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Archives for March 2009

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Twitter Tip – Automate Sending Articles to Twitter from Google Reader

automatejurvetsonI used to mark articles in delicous to be automatically sent to my Twitter feed via Twitterfeed.  Now, I am able to mark articles from anywhere with my iPhone and have them sent automatically to my Twitter feed using Google Reader.  This method requires both a Google account on Google reader, and an account on Twitterfeed (both are free).

  1. In Google Reader, in the upper right, click on Settings
  2. Click on the Folders and Tags tab.
  3. Click on the checkbox next to “Your shared items”
  4. Go up to the box that says “change sharing…” and select Public.
  5. Click on View public page (it’ll be empty right now).
  6. Now go back to the feed in Google Reader.  At the bottom of any post you want to share, click “share”.
  7. If you refresh the public page, you’ll see your items show up.
  8. On the right side of the public page, you’ll see an item that says Atom feed.  Click on it (it’ll probably show a bunch of code stuff.)  This is the feed to the items you want to share.  Copy the URL at the top of the window
  9. Goto twitterfeed.com and sign up for their free service.
  10. Login to the service. Click “my feeds”
  11. Click “Create new feed”
  12. Enter the username and password for your twitter account (you can then test to see if it’s working)
  13. Paste the URL of the Google Reader public page where it says “RSS feed URL”
  14. Feel free to mess with the other options, but they should be fine if you want to leave them, so click “Create”.

Twitterfeed will automatically check what you’ve marked as “Share” in Google Reader every hour (or whatever you set as the frequency) and then send it to your twitter feed for you.

(photo by jurvetson @ Flickr CC)

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Internet Marketing, Strategy & Technology Links – Mar 31, 2009

April starts tomorrow.  Do you have your ducks in a row?

We post links to stories about how to use the web effectively throughout the day on Twitter, Google Reader Shared or Delicious.  Also, if you have a post or link you think is worth sharing, please let us know!

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12 Tips for More Effective Email Marketing

emailfrozenchipmunkEmailing a prospective client can be difficult at best.  Following up on potential leads is important, but so is saying the right thing.  It may help to consider your email piece as an elevator pitch – you only have a few seconds to grab attention and entice the customer to continue the conversation.  Here are a few tips to help make your email more effective:

  1. Keep it short – No one wants to read pages of text in an email.  If it’s longer than 3 or 4 paragraphs, it’s too long.  One or two paragraphs (short!) are best.
  2. Focus on the customer – What benefits are you offering them?  What will they gain from your product or services?
  3. Be concise – Get right to the point about who you are and what you’re offering.
  4. Use bullet points – Short phrases in bullet points can be effective for getting across a message succinctly.
  5. Provide examples – Potential customers want to know what you’ve successfully done in the past.  Keep examples short and link to longer explanations or case studies on your website.
  6. Keep it simple – Even people in your industry won’t want to read wordy technical explanations.  Make sure just about anyone can understand what you’re talking about.
  7. Link to your website – for more information or longer testimonials or stories.
  8. Include a call to action – Whatever you’d like the person to do.  It’s most effective if its something you’re offering them on your website (for free) that you can use to gather the lead (and measure that they’re actually interested).
  9. Introduce Yourself – Customers want to know who you are, but keep it to 1 or 2 sentences (think elevator pitch).  Link to more information on your website.
  10. Followup – Don’t rely on customers to contact you.  Followup with another email or a phone call during a specified time period. Ask when and how they prefer to be contacted.
  11. Respect privacy – Have a privacy policy and follow it.  Allow people the option to opt-out of receiving emails from you. Post it on your website and link to it in your emails.
  12. Give them space –  Don’t bombard potential customers with phone calls and emails.  Give them time to think and do their own work.  Contact them at specific times through their preferred channel.

This an evolving list.  Do you have tips that you’d like to share?  We’d love to hear them in the comments!

(photo by frozenchipmunk @ Flickr CC)

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