Email Marketing: You’re Doing It Wrong

emailmarketing_mistakesI don’t know about you but I’m pretty selective about who gets in my inbox. So when I start seeing things appear that I *know* I didn’t sign up for it kinda drives me bonkers. I was on a mini-work hiatus and upon coming back was inundated by emails which inspired this post.

I bring you:

3 Signs You’re Doing Email Marketing Wrong

Unsubscribe? What unsubscribe? Exactly.

Holding people hostage to your mailing list is not going to get you anywhere. Especially if they never opted-in in the first place.

It’s practically 2014, if you *still* don’t have an unsubscribe button on your email marketing messages you are doing it wrong.

And I’m not trying to be cute. You really are doing it wrong. As in- it’s not legal.

Holding people hostage to your mailing list is not cool. Make it easy to unsubscribe!

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Automatically adding me to your mailing list.

Handing you a biz card at a networking event is not the equivalent of me signing up to your mailing list.

Please, don’t automatically add people. We have to choose to opt-in.

And.. if you’re going to add me to your mailing list (without my permission) let me at least get off, easily, k? (see point one). None of that hit unsubscribe and then ask me to re-enter my email address and then count from 10-1 backward business. Keep it simple.

Giving you my biz card at a networking event does not mean you can add me to your list.”#justsayin

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Email marketing without an email marketing service is not email marketing.

Say that 5x fast.

See point above. Adding hundreds of people to an email message (don’t get me started on the ones that don’t BCC) and telling them about your latest/greatest widget/blog post/sale/telesummit/FINAL OFFER OMG  is *not* email marketing.

Stay classy and sign up for a service like Mailchimp (and it’s free).

Do it right or don’t do it all.

And this.

The Email/Facebook/Twitter/’insert other social media’ Bomber

In the history of mankind has this approach ever worked? This is the offline equivalent of a sleazy-car salesman or the telemarketer who is trying to sell you a device that you can plug in to your outlets to ‘save electricity’. I kid you not.

I mean seriously?! I’ve got nothing better to do than vote for a complete stranger..EVERY DAY of OCTOBER. Why not the rest of the year?!. #lesigh

Don’t be *that* guy. Don’t do online what you wouldn’t do in real life. Unless you are in the business of annoying people, it doesn’t work.

Any other email-marketing faux-pas you’d like to share?

Share your rant..err I mean comment below!

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creating your first online product

Creating A Minimal Viable Product Part 3: A Look At Thrive Hive

In the series, “Creating A Cupcake: Instead of the Whole Cake”, I’m taking at look at how to create a smaller version of your digital product before going all out with the full version. This approach, known as a minimal viable product, allows you to focus on delivering a very specific feature without all the bells and whistles and build on it as you incorporate feedback and learn.

I see it as the K.I.S.S approach to product development (keep it short and simple) and can be applied to pretty much anything. For example- starting out with social media? Instead of trying to DO IT ALL- start small, join a few key platforms and then take it from there!

In this post, we will look at an example of a minimal viable product and the tools that were used to create it.

As a techy who loves to try every tool out there, I definitely have to reign myself in more often than not!

Creating A Minimal Viable Product

For instance, when launching Thrive Hive, an online community for women entrepreneurs, we could have chosen anyone of the following options:

($ no to low cost, $$ moderate, $$$ high)

  • Option 1: Set up a custom white-label network using Ning which starts at $25/month not to mention the setup time involved. $$
  • Option 2: Set up a new WordPress site with a membership plugin- costs: hosting, domain, membership plugin, development time $$$
  • Option 3: Use our existing websites + private Facebook or Google+ group $

Choosing The Tech

Cost was not the only deciding factor when we decided to go the direction we did (which was option 3) but rather what was it that we were trying to accomplish and who were we trying to serve.

We could have easily spent months developing a custom site and then promote it and share it with our communities. This would mean more time developing and less time learning what worked and what didn’t work. It also meant getting people in the habit of spending time on yet another site.

Removing Barriers To Increase Engagement

The same would apply to using Ning, while the development cost would be less we would still have to encourage people to spend time on another site.

However, our target market is already on Facebook (sorry, Google+) and spending tons of time there. Did we really want to add the barrier of having to go somewhere else to engage? Probably not.

Our goal is to connect women entrepreneurs in different stages in their business, share each other’s content and organize online events such as chats and hangouts.

After surveying our audience and getting clear on what was missing in the groups they were currently participating in, we were able to narrow in on our focus and priorities.

Now that’s not to say we would never consider the other options and we could re-evalulate if we outgrew the existing setup, but it was out of scope for our minimal viable product.

Thrive Hive: A Look At The Solution

Sales page: Landing pages on existing sites Amp and Pivot and SidekickPM.

Payment: Paypal recurring payments for subscriptions

Community: Private Facebook group

Communication: Google group for social media posts + Aweber (for sign up + autoresponders)

Group activities: Twitter chats (#thrivechat) and Google Hangouts

Because we used our existing websites and free platforms we were able to keep the actual cost down and the only expense was our time.

