Jon Rognerud asked:


Email marketing is easy (—ponder—) if you know how to do it. Wow, you have heard that one before, I’m sure. Is that not always the case – with almost anything? So, why even say it?

Because – in this case it is really true. Read on!

1. Get the legalities out of the way.

Always write and provide a link to your privacy page. Starter text can be obtained from links below – and always make sure to review with your legal counsel for a final review. You will then include a link to it from your outgoing email campaigns.

Here are some places to start:

a)http://www.truste.org/pdf/WriteAGreatPrivacyPolicy.pdf

b)http://www.marketingpower.com/content4740.php

c)http://www.microsaw.com/privacy_policy.htm

2. Your site must capture user via first name (last name) & email address.

Burn this into your head – make it your site requirement – day one. There are too many online businesses that forget this simple rule. It’s a must. If you are reading this article, then you probably already realize the importance of mailing lists.

3. Example Signup forms.

Search the internet for example sign up forms. A great technique is to look for companies that have this in their URL. Try this in Google (type into search box): allinurl: “free newsletter” (it will search any site that has this contained in the TITLE of the page).

4. Popups, popunders, popup blockers & search engines.

Traditional popups (yes, the annoying ones) are banned from search engines like Google. Therefore, smart marketers have come up with other means. They are called “popunders”.

q Apply a page that “slides” onto your page, and have it appear after 5 seconds.

q Display this email form capture on all pages.

q Only show it once, and only repeat 2-3 days later (assuming they come back). Many of the email marketing systems include this feature for you.

q Annoying, but it works. I went from 5% signups a day a 75% increase overnight – only a few weeks ago.

5. Get the best and highest performing email service.

Don’t skimp here. A few extra dollars a month can really save you a lot of headaches. We worked with one company that went from about 1,000 emails on their list, down to about 100 in 24 hours, (when they switched providers). They quickly realized that they had made a bad choice.

Here’s what to consider initially:

q ASP hosted solutions are now connected with ISPs to ensure uptime/deliverability

q Desktop applications can work well for you, for example, Gamma Dyne Mailer: http://www.soft32.com/download_4469.html

q Autoresponse Plus, GetResponse, Aweber are a good place to start reviewing options.

Make sure you have:

q Working unsubscribe

q Be careful where you get the lists

q Avoid fraudulent subject lines

q Include postal address, phone, privacy policy

q **** must be identified in subject line (SEXUALLY EXPLICIT)

q Opt-out lists, including ‘double-opt-in’ (user must click to approve the email)

6. Test, test & track, track.

Here’s how to do it:

q Test the campaigns with A/B Split test tactics – specifically on subject line and ad copy, it can help improve newsletter and pages immensely. (A/B refers to capability of serving up different content or ads, or headlines, sections on your page and campaign – that can be tracked)

q Tracking conversions from email blasts (cookies and JavaScript and beacons on landing pages, thank you pages, etc)

q Good reporting and database segmentation to section off to demographics, recency, frequency, sales totals

7. How often to send? How about text size (content)?

Daily.

Daily if you have a good “alert” system (ex: Google alerts) – this will not make sense for most companies. CNN news alerts are ok though.

Once a week.

Weekly ok if you have a strong listener base, and compelling content.

Once a month.

Monthly probably best for most small businesses. Overall – you want to retain “mindshare” – so they don’t forget you, but still not too much “in their face”.

8. Auto-responders.

Auto responders are a fantastic and simple way to turn your business on automated 24×7 attendance. Use them, learn them and build your list and responsiveness from this feature alone. Your list will grow, which you will use for future mailings and offers. Auto-responders are software systems that allow for total automation of messaging.

9. What other technical issues should I review?

Check spelling, graphics, relative links, use the free software XENU to get amazingly detailed reports. The Webmaster reports at the bottom of one of their reports provide a lot of good detail, perfect for executive overview.



ARMANDO

kim j asked:


resulting in correspondent ( and even anchor) speaking very loud with an effort. (In Europe and Japan, by comparison, the mike is turned up high, and the reporter speaks like in a quiet room.
Do you like this style, or not ?

