eeep! productions blog

musings and bon mots from the basement office of the websmith

Free Inbound Marketing Course

Posted on | June 9, 2009 | No Comments

Dear clients,

I’ve recently found a new-to-me resource called Hubspot via their free webinar: “How to Build a Top-Notch Business Blog”.  I don’t impress easily these days, but this session was great and I came away with a slew of new ideas for your websites.

You cannot miss this.

Hubspot is offering a FREE 10-session course on inbound marketing June 15-19 and I will be there. Will you? Two 1-hour webinars a day — if you have other commitments and miss a session here or there, you can download them the the next day and view them later.

What’s inbound marketing, you ask? It’s bringing the customers to you, rather than interrupting their day with phone calls, direct mail, etc. Engaging your target market. Taking the time to learn what their problems are and how you can help them fix those problems.

I think an educated client is the best kind of client to have, so I want you to consider attending IMU. We can be study buddies! All of the information they share may not make sense to you at first, but that’s why I’m here. Let me know if you sign up and we’ll coordinate our efforts for the benefit of your website.

Thanks for reading!

Category: business promotion and marketing, news, product recommendations, website marketing, workshops
Tags: > >

the shoemaker’s kids go barefoot

Posted on | May 21, 2009 | No Comments

dkghatkk3a

…or, in my case, my website is lacking the crucial fundamentals that I keep preaching to my clients. There is simply never enough time in the day.

Today I am taking any wee moment I have handy and doing something. Right now, I am in the process of setting up my Technorati Profile. You should, too.

Yesterday, I had a consultation with a very nice gentleman at the Fort Collins Small Business Development Center. I’m going to post more about it when I have let the information sink in (and after I’ve done my “homework”), but I am very excited. In one session, I realized that this may be the just what I need to expand my little business toolbox. I took accounting and business courses for four years….25 years ago. I barely remember much of it and yet, I’m running a business. I definitely need a refresher on cash flow and business plans and whatnot.

Could you use a refresher? At the very least, do you have business problems that could use constructive input from a 3rd party? Go to your local SBDC. It’s free for a consultation and there are workshops available at a very low cost.

Category: blogs, business promotion and marketing, product recommendations, twitter, website traffic
Tags: > > >

on organization, getting help, and never being “done”

Posted on | May 14, 2009 | 1 Comment

I usually don’t share a lot of personal stuff on this blog because I’m told it’s “not professional”. But I’ve had some epiphanies lately and I want to share with you, my awesome clients and friends. Before you read the rest of this blog entry I think it’s important for you to know that I’ve been doing a LOT of serious personal work over the last year and a half. It all began with the very disheartening news that I am incapable of conceiving a child without a lot of medical intervention and even more money. Then there was a series of deaths in the family, including my grandmother and my dad. For better or for worse, these two people were very crucial factors in my becoming who I am. Their passings, coupled with the infertility news, completely rocked my world. If the one thing I’ve ever really wanted in my life is now not an option and my role within my family is changing as I move into my 40s…Well, who am I now? I am certainly not the gal you hired 11 years ago…5 years ago…last year. Believe me, I’ve never been the philosophical “why are we here” and “what is our purpose” kind of person, so all of this soul searching and Life Reassessment has really been very interesting.

Long story short: I am on a mission to do a Life Makeover. This affects my work, my art, my relationships…every single aspect of my life. It’s been a slow process, but I wanted to share some of the stuff I’ve been learning.

For example, I have my moments of clarity and I have my moments of being completely overwhelmed…and everything in between the two extremes. Sometimes I am stricken with panic, fear and am frozen in my tracks. Pushing myself out of my comfort zone in order to grow has resulted in a whole new realm of thinking and behaving.

Big Change #1: Listening to my body and soul more often. The fact is that I am not a morning person. So why do I force myself to get up early? Didn’t I start freelancing because I wanted to have a more flexible schedule and to make my own rules? If I am most productive between the hours of 10 and 3, then that’s when I should be working. Likewise, if a design isn’t coming together, I can’t force it. I need to go work on another project, or take a walk to clear my head and work on the task at hand when the juices are there for it.

