Lost two clients this month due to lack of diversity in available holiday templates and the lack of ability to make necessary edits to match their promotion theme and brand. The previous interface allowed for more inclusion of full custom backgrounds and better placement of images.  One told me that without the ability to edit the stylesheet or the html, their choices of templates made them appear like everyone else and the other told me that the new interface has taken away their ability to duplicate the look of their brand. Both of these clients complained mid-year and since nothing changed in the interface to help their needs, they finally gave up. No renewal by them for next year.    ... View more

  Hi  @RobertaH38 ,   I feel the same way. Just to name a few frustrations with the new platform: The previous interface allowed me to easily change the background colors or texture instead of limited to a fews, none of which fit the brand of the email. My clients loved the availability to customize the CSS to match their website image, which is now no longer available. I relied on the access to the html feature which was useful when spacing or formatting wasn't sticking.   The old interface allowed for easier placement of images. My clients are telling me that the new interface appears less professional to them. Maybe it's just us.   Wishing you awesome and continuing success. Sumner ... View more

Good morning ScottS9,   Using Constant Contact’s new editor , t he following link to a blog article will outline the steps to accomplish what you are asking to do: https://blogs.constantcontact.com/import-pdf-to-constant-contact/       Wishing you awesome and continuing success. Sumner     @ScottS9 wrote: Hi - Just need a little instruction on how to attach to my email blast a PDF for my customer to PRINT. Let me know. Thanks - V     ... View more

Hello @marketingmaven, Times are changing and so are what motivates people.   The best way to find out what motivates your customers is to ask them.   Have you considered adding a survey to your emails asking patrons how they would like to celebrate their borthday? Instead of limited them to choices you have selected, maybe they have other ideas in mind. One of the restaurants near me discovered through a survey that his patrons like theatre tickets. He has made a deal with a local theatre to offer discounted or free tickets when they dine at the restaurant on their birthday.  Another local cafe donates a portion of the dinner price to a charity selected by the patron.   I have found that when I ask my clients what they want, I can always find something in their answers that will fit my objective and satisfy them as well.   Best of success to you. ... View more

Great infographic. Thank you for posting.   Time if the one asset we all share, and how we manage it can make a difference in our bottom line.   Excerpt from what I teach in Time Management classes: Ways to manage time: 1.) Make it a priority 2.) Don't do personal tasks on business time. 3.) Rate each task 1-5 in importance including deadlines 4.) Designate how much time each task individually will take. Some tasks that are done often are easy to determine necessary time. If you can't determine full amount of time, assign one hour and then reassess during the hour if more or less time is needed. 5.) If you so similar tasks regularly, such as services you perform for clients, keep a spreadsheet of activity/time for easy reference. ( I also use this spreadsheet when determining how to quote a job) 6.) Schedule most important tasks when you are at your freshest - first thing in morning, one hour after lunch, midafternoon (each person has their own best time segments - determine yours) 7.) Make appointments for each task, and work on only that task during that time slot, unless an EMERGENCY arises. (Be real about the definition of an emergency)  8.) Make appointments to read and post on your social media sites, close page/tab for that site when you are done to prevent revisiting when working on another task 9.) Use a timer to keep you on track. 10.) Use tracking software to show you your days’ results how you really use your time. Sometimes the visual numbers can help you understand your behavior. (I use Toggl.com) 11.)Turn off social media notifications (ie: being notified when someone posts, comments, etc) Learn to delegate. Even solopreneurs can find support for some tasks. 12.) New tasks or unexpected tasks, define those that are emergencies and those that are secondary. Add to your appointment schedule.   The bottom line is that you are creating a habit of being personally responsible for your time. Make a commitment to yourself to try this type of time management system for one week. If it works, or you’re not sure, do it for 2 more weeks. If it works, continue.   If you are still overwhelmed, then assess what worked (keep that) and re-asses how to manage the parts that didn’t work.   Wishing you awesome and continued success. Sumner ... View more

These new emotions provide a great opportunity for networking and marketing.   1.) When someone responds with something more than a "like" it provides the poster with more feedback on how their post is perceived.  Feedback is always important, and gaining more detailed feedback can prove beneficial in analyzing and updating your strategic marketing plan. 2.) A photo could be posted and it's acceptance/popularity can be measured by the types of emotions it elicits 3.) A contest could be conducted to see how many of a specific emotion a post will motivate. 4.) The emotions can elicit more interaction and conversations on the posts.     and so many more .....       ... View more

