Thinking about a Blog?

Good thinking. According to Technorati a blog is born every second… that’s 80,000 a day! But don’t just do it because it’s a hot new trend. You also want to be considering your blogs purpose. For instance, blogs are great marketing platform for announcing promotions and new products, or you can utilize your blog to keep your customers informed of your industry’s latest happenings. Get creative and have fun with it. It’s a great environment to feature your company’s unique brand image. One of our favorite blogs on, you guessed it, blog marketing is called Buzz Marketing with Blogs. Be sure to check out the Ten Things to Consider Before You Blog… and blog away!

Click Z Shares “Best Advice” for Business Owners Considering an E-Newsletter

1. Know your e-newsletter’s goal. Do you to keep your name in front of prospects? Position yourself as an expert? Show samples of your work? Shaheen finds a lot of self-employed people are overly humble about talking themselves up. It’s your time — and your dime. If you put out an e-newsletter, make sure it achieves your business goals.
2. Don’t send an e-newsletter as a mass mailing through Outlook, Eudora, or Entourage with all your recipients’ names in the BCC field. You won’t be able to track whether they open your message. You need an outside company to send the e-mail for you.
3. Set up a publishing calendar and stick to it, such as the second Wednesday of each month. Many readers will actually look forward to your e-newsletter and expect to receive it on a regular schedule.
4. Version your e-mail to different audiences. It doesn’t take long and will increase your response rates when your e-newsletter shows relevance to your reader’s needs and interests.
5. If you’re not a writer, include links to interesting articles from other sites or invite your colleagues to contribute articles. Lead off the e-newsletter with an editorial note from yourself, and be sure to include your photo for brand recognition.
6. Keep on top of spam filter triggers. Instead of saying “free,” say “no cost.” If you sell products with red flag words such as “mortgage,” put the word in an image, which is less likely to be picked up by spam filters.
7. Link back to your Web site so you can track what your audience is really interested in.
8. Review the data. Shaheen says practically no one does this. You can find out what topics really resonated with people, and you can follow up individually with highly interested prospects.

We would include running a permission pass to lists that have never been mailed to, utilizing a double opt-in process and of course balancing good appreciative content with promotions.

Generation Y Likely to Spend More on Socially Responsible Products

Good news for socially responsible companies… the future is green! A recent survey by GMI that gauged the opinions of more than 15,000 online consumers in the U.S. and 16 other countries about their socially conscious business practices, found that future American consumers, between the ages of 18-29, are more likely to buy organic, environmentally-friendly or fair trade products than other age groups.