Somethin’ For Nothin’

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege to participate in NAHB’s 50+ Housing Symposium in Philadelphia. I, along with the lovely and talented Janis Ehlers and Meredith Oliver, presented a program called “High Tech, High Touch,” in which we shared a number of great ways to maintain strong relationships with your customers. (If you missed it, watch your email for details on an upcoming encore presentation webinar.)

With our presentation set for 8 am, I decided to spend the night in Philly to be sure I’d make it in time. The event was held at the Philadelphia Downtown Marriott; however, being the cheapskate that I am, I decided to save a few bucks and stay at the Residence Inn a few miles away.

The differences between the two hotels was striking.

The Residence Inn cost less than $200 per night. The room included a full kitchen along with all the utensils you’d need to cook a nice meal in your room – with free microwave popcorn. High speed internet access was included, there was no charge for parking, and best of all, they even offered a free full breakfast each morning.

The Downtown Marriott? Nearly $300 per night. Want to get online? 13 bucks a day. Brought a car? Toss in an extra $43 a day for parking. Breakfast? The cheapest you’ll find is probably at Starbucks in the hotel, and we all know how much Starbucks charges for a small…excuse me, “tall”…cup of coffee.

The experience certainly left an impression. The more you pay, the less you get?

Now I realize that this kind of criminal practice has been going on for quite a while. Call a product “seltzer,” it will cost 79 cents. But give it a French name like “Perrier”? 4 dollars.

Brand perception is everything. Many businesses work hard to establish the belief that their products are the best, and well worth the investment – especially in real estate. From a business standpoint, that makes sense. And there are many people that will gladly pay more for the prestige of driving the best car, drinking the finest water, and staying in the nicest hotels.

But I am not one of those people.

And that’s why I was so excited by the little “extras” offered by the Residence Inn. If I can pay less and get more, I’m a happy guy.

Many people feel the same way. So what can you give them for free that will leave them with a good feeling about your company?

Start with email.

When someone joins your mailing list, either online or in person, give them something extra in return. It could be a t-shirt or calendar. It could be an interesting article or whitepaper that your company had a hand in crafting. It could even be something as simple as a coupon for a discount on their purchase.

These kinds of offers can be sent as part of a “thank you for subscribing” email, which typically achieves very high open rates.

Think about it this way: that email address is very valuable to you. It represents a customer who has raised her hand and said, “sure, you can sell to me!” So what are you willing to part with to make them feel even better about their decision?

If all else fails, give your company a French name so you can charge more for your products. So from this day forward, this newsletter will now be known as Les Mailbyte’ du Stampele’.

Nice Guys Finish First

I just came back from a visit to my parents’ home in Kansas City.

As a lifelong “Jersey Guy,” I’ve never lived there. But I’ve spent enough time in the area in the 12 years since my parents moved.

And it never ceases to amaze me.

Ever been there? You may have heard that people are friendlier in the Midwest. Boy, is that an understatement. For those of us who are used to an East Coast lifestyle, it’s certainly, well…unusual. Dare I say, even sickening.

But strangely refreshing at the same time.

2 quick examples: One Sunday afternoon during my visit, I went with my wife and son to see the Kansas City Royals take on my hometown favorite, the New York Yankees. Despite moderate rain that day, it was a golden opportunity to attend a “Yankee game” without paying exorbitant Yankee Stadium prices.

We arrived at the parking lot and rolled down the window to pay the attendant for parking. The man in the booth flashed a huge smile.

“Well, hello!” he said joyfully. “How are ‘ya? Thanks for coming out today!!”

What planet was this guy from?

Most parking guys, at least where I come from, take your money and send you off with a bland, unemotional “have a nice day.” You can tell they couldn’t care less. This guy was the complete opposite…eager, genuine, the kind of guy you’d be happy to have a beer with.

But here’s the icing on the cake. We had great seats right behind the Yankee dugout. So after every inning, my 8-year-old son Zack would run to the dugout in hopes of catching a ball thrown out to the fans by the last player to make a catch. After 8 innings, he was still unsuccessful.

So Zack sits back down and turns to me. “Boy Dad,” he said in his innocent Beaver Cleaver kind of way, “I sure hope I get a ball next time.”

Another child sitting a row in front of us, maybe 10 or 11 years old, turns back. “Here,” he tells Zack, “take mine!”

