Reviewing Your E-Mail Marketing Campaign

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As we start a new year, it's always helpful to take some time to slow down, look back and evaluate the year gone by. Examining the past year's e-mail marketing efforts and results can help you uncover new ways you can improve going forward.

To get started, take a moment to review the results of your e-mail campaigns from the past 12 months (this is where the reporting features of an e-mail marketing service really come in handy). Then, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What was I trying to accomplish with e-mail marketing, and did I do it? What was your goal for your e-mail marketing efforts? Did you achieve what you set out to do? Did you measure the results? Is your e-mail marketing adding significant value to your organization? Did you uncover other useful purposes for e-mail marketing? Asking these questions can help you set your goals for the upcoming year.

2. Did I grow my list, and is it better segmented? There are many great opportunities to grow a list. Looking back, how did you do? Did you collect e-mail addresses whenever you got the chance--at events, during networking, at point of sale and on your website? Does everyone in your organization ask for e-mail addresses? What can you do differently to grow your list even more this year? What about segmenting? Did you divide your list into groups so you could send more targeted e-mail campaigns? How can you further segment your list forwarding the future?

3. Did I send consistent, high-value e-mail communications? With e-mail marketing, you have a great opportunity to stay connected with your list members. Did you communicate with them as often as you intended to? Or on the flip side, did you contact them too often? What about the quality of your campaigns? Did you spend the time you needed to create compelling content that included images and well-written copy? Did you put thought into offering your list members information they'd value and find useful? (Hint: Your open and click-through rates can help you figure out their interest level.) How can you improve your communications next year?

4. Which of my e-mail campaigns got the best or worst results and why? Look at your e-mail campaigns and identify the winners and the losers. What can you learn from them? What topics were your readers most interested in or not interested in at all? What did you do (promotions, subject matter, etc.) that, judging by the response, you should do again? What day and time worked best? You can take this information and modify future campaigns based on it. Create a new e-mail marketing plan that includes what you want to do more of and what you won't do again.

5. What did I do to become a better e-mail marketer? Did you ask friends and colleagues for their input on your e-mails? Did you ask your list members for feedback and incorporate their suggestions? Did you take advantage of some of the free e-mail marketing resources available online, like webinars and articles? Did you read a book about e-mail marketing? Did you review campaigns from other companies for ideas? It might be overwhelming to think of doing all these things, but why not set a goal for this year that you'll pick one or two of these activities? You'll be glad you did.

By taking a moment to ask yourself "How did I do?" you can make positive changes to your e-mail marketing efforts that'll help you get even better results. After you answer the questions above, you'll be well on your way to having your best e-mail marketing year yet.

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Gail F. Goodman is the"E-Mail Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and is CEO ofConstant Contact, a web-based e-mail marketing service for small businesses. She's also a recognized small-business expert and speaker.

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Once you start your own business, the advice pours in from all sides: Your sister has a great idea for a marketing campaign. Your brother thinks you should get a franchise. Your father wants you to be tougher on your employees. And your mother, who's worried about you, suggests that maybe you should really be looking for a job.

Unsolicited advice doesn't just come from family members. Friends, lawyers, accountants, even strangers you meet at networking events or soccer games suddenly become experts when they learn that you own your own business.

It's a jungle out there. Of course, you could just ignore them all and go your own way. But some people have good ideas and insight. How do you know who to listen to and who to ignore?

Here's a handy guide for determining what advice to pay heed to, and who you should politely thank and say, "Could you pass the cheese plate please?"

• Experienced businesspeople in your industry: Listen hard to these folks! Novice entrepreneurs often believe they know better than those who've been around a long time. But the realities of an industry don't change quickly. You can learn a lot from those who've been in an industry. So listen closely even if you don't follow their advice to the letter.

• Customers: You'd better be listening to your customers, because they're the ones who determine whether you stay in business. It's tempting to dismiss the advice of customers because it often comes in the form of complaints. Instead, look for ways to gather as much insight and suggestions from customers in positive situations. Ask for their feedback.

• Employees: Your employees can be a rich vein of insight and advice for your company. Seek it out, listen to it carefully, and use it when you can. Create an environment where employees know their advice is welcome, valued, and given a careful hearing. Employees often know the ins and outs of some aspects of a business better than the owner.

