Compliments of Sean MaCentee

Sadly, many email marketers never given much serious thought to the signature that appears below the content in emails they send to their lists, and far to often they treat it as more of an after thought.

One reason why using an email signature is important is it shows that you are serious about running a legitimate business. Plus, it can help provide important clues about how the person became acquainted with you – just in case they have forgotten.

There is lots of conflicting thoughts on what to include in an effective signature.

Here’s our general thoughts on it…

• Your signature should have about four lines, but no more than six lines in it, with a maximum of 72 characters per line to keep in compliance with various email programs.
• To be most effective, it really should say something important or even descriptive about you, and your business, and provide some alternative contact information.

How To Construct Your Email Signature Line

• Begin with your name…after all it IS a signature.
• Below your name there should be your title and the name of your business.
• Include a tag line if desired..
• Add your contact info and a link to your website. (While we gather a mailing list on multiple websites we tend to just feature our primary domain on our newsletter signature).
• You can condense some things down into one line by using breaks.

Here’s an example  of an email signature line:

–

To Your Success,

Craig and Leisa Watkins
Co-founders of Wealth, Wisdom and Success Enterprises
Where We Help People Successfully Navigate Through Life & Business

Phone: 801.895.2894 | Website: http://wealthwisdomandsucccess.com
–

Here’s a few more things to keep in mind…

• We don’t recommend using images in your signature as it increases your chances of being blocked by the SPAM filters.
• Be sure to check that those links actually work. It would be sad to send out hundreds of emails using that signature and find it it doesn’t work.
• To make it easy to see where the email ends your signature could be separated from the body of the email with a single line (like: ——) or a double line (like: =====). Although a simple — is all it really needs, and the — is accepted as standard.
• Don’t include a bunch of extra information in your signature.
• We don’t recommend including links to your various social media profiles unless it is appropriate for that topic because it fragments possible actions in the readers mind.
• Skip the mailing address. While it is required by SPAM laws as an alternative way for people to unsubscribe don’t make it a part of your signature. Your auto-responder service likely adds it anyway. The exception is if it is require by law where you live. Some European countries, laws dictate law requires some businesses to include the address and VAT number in the signature. If you live in Europe you can learn more by visiting this UK government website.
• Keep the contact info simple. Pick one central contact phone number and bag the rest.
• When including links spell them out rather than hyper-linking some text. Start with a http:// to make sure it displays as a link when the recipient opens it.
• Don’t include HTML formatting as it often doesn’t display the way you want it to in your readers email program.

Go ahead, go craft your email signature. Take action.

Related posts:

1. Are You At Risk of Being Reported As A Spammer?
2. Deliver Your Marketing Message Precisely When You Want to With Mobile Content Marketing

Image Courtesy of Grufnik

We just celebrated Independence Day here in the United States and home-based businesses have been a part of American culture since before the United States was an official country.  Running a business out of the home has long provided income for families. The freedom to easily operate a business from home is something I am very grateful for.

Thankfully, the internet has made opening and operating a home-based business easier than ever.  In fact, running a business that taps into the power of the Internet can provide you the opportunity to earn a substantial income without leaving the comfort of your own home and it is a skill that pretty much anyone can learn.

We have had an internet home-based business for years. Our home-based business requires work just like any other business.  While it is a skill that pretty much anyone can learn there are many people who struggle with their home-based businesses.  Why?  I believe one of the primary reasons for home-business failure is lack of effective time management.  And lack of effective time management skills leads to insufficient marketing.

Being at home one often wants to relax, and escape from work.  And since the home is full of distractions it’s very easy to lose focus.  As a result, it’s easy to get much different results than the ones you want from your business venture.

Since there are lots of steps involved in operating an effective business it is vitally important that you make the best use of your time.  Effective use of time will enable your business to provide you the profits and joy you deserve.  After all,

Thankfully, there is an simple fix can help you make the most of your home-based business…

Here’s just a few tips to creating a time management tool that can work effectively for you:

Set-up a Wise Time Management Plan

Develop a timetable.  Allocate a specific time slot each day for work.  Then dedicate the time for just workThat timetable can help you manage your life at home and ensure everything gets done when it needs to be.

