Archive for June, 2009

Email Marketing - Increase Your Sales With Video and Email

Posted by admin on Jun 11 2009 | Email Marketing

Video holds a strong attraction for consumers and if properly adopted in email marketing has the potential to make your business one of the most talked-about and profitable on the web, simply through embracing people’s desires to share and be entertained. For proof that consumers want to watch entertaining marketing videos, you need only take a look at the array of advertisements, viral videos, how-to guides and other video shorts hosted on sites such as YouTube.

The question is: how to spread the word? Starting with your own consumers in an email marketing campaign is the most logical step because:

  • They’ve already invested in your brand and are more likely to be receptive towards your message
  • The video will have the most value to them, especially if it has informative brand, service or product content related to their interests and past purchases
  • They will have friends in their address book who might want to watch the video too, provided the content is strong enough
  • Two common ways of including video in email are to either embed the video within the body of the message using code or to attach it as a separate file that recipients can download and open at their convenience.

    So why aren’t more companies using video and email marketing?

    The thought of an email marketing campaign with video that displays and plays the moment it’s opened is a tantalising one. That’s because, to be frank, copy and images alone don’t jump off the screen in the same way video with its visual, audio and textual elements combined does. Some companies have even reported increases in ‘click-through’ rates (leading to more sales conversions) of up to 50% after adopting an ‘email and video’ approach.

    However, the reality is most emails with video embedded or sent as file attachments won’t display in email clients and desktop applications. This is usually for one of several reasons:

  • Spam filters redirect the email to the junk folder or block it completely because they suspect the attachment / code of being a virus
  • Slow user connection speeds and / or large file sizes prevent users from playing the video in the email
  • The video player is not supported by the email client or desktop application and fails to load
  • …and these are just the technical hurdles your email faces; consider for a moment how your audience might react.

    Some will be pleased with the video, others will hate it, either because they can’t open the email for the technical reasons stated above or because it upsets the consistency of your previous email marketing campaigns (especially if you don’t indicate the presence of a video in the subject line or in prior emails). If these upsets occur too frequently, subscribers will get fed-up and either unsubscribe or stop opening your messages.

    Does this mean video in email marketing is off-limits?

    Not entirely: the embedded and attached video tactics mentioned above are just two out of a possible three. What we haven’t mentioned is linking to videos hosted on your site - a safer option that allows your subscribers to view the video at another location without unexpectedly crashing their computers.

    By sending an email with a link to the video, they can decide whether to follow the link or not, depending on if they think it is relevant to them and if their connection speed can support it (you could host multiple versions of the video in different sizes to make it as inclusive as possible). This approach keeps the email’s file size down, has greater success with spam filters, provides you with a useful metric i.e. how many people have watched the video - and takes subscribers needs and expectations into consideration.

    Tip: To improve the search rankings and number of site impressions you receive, it’s preferable to host videos on your own site instead of external locations like YouTube. That way any links and traffic the video inspires will be directed to your domain, boosting your rankings.

    Best practice tips to get people visiting your video

    Here are several easy-to-follow tips that will help promote interest in your email marketing campaign and accompanying video:

  • Capture subscribers’ attention by mentioning the video in the email’s subject line; write something intriguing to get the highest open-rate e.g. ‘Video Exclusive: How to Interest Subscribers’
  • To generate further interest once subscribers have opened the email, place image stills from the video prominently in the body. Pick the ones that you feel are boldest and represent the video best
  • To get the highest click-through rate, make it clear you’re linking to a video by combining image stills with related video icons like play buttons and computer media player skins, such as the kind seen on YouTube
  • Ensure maximum click-through to the video landing page by including hyperlinks on the image stills and a text link to the video beneath it
  • Make the call to action in the text link unambiguous: ‘Click here to be taken to the ‘How To Interest Subscribers’ video tutorial’
  • It’s possible that some of your contacts’ email clients might have images automatically disabled, in which case the image stills will not display. That’s why it’s important for you to have the text link beneath the image as it provides subscribers with an alternative route to the landing page. As an additional tip:

