Why Is Accountability Dead?

When advising clients, I often hear that their team is great, but just not meeting their goals. When I ask how long this has been occurring, the answer is almost always…“four to six months.” WHAT!? The next question I ask is about the metrics in place to gauge their actions and goals. The answer is almost always…“Well, we used to track it and ask about it, but we have not been so good lately.” WHAT!? Help is only one conversation away…accountability is dead.

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When I wrote my book, How To Be A Manager Without Being A Jerk, one of the ideas addressed is the fact that most managers feel that, if they hold people accountable for their actions, they will be perceived as a jerk. This is a fundamental flaw in your role as a manager. Accountability can be a very positive thing and should be seen as a part of daily life in your organization. I like to use accountability as a time to learn, share and grow. In sales meetings I want to know the details and then figure out ways to address common issues. In web design meetings, I want to know the details and then figure out ways to address common issues. Grow together as a group. Remember this simple saying, “That which is tracked gets reported. That which is reported can be fixed.”

If accountability is dead, have a sit down and talk about the positives that can come from sharing about challenges, deadlines and tasks. Reinforce that you will have this conversation weekly. Peer pressure alone will cause most to step up once they know they will be expected to report on their task list or client list.

Read more from How To Be A Manager Without Being A Jerk, available online at http://GreatManagmentBook.com .

Ryan Dohrn is an industry leading internet consultant and management consultant. He is a sales and strategy pioneer training sales and management teams large and small around the globe.

Best Practices For Advertiser Driven Email Blasts

So, you want to create e-Newsletters for your paying clients that will be sent to your readers? Here are 10 aspects to consider for maximum results.

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1. Subject lines are king, use the person's name that is receiving the email if you can. Always think, what is in it for me/them? What makes me want to open this when I get it.
2. Most email is read in the preview pane, so be aware of that when designing the email layout. Also, be aware of that when looking at results of the push. Open rates are often off by 12% due to reads in the preview pane.
3. Due to picture download issues in email programs do not rely on images to sell the product/service. Text is often better. Use images to reinforce text. Most advertisers want to just place a modified print ad in their email. NO! Keep it simple.
4. I do not advise sending an email on Monday or Friday. Monday is "delete day" and Friday is "do not pay attention day".
5. I like to send emails at 10am or 2pm in the target time zone.
6. Use an ESP with a great deliverability percentage like Contactology or iContact.
7. Test and re-test. Send several tests and look at them on Mac and PC and on mobile.
8. Make sure it is clear that you are sending this to them as a valued member/reader of your publication. Like this sample line, perhaps: "This special offer presented exclusively to valued readers of ..."
9. Approving the creative is so important. Make sure that is in your contract.
10. Think about your spam rating in advance. You do not want to have a spam rating at all. So, will the cash from this advertiser ePush create a ton of spam reports. If so, think twice. Does the ad really work for all your readers. Is it dumb? Is it a gimmick? Use your best judgment.
There is a ton to consider, but consider it you must. Advertiser driven stand alone e-mail can drive revenue for your publication.
I wrote more about eNewsletters in general and making money from eNewsletters at this link: http://tinyurl.com/3cnf2bs.
Click here Part 2 of this article for tips on how to minimize "unsubscribes" from advertiser email blasts...

Ways to Minimize Unsubscribes From Advertiser E-blasts

(Part 2 of "Best Practices For Advertiser Driven Email Blasts")

First, I would advise that when you acquire an email address, you add them to 2 lists, one for editorial and one for sales. You can do this by stating this clearly when the user signs up. For example, "By subscribing to the above e-Newsletter, the publisher may periodically send you offers that are related to the topics covered in our magazine. Your email will be protected by our observance of a dual list sending system allowing you to remove yourself from sales offers at any time and still receive our editorial e-Newsletter."

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There have been several things I have observed from my publishing clients that have caused subscriber revolt from advertising driven e-Newsletters.