Use Your Work Time Wisely

Avoid being distracted by TV or anything else. Put a sign on your office door if you need to remind other that you are not to be disturbed. Remind yourself that you’ve scheduled enough time for everything, so work time should be just that!

Schedule Time For Sufficient Rest

Lack of rest can significantly impact the results from your home-based business. You’ll start to feel tired and  if you’re not well-rested, which will undoubtedly affect the quality and quantity of work you produce.

Rest When It is Time To Rest (This one is a tough one for me)

Avoid the temptation to use your rest time to get more done.  Use that rest time for actual resting so your work doesn’t suffer.

Schedule Breaks

Include scheduled breaks. When your timetable includes scheduled breaks during work slots, you’ll have something to look forward to. You’ll also have less of an urge to take “unscheduled” breaks while working. Make sure the rest of the family knows when your scheduled breaks are so they aren’t as tempted to interrupt your work time.

Remember, Poor Time Management Can Lead to Unnecessary Challenges and More Work

Of course, how you manage your time at home will significantly impact the success of your at-home business. But poor time management can also affect is “the rest of your life.”  Working at home in a haphazard manner can really take its toll on other things.

• Family time and other important activities could be negatively impacted if you work in an ad hoc manner and don’t reserve enough time for such things.
• Fitness, health, and diet also need your direct attention when you’re a work at home earner. Not paying enough attention to those things could result in your health being in jeopardy. And that’s the last thing you want when your only source of income is your home-based business!

It’s very easy to get so absorbed in your home-based business and overlook the importance of other aspects of your life. Once you lose focus, your relationships will start to suffer and you may start neglecting your health. If you’re working 16 hours per day, then you’re most likely not exercising or eating properly. Nor are you spending time with your loved ones. Try to steer clear of this scenario!

Once you create a structured approach to your business and life in general, you’ll find that you’ll accomplish more, get more financial fulfillment from your business, and be able to achieve balance in other aspects of your life as well!

Related posts:

1. Setting Effective Goals for Your Home-Based Business
2. Five Steps That Can Give Your Business a Boost Next Year
3. Welcome to Roadmap To Success – Charting a Successful Business Course

The prosperity of any online business comes from a well laid out plan of what you’re looking to offer and gain. It does not matter what kind of products or services you have, you still need that website exposure to be seen. There are many paid advertising campaigns you could sign up for but there are also the free advertising campaigns that are just as beneficial.

Your sites popularity and success depends on professionalism but also the amount of daily traffic to your site which creates conversions. Often times the free traffic sources are better because if your site does not convert well you can change what you need to without having wasted so much money on a failing advertising campaign.

Google traffic is a great way to go when you know how to get high rankings. It’s actually simpler than you think because it only takes having keyword rich, useful, entertaining content that keeps your visitors on the site. It’s also helpful to have a site that has that professional, clean appearance and is easy to navigate. Once you capture the front page of Google in your niche you can monetize your site in many different ways but should also keep it updated daily. Some people think that when they land Google’s front page the work is done when it’s actually just beginning because you can lose your rankings as quickly as you get them.

Everyone knows that social media sites like Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace receive hundreds of thousands in daily traffic because of their popularity and usefulness.

Many businesses both large and small use that to their advantage through paid advertising and it works wonderfully. The other option is free advertisement which could be done through thumbnails and other sources. There are many other sites similar to the social media sites that could create the buzz you’re seeking to further your online presence so taking advantage of as many of them as you can handle is definitely recommended.

Let’s Not Forget About YouTube

YouTube is host to over 1,500,000 full length movies daily and its viewership doubled between October 2009 and May 2010 to over 2 billion. The volume of video uploading during 2010 surpassed 13 million hours and by now you can only imagine how much more it’s progressed since then.

Everyone has different reasons for visiting YouTube. Some people visit YouTube to brighten up their day by watching funny home videos or the latest music videos. Others may visit to view software tutorials or reviews. No matter what line of work you’re in you can always find information that can be useful on YouTube. A dieter could visit YouTube to watch a video entitled “Does Nutrisystem work?”, the same way a journalist might visit it to get an idea for their next big story. Many YouTube up loaders have gone on to talk show appearances and then movies so you see how wonderful it is for showcasing your talents. YouTube has also worked wonders for many businesses advertising their services and products.