  • Adjust the HTML alt tag for the video to provide a description of the image e.g. ‘Image Still from Video Tutorial’. That way, if the image fails to load when the email arrives, recipients will know there is supposed to be one displaying and will click the option to ‘load images’
  • Encouraging recipients to share your video

    Making a video is easy - making a video subscribers want to share because it’s entertaining, informative and relevant is more difficult. Decide on the creative elements that will bring the best result for your video and use these final, additional tips on how to get people sharing it:

  • People take pride in being the first to know about something big; if your video has viral potential i.e. people are going to want to share it - reinforce the unique position your subscribers are in with flattering copy and clear calls to action e.g. ‘Want your friends to be in on the action? Send them an invite / Forward this video to a friend’
  • Make it as quick as possible for subscribers to forward emails by creating an email template that includes the link and explains why it’s been forwarded; include an information field for their friend’s names and email addresses on the landing page. Once the names and addresses have been entered, users should be able to click ’send’ and expect a fully-working email to deliver on their behalf
  • Establish credibility (and increase the likelihood of high open-rates) by making sure the email subject line communicates the content clearly and the ‘from’ name reads as your company
  • If subscribers enter their friends’ first names in the landing page data field, use mail merge to include it in the opening ‘Dear…,’ which will help build trust
  • Go one step further towards creating credibility by taking the first name of the person who wants to forward the mail in the data entry field as well. Use mail merge to have it insert automatically in the subject line e.g. ‘Daniel Wants To Share This Video With You’
  • Increase video exposure by supplying a URL and HTML embedding code next to the video, allowing viewers to post the video on their own website or blog
  • Follow these simple best-practices and you will see an increase in the number of people opting into your email marketing campaigns: that’s more qualified leads for you to send campaigns to and turn into loyal customers.

    Not only will this grow your email marketing list organically, the resulting inbound links and traffic to your site should see it rise higher in the search engine rankings, meaning a sustained increase in the number of sign-ups you see long after the video has been launched. Embrace your subscribers’ desire to be entertained and share with their friends, and create more new sales leads for yourself by combining email marketing with linked video.

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    Email Marketing Tips - Secrets of Writing Eye-Stopping Subject Lines Revealed!

    Posted by admin on Jun 10 2009 | Email Marketing

    Do you want to write subject lines that get attention and ultimately get you sales? I bet you would if you are doing any kind of email marketing. Sadly, the art of writing powerful subject lines is not one that is often discussed about, but it plays probably the biggest role in determining whether your emails get opened and read.

    Here is to write them professionally to grab attention:

    1. Make It Eye-Grabbing

    If you want to capture the attention of your subscribers, you need to stick out like a sore thumb! In a good way, of course. While many marketers are using similar, uninspiring headlines, what you want to do is to create a headline that incites curiosity and taps into their deepest desires and fears.

    2. Qualify Your Email

    Not everyone who signs up to your list is after the same thing, especially if you are targeting a broad niche market. For example, if your niche market is Internet marketers, many of the people on your list will be at different levels of their business. So one way to target your prospects is by qualifying your email. If you want to target beginners, you can say ‘For New Internet Marketers Only’. Almost all the new marketers on your list will open the email!

    3. Don’t Deceive Your Subscribers

    Emails that trick subscribers may get attention in the short term, but at the cost of reputation. People don’t like being tricked, and if you make them think they have got an affiliate payment when you are actually promoting a product, you will lose them forever. So don’t deceive your subscribers.

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    How Can Email Help You Earn Money Online?

    Posted by admin on Jun 09 2009 | Email Marketing

    Earning money online, especially with the highly advanced spam control of this day and age can seem like a hopeless task, but it doesn’t have to be. If done intelligently, and of course ethically, email marketing can open up a whole host of benefits for your online (or offline) business. The secrets to successful email marketing are setting up a good mailing list, avoid spamming, and making sure you maintain the interest of your potential customers.

