For starters, think about emails you see that you know are automatically junk or spam. Here is a little test… which email would you delete?

A. Learn How to Eat Healthy while on Vacation
B. Coming Soon San Diego Web Designers Annual Conference
C. IMF MONTHLY NEWSLETTER – SALES SPECIALS, HOT DEALS, OFFICE NEWS, & PLACES TO SHOP

Clearly the answer is C. The subject line is long, annoying and clearly a business that is more interested in getting you to spend money than provide a valuable service or educate you on a topic.

When it comes to creating good subject lines for your email marketing campaigns, consider the following:

Short n’ Sweet - A lengthy subject line (as seen in our example) is often ignored. Keep it short and to the point.
Creativity – Without being overly ‘cheesy’, create a subject line that is catchy and if only for a brief moment, makes you think.
Valuable – Users are going to want to open your email not becuase you tell them they should, but because they think you are providing them with information they want to read. Make sure this comes across in your subject line.
Grammatically Correct - Nothing looks worse to your prospects or current customers than a typo in your subject line. It is best to have all your email marketing campaigns checked, double checked, and then checked again for grammatical errors, typos, etc.

Take some of these ideas into consideration and you may see an improvement in your email open rate. Happy emailing

A brief comparison of Google Profile and Facebook, followed by the 1,2,3 strategy Google can employ to take over the social networking world.

How GoogleMe Can Win “Web War III.0″

Let’s start by looking at both Facebook and Google from an overall utility perspective. Almost everyone agrees that of any tool that is available online, search engines are by far themost widely and extensively used. With that in mind, Google is considered the Cadillac of search engines. It is fast, runs clean and has all the geeks wanting to work on its engine. Facebook on the other hand, can arguably be described as the Mazda Miata of the web… It has sold very well for a few years running now, looks kind of nice, girls love it, boys love girls so they love it too and it to top it all off it is easy enough for grandma to drive.

The problem for Facebook here is that short of its chintzy retractable roof and great sales figures, there is nothing really special about it. Google can and almost certainly will use this lack of broader utility to launch a loud beta of their own social network, recently dubbed GoogleMe. With this product, Google has the opportunity to make its network’s users entire web experience more social, seemless and informative. Here’s how:

Imagine you are trying to find information on effectively marketing your business online. As of today, most of your searches lead you to company websites and blogs that are vague, incomplete and ultimately try to make you buy something. Now imagine that when you were a member of GoogleMe and searched for this information, you got relevant data from members of your social network and found out that your best friend from High School is an internet marketing expert. Touch of a button later you are connecting with an old friend in a meaningful way that is not really practicle today.

This would not only improve Google by making searches social, it would also represent a major improvment to social networking as a whole and provided there are no major buckles in the nuts and bolts of their regular social networking interface sign the eventual death toll for what is currently the largest social club in the world. Barring Google being nice and partnering with Facebook, there is really little that can be done to save it if the rumor of Google’s latest project is true. 2-4 years from now Facebook will look like MySpace, Google will be bigger than the Catholic Church and I will hopefully be sipping hurricanes on a beach somewhere here in sunny San Diego.

Want to learn more about Google Profiles? Click Here.

A Catchy Title
In most cases, the title is the only thing people will read when it comes to deciding whether to hit delete or open an email. The key to creating a successful title is to keep is short and to the point. Long titles are more likely to be ignored and deleted compared to short, direct, and if possibly catchy email titles.

Offer Plain Text version as well as HTML Version
One of the challenges of email marketing is that people view emails in various browsers, software applications, and operating systems and often times have custom settings which make emails appear differently. Offering a plain text version of your email for those users who do not accept HTML emails is great practice. Constant Contact offers a great email marketing solution that solves this challenge.

Image Alt Tags
Because many users have images turned off it is important to offer them an alternative when they open your email. Using Alt tags, some text will appear where the image should be which at least helps fill the space of the email.

Use Buttons For Call-to-Action
Research has shown that using buttons as a link (rather than a flat hyperlink) will get more clicks. You don’t need to make your buttons overly fancy, just as long as they POP and stand out as a call to action for users.

Keep Text Short n’ Sweet
Many email campaigns love to post long articles. The reality is that very few users will read through a long article within your email. The key is to provide a few short paragraphs for each topic or article that you are providing. A good rule of thumb is 3 articles with two paragraphs each or 2 articles with 3 paragraphs each. Then use a more… link that takes users to your website to continue reading the article. This is yet another call to action and way to get users back to your website for more information.

Email marketing is a widely used component of a successful internet marketing strategy. Creating successful emails is a whole separate challenge. Constant Contact is a leader in email marketing and their blog, Constant Commentary, is a great resource on this subject.

This demonstrates the opportunities that are available online by getting involved in video marketing, demos, tutorials, recorded webinars, and other ways to post information online.

With Google’s recent announcement of GoogleTV, soon users will find an even easier way to watch online video from the comfort of their television. Records will surely be broken then…

Be sure to check out CPD’s YouTube channel for more information on internet marketing and web technology.

What are the benefits of providing free information?
To start, you need to give your customers a reason to listen to you when you make a recommendation for why they should buy your product or service. Demonstrating the do’s and don’ts, things to be aware of in competitors, etc. are great information for clients that don’t have your industry knowledge. This is a way of building trust.

