Over on the Marketing Today site, you’ll find a neat little (free) tool to help you calculate your return on investment for any direct mail or email campaign. You can get there by clicking here: Marketing ROI Calculator.

Thanks to Lara Nieberding, The Data Digger for sharing this resource.

Last week, I posted a call for help to a few VA online groups I’m on. I needed assistance with an important, detailed, last minute and complicated RFP for a client.

Most replies were professional. There were those who offered advice and even provided outlines and templates, while others submitted formal service quotes.

A few replies, however, totally blew me away — not in a good way.

The first reply had for a subject line “[Listname] off list,” so I wasn’t even sure if it was in reference to my request or if it was sent out of the blue. The actual message was even more baffling — it goes like this (I removed all incriminating references):

So do you need my advice?

I’ve coordinated workshops, special events, and have done handouts. I use MS Word and that’s it.

Probably a lot of others will contact you.

I am skilled in a lot of things.

Why not break up the project into small groups of people, up to 3 people.

I can spare a bit of time in the morning after 8 am if you need me.

I’ve done this biz for 14 years, and 2 days.. for 7 years with an organization that had tradeshows, workshops etc.

How much would the subcontract rate be?

I’m good at proofreading

You can hire me for 45 min if you want to help you with all kinds of advice $[X] x 5%

I’m very resourceful.

[Name]
[Signature Line]

I mean really… what kind of reply is this???

1. First of all, who starts off a professional submission of their services with “So do you need my advice?” This person didn’t even bother to address me by name.
2. Secondly, there is NO reference to my original request for assistance with a RFP. Why exactly are you sending this to me???
3. Third, all (except 3) of the choppy sentences contain the words I, me or my. This person is more interested in talking about themselves than in what I really need.

If you’ve been in business for 14 years and 2 days… surely you must know this is NOT the way to promote your services!? Oh, there’s so much more to say about the rest of this message… but I think you get the point.

A second perplexing (sad, really) reply I received was this:

Subject: ongoing offsite support [all lowercase, but at least I know what this is in reference to]

Cristina, [thank you for addressing me by name]

I would be interested in helping with the ongoing offsite support but I don’t know how to do the RFP. If you know anybody that needs subcontract please let them know about me, I am looking for work. I am attaching my resume. Thank you.

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Signature]

You’d be surprised (then again, maybe not) at how many emails I get like this.

It’s not so much annoying as it is saddening and troubling. This person is taking the time to reply, but ends up sounding desperate and pitiful.

A better reply would have been:

Subject: Ongoing Offsite Support

Cristina,

I saw your message for help with your client’s RFP. While I don’t have experience in that field, I would be interested in working with you regarding your request for ongoing offsite support. As you can see from my attached resume, I specialize in [name your specialty here]. If this is what you’re looking for please contact me for details. My business grows by referrals, so if you know someone who would benefit from my services, please feel free to forward them this message. Thank you.

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Signature]

OK, so writing is not my forte… and that’s not the point. The point is, if you’re going to take the time and effort to reply to someone’s call for help and you KNOW you’re the right one for the job, don’t pussyfoot around with excuse-making and begging. If you’re not exactly the right fit or if your service has NOTHING to do with what’s being requested, don’t bother sending a reply. You risk hurting yourself a lot more had you not replied.

Think of this: If you received these 2 messages in your Inbox, would you readily refer them to colleagues and clients?

Unfortunately, I will not. I’m certain these entrepreneurs are good at what they do and are really nice people, but their unprofessional approach created a bad first impression that I just can’t shake.

Are you sending message like the ones I received? If you’re unsure about how your message will come across, send it first to someone for feedback.

The world of email marketing is a tough and cruel one. Your audience can’t hear the modulation of your voice or see the expression on your face. When promoting yourself by email, make it count and be sure you’re sending the message you intended to send.

As you know, I’m working through Step 2 of my Office Organization Venture — Contact Management (following Tracey Lawton‘s The Complete Office Organization System).

If I’ve been a little quiet lately, it’s because I’m working long and hard hours on this one. This second step may prove to be the most time-consuming of all four, seeing as I’m practically starting from scratch (other than Outlook and iContact for my newsletter, I’ve never taken the time and effort to put in place a reliable, automatic and regular contact management system — now I know why!).

