If you’re launching a social media program that includes twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook (among others), you should consider a social media dashboard application to help you manage the effort. There are many available, including TweetDeck, Seesmic, and HootSuite. I prefer HootSuite. Here are five reasons why: Browser-Based — You run HootSuite through your web browser. [...]
Video Reveals the Dos and Don’ts of Email Marketing
What is the biggest mistake that email marketers can make? How can segmenting and follow-up help you achieve your business goals? What is “Brussels Sprouts Marketing?” and why should you NOT do it? MarketVolt’s Tom Ruwitch answers this and many other questions in this short video. Ron Ameln from St. Louis Small Business Monthly interviews [...]
Develop Content that Reflects the Benefits Your Business Delivers
I have a new client who wants to launch an email marketing campaign. When I asked what business he is in, he said, “We sell telephone equipment and services.” I offered a gentle correction. “Your business is to help clients operate with greater efficiency and less hassle by deploying smart telecommunications solutions.” What business are [...]
Your Lists Are Assets, But Only If…
If you want to sell your business, one of the questions your suitor will undoubtedly ask is: What is the size and quality of your “list?” The buyer is not asking about your grocery list here, they want to know if you have a “house list” of existing customers and prospects that you are actively [...]
Don’t Create Image-Only Emails
Check out the email I received earlier today (this is how it looked in my Gmail inbox): Not much to see, is it? The business that sent this email made a classic mistake. It created its email with images only. No text. Just a bunch of images mashed together. Many businesses like to do this [...]
How to Build a Long- Lasting Relationship with First-Timers
In a previous post, I applauded online coupon vendors that deliver a flood of new customers to you. But after the first-time customer redeems the coupon, then what? Your challenge is to maximize the lifetime value of customer relationships. These goals apply whether you acquire the customer through couponing or some other tactic. Turn first-time [...]
Nonprofits Need to Separate Prospects from Suspects Before Pressing “Send”
My 18-year-old cousin received an email from a non-profit last month, promoting the organization’s new planned giving web site and inviting him to register for a free webinar about the topic. After opting-out from the non-profit’s mailing list, my cousin emailed me and asked, “Why would they send me this junk?” My reply, “Because you [...]
Online Coupons are Great, But Then What?
A confession: I’m a Hot Sauce junky. I’m not talking about the peppery extract you sprinkle on food. I’m talking the online coupon vendor that delivers daily deals from local businesses. Every morning, I dash to my computer and check my inbox for my daily fix – an offer to purchase products or services at [...]
Tom Ruwitch Featured on Tiny Business, Mighty Profits
Our friend Russ Henneberry has a great blog called Tiny Business, Mighty Profits. I was honored to have Russ invite me to be intereviewed on his internet radio show that he includes on the blog. In the 40-minute discussion, archived on the site, we discussed: Learn: The 3 reasons you shouldn’t be using Outlook, Gmail, [...]
Marketing to the Maybes – How Non-Profits Should Court Prospects
Imagine you’re single, looking for a new long-term relationship. You enter a room full of strangers and see someone whom you find attractive. You walk over, introduce yourself, and converse. You deliver some of your best material—funny anecdotes about yourself, details about your high-powered career, evidence of your passionate, yet sensitive side. The stranger is [...]