    Setting up a good mailing list can be relatively simple, and works on the same principle as the maintenance of the interest of your potential buyers. You must make sure to provide incentives for the visitors of your website or for past customers to submit their email addresses to your mailing list. How do you do that? Offer promotions, coupons, discounts or free samples and accessible, useful information in your newsletter.

    Avoid spamming. Yes, your subscribers or list members, have agreed to accept commercial messages from you but make sure not to bombard your subscribers with all sorts of advertisements or hard sell marketing campaigns. That would be a major turn-off for anyone, and it would make it very easy for the “delete” button to be pushed. Or even worse hitting the unsubscribe button and reporting you as a spammer.

    You could use your own servers and email program to keep track of subscribers, distribute your messages and update the subscriber list for bounces and unsubscribes, but that can be time consuming. A more efficient way is to use the services of an email distribution company such as getresponse.com or aweber.com

    Maintain the interest of your subscribers. Keep in mind that nobody will read a fluff-filled, poorly constructed newsletter twice. The next time it shows up in their mailbox it will be deleted unread. Or even worse your subscriber may hit the unsubscribe button. If your newsletters have been interesting in the past, or have been a way for your readers to get free stuff, your email will definitely make its way out of the spam basket, be opened and read.

    Keep things respectful, make your offers interesting and exciting. Don’t offend your customers’ intelligence by over-promoting your products, and you will have a long lasting, professional, mutually advantageous relationship on your hands.

    As you can see, you can earn money online by way of email can be very easy if done correctly, all you need to do is build a trusting relationship with your potential buyers.

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    5 Hot Email Marketing Best Practices

    Posted by admin on Jun 08 2009 | Email Marketing

    The average person spends more time every day reading his email than he spends doing anything else on the web. As a matter of fact, his email often distracts him from the other tasks he needs to accomplish. With this in mind, it’s safe to say that email marketing is a very powerful tool.

    Today I want to share a few best practices you should keep in mind as you develop your email marketing campaign. They’ll help you to get through to your potential clients more effectively.

    Make sure your email isn’t spam.
    Everyone has some sort of spam protection software included in their email accounts these days. Your job is to learn about spam filters and the things they identify as spam so that you can avoid having your email sent straight to the junk box. For example, using the words “Free” or “Discount” in your subject line might get you flagged.

    Personalise your emails.
    Address your subscribers as individuals - not as generic groups. A person who feels like he’s being addressed as a single person is more likely to respond to you than someone who feels like he’s a nameless face in a crowd. It’s easy to slip some simple code into your email template so that the names in your address book pull through.

    Make it easy to unsubscribe.
    As silly as this sounds, making it easy to unsubscribe from an email list is paramount. The easier it is for a person to unsubscribe the less likely they will be to mark your email as spam or file a complaint with a better business bureau. The unsubscribe link should immediately take your subscriber to a page where they can opt out - no questions asked - no additional email confirmations necessary.

    Send emails on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
    Tuesday and Wednesday are notorious for being the best days to send emails if you expect a high response rate. On these days people are already over the last weekend and they’re not yet planning for the next one. They’re open to communication and, in some cases, are looking for something to do.

    Be consistent.
    Be consistent in both your communication frequency and the look of your newsletter. If you promise to email your clients once per week - do it. No more, no less. People appreciate things that they can grow to expect and are sometimes resistant to change. Don’t change the format of your newsletter or email unless you’re absolutely sure it’s going to be viewed as an upgrade.

    In the time it took me to write this post I received 5 emails, 3 of which are email newsletters that I’ve subscribed to. They arrive regularly each week and always offer tons of valuable information. Would I consider your email to be just as valuable?

    Good luck setting up your email marketing campaign.

    Sean

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    Consider the Cheap Website Hosting Company to Make Online Presence Enhanced

    Posted by admin on Jun 05 2009 | Web Hosting

    In electronic commerce applications, Australia has been the leading nation. Flexible and innovative Aussies accepted the use of a convenient and fast paced mode of commerce. Companies eyed for online presence and as a result plenty of website hosting companies came into existence. There are different ways of selecting a cheap web hosting company. It is a misconception that only the reputed and large sized web solution providers can only come up with the right solution, while you consider a website hosting company you must check out the quality that it offers.

