So what are some things to keep in mind when designing your e-newsletter? For me its the 3 P's: Purpose, Pictures and Promotions.
Purpose
Most e-newsletters are targeted at customers you already know. Keep this in mind. A good e-newsletter should be about retaining your existing clients. What do existing clients want to know? Any deals, sales or promotions is a good place to start. Any new stock or products is a must include. Changes to pricing on existing products and services, is also a good thing to include. In this day and age, comparison shopping and researching online are performed more than 90% of the time someone is thinking about making a purchase. An e-newsletter is a good way to beat the comparison shoppers to the punch.
Pictures
People buy from people. Including photos of your staff and business remind clients why they purchased off you in the first place or gives new clients a comforting feeling about potentially making a purchase off you. Pictures of products can also serve as a visual reminder for someone who has been putting off buying something they need or want. Lastly, text filled e-newsletters are far more likely to get moved to the junk/trash folder than ones filled with pictures for the simple reason that people generally are lazy. They want their information in a glance or they won't bother.
Promotions
The Groupon's and Living Social's of the world are thriving because they understand that everyone likes to get a deal. Promotions are a great way to attract new clients or get existing clients back through the door. If you don't normally do promotions or think your business doesn't need to do promotions, you are falling behind the times. Get creative. Painters could consider offering one free bathroom painting if you get two or more other rooms done. Bakeries could offer a free dozen muffins with the purchase of an event cake. Clothing companies could do your typical 50% off your second item. The point is, come up with a monthly promotion for every e-newsletter because people love deals.
Keep in mind the 3 P's when doing your e-newsletter and you will increase your business.
Thursday 8 December 2011
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Who Should Outsource? Three Examples.
This week, we will take a look at 3 businesses that could save money by outsourcing their administrative work.
Recruitment
Recruitment Agencies are inundated with resumes every day. Because these resumes come in all different formats, the agencies need to have administrative staff to clean them up and reformat them; not to mention update their database to reflect the changes. Hiring a staff of employees to do so, is not as cost effective as outsourcing. By contracting out your resume formatting and database updating you can save money by paying on an hourly basis rather than an annual basis, plus benefits, training, tenure etc... For example, on New Years Eve a recruitment agency may be paying multiple employees a full 8 hour day when only about one hour’s worth of work is needed. That is not cost effective!
Contractors
The bane of a small or medium contracting company is the paperwork associated with invoicing and quote requests. The contractor would rather be on the job or finding clients and not doing paperwork. Why not outsource it? It’s as simple as creating a template. After that it’s just a matter of an email or phone call with the information to fill in the template and away it goes to the client. By doing so you ensure: You are saving money, doing what you want to be doing and getting a professional document for your clients. Additionally by having a set schedule of when your invoicing is done you know the return for your labour will come on a regular basis.
Store Owners
Even the business owner with a storefront can benefit from outsourcing. One of the growing trends in internet marketing are e-newsletters (a subject for a future post). For small businesses, e-newsletters can be a great way to keep in touch with existing customers and let them know if anything is new in your world. Outsourcing e-newsletters makes a great deal of sense as it is something that should be done regularly but does not require a salaried employee and should be done correctly by an expert; which most small business owners are not. By outsourcing your e-newsletters you ensure that the content is generating a maximum ROI.
Recruitment
Recruitment Agencies are inundated with resumes every day. Because these resumes come in all different formats, the agencies need to have administrative staff to clean them up and reformat them; not to mention update their database to reflect the changes. Hiring a staff of employees to do so, is not as cost effective as outsourcing. By contracting out your resume formatting and database updating you can save money by paying on an hourly basis rather than an annual basis, plus benefits, training, tenure etc... For example, on New Years Eve a recruitment agency may be paying multiple employees a full 8 hour day when only about one hour’s worth of work is needed. That is not cost effective!