GRANT

x asked:


What characteristics influenced your decision about the programs’ credibility?

ALDEN

Ibirogba asked:


Stats from late last year show that fifty one percent of high school students read the news on the internet at least once weekly.

Another thirty six percent would read the news if it was delivered in the right way. Contrary to what many belive, there are tons of high school students who actually enjoy reading the news.

And until recently there was no news site for high school students.

The High schooler is a website that posts news articles that high school students actually enjoy reading about. The website was created for high school students and it posts news articles in student life, entertainment, high school sports, and much more.

The High Schooler has become increasingly popular amongst high school students.

Before The High Schooler was created there was only one high school news source (Channel One) which is a television show that airs in several high schools and middle schools around the country.

Although they also have a website, their website consists mainly of quizzes and not very much news. Another issue that many students have with Channel One is that it isn’t delivered in a manner that high school and middle school students can relate to.

Channel One talks about lots of war and politics. This isn’t a bad thing and i’m sure lots of high school students like to know what’s going on in the world. However, High School students can tune in to CNN if all they wanted was war and politics. And as the Statistics say, thirty six percent of these students would read the news if presented in the right way. This is the problem channel one has. Middle school students are probably bored to death with their news because every one in my high school surely was.

Where The High Schooler differs is that the site posts entertaining but also informative and educational articles that high school students can actually relate to and enjoy. For instance our staff of columnists may post an article on The number one high school player in the country but we also post things like ACT tips, and health news. Although we do post articles on politics we keep it down to a minimum because as i said before, high school students can easily tune in to CNN. They need their own news.

We have recieved lots of emails from high school students around the country saying how great the site is and how much they needed a site like this. We don’t charge a penny and we feel that it’s something high school students need.

Although there are numerous individual high school news websites, there are barely and national high school websites that aren’t targeting individual schools. The ones that are national i feel are personally don’t relate well to their target readers.

Many of the high school news websites seem to be written from an adult perspective. This makes it very difficult for the columnists to relate to the readers.

Our columnists are a team of five, three of which are high school students and two college students. This makes way more sense that a 50 year old trying to channel his inner teen and write columns for high school students.



KIRK

chris b asked:


I’m applying to colleges right now and I have different majors in my mind, mostly business/marketing. I’m a huge fan of sports and I’m wondering what sports news reporters major in in college?

DUNCAN

Brittany P asked:


I remember seeing a youtube clip of an athlete (pretty sure it was football) and when the pledge or national anthem (I don’t remember which one) was being said, he said something like (again I don’t remember exactly what he said), I don’t sing this s***, I’m not even white. Does anyone know what I’m talking about?

SOLOMON

Andy D asked:


My teacher is always yelling at my class when we put music on our school news. Is it legal to use the music in our news program. Its really lame without it…
Its a tv program

CLAIR

Michelle V asked:


There are many issues being discussed in D.C. that affect us, yet we rarely hear what those issues are. Unless you have an interest in politics already you won’t hear enough about issues such as immigration, healthcare, social security reforms, education, etc. This upcoming election is the most important election of our time and we should be well educated on the issues and what the candidates stand for.
Instead the news is all about fires, murders, celebrities, the latest deaths in Iraq, sports, etc. It’s good to be informed about Iraq - but what about the other issues that will affect our lives on a daily basis? The evening news programs should bring those issues right into our living room so people are made aware of them. They always say - if you don’t like something, write to your congressman…. how are we supposed to write about something we don’t know about?? How can we get the news to report on these issues??

RANDELL

David asked:


How much do networks pay on air political analysts such as Carl Rove or **** Morris?

LUKE

someguy asked:


I have a feeling a lot of people will respond that they don’t buy much of what’s spoon fed across major stations, and yet people sure don’t seem to act like it much of the time, since I see a lot of opinions on here that are in direct alignment with what’s reported on these stations (and I’m talking about sources from both the right and left wings).

LIONEL