I have always tried to do things for my email newsletter list to reduce opt-outs and create long term subscribers. I have people on my first email list for 3,4,5 years. Getting email newsletter subscribers is not that hard. Keeping them is yet another thing. These five worked really well for me:
1. Give good gifts
I just got an email newsletter from Hugh MacLeod fame. For the third or fourth time he has sent me a high resolution cartoon which I can print and put on my wall. He even came up with a name for them “˜Cube Grenades’. That cartoon is not being put on his blog.…
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Many small businesses don’t have the time or resources to adequately monitor their own financial status, no less the ability to screen the finances of their partners, vendors, suppliers or customers. However, if SMB CEOs take away one thing from the current recession – it should be a clear understanding of how important it is to have a transparent view of their customers’ financial situation.
The U.S. economy’s worst recession in the post-war era has begun to turn for the better. Yet, despite the fact that the doom and gloom of the past 20-plus months may be behind us, entrepreneurs seeking to buy businesses still find it difficult to get banks to finance their purchases.
In smaller organizations, IT management can be a real challenge. Technology changes rapidly and qualified staff might not always be on-hand to maintain mission-critical systems, support users and administer the network.
Back in late June 2006, after a lifetime of erroneously thinking that living in the Northeast meant I was immune from natural disaster, I learned that I was wrong when 
Small to mid-sized businesses have unique challenges when it comes to managing projects. SMB’s often don’t have the processes or systems in place to efficiently support the current size of the organization or its future growth, so projects are critical to future success. At the same time, SMB’s have limited resources and small training budgets which can adversely affect projects. SMB project failure can result in investment dollars and staff time down the drain, not to mention disruption in your organization. Don’t jeopardize your operations and profitability.
In tough economic times, businesses are looking to cut corners and boost ROI in every way they can, and often the first thing to be cut is the marketing budget. The irony of such an approach is that marketing is necessary to achieve consistent sales and growth. Rather than completely cut marketing from your company’s budget, the smarter choice is to optimize your marketing strategy and calculate returns, and hiring a PPC management firm can help “¨you do just that.
Small businesses are famously agile and attuned to the wants and needs of their customers. But as they begin to grow, or as market conditions begin to change, staying on top of customer requirements can be a tricky feat. If relationships become too tenuous, an aggressive competitor will prey on those weaknesses and poach “at risk” customers.
Social networking technology has made it very easy for people to share their opinions, rate favorite products, and communicate with others. This activity is happening every day, everywhere, and for practically every product that exists. No matter how big or small your company is, if you have customers, you can bet they’re talking about your brand or product somewhere. So what are you doing to influence that conversation?