And at the same time, businesses need to be aware of the emphasis that Bing and Yahoo are putting in the local area. Equally important are the mobile search engines.  ... View more

So many people overlook the value of Google local. This is one that dfinitley needs to be in a business marketing strategy.     ... View more

The fith point is overlooked by many people, thinking they they are only sharing with friends.  Regardless of your own privacy settings, you have no control what your friends will share, and no control over what their friends may comment on a post you made on your friends timeline.     Something I learned at the two day Facebook Developers conference, is that most people access FB on their cell phone and never disconnect. Phones are easliy lost and hacked, Most people use free WI-fi which adds increased vunerability to their accounts. If using mobile devices most regularly, especially at free wi-fi spots, the password should be changed often and as soon as you are back at secured internet or 4/5G connection.. It may seem like a lot to do, however, it is more costly in time and loss when you have to attempt to repair a bad reputatio after the fact.   Sumner     ... View more

I agree that the platforms and presentation of the content may be different, however, telling the exact same thing on every platform, ie: simply copy and paste the exact words can get all the posts ignored by followers. If they see the exact thing on each platform, they will cease following or reading what is posted because it will appear redundant. If you post the same Subject matter or topic but different content, they will continue to follow you and read your posts everywhere.   For instance, after each Google or social media developer conference I attend, I send an email with notes to my clients, I follow that up on each platform addressing additional information on the subject, complete with solutions. Followed that up with additional updates or answers to someones question.  So the topic is the same but the content is different.  Each post and article also has links to the other posts so they can be followed. This buiilds and engages my followers on all platforms.   I run traffic and engagement analytics on all website, emails, blog and social media sites. This way I can see what is working and what is falling short.    Wishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner   ... View more

I recently spent 2 days at the Facebook developers conference. For Facebook at least, it depends less on how many times you post and more on what you post. If your content is engaging and you only post once, you may get enough attention to stay in the view of your followers. If you post a dozen times a day with nothing of value, not only will people begin to ignore you, you will lose ranking in the timeline of your friends/follwers.   Sumner ... View more

I recently spent two days in Facebook developers conference, and this is one area they explained in detail. It's based on your actions - >>what you spend time liking and commenting will show up more often in your feed >>plus, for your friends to see your posts more often,they have to comment on them more often. If they comment on everyone, then FB still chooses the ones that they consistently c omment on. >>and, for your posts to show up on your friends timeline more often, you need to go to your friends page and like and comment their posts more often. FB algorithm responds to social activity and interaction. For people that post numerous posts but have very few comments and likes, those posts will fade from timeline as FB judges them as not important, compared to the statistics of all posts made and commented on by your friends. For people that post occasionally, like and comment on friends pags and posts and have social interaction, those posts will be judged as high interest, compared to the statistics of all posts made and commented on by your friends. Too many people still rely in social media to do all the work for them.   Facebook is more or less forcing people to interact with each other. Social media should be a part, not all, of a person's marketing strategy.   Sumner ... View more

It's different for each of my clients. We run analytics on everything.  Facebook - we measure likes on page; lilkes on posts, shares- time of day Twitter - New followers, favorites, shares - time of day LinkedIn - Comments on discussions, likes on posts - time of day Same for all other social sites. Emails - opens, re-opens, clicks - time of day  From this information we have developed a spreadsheet for each client and create their posts and emails around their best times.       ... View more

The image next to search results has provided increase in links and traffic as I previousl posted, however according to http://searchengineland.com/ these images will be going away.  http://selnd.com/1m1f3Xp   Having Google authorship will still be helpful in organic search results.   Wishing you awesome and continuing success.   ... View more

You are so right Marissa. So many solopreneurs and small business fail to track their efforts and results and end up spending more time and/or money on activities and directions that aer not profitable. Knowing the facts - what is and is not working - can not only save time and money - it can certainly make the road to success more maneuverable. For all my clients, I use several tracking and analytic sources, ie: the ConstantContact tracking information on the links clicked in my email newsletters; SEO Moz; Bitly link shortener; Google Analytics; Alexa; Yext, LinkedIn and Facebook Insights.  Google Analytics can also be set up to track both Facebook and LinkedIn traffic, which give me a comparison of reporting data.   Wishing you awesome and continuing success. ... View more

