Blogs Explained by Steven Veleudos
It seems like Blogs are everywhere these days. You can't seem to surf
the Internet without seeing the word Blog somewhere. The intent of this
article is to explain the basics what a Blog is and how you can use them
to help promote your business and gain valuable information quicker
that surfing the Internet.
The word Blog is short for web log. Basically a Blog is just an area set
aside you to write articles that can easily be accessed with a special
program called a RSS reader. In case you're wondering RSS stands for
real simple syndication.
When you set up a Blog you select a template that will house your
information. Once you have the Blog set up you can post whatever
information you like. It's really a fast way to get your articles and
information up on the web and the templates look great! You don't have
to mess with all the technical end of getting something up on a web page
(HMTL layout, FTP, ect...). The real cool thing about Blogs is that you
can get the software to read them for free. Also, you can set up an
account and create your own Blog for free!
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
All Posts (161)
Sort by
If you haven’t thought of using greeting cards to bring potential customers to your door and to keep in touch with past and current clients, you should consider this strategy. These cards should be thought of as part of any successful marketing strategy, but they should NOT contain a hard-hitting marketing message all about you, your company, and what you have to offer. Rather, the intention here is to build the relationship with your clients, in order to develop a sense of customer loyalty by finding out what your customers needs & wants are, then providing solutions through use of your product or service.
Here are a few examples of several occasions during the year when sending a greeting card to a client is not only appropriate, but also beneficial.
Client birthdays – If you happen to know the birthday of your main contact at a client’s company, be sure to put it on your calendar. Unlike major holidays, which are the same every year, it takes a little work to remember a client’s birthday. Acknowledging the day with a card is a thoughtful gesture that your client will be sure
to appreciate.
Thanksgiving – What better time to let a client know that you are thankful for their business, than at Thanksgiving? These cards don’t have to be anything fancy — just a high-quality, professional-looking card and a short, handwritten note thanking your client and letting them know that you appreciate their continued
business.
Holiday time and New Year’s – Although most of us think of this holiday in terms of Christmas, remember that not everyone celebrates it, and many people don’t think of it as a religious holiday. To avoid stepping on any toes, be sure to choose cards with a neutral greeting, such as “Happy Holidays.”
Another option is to send out New Year’s cards thanking clients for their business during the previous year, and wishing them prosperity in the coming year.
Fourth of July – Independence Day makes a great mid-year excuse to send out greeting cards to clients; there are other summer occasions that you can choose to send a card if you’d prefer. Inside the card, you can say you hope their summer is going well, and let them know that you are available during the summer months. Since some people take off or reduce their hours during the summer, this can be a valuable way to remind your clients that you are still open for business and raring to go.
Anytime you haven’t heard from them in a while – There’s nothing like a “Thinking of You” card to remind your clients of any projects they might need you for. Just like you, clients get busy and mentally move projects to the sidelines, but dropping them a line might get them thinking about them again.
As you can see, greeting cards offer a number of opportunities to keep in touch with clients in a thoughtful manner. Many clients truly appreciate the personal touch of receiving a card in the mail, and you will often find that your cards remind clients of purchases or projects they have been putting off but now need to think about.
For more information on how to incorporate postcards and/or greeting cards into your marketing mix, feel free to contact me. I offer a great line of handmade and online greeting cards. Check out www.sendoutcards.com- click option #2 and send a free card. Or follow me on my blog at www.dbjdesigns.com
(New scholarships posted everyday)
Students Seeking Education by Experiencing Academic America (S.E.A.)
an Houston, Texas based mentoring program for high school students, students at risk, and college bound students who want to attend an Historically Black College / University. (HBCU).
S.E.A will post a scholarship list for minority students each day. If you are a high school senior, junior, or an transferring college student, these scholarships are for you. FREE MONEY! We all know through life there is nothing Free, you have to apply to receive this money. Your cost is time. The time it takes to fill out the scholarship application.. Look for the S.E.A. blog each day, highlighting a new scholarship listing 2010 / 2011.
SCHOLARSHIP OF THE DAY
9-05-2010
Dickey Scholarship Association (BDSA)
BDSA scholarship
Award to high school seniors already in the database as well as undergraduate students that previously received a scholarship as a freshman are eligible to apply. Awards range from one-time grants of $1000 to four-year worth as much as $6000 annually. Awards are based on academic achievement, entrance exam scores, financial need, references, evidence of community service, and golfing ability.
