yes, fishing is a word to avoid!) If you only use one or two words and otherwise pass the spam tests, your email has a fair chance of getting through
    • find an alternative word to use. For example, use ‘go to’ instead of ‘visit’ or ‘click here’
    • write the sentence differently – to stay with our fishing example, we could write ‘we went to catch some fish’ to replace ’we went fishing’
    • break the word with symbol (this is why you see ‘V.isit us for a f.ree valu.ation’ and the like.) This divides trigger words into two part words which spam filters don’t worry about, although some are also being added to rules. I hate the look of doing this but am coming to accept the necessity of it unfortunately.

    Avoiding the use of such trigger words can help you get passed spam filters, but these are not the only rules to be aware of. Spamassassin provides some tips for keeping your emails out of spam folders, as does Bob Thomson.

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    Posted in business info, newsletter content | 4 Comments »

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