Contractors
The bane of a small or medium contracting company is the paperwork associated with invoicing and quote requests. The contractor would rather be on the job or finding clients and not doing paperwork. Why not outsource it? It’s as simple as creating a template. After that it’s just a matter of an email or phone call with the information to fill in the template and away it goes to the client. By doing so you ensure: You are saving money, doing what you want to be doing and getting a professional document for your clients. Additionally by having a set schedule of when your invoicing is done you know the return for your labour will come on a regular basis.
Store Owners
Even the business owner with a storefront can benefit from outsourcing. One of the growing trends in internet marketing are e-newsletters (a subject for a future post). For small businesses, e-newsletters can be a great way to keep in touch with existing customers and let them know if anything is new in your world. Outsourcing e-newsletters makes a great deal of sense as it is something that should be done regularly but does not require a salaried employee and should be done correctly by an expert; which most small business owners are not. By outsourcing your e-newsletters you ensure that the content is generating a maximum ROI.
Thursday 24 November 2011
Why I love working from home
There are so many reasons I love working from home, but the reason that really reminded me this week was on Tuesday night when there was all this worry about freezing rain. It started with a little argument about whose car was going in the garage, so they didn't have to scrape the car in the morning. I just sat quietly staying out of that discussion.
Then the morning came around and sure enough there was a layer of ice everywhere. As I am lying in bed listening to people start their cars, scrapers scarping and wheels turning as they try to get up our hill, I glance over at the clock and see it is only 7 am. Everyone is scampering out the door to try and get into work by 9 am. Knowing that the Don Valley Parkway is backed up already this probably won't happen. I roll over and enjoy the quiet knowing that I will not be late for work, will not be stressed driving down the highway and I won't feel like I have wasted 3 hours of my day just travelling.
Yes on a day like today, I love working from home.
Then the morning came around and sure enough there was a layer of ice everywhere. As I am lying in bed listening to people start their cars, scrapers scarping and wheels turning as they try to get up our hill, I glance over at the clock and see it is only 7 am. Everyone is scampering out the door to try and get into work by 9 am. Knowing that the Don Valley Parkway is backed up already this probably won't happen. I roll over and enjoy the quiet knowing that I will not be late for work, will not be stressed driving down the highway and I won't feel like I have wasted 3 hours of my day just travelling.
Yes on a day like today, I love working from home.
Monday 21 November 2011
Building a Landing Page
Last week, we discussed the importance of a landing page to an SEM campaign; today we will expand upon creating a landing page that improves your Quality Score.
As a refresher I would recommend re-watching the Hal Varian video.
When Hal Varian discusses landing pages you will notice he mentions three things that a landing page should be: Filled with relevant and original content, easily navigable and transparent.
Relevant and Original Content
A good start would be a company profile section stating what it is your company provides to consumers. When creating the language of your profile keep in mind the words and phrases you are targeting in your SEM campaign. If you are a recruiting agency, targeting the search queries "data security analysts" and "java programmers" then a good idea for your landing page might be a section called "Current Opportunities" and listed in it are: data security analysts and java programmers. For original content, consider a video and photos but make sure they are small and easily loaded so you do not hurt the easily navigable portion of your landing page. Other good ideas include a map and hours of operation. Lastly, make sure you have a call to action. For a lot of businesses the best call to action remains a phone call. If this is the case place a large "CALL US TODAY...###-###-####" button in a clear and obvious position on your landing page.
Easily Navigable
With a landing page "less is more" is often the case. You want your landing page to be straightforward and to the point. Place the link to your website in a very clear and obvious spot. If you are using multiple tabs on your landing page, ensure that every page is easily found and keep the content as condensed as possible on each page. Lastly, I'd advise against using flash.
Transparent
Similar to content, in that your landing page should demonstrate exactly what it is you do. The key to keep in mind, is that SEM campaigns like any other search, work best when: The consumer, search engines and the advertiser are all working together to ensure that; the consumer finds what he wants, the search engine returns what the consumer wants and the advertiser appears for those who are looking for them.
As a refresher I would recommend re-watching the Hal Varian video.
When Hal Varian discusses landing pages you will notice he mentions three things that a landing page should be: Filled with relevant and original content, easily navigable and transparent.