Award Scholarship for use in freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior years; renewable
Amount: $1000-$6000.
Eligibility Requirements: Applicant must be enrolled or expecting to enroll full-time at a four-year institution or university and must have an interest in golf. Available to U.S. citizens.
Application Requirements: Application, essay, financial need analysis, photo, references, test scores, transcript.
Deadline: April 16.
CONTACT:
Andrea Pourdeaus, Executive Director
National Minority Junior Golf Scholarship Association
1140 East Washington Street, Suite 103
Phoenix, AZ 85034
Phone: 602-258-7851
Fax: 602-258-3412
E-mail: andrea@bdscholar.org
Web: http://www.nmjgsa.org
p.s. If you need help in your scholarship search, please contact
S.E.A. c/o NORRIS COLEMAN @ mr.nncoleman@yahoo.com
(New scholarships posted everyday)
Students Seeking Education by Experiencing Academic America (S.E.A.)
an Houston, Texas based mentoring program for high school students, students at risk, and college bound students who want to attend an Historically Black College / University. (HBCU).
S.E.A will post a scholarship for minority students each day. If you are a high school senior, junior, or an transferring college student, these scholarships are for you. FREE MONEY! We all know through life there is nothing Free, you have to apply to receive this money. Your cost is time. The time it takes to fill out the scholarship application.. Look for the S.E.A. blog each day, highlighting a new scholarship listing 2010 / 2011.
TEXAS STUDENTS
SCHOLARSHIP OF THE DAY
9-04-2010
Chuck Fulgham Scholarship Fund
Scholarship for adult graduate of a literacy program needing financial assistance to pursue a college education at a regionally accredited college or university, or a high school graduate with a demonstrated enthusiasm in the humanities and a GPA of 3.0 or lower. Must be resident of Texas, preference given to Dallas county residents.
Deadline: April 15.
Award Scholarship for use in freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior years; not renewable
Number: 1-2. Amount: up to $2500.
Eligibility Requirements: Applicant must be enrolled or expecting to enroll full-time at a two-year or four-year institution or university and resident of Texas. Applicant must have 3.5 GPA or higher. Available to U.S. citizens.
Application Requirements: Application, essay, financial need analysis, references, transcript.
Deadline: April 15.
CONTACT:
Cathy McNally, Program Manager
Dallas Architectural Foundation-HKS/John Humphries Minority Scholarship
900 Jackson Street, Suite 150
Dallas, TX 75202
Phone: 214-741-9898
Fax: 214-741-9848
E-mail: cmcnally@dallasfoundation.org
Web: http://www.dallasfoundation.org.
p.s. If you need help in your scholarship search, please contact
S.E.A. c/o NORRIS COLEMAN @ mr.nncoleman@yahoo.com
(New scholarships posted everyday)
Students Seeking Education by Experiencing Academic America (S.E.A.)
an Houston, Texas based mentoring program for high school students, students at risk, and college bound students who want to attend an Historically Black College / University. (HBCU).
S.E.A will post a scholarship list for minority students each day. If you are a high school senior, junior, or an transferring college student, these scholarships are for you. FREE MONEY! We all know through life there is nothing Free, you have to apply to receive this money. Your cost is time. The time it takes to fill out the scholarship application.. Look for the S.E.A. blog each day, highlighting a new scholarship listing 2010 / 2011.
SCHOLARSHIP OF THE DAY
9-03-2010
Worldstudio AIGA Scholarships
Scholarships available for minority and economically disadvantaged students who are pursuing degrees in the Design/Arts disciplines in colleges and universities in the United States.
Academic/Career Areas: Arts.
Award Scholarship for use in freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate years; not renewable
Number: 20-25. Amount: $1000-$5000.
Eligibility Requirements: Applicant must be enrolled or expecting to enroll full-time at a two-year or four-year or technical institution or university. Available to U.S. citizens.
Application Requirement: Application, references, test scores, transcript.
Deadline: April 13.
