We are proud to announce the launch of a website for Cura Orphanage in Kenya, Africa. Cura Orphanage offers a loving home for children who have lost their parents to AIDS. The Home has room for up to 150 children and is currently seeking sponsors to help fund the care and education of children in need.
Cura….where hope has a place to grow.
Email newsletters are an excellent way to connect with your customers or potential customers. But, we all know that our email boxes are crammed with email marketing. There are a variety of spam checkers and filters that stand in the way of your email newsletter and your customers In Box.
So, keep a few tips in mind to make sure your email newsletter gets to your client and hits the mark.
Avoid having your email newsletter labeled as spam….and miss your client’s In Box.
Here’s what NOT to do:
Don’t use ALL CAPS in the subject line or in the text of your email
Don’t use “trigger words”
· These include: free, trial, money, quote, sample, membership, access, sex, spam, $$$, checks, money orders, extra income.
· Even seemingly harmless words like search engine listings, cable converter, and reverses-aging can penalize your email. Be careful when picking your message title.
Don’t use excessive punctuation (!!!)
Instead, use “good triggers” and prove that your email is a real, justifiable email.
Here’s what TO do:
Use the words News, Newsletter or List in your subject line
Indicate your publishing frequency in the subject line (Weekly, Daily, Monthly)
Include the date of the newsletter in the subject line
Include the Issue Number in the subject line
With these simple guidelines you’ll have a better shot at getting your email where you want it….getting the attention of your client.
The days are gone when we just hung up our sign on the door and customers showed up. With today’s global market, tight competition and a shrinking dollar, an effective logo is one of the most critical components of your brand.
Consider this:
Your logo may be the only impression you get to make on a potential customer. Image is everything and time is short. A good logo conveys the essense of your business — it either draws the interest of your customer…or it doesn’t.
Awareness and familiarity are key ways to grow your business. Your logo helps with both of these. All your branding efforts should be based on your logo, and your logo dictates the design of your sales tools. For better or worse. A poorly designed logo can’t leverage you for success.
Your logo should reflect your company in a unique and honest way. It’s ok to be clever, but not at the expense of being clear. It’s your shot to set your business apart, and it may be the sole reason someone chooses to do business with your company.
A quality logo should last at least 10 years and will set the tone for all your marketing efforts.
In the world of Internet marketing and website development the range of services and the level of quality behind those services can be totally baffling to a business owner attempting to increase her business through the Internet.
In my conversations with clients I often have the opportunity to speak to this issue. Whether it’s an online service offering logo development for $99 or the ploy that tells the consumer they can build their own website fast and cheap, there are many online companies who over promise and under deliver.
For a long time I considered these folks my competition, but I have come to understand that they are not. You really do get what you pay for, and if you want a logo that casts a vision for your company or a website that actually causes a targeted response, then looking for the best “deal” is throwing good money after bad marketing.
Once I got over being uncomfortable when someone compared my pricing to the latest Internet deal, something opened up for me. Hey, I love a good price, too. And what I do know for sure about Canopy Marketing and the services we provide is that we are, in fact, low priced when truly compared to a marketing firm of equal stature and experience.
But a good deal really shouldn’t be about price. When marketing your company and attempting to grow your market share, it is important to put what marketing resources you do have in play to make the most impact for your money.
We’ve been in business since 1996 and we are here to stay. Our relationships are for the long term, and that means we want to provide not only value but quality. We stake our reputation on it.
I heard about a printer that posted a sign in his place of business that said:
1. Price
2. Service
3. Quality
Pick Two.
Kind of sobering, but after my years in the business I find it can be true. If you are picking your marketing agency on price alone, you will probably suffer for service and quality.
What makes the most sense to me is to weigh price, while considering the quality of the work performed and the level of service you expect. We always work to provide the lowest price possible, without compromising quality. And we don’t compromise service — ever.
Next time: What does it cost to develop a website?