Austin: Technological and Entrepreneurial Capital Of America
Posted by Michael Herman
Austin: Technological and Entrepreneurial Capital Of America
Why would anyone want to open a business in Austin, Texas? Maybe because the metropolitan area is one of the largest in the United States with 1.7 million people. Perhaps you will be wowed by the authentic Mexican cuisine, party atmosphere or amazing quality of life. Or you could just see the financial opportunity presented by the city which is a huge part of the Austin Round Rock MSA business hub. In 2010, this region enjoyed a GDP of $86 billion, making it one of the top 40 economic centers in the entire United States.
High Tech Mania
If you are a high tech company, Austin will feel like home. You will join dozens of companies with a worldwide reach including Apple, Google, AMD, Cisco Systems, Intel Corporation, Samsung Group and Xerox, all of whom have extensive operations in the city of Austin. Recently, Facebook announced the building of a huge office in downtown Austin with 200 new jobs created. While such news is of major importance in other US cities, it is just run of the mill for this bustling and thriving city.
At one time, Austin struggled like other high tech cities when the dot com bubble burst in the late 20th century. Unlike other locations affected by the collapse, Austin bounced back spectacularly. High tech companies have a huge choice of incredibly talented and qualified graduates from the University of Texas in Austin. The number of high tech companies opening offices in the city has led to Austin being nicknamed Silicon Hills as homage to Silicon Valley. The major difference being that property in Austin is substantially cheaper than its San Francisco Bay Area counterpart.
Growth
But don’t be fooled into thinking that Austin is for high tech companies only. Hundreds of other major companies in other industries have their home in Austin. Major pharmaceutical companies such as Hospira operate out of Austin and Fortune 500 giant Whole Foods Market has their headquarters in the city.
The experts at American Statesman have pinpointed Austin as one of the cities to watch when it comes to increased employment over the next 5 years. In fact, Austin should experience an employment growth rate of around 12% in that time with 105,000 new jobs likely to be created. Best of all, this increase is expected to be evenly spread over virtually every sector though the high tech sector may grow faster than every other industry. Austin is a city on the rise and if you want to grow a business, there are few better locations in the entire United States.
The Importance Of Auto-responder Emails
Posted by Michael Herman
The Importance of Auto-Responder Emails
Are you interested in taking your email marketing campaign to the next level? If so, then you may want to consider crafting a series of Auto-responder emails. The majority of web hosts enable you to use email addresses that call up a pre-written email which is uploaded to the server. Once an email is sent to that address by a prospect, the email you have already written is instantly sent to that prospect. You can write emails and send them to your email subscribers at intervals of your choosing. Most marketing experts believe that you must send out at least seven emails on average in order to make a sale.
Offer Something For Nothing
Every great email marketing Auto-responder campaign begins by offering something for free. Those looking to sell an eBook (usually about how to get rich) will normally give subscribers a free chapter or a newsletter which outlines what the book is about. Regardless of what you send for free, hold your email fire for a few days or more. You need to give the recipient the opportunity to digest what you’ve just sent them. There is no point in sending someone a free chapter and bombard them with marketing before they’ve even have a chance to use what you’ve sent.
Show Benefits
When creating Auto-responders, you can’t make the mistake of sending fluff because the subscriber will soon block your emails. If you decide to send seven emails, make sure that each one explains a different benefit to the product/service you’re selling. If you can’t come up with 6-7 reasons why someone should use your business, you don’t deserve anyone’s custom! For example, email two could mention discounts, email three could inform the recipient that they are losing money by not using the offer etc.
Formatting
A common email marketing mistake is to send emails which are not formatted properly. Emails with uneven lines (line one is long, line two is short etc.) are unpleasant to read. This occurs when the recipient’s email is in a different format to your own. As a result, you need to ensure that your email is readable by all programs. Generally, line lengths should be set to 60 characters. There are a number of free programs online that enable you to do this automatically.
Statistics show that around 90% of customers purchase a product/service by the seventh email. However, less than 30% make purchases after one or two emails. Therefore, you need to be prepared to create several informative emails and start sending them via the Auto-responder mechanism if you wish to increase your bottom line.
Why Email Marketing May Earn You More Money Than Your Website
Posted by Michael Herman
Why Email Marketing May Earn You More Money Than Your Website
When email marketing is performed correctly, it can annihilate any other form of advertising when it comes to increasing conversion rates. In fact, email marketing is arguably more important than your website. While a site that correctly uses SEO will generate a lot of traffic, there is a big difference between someone visiting your site and actually spending money on your product/service. Naturally, you need to get your site in order if you want to get people seeing what you have to offer but well crafted emails are a crucial way to twist their arm and get them to make a purchase.
Expenditure
One of the biggest mistakes made by companies who do their business online is to pump the vast majority of their money into their website while ignoring other sales avenues. It’s understandable that so much money is spent on a site because this is where a business displays its goods. Hours of work and thousands of dollars go into the site to make it look as professional as possible. Email marketing on the other hand, is not glamorous and often forgotten. It’s seen as inconsequential when in fact, it could be what a flagging company needs.