Say what??

Zack (making his parents proud): “Thank you…but that’s okay, I don’t want to take your ball.”

Boy: “Don’t worry, I’ve got two more!”

This exchange left a powerful impression. Especially for someone used to Yankee Stadium, where nine other people would’ve snatched the ball from the boy’s hands before he even showed it to my son.

This pure-hearted lad – who was nice to us even though we were rooting for the opposing team – can teach us all a valuable lesson:

Nice guys don’t finish last.

Especially in one-on-one email communications. Remember, as much as 55% of communication is non-verbal. In person, the customer’s experience is heavily influenced by your welcoming smile, stylish clothing, smooth talking or firm handshake. But when you deal with customers online, they’ll never experience any of that.

So you need to make a huge effort to bring that out in your writing. Be overly friendly. Make sure customers can see your virtual smile. Make them want to meet you in person.

In writing, it’s not easy. So before you craft that perfect customer email, you might want to bounce it off a co-worker, friend or spouse. Or you can even send it to me. Does your email reflect your cheerful, friendly personality? Does it scream, “Hey! I’m a NICE guy!” – just like the parking attendant did – to anyone who reads it?

If not, spend a few days in Kansas City. Those nice folks will rub off on ‘ya pretty fast.

Josh Shron will be speaking about email marketing at Building for Boomers and Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium in Philadelphia next Wednesday, April 29th from 8 – 9:30 am.  Please join us!

Socially Awkward

Everyone’s talking about social marketing. In every blog post, conference session, lunch meeting, hallway conversation…it’s all we can talk about.

“Is your company on Facebook?” “Do you blog?” “Does Twitter really work for businesses?” “How about LinkedIn…is it working for you?”

And all the answers are the same:

“Weeeellllll…we’re trying it….we’ll see what happens….might be a waste of time, but we thought we’d give it a shot….. not quite sure what to expect…..everyone’s doing it, and it’s free, so why not?”

Sounds pretty wishy-washy to me. And for good reason.

For those who haven’t yet jumped on the bandwagon, social marketing refers to the practice of posting information about your company on popular sites like Facebook and Twitter in the hopes that others will interact with your brand and ultimately spread the word online.

Problem is, everyone’s kinda muddling through it. Lots of people are trying different strategies, but no one is quite sure HOW to make it work.

Myself included.

Several months ago, I created a Facebook page for Stampless Marketing, my email marketing business. I use it to post my MAILbytes articles, and to share news and information about my company. Today, I have a whopping 22 “fans” – other Facebook-ers who follow my Facebook activities.

Is it helping my business? So far, probably not.

But before I get all bummed out, there are some definite advantages to the whole practice. Let’s investigate:

1. These tools are free. We like free exposure.
2. They encourage customer interaction. Looking for advice on a new product design? Customers will be happy to give it to you online. Want to hear what you’re doing right, or wrong? Customers will appreciate the chance to let you know using tools such as Facebook, Twitter or comments on a blog post.
3. They help improve your web site’s search engine rankings. In a nutshell, by including relevant keywords and links on your blog, Facebook page, etc., you are tipping the scales of search in your favor.

So the potential is there…and given the fact these tools are free, companies have nothing to lose by participating. It does take some time and effort, but not all that much. And although the benefits are far from guaranteed, we always hear the success stories from those who post a video on YouTube that generates 10 gazillion hits in 8 hours.

But most of us aren’t that lucky. So for the rest of us, I’d like to suggest that we help each other out with a little experiment.

Let’s be “friends.”

Become my “fan” on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, and I promise to do the same for you. I’d be happy to help you get set up if you need some assistance getting started.

And at the same time, let’s start an online dialogue on this whole subject. What’s working? What do you post online? What’s the best way to spread the word?

And, most importantly…is it really working?

I’d love to pretend that I’m an “expert” on this subject…but I’m not. Email marketing – the original, and still #1 social networking tool – remains my true area of expertise. But I’m also not convinced anyone is an expert yet, and I think we, as a community, can certainly learn a lot from each other’s experiences.

Are you in?

Email Design for Dummies

Fasten your seat belts, ladies and gentlemen…I’m going to go a little “techie” on you today.