An Eye Opening YouTube Experiment

My first experiment with YouTube was done for one of my affiliate marketing boot camps. The video didn’t really have anything to do with the subject of affiliate marketing it was just of me driving my dream car Shelby cobra replica. My son taped the footage and a friend turned it into a two minute video with James Bond music in the background then it was uploaded to YouTube as I was curious to see how much exposure it would get.

With over 313,000 views that double monthly this was a great step for me. In the graph it clearly shows over 265 ratings of likes and dislikes. I’ve received 222 comments and the videos been favored 257 times. The few dislikes in the ratings I was able to find out through the commenting section were because my background music was loud and people really wanted to hear the sound of the engine. I love the fact that you can receive comments because it makes it easier to improve things when you know exactly what needs improvements.

YouTube has excellent stats and right now I have several videos that are working for me beautifully so I definitely intend to keep them coming. It is from my first experiment that I learned the real power of the video search engine and if you haven’t tried it by now you really should get started.

Tips to Get Your Video High Rankings

In the title and description you should always use the main keyword you want to be ranked for because doing that will help your video get found easier along with using the proper tagging. Again I am suggesting using calls for action because the encouragement of viewer participation is the key to your videos popularity and overall success.

YouTube is a place for selling and it could be anything from shoes to the diet videos that offer coupons for medifast. Videos uploaded to YouTube can also be uploaded to other video file sharing sites like Slideshare and Flickr to increase viewership. You should also share your videos through the social network sites like MySpace and Facebook which can include links to your main site. Each video should have the proper tagging and be listed in the right category.

Have fun with uploading your videos and having people view and comment on them because it’s a learning process that you can perfect in a short amount of time. When your videos do become popular keep them coming because you’ll already have an automatic fan base.

About the Author

James Martell has worked his way to becoming a very successful expert affiliate marketer since 1999. He’s been training others through his affiliate marketing trainings since 2001 if you’d like to learn affiliates marketing. James is also host of the first ever and longest running affiliate marketing podcast with a reputation of being one of the most sought out speakers at industry conferences. He currently resides in White Rock BC, a seaside suburb south of Vancouver, B.C. Canada with wife Arlene, and their four beautiful children.

Related posts:

1. Business Failure > What’s Your Excuse?

I’ve been in the affiliate marketing business for over a decade but I never really made the connection between my business income and the income from any retirement program I may have. Like most people retirement is in the back of my mind but first I have to take care of today’s obligations like a mortgage, tuition, health insurance and gas for my favorite toy my Shelby Cobra.

But I had the opportunity to meet and work with a successful financial coach by the name of Todd Tresidder and he really opened my eyes.

Advice from a guy who retired at 35

Todd successfully managed a hedge fund for several years and developed quite a reputation for making his rich clients even richer. But when he hit 35 he just got tired of “making a few percentage points” for his already rich clients and decided to sell the business and retire. Did I mention he was 35?

Retirement didn’t last all that long

Some people are suited for early retirement and some people aren’t. As a general rule, entrepreneurs simply have to have their hand in the game and Todd fit into that description. He knew he could use his wealth building skills to help ordinary people succeed so he opened a personal financial coaching business.

Todd decided his business needed a digital presence and that’s when he came to Arlene and me for help in building a great website. It was during this project when Todd said something that just blew me away. He said “You know…

$100 dollars a month is like having a $30,000 retirement investment”

And that opened my eyes to the real wealth that is created by affiliate marketing. If you have an affiliate marketing site that is generating $100 a month it’s the same as if you were earning the interest on a $30,000 retirement investment except you didn’t have to pony up the thirty grand.

The numbers work. Todd’s clients averaged a 4% return on their investments. $30,000 x 4% = $1200 interest divided by 12 months is $100 per month. But where the real similarity is between a retirement package and your business is both will continue to deliver that income without you doing a thing.

The beauty of passive income

Todd explains it this way. The money that retirees receive is indirect passive income. They’re taking the interest off an initial investment. Affiliate marketers receive direct passive income through automated selling. In other words, once you have your site set up on the right foot the site will continue to sell products or services even if you don’t touch it again.

