Sometimes our clients need advice… we had a great conversation with one client recently and thought maybe more people could benefit from it. The conversation started around the value of Personalized URLs and Direct Mail Campaigns.

Variable data messaging (basically custom direct mail pieces “Your Name Here”) today is available and affordable. We have finally arrived at a stage where we can print one-off customized “messages” and send personalized email with links to personalized web pages and do it all affordably. We can Tweet, post to Facebook, create videos and send messages via phone – voice and text. We have more … Continue Reading

You may have heard that the use of email is shrinking due to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Add to that the deluge of spam or virus-infected emails floating around the net and the prediction starts to look promising. In addition, other technologies are gaining more and more ground such as skype, texting, and online calendar programs.

There are many reasons for the increased reliance on social media, including increased control over which messages you receive, the one-stop-shopping experience of an outlet which includes businesses, groups, clubs, and your entire social circle, and of course, let’s not underestimate the … Continue Reading

My degree in psychology does not qualify me to sell a technical product. When I first got in this industry (almost 6 years and 2,300 websites ago) I thought, boy, do I have a lot to learn. And that was true, and I almost let it cripple me.

Now, for those of you who do not know me directly, I am not short on confidence. My parents told me I could do anything, and I believed them. So when given the opportunity to start a company selling web solutions, I said why not and jumped in with both feet. Unfortunately, the … Continue Reading

Once upon a time in a land far far away, I attended in intensive 5 day marketing training in Texas. Seems like forever and 2 company start ups ago, so I kind of dismissed the things I learned there as old knowledge. Well, I was just cleaning out my desk and I found some of the materials that I took home from that class and I came across the idea of a hopper system. A hopper is a system that captures leads and automatically sends response pieces to them so they won’t “Fall Through The Cracks”. When I learned about … Continue Reading

We get asked this question a lot. Do I really need a website? Why do I need it? When writing up a proposal for a potential client, I found myself answering that very question. Although this argument was for a service based company, it holds true for any industry from retail to industrial.

Dollar for dollar when you consider any other advertising money you spend, an effective website will return more on your investment, but you have to have a web strategy in order to achieve this return. We (NSNA) can help you develop and manage that strategy.

The web … Continue Reading

The very words Trade Show make some small business owners shudder. A Trade Show can take a lot of time and most of the time that’s something a small business owner just doesn’t have. With some careful planning however, a trade show can not only be fun they can be profitable as well.

Here are 10 tips we’ve picked up from attending a lot of shows, not only as vendors but participants as well. They may be basic but the best tips usually are pretty basic.

1. … Continue Reading

Monday morning I came into the office and started filtering through a weekends worth of emails. Typically I am a little rushed to get through the emails, so I can get onto other items. This Monday was no different, I was reading and responding to my emails just as I normally would. Then something changed when I came upon this email. It literally stopped me in my tracks, and I actually read it three times before I moved on.

Now I am not sure what … Continue Reading

When email marketing it would be nice to know what keywords should be avoided. Below is a list of 300 keywords and phrases that are often restricted by email spam filters. Avoiding these keywords will help your email marketing message to be delivered. We also suggest that you try to follow email marketing best practices.

The ProFusion Mailer has an excellent built in spam filtering tool that reviews your email blast for spam keywords prior to you sending. It also rates each keyword on a scale … Continue Reading

With the New Year comes new marketing strategies. If you are considering starting up an email marketing campaign, you’ll want to follow the 7 rules below to make sure that you are CAN-SPAM compliant.

1. Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
3. Identify the message as an ad. The law … Continue Reading
   

The debate goes on about whether or not to give your customers a toll-free number to call you on. There are good arguments on both side of the debate, but my opinion is yes, give your clients a way to contact you toll-free. There are some benefits to offering an 800 number to your clients if done properly:

1. It makes your company look bigger. If you are a home based internet business, having a toll free number makes you look like a larger corporation and might make transacting with you a little less scary.
2. It provides a tracking tool to you. … Continue Reading