AWeber Email Marketing

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If you are not currently sending out a regular newsletter, you should consider it.  Newsletters keep you fresh in the minds of those you are contacting and are a great way to share time sensitive specials as well as general information.  Newsletters have been around for ages, but over the past decade the internet has revolutionized this form of marketing.  From scheduling to contact management, electronic newsletters increase efficiency and they give you feedback the way that paper newsletters never could.  Most e-newsletter applications provide performance tracking tools to unveil who is opening them and what links are being clicked.  This provides you with critical marketing insight, the knowledge of your target audience’s interests.

Newsletters are a great addition to your current web or blog site and offer several advantages as they give you a way to address your target audience rather than waiting for them to seek you out.  Using links in your newsletter is also a great way to direct more traffic to your site (SEO advantages) and old blogs (which tend to get buried.)   Your blog and web-site can contain the same information but time sensitive info can expire before people see it.    By sending timely information in your newsletter you can inform and directly link to your site while the special is still valid.  But newsletters shouldn’t be completely about sales.  By keeping your prospects informed on general market information you are building trust – when consumers are ready to buy they will remember that.

Now that you have decided to start sending a newsletter you should spend some time reviewing tools to make the job easier for you.  There are several software solutions to help keep the task more organized and they can also give you some data that you would not otherwise have access to.  AWeber is a great option that provides a host of tools and tons of support at a very reasonable price.

AWeber’s Setup Wizard makes getting started a breeze.  It walks you through establishing your lists and importing your contacts.  Choose from one of many premade templates or create your own, customize your colors to your branding and add your logo.  Adding an opt-in form to your website is easy as well.  AWeber allows you to write your emails now and schedule to send them later which is a handy feature for those of us who tend to get busy and (gasp) forget!  Once your newsletter is up and running use the Twitter and Facebook integration to notify and send a link to your email.

After you have spent all that time writing the perfect content, setting up your list and sending out your newsletter don’t you want to know who is reading it?  AWeber’s Performance Tracking lets you know who did, and didn’t, open your email.  Once open, which links were clicked on?  AWeber tells you that as well, which helps you to identify which topics are of the most interest to your audience.

From opt-out to auto responder AWeber will help you through the process, in fact they have a whole section on their website of tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your mailings.  If you are looking to drive more traffic to your site, share the word on time sensitive info or simply use a different medium of communication to a target audience try using newsletters today.

Asana Update

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Asana UpdateYou may remember the blog I did on Asana.  Asana is a project management application dedicated to changing the way teams work together – and apart.  Asana was released to the public only a few months ago and, with a star studded team and backing supporters, they have been busy making improvements.  Here is a quick run-down of the updates:

Multiple email address support:  If you often work on several projects as I do you know about using various email addresses to keep things organized.  Asana now lets you assign a separate email for each Asana workspace you have.  This is great to keep professional and personal projects separate as well.

Recurring tasks:  If you have repeating tasks, you can now easily schedule them for daily, weekly, monthly or annually.  There is also a Periodically setting where you can choose how often it repeats based on last completion date.

New ways to use:  Available at the iTunes App Store as well as Chrome Web Store.  You can now use Asana on the go with your iPhone with even more functionality for assigning and renaming tasks coming soon.  The Chrome app gives you a convenient link from each new tab.

Email notifications:  Email notifications have been consolidated.  New and completed tasks, attachments, and due date changes that happen in a short period of time will come in one email, keeping clutter out of your inbox.

Continual improvements on already functional software is always a good sign of things to come.  I’m looking forward to future releases of Asana.


Shoeboxed

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As a small business owner myself I track every expense.  Every single receipt gets filed away with meticulous organization.  I keep a portable file folder with me so receipts don’t get shoved in my wallet or a pocket.  All so I can be prepared come tax time.  If you buy that and I need to talk to you about a bridge…

Staying organized can be difficult for the mobile businessman.  Each year there are millions of dollars worth of legitimate exceptions that are not claimed because receipts end up tossed out or in the laundry and even the most meticulous of us can be guilty.  Shoeboxed makes is easy to manage receipts, organize and present them online where you can access them through your secure account.

Shoeboxed is a document storage service, but it’s much more than that.  They specialize in scanning and organizing your receipts, among other things.  Receipts can be sent to your account in a variety of ways.  Shoeboxed will send you a prepaid, secure envelope – simply put your receipts in the envelope and send it back.  They will scan your receipts, enter the data and organize your information electronically.  Stores can also email receipts to your account and with its new HTML5 functionality you can take a picture from your smartphone or tablet and upload them.  This data can be exported into spreadsheets or linked to your accounting/financial database such as Quickbooks and Freshbooks.   But Shoeboxed can help with more than just receipts – snap photos of business cards and let Shoeboxed add them to your contacts and upload to your CRM.

What once was a pile of clutter soon becomes a list of searchable, organized data available to you anywhere you have an internet connection.  With plans starting as little as $9.95/month why not let Shoeboxed become your personal assistant.

 

WHAT IS A CRM?