Affiliate marketing can be a sustainable source of passive income for the rest of your life.
Think about that for a moment. Most people trade time for money. When they stop trading time they stop making money. An affiliate marketer invests an initial amount of time and then can stop yet the sales continue to roll in. That means the money you are making today will be money that you can potentially make as long as you live. And when you croak, it can roll over to your spouse or kids or whatever. The site doesn’t need you to sell.

Have you thought about your retirement?

Most of us are so in denial about retirement. We plan for other things like education for our kids but we don’t really do serious planning for our own futures. Of course planning for retirement and determining what kind of income you’re going to need is going to vary from person to person but you really need a roadmap to answer the question “just how much do I need to retire”. Todd has a book named oddly enough “How Much Do I Need To Retire” which is an excellent guide for your retirement planning.

Let’s assume for the moment that you do have some type of retirement plan and you are eligible for government retirement benefits like Social Security in the US. However, the income that those two sources comes up about $3,000 per month short of the way you want to live.

If you take your affiliate marketing to the $3,000 per month level odds are it will stay there, or maybe increase, as long as you live. That’s the equivalent of earning interest on roughly $1 million.

If you’re new, the jump from $100 per month to $3,000 may seem like an impossible leap but it is actually far easier than going from $0 to $100.

Getting over the $100 hump

When your site does generate its first $100 month you can take heart that your hard work is now paying off. As your site matures, as you become savvier in marketing and as your list grows you will find that overall growth will be far easier to accomplish.

Just like any other business the more you know the more you grow. The better you understand the marketing dynamics of the internet the easier it will become to be successful. Just don’t make the number one mistake….quitting too earlier.

Winners never quit and Quitters never win

OK somebody in your childhood probably was the first one to share this line with you. But there is a lot of truth in this simple rule. When I asked Todd what he thought was the number one cause of people failing online he didn’t waste a second in replying “lack of persistence”.

So many people give up just before their efforts pay off and that’s a real shame. But if you persist, if you learn from mistakes, then that first sale will arrive and it’s just a matter of rinse and repeat. That million dollar retirement is a lot closer than you think.

Bio

James Martell discovered the lucrative world of affiliate marketing in 1999. He is a self-taught Internet entrepreneur and a leading expert in affiliate marketing, outsourcing and SEO. James is the host of the “Affiliate Buzz”, the first and longest running affiliate marketing podcast. James is the host of the “Affiliate Marketers SUPER BootCamp”, a continually updated affiliate marketing training series well known for turning affiliate newbies into success stories. James resides in White Rock BC, a seaside suburb of Vancouver on the West Coast of Canada with Arlene and their four children.

No related posts.

1)      Confronting the “messy area.” Much the same way you would start to clean your house, you must approach your business. Confront the issues at hand. According to Libby, confrontation should be respectful, direct and specific. Clearly articulate your vision and create alignment among your employees. If done right, according to Libby, your employees may never even know they are being confronted!

2)      What’s your ultimate goal? Ask for what you want. Too often, according to Libby, leaders focus on what they don’t want and lack the detail or specifics in identifying what they do want from their employees. “One of the most important changes you can make to your leadership and communication is to utilize language that is efficient and effective. “

3)      Don’t just sit there-take action and clean too! You, as the leader, should be a part of the process.  Be part of the team and show your commitment.

4)      Change- Change is part of life. Some things must go by the wayside. Whether it’s your team jersey from high school or an employee that isn’t contributing. Libby says that a leader’s recommitment to his or her initiatives and culture change is essential. “Do what you have to do in order to keep the culture and initiatives moving in a positive direction. Keep the lines of communication open and be a leader in tough times. Your employees will adapt to the change or changes with a little more empathy and full disclosure of the situation from its leaders.”

5)      Keeping the place clean- while sustaining a profit culture. The only way to keep your business in check is to focus on what follows after you have done all that hard work. “Stay wholeheartedly committed,” says Libby.  “It is the emotional fortitude of the leader and communication infrastructure that will make or break the initiative. So, as a leader, keep your attitude and commitment to the process and so will your followers!”

Libby has worked with numerous Fortune 500 clients and CEOs, including: The Boeing Company, Nike, Philips, ST Microelectronics, Diageo and Costco.