Relevant and Original Content
A good start would be a company profile section stating what it is your company provides to consumers. When creating the language of your profile keep in mind the words and phrases you are targeting in your SEM campaign. If you are a recruiting agency, targeting the search queries "data security analysts" and "java programmers" then a good idea for your landing page might be a section called "Current Opportunities" and listed in it are: data security analysts and java programmers. For original content, consider a video and photos but make sure they are small and easily loaded so you do not hurt the easily navigable portion of your landing page. Other good ideas include a map and hours of operation. Lastly, make sure you have a call to action. For a lot of businesses the best call to action remains a phone call. If this is the case place a large "CALL US TODAY...###-###-####" button in a clear and obvious position on your landing page.
Easily Navigable
With a landing page "less is more" is often the case. You want your landing page to be straightforward and to the point. Place the link to your website in a very clear and obvious spot. If you are using multiple tabs on your landing page, ensure that every page is easily found and keep the content as condensed as possible on each page. Lastly, I'd advise against using flash.
Transparent
Similar to content, in that your landing page should demonstrate exactly what it is you do. The key to keep in mind, is that SEM campaigns like any other search, work best when: The consumer, search engines and the advertiser are all working together to ensure that; the consumer finds what he wants, the search engine returns what the consumer wants and the advertiser appears for those who are looking for them.
Friday 18 November 2011
The Importance of a Landing Page to an SEM Campaign
In this post we will take a look at how landing pages can save you money on your SEM campaigns.
What is SEM?
Search Engine Marketing is the term used to describe using the paid advertising services provided by the various search engines. These ads typically appear at the top and right hand side of a search query. Often the area is shaded to distinguish the paid advertising section from the organic results. With Google this means using their Google Adwords software.
What is a Landing Page?
Simply put a landing page is the page that appears when you click on an SEM ad. Often, the landing page is the home page of a website but more and more advertisers are recognizing the value in creating a landing page that is specifically designed for your ad.
Understanding the Auction
A common misconception when running SEM campaigns, is that the auction used to determine which position your ad appears in, is solely determined by the amount you are willing to pay for a click on your ad. The reality is that where your ad appears is actually determined by a formula taking into account the "bid" of your (and competitors) ad and the "quality score" of your (and competitors) ad.
Google's chief economist Hal Varian does a good job of simplifying this process in this video.
Quality Score Saves you Money
The important thing to take out of that video is; the higher the Quality Score of your ad the less it costs per click on your ad.
Improving your Quality Score through the use of Landing Pages.
At 2:45 of the above video Mr. Varian goes into the three components of determining Quality Score: Click through rate, relevance and landing page. When using a specially created landing page as your landing page rather than your home page as your landing page you can improve all three facets of determining Quality Score.
A landing page improves "click through rate" by presenting the consumer with enough information to ensure that they click through to your home page. This obviously only works if your landing page is good and we will go into what makes for a good landing page in the next post here.
A landing page shows relevancy by using the keywords you are using in your ad on the landing page. For example let's say you are a dentist and your home page (being used as a landing page) is mostly pictures of your office. If you are running a SEM campaign and using "dental surgery" and "teeth whitening" as search queries to have your ad appear for, then the pictures of your office do nothing to show search engines that your ad is actually relevant to the queries of the consumer. By using a landing page that makes note of all your services, such as "dental surgery" and "teeth whitening" search engine's understand that your ad is relevant to the queries of the consumer and your Quality Score increases.
A landing page increases the landing page portion of Quality Score by the three things Mr. Varian discusses in the video: Relevant and original content, easily navigable and transparency. It works best in comparison. Compare a landing page that states specifically what your business is, what you provide, how you provide it and when you provide it, with a home page that has a minimal amount of information and is more of a portal to the rest of your website. The home page obviously is going to be a deterrent to your Quality Score because it creates more work for the consumer who clicked on your ad to determine if they have found what they are looking for. Search Engines want the process of a search returning the results you are looking for to be as easy as possible so that you still use that search engine.