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Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a software solution designed to organize information to share information within the organization as well as to communicate with existing customers and prospects. CRM applications can reside in on-site servers or operate in the Cloud, and most effective ones integrate via the web to share information quickly and easily. Common uses for CRM are to manage marketing campaigns, channel prospects through the funnel, customer service and technical support. They may also be used to recover lost customers and may even be available to the customer themselves to learn of new offerings and upgrades as well as self-service.
Open source and industry specific templates permit customization. Many, such as vtiger and SUGARCRM, are open source to allow businesses to modify the application to fit their needs while others provide a more off-the-shelf solution. Some, such as Salesforce, offer industry specific templates consolidating best practices for manufacturing, financial or retail etc. These templates help in mitigating development time and costs.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

The benefit of using a CRM over a simple database is the automation that CRM can offer through varying technologies. CRM not only collects data, but presents it in a usable format to the different people and departments who need it. Automated work flow and integration with email systems and social networking can help keep your company in view of your target audience. Manage follow-up to never let a sale fall through the cracks. Smartphone apps provide mobile workers such as sales reps and technicians instant access to information to close the deal and provide support. Customer interaction history can help identify opportunities for up-sales and customer appreciation promotions.
Departmental collaboration can improve with full utilization of a CRM system as well. Marketing can key in on the most recent tests from development. Sales can improve based on customer service feedback. Management can make decisions through the use of enterprise wide dashboards.

ARE THERE RED FLAGS TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT?

Care must be taken prior to choosing a solution and during its implementation. Goals must be defined, the risks assessed and cost is always a concern. Ease of use must be considered because large, complex systems may create confusion, frustration and may not be fully utilized. Many failed implementations result from a lack of training and buy-in from end users.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

From a one-man show to large corporations, CRM solutions assist in organization, automation and dissemination of information. A properly chosen, implemented and utilized CRM that is embraced by marketing, sales, support and management alike can be a revenue generation solution that enhances your professional image, provides valuable data and creates customer loyalty.

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When You Want a Hotdog, You Want a Hotdog!

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No matter what kind of business you are in, you need to be able to take credit/debit cards.  The other day I wanted a hotdog out of one of those street carts.  You know, a nearly charred German sausage with all the fixings… and I had no cash.  Talk about disappointment!  Making it easy for customers to pay is simply good for business, consumers tend to buy more if the paying process is easy for them.  Part of making it easy is giving them options.  What business with a web presence wouldn’t have at least a PayPal account to allow online payment processing?  There is no reason for anyone doing business outside of the office to not be able to accept CC payments with a mobile application.

Small business owners can now take card payments at a storefront, at a show or in a marketplace – all from the same device.  Retailers can easily process payments at a sidewalk event, avoiding line abandonment concerns.  Whether you own a small business with a booth at a local market or large retail outlet, it is good business to give your customers the option to pay how they want, when they want.

The good news is that there are several reputable mobile application providers to help in processing these payments.  They allow you to swipe the card, capture a signature and email a receipt – all from a handheld unit.  Now, you can get as fancy as you want with dedicated mobile devices with built in card readers, but for the savvy small business owner you can find several applications that are very affordable and work on the smartphone you already own.  Several of these (QuickBooks, Square and PayAnywhere for example) provide a free credit card reader that plugs into your phone and have no setup or activation fees.  Pricing rates vary from 1.7% upward, depending on the volume of transactions you expect.  Do your research and find the plan that works best for you (and your local hotdog vendor).

JAMBOX by Jawbone – Simply Awesome

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I usually don’t do product reviews for things you can pick up and hold, but I was pretty impressed with this new little gadget.  The other day I got a surprise in the mail – a jawbone jambox.  This versatile speaker is only 6 inches long and a little over 2 inches high, but it puts out a lot of volume.  The jambox’s best feature isn’t the volume or the sound quality (which I was impressed with), in my opinion it’s the flexibility of the device.  You can plug your iPod into it and listen to music.  Connect to it via Bluetooth from your iPhone or iPad while playing games, music or watching movies.  Even use the built in microphone to hold a conference call either through your phone or computer using Skype or GoogleTalk, so it can keep you entertained and productive.  Sometimes it’s true, big things do come in small packages.

The Facebook Timeline

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You might have heard about Facebook’s newest makeover – Timeline. Timeline recently became available for the public and will be something that everyone must convert to in the future, but Facebook is not saying exactly when that will be yet.

clip_image001Timeline organizes all the information you have been pumping into Facebook for the last seven years into a, well, a timeline. It has created a sort of autobiography. Every wall post, every picture, update, location – anything you have ever posted to Facebook is now listed chronologically on your profile. True, all of this information has always been stored in Facebook, but it has been buried deep beneath layers and layers of new updates, new wall posts, new Farmville accomplishments. This new format simply brings it out to the open.

Rest assured that your privacy settings will remain intact. Things that were only shared with friends are still only shared with friends etc, but there are a few things to think about. If you have had your account for a while chances are that you have gone through a life change or two since you started Facebooking. What was once a funny wall post about a weekend frat party from years ago could now be embarrassing fodder for water cooler talk. It is a good idea to take a look at what others will now easily see and maybe make a few edits.