Image courtesy of rsepulveda.

No related posts.

Image Courtesy of Vinni123

Setting effective goals is crucial for any home-based business owner’s success. Effective and inspiring business goals will help you achieve that laser focus that can keep you moving towards what you want. Here are the most important things to keep in mind when you’re setting your goals for your business.

Set Goals That Can Be Measured – Goals Which Can Be Tracked in Numbers

A goal like “I want to make $4,000 a month blogging by Dec 21, 2011″ is a good goal.

A goal like “I want to be rich and feel successful” is not a good goal, because it’s not measurable.

With a measurable goal, you can divide it into a number of months and set monthly milestones to get you where you want to go.

A “feeling-based” goal is impossible to track until you either get there or don’t get there, which almost certainly means you won’t get there.

Set Realistic Goals

Goals should be realistic, meaning you can actually achieve it in the time you’ve set. You should be able to actually see a path to where you want to be, without the need for a miracle happening.

For example, don’t set a goal to be a millionaire next year if you’ve never made more than $3,000 in a month. If you’re making $2,000 a month this year, however, $4,000 a month – or even $6,000 a month – is quite realistic. Could you be a millionaire by next year? Sure, it is certainly possible. But your subconscious but also believe it is possible. If you set the goal to far out there parts of you won’t sign-off on the goal and you could easily end up sabotaging your success.

Make your goals ambitious enough to inspire you to strive for them, but not so ambitious that you don’t truly believe you can make them happen.

Know the Why As Well As the What

In addition to knowing what you want, you need to have a clear idea of why you want that as well. Keep your why at the forefront of your attention.

For example, if your desire to make money stems from the desire to provide for your family, never ever lose sight of that for the money. But even go so far to clarify what it is you want to provide for your family. Do you want to provide a roof over their heads, or do you want to provide world-wide travel? Be very specific in what it is you want to achieve.

Related posts:

1. One Time Management Tool To Use in Building a Successful Home-Based Business
2. Six Steps to Evaluating Your Social Media Strategy
3. Five Steps That Can Give Your Business a Boost Next Year

Image compliments of Jted

Anyone with a mailing list runs the risk of being reported to their Internet Service Provider for spam.  In fact, every month there are tens of thousands of internet searches done by people who want to report someone for spam.

Despite our strict compliance with spam laws, a few years ago we were reported by a former business associate for spamming when we sent out an issue of a newsletter that she had been getting for months. Why? She had just broken up with one of our relatives and didn’t want to be in a business relationship with us any more.  In another instance, a subscriber had simply forgotten they subscribed.

Thankfully, we had done things right.  And if you’ve done things right (you are doing it right aren’t you?), and find yourself in a similar situation you’ll be able to show that you were not spamming, and that you are doing things legally.

All of us, at one time or another have subscribed to someone’s list and regretted it.  Recently I had subscribed to someone’s mailing list and found myself bombarded six times a day with sales emails. It didn’t take me to long to unsubscribe.

There are also unethical practices where someone makes up things in an effort to get the email opened. One Internet marketer sends out emails that say things like: “Did you try to call me at 3am? If not sorry for bugging you, but someone called and I missed the call.  If you did then click here.” Obviously this isn’t true, everyone on his list did not try calling him at 3am. This is an unethical use of the trust that person gave him by sharing an email address and opening his emails.

Although both uses of our email was annoying, this is technically not spam, since each person he mailed to had in fact joined his mailing list.  However, doing such tactics greatly increases the likelihood that you’ll be reported as a spammer.

My point is, your subscribers asked to join your list, and asked to receive emails from you. Do not take advantage of their good will by doing unethical things, and don’t bombard them with sales message after sales message.

As honest and ethical Internet marketers we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Sure, we may miss out on a few dollars due to having higher ethics, but at least we can sleep at night, right?

Bottom line, do your email marketing the right way. If you are complying with the laws regarding spam, you can easily defend yourself against complaints of spam by subscribers who have forgotten they subscribed or who do not totally understand the law. Permission based marketing is a special form of marketing and one that we should work hard keeping honest.

Related posts:

1. Tips on Crafting Your Email Marketing Signature

Image Compliments of dnfisher

Mobile marketing allows you to promote and build brand awareness because it gives you the ability to stay in front of your potential or current clients via an app that you have created just for your business.