Email marketing is a hidden goldmine because of its ability to directly contact prospects as opposed to generic website content that is uninteresting to the person concerned. Ask yourself: How many sites have boring content that talks mainly about how great the company is while neglecting to mention the benefits of using their product/service? With email marketing, you can explain why your company is the best choice.
Conversion
Besides, websites alone rarely turn more than a few percent of visitors into customers. Email marketing increases your visibility because you can send a message to an incredibly large number of people. It also builds relationships which is a key element when it comes to generating repeat custom. Instead of viewing a customer as a one-time spender, you need to look long-term and calculate the amount of money they can place into your bank account over their lifetime. Remember, the real profits come from repeat custom because this lowers your overall marketing expenditure.
When you use email marketing as an advertising tool, you must always have high quality content and offer an easy way to unsubscribe which should always be located at the bottom of each email. Get email addresses of customers, hit them with a clever marketing campaign and enjoy the rewards.
Involving The Consumer In Email Marketing
Posted by Michael Herman
Involving The Consumer In Email Marketing
Having a degree in psychology is not necessary when it comes to creating a successful email marketing campaign but it would certainly help! One of the most important things in any marketing drive is writing copy that has the ability to get inside someone’s mind. How often have you read web copy or a marketing email that really gets your attention? Generally, consumers are subjected to the same gimmicks and fluff and quickly grow tired of it. Email marketing’s sole purpose is to make sales and in order to do this; you have to gain a person’s attention.
RAS
Creating a subject line with an incomplete thought is a terrific way to begin. Did you know that our brains are designed to go crazy at the thought of incomplete information? The brain’s reticular activating system (RAS) ensures that we aren’t satisfied until we complete a puzzle. How often have you half-remembered some trivial information and went mad for hours trying to remember it all? If you can craft a subject line such as: ‘Did you know that small businesses increased their revenue by 80% when they…...’ you could gain a person’s attention and cause them to open the email?
There are a number of other ways to trigger the consumer’s RAS within the email. Involvement devices work well in copywriting and also in email marketing. Ask the reader to write something down because this sends a signal to their cerebral cortex which tells them to pay attention. So instead of having a prospect read the email while half-asleep, you automatically gain their interest.
Ask A Question
Another terrific involvement device is to create a very quick survey in the email, perhaps even one question, and get the recipient to answer it. Make sure that the question you get them to answer directly relates to whatever it is you’re trying to sell. Perhaps you could also get your email recipients to take part in a poll, the result of which is of real interest to your members. Such an action gives your mailing list a chance to interact with you and have their say on something that may be of importance to them. This certainly makes a change from the litany of begging emails they receive on a daily basis.
Activating the RAS of prospects is only one small psychological device you can use to increase your conversion rate through email marketing. You need to make customers feel like they’re being heard. This can make all the difference when it comes to making sales.
The Real Value Of Customer Surveys
Posted by Michael Herman
The Real Value Of Customer Surveys
You may now know how to create customer surveys but you could be questioning their value. Well, marketing research shows that keeping existing customers is a lot easier and cheaper than gaining new ones. There are a host of clichés relating to the world of marketing:
Gaining a customer can take months or even years while losing one can happen in a split second
It’s 400% more expensive to get a new customer than keep an old one
If you retain 2% of your customers, you’ll save the same money as if you cut 10% of your costs
These may all be hackneyed sayings but they’re invariably true. Customer surveys are incredibly valuable because they reveal the mindset of your clients. Surveys can actually show you that certain customers are thinking of leaving you. Above all, customer surveys help you get to know your audience better and are one of the best forms of marketing that you can do. When you read any advice about marketing, you’ll always find that locating your target audience is a great time and money saver and is one of the first pieces of advice you’ll receive.
Hear Their Concerns
Companies often forget that customers love being listened to. Being asked for their opinion really pleases customers and they will often react well to such an invitation. From a consumer’s point of view, there are few things more frustrating than not being heard. When you send them a customer survey, at least they know that someone is listening.
Negative And Positive Comments
One of the main reasons why companies avoid sending customer surveys like the plague is because they are afraid of negative feedback. No one likes being told that they’re not good enough but negative comments can actually benefit your company if taken in the right spirit. While there will always be a few troublemakers who post nonsensical criticism, there are often valuable comments posted by dissatisfied customers. Such criticism could actually uncover flaws in your business which have escaped your notice. Now would be a good time to fix them!
Finally, customer surveys can be extremely uplifting for companies if they receive positive feedback. There is nothing more rewarding than having a random customer extol the virtues of your business. A positive comment can transform a gloomy winter morning where nothing gets done into one of the year’s most productive days.
With a customer survey, you are getting into the minds of your customers. You are not omnipotent so it’s necessary to gain a greater understanding of your clientele. By doing this, you will discover what your company is doing well and where it is going wrong. When you find out about problems with your service, you can fix them and further improve your business.
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