What I see missing from this post is the importance of claiming your G+ authorship. The attachment I have provide shows how search results appear when authorship is activated on your G+ account. With authorship you can link content you publish on a specific domain such as your blog, a newswire site and some web communities to your Google+ profile.   The easiest and most reliable way to enable authorship information in Google search results is to provide a verified email address on the same domain as your content. If you don't have an email address on the same domain, however, you can associate your content with your Google+ profile by following the steps on Google Support: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2539557?hl=en Other important factors: Make sure you have a G+ profile photo with a recognizable headshot. Make sure a byline containing your name appears on each page of your content [ie: by "Your Name"] Make sure your byline name matches the name on your Google+ profile.   It really sets search results apart from the crowd.   Wishing you awesome and contining success. ... View more

Important points and sound advice which has been repeated (and ignored) many times.   Four additional nuggets of advice that my first mentor years ago implanted in my in mind for every presentation I prepare and deliver is: (1) Speak from experience, rather than hypothetical or copying someone eles's work (2) Limit the number of times you refer to yourself :"I this...", "I that....." Even if the presentation is about how something was accomplished, always speaking from "I" will cause the audience to either not be able to relate, or they will turn off from impersonal overload. (3) Speak in singular "you" instead of plural "you". Plural you is: "how many of you want....."  Singular you is: "Are you interested in...." (4) Don't preach: "You should..." or "You are wrong if...." Wishing you awesome and continuing success. ... View more

Great information. Thanks for sharing. The 80/20 rule is an excellent measure. Too many people sell-sell-sell and then wonder why no one comments or shares their posts. To keep more activity in the 80% side, I consistently share success stories about my clients. These are NOT hidden sales pitches by sharing only successes because of me; but more about them and their business. If they received an award, or introduced something new or hired someone or something else newsworthy about them. The more I brag about my customers through my network, the more they want to keep working with me, and then they brag about me through their network.   Wishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner ... View more

This is an excellent article. Thank you for sharing.   Many people seem to overlook the fact that social media, like any other form of strategic and successful marketing, requires consistent activity. This activity is best when informative or engaging posts and offers are make, not sales pitches. Plus, the social side of it requires interaction by commenting on and sharing other peoples posts.   It may be difficult for some small business owners and solopreneurs to post and interact consistently, however, the more they have mapped out in a strategic marketing plan in advance, the easier it is to follow that plan, adjust when necessary and continue to move forward.   Wishing you awesome and continuing success.   Sumner ... View more

This is an informative inforgraphic, however it is too generalized for my client base. The best time for my clients to post on Social Media is determined by their target market.  The demographics by age, occupation, activity and need in each target niche is different. If everyone only posted during the times indicated on the infographic then the feeds on social media would be silent during all other times. If a restaurant has a lunch special, they want to make sure that the patrons will see it at the appropriate time.  Most people think about their choice of restaurant for lunch when they get hungry - just before lunchtime. They may then start checking their social feeds. If the restaurant didn't post that morning, their post may not appear as prominent in the timeline, and whoever did may get the interest. It's become more common to see employees checking their smart phones and social feeds throughout the day at work. So if they are the target market for a business, then posting their content during work hours would be more effective.  And many people check their social media groups just prior to going to bed, or first thing in the morning. As with any other forms of marketing, social media activities need to be evaluated by the target market, their needs and how the business/product solves those needs. Social media should be one component of a strategic marketing plan.   Wishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner ... View more

It would be interesting to see if those statistics were similar in the US. Britain is more "proper" with their grammar and often pokes fun at the American English grammar.       Wiishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner Davenport ... View more

Technology has made many changes to our habits and lifestyles.   In my experience, I find that age has a lot to do with some of these new behaviors.   Surveying my older clients, I find that they do still use postcards when they travel. Other than checking in with their family via internet to make sure all is OK, they would rather be enjoying the experience personally.   Many marketers ignore this demographic of individuals with disposable income who rely upon their tried and true habits.   Wishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner Davenport ... View more

Thank you, Mike.:cathappy:   Sumner ... View more

It's true that a well planned and monitored Facebook presence can be a valuable addition to a marketing plan for many businesses. However, by itself, or ineffectual posting can be costly in time and resources. There are some industries and businesses that are advised not to be on Facebook because of advertising restrictions in their industries.   Anyone on Facebook needs to stay tuned to the changes in their T&C, and monitor their timeliness and who is talking about them and tagging them. Many  businesses fail to see profitable results because their posts are either inappropriate for their business,  too much selling, or they only use Facebook and have no other marketing in use. Social media is designed to be 'social". Communication not selling gets better results.   Depending on the industry, budget and anticipated results , a strategic marketing plan includes several methods of marketing venues including e-zines, social media, promotional items/gifts, contests, print, media, events, etc..   Wishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner Davenport     ... View more