CONTACT:
Maria Emmighausen, Scholarship Coordinator
Worldstudio Foundation
164 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Phone: 212-807-1990
Fax: 212-807-1799
E-mail: scholarship@aiga.org
Web: http://www.aiga.org/worldstudio_scholarship.
p.s. If you need help in your scholarship search, please contact
S.E.A. c/o NORRIS COLEMAN @ mr.nncoleman@yahoo.com
She said to me, “LaShanda, I love all your stuff. I just don’t know where to start and I can’t get it all now.” At first I didn’t know how to respond to that, but then it became clear…
You Need More People to Buy Your Products
You Need More Clients to Pick You
You Need to Make Sense of Google Adsense so you can make more.
In short, you need all the help you can get with your online business... more clarity and less confusion SO I’m giving you 2+ hours of me talking to you, in mp3 downloads, about all the stuff I mentioned above.
Between now and Friday, you can download these 3 SistaSense Talks Audio Sessions including 6 mp3s + 3 video tutorials on Google Web Tools for $30 (after Friday these go back to totaling $71).
No confusion and no extra cost; just you, me and hours of step-by-step, how to market your online business strategies. It can’t get any easier than that! Just remember this goes away by Friday, click here to download your SistaSense Sessions now.
LaShanda | @sistasense
p.s. The Official url is: http://www.sistasense.com/sistassense-talks
(New scholarships posted everyday)
Students Seeking Education by Experiencing Academic America (S.E.A.)
an Houston, Texas based mentoring program for high school students, students at risk, and college bound students who want to attend an Historically Black College / University. (HBCU).
S.E.A will post a scholarship list for minority students each day. If you are a high school senior, junior, or an transferring college student, these scholarships are for you. FREE MONEY! We all know through life there is nothing Free, you have to apply to receive this money. Your cost is time. The time it takes to fill out the scholarship application.. Look for the S.E.A. blog each day, highlighting a new scholarship listing 2010 / 2011.
Minnesota Students
SCHOLARSHIP OF THE DAY
8-26-2010
Twin Cities Chapter Undergraduate Scholarship
Award for minority students in first, second, third or fourth year full-time in an accredited undergraduate business or management program during the fall semester working towards a Bachelor’s Degree.
Get application from Web site at http://www.nbmbaatc.org.
Deadline: April 7.
Academic/Career Areas: Accounting; Business/Consumer Services.
Award Scholarship for use in freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior years; not renewable
Number: 5. Amount: up to $3500.
Eligibility Requirements: Applicant must be Black (non-Hispanic); enrolled or expecting to enroll full-time at a four-year institution or university; resident of Minnesota and studying in Minnesota. Available to U.S. citizens.
Application Requirements: Application, essay, transcript.
Deadline: April 7.
CONTACT:
Victor Patterson, President
National Black MBA Association-Twin Cities Chapter
PO Box 2709
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Phone: 651-223-7373
Web: http://www.nbmbaatc.org.
p.s. If you need help in your scholarship search, please contact
S.E.A. c/o NORRIS COLEMAN @ mr.nncoleman@yahoo.com
She said to me, “LaShanda, I love all your stuff. I just don’t know where to start and I can’t get it all now.” At first I didn’t know how to respond to that, but then it became clear…
You Need More People to Buy Your Products
You Need More Clients to Pick You
You Need to Make Sense of Google Adsense so you can make more.
In short, you need all the help you can get with your online business... more clarity and less confusion SO I’m giving you 2+ hours of me talking to you, in mp3 downloads, about all the stuff I mentioned above.
Between now and Friday, you can download these 3 SistaSense Talks Audio Sessions including 6 mp3s + 3 video tutorials on Google Web Tools for $30 (after Friday these go back to totaling $71).
No confusion and no extra cost; just you, me and hours of step-by-step, how to market your online business strategies. It can’t get any easier than that! Just remember this goes away by Friday, click here to download your SistaSense Sessions now.
LaShanda | @sistasense
p.s. The Official url is: http://www.sistasense.com/sistassense-talks
(New scholarships posted everyday)
Students Seeking Education by Experiencing Academic America (S.E.A.)
an Houston, Texas based mentoring program for high school students, students at risk, and college bound students who want to attend an Historically Black College / University. (HBCU).
S.E.A will post a scholarship list for minority students each day. If you are a high school senior, junior, or an transferring college student, these scholarships are for you. FREE MONEY! We all know through life there is nothing Free, you have to apply to receive this money. Your cost is time. The time it takes to fill out the scholarship application.. Look for the S.E.A. blog each day, highlighting a new scholarship listing 2010 / 2011.
