I’ve had any number of people ask me lately “What’s a good email open rate?” It’s an impossible question to answer, for a whole variety of reasons. What Are You Sending? It’s no surprise that companies that send useful information tend to get a higher open rate than those that bombard their subscribers with promotional […]
Stay Away From Greenwashing
I’m often asked some variation of the question, “How green does my business have to be in order for it to “count”?” (Click on headline for more…)
What Classmates.com Can Teach You About Engaging Your Customers
About a month ago, I joined Classmates.com. I’m not sure why; I never particularly enjoyed high school, and am already in touch with most of the people I was close to at the time. But I kept bumping into Classmates.com, so I figured I should find out what it’s all about.
Five weeks later, I’m intrigued by how Classmates.com works hard at engaging its members. Web site owners, especially those who have a forum or are contemplating starting one, can learn a lot from Classmate.com’s follow-up series. In the last five weeks, here are the subject lines of the emails they’ve sent me: (Click on the headline for more…)
How Match Types Affect Your Paid Search Ranking
Paid search advertisers may be aware that they can specify a particular “match type” for the keywords they bid on, but many don’t realize that their choice can affect their ranking. (Click headline for more…)
A Case Study of the Interaction Between Print and Online
Catalogers have long debated the interplay of paper catalogs and the web. Some maintain that their paper catalog is expendable since so much business comes via the web site. Those who measure more closely know that paper catalogs are driving a lot of that traffic. But is it enough to warrant the extra expense?
(Click the headline for more…)
Set Yourself Up For Success in the New Year
As the New Year rolls around, millions of people will set New Year’s resolutions. Within two weeks, most will be a distant memory. If more people used proven goal-setting techniques, the result might be entirely different. For instance: (Click on headline for more…)
Free Source of Customer Demographic Data
Here’s an interesting web site you might find useful: www.quantcast.com. After you enter a web site URL, Quantcast returns both demographic data and traffic estimates for the site in question. I haven’t investigated exactly how it works, but the results seem to be remarkably accurate.
The demographic profile it provides includes: (Click on headline for more…)
A Fundraising Faux Pas
I’m writing this from my stepdaughter Carol’s house, which is filled with potted bulbs. Carol bought them, unpotted, at a church fundraiser. While she’s thrilled to have them, she’s exasperated at the bulb company’s total lack of follow-through. You see, her order consisted of bulbs, nothing more. No identification. No potting instructions. No way to […]
Have a Laugh With This Innovative Ad
Ok, it’s Christmas Eve and no one is paying much attention to business anyway. So I thought I’d post a link to a fabulously innovative and funny ad that has absolutely nothing to do with gardening or catalogs…but does illustrate how one clever company is leveraging the power of the Internet. (Click on headline for more…)
An Overlooked Way to Increase Your Email List
Grow Your Email List is the lead article in our Winter 2009 snail mail newsletter (send me your address if you’d like a copy). Here’s another tip on the same subject that was not included in that article: (Click headline for more…)
