I had to stop all production and everything in the office to blog about a piece of email marketing I received. This is from a personal email probably BCC’d out from outlook to everyone they had in their contacts. Please note that was the entire email, there was nothing below this sentence. I wanted to share and let everyone know what NOT to do when email marketing. Shame on you _________ for sending this out and confusing so many people.

Remember we’re here to help. We can create & deliver custom email campaigns with metrics and all kinds of other bells and whistles. Have a look here

I came across Dave Hill Photo this morning while drinking my coffee and was amazed at the work and the awesome behind the scenes footage he provides.

Check it out! http://www.davehillphoto.com/

Created by London-based design studio okdeluxe, COP15 generative identity software is a Processing application created for the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen in 2009. The software adds dynamic, real-time movement to the logo by adding a series of parameters like flocking and flow fields.

The animation software is customizable to render out a large variety of styles and moods in formats useable for broadcast HD-TV and vector-graphics for printed media. Developed in collaboration with NR2154 and shiftcontrol.

okdeluxe is a London-based design studio producing generative graphics software & visualisation tools, user interface concepting, design and prototyping, interactive media installations & responsive environments and bespoke installations and products. Keep an eye on studio’s work in-progress here : blog

COP15 – Generative Identity Software

I’m sure there are obvious reason why email marketing is important to any growing business but many business and website owners really don’t realize just how powerful a properly though out email marketing campaign really is. With sales cycles growing and increasing your business must constantly be reminding people that you exist. Not only through sites like Twitter but email marketing as well.

Whether you are selling products online or offering a service you must find a way to consistently place yourself and your business in the eyes of your audience. If a website visitor leaves behind their email address it is because they want to hear from you again. Which means simply, send them stuff! sales cycle are not what they used to be. From the time someone first comes to your website or speaks with you until they time they are ready to actually purchase something it is important to keep in contact. If already perform a regularly scheduled email marketing campaign than you are one step ahead of the game. During that potential clients thought process you will repeatedly land in their inbox with a friendly newsletter reminding them that you are still around. Chances are that potential client or customer will search around for other online businesses before they pull the trigger with yours and there is a great deal of room for distraction out there. Email marketing could help you reduce that sales cycle if done right. Even if it is only once per month it is better than not sending your email subscribers anything.

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Microsoft have just confirmed they plan on using the crippled Word rendering engine to display HTML emails in Outlook 2010.

This means for the next 5 years your email designs will need tables for layout, have no support for CSS like float and position and no background images. Not to mention the long list of bugs and quirks that break the simplest of layouts.

Outlook 2010 is still in beta and Microsoft have confirmed they want to hear your feedback on this decision. It’s time for the email marketing and design community to rally together and encourage Microsoft to embrace web standards before it’s too late.

Visit fixoutlook.org to see how you can help and what the community is saying right now.

Skimmer

Such an amazing little application. It lets you stay on top of the main social networking platforms including facebook, flickr, youtube and twitter. I cant wait until this integrates with my Google Reader or gains similar functionality. Get it here and thank me later.

I created this web design sketch template based on the 960 grid system. Download and Enjoy!

It’s that time of year again – time to set some new goals and make plans for the next 12 months or so. While you’re making resolutions about exercise and diet, though, don’t forget to make a few resolutions for that hard-working website of yours:

1. I will make my website and online presence a priority. It’s easy for your website to get neglected when you are trying to make a living, but your company website can be a powerful tool for you and so deserves your effort and your time. Put updates, brainstorming sessions and other website tasks in your planner, just like any other important appointment.
2. I will group my website with my online marketing and marketing campaigns. Your website should work seamlessly with your other marketing efforts. If there’s no connection, your website is just not very likely to be effective. Your URL should appear on all your marketing materials and your website should be in the same style and tone as your other marketing materials.
3. I will use my website to make a measurable difference in my business. You should have business goals for your site, and they should be connected in some way to bring in more profit. If your website is not contributing to your bottom line, it’s just taking up bandwidth. Even if you are not using your website for ecommerce, you should be pulling in customers or orders through your online presence.
4. I will work to bring more website visitors to my website. A good website is a site that is marketed and optimized to bring in as many customers as possible. You should have a workable plan in place to bring in more hits and to convert visitors into customers.
5. I will make my website easy to use, not just fancy. A fancy website looks great, but a website that is easy and pleasant to use is effective. Believe us, you want the effective website that puts more cash in your pocket. If you’re not sure how to make your website more effective, call us at Overhaul Media today to discuss your options. Our web design team are experts at creating websites that work.
6. Everything on my website will have a good reason for being there. What’s that generic picture of a meeting doing at the top of your “about us” page? What is that extra rant about nothing doing in the blog section? Make your entire website purposeful and related to your business or you’re wasting valuable real estate. Everything on your website can potentially help you generate more business, so make sure that everything on your website is doing its job.

If you have a company website, it’s likely not for your health. You’re likely pouring time, money, and effort into that site to get a marketing message across. While the Internet may be a great place to promote your business, though, make sure Read more …

If you are going to have a bad website, you are probably better off having no website at all. It’s true. While a bad website at least gets your name in the search engines, it can also ruin your credibility. A hard to use website, for example, may push your potential customers over to the competition, while an amateur website can convince potential customers that your business is simply not a serious one.

So how can you avoid these marketing mistakes Read more …