Big Change #2: Instead of fighting the universe and trying to make it bend to my will, I am trying to go with the flow. This is a really tough one for me, because I am a bit of a Type A. A bit of a “if you want something done right, you better do it yourself” kind of gal. You know the old joke, “if you want to make God laugh, make some plans.” Well, I know I won’t sleep at night if I have a to-do list swimming around in my brain. I know that if I don’t have a master plan for my projects and task lists, I will feel out of sorts and confused. But I needed a flexible enough system so that I can be all organized in the manner I wish, but still be able to bend to the surprises that life throws in my way.

Big Change #3: Realizing it’s the journey, the process, not the end goal, because, frankly, it’s never going to be “all done.” I was exhausting myself by pushing and pushing to get irrational amounts of things done each day. My to-do lists could wallpaper my office, they’re so long. I have so many ideas bubbling up inside of me that they could only be put in motion if I had a staff like Martha Stewart has. I need to take a step back, refill my well (more on this in a future post) and accept that the stuff that’s really important (client work, walking the dogs, watching a movie with my husband, doing the dishes and laundry) will get done and the rest (organizing photos or making the husband’s chore list or cleaning the toilets) doesn’t really matter as much as I think.

Enter the M Group, Authentic Alternatives, Bonnie Cochran, Wild Hearts Studio and The Cult of Done Manifesto.

Granted, friends and family have a lot to do with my regaining my sanity, but these entities have each participated in saving my life. Here’s how:

Matthew Bookspan of the M Group (Follow him on Twitter!) found me via Twitter when I asked about an application called Daylite. Daylite seems to be the best solution for Mac users when it comes to managing contacts, projects, events and appointments. It blows me away with all of the things you can do. I’m still setting it up, but it’s already making me more calm as I consolidate all of my sticky notes, scraps of paper and all of my random to do lists from all over my desk and my hard drive. Matthew is very good at assessing a challenge, making recommendations and at teaching the ins and outs of the software. This man spent many hours helping me install the software, making sure it worked right and was extremely patient with my personal set of challenges. I plan to be working with him for a long time and if you’re a Mac user and need this sort of assistance, he’s your guy.

Anne Alexander of Authentic Alternatives (Follow her on Twitter!) was the result of my searching for a business consultant in my town. (Of course, she’ll work with you even if you aren’t in Fort Collins!) The headline on her site reads: Attention Small Business Owners With 0 – 10 Employees
Are You Tired Of Working So Hard To Grow Your Business…Without Getting All The Results You Want? She has supplied me with so much information in the few months I’ve known her that it will take me a few more months to finish reading through and implementing all of it. Her coaching calls are incredibly useful and she opened my eyes to a number of things I’ve been doing that aren’t benefiting my customers…or myself. I’ve been freelancing for 11 years and this is the first time I looked outside of my little world for assistance. I just wish I had done it sooner!

Bonnie Cochran is my therapist. She specializes in grief, loss and infertility. Her calm presence has helped me greatly and I feel stronger every time I meet with her.

The Cult of Done Manifesto is something that my friend Dave shared with me. These two guys boiled down efficiency and moving forward into 13 points that really moved me. Another guy created a poster with these points and I have printed it out and hung it close to my desk. Whenever I am frozen into inaction or despair because of how long my to-do lists are, I read this poster and am prompted back into action.

Ok, that’s all for today. Thanks for reading. I welcome your comments and ideas. Newsletter subscribers, you will be receiving a mailing from me soon (hopefully tomorrow) with a pile of really important information. Be sure to read it. If you are not subscribed to my mailing list, you can do that here.

And PS…
Twitter. Are you using it yet? I’ve been talking about it for months now, kids! Get on the stick. Microblog Your Way To Success With Twitter – The Ultimate Networking Tool is a really nice, easy-to-read article with a ton of tips on how to use Twitter, with links to a gazillion helpful resources. And when you do join all of the cool kids, follow me on Twitter.

Category: cool products, great customer service, news, organizational tools, product recommendations, twitter

5 email marketing mistakes

Posted on | April 17, 2009 | No Comments

I just read a great article by Jeffrey D. Gray, who is the Marketing Manager at iContact:

5 Email Marketing Mistakes You Might Be Making and Not Know It

To quickly summarize, here are some DON’Ts:

