I expected that  last Sunday’s ‘Getting Started Training’ which was a repeat visit for me,  would complete my knowledge and fill in all the gaps -wishful thinking on my part!.

I still came away with my head spinning. There’s a whole load of stuff to understand and my prematurely shrivelled brain is having trouble keeping up!

Despite the length of the session, it all went pretty well and actually, I do feel as if I’m getting up to speed.

Bouyed up by my new found confidence I signed up a customer early in the week – only to get an email back from exec services to let me know I’d made a mistake on the forms – Clearly this is not a job for dummies, or the partially sighted! I must remember to carry my glasses around with me too – that would be a step in the right direction!

I visited  a BNI meeting this week, to refresh my knowledge of that particular networking group more than anything else – having been a founder member in Hull some years ago.

The group in question is actually at the pre launch stage, so it all felt a bit like old times with everyone working toward the magic number of 20 members, needed to launch the group properly.

At the moment the jury is out on this avenue of marketing – it’s not just the expense [or investment, depending on your point of view], it’s the time commitment too. All those early mornings don’t add to the attraction either!

So far I’ve signed up one distibutor and one customer, with another possible distibutor in the pipeline. there’s another customer to sign up next week and I’ve made a point of keeping in touch with the other ID’s in our little team – hopefully we’re going to sort out an action plan for ourselves!

Rule number one?

Be prepared!

I was glad I read everything in the email that came back  from the event booking system on the extranet – so I turned up with the right kit at the right time, having first completed the online training modules [took a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon].

The session started bang on time, that’s always the sign of a well run job.

Again the thing that most impressed me was the ordinaryness of the people attending, and I say that not in a bad way – I was really encouraged by the down to earth, practical nature of everyone there.

The room was full of normal everyday people from very different backgrounds – a young lady who makes bespoke jewellery, a police officer, a young guy from a call centre, two or three IT folks, a driving instructor, an accountant and around 15 other trades were represented at the session.

Importantly though, despite their many differences  -they did have one thing in common,  they wanted to learn how to make money! And that’s a good thing!

The training was extemely comprehensive, very intensive and positive – so by around 3pm I was flagging a bit!

It’s forty years since I sat in a classroom situation and/or had to focus on anything for more than a five minute stretch!

Coffee, buns and a bit of role play after the first break helped to gee things up, and by the end of the day I felt I had learned a ton of stuff – there’s definitely an air of ‘Information Overload’ towards the end!

Most training of this kind costs someone good money and it’s usually the participants who stump up – This session was free, and you can attend as many times as you like, for free.

Seems to me that this company is as keen on personal development as getting sales and that can only be a good thing.

I’ve already booked to go on the same event again, this time in Hull on August 15th – to meet new people and to refresh the stuff I must have missed last Monday!

Right now though, I need a dark room and a good lie down!

Email marketing: the features
Our email marketing service contains a full set of features designed to help you manage every aspect of your  email marketing outreach.  Here’s a quick overview of some of these noteworthy features:

There are 3 main sections built into the system Audience, Campaigns and Response

Audience
The audiences feature helps you import, store, manage and grow your permission lists. You’ll be able to:

•    Create unlimited audience groups for organization and targeting
•    Search & segment your  audience based on demographic, response data and more
•    Customize your database using standard fields and wildcards you create from scratch
•    Create personalised signup screens and confirmation emails to help grow your list
•    Import large lists easily and automatically clean them for duplicates and errors
•    Easily move members  and reorganize audience groups as you go
•    Export your audience lists and data at any time

Campaigns
Our campaign features  help you create stylish email campaigns and send them using our sophisticated delivery network. You’ll be able to:

•    Create stylish html campaigns without using html, or upload your own freestyle campaigns
•    Personalise your emails with first names and more
•    Prepare html and text versions, and deliver the right one automatically
•    Rate your campaign for problematic content before you send
•    Include our send-to-afriend feature with every email
•    Control your own ‘from’ names and addresses
•    Let recipients manage their preferences at any time
•    Send your campaigns at any time, or schedule a future delivery

Response
Our response section gives you easy access to your results, in real time. You’ll be able to:

•    See real-time totals for emails received, opened, clicked, forwarded, signed up and more (and details
•    for who did what, and when)
•    View response details for entire campaigns and for individual recipients
•    Have bounces (hard and soft) and opt-out requests handled for you automatically
•    Store your past campaigns and results in your online archive, and easily link to past campaigns from your website
•    Create an instant, side – by- side comparison of multiple campaigns and their results
•    Get assistance on delivery-related matters whenever you need it

More on the way
We add new features (and refine the ones we’ve got) every month. So the above list continues to grow to meet your evolving email marketing needs.

Email marketing: an introduction:
Email has become a critical part of any firm’s communications and marketing plan. It can help retain customers, keep members informed, increase sales, fill seats, raise brand visibility and help you grow your business. Email is faster and more affordable than traditional print mail, and, by some measures, it offers the best return on investment of any marketing medium*.
It’s possible email might even wax your car or take the dog for a walk. It wouldn’t surprise us. But to work, email has to be done well. Content needs to be clear and compelling. Graphics need to be visually appealing. Campaigns need to be personalized and relevant. Delivery needs to be timely and accurate. And results need to be thoroughly tracked and applied to future mailings.

And that’s where we come in: We make it easy for you to …

Manage your audience lists…
You can easily organize your recipients into groups, or use our advanced search-and-segment feature to find (and send to) people based on their interests, their geography, their past response and more. Your customizable signup screens let new people sign up from any spot on your website, and your customizable database lets you collect and store as much information as you like.
Utilize industry best practices…
Whether it’s following the rules of permission marketing, handling opt-out requests quickly, interpreting bounces or making sure you’re sending a well constructed email every time, our service can help make sure you’re on board with the latest industry trends and best practices that will increase your delivery rates and improve your results.
Create and send stylish email campaigns…
Create stylish email campaigns using our intuitive click-and-build screens, or upload your finished html campaigns. Either way, we’ll help you prepare and preview your campaigns, proof them for problematic content, and send quickly and accurately every time. And your past campaigns are stored for easy access and linking later.
Deliver with success every time…
Our world-class delivery network ensures high delivery rates through our personalized sendoff, ISP relationships, and delivery policies that can be fine-tuned down to the individual mailing if necessary. Our engine handles every aspect of delivery for you, and our industry know-how helps ensure the highest delivery rates possible, every time.
Track your results in real time…
You’ll see who opened your campaign, clicked on every link, forwarded your campaign to friends or signed up to get your future emails. You’ll find out who bounced (definitely didn’t get your email) and be able to follow up with them. This is just part of our real-time response tracking that lets you know just about everything that happens to your campaign, as it happens. And because we store your results over time, you’ll be able to learn from past efforts to make your future emails enjoy even greater success.
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*Direct Marketing Association Response Rate Study, October 2003