Thankfully, there are already apps out there that you can brand as your own, so don’t panic. You just put in the info needed to change the app and presto, you’re branded.

So, if you have an awesome idea for an app but no coding know-how, no need to worry. You can create apps yourself by coming up with an idea, then putting an advertisement on eLance, Odesk, Shelancers or a variety of other places where you can find coders. Your mobile app can be a simple calendar with your branding on it, or a special desk top, or more. It’s up to you and your imagination. Thankfully, outsourcing a simple mobile device app can be quite inexpensive, yet they have the potential to bring in large returns.

When selecting the app you would like to use it is important to remember that a mobile device is not a computer.  There is less real-estate, and it’s harder to use a mobile device for navigation through a complicated website. So make it easy for your mobile clients to read, listen, or watch what is important by putting that front and center for your mobile client base.  Be sure to make sure that the app is consistent with your overall mobile marketing strategy.

Due to the fast adoption of mobile devices among the global population, actually outpacing desk top computing, it is more imperative than ever that you start right now deciding on a mobile content marketing strategy. Leveraging mobile content marketing as another component of your over all content marketing strategy will increase brand awareness, client engagement, and eventually your over all return on investment.

Related posts:

1. Deliver Your Marketing Message Precisely When You Want to With Mobile Content Marketing
2. Develop Your Businesses Mobile Marketing Strategy Now

Image Compliments of Alan Cleaver

Smart marketers work hard to determine the the best time of day or day of the week to send out their electronic newsletters, and email messages.  But trying to pick times where your potential client is at the computer checking email, is certainly not easy. Because we have such a mobile society, most people are not sitting at their computers all day long.

Thankfully, with mobile content marketing you will have much more control over when and how your clients receive messages. The increase of Internet access via smart phone technology has increased exponentially over the last two years and this is something Internet marketers need to take into consideration when planning their content marketing strategy.

You can deliver your messages at specific times of day. For example,  arrange specific lunch time messages, knowing that your clients are likely out to lunch, sending them a quick text message reminder to check out your new blog post, or the new product, or sale, is going to work a lot better than just hoping they come back to the office and wade through the 100 other eMarketing messages they received while out to lunch. Since most people keep their mobile device with them all the time you can engage your potential client on an entirely different level via their mobile device by sending them pointed text message questions via a social media app and create a conversation via mobile media.

Keeping the conversation going and truly engaging your potential clients with mobile content marketing is something very important for all Internet marketers to start taking advantage. Now is the time to start thinking of ways you can add mobile content marketing to your content marketing strategy.

Related posts:

1. Develop Your Businesses Mobile Marketing Strategy Now
2. Promote Your Business With Mobile Apps

Image Courtesy of gailjadehamilton

If not, you should!  Develop it now so you can take advantage  of current marketing trends…

Mary Meeker, who is known as thee “Queen of the Internet” states that adoption of mobile devices accessing the Internet is taking place at a higher rate than “fixed Internet devices” and will continue to do so until 2014 at which time it will be more popular than accessing the net from our P.C.’s. This is very important to Internet Marketers because it makes clear that mobile content marketing must be part of your marketing mix in order to simply sustain your momentum that you have gained as well as to attract new customers.

Whether you like Meeker or not the facts are the facts and mobile content is here, so you might as well create a mobile content marketing strategy and get with the big picture. Think about this: There are many people who only get on the net on their mobile device, they do not have a personal computer, if those people are within your target market, start targeting. If you prefer to target personal computer users who also use mobile devices to access the net, well, the same can be said, start your mobile marketing strategy now.

Today, with the advent of mobile technology, your clients or potential clients are connected to the Internet in many ways. You already contact them via email, via social media, and via your web real estate, why not add one more thing to the mix and ramp up your content marketing with mobile content marketing, it can only increase your engagement of your audience, thus also increasing sales, after all a return on investment is what you’re after. If the statistics have any meaning whatsoever, then making your websites and content mobile friendly can only help.

Related posts:

1. Deliver Your Marketing Message Precisely When You Want to With Mobile Content Marketing
2. Promote Your Business With Mobile Apps