Successful Blog

How to Boost Email Open Rates for Email Marketing

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Vanessa Parks

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How to Boost Email Open Rates for Email Marketing

In the virtual world we live in, chances are your customers are being bombarded with tons of Emails everyday, as Email marketing is one of the most used marketing strategy today for acquiring leads. A study have shown that 97% of small businesses rely on Emails to market their products and services, so to maintain your presence, you really have to strategize and stand out in the way you compose your mails to maximize them being opened and read by your audience. In this article, we will discuss about ways improving your Email marketing open rates to have more success in endorsing your business via Email.

Email-MarketingThings to Understand regarding Email Marketing

First off, before we go deep into specific tips to increase open rates, let us take into consideration some key points about Email marketing. Here are some pointers that you should always put into mind whenever you plan on executing your marketing strategy inEmails.

1. Your customers hate spam.

Spammy links and Emails will always drive people crazy in a negative way. Anyone would want to stay away from spams as they either lead to unwanted links or messages, or worse viruses which can cause serious damage.

2. Your customers hate lengthy emails.

Put your feet in your audiences’ shoes and decide on which length is just okay to read for a few minutes. Practice splitting your sentences into per topic paragraphs, you may also use bullets. If possible, you may opt to use images or infographics instead to capture attention and to prevent using more unnecessary words.

3. Don’t waste your customers’ time.

Time is really gold and all of us hate wasting it. Establish your Emails as very informative to build that great reputation and avoid being known as someone who has nothing to say but trash!

2 Email Marketing Tips

Now we know some golden rules from above, here are specific tips for further attracting opens from your recipients!

1. Personalize it

eMail sent

Create a warm and emotional connection to your audience by adding your personal touch! Some tips that are proven to increase open rates are these two:

– Use Your real Name

– Write your email as if you’re talking to your prospect.

2. Timing of your Email

In order to have more chances of your Emails being opened, think of a good time to send them! The rule is to send them in a time frame where your recipients are in their reading mails period. Sending on end of shift or sleeping/resting times are definitely no-no’s.

Wrapping things up, again, put yourself in your recipients’ shoes. What kinds of Eblast marketing you’d open? Ask around trusted friends and customers; get their feedbacks and experiences, and accompany them with the tips here to maximize your mails being opened!

Author’s Bio:
Vanessa Parks is a Freelance Systems Analyst with 5 Years of solid experience. She has been an advocate of cloud computing and collaboration for improved work efficiency and performance

Thank you, Vanessa, for adding insight to the conversation!

— ME “Liz” Strauss

How-To Find Success: Believing in Yourself!

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Ben Newman

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How-To Find Success: Believing in Yourself!

The world is moving at an ever faster pace, and it can be a challenge just to keep up, let alone get ahead. Where do your dreams fit in when you put everything into keeping a job or running a business? Is success just about the bottom line? What do you do when you have the big house and the fancy cars but your life is still stressful and empty? How do you have meaningful relationships when your success depends on you being in control?

No one makes a conscious choice to wake up one day completely overwhelmed and disconnected from the things that matter most — but, it happens to many of us. Often we don’t even realize we’ve gotten off course until we crash and burn, a spouse leaves, a business fails, an illness strikes, and we’re forced to re-examine our priorities. The good news is, it’s never too late to make a change, and you don’t have to wait for the sky to fall before you make it.

With all the noise about the economy, elections, and what is happening around the world, it is easy to fall into the trap of trying to believe two contradictory points:

a) that everything is beyond your control, and
b) in order to succeed you have to control everything.

The truth is actually the opposite.

a)You always have control over the only thing that matters: yourself. That is to say, you have total control over how you choose to act and what you choose to believe in any given moment, in any given circumstance, and
b) in order to succeed, you have to let go of controlling others and of controlling the outcome.