Quoted text: "For those who think it’s harder: 49 percent say customers are paying less attention to marketing. 45 percent say there is more direct competition. 23 percent say it’s more expensive to do marketing. 23 percent say they can’t keep pace with all of the online marketing tools" -end quoted text-     When we pay less attention to the right marketing for our business niche, we will find it more difficult for customers to find us. Competition has always been with us. When we focus on finding and filling an overlooked niche the competition is less. Sometimes competition can be a good thing, by creating an opportunity to look at what the competition is not doing for your niche marketing and focusing on that.  Example - as a survivor of cancer, a client started a cancer related non-profit.  There are thousands of cancer related non-profits, but she found that none of them helped the children who lost their parent to cancer. Her foundation gives college scholarships to children who have lost a parent to cancer. She gets donors from those touched by cancer; and those that support higher education; and those that support children in need; and ...... The cost of some types of marketing may have increased, which makes it all the more important to know your niche, determine the best way to reach them, and follow a strategic marketing plan that fits your budget. Online marketing tools will continue to change and at a very rapid rate. Not one person can know them all, however, instead of being a jack-of-all-online-marketing-tools, find those that support your marketing goals and master those. Wishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner Davenport   ... View more

QR codes can be used very creatively to get attention and make donations simpler.   You can place QR codes on products such as:  t-shirts, mugs, posters, book covers, etc.   At one of my clients fundraising dinners they had the wait staff aprons imprinted with their QR code and several of the items in their goody bag had the QR code imprinted.  Their silent auction times were set up with QR codes which landed on a webpage to accept the bids, and eventual payment from the winner. They saw a measurable increase in donations over the previous year.   In one email newsletter when a client was announcing a contest, they sent only the image of the QR code, and the recipient had to scan the code to read the message. They saw a 20% increase in response and donations.   It's important to know your market when using QR codes. Not everyone will use them, and in some settings they may be more effort than someone wants to make.   We have found that QR codes work well with the younger to mid-aged markets, however,  the over 55 age crowd doesn't respond as welcoming to the use of QR codes. Note: This is not true for all persons over 55 as many of the people in my company are in that age range and use the codes, however, it is also the work they are involved in that could make the difference.   Wishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner Davenport     ... View more

I've learned several things over the years.   Most importantly: - have a strategic plan yet be flexible to change. - plan for the future, but be mindful of today - listen first  - then offer solutions. One size does not fit all. - know my niche market. Not everyone is my customer. - appreciate my clients, give more than expected and they will refer others to me - treat my associates and employees with the same respect I deserve - stay on top of trends and make adjustments in my marketing plan as needed - don't do something just because everyone else is doing it.  (Just because Susie jumped off a cliff, would you? - my mother's voice) - know the value of my services, Set fees based on value and give more than expected.   and so many more.......   Wishing you awesome and continuing success   Sumner Davenport         ... View more

Great article.   Starting with the first point of transitioning by first knowing your life plan and then writing a strategic business plan can be the tool that keeps your business afloat through the other points.    Too many employees jump into entrepreneurship with high hopes, but no plan, and then spend their days scrambling to make ends meet.   We plan parties and trips with lists, research, and follow-up, yet many fail to put this same basic skill into their business enterprise.   I've met many solopreneurs at networking events who continually lament about what is not happening in their business, and yet, when it is suggested that they formulate a strategic plan to support their goals, they either comment that they don't have time, or don't think it's necessary. I simply suggest, if not having a plan is not getting them the results they want, then just maybe, considering a written plan might make a difference. I stay away from quoting the definition of insanity because the response is usually a chuckle, but not a change in behavior. When someone is ready to have new results, they will take new actions.   Wishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner Davenport Solutions Consultant ... View more

It's always valuable to know who is visiting your profiles on social media sites. LinkedIn is separating themselves from the crowd by offering this feature. If you have a free basic profile, the amount of information you will see will be limited. On the upgraded profiles, there is much more information available.    Being able to see exactly who has visited your profile can be helpful in evaluating whether you are attracting the type of prospect you seek, and after reading their profiles, give you an idea of how to personalize your contact to them.        Wishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner Davenport Solutions Consultant ... View more

Sometimes a negative review can be a plus for your business.   If a business has only glowing reviews, it can appear disingenuous, or that the reviews have been manipulated.  Taking the time to respond appropriately to a negative review, as you have suggested, can say more about you and your company than dozens of good reviews.   Wishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner Davenport Solutions Consultant ... View more