Time to development: From idea to launch we were able to execute on this in only 4 weeks (between 2 businesses).

As you can see, when creating your minimal viable product, it helps to look at what solutions already exist but to choose based on what you are trying to accomplish. And as you learn and grow, you can make changes to the technology that you are using.

In the comments below, I’d like to hear what you are launching and if you are considering the “cupcake” approach!

In the final post in this series, we’ll look at some tools you can use to easily create and launch your first digital product.

 I like to practice what I preach..check out the new live online-workshop I am running in beta on August 30th.

googleana5

Sign up below to get the entire series delivered in ebook format (for free*).

*does not include cupcakes

Episode 25: Exploding Into Action With Michelle Of Bombchelle

In this interview I had the pleasure of speaking to Michelle of Bombchelle where she helps creatives explode into action. She shared how she got started with her business and what made her take a creative approach to systems and productivity and how to use a CRM (customer relationship management) for your business.

Click play to listen.  [heads up: there were a few fbombs that were dropped..just in case :)]

 Key Takeaways:

  • Using the right tools will help you manage your customer relationships
  • Systems help you focus on the right things to get done
  • Productivity + Systems = More Joy and Less Frustration! click to tweet

         CHECK OUT THE DON’T LOSE YOUR SHIT SALE ends August 9th

Details here.

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Resources/People Mentioned 

About Michelle

Michelle - Founder of Bombchelle

Founder of Bombchelle, Michelle makes systems/productivity/organization/all that incredibly boring sounding stuff incredibly NOT boring so that you + your biz can reap the rewards. Connect with her online @_chelleschock and get her weekly Systems 101 on the Dispatch over at www.bombchelle.com.

 

Launch your first digital product

{Online Product} Create A Cupcake Instead Of The Whole Cake Part 1

Cupcakes and product launch? Huh?

You’ll see what I mean in just a few…

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions about launching digital products. How should I get started? What tools should I use?

In my years working in the software industry, I’ve seen that LESS is MORE and this can pretty much apply to any type of product you want to launch (and any industry) whether it’s an ecourse, ebook, telesummit and so on.

Especially when it’s your first time at it, you’ll be surprised how many moving parts there beyond just creating the actual product.

Creating A Minimal Viable Product

The minimal viable product (which is getting a lot of buzz these days) is an approach where you focus on the core features *without* all the bells and whistles. So take that giant feature list you’ve started with and whittle it down to the bare essentials–say bye bye to the “nice to haves” and focus on the musts..the things that solve your customer’s problems.That’s definitely a good place to start.

You can think of the minimal viable product like a cupcake. Instead of going ahead and building a huge cake with many layers and frosting and then taste-testing it with your potential clients, why not build the cupcake version and have them try it out?

twitter-bird-light-bgsInstead of building the entire cake, make a cupcake and see if your customers like it.  

Start With The Core and Build

I know what it’s like and know how tempting it is to create something even when you may not need all the features.

Figuring out your minimal viable product does take work (talking to people, surveying, testing) but the idea is that you are not creating the whole thing in isolation for months/years *and* then coming out with a product where there is no longer a market or any interest to begin with.

Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize!

What needs to be done now vs what can wait? Does your first online program need to be 10 modules or can you deliver a shorter version that is 3-5 modules?

Do you absolutely need transcripts for your videos or can that wait until you’ve established a larger audience?

And I say this not because I don’t believe that you can do it all but and this is a BIG but…there is SO Much that goes into creating and launching your first product beyond the actual creation..why not start small and build on it?

In the next series of posts, we’ll dive deeper and look at the steps to take to create your cupcake first digital product.

Sign up below to get the entire series delivered in ebook format (for free*).

*does not include cupcakes

Episode 24: Purpose of Creating Powerful Systems in your Business

In this interview I had the pleasure of speaking to Natasha Vorompiova of Systems Rock. She shared how she got started with her business and how she realized the importance of creating systems in her business similar to how she worked in the  corporate world. Natasha shares really great tips on how to easily get started.

 

Key Takeaways:

  • A system doesn’t haven to be complicated but rather a repeatable process of how you do things and produces the same results
  • Consistency of doing 3 things every day pays off really well
  • Everything that happens regularly can be turned into a process documenting as you go easier than on the spot

 

Resources/People Mentioned 

 

Your turn:

What’s one system you plan on implementing in your business?

Consistent action + business systems = success http://bit.ly/130ZTnB ~ @systemsthatrock via @SandySidhu  Click to Tweet

 

About Natasha aka SystemsChick

Natasha Vorompiova, founder of Systems Rock.Natasha Vorompiova is the founder of Systems Rock where she breaks the stereotype that systems are just for big enterprises and put damaging constraints on creative spirits. Her unique approach nourishes the creativity of entrepreneurs while helping them establish the essential foundational systems that will enable their businesses to truly flourish. Grab your FREE copy of ‘Systems Chick’s Guide to Transforming Busyness Into Business’ at SystemsRock.