    To get business running, online presence is mandatory and Australian web hosting companies are now able to identify the difference that makes better profits. It can be estimated the cheap web hosting companies of Australia are analyze market for the product or service. For this they clarify the functional details from the client. A particular product popular in Victoria might not be of that demand in New South Wales. So, regional demands are also considered by the website hosting companies. Australian web hosting companies are now popular across the globe for their comparatively cheaper services along with adherence to the global standards.

    The cheap web design companies of Australia prefer complete consultation and this is indeed wise to consult with these companies while initiating online presence. While website hosting, selection of the Universal resource locater or URL is important. A name, which resembles a specific product or service, can be always an advantage. A close analysis of the competitor website can help a lot. This helps the designers to create the portal with an edge over the others. Australian web hosting companies also assist in registering the site with the popular search engines for better ranking.

    There is different software that helps a company to track the number of visitors. Tracking the web traffic is important and many website hosting companies offer these services at a nominal fee. Only hosting a site is not sufficient for a business, the latest product information or service details need to me informed to the site visitors. So, while you select a cheap web hosting company, it is necessary to check the support charges. It is prudent to know that many companies offer free support for a span of time for better customer satisfaction.

    The Australian web hosting companies facilitate email IDs with the domain name extensions. The storage capacity of the mailbox needs to be clarified. Vivid self- research while selection of a web design company can safeguard from any wrong selection. The major website hosting company usually offer toll free customer care number. It is best to check the community newspapers as well to get details of the Australian web hosting companies.

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    Websites With Yola - How to Build a Online Presence For Your Business in Minutes

    Posted by admin on Jun 04 2009 | Web Hosting

    Yola, formerly Synthasite, is a free website building application that lets you build a online presence without software. Yola also provides free hosting. Today I’d like to show you how to build your first website in minutes using Yola.

    1. Choosing a Template
    There are plenty of options even Wordpress-like templates. When choosing a template be sure to choose one you can customize the header.

    2. Customizing the Template
    Customizing your website is easy. You can create a header simply by following the dimension describe on the template and upload it in minutes. The site will allow you upload image files up to 20mb.

    3. Blog or Website?
    You can build a Blog or Website with ease using Yola. I admit websites are labor intensive. I prefer building blogs, because they are easy to get indexed with search engines. To start building your first page drag and drop a text widget and began adding your content. You can also add videos, and pictures in the same fashion.

    4. Add widgets
    Yola has the most widgets I’ve seen on a free website builder. Add a Google Adsense widgets and start earning money. Add comment widgets to create a dialog with your visitors. Use Spring widgets to stream your latest YouTube Video. I love using widgets. They create a website that is continually changing and interacting with your audience.
    Add an html widget to add banners to your website page. I use this widget to place Google Analytics on my website. I recommend Google Analytics to anyone who has a website. It will allow you to track the number of visitors and where they came from. Every website should use it.

    5. Get a domain
    Once you’re done, the next thing to do is grab a domain name. You can choose a sub-domain for free or purchasing a domain for a small fee.

    6. Publish Your Website
    Once your website is complete, you can publish it with a click of a button. While Yola is one great alternative to Paid hosting,, there are many other ways to create an online presence. My advice is to research other providers and compare features.

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    Weebly Vs Synthasite - Building a Free Website Drag and Drop

    Posted by admin on Jun 03 2009 | Web Hosting

    Weebly and Synthasite, which recently changed its name to Yola, are among the leaders of free website building applications. These websites together have over 300,000 active users. Many of these users have found the ability to create free websites drag and drop without html knowledge a huge value. While Weebly and Synthasite (Yola) offer the same templates and drag and drop style web building feature, there are some big differences.

    Weebly’s templates and headers are a bit oversize, however Weebly has an advance editing feature which lets you customize every aspect of your free website. I recommend this feature for the computer savvy only. Synthasite on the other hand has a good number of templates and great variety of colors to start with.