FLORIDA STUDENTS
SCHOLARSHIP OF THE DAY
9-01-2010
Rosewood Family Scholarship Fund
Renewable award for eligible minority students which enables to attend a Florida public postsecondary institution on a full-time basis. Preference given to direct descendants of African-American Rosewood families affected by the incidents of January 1923. Must be Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian, or Alaska Native. Must not have previously received a Baccalaureate Degree.
Award Scholarship for use in freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior years; renewable
Number: up to 25. Amount: up to $4000.
Eligibility Requirements: Applicant must be American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black (non-Hispanic), or Hispanic; enrolled or expecting to enroll full-time at a two-year or four-year or technical institution or university and studying in Florida. Available to U.S. citizens.
Application Requirements: application, financial need analysis.
Deadline: April 1.
CONTACT:
Theresa Antworth, State Programs Director
Florida Department of Education
Office of Student Financial Assistance
1940 North Monroe Street, Suite 70
Tallahassee, FL 32303-4759
Phone: 850-410-5180
Fax: 850-487-6244
E-mail: osfa@fldoe.org
p.s. If you need help in your scholarship search, please contact
S.E.A. c/o NORRIS COLEMAN @ mr.nncoleman@yahoo.com
SistaSense Talks MP3 Giveaway: Grab Yours Before Its Gone |
|
As you can tell by these weekly emails, I am a typer ... NOT a talker, BUT I heard it from the great vine that you might just want to do more than read today. Perhaps right this minute, you need to hear my voice and feel like I’m holding your hand, walking you through the process of figuring out where your online business is to today vs. where it could be tomorrow. |
|
WHAT WE ARE WATCHING Did you watch, A Single Rose yet? Did you see what happened in that first scene? Crazy right! Its playing online right now. Be sure to watch it and let me know what you thought @sistasense. BUZZ TOPICS ON BBWO (01) Selling Space On Your Blog ... How do you know what to charge? (02) Is Anyone Familiar With Adsense? (03) Can a social network be a business? (04) In Case Others Want to Know, How do you ... (05) How to Get Answers to Your Survey Questions (06) How did you establish your business? BBWO BLOGGERS AND NEW BUSINESS NEWS (01) Upcoming Events for Women Entrepreneurs (02) Are you promoting your business on youtube? (03) Business Women Today: What are you doing right now? (04) Too Busy: How to Keep Up With BBWO (05) 7 Ways Work at Home Moms Stay Sane and Profitable in the Summer (06) Did you website get featured in the DailyClick? You Didn't know did you.... When you start a discussion or add a blog post to BBWO they get featured on our BBWO Fanpage. Be sure to check that page too, you'll see additional comments on your posts from our extended Facebook Family. Help a Sister Out.... Help with Your Ning Network Help with Starting a Business Online Help with Low Cost Marketing Strategies & Driving Traffic to Your Site Help with Making Money online Help with Starting a Blog This concludes the BBWO Weekend Broadcast. To have your news featured in next weeks email, click here. More to come | BBWO Founder | LaShanda Henry | @sistasense |
|
When you consider the different ways that you can market your business online the options sometimes seem endless, but there are a few tried and true strategies that never go out of style. Banner advertising is one them. No matter what, you are always going to find commercial websites and blogs full of banner ads. As an online entrepreneur you should have some graphics banners to promote on your own websites as well as on sites that cater to your target audience.
Here are some quick banner marketing tips that I have for you:
(1) The key to effective banner advertising is to start with eye catching photos and short phrases with clear meanings.
(2) If your true goal is promote a certain product, event, service, etc. in most cases you want to avoid that gutt telling you to link your banner to your main page. Take your viewers to a specific product, service, video, post, or landing pages that best reflect the information in your banner. I can tell you more about this, but your gonna have to schedule a marketing consultation call if you want me to give you all my marketing gems (BIG SMILE). And of course I do have my Starter Kit with ALL the ebooks I've written about low cost marketing strategies online.
