Evaluating your website with a critical eye is one of the best things a small business owner can do. Your website is one of the most powerful assets you have so it’s important to make sure it’s working with you instead of against you. Take the time to look over your website, or better yet have an unbiased friend do so, and ask yourself these 10 questions. An honest answer will help evaluate your website and put you on the track to making it even better. 1. What do you see first? – The first impression is the most critical. Are you ...

Staying connected with old customers and reaching out to new customers is key to building strong relationships and brand loyalty.  The crucial task is to find a cost-effective way to do it.  E-mail marketing is a powerful marketing tool that is pocketbook friendly and highly effective.  Below are ten reasons that have turned e-mail marketing into the powerful marketing tool it is. Cost Effective Forget about envelopes or postage fees.  A key benefit of using e-mail marketing as part of your marketing strategy is its low cost.  With monthly fees starting at $20 or less, sending an e-mail newsletter to ...

E-newsletters have long replaced traditional print newsletters. Cost, ease of use, tracking capabilities and convenience are just a few of the reasons why business owners have turned to e-newsletters. Although there are many pros to using e-newsletters to stay connected with your customers and followers, your e-newsletters still need to be worthy enough to read.   Use the tips below to create an effective e-newsletter.   Think of Your Readers This may seem like a no-brainer, but we sometimes get too involved in what we want to say that we forget about what our readers want to hear. Understanding your readers means that you know ...

Your lead generation form is an important marketing tool.  It is the single most important way of communicating and building a relationship with potential customers.  Ensuring that you have a form that works both for you and potential customers is key to attracting quality leads.  Here are a few tips for creating lead forms that get results. 1. Keep it Short. Your lead form should be as short as possible. Decide what information is absolutely necessary and discard everything else. Adding anything more has the potential to ...

If you’re like most business owners, you think of marketing initiatives on a yearly basis. It is this crucial planning that dictates how your marketing dollars will be spent for that particular fiscal year. Prior to putting together your marketing plan and allocating funds to the various marketing channels your business uses, consider these tips for better results. Analyze We learn from our mistakes, at least we hope we do. Before you even start thinking of what your marketing budget for the coming year will look like, make sure you do a full analysis of the past year’s ...

QR Codes Part 1 - What are QR Codes? QR Codes Part 2 – 4 Ways To Use QR Codes In Your Direct Mail Pieces In this final post on QR codes, here are 9 real life examples of QR codes being used by a variety of companies. QR codes are becoming more common marketing tool because of its ability to combine the best features of print marketing with the best features of online marketing. Ralph Lauren By leveraging QR code technology back in 2008, Ralph Lauren offered consumers the opportunity to shop via their smartphones by scanning the QR code appearing in print ...

One way to increase the chances of enticing a potential customer to go with your business is to offer them a coupon. However, online coupons can also be used for your business to gather information for future marketing and sales, according to an article in the New York Times. The bar codes on the coupons can hold a lot of information including information about the customer, internet address, Facebook page information, what words were searched for in order to get the coupon, and more. Coupons can also be tracked for specific people using websites like Ebates or FatWallet, and know who is ...

Tracking the data for your website can help your company understand not only who is coming to your website, but also help you figure out how to convert those visitors into clients. For businesses new to analytics, it can be daunting to look at all of that information and to know what to do with it. Google Analytics is a free, simple analytics feature that has a handful of information that can help your company. Unique Visitors The number of Unique Visitors tells you how many different people have visited your website. If you want to increase your unique visitors, look at ...

Small businesses are planning on doing more online marketing in 2010, according to studies from Vistaprint and Ad-ology. Small businesses are looking to increase their marketing plans for social media (14%), online and search advertising (11%). Also, only 38% of small businesses currently have a company website, but 32% of respondents said they would be interested in building a website if they had more time and money to spend on it. In a separate survey, Ad-ology found that 46% of US small businesses did not have a website. With more small businesses becoming interested in online marketing, it is critical to have a website ...

2010 is well on its way and it can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day activities. However, with the year still new, it is important to reflect on your business' 1-to-1 marketing and see if you are effectively executing your online solutions. Here are a few things to review and see if they are being properly utilized. Review your website. Look at your website with a fresh set of eyes. Is the information you want conveyed properly to your target audience? Could new visitors quickly find information about your products and services? Are you clearly highlighting how to find ...

According to a recent article published in DMNews by Dianna Dilworth, FedEx is getting ready to execute a multichannel marketing campaign in 2010 as part of the company’s new strategy to integrate its brand messaging and creative across channels. The marketing efforts include both online and offline channels with a unified message directing consumers to a microsite designed to engage them. Steve Pacheco, director of advertising at FedEx, stated that, it is the first truly integrated marketing campaign launched by the company. He firmly believes that it is crucial to integrate as many channels of communications as possible since consumers are ...

New Year’s Day – Friday, January 1st Birthday of Martin Luther King – Monday, January 18th George Washington’s Birthday (commonly known as President’s Day) – Monday, February 15th Memorial Day – Monday, May 31st Independence Day – Monday, July 5th Labor Day – Monday, September 6th Columbus Day – Monday, October 11th Veterans Day – Thursday, November 11th Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, November 25th Christmas Day – Friday, December 24th Are you planing your 2010 direct mail marketing calendar? Looking for new ways to improve the effectiveness of your direct mail marketing? OneIMS can assist you with creating a powerful and effective cross-media marketing campaign coupled with direct mail. We ...