    Both Website building applications were easy to navigate and use. I found Synthasite troublesome when attempting to copy and paste an article from Microsoft Word. Weebly’s also had a major flaw; the ability to build a blog only.

    With an endless number of widgets, Sythasite, or Yola, provided the most features to build an interactive websites. Widgets allow you to add features seen on popular Wordpress or Joomla websites. Both Synthasite and Weebly provide numerous widgets for guestbooks, forms, forums, text, videos, pictures and more. The websites also provide widgets to easily monetize your website. Google AdSense and Affiliate links are easily installed drag and drop.

    Google Page Rank (PR7) is another great advantage of Weebly. This can easily get your website indexed in search engines, however both sites are SEO Friendly.

    Domains are available for $19.95 a year ; however sub-domains are offered at no charge. Both website allow you to use a pre-purchased domains. This is an excellent feature which allows you to point a domain at your free website.

    In closing, there are several others websites that offer free website building applications. My advice is research before you began building your website and choose a service.

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    Fatcow Review - The Truth!

    Posted by admin on Jun 02 2009 | Web Hosting

    FatCow web hosting provider was born in 1998. From the start they wanted to offer their own twist to the hosting industry. FatCow provides a variety of services including: domain registration, shared hosting and ecommerce services. They provide a wide hosting solution as well as a MiniMoo package for those who are preparing to establish a website soon.

    There’s also an entire service web host plan providing reliability, function and power. They provide quality buyer support for potential and current web host buyers. Their price for a hosting plan is low, however, the function and quality of the host solutions are high.

    Fatcow Plans:

    FatCow stands out from different hosting companies providing their own unique package. They offer a hosting package that is only $66/ year. This plan has unlimited bandwidth and unlimited disk space. This plan provides a website building tools and shopping cart as well as 5 MySQL databases. Miscellaneous interactive applications are also available. A reliable buyer support and 30 Day Money Back Guarantee back all plans.

    MiniMoo package is also available for users who are in process of making a website but don’t require full web hosting options yet. This plan offers an email account and email forwarding. Additional option is also available for MiniMoo customers to place a coming soon page to notify online users that their website is under construction. The MiniMoo Package is only $5/year.

    Making an interactive site for a business or personal website has never been smoother with use of InstallCentral through FatCow hosting. Applications are easy to use and secure. A buyer doesn’t need to be a hosting expert to make a great website. many applications that are available will include a blog, ecommerce features, imagine galleries, discussion board and much more.

    Reliability:

    FatCow provides reliable and secure web host solutions. Fatcow data center includes power generator, daily backups and 24/7 network monitoring. Fatcow staff is able to manage any problems may occur. The technicians are knowledgeable as well as skilled.

    Price value:

    FatCow hosting package provides buyers with a great value. They get generous amounts of disk space and bandwidth for only $99/year. This plan provides many features including unlimited databases,emails ,FrontPage Extensions, PHP, ecommerce applications and much more. This plan provides even more value to clients by providing 24/7/365 customer support , a reliable hosting infrastructure and a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee.

    Customer Support:

    FatCow offers excellent customer support to their customers through a skilled staff. Online support can be accessed 24/7. Toll free number is available for those interested in hosting with FatCow. Buyers get help by calling the toll free support number or by support tickets.

    Conclusion:

    FatCow provides reliable web hosting plans as low as $66/year. Fatcow plan includes many applications and features. A superior staff works in data center and handles services and customer support. Add-on services are available.

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    Call of Duty 4 Server - The Fun Side of Hosting

    Posted by admin on Jun 01 2009 | Web Hosting

    We spend a lot of time thinking about hosting and all the stuff that goes along with that from applications to servers and server software. Our attention tends to be focused on maintaining webpages and domain names, but there are a lot of reasons you might be looking for a host. Maybe, for example, you want to run a Call Of Duty 4 server.

    A Call of Duty 4 server is what makes it possible to play an online Call of Duty game with and/or against other players. Every time you’ve ever played an online game you’ve been on someone’s server. When a game first comes out, the producer will often setup and manage a few servers to get people started, but there are usually a lot people that will setup their own servers pretty quickly.