(3) Ok. Shameless plug over, back to the tips. The first place I like to post my banners is my own websites, because its free advertising. If you have multiple spaces, always cross promote your stuff. And its just plain smart to put your banners on your website so you can grab people's attention and send them to specific pages on your space. Sometimes you have to help customers find their way, don't be a lazy entrepreneur. Let me give you one quick example: ever seen those banners people have that say 'Grab my free report' and then it takes you to a page to join something, so you can get something. A BIG part of driving more traffic to your space is getting people's attention.
(3) Many websites owners (especially bloggers) like to create 'link to us' pages OR graphic 'badges' that people who love their stuff can grab and post on their own websites. It's like word of mouth marketing, but digital style. Again, this option is also free. As a matter of fact I created some banners for black business women online and quite a few of our members have added those banner to their sites. That means that your fans can actually help you market your site if you give them the chance, ie the banners. I love link love, don't you?
(4) Then at some point when you want more eyes on your site, you are going to have to pay for advertising. You can go to a website like Google Adwords to get your banners published on multiple websites relevant to your target market and today with SO much social media buzz you can even buy advertising on sites like Facebook! If you've been reading about this stuff, you would have heard that some folks are saying its cheaper and even more effective to market on Facebook, but I can't comment as I haven't done it that much to say it works better one way or the other.
(5) You can invest in working with individual website owners, especially bloggers who cover your niche market, they are often times cheaper than bigger ad companies.
(*) BONUS: You can start your own affiliate program, or join websites like clickbank, glam media, or commission junction so you can pay people to promote your website for you using your banners in combination with unique affiliate links.
I design graphic banners, as I'm sure you know, and I make it soooooo easy to buy a banner from me. You can purchase my banner design packages anytime online via my ejunkie store or contact me if you want a design package not listed on that website.
Last thing: I always like to support my clients and fellow entrepreneurs as well as give you a taste of what I do SO I am going to end this post with examples of the last few banners I have done.
One more thing. How could I forget this one? I get this question all the time, "Love you LaShanda, but how do I create a banner by myself?" If you want to DIY... create do it yourself banners, you can do that too! I do it all the time (BIG SMILE). How do you do it? Well you need a good photo/graphics editor, I use Adobe Photoshop and Image Ready... find one that works for you and is in your price range. And I get all my amazing royalty free, low cost, high quality photos from istockphoto.com . They generally cost between $1 and $5 a pic.
Last, last thing, I also did a post on eBook Covers, for those of you who want more info on that.
SERVICE TWOThis is a great presentation service.The Hubze Card, Get your brand ( YOU ) shown around the worldhttp://www.hubze.com/juniquesPUT BOTH OF THESE NETWORKING SOURCES TO USE TODAY!!!AT YOUR SERVICE,JUNIQUES
IF YOU LEARNIT YOU WILL GET AN A ON IT CLICK HERE TO GET PAID TO VIEW VIDEOS
Why are women better leaders? According to some scholars, women tend to surpass men in consensus-building and certain other skills associated with leadership. Women leaders are more likely to mentor and coach others to create a strong team atmosphere. They encourage genuine collaboration and embrace the empowerment of others. They are passionate about building trust and lasting relationships. Women leaders believe in the power of helping other women.
"There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." Madeleine Albright
So, what makes them better leaders? Here are 3 obvious reasons why women make better leaders:
Women are persuasive
“Women leaders are more assertive and persuasive, have a stronger need to get things done and are more willing to take risks than male leaders,” according to a recent study conducted by Caliper, a Princeton-based management consulting firm.
Women possess strong people skills, enabling them to analyze information more accurately, thus, enhancing their persuasive abilities. Unfair advantages of male to female entrepreneurs in the marketplace, force women to work twice as hard to be competitive and so they are natural risk takers.
Women are risk takers
Women leaders are resistant to a lot of heavy and unnecessary red tape and will engage in risk taking to come up with innovative solutions to get the job done, efficiently!
A survey by the Simmons School of Management in Boston stated that “women business leaders don't shy from taking risks, but partake in opportunities considered to be "high-risk" on a regular basis.” In addition, the survey revealed that “though businesswomen embrace risk, they are largely viewed by the business world and mass media as being risk-averse.”
Women are problem solvers
When faced with an issue, women prefer to hear the facts, to lay it all on the table; this allows them to analyze the issues to make the most informed decision. Here are 4 quick tips to better problem solving:
1. Define the problem: ask who, what, when, where and why?
2. Analyze the cause: once identified, solicit help from people who are directly affected and those who can assist you in resolving the problem(s).