But fear not, my friends. I’ll be there to walk you through it from start to finish. Think of me as the I.T. nerd in your office…but with a heart.

It’s time we spoke a bit about email design. In my line of work, I receive a lot of marketing emails from a lot of different companies. Most look great. But it’s important you know that, as with me, good looks are merely a small part of the total package. There’s a whole lot more involved in creating an effective email campaign.

Are you a Gmail user? If you’re not, get a free account – for testing purposes. See, Gmail is one of several email programs that block all graphics by default unless the mail recipient specifically requests to turn them on in a particular message. For many users, that means they will never see pictures in the emails you send, only text.

This has major implications for your email campaigns.

Let’s say your ad agency has designed a killer ad. You love it, and can’t wait to send out an email that looks just like it. So your agency designs a glamorous email that mirrors the ad – with similar graphics, fonts and colors. It’s gorgeous.

But when someone opens it on Gmail, it looks like this:

click the image to enlarge
(identifying information crossed out to protect the guilty)

Unless the recipient clicks on the “display images below” link, that recipient will see a completely blank screen.

Attractive, huh?

Why is this happening? Think of this email as one big, fat Jpeg photo. The designer of the email essentially chose to design a glorified print ad, then copied and pasted it into an email. Many designers like to take this route since it gives them maximum flexibility and creative control over the look and feel of their emails.

However, with images blocked by default in many popular email readers, many recipients will never see the message. To make matters worse, the chance of this type of email getting nailed by spam filters is much, much higher.

Unfortunately, there’s really no way around this image blocking problem. But there is something we can do to give ourselves a fighting chance.

Take a look at another email below. This is what the email looks like in all its glory:

click the image to enlarge

But even with images blocked, the message still shines through:

click the image to enlarge

When we design marketing emails the right way, recipients are more likely to get the general idea of the message – with or without images enabled. Their interest may be piqued enough to click on either the “display images” button or on one of the links in the message itself. But at the very least, you can be sure that recipients will be able to read the general idea of your message, instead of looking at a big blank screen.

The downside? Well, some of the fonts and other items in the email may not lay out exactly as you’d see them on a printed page. Sure, these inconveniences may annoy you as a marketer, but let me assure you, the trade-off is worth it.

Bottom line: Email design is not the same as print design.

I realize most of you don’t design your own emails…but you can make sure your campaigns meet your standards. So before you send out that next fancy campaign designed by your agency, test it on a Gmail account without images. You may be surprised by what you see…or more accurately, by what you don’t see.

And if you don’t like what you don’t see…well, perhaps it’s time to Go Stampless…

What’s the best marketing email you’ve received? Tell us about it in the “comments” section below.

15 Lessons Learned In Vegas (Part II)

When we last left our hero, he had just returned from his first trip to Las Vegas to pay a visit to the International Builder’s Show.

Before we continue, though, an interesting tidbit. The first half of this article seems to have generated a decent number of comments on our blog. Were people impressed by what I had to say? Appreciative of the useful tips I shared? Enjoying my writing style, wit and wisdom?

Um…no.

They wrote in to let me know that, contrary to what I wrote last time, prostitution is, in fact, NOT legal in Vegas itself.

Gee, thanks. Well, here’s part two, with the hope that it will spur more, uh…respectable dialogue.

8 more lessons learned on my trip to Las Vegas

Many builders have seen great success in employing commissioned Internet Sales Consultants to manage and work with their web prospects. These salespeople refer prospects to the sales center only after they have qualified them and learned about their needs. One speaker I heard mentioned that, of those who visit a sales center after consulting with an Internet Sales Consultant, 35% will purchase a new home. Pretty impressive.
The “Fountains of Bellagio” are simply breathtaking. You can get a feel for them here, but the video does not do it justice. Truly one of the highlights of my trip.
Here’s a great idea for an email campaign to realtors: Compile a list of realtors who have referred purchasers to your neighborhoods. List their first names and locations in an email with the overall message: “Each of these local realtors has sold an ‘XYZ Builders’ Home…and has earned generous commissions! Isn’t it time we rewarded YOU for your efforts?”
At a session on networking with homebuilders…next time you’re at a dinner party, or one of those awards banquets we all attend from time to time, stop sitting with people you know! You never know who you’ll meet if you leave your comfort zone for a little while.
ALL of the slot machines in Vegas – including the ones at the airport – ate my money faster than any other slot machines I’ve ever played. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Want a good model for customer follow-up? Buy something from amazon.com and see what happens. Amazon has taught consumers what good follow up looks like – and Amazon does it so well that recipients are happy to be “sold” to. How do they do it? Amazon makes customers feel like the company really “gets” them by tailoring emails to customer preferences. If you’ve never paid attention, now’s a good time to start.
Social networking (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) is really starting to catch on with builders. The good news: these services offer the potential for a great deal of free exposure, help with search engine rankings, provide visitors with frequently-updated content, and keep your potential customers engaged with your brand. The bad news: the backbone of social networking is the online community, who will tell on you if they sense even a hint of disrespect in the way they’re treated. Beware… And finally…
If I hear the phrase “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” one more time, I’m gonna hurt someone.