    Running your own game server gives you a lot of control of the environment in which you get to actually play. Games like Call of Duty have many different modes and maps which you can choose from and many different settings. There are various “deathmatch” style modes where players, or teams of players, try and kill off opponents to gain points. In such games the winner is the one who earns the most or reaches a given score first. Search and Destroy mode allows teams to play either as defenders or attackers trying to defend or destroy equipment at various sites scattered throughout the game map. Domination games force players to focus on capturing and controlling certain pre-defined areas. Hardcore mode can be combined with various other modes, increasing the difficulty of surviving greatly. Headquarters matches are particularly fast-paced as the action centers around controlling and defending a single object, with the serious disadvantages placed on the team that is not in control.

    The game modes can be played on various maps. Each map provides a unique environment, some taking place indoors, others outdoors or a combination of the two. Many different settings from deserts and forests to towns and large cities can be chosen and these settings have an impact on the types of strategies and style of gameplay that you’ll encounter in a given match.

    The choice of map and game mode is usually controlled by the server administrator. You can normally play all kinds of games on other peoples’ servers, but hosting your own gives you and your friends direct control. Clans (clubs of gamers who often play together on teams) often choose to run their own servers, making it possible for them to hone specific tactics in specific settings. The main advantage is that server administrators can control who plays on their serves, so a clan will be able to get all its members together at once and makes sure they get to play together in specifically chosen teams.

    You can run a Call of Duty 4 server using the game software itself. If you’ve setup a LAN game yourself, you’ve already run a server. This can be done with the same computer on which you’re playing, but you can also launch the game in dedicated server mode. Things get a little more difficult when you’re trying to host large games over the Internet, so lots of people choose to use independent game hosts which handle all of the configuration problems, provide powerful machines to act as servers, and then hands over control of the important and fun parts of running as game server their customers.

    A Call of Duty 4 server is what makes it possible to play an online Call of Duty game with and/or against other players. Every time you’ve ever played an online game you’ve been on someone’s server. When a game first comes out, the producer will often setup and manage a few servers to get people started, but there are usually a lot people that will setup their own servers pretty quickly.

    Running your own game server gives you a lot of control of the environment in which you get to actually play. Games like Call of Duty have many different modes and maps which you can choose from and many different settings. There are various “deathmatch” style modes where players, or teams of players, try and kill off opponents to gain points. In such games the winner is the one who earns the most or reaches a given score first. Search and Destroy mode allows teams to play either as defenders or attackers trying to defend or destroy equipment at various sites scattered throughout the game map. Domination games force players to focus on capturing and controlling certain pre-defined areas. Hardcore mode can be combined with various other modes, increasing the difficulty of surviving greatly. Headquarters matches are particularly fast-paced as the action centers around controlling and defending a single object, with the serious disadvantages placed on the team that is not in control.

    The game modes can be played on various maps. Each map provides a unique environment, some taking place indoors, others outdoors or a combination of the two. Many different settings from deserts and forests to towns and large cities can be chosen and these settings have an impact on the types of strategies and style of gameplay that you’ll encounter in a given match.

    The choice of map and game mode is usually controlled by the server administrator. You can normally play all kinds of games on other peoples’ servers, but hosting your own gives you and your friends direct control. Clans (clubs of gamers who often play together on teams) often choose to run their own servers, making it possible for them to hone specific tactics in specific settings. The main advantage is that server administrators can control who plays on their serves, so a clan will be able to get all its members together at once and makes sure they get to play together in specifically chosen teams.

    You can run a Call of Duty 4 server using the game software itself. If you’ve setup a LAN game yourself, you’ve already run a server. This can be done with the same computer on which you’re playing, but you can also launch the game in dedicated server mode. Things get a little more difficult when you’re trying to host large games over the Internet, so lots of people choose to use independent game hosts which handle all of the configuration problems, provide powerful machines to act as servers, and then hands over control of the important and fun parts of running as game server their customers.

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