• Investors: Your investors are, in essence, your partners, so the advice-giving and advice-taking process is a two-way street. It's part of your job to help your investors know enough about your business so that when they give you suggestions, it can be informed and well-reasoned.

• Board and advisory committee members: In most cases, people serve on your board of directors or advisory committee because you've asked them to, so their advice should be given great respect. Board members (of corporations) have legal authority, so board decisions must be followed.

• Friends and family: Your family's support is often essential for major business decisions, especially financial ones. If you're taking a home equity loan, for instance, you certainly must have your spouse's approval. In which case, they have a right to have their suggestions listened to with respect.

But on other decisions, remember, people close to you have their own motivations and their own fears coloring their advice. When your spouse suggests you'd be a lot more productive if you didn't work in the living room, he or she may just want to get your stuff out of the way.

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The 10 Commandments of a Great Business Name

George lopez Latin kings of comedy

What's in a business name? Everything and nothing. The right business name will help distinguish you from a sea of bland competitors, provide your customers with a reason to hire you, and aid in the branding of your company. A business name won't make up for serious deficiency in your business operations or help you avoid selling. Apply these 10 commandments when choosing a name for your business.

1. Take Naming Seriously: Naming your business or products is a serious matter. The name you choose can play an integral part in the marketing of your company. Your name projects your image, brand, and position in the marketplace.

2. Avoid Word Play Dangers: Taking the word play strategy will add to the difficulty in having customers remember and find you. Being cute can backfire.

Funnynames.com lists the following actual "businesses to avoid:"

Ear-Resistible Designs Plus

Dirty Ernies Paragon Hotel

Fireball Oven Co

Mess Graphics Inc

Ralph Rotten's Nut Pound

X-Ray Sweaters

3. Don't be an IBM: It's tempting to abbreviate your business name to make communications and correspondence easier. However, as a small business owner you don't have the resources and marketing muscle to educate your market on what your acronym means.

4. Be Focused: Forget tagging your business name with the moniker such as global or enterprise. Any start-up founder has big visions for their company. You might one day envision marketing to diverse markets and having a wide range of products. Successful start-ups have limited time and money; it's more likely your success in the world of commerce will come from being highly focused in one narrow area. A small company is a specialist; it's why your customer wants you.

5. Stay Out of Court: Don't use, borrow, or modify an existing famous brand name. In Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Victor Moseley used the name Victor's Secret when he opened his adult gift and lingerie shop. Victor's Secret did not remain secret when the legal department of Victoria's Secret sent a letter to Moseley claiming trademark infringement. In haste, the name was changed to Victor's Little Secret, but the change was not enough for Victoria's Secret who then filed a lawsuit.

6. Think Beyond Local: The bulk of small businesses operate in local markets. This doesn't mean your name should be geographically based. If you are marketing to customers in a local market, they'll know you operate locally. Adding your town name to your business name just ensures you will be stuck in a long directory list of other local companies with similar names. If you want a local name, add it to your marketing such as "Exclusively Serving the (town) Area."

7. Avoid ME Inc: It's a common tendency for a business to be named after the original founder. If you are planning to one day sell your company, a company owner named business is less attractive to a perspective buyer's than a brand built on a company.

8. Ask Others to Spell it: When I started one of my companies and named it Insightica, it was unique enough but it drove me crazy the number of times I was asked to spell it. The word could be spelled with site or sight. Put your business name through the spelling test and ask others to spell it. Yourdictionary.com lists experience, intelligence, jewelry, millennium, and personnel as a few of the top 100 most misspelled words.

9. Be Web Friendly: Consumers are bombarded with business names and advertising on a daily basis. Your job as a successful small business is to make customers remember you. Your website web address should be the same as your business name. Avoid the hyphenated web address names. It's hard enough to remember a web site address without the hyphens.

10. Check Availability: When you have developed a great business name, spend the time to determine if another business isn't using it. You can use a similar name for your business if another company uses it in an unrelated market or industry. Once you have your name, protect it by registering the business name with your county or State office.

Your business name should be easy to remember and memorable. Apply the 10 commandments when naming your business and in the end you'll avoid a marketing disaster.

Go to source.

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