Facebook has made this easy for you to do. For one – they give you an entire week to edit and update your profile. From the time you click Get Timeline you have seven days to hide posts, restrict views

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etc. before it is published. Of course you can choose to publish it at any time before that, and at the end of the seven days Facebook will automatically publish it for you. To hide a post from Timeline simply click on the pencil in the upper right corner and choose Hide from Timeline. For some people this will be an easy task, for others who post a little more often it may become quite a chore. When you think you are done, you can check out your profile as your friends or the public will see it. This gives you a last check before publishing.

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Have you ever thought – I wish Facebook was around back when…? Well now you can add events and pictures from the past. Facebook is encouraging you to complete your social media autobiography with pre-Facebook information. Add baby pictures, add photos of your trip to the Grand Canyon the summer before 3rd grade, add high school yearbook pictures, whatever you feel like sharing and Timeline will put this information in event order. You can also update old posts with locations and correct dates. This is a great feature for those of us who feel cheated that Facebook wasn’t around before 2004, as we can now go back and fill in those missing years.

There are a few other little things that are new. It allows you to have a cover photo, in addition to your profile picture. This is a broad, page-wide picture that spans the top of your profile. You can also Feature a particular post or picture by clicking the star icon in the upper right corner. This makes the post full sized rather than the half page size of normal posts and returns to normal size by clicking the star icon once again.

Eventually every Facebook account will feature the Timeline look, so you might as well hop on board and get used to it. There is no U-turn, once you switch to Timeline view there is no going back to Wall view, so make the most of your seven days and start perfecting your new look today. Happy Facebooking.

What is cloud computing?

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Cloud computing is a growing concept that provides computing as a service rather than a product. Instead of the application residing on the desktop/laptop etc., it is hosted on a remote server. Simply put, it’s when you rent a technology solution rather than buying it.

Although the term “cloud computing” may have only caught on in the last few years, the idea has been around for much longer. In principle it’s not much different than mainframe computing where small units connect to the “big iron”. In fact, I bet you already use a form of cloud computing. If you use Gmail, Facebook or any other subscription site, you are using a cloud service. The latest buzz about the cloud is using it for enterprise applications.

 
The intriguing thing about using cloud technology is the economic efficiencies gained. Startup costs and maintenance are reduced. Applications are easily deployed – as long as you have an internet connection you can connect from anywhere. And in most cases it is easily scalable. Security concerns are mitigated through these efficiencies as well. Since providers can devote resources to solving security solutions, security is often better than on traditional networks.

I work remotely, but I connect with customers, clients and vendors from all around the world. I share files, manage contacts, appointments and even host meetings – all from my office, home or anyplace that I can receive an internet connection. I wouldn’t be able to do this without utilizing various forms of cloud computing.

 
With recent advancements and popularity of SaaS, Infrastructure and Platform as a Service are the next natural steps in progression. Without the need to invest in and house servers, create integration of various platforms and maintain the whole enchilada, businesses have a new, viable option to reap the benefits of an enterprise application that can handle CRM, ERP and other applications that conform to ISO standards. How can you make cloud computing work for you?

What is a QR Code?

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You’ve probably seen them, but what are they? Quick Response or QR codes are popping up all over the place, but why should you use one? QR codes are a matrix barcode with large storage capacity so instead of holding a string of numbers like the old bar codes, QR codes can hold alphanumeric things like URLs. There are numerous mobile apps that will read them which means anyone with a smart phone in their hand can visit your site just by scanning one. Think of them as paper-based hyperlinks.

There are a number of sites, both pay and free, that generate QR codes such as http://qrcode.kaywa.com. Just paste your URL (or text etc.), click generate and bingo! Adding them to flyers, print ads and posters allows you to direct people to your blog, Facebook, YouTube or even a coupon. This is a great way to drive traffic to your site, especially if you are targeting a local audience. By blurring the lines between print and digital media you’ll see QR codes more and more. How can you use them?

Free Online Project Management Software

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Asana is the modern way to work together.  In today’s mixed work environments one of the biggest challenges is staying in sync and organized.  Asana is a shared task list to help you and your team prioritize, share information and stay organized.

Started by the co-founder of Facebook, Asana opened for the general public in November of 2011 in an effort to re-imagine how teams get things done.  The belief that together we can accomplish more than the sum of our individual labors falls apart without well defined goals and clear direction, which is what Asana offers.  Asana’s top down design allows complex projects to be broken into more manageable project and those projects into tasks.  These tasks are prioritized, assigned, followed, tracked and completed through a web application that connects everyone with what is going on.

Tasks can be created, assigned and completed via email and on the Asana smart phone app.  Drag and drop, shortcut keys and real time updates make for ease of use, and your data is sent on a secure connection for peace of mind.  Asana allows you to have multiple workspaces going on at the same time to not only keep you organized at work, but other areas of your life as well.  Oh yeah – and it’s free.

Focus less time on meetings, status updates and other work about work, and spend that time on what is important to you.  To learn more about how Asana can help organize your team click here (or whatever).

Click here to register for your free account www.asana.com