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MAY 18, 2009
ISSN 1947-105X | Vol. 3, No. 20
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MARKETING & NETWORKING ISSUE
In This Issue:
A Note from Danielle...
The list is the thing! I'm sure you've heard that at some time or another
in business. And it's very true. It's not enough to just have a Website.
You want your Website to take an active role in your marketing and help
you keep the conversation going with your site visitors who took an interest
in you in the first place. One way to do that is to offer an ezine they
can subscribe to. Dawn Olinek is here this week to help you get started.
Yours in goodness and success!
Danielle Keister
Founder, Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce
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FEATURE ARTICLE -
Business Vitality: eZines
 As
an entrepreneur of two years, I have learned a few things about getting
my business in front of my target market. One strategy I've pulled out
of my bag of marketing tricks is an ezine.
While a newsletter is a hardcopy printed serial publication, an ezine
is its online electronic cousin. Printed newsletters have gone by the
wayside and just as well. They are a tremendous waste of resources and
these days, everyone expects to receive any newsworthy information via
their E-mail Inbox. It’s not enough to crank out a generic shell
of a piece featuring mundane topics. Readers want to be compelled to read
what you have to say. They want useful advice and information. They want
to come back for more. Give them what they want!
- Layout. There are two schools of thought here. One
says that you should send out an HTML (and text) ezine version. The
other says text only. I have a definite opinion about this and will
be going against the grain of many and I’m okay with that. I’m
not in the business of jumping on the bandwagon and riding with everyone
else when I’m convinced there are other ways of doing things.
I have no use for ezines that arrive in my Inbox in plain text; they
are plain ugly! I look forward to the arrival of ezines that are in
full-color and have an attractive layout. Better yet, I really like
ezines that match the sender's Website. Consistency is everything.
- Frequency. How often you send out your ezine is just
as important as what it looks like. If you blast subscribers on a daily
basis, you can kiss your audience goodbye with the snap of a finger.
Now this isn’t indicative to every ezine out there. I subscribe
to daily editions, but in general, entrepreneurs shouldn’t be
sending out ezines with that degree of frequency. What is appropriate?
Weekly or monthly. Unless you have a lot of reader-worthy information
to share with your audience, I would stick to a weekly or monthly send
out.
- Signup Form. Potential readers need an obvious way
to sign up for your ezine. Read: it should be right in front of their
eyes. If they have to look for it, then forget it. The best way to get
subscribers is to add a signup form to your Website. Your subscriber
rate will be higher if you have a signup form on every page of your
Website. If this isn’t possible, then at a minimum it should be
on your homepage.
- Welcome Letter. Each time you gain a new subscriber,
have your ezine autoresponder send out a “welcome" message.
This welcome letter establishes the relationship between you and your
subscribers. Simply put, make it count. It should be short and to the
point. Tell your readers what they have signed up for, what they can
expect to read and the frequency at which they can expect it. Sending
out a generic template sends a cold and distant first impression. And
lest I forget, include a freebie. Everyone loves to receive something
for nothing every now and again.
- Compelling Meat and Potatoes. Don’t bother
your subscribers with an ezine if you aren’t going to fill it
with substance. It’s a waste of their time and the only thing
that will come of it is an unsubscribe. People want to read your interesting
information. Information that will help their business in some fashion
or other. People don’t want to read about your ramblings. Engage
your subscribers.
Resource: Effective E-mail marketing begins with MailChimp. Use a pre-designed
newsletter template or create your own mirroring your Website. Plans include
free, monthly, and pay-as-you-go.
RESOURCE: Effective E-mail marketing
begins with MailChimp.
Use a pre-designed ezine template or create your own that mirrors your
Website. Plans include free, monthly and pay-as-you-go.
 About
the Author: Dawn Olinek is principal of Egghead
Virtual Assistance. Her passion for business and the environment
led her to create a virtual enterprise with green entrepreneurs in mind.
She authors the blog, sustain-ability:
read it, which features topics like small business, Virtual
Assistance, and green awareness. She also publishes a monthly newsletter,
soGreen
Biz, giving her subscribers an angle on growing their business
plus eco-friendly tips. Her latest endeavor includes writing "The
Bigger Picture," a column for GenGreen Life's Vision newsletter.
© Copyright 2009, The
Portable Business™. All U.S. and International rights
reserved. You are granted permission to republish this article only if
used in its entirety with this copyright notice, title, article content,
resource, author's bio and links left intact.
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VACOC NEWS -
New Service for Clients: Quickie Gigs
The VACOC has a new service for clients we call Quickie Gigs.
Here's the idea:
The core business of a Virtual Assistant is providing one-on-one, ongoing
administrative support to clients they work with in long-term, continuous
relationship. We always encourage clients to go that route because it's
where you are going to reap the most rewards in terms of value, continuity
and cost-effectiveness. However, if you have not yet found your right
Virtual Assistant or you are between Virtual Assistants, but still have
occasional tasks and projects you'd like completed, we can help you out!
Quickie Gigs is primarily for simple, straightforward
administrative tasks and projects that can generally be completed and
turned-around in few days with no fuss or muss. You fill out our online
form with the project specs and once the preliminary account set-up is
completed, we'll get to work right away.
Everything is simple! You sign only one contract (this will cover our
terms for one year in case you have other occasional projects that pop
up) and each project will be quoted on a flat fee basis (easier for you
to budget). For more information, be sure and check
out our Quickie Gigs page.
Let's Connect!
Reader Raves
 "[laughing
here] I haven't read the article yet, but based on the title, have you
been watching "Romper Room" re-runs??? ;-D "
— Cheryl
Harless regarding "Mail
List Etiquette (Do Be a Do-Bee)" on 5/11/09.
Hey! Send us your comments and feedback. Did you find
an article insightful, helpful and informative? Have topic ideas you'd
like to see covered in future issues? Let us know! We'd love to hear from
you.
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NO-COST TELESEMINAR -
Defend Against Plagiarism in 3 Easy Steps: A Practical
Guide to Protecting Your Work on the Web
 Have
you ever had your content reused without permission? If so, you know how
frustrating it can be. Whether you are posting a blog, marketing copy
or images on your site, tracking your content on the Web is crucial to
Internet success.
If you've ever been a victim of plagiarism or want to know what
you can do should plagiarism ever happen to you, you'll want to join us
for our next no-cost VACOC Guest Expert Teleseminar on Thursday, May 21,
with plagiarism consultant Jonathan Bailey. In this teleseminar,
Jonathan will share with you the techniques and strategies he has used
to stop over 700 plagiarists of his own work and show you how to reduce
the time it takes to handle a case of plagiarism to under 15 minutes.
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