I spent all of last and some of this week just setting up an automated Complimentary Coaching Session scheduling procedure. Here’s how the process is broken down (completed actions steps are crossed out):

1. A potential client who checks out my web site and is interested in experiencing my no-nonsense coaching style signs up for a Complimentary Coaching Session by filling out a form.
   Action: Create sign up form in iContact.
   Action: Create Complimentary Coaching Session web page.
2. The person soon receives a “Welcome to Complimentary Coaching Session” email with scheduling instructions. They must click the link in that message to access my online scheduling program. Once there, they select an available date and time slot for our call.
   Action: Create appointment type, schedule time slots, Thank You message, and reminders in Web-appointments.com.
3. After filling out and submitting the scheduling form, the program displays (and sends an email with) a Thank You message confirming our scheduled time, calling instructions and a link to a short Pre-Session Questionnaire.
   Action: Create Pre-Session Questionnaire in iContact.
4. After answering and submitting the short Pre-Session Questionnaire — that’s it. At the scheduled time, we each dial in to my teleconference bridge line and I do the rest manually (send a thank you email with link to recording of call).
   Action: Create and set up follow-up auto responder messages in iContact.
   Action: Make Complimentary Coaching Session web page live on my site and let the calls begin!!

Isn’t that a lot of work? Not only that, each step requires testing to ensure a smooth transition to the next.

Why am I adding so many steps to this particular process? It’s simply my way of filtering serious potential clients from the not-so-serious (those just looking for a freebie coaching session). Entrepreneurs who are serious about achieving their goals, want an accountability partner and are ready to go places they haven’t before will take the time to go through each step.

What’s next in Contact Management? I’m not sure it’s ever done, especially as I make more products available to you.

With the impending arrival of baby #3 this July, I’m motivated and determined to automate as many processes as possible. That means clearly outlining a marketing funnel and setting up more auto responders.

If only there was a way to automate the article-writing process for my monthly newsletter… then (most of) my woes would be a thing of the past!

How have you automated your business? What tools have been a Godsend? What would you do differently? What systems are you working on?

I’ve been exposed to internet marketing at its *best* these past few weeks.

It first started with an increasing number of “unpaid interns” leaving blog ‘comments’ plugging a certain internet marketer’s name and products (I refuse to give him Google points, so let’s call him JB). Spam comments. YUCK!

As soon as I clued in to what was happening, I dug a little deeper only to find other bloggers complaining about the same problem, sometimes citing JB by name (one blogger called him ‘James Blah’).

I took action by marking the most blatant comments as spam. Topic-related comments were kept, however I modified them by removing references to JB and his products. Each action was followed by a personal email explaining my reasons. One person had the decency to apologize and provided an explanation of what’s really going on (confirming the unpaid intern rumors: “Your blog is on his list for his interns to visit.“).

The second incident was an email I received this week:

Hi,

We’ve seen your website at http://blog.cristinafavreau.com/category/guerrilla-marketing/ and we love it!

We see that your traffic rank is 398906 and your link popularity is 10.
Also, you have been online since 5/1/2003.

With that kind of traffic, we will pay you up to $4,800/month to advertise our links on your website.

If you’re interested, read our terms from this page:

http://www.contactthem.ws/hit.php?s=10&p=2&w=101756

Sincerely,

Richard Coors
The ContactThem Network

If you have a blog with any sort of traffic, you’ve probably already received a similar message.

At first glance, the allure of getting paid $4800 a month to advertise seems tempting. But red lights went up immediately.

1. The email came from an AOL account, totally unprofessional.
2. This was unsolicited, and nowhere was there to be found an unsubscribe or removal link. Immediate SPAM flag.
3. They used my WHOIS email address, not the address I advertise on my blog or website (so they probably didn’t read my blog at length).
4. After reading the fine print, words we will pay you and advertising are used to describe an MLM or affiliate marketing program, not an advertising program.
5. It sounds too good to be true.
6. It plain just smells spammy.

Researching this a little more, I discovered this is a recycled version of an internet marketing tactic to recruit new affiliates. That means you’ll get paid IF you do the job yourself, including levels, qualifications, renewals… blah, blah, blah.

Here are a few blog posts about this advertising “offer”:

• Stephen Ducharme, ContactThem scam
• ContactThem and their Marketing Trick
• ContactThem: Stop Contacting Me!

What’s the point of this post? First, a little ranting about internet marketing feels good. Second, this serves as a warning in case you see a similar message come to your inbox. Finally, take a look at the emails you’re sending. If you’re offering a legitimate service and using email marketing as a client-generating strategy, be sure you don’t get lumped in with “the others.” Make your intentions clear, be transparent and don’t mislead. You’ll gain more credibility by being open and honest than trying to trick people into buying from you.

Never mind what the so-called experts say about marketing. Let your your strengths, personality, core and values dictate what feels good and what is right. You’ll attract like-minded clients. Go out there and make a difference in your own way.

What’s your impression of entrepreneurs who use free or web-based email addresses, like Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, Gmail, etc. for business communication and marketing?

When I receive emails (especially unsolicited) from such accounts (sorry to say, I lump ISP accounts like Sympatico, Videotron, etc. in this group as well), I tend to think negatively about the business person and their service, labeling them as “cheap,” “unprofessional,” “small,” “untrustworthy” and “amateur”.

In the past, I’ve dissed entrepreneurs who market themselves using free email accounts for their business, but I’m beginning to understand why some do. With Spam getting to be more of a problem, I feel like I’ve been foolish for using my domain-based addresses.