The Importance of a Landing Page to a SEM Campaign
Landing pages, if done correctly, increase your Quality Score. Increasing your Quality Score decreases the cost per click you pay for someone clicking on your ad. Saving you money!
What is SEM?
Search Engine Marketing is the term used to describe using the paid advertising services provided by the various search engines. These ads typically appear at the top and right hand side of a search query. Often the area is shaded to distinguish the paid advertising section from the organic results. With Google this means using their Google Adwords software.
What is a Landing Page?
Simply put a landing page is the page that appears when you click on an SEM ad. Often, the landing page is the home page of a website but more and more advertisers are recognizing the value in creating a landing page that is specifically designed for your ad.
Understanding the Auction
A common misconception when running SEM campaigns, is that the auction used to determine which position your ad appears in, is solely determined by the amount you are willing to pay for a click on your ad. The reality is that where your ad appears is actually determined by a formula taking into account the "bid" of your (and competitors) ad and the "quality score" of your (and competitors) ad.
Google's chief economist Hal Varian does a good job of simplifying this process in this video.
Quality Score Saves you Money
The important thing to take out of that video is; the higher the Quality Score of your ad the less it costs per click on your ad.
Improving your Quality Score through the use of Landing Pages.
At 2:45 of the above video Mr. Varian goes into the three components of determining Quality Score: Click through rate, relevance and landing page. When using a specially created landing page as your landing page rather than your home page as your landing page you can improve all three facets of determining Quality Score.
A landing page improves "click through rate" by presenting the consumer with enough information to ensure that they click through to your home page. This obviously only works if your landing page is good and we will go into what makes for a good landing page in the next post here.
A landing page shows relevancy by using the keywords you are using in your ad on the landing page. For example let's say you are a dentist and your home page (being used as a landing page) is mostly pictures of your office. If you are running a SEM campaign and using "dental surgery" and "teeth whitening" as search queries to have your ad appear for, then the pictures of your office do nothing to show search engines that your ad is actually relevant to the queries of the consumer. By using a landing page that makes note of all your services, such as "dental surgery" and "teeth whitening" search engine's understand that your ad is relevant to the queries of the consumer and your Quality Score increases.
A landing page increases the landing page portion of Quality Score by the three things Mr. Varian discusses in the video: Relevant and original content, easily navigable and transparency. It works best in comparison. Compare a landing page that states specifically what your business is, what you provide, how you provide it and when you provide it, with a home page that has a minimal amount of information and is more of a portal to the rest of your website. The home page obviously is going to be a deterrent to your Quality Score because it creates more work for the consumer who clicked on your ad to determine if they have found what they are looking for. Search Engines want the process of a search returning the results you are looking for to be as easy as possible so that you still use that search engine.
The Importance of a Landing Page to a SEM Campaign
Landing pages, if done correctly, increase your Quality Score. Increasing your Quality Score decreases the cost per click you pay for someone clicking on your ad. Saving you money!
Wednesday 16 November 2011
Resume Mistakes
This week we are going to build upon last weeks entry as we have received a couple of questions regarding more specific do's and don'ts. In this entry we will stay away from the general mistakes (lacking focus, achievements hidden) and focus instead on particular mistakes.
Here are 3 mistakes people commonly make on their resume's that they didn't know were mistakes.
1. Including a Picture
At Carlyn we have heard many different reasons for including a picture on a resume: "I have a professional look," "If I could ever just get in front of people they'd hire me" or "I want to personalize my resume." Unfortunately pictures do more harm than good for two reasons.
a) A resume is a professional document. It is not a Facebook profile. Companies are looking for people who understand what it means to be professional.
b) Remember the purpose of your resume is to get an interview. By adding a picture you are potentially making yourself vulnerable to the biases of resume screeners. Maybe the first person to see your resume had a bad relationship with a man with dimples. Have dimples? Into the garbage your resume goes.
2. Spelling Mistakes
No spelling mistakes! Especially if it is bolded or a heading.