Five Key Factors for Attaining Belief in Yourself

The place to start is with a belief in yourself and I’ve outlined the Five Key Factors for Attaining Belief in Yourself in my book, “Own YOUR Success”:

  1. Accept the truth. Acknowledging the person you are today is the key to becoming the person you want to be and ultimately, attaining belief in yourself. There is a big difference between failing and not getting the results we want. Instead of seeing failure, see opportunities for growth and change.
  2. Speak the truth. Be honest about your past behaviors and habits. While it may be difficult to acknowledge them, burying those parts of our lives makes us feel like victims, amplifying our fear and pain. Shedding light on the past, by talking with a trusted friend or professional, frees us.
  3. Breathe through the truth. Avoid reacting from a place of pain or anger — no matter how much you believe you are right. Be open to changing your perspective. Treat yourself lovingly. Do not self-destruct.
  4. Process the truth. Give yourself time and space to find your equilibrium. Developing belief in yourself means gaining confidence that will lead to a stronger foundation.
  5. Create a plan based on the truth. Changing entrenched behaviors and mindsets takes time, and sometimes they return. Stay strong. Continue to believe and actively engage in this process. Define how you want to live your life from where you are right now.

If you can master these Five Key Factors for Attaining Belief in Yourself, you will be well on your way to achieving the kind of success you really dream of success that incorporates balance in all areas of your life.

Author’s Bio:
Ben Newman writes and speaks to inspire and motivate people to take actionable steps in their personal and professional lives to achieve the success they dream of. He is the author of “Own YOUR Success.” View his website at http://bennewman.net/ and connect with him on Twitter as @ContinuedFight

Thank you for adding to the conversation! So with you on that, Ben!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Beach Notes: A Time to Be Thankful

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by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh

Happy Thanksgiving to all out USA friends. We do not celebrate Thanksgiving down under . We were thinking of you at the beach. So much to give thanks for: the sun, the sea, the sky, the revitalising water on one’s skin and the freedom we have.
What did you give thanks for today? Share 5 things in the comments

I would love to share with you A gift of Gratitude that I made on Thanksgiving too.

Thank you.

– Suzie Cheel

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

Thanks to Week 371 SOBs

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muddy teal strip A

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

Purple SOB Button Original SOB Button Red SOB Button Purple and Blue SOB Button
and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

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They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

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Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

3 Ways to Recharge Your Business Creativity

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Stephen Key

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Why Letting Your Inner Child Out Can Benefit Your Business

How many times have you watched your son or daughter’s imagination shine as they play with their friends or by themselves? Children are incredible dreamers and creators who have no inhibitions about letting creativity dictate their actions. To me, entrepreneurship is synonymous with creativity. People often talk about business and art as if the two couldn’t be more separate, but both celebrate the value of looking at the world a little differently than everyone else. The best entrepreneurs see possibility and opportunity where others have failed to, because they’re able to spot unique and powerful ideas that will resonate with consumers. Developing and celebrating your creative energy can benefit your business in countless ways.

I’ve spent the past twenty years bringing my product ideas to life. Thinking creatively has helped me invent and innovate, but even more importantly, I’d argue, it has helped me problem solve. Business owners are constantly surprised by new and different conflicts to overcome. You’ll never be able to predict them all. The more comfortable you become with quickly brainstorming solutions, the better your business will be. There’s never just one answer. And that’s why being able to think outside the box when your business is faced with a seemingly impenetrable roadblock is important. Somewhere along the way most of lose the ability to dream and imagine as easily as we did as children; being able rekindle these skills will help your business.

3 Ways to Recharge Your Business Creativity

I don’t believe that certain individuals are inherently more creative than others. The belief that ‘you’re just not creative’ is an excuse. We’re all creative! As children, we’re all able to dream and imagine with abandon. But like any other skill, creativity requires practice, commitment, and inspiration. I’ve found that playing games helps recharge my creativity.

The first one is, ‘What If?’ When I try to imagine new product ideas or encounter a problem in my daily life, I allow myself to ask any question I want to. What if we lived in a world that __? What if I were able to __? There are no right or wrong questions (nor answers!). I remember my own three children asking me question after question when they were little. Questions lead to answers, answers lead to more questions, and creative juices flow during the process!

The second game I play I call, ‘Mix and Match’. I combine several ideas together, even if they don’t seem to make immediate sense. Someone really hit the nail on the head when they matched a camera and phone, after all…. Some of the best ideas actually combine existing concepts or products in interesting ways. Think about all the times you’ve watched your son or daughter play with their toys in unique ways. They are no strangers to mixing and matching to make things new and exciting.


The third creative game I use is called ‘Solve It’. What do you wish was made better? What would you do to change it? Some products and services have been around for so long, we no longer even think about what it would be like if they were different. Don’t take any assumptions for granted, and stop subconsciously assuming what is and isn’t possible.