3. Identify and assess alternatives: Ask for suggestions from everyone and then investigate your alternative(s).
4. Implement the solution: after the alternatives are identified and the best possible solutions have been decided, start moving toward implementation. Choose key people to play a role in working towards carrying out the action steps and goals that are in place. Make sure there is a plan to handle any unforeseen problems that may arise.
In closing, what makes a woman a good leader may vary by person? I see a leader as one who empowers, embraces and motivates others to achieve success on their own terms. She is unselfish and always thinking of ways to uplift and help others and ultimately, not wanting anything in return. How do you define a good leader?
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:Sylvia Browder is CEO of Browder Consulting Group, a virtual small business consulting firm. In her role, she helps Women in Business grow and succeed. She is employed as Project Director and business consultant for the Women's Business Center Inc, a non-profit economic development organization with a mission of empowering women to start and grow successful businesses. She has served as an online volunteer SCORE counselor since 2004. She also serves as a Technical Assistant Provider for SBA’s Community Express Loan Program. For FREE weekly articles go to Sylvia Browder’s Blog for Women Entrepreneurs, www.sylviabrowder.com. She can be contacted at info@browderconsultinggroup.com.
- Become a fan of ‘National Association Women on the Rise’ on Face book: http://bit.ly/9qqvWW
- Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/sylviabrowder
- Are you LinkedIn?: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviabrowder
- Join ‘National Association Women on the Rise’ on LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/dsd5E0
- Join our community on NING, www.nawomenrise.com
Let me know if you have any addiouatnal questions.. I would be happy to answer them.
She said to me, “I could listen to you all day… I love your videos and I WISH I could listen to you while I’m driving my car (lol).”
It’s been a while since I updated my podcast, “Work and Web Women” and I’ve never really wanted to do my own Blog Talk Radio Show BUT I always want to make sure that I’m helping you with your online business. That being said, I really took her words to heart and decided to dust off the old microphone (lol) and get to work. After many hours of what could only be described as “me talking and laughing to myself in a room” I created SistaSense Talks; a series of audio sessions, in which I tell you exactly how I run my business, get customers, market online, and build my brand in the process.
Another sister said, “I understand that I need to use a blog and social media to market my business online, but it was not until we talked that I finally understood why I needed to be on these spaces.”
You already get that building a website, starting a blog, and being on Facebook can help your business, but as this sista points out, if you DON’T get the why, how, and what you need to do with the web, then you are pretty much walking blind. In case you didn’t know, my blog is called SistaSense because I’m a Sista who learned how to make Sense of Making Money Online. Believe me when I say, you can waste a WHOLE LOT of time trying to pick up little marketing tips here and there or tell yourself that you can figure it out for yourself BUT in reality, listening to someone who has been through what you are going through is the best way to go.
Another sister said, “It was not until I joined your SistaSense Circle that I realized other women were going through the same issues that I was going through.”
Believe it or not, God didn’t create technology so everybody could get it but you (lol). Most folks, (myself included) sometimes feel like “this is just confusing me”, but it’s not. While I love to write eBooks for you, I realize that you might just need a little more than words to help you figure this stuff out. Perhaps right this minute, you need to hear my voice and feel like I’m holding your hand, walking you through the process of figuring out where your online business is to today vs. where it could be in the future.
If you are ready to listen, I am ready to share. SistaSense Talks Audio Sessions | Click here to Download
Sanctuary of the Open Heart
1201 Park Street
Alameda, California 94501
510.521.3313
info@sanctuaryoftheopenheart.org
http://www.sanctuaryoftheopenheart.org
Marriage of the Male and Female Within
by Enlightened Films:
http://vimeo.com/13384518
Enjoy and blessed be!!!!!
There is a lot of marketing noise out there, making it a challenge to effectively reach your target audience. Your current and potential customers are inundated by e-mails, voicemails, podcasts, blogs, TV ads, radio ads, print ads and now mobile messages. So, how do you stand out? How do you make yourself, your organization, or your services memorable?
If you want to capture attention and build customer loyalty, consider adding greeting cards mail campaigns to your marketing mix.