One of the most common ones we see at Carlyn is "Referee's available upon request." Yep, you were going for Re-Fer-Ee's but guess what, John the resume screener read it as Ref-Er-Ee's. Don't get too smart, references is fine. Truthfully in this day and age it is a given you are going to need to provide references, so if you're tight on space, feel free to leave it off completely.
3. Too Long
As mentioned previously in the last post, length can also do more harm than good. A 5 page resume does not say "I have a long and extensive career in this field" to the screener or hiring manager. What it actually says to them is "I have a history of short employment tenures and I really like to talk about myself." Neither message is one you want to send. Your resume should never go back more than 15 years or 5 positions. Keep it to 3 pages at the most.
Here are 3 mistakes people commonly make on their resume's that they didn't know were mistakes.
1. Including a Picture
At Carlyn we have heard many different reasons for including a picture on a resume: "I have a professional look," "If I could ever just get in front of people they'd hire me" or "I want to personalize my resume." Unfortunately pictures do more harm than good for two reasons.
a) A resume is a professional document. It is not a Facebook profile. Companies are looking for people who understand what it means to be professional.
b) Remember the purpose of your resume is to get an interview. By adding a picture you are potentially making yourself vulnerable to the biases of resume screeners. Maybe the first person to see your resume had a bad relationship with a man with dimples. Have dimples? Into the garbage your resume goes.
2. Spelling Mistakes
No spelling mistakes! Especially if it is bolded or a heading.
One of the most common ones we see at Carlyn is "Referee's available upon request." Yep, you were going for Re-Fer-Ee's but guess what, John the resume screener read it as Ref-Er-Ee's. Don't get too smart, references is fine. Truthfully in this day and age it is a given you are going to need to provide references, so if you're tight on space, feel free to leave it off completely.
3. Too Long
As mentioned previously in the last post, length can also do more harm than good. A 5 page resume does not say "I have a long and extensive career in this field" to the screener or hiring manager. What it actually says to them is "I have a history of short employment tenures and I really like to talk about myself." Neither message is one you want to send. Your resume should never go back more than 15 years or 5 positions. Keep it to 3 pages at the most.
Wednesday 9 November 2011
How to Build a Resume
When creating a resume it is important to keep in mind the purpose of your resume; to get an interview. That is the only purpose of your resume. Keeping the purpose in mind when you create your resume will ensure you receive more interviews for the positions you are looking for.
Layout
When choosing a format or layout for your resume remember the acronym KISS; Keep it Simple Stupid. Human resource departments and recruiting firms are innundated with hundreds of resumes a day. The most important thing the layout of your resume can do is ensure you are not immediately discarded. Keep in mind that the people reading your resume are people. They do not want to have to search through a resume to find the relevant information and they most certainly do not want charts, graphs, tables and pictures making it harder for them to find the information they need to see. Many large firms have employees who format your resume to a company standard and if your resume is complicated by tables and charts there is a very real possibility that the resume formatters may just move your resume to the trash pile.
Bold, underlining, left/centre/right justified and the occasional bullet is as complicated as your resume layout needs to be. Colour is acceptable but not necessary and should be used minimally if at all.
Profile/Summary Section
One of the biggest mistakes people make when creating a resume is that they create one resume for all jobs. Customize your resume for each and every position you apply for. The way we suggest doing so is the inclusion of a personal profile section. This section should be no more than two or three sentences and is not an opportunity to tell your life story. This section is an opportunity for you to list the actual skills that you possess that are relevant for this position according to the job description.
Here is an actual job description for a Clerical / Administrative Support position with a major insurance company.
Education and Training
The one section that should be expanded upon as much as possible is often the one people neglect the most. Companies know when they hire you that you don't know everything and that you will need to be able to learn in order to succeed. Listing your education in detail and any and all further training you have taken demonstrates that you are someone who is willing and capable of bettering yourself through learning.
This section is particularly important for technical positions. Be sure to include any certifications you have received already and don't be afraid to list any that you are in the process of obtaining as well.