1. The offer being sent is not in line with the topic of your publication. Many times the sales team will make a leap from what is acceptable to a reader. For example, I had a B2B client that was in the business news space. The ad based email sent was for personal medial insurance. While this does "apply" to business owners, it is too far from the core topic of the publication so the removal rate was almost 7%.

2. The subject line states the offer and looks like spam. As I said earlier in this thread be careful to be clever, but do not include words like "special offer" or "free".

3. Charge more for stand-alone emails knowing you will lose people.

4. Use your ESP technology to offer the e-News readers the ability to be removed from sales email and not editorial.

5. Keep all offers to text. Graphical emails have a higher unsubscribe in almost all offers I have seen. Try a logo and text or a picture and text rather than a large image.

6. Start off the email with a clear statement that declares why they are getting the offer and state how often you will or will not send these types of offers. Also state, that by unsubscribing they are unsubscribing from your main list. You can also see if your ESP has a re-direct page that says: "Are you sure you want to unsub? If you do, you will be removed form our main eNews...(etc.)" BUT, be aware of CAN-SPAM laws at this point.

BIG POINT...if the offer is in line with the core topics you deliver in editorial, you will be ok. You will get un-subs, but I think you can minimize the effect on your total list.

Banner Rotation, Simple Explanation For Advertisers

I am often asked by my clients how to explain to an advertiser about banner ad rotation. In the most common scenario, an advertiser will call and will say that they have refreshed your web page and do not see their ad running. Or, they have to refresh every 20 times to see their ad and their competitor is getting more ad views.

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In a nutshell, the advertiser just does not understand how basic banner ad rotation works. I have created a very simple video to explain this to advertisers. Please note that this video is non-technical and is designed to be shown to advertisers. So, feel free to share this video as a tool when this question arises.

Customer Retention, Critical To Online Success

Online customer retention marketing is a tactically-driven process based on a user’s need, behavior or desire. The 365x24x7 marketing cycle means we need to approach customer retention in new ways. What are you doing to retain clients, online users and readers?

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Using surveys and industry knowledge is the first line of action in this process.  You need to learn more. Create a ten question survey and offer a reward to those that complete the survey. Without this information you are dead in the water. Then, consider these retention projects for this year. Keep in mind, the perfect scenario would be a project that covers customer attainment and retainment in one project; basically, the old “killing two birds with one stone” concept.
Top 5 Projects to consider:
1. Unique promotional partnerships that offer your users more than a single buying proposition.
2. Perfect SEO.  Creating detailed article syndication deals that will give you more online exposure and this more unique backlinks than your nearest competition.
3. Premium user e-newsletters that drive retention through the creation of personalized marketing, like birthday promo offers or behavior offers like tax time offers.
4. Top of mind Facebook programs that use the humor to drive more views of your brand.
5. Detailed usability studies of your site to increase conversion and retention.  This piece alone can account for hundreds of new and retained users.
With data in hand, now look at your web analytics.  What are your current clients doing on your website and what can you learn from it?  Retention expert Jim Novo said, “Past and Current customer behavior is the best predictor of Future customer behavior.  Think about it.  In general, it is more often true than not true, and when it comes to action-oriented activities like making purchases and visiting web sites, the concept really shines through.”
With survey data, web use data and a project that you feel will give you the best results… execute.  Schedule some time to meet with your team and get rolling.  Half the battle is just showing up!
Feel like you are still lost in the process?  Get some advice and seek out some professional help.
Ryan
About this blogger:  Ryan Dohrn is President and founder of Brain Swell Media, an internet consulting firm that helps business owners and publishers make money online.  www.BrainSwellMedia.com

Ryan R. Dohrn
President/Founder
Brain Swell Media LLC
www.BrainSwellMedia.com
803-867-3769
Follow him on Twitter.com/ryandohrn for daily tips and advice
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandohrn
Brain Swell Media, LLC is an interactive media consulting firm. We focus on five key business areas; online strategy consulting, website development, search engine optimization (SEO), video production and online sales training. We provide business owners and publishing companies with the tools and resources they need to optimize their presence on the Web and boost revenue.