The "read More" link does not conform to Accessibility standards, so a disabled user or their AI software is unable to know the context of the link and is not warned that it take them off the newsletter. Not good for companies with disabled persons in their organisation or on their list. Band for branding and reputation when you exclude people. ... View more

By not being able to change the visited hyperlinks color you are making the newsletter NOT Accessible to persons with disability. Color blind people and persons with low vision, anyone with color diabilities are not being able to read the newsletter and properly follow the links. Poor design and poor business. This could make a newsletter appear to discriminate against a disabled person. Any company with disabled persons on their list will lose business and reputation. ... View more

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

I would suggest to be prepared with an outline or written plan  when you meet with your potential re-designer. To begin with, perhaps the following questions can assis to best meet your needs net: 1. What is the purpose of your web site? For example:     a.  A Simple site that contains basic information and a brief introduction to your company     b.  An educational and informational website that gives you an outlet to express your views, educate your             customers and give more detailed information about your company     c.  A site that entertains and amuses and provides only limited information about you and your company     d.  A social network site for the purpose of connecting your customers to each other     e.  An online store to mirror the brick and mortar store you already have     f.  An ecommerce site selling your products as well as affiliate links     g.  A membership only site with secure log ins and passwords     h.  A marketing site for the purposes of promotion other peoples product or services 2. To help you narrow down the goals of your website, which of the following would you like your website to do for you?      ●   Educate the public on my field of expertise with content and articles      ●   Keep up with my competition      ●   Conduct online webinars      ●   Conduct online surveys and poll      ●   Sell my products      ●   Create an income from affiliates      ●   Provide general and/or product information      ●   Keep up with the changing times      ●   Build customer loyalty      ●   Make announcements      ●   Brand my business in my field      ●   Develop a list of qualified prospects      ●   Build my opt in mailing list      ●   Encourage clients/customers to contact me      ●   Make money      ●   Create an online networking environment      ●   Make my presence known on the web      ●   Other __________________________________    Most of these answers should be derived from your business or marketing plan. 1. What are your top 3 short term goals of your website? By Date __________  Goal __________________________________________________________ 2. What are your top 3 long term goals of your website? Benchmark _____________________ Goal ____________________________________________ 3. How will you measure (ROI) the effectiveness of your website in meeting these goals? Will it be graded on the number of visitors, new customers, products sold, revenue produced?   4. Write a short, clear and concise description of your business: what you offer, to whom you offer it and why they should choose you. What exactly does your company do? What are the features and benefits of your products and/or services? What is your geographic focus: Do you want to only appeal to customers locally; or do you want to international exposure and appeal? 5. The layout, colors, style and information that will be seen on your website should be based on the characteristics of your target customer base. Who is your target market? Be specific. 6. What is your marketing strategy plan for your website? How does this fit into your overall marketing plan? 7. Do you have design elements in mind that portray your goals and your image as you see yourself, and how you want your visitors to perceive you? 8. Do you have a Logo? Will you be using this same logo throughout your website, or do you have product logos as well? Are your company colors and your product colors consistent? What are your color choices? 9. Do you have a slogan or catch phrase for your business? 10. What is the most important message you wish to convey to your visitors?  11. If you want an e-commerce site, what type of e-commerce solution do you have in mind?     ■  Non-interactive. Visitors must print or phone order in.      ■  Single order form with secure automated payment processing, confirmation email to customer and purchase  alert to you     ■  Multi-page secure order form with shopping cart, automated payment processing, confirmation email to  customer and purchase alert to you. Visitors can pick multiple products while continuing to shop your site;  options for visitors to change their order, preview order and submit on-line. Product or service ordered can be sent in an e-mail or downloaded via FTP from a secure page on your server     ■  Full e-commerce shopping cart with automated real time credit card processing, integrated with backend database.      ■  What are your payment options?     ■  Will type of security do you need for your web pages?     ■  What is your customer service policy?     ■  How many total products do you plan of offering? Will this increase or decrease over time? 12. How often do you foresee your site needing updates and additions?   13. Do you conduct business in other ways (direct mail, brick and mortar, conferences) that you need to advertise or incorporate into your website? 14. What are 3 of your favorite websites (other than your own). And what do you like and dislike about each of these 15. What makes you unique and different than your competition? What do you offer that is not offered elsewhere? Why should someone use your site or purchase from you instead of someone else? 16. Make a list of 10 words that describe you. 17.Make a list of 10 words that describe your business.   18. Make a list of 10 words that describe each of your products. 19. What type of information do you want to gather from the visitors to your site, ie::     ○ Survey and polls     ○ Webinar, workshop, teleclass sign ups     ○ Email for opt in e-zine and announcements     ○ Browser and computer stats     ○ Location     ○ Other ____________________ 20. What domains do you currently own? 21. Where is your website currently hosted? What specific services do you require from a web host? 22. What types of graphic files will you be providing. What types of custom graphics do you foresee needing to be created for your website? 23. How much content will you be providing. How much content will you rely upon us to create? With this information your designer can work with you to create a web site that is unique to you and your business and focused on your goals.   Wishing you awesome and continuing success,   Sumner M. Davenport ... View more