And finally, don’t forget to get inspired. Seek out friends, family, and peers who, like loved and empowered children, believe that anything’s possible and embrace the alternative. Some people are more receptive to new ideas than others. At the least, find someone whose first word isn’t always ‘no’.

Break out of your normal mold and schedule. How can you imagine something different and unique if you always do and see the exact same things? Change your route to work. Try a new restaurant instead of your neighborhood favorite. I know your schedule is hectic, but make time to read a new book or magazine, or watch an interesting film. Exposing yourself to new ideas and ways of thinking will jumpstart your own creativity.

Above all, allow your creative inner child to emerge to help bring your business to new heights.

What do you do to inspire your creativity?

Author’s Bio:
Stephen Key writes about licensing and small business at www.inventornotes.com. He is also author of One Simple Idea and One Simple Idea for Startups and Entrepreneurs. You can find Stephen on Twitter as @inventright ()

Thank you, Steven. Love your thoughts on inspiring creativity!

–Me “Liz” Strauss

How Playing Golf Can Help Bloggers or Online Entrepreneurs

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I won’t say that degrees and conventional education is overrated but it’s a fact that we learn some of the most important lessons of our lives when we are not focusing on the “learning” part. As soon as we force our minds to “learn” something, it becomes a chore and the best we can do is to memorize the words and theories like a talking parrot. You cannot instill street-smartness into someone via text books. Ask any of those successful businessmen and they will attribute their success to some lessons or traits that they have learned during the course of their lives (and seldom from the course books).

But this post is not meant to be a jibe at conventional study, the actual point of this preamble is that even the leisure activities or sport, which is often considered a waste of time, can bestow you with valuable lessons or traits that will be of help in all walks of life, and blogging is no exception.

Blogging is undoubtedly a great way to make money online. If you are passionate about a particular topic, have good writing skills, and a basic understanding of Internet Marketing or SEO practices, you can use your spare time to blog about that topic and make some extra income. However, in a bid to earn as much as possible, some bloggers start spending all the time in front of PC, trying to churn out as many posts as they can, or promote their blogs. And while such dedication and hard work sounds good on paper, it can be quite cumbersome and counter-productive. If you are a full time blogger or online entrepreneur, you must take out some time for a leisure activity, ideally an outdoor sport. When I am looking to have the best of both worlds, I usually prefer to have a round of golf. Here’s why I think it can be of great help for bloggers or online entrepreneurs …

De-stress Your Mind:

All that time in front of your PC while sifting through one webpage after another, and thinking nonstop for new ideas or ways to earn money, can really have a deteriorating effect on your mind. The more you think, the more stressed your mind becomes, and it becomes quite difficult to perform at your optimum best when your mind is stressed. This is why it is so important to take some time out and allow your mind to relax.

If you are finding yourself getting into the writer’s block more often than not, activities like golf will work wonders. Once you step onto a golf course, and spend some time in a calm and peaceful environment with no blog posts to digest, or blank sheets to fill, you will return with a new found energy from this break. Not to mention that your mind will reward you with lots of new ideas for providing it with much needed rest.

Focus:

In Golf, all you have got is a club and a small ball that you need to put in a series of holes, in the bare minimum attempts. But to reach your goal, you will have to cope with many different hazards, wind, weather, and above all, your own instinct. Try swinging it a little too forcefully or push a little too gently and you will miss your target. Everything from the force to swing has got to be precise. All in all, the trait of focusing solely on your next shot can turn out to be a priceless training for your mind, and it will pay off in spades, helping you fight with the distractions and steer clear of procrastination.

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone:

If I start jotting down the health risks associated with excessive sitting, gazing on your screens, and having little or no physical activity, many full time bloggers will get paranoid. But it’s a fact that we are only starting to realize the ills of our over-reliance on Internet for everything we do. If you are a full time blogger, I cannot stress enough the importance of adding a regular physical activity in your daily routine. And if that can be a sport, especially something as relaxing as Golf, it will turn out to be the icing on the cake. To be honest, this advantage alone should be enough to inspire you to take out some time and invest on this sport (or any other sport for that matter), because what good is the money if you are earning or saving on the expense of your physical or mental well being?

Scot Ryan loves to write about everyday topics related to bloggers and online entrepreneurs. Also, an avid player of Golf, he manages Lost Golf Balls, where you can find all sorts of golf balls at incredible prices.