We all like receiving a card in the mail. Greeting cards by designed get the attention of the recipient. They stand out from the regular envelopes because of their size. They serve as the 'pleasant' surprise and make a statement that you took the time to send them. While others are relying on email or bulk mail, you can send a warmer and more personal message to your audience. By adding a greeting card you can dramatically improve your chances of it being opened and read, therefore your direct mail response rates will be significantly higher. Higher responses mean higher return on investment.
Use greeting card campaigns to:
Be Memorable During Holidays & Special Occasions – Isn’t it fun to receive a hand addressed birthday card in the mail? Special occasions are an ideal time to connect with your audience. If you keep track of your customers’ birthdays or anniversaries, consider sending them a greeting. In addition to personal occasions, holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Fourth of July are ideal times to send hand addressed greetings. It is often the personal touches that separate you from your competitors. People like to know that they are more than just another name in your customer database.
Send a Sincere Thank You - Many of us remember our parents forcing a pen and card into our hands and demanding that we send handwritten Thank You cards to relatives after receiving a gift. Why? Because it was (and still is) the proper and polite thing to do. Why should the rules be any different in business? When your customers give you the gift of their business or time, they deserve a handwritten Thank You in return. One of the most effective ways to encourage loyalty from your customers (and repeat business) is to say “Thank You.” A hand addressed Thank You card demonstrates that you care about your customers.
Add a Punch to Your Messages – You can spend weeks trying to write the perfect letter for your audience. But your efforts will go to waste if your call-to-action goes unnoticed. Not only does your letter need to be well written, but most of all, it needs to be read. Sending that marketing message in a greeting card can be a effective way to ensure your business stands out amongst other.
The next time you want to effectively reach your customers, consider a greeting card campaign. A more personal approach that can dramatically improve the success of your marketing efforts.
A great, innovative service called Send Out Cards can help you createcustom cards, set up campaigns and assist you in remembering your clients important occasions, but more importantly will help you establish and maintain that all important customer relationship.
For more information go to http://www.sendoutcards.com/80793 - select option #2 and send a free card. Then watch the other videos to discover what SendOutCards can do for you.
As always, stay blessed.
are available?
Click here to listen to What U Need to Know Saturday 4th September 2:00 p.m. EDT
This show is presented by two sistas across the Atlantic - my colleague, Joan E. Gosier of HBCU Kidz, author of Cotton Pickin' Paycheck, and myself.
Please phone in at 001 (347) 637-1099 or join us in the chatroom to share your views on education.
If you miss the broadcast, you can still listen to the recording here.
I hope you'll join us!
(New scholarships posted everyday)
Students Seeking Education by Experiencing Academic America (S.E.A.)
an Houston, Texas based mentoring program for high school students, students at risk, and college bound students who want to attend an Historically Black College / University. (HBCU).
S.E.A will post a scholarship list for minority students each day. If you are a high school senior, junior, or an transferring college student, these scholarships are for you. FREE MONEY! We all know through life there is nothing Free, you have to apply to receive this money. Your cost is time. The time it takes to fill out the scholarship application.. Look for the S.E.A. blog each day, highlighting a new scholarship listing 2010 / 2011.
SCHOLARSHIP OF THE DAY
8-30-2010
Warner Norcross and Judd LLP Scholarship for Minority Students
Financial assistance to students who are residents of Michigan, or attend a college/university/vocational school in Michigan, and are of racial and ethnic minority heritage pursuing a career in Law, Paralegal, or a Legal secretarial program. Law school scholarship ($5000), Paralegal scholarship ($2000), Legal secretary scholarship ($1000).
Academic/Career Areas: Law/Legal Services.
Award Scholarship for use in freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate years; not renewable
Number: up to 3. Amount: $1000-$5000.
Eligibility Requirements: Applicant must be American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black (non-Hispanic), or Hispanic and enrolled or expecting to enroll full-time at a two-year or four-year institution or university. Applicant must have 2.5 GPA or higher. Available to U.S. citizens.
Application Requirements: Application, essay, financial need analysis, references, transcript.
Deadline: April 1
CONTACT:
See Web site.
Grand Rapids Community Foundation
Web: http://www.grfoundation.org.
p.s. If you need help in your scholarship search, please contact
S.E.A. c/o NORRIS COLEMAN @ mr.nncoleman@yahoo.com
