It is happening

I thought this looked intriguing (from my facebook news feed today)...
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CBC A quick side note: My social media consulting firm is looking for a part-time Vancouver-based Executive Assistant (work at home). Details and application at http://www.tmedia.com/careers/execasst. Thanks
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Out of curiosity, I took a look at the application. Wow. I shouldn't be surprised at what they were asking, but I was. They are looking for level of experience on a number of online tools - fair enough - and then they requested a Facebook profile & LinkedIn profile. Wow. It's happening. These profiles are becoming part of our resume. A measurement of our online intelligence, behaviour and citizenship.

Keep THAT in mind the next time you post that crazy YouTube video on your Facebook status! Think again.

Top 10 Scary Things in my Inbox this Halloween

I wrote this article several years back, when I was an e-marketing strategist with cardcommunications... most of the advice is still relevant today. In the spirit of Halloween, I thought I'd share it.

What is so scary in my inbox this Halloween? Lots! As an e-marketing strategist, I sign up for a lot of email. Some emails trigger me to take action. Some even convert me into a buyer. Other emails scare me silly. Here are 10 examples …I’ve saved the scariest for the end!

Emails that don’t value relationships.
These emails are long, irrelevant and not delivering what they promised when I signed up to receive them. I actually had more than ten scary examples to share with you today, but to respect your time, I narrowed them down to the top ten.

Emails that come too frequently.
Enough already. I don’t think I need more than one email a week about any subject! If you plan on sending an email more frequently than once a week, please ensure that your subscribers are aware of this and have requested it. Otherwise, you may get more opt-outs than you bargained for!

Sending me text emails when I prefer HTML
I’m an HTML girl and I’m not alone. I’m visual. I click on pictures and boxes. Please send me HTML. I think some email marketers are worried about deliverability and are migrating back to text-based emails. Why not ask your subscribers what their preferences are, and deliver the format they prefer? Easy & respectful. Often, I delete text-based emails unless they are from a company I love, promising relevant information.

Not putting the upfront planning into an email campaign.
Do you think we can’t tell that you threw that email together at the last minute? We notice. Yes, email is a very quick, simple way to deliver a message but please remember…the preparation for an email broadcast should be as important and as well planned as any other communication with your customers. Be strategic and watch that the writing style suits your online medium.

Subject lines that don’t jive with the content. Not funny!
Every week, I get emails with intriguing subject lines that don’t connect clearly to any content inside the email. Don’t make this a “hide and seek” game for your reader. If you promise something in the subject line, deliver it clearly in the email. This is almost as fatal as boring subject lines like “October e-Newsletter”. Don’t waste my time!

Repeating the same information in the “from” and “subject” lines
Is it just me? I don’t understand why anyone would repeat the same information in the “from” line and the “subject” line.

Example:
From: ABC Academy
Subject: ABC Academy Invitation

This is clearly a missed opportunity. If you eliminate the name of the company in the subject line, you’ll have room for the date or other critical or interesting information. This looks like you have the hiccups! I see it all the time. Stop the insanity!

Bad Links, typos…where’s the proofreading?
Again, don’t rush an email broadcast. Sending email is deceptively simple and this is why you need a defined testing process to ensure working links and error-free content. Yes, it takes a little longer, but its well worth it. Would you print 1,000 brochures without carefully reading it first? Email is no different. Proofread and test, test, test. Remember – once you hit send, there’s no turning back.

Where is the easy opt-out?
Yes, I’m still receiving email with no opt-out option, or very pathetic opt-out options. (“please send me an email to get off the list”, or, “reply to this email with the subject REMOVE”). Hello? There are so many great web-based email marketing tools out there now. No one should have to resort to these methods! I saw this at the bottom of an email yesterday: “please don’t opt-out”. And before that, I saw this: “click here for the reasons why you shouldn’t opt-out!” I’d like a guilt-free approach to opting out too, please!

Getting an email sent bulk from Outlook.
Why even bother sending email in bulk from your Outlook or other lame bulk email broadcasting system? Just the word “bulk” sends shivers down my spine. Plus:

* You can’t measure your efforts
* Your emails get labelled spam and sent to junk folders
* It’s impersonal
* It’s labour intensive to send in batches - I know this is what you often have to do!
* And it’s SO annoying to your recipients to get an email addressed to or, worse, to no one.

Just so you know, we don’t open these emails. Stop sending them like this
and step it up!

And the number one scary thing still happening in my inbox:

Getting email from someone without my permission (a spammer!)
More and more, I’m receiving email from companies who are “affiliated” with a company who has me on their permission-based list. I don’t like this one little bit. When asking for permission from your new subscribers, keep this in mind. Be clear what they’re signing up for or you’ll have opt-outs early and often. Not to mention a very bad reputation. Don’t risk it! Don’t send unsolicited email.

I don’t like spam. No one likes spam. It scares me! It scares us all!

Think you’re scaring your subscribers? Call an email marketing strategist today! Happy Halloween! Boo!

Please, let me unsubscribe, please please!

It happened again. I got an email that I, apparently, subscribed to. I could tell it was from Sympatico.ca but it wasn't exactly what I signed up for. I enjoy receiving the newsletter with all the entertainment and east coasty info. That's great. Instead, I got an ad for a furniture company. They are partnered in some way with Bell Aliant. And I guess an email list was shared. Take a look at the email.

But that's not the worst part! I scrolled to the bottom to unsubscribe, but noticed I could change my subscription detail. Perfect. I can still get my east coasty newsletter but unsubscribe only to the other crap, like the email from the furniture store that I didn't ask for. Not so fast. When I tried to submit my revised preferences, the form insisted that I give them my full name and gender...and some other bit of personal information - and it was mandatory. So I went back to the bottom of the email and completely unsubscribed from it all. Good Bye Bell Aliant. It was nice but now I'm done.

So, when you're giving your subscribers options to change their preferences, don't insist they give you even more information. You'll scare them away. Another customer service nightmare. You don't want that. Do you?

When did blogging first hit MY radar?

I was just thinking about my first encounter with blogging. I'm going to forget the details, but bear with me. My brother-in-law, Dave Fewer, became the key contact in Canada when his parents and some family members were struck by a massive category 5 hurricane while attending a family wedding in Mexico. It was Hurricane Wilma and it was devastating.

Dave was getting sporadic communications with his parents and other members of the family were also receiving some information from other marooned travellers. All Dave's family members, and friends, back in Canada were contacting him constantly for information and updates. Email was not working to keep everyone informed and to keep all the gathered information in one place. Dave was trying to work with the Canadian government to get the stranded travelers out of Mexico, and needed to put a cohesive story together. And he needed to keep his phone line open, to receive any calls from Mexico and the government. So, Dave started a blog... a place where he pointed everyone to so they could read all the information gathered so far. Anyone reading the blog could comment with updates and things THEY were hearing. And we could all follow along (rather than calling Dave) as Dave and his family worked feverishly to get their loved ones back to Canada. It was a very efficient way to manage this crisis. This story had a happy ending - all the family members eventually got out of Mexico safely, with some pretty incredible stories of survival and human compassion to share with us.

At the time, the blog seemed like magic to me. Like an instant website. How did Dave figure out how to "start" it? How did he know to use it for this purpose? I pay close attention to Dave whenever he has an idea now...