Were you at IBS? Learned a great new strategy? Share it with us in the “comments” section.

15 Lessons Learned In Vegas (Part I)

I’ve recently returned from an exhilarating 3-day trip to the International Builder’s Show (IBS) in Las Vegas. It was my 2nd time attending IBS, but my first time in Vegas. Wow! It’s the kind of place everyone should see at least once in their lives. So what if I gambled away my family’s life savings? At least I had fun doing it…if you call paying $10 to watch a little silver ball spin around a black and red wheel “fun”.

Notwithstanding my horrible luck in every casino I visited, the convention itself was an electrifying experience for those struggling through this difficult economic era. While there was certainly an overlying sentiment of doom and gloom, attendees came to IBS with a renewed vigor to pull through these difficult times. With the stakes higher than ever, many came to learn not only how to succeed, but SURVIVE.

I, of course, gravitated towards sessions that dealt with marketing and technology, and learned quite a bit. So as a public service to my faithful readers, I am pleased to share with you a list of 15 lessons learned during my trip to Las Vegas (split over the course of two editions of MAILbytes), with the hope that you’ll find at least a couple that are useful to you and your business…and a few that are completely useless, but interesting nonetheless.

(Unfortunately, I did not jot down the names of all of the speakers I was privileged to hear. So, if you’re reading this and see an idea YOU shared at the conference, please accept my apologies for not acknowledging you properly…but know that your sagely words of wisdom will live on eternally in the blogosphere.)

Here’s an interesting use of email. With company employees receiving so much negativity in their inboxes each day, start emailing ALL employees to celebrate whenever you make a sale. It will just help reinforce the message that everyone’s efforts are critical to the company’s success, especially in these difficult times.
Contrary to what many are doing these days, now is NOT the time to stop advertising! We never know when a potential buyer will be ready, able and willing, and we need to be in front of them when they are. Whether by email, postcards, newsletters or print ads…keep the relationship going!
Prostitution is legal in Las Vegas. That may be old news to many of you, but for a first-time visitor, it’s shocking and amusing at the same time.
At a session on email etiquette, or “netiquette”… if everyone proofread their emails just once before hitting “send,” there would be much less email cluttering our inboxes. Why? We often send emails on impulse, and if we took the time to read them over once, we would decide not to send a large number of the messages we compose.
After a prospect comes to visit you in the sales office, follow up with a friendly, personal email within TWO HOURS to reinforce their visit. Then, immediately hand-write a friendly thank you note…with a hand-addressed envelope as well.
The first spam email ad for that infamous blue pill began hitting inboxes in 1998. Today, the average mailbox receives about five of these messages daily. Now that’s information I’m sure you always wanted to know!
The internet has leveled the playing field, allowing smaller builders entry into a league they’ve never had access to before. Small builders can now look equal to the big guys online! Invest in a well-designed, good quality web site, fill it with informative content and professional full-color photography and make it search-engine friendly…and even the smallest mom-and-pop company can look like one of the nation’s top homebuilders. It’s a lot cheaper than you’d think, and the investment is WELL worth it.

Eight more to go…all in our next exciting edition of MAILbytes. Stay tuned!

Were you at IBS? Learned a great new strategy? Share it with us below!

Jane! Stop This Crazy Thing!!

I’m having trouble accepting that it’s really 2009. Perhaps it’s because I’m obsessing over the fact that I’m 3 months away from hitting 35, thus rendering me completely invisible in the eyes of advertisers coveting 18-34 year olds. Perhaps it’s because I still haven’t heard “Same Auld Lang Syne” by Dan Fogelberg on the radio this year.