A company that constantly provides new and valuable information gives people a reason to keep coming back to your website, reading your emails, and listening to your message. If your marketing materials are full of sales pitches about how great you are, then you won’t get the repeat visitors that you will if you constantly provide new articles about industry related information.

example: A real estate agent may create a blog and post articles on the latest news revolving around federal tax credits for first time home buyers, HOA loans, foreclosers in the neighborhood, things to look for when buying a home, etc. This will give prospective buyers a resource of information when they are considering buying a home. And who do you think they are going to call when the time is right? The Expert!

Where do I provide valuable information?
There are multiple avenues for informing and educating your customers and prospects. Here are a few resources you can use which will also play directly into your marketing

• Your website – make your website worth reading. Don’t make it full of sales pitches and reviews, provide a learning environment.
• Create a Blog – blogs are great way to post articles on valuable information. They also have a high amount of value for search engine optimization (SEO).
• E-mail marketing – emails are a great way to stay in touch with prospects and teach them something of value that they didn’t know
• Video – create tutorials, a YouTube channel, or another way to create tutorials, reviews, and demos.

For more information about how to become an expert in your industry and develop a strategy for providing valuable information, contact CPD.

You can set the options for what you want the sponsored link to say. The choices are:

1. Highlight a Coupon that you create (ex. 10% OFF, or Free Shipping)
2. Highlight photos of your business (upload these to your Google Places profile first)
3. Highlight videos of your business (upload these to your Google Places profile first)
4. Highlight your website (another link to your site)

Results from your sponsored tag can be tracked in Google Places along with your number of impressions and clicks from free business listing materials. Data shows the number of times your tag was expanded by users to see more, and how many times people directly click though toi your site from the sponsored tag link. This gives you the ability to see how well your tag is performing and whether it is worth the $25/mo investment.

Disadvantages to using the sponsored tag link are that the link says ‘sponsored link’ next to it and is highlighted in yellow. This lets users know that it is not an organic part of your free listing which may turn-off certain advanced users.

Google is offering promotions for a free 30-day trial of using a Sponsored Tag on your listing. Contact CPD for more information on getting a free 30-day trial for your listing.

Sponsored search is also known as Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) or Cost Per Click (CPC) because you only pay when your ad is clicked on, not when it appears. Therefore, if you click on the link to BP’s sponsored ad for the term “oil spill” they will be charged for your click. The rate they will be charged is not known publicly because it is determined by Google’s sponsored search management program Google Adwords.

Clicking on the link multiple times will cause your IP Address to not charge the company. This is Google’s way of avoiding spam clicks.

If you want to help waste BP’s advertising dollars, follow these steps:

1) Search the term “oil spill” in Google

2) Click on their sponsored search link at the very top results (only once)

Your Google Profile

Creating & Verifying Your Google Profile in 7 Easy Steps:

1. Sign into your google/gmail account or get one here:https://www.google.com/accounts
   Note: If you are creating a new account, remember to uncheck “enable web history” this is a feature that is on by default and has always bothered me.
2. Once you sign in or create your account, navigate to “My Account” via links in the top right corner of most google.com pages.
3. Click Create A Profile (see pic below)
   

   Step 3: Create your Google Profile



Step 5: Set Privacy Options

4. Fill out all the information you want to share  click here if you are lost.
5. Read the privacy policy and set your Privacy Options. They are very easy to understand, broken down by your contacts.
6. Choose a profile URL, sooner the better. They will likely go fast.
   

Step 7: Verifying Your Google Profile – harder than it sounds.

1. WHILE SIGNED INTO YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT visit http://knol.google.com
2. Click sign in if you ignored step one, or it didn’t work for some reason.
3. Click Preferences
4. Click Name Verification

   

5. Verify by method of your choice.

That is it, you should now have a verified Google Profile! cheers.

WHY ITS IMPORTANT TO DO SET THIS UP SOONER RATHER THAN LATER

For starters, you can get a better url/username for public profile pages (wish they could lose /profiles/ from url). Second you’ll be ahead of the curve on the new thing on the internet. Third, Google is just a better company. Their model is to make the internet better and they make money from doing so. Facebook makes money off of data generated and collected from its users online social lives.

Branding:
Branding is when your advertisement and subsequent landing page is used to direct users into an “awareness” of your products or services. Branding is a crucial piece of marketing. Everyone wants Buy Now sales in their business, but utilizing a branding method to provide information on a product or service is sometimes even more useful as people are not always in a buying state when browsing the web.

Examples of when to use Branding Ads:

-          When you do not sell a product or service online

-          When your product or service involves a longer sales cycle including custom quoting, demos, etc.

-          When your messaging is more important than gathering information

Direct Response:
Sponsored search advertisements that send users to a landing page that has a specific call to action are utilizing the direct response strategy in their pay per click ads (PPC). Examples of direct response call to actions are:

1)      Requesting a user fill out a form to sign up for a demo

2)      A landing page that asks you to take a survey

3)      Trying to get users to buy a product right now

4)      Sign up for a newsletter form

5)      Call us now to receive a discounted rate

One of the major advantages of direct response campaigns from a marketing standpoint is that you are able to track your results more directly. You can look at your total spend vs. total click throughs vs. total direct response leads that came through (by filling out a form, buying something, etc.)

Mixed Approach:
It is possible to use a mixed approach to your search engine marketing strategy by utilizing your company branding along with some small call to action for direct response. Typically these types of landing pages will see the most success.