Your Education and Training section should be right after your professional summary and be above your work experience.
Work Experience
In this section it is important to not just list your previous experience but expand upon what your actual responsibilities and duties were while at your previous positions. When doing so I would recommend 3 or 4 one senctence bullets. Remember the job description and do your best to make your duties and responsibilities similar to what the company is looking for.
It is not necessary to list every position you have ever had. Particularly if you have been with ten companies over the last 25 years. Keep your work experience section to no more than two pages. It is most important to demonstrate continual employment.
Generally Speaking
No More than 3 pages.
Cover letters are a good idea but a bad cover letter is worse than no cover letter at all.
KISS.
Keep in mind the resumes purpose is to gain you an interview not to get you a job.
Carlyn Services
If you require further help with your resume contact http://www.carlynservicesinc.com/ and our professional formatters will be happy to assist you.
Layout
When choosing a format or layout for your resume remember the acronym KISS; Keep it Simple Stupid. Human resource departments and recruiting firms are innundated with hundreds of resumes a day. The most important thing the layout of your resume can do is ensure you are not immediately discarded. Keep in mind that the people reading your resume are people. They do not want to have to search through a resume to find the relevant information and they most certainly do not want charts, graphs, tables and pictures making it harder for them to find the information they need to see. Many large firms have employees who format your resume to a company standard and if your resume is complicated by tables and charts there is a very real possibility that the resume formatters may just move your resume to the trash pile.
Bold, underlining, left/centre/right justified and the occasional bullet is as complicated as your resume layout needs to be. Colour is acceptable but not necessary and should be used minimally if at all.
Profile/Summary Section
One of the biggest mistakes people make when creating a resume is that they create one resume for all jobs. Customize your resume for each and every position you apply for. The way we suggest doing so is the inclusion of a personal profile section. This section should be no more than two or three sentences and is not an opportunity to tell your life story. This section is an opportunity for you to list the actual skills that you possess that are relevant for this position according to the job description.
Here is an actual job description for a Clerical / Administrative Support position with a major insurance company.
If you were interested in this position your professional profile or professional summary section should sound something like this;
- Entering data and preparing reports, records, and requisitions
- Filling in for temporarily absent employees
- Opening and releasing mail to staff members
- Preparing materials for use at conferences and other meetings
- Preparing correspondence, coordinating appointments, and arranging schedules for meetings on behalf of staff and management
- Demonstrating proficient computer skills
- Arranging meeting facility equipment
Extensive experience entering data from sales reports with Company A. Experience with schedule making and appointment setting while working for Company B. Comprehensive computer skills including Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint, Outlook, all operating systems and social networking software (twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc...)You are essentially confirming that you meet as many requirements listed in the job description as possible.
Education and Training
The one section that should be expanded upon as much as possible is often the one people neglect the most. Companies know when they hire you that you don't know everything and that you will need to be able to learn in order to succeed. Listing your education in detail and any and all further training you have taken demonstrates that you are someone who is willing and capable of bettering yourself through learning.
This section is particularly important for technical positions. Be sure to include any certifications you have received already and don't be afraid to list any that you are in the process of obtaining as well.
Your Education and Training section should be right after your professional summary and be above your work experience.
Work Experience
In this section it is important to not just list your previous experience but expand upon what your actual responsibilities and duties were while at your previous positions. When doing so I would recommend 3 or 4 one senctence bullets. Remember the job description and do your best to make your duties and responsibilities similar to what the company is looking for.
It is not necessary to list every position you have ever had. Particularly if you have been with ten companies over the last 25 years. Keep your work experience section to no more than two pages. It is most important to demonstrate continual employment.
Generally Speaking
No More than 3 pages.
Cover letters are a good idea but a bad cover letter is worse than no cover letter at all.
KISS.
Keep in mind the resumes purpose is to gain you an interview not to get you a job.
Carlyn Services
If you require further help with your resume contact http://www.carlynservicesinc.com/ and our professional formatters will be happy to assist you.
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