But I think it’s mainly because, growing up, 2010 was officially “the future.” Well, here we are, a year away in 2009. Is “the future” really here?

Where are the flying cars? Why can’t Scotty “beam me up” from one place to another? Why haven’t we cured cancer yet? Isn’t it time we lived like The Jetsons already?

Actually, maybe the future is here now.

Remember when Mr. Spacely would scream at George Jetson on the video phone? I’ve recently become a big fan of Skype, the internet technology that allows users to conduct audio and video calls online. A couple of weeks ago, my parents were visiting my sister, who is living overseas. At one point during their trip, we all agreed to get on Skype at the same time so we could talk face to face.

No, Skype is not new…but what an incredible technology! We were thousands of miles apart, yet it was like we were sitting in the same room, drinking coffee across the table from one another. The video and sound quality were much better than I expected. And now that my parents are back in the USA, we still use Skype almost daily.

(True, you can’t make yourself go “through” the video screen like Mr. Spacely used to do when he wanted to strangle George. But it’s still cool.)

With technology evolving daily, I find myself getting similarly “wowed” on a regular basis. And it’s even easy to get excited over technology that’s been around a few years. I still smile to myself when I use my cell phone to browse the internet. My eyes still widen with amazement when my GPS system knows exactly where on earth I am and where I want to go. Online shopping, online bill pay, internet radio, etc. still haven’t lost their novelty, even after several years of use.

My point – and I DO have one – is that it’s so easy to use technology to impress your customers, the same way I’m impressed by Skype. What can you do to “wow” them? Use technology to make their lives easier.

How? A few ideas:

• Predict their needs and let them take care of business online whenever possible. What can you add to your web site that would make life easier for your customers? At the very least, offer up-to-date information on your web site to save them the trouble of a phone call.
• When plausible, save your customers a trip, and meet with them via a free online Skype video conference instead of a “true” face to face meeting. Find other new ways to connect with them (e.g. text messaging, Facebook, etc.).
• Respond to their email inquiries immediately…because there still are so many companies that don’t. Quality customer service goes a LONG way…especially on the internet.

Technology that I use every day continues to impress, inspire and amaze me. Wouldn’t it be great if you could make your customers feel that way about you?

Maybe the world of The Jetsons isn’t so far off! Now, if I could only get my dog to talk like Astro…

“Rappy Rew Rear” to all!

Happy Holidays from Stampless Marketing!

Wishing you and your family a joyous holiday season!  Thank you for your help in making our second year in business a success!

We’ve prepared a short video with a very timely holiday tip.  Enjoy!

Hmm…Will Anyone Actually Read This?

I can just feel it.

It’s the kind of week when no one cares what I have to say, no matter how insightful.  I could write the most intriguing, informative, controversial, thought-provoking, award-winning piece of email marketing educational excellence, and it would probably go in one ear and out the other.  I mean, let’s face it, most of us checked out of our work lives by Monday afternoon, if not sooner.

I can take a hint.

So this week, we’ll keep it light and fluffy.  Something easy to digest as you fight the traffic while traveling to grandma’s house, over the river and through the woods.

This week, Stampless Marketing unveiled its shiny, new home on Facebook.  It’s a central meeting place where clients, friends and fans can post their deep thoughts of admiration for the work we do, and chat about email marketing in general.

So to get the party started, I posted the following question:

We all receive promotional email from companies and organizations on a daily basis. Much of the time, we take a quick glance and move on with our day. But from time to time, one will stand out in our inbox, making us take a second look or even compel us to forward it to our friends.

So…what emails have you received that really made an impression? What kinds of interesting, humorous, powerful and/or compelling emails have left an impact on you?  Of all the promotional emails you receive, who’s doing it right…or wrong?

Post your thoughts on the “discussion board” on our Facebook page.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  Turn off the computer, leave the Blackberry at home and enjoy a day of rest, relaxation and extreme weight-gain with family and friends.  See you at Best Buy at 4 am on Friday morning.

Find us on Facebook!

We’d be eternally grateful if you would become a fan of Stampless Marketing on Facebook!

Click:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stampless-Marketing/35989038281