VOIP for websites

This is a site that we developed for a customer of ours. It is simple, but effective in communicating to Tom's customers why they need an HSA health plan. The real reason I wanted to post this is because of the audio on the site. Sometimes it is hard to get a good feel of where to go and what to do once you land on a website. An audio introduction gives your customers a clear call to action that tells them what they are supposed to do on your website. In Tom's case, call him for an HSA health plan quote. Here is the website: http://www.hsasale.com tell me what you think.

Julie

Why Email Marketing is not SPAM

A typical conversation goes like this:

Person: “Tell me what your company does Julie”

Julie: “Well, we provide businesses with all of the tools to help their companies grow using the internet including e-learning, document management, web design, internet marketing and email marketing.”

Person: “Ohh SPAM. I hate SPAM …… ”

So today I am going to list the three biggest differences between SPAM and legitimate email marketing.

1. SPAM is sent indiscriminately to massive lists of untargeted, unqualified prospects.
EMAIL MARKETING is sent to targeted customers and qualified prospects who are expecting to receive email communication from you because A) You verbally told them you would be sending them information, for example while exchanging business cards or B) They signed up to receive communication from your business.

2. SPAM comes from senders who will not remove you from their list.
EMAIL MARKETING always describes how you can stop receiving future messages and lists the contact information (name and physical address) of the sender.

3. SPAM makes offers for products and services that are usually illegal
EMAIL MARKETING includes information and special offers that your customers and prospects find useful, relevant, and timely.

Where does the term SPAM come from?

The British comedy troupe Monty Python used this as the context for their Spam sketch, which gave rise to the term Spam as the common term for unsolicited bulk electronic

Who Should Advertise Online

I think there is a great misunderstanding among small businesses about who should be advertising online. Most small and midsized businesses think that only companies who sell things online should and are advertising online.

The truth is that any business that people are searching for online should be advertising online. And many many people are searching for small and midsized businesses online instead of in the yellow pages. Do people still use the yellow pages...of course, but when you ignore the increasing number of people searching for your business online you are throwing away qualified potential customers. The cost of advertising online is not cost prohibitive.

So advertise online, if you design the page they land on to encourage them to call you or visit your store (offer them a coupon) they will. A couple of weeks ago there was an article in The Detroit Free Press about how a man threw away his phone book because he looks for everything he needs online. Can he find your businesses when he is searching online?

My Day Without the Internet

I switched from the “old AT&T” to the “new AT&T” yesterday and because of this switch I had no internet access for about 24 hours. Here is how my life changed…

* I got a lot done when I was working on creating the content for our new website. I had no distractions. Usually if I have brain freeze I think to myself “Google something for a break and then you can focus again.” Well I can definitely assure you that I had much more concentration to finish the task at hand.

* I had to look words up in a paper thesaurus. Hmmm…another word for analysis….www.thesaurus.com….Ohh wait, no internet….I better get up out of my seat and actually get that paper book off the shelf.

* I was alone in our office. My business partner and husband couldn’t function without the internet so he had to go to Panera Bread where there is free wi-fi (I have a desktop).
* Lost touch with friends, no pictures of my friend’s baby, no advice from my friend about my dog. Ahh…

* I wanted to call CompUSA to see if they sell Macs. I open IE to type in www.Compusa.com and then I realize…no internet connection. I better go to the yellow pages to look up the number….never mind….I don’t even know where the yellow pages is in my office anymore.