I ask newsletter subscribers what their biggest struggle is when moving their practice online. A common answer is unfamiliarity with the ‘online world’, overwhelm, and not knowing where to start.
Here’s one piece of advice I’d like to share:
How to Find a Virtual Assistant
As you expand your practice virtually you may find yourself spending countless hours trying to figure out tasks someone else could do in half the time or less. You may need to step back and ask – Do you want to spend hours trying to learn a new computer related task or would your time be better spent working with clients (and generating income)?
More often than not it’s wiser to delegate these tasks to someone who knows what they are doing. This saves you frustration, wasted hours, and lost income.
However, you don’t need to hire an employee, you just need a good virtual assistant you can rely on.
Where can you find a virtual assistant?
Do you need a favicon?
Here’s a short and simple tip to ‘top’ off your webpage appearance – add a favicon.
What is a Favicon ?
Facebook Changes Just Released
Facebook has recently made changes to their Business Pages and I want to give you a quick summary of the Facebook changes that will most impact you, so you can make sure your Facebook Business Page is set the way you want it to be.
#1 – Photo strip. There is now a photo strip at the top of the Wall with your most recent photos. These may be photos you’ve added or photos someone has tagged you in. If you don’t want a photo to be visible you can “hide” it.
Why do email marketing?
Have you been ‘on the fence’ about starting an email newsletter? If so I want to help you land on the side of publishing an email newsletter. Here are 5 top reasons why:
1. It works
According to email marketing research the average ROI for every dollar spent on email marketing in 2009 was $43.62. Still waiting to see how 2010 ROI turned out, but estimates were $42.08 per dollar spent.
2. It establishes you as the go to expert
Email Newsletters – What Type of Email Newsletter Will You Publish (html or text)?
As the publisher of an email newsletter you’ve entered the world of content marketing. The basic premise behind email newsletter marketing is that you will send readers useful content, they will let you know if they are reading it by clicking thru for more information, buying your services, and/or sharing you with others.
Your email newsletter represents you and your business. You decide how your business will appear in an email newsletter and whether or not you provide a nicely formatted text email or an attractive and colorful html option.
Many businesses still use text emails successfully; however, the majority are now opting for html designs to deliver their content.
Text vs HTML
Email Newsletter – Why You Need to Publish an Email Newsletter
There are several reasons you need to publish an email newsletter as part of your marketing plan. Let’s discuss one of those reasons today.
The buying decision when it comes to purchasing online is different than when you purchase from a traditional brick and mortar practice.
It’s very rare for a website visitor to make a buying decision the first time they visit a website. In fact, more than 99% of your website visitors will likely never come back to your website! Online a lot of browsing takes place and people click to AND away from your site in seconds.
Do you need an ISSN for your email newsletter?
ISSN stands for “International Standard Serial Number” and is used to identify serial publications, such as an email newsletter. This is similar to the ISBN assigned to books and book-like products, such as audio books.
Obtaining an ISSN for your email newsletter is a subtle way of telling your prospects and customers you are a serious business and will be around for the long haul.
I obtained an ISBN for The Heart of Health email newsletter I publish bi-weekly for my business Heart Health Made Easy back in 2008.
Applying for an ISBN is a simple process and it’s FREE.
Editorial Calendars – Do you need help with content management?
Once you start blogging, tweeting, and/or publishing a newsletter content creation can become very overwhelming. This may be why you haven’t started some of these marketing activities. What in the world will you write about day after day, week after week?
This is where an editorial calendar will drastically reduce the stress of trying to figure out what to write. Editorial calendars can (and should!) be used for blogs, email newsletters, and social media tasks for content management.
Don’t let the term “editorial calendars” scare you off. They are not difficult to create. All you need is a spreadsheet program (I use Microsoft Excel) and set up a table.
Here’s an example for a blog editorial calendar:
How to Link Facebook with Your Blog
To facilitate the best use of your time you want to automate social media tasks as much as possible. When you publish a new blog post you are able to automatically update your Facebook Fan Page status. (Yes, you can update your personal page status, too. However, I do recommend you use a fan page for your business.)
In Facebook there are many different options for connecting your blog to your Facebook Fan Page. The application I currently use and recommend is NetworkedBlogs.