  • Don’t send too often. I recommend 2-4 times a month. Jeffrey recommends 1-2. I think anywhere in there is good. Unless you are offering breaking industry news, a special offer, or your readers opt-in to your daily emails, one email per day is way too much.
  • Don’t have too much going on and be sure to have a clear direction for your missive. Make everything as easy as possible for your readers.
  • Don’t use more text than images. Maintain a nice ratio that appealing to look at and not overwhelming to read.
  • Don’t forget a CALL TO ACTION! What do you want your reader to do after reading your email?
  • Don’t be predictable. Mix things up. Be consistent with your layout and the sections of your regular mailing, but don’t beat a dead horse. I love Jeffrey’s example:

Imagine your favorite television show is Seinfeld. Now imagine you turned on the TV and it was the one about the Marble Rye Bread that Jerry stole from an old woman on the sidewalk. The next day, you turn on Seinfeld, and it was the one about the Marble Rye Bread that Jerry stole from an old woman on the sidewalk. Then, the day after that, you tune into Seinfeld and it was the one about the Marble Rye Bread that Jerry stole from an old woman on the sidewalk. Eventually, you know what’s coming. Remember Pavlov’s dog?

If you would like a complimentary review and assessment of your company’s existing newsletter or are interested in hearing how a regular customer emailing can help boost your sales, email me. Contact me before April 30 with the offer code EMAIL and you’ll receive 10% off your first email marketing service.

Category: email marketing

“sell your domain” scams

Posted on | March 25, 2009 | 1 Comment

Hello, dear clients! There’s an email scam going around that I wanted to warn you about. The other day I got an email regarding a domain I own for which I haven’t completed the website. It went something like this:

Dear sir, [Hello, I am a Miss or a Ms or a Ma'am, thankyouverymuch]

we are interested to purchase your domain name [domain name here] and would like to offer you 65% of the actual appraised market value.

As of now we accept valuations from one of these reputable domain name appraisers:

sedo.com
pozde.com
moniker.com

Should you already have an appraisal for [domain name here] please forward it to us.

We appreciate your business,

Thanks,
[name of scammer, which, coincidentally, doesn't match the "from" on the email]

Since I am ever the curious one, and was worried my clients might get taken, I set out to research further. I went to the sites listed in the email — all three charge at least $20 to give me an “appraisal”. I figured that was the goal of the spam email — to get a pile of people who want appraisals. My suspicions were confirmed here and here.

Please, people, if you aren’t sure whether or not something is a scam, ASK ME. Research Snopes.com. Do a little Googling. Or just delete it. Life is too short to get caught up in that sort of nonsense.

Category: news

email marketing offer

Posted on | March 20, 2009 | No Comments

Looking For a Deal on Getting the Word Out to Your Customer Base?
iContact, a valued partner of eeep! productions for the past 5 years, has a great offer for you. If you’ve been considering email marketing as a strategy to help bring in more business, iContact is offering you a credit to help you make it a no brainer.

Starting today, and until March 31, you can use the Coupon Code PARTNER0309 (that’s zero-three-zero-nine) when signing up for iContact, and you will receive a $10 credit to your account.

How far does a $10 credit go at iContact, you ask? Consider this: After a 15-day trial, a customer with 250 subscribers or less pays only $9.95 a month. If used wisely, this coupon could give you 45 days of free service. For the next level (that’s 500 contacts), you would only pay $4 for your first month.

Take advantage of this offer and I will give you a free 30-min phone consultation regarding an email marketing plan. WOW — What a deal!

Category: business promotion and marketing, cool products, email marketing, product recommendations, website marketing

25 Inexpensive Ways of Promoting and Advertising Your Business

Posted on | February 25, 2009 | 1 Comment

The number one complaint I hear from my clients (besides “Is it happy hour yet?”) is “I don’t have enough money to advertise and do marketing!” therefore I’m constantly on the lookout for new ideas to pass along. I think I hit the mother lode the other day when reading an article on ArtFire.

If you haven’t heard of ArtFire yet, you should dash on over there and check it out. If you’ve heard of Etsy, you get the idea behind ArtFire, but I am convinced that ArtFire is doing things a little bit better. There’s lots of support for artists selling their works and all sorts of great marketing tools. I’ve been following ArtFire on Twitter, too and they are using that tool heavily for promotion and offers. Plus, they’ve got an offer right now where if you sign up for an account, it’s $7 a month for life. No extra listing fees, etc. This is a great deal and a great way to get in on the ground floor.