Even employing techniques to avoid being harvested by Spambots, the damage is done and Spam is getting worse.

I’ve actually been tempted to start using my Gmail account for online marketing activities, but somehow my gut just doesn’t feel right about it… It feels sneaky or underhanded… I’m not sure exactly, but it just feels wrong.

What do you think? Are there instances where displaying a free email account would be acceptable, say if I wanted to display an email address on my blog?

It sounds like I’m stuck in ‘either/or’ thinking (“Either I tolerate daily spam messages or I lose credibility.”) instead of approaching this with a ‘both/and’ attitude (“How can I beat Spam and retain my professional image?”). So I’m committed to finding a win-win solution. I’ll let you know what I come up with.

In the meantime, let’s open up the floor. Am I wrong in thinking this is a credibility issue? Or is it something else, like accessibility, affordability or practicality? What’s your experience in using a web-based email account for your business? How do you view emails from “generic” addresses?

Alright, so I spent all day yesterday switching newsletter providers. I went from Constant Contact to iContact. I must say, the entire process has been quite stressful — and will remain to be stressful for another month or so. I’m not sure how many subscribers I’ll lose, but at least those who opt-in to the new list will be those who still really want to be.

And now that my decision is made, in typical Cristina-style, self-doubt has set in.

You see, iContact performed a scheduled maintenance between 12am and 2am today (they warned us ahead of time), so if you tried to subscribe to my new list during those times, you would have landed on a page with this message:

iContact is getting a tune-up.
We’ll be back as soon as we can.

An unwelcome deterrent, I agree.

To that effect, I received an email today from a would-be subscriber who brought the (“not good”) message to my attention. Then, confirming my self-doubt issues, he asked why I didn’t opt to go with AWeber instead. I read: You are going through the trouble of switching, so why aren’t you using something better? (That’s not at all how he said it, but that’s how my inside voice read it!)

Believe me, I struggled with my decision. At first, I was leaning towards AWeber simply because many ‘experts’ in my field use it. But a trusted colleague, Michelle Ulrich (who is an ecommerce expert), strongly recommended iContact — her exact words were:

I use iContact.com (formerly Intellicontact.com) with one of my clients and LOVE it. I have not used Aweber.com largely because most of my clients do not like ‘text’ only. I do not believe Aweber has an html or design view, but I could be mistaken.

I tend to get stuck in analysis paralysis when faced with a difficult decision, so I had to take my own advice by not letting procrastination create a loss of momentum. Instead of allowing myself to get stuck, I took action, by choosing to go with iContact and going through with it.

So, yes, I could have made a better choice — I mean there’s always going to be something bigger and better out there — but at least I made a choice.

Thank you for your patience during the transition and for your continued support. As always, I’m open to your feedback, good or bad.

What issues come up for you that, if you allowed it to, would start creating a loss of momentum? How do you get unstuck?

I’m embarrassed to admit this challenge I’ve been having, but I’m at a loss as to what I should do. I’m hoping someone will read this and offer a practical solution or make suggestions.

Here’s the situation. My newsletter, The Journey is the Point, is sent to about 300 subscribers (in looking at my stats, I just realized my newsletter had it’s 1 year anniversary in April!). The average overall open rate (since April 2006) is 47.9%, which, to me, in itself is a horrible stat. Each month, the number is declining, but people aren’t opting out… I have a hard time believing spam filters are the only problem. I’m wondering what else it could be and what I can do to improve these numbers.

• I strive to offer quality, content-rich articles with little to no advertising.
• I avoid the obvious spam words (can anyone recommend a site that lists current spam words?).
• I’ve recently switched to a simpler design, with no graphics.
• The very first thing readers see is an “unsubscribe” link.
• I send it out the first Friday of each month (using Constant Contact).
• I don’t bombard my subscribers with additional emails.

What am I missing?

Not everyone has opted in twice, so I think it’s time to clean up my list, but how do I go about doing this? Keep in mind I’m not technically inclined…

I’m also considering changing programs (which is another can of worms), as long as it’s seamless, affordable and has all the features I need to continue growing my coaching practice. What’s your favorite program and why?

One of my goals this year is to double my subscribers, but I’d like to have the majority of them at least open up my newsletter.

HELP!!!

I found this really cool site, EmailStatCenter.com, where you can find all sorts of data relating to the world of email marketing.

This is how Jeanniey Mullen, founder of The Email Experience Council (eec), describes it:

“Email marketers now have access to a definitive and fantastic repository of email industry metrics and portal for email data, research and information. The eec is proud to endorse and support this effort on a continuing basis as a means to continue moving the industry ahead.”

It’s still new; they are constantly researching and collecting stats and metrics for most categories, but it’s worth looking at. Most are good reminders, and some are shockers (to me, anyways!).

Hope you find this useful in implementing your email marketing strategies!