Now, I realize that ArtFire isn’t the answer for all of my clients, but this article is awesome. MzzThang came up with 25 clever and creative ways to do marketing for your business. I’ve seen some before, and a lot of them are not right for everybody, but I figure anything that’s clever, out of the ordinary and inexpensive is worth a look. I’ve highlighted the 2nd paragraph because I thought it was a GREAT tip. Check out the beginning of MzzThang’s article and be sure to click the headline or the “read more” link at the end to see the 25 ideas. Thanks to MzzThang for permission to reprint.

25 Inexpensive Ways of Promoting and Advertising Your Business

By MzzThang

One of the biggest challenges that business owners face is promotion and publicity. Getting the word out is essential — and it can make or break a business. Leases are expensive, and owners can’t afford to wait weeks or months for traffic to reach their stores. Merely putting up an “OPEN” sign isn’t enough. Business advertising requires some creativity. Of course, most businesses usually have tight advertising budgets. After rent and suppliers have been paid there is typically little money left over for promotional purposes. Yet advertising cannot be overlooked. The trick is finding effective ways to stretch those dollars. Fortunately, some of the best techniques for business advertising are some of the least expensive.

In the AF forums I posted my way of promoting and advertising my business: I have made up several inexpensive sets of earrings, placed each in an organza bag with a business card, and I pass them out to any one I come in contact with each day. I only ask in return that the person visit my website, ask their friends to do the same, and not to forget to enter our monthly giveaway for the chance to win even more free jewelry. I’ve gained most of my business by doing this and this method (using promotional items) works well for me.

There’s a lot of ways of using promotional items and if you research it, you can get fairly reasonable prices (sometimes as low as a penny per piece). Go check your pen/pencil holder. How many pens do you have with a business name on it? Have you ever received a key chain, T-shirt or anything else from another business? Did you ever get a free balloon at the dentist office when you were a child? Everyone has a different way of advertising their business. Let your creative mind flow and see what you can come up with!

Here are 25 inexpensive ways for promoting your business. Maybe you’ll find one that works for your line of business — that won’t break your bank account! READ THOSE 25 IDEAS ON ARTFIRE

Mzz Thang is a member of the SRAJD and has also been a featured artisan and columnist for the artisan community Art Fire.  She has published articles regarding tips and tricks of the jewelry business — as well as featured jewelry pieces and DIY projects.

Category: business promotion and marketing, social marketing, tips, website marketing

How to Make Blogging Work for Your Business

Posted on | February 18, 2009 | 2 Comments

Chris Garrett has a great article on Wordtracker called How To Make Blogging Work For Your Business. The part of the article I love most is where he says “The solution is to change our approach from shouting to attracting.” I have never been the type of business person who uses loud advertising. I find tv ads for car dealerships (among other things) to be offensive. My business has grown over the past 10 years, slowly and steadily, through word of mouth. I think that’s why I like blogging and social media so much. Developing relationships and attracting customers to what you have to offer seems to me to be a nice way to do business. Glow, grow and shine, people.

Category: blogs, tips, website marketing
Tags: > > >

Green M&Ms make you horny

Posted on | February 11, 2009 | No Comments

I was at Target today and saw that M&Ms has packaged bags of green-only M&Ms for Valentine’s day. I giggled a lot and thought how funny and clever the packaging is. On the bag, it has some wording about “the new color of love” and the green M&M character saying something like “sweetie, it’s all true.”

The stockboy (man, actually) looked at me funny while I stood in the aisle laughing and I told him what I was laughing at. He said, “Yep, they have them for every holiday now.” He completely missed the significance of GREEN M&Ms for Valentine’s Day.

Way to go M&M/Mars for capitalizing on an urban legend. Very clever! Your reward? I bought a bag of green peanut M&Ms. I am now entering to win a trip for two to Paris on your website. Wish me luck!

Category: branding, cool products, just for fun

more great uses for Twitter

Posted on | January 7, 2009 | No Comments

Ok, I think you all know how much I love Twitter. I really, really love tweeting, I love reading tweets, I love clicking on random links in tweets. I think it’s fantastic for both social and for marketing purposes. Don’t have time for a blog? Short posts, or “tweets” of 140 characters or less might fit the bill.

I think there’s a great place for Twitter in quite a few of your businesses, so please just follow me on Twitter for a while, try it out, and then we’ll talk.

Kalena Jordan, SEO expert extraordinaire, wrote a great article entitled 15 Innovative Uses for Twitter (That You Probably Haven’t Thought Of). Read it.

Category: cool products, product recommendations, twitter, website marketing
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