…doesn’t mean it’s good.

We built web sites, and more than half of the work performed (from the design stage, to development and testing) is performed on Macs. Those on our team that use Macs typically do so because:

1) They’re high quality machines. Like them or not, you have to admit the high-resolution display, backlit keys, multi-touch trackpad, the single-piece aluminum body on the MacBook Pro!! — you just can’t beat the quality.

2) Multi-touch and keyboard shortcuts make us faster, giving us (and our clients!) the results they want, faster.

3) Let’s face it: they’re just cooler. Buying Mac still feels like I’m on the inside track on something that the rest of the world isn’t. Of course, with market share growing at a pace that will have every man, woman, child and family pet multi-touching by mid-2017, the feeling may subside, but for now, it’s cool.

However! Producing anything, be it a web site, a hard-hitting single, or video for the big screen, producing something “sans Windows” doesn’t guarantee it will be a hit. There’s still some semblance of talent or skill required.

Case in point: I stumbled upon a site (screenshot referenced above in this post) which shall remain nameless (and URL-less) and was floored, first by its severe lack of style, usability, and build; and second, by its proudly waving the Apple banner at the bottom of the page, like an apple-shaped sticker on the back window of a silver, small-form hybrid vehicle.

Far be it from me to point fingers, but the lesson to be learned:

1) Tools are nothing without Talent or Education. I can buy a Makita saw and a $70 hammer, but that doesn’t qualify me to build your house.

2) Attitude is great. Aptitude must follow. I’m a big fan of hiring talent with great, positive attitudes. In a technology company though, a bit more is necessary.

3) Macs are cool, but they can’t overcome all. Specifically, a propensity to deviate from established standards, or ignorance thereof (Ignorance is not an insult — it simply describes an unawareness).

Good stuff.
Rob

We’ve learned more about the human mind in recent years than ever recorded in history. We know which portions of our brain perform calculations, which portions store memories, which portions control involuntary functions, etc. Here’s an insightful post from Seth Godin, marketing extraordinaire, about the practicality of these different portions of our mind, and how they relate to everyday life.

Multiple Minds

Your email campaigns should be resulting in revenue, and even better, profit! So how can you tell how profitable your email campaigns are? Here are some quick and easy formulas:

Revenue Per Email: Every email address on your list is worth a particular dollar amount per year. To calculate your RPE (Revenue per Email), use the following formula:

Total annual sales resulting from email campaigns / number of email addresses sent = RPE

Calculating Lost Revenue: To find out how much attrition is impacting your revenue growth, use the following formula:

(Number of email addresses that unsubscribe or bounce) x (RPE) = Lost Revenue

Now the question: are you tracking your profitability? It’s easier for some people to track profitability than it is for others (based on whether you’re selling something via your email campaigns, or whether you’re solely building rapport), but email marketing is truly an effective and profitable method for establishing your brand.

Best wishes, and Happy Marketing.

If you use your email message to help you sell, tread very carefully. I’m not saying don’t do it, but until people are completely ready to buy, they will not be likely to click through to a sales page. You will have more success by providing links to more information on your site, and from your site offer them the chance to buy now. This will also help you to measure the effectiveness of your sales message apart from your click-through rate.

For example, did 100 people click through for information but only 10 actually clicked from your sites information page to the buy-now page? Perhaps you can change the offer on your site and measure it again. Like we’ve mentioned before, Test and Measure! It’s the only way to achieve true results.

Avoid: Interested? Buy this widget today!
Instead, use: Learn how a widget can change your life.

The next tip in our “Ways to Increase Your Response Rates” series is to not obfuscate your links. Huh? That’s what I said, too. Simply put, if you have any control whatsoever on the way the URL that you’re linking to, reads, make it simple. Still wondering what I’m talking about? Here’s an example:

BAD: “http://www.xyzsite.com/newsletter/2008/e/a/article/sales2.asp”
BETTER: “http://www.xyzsite.com/Money-Saving-Coupon”

The concept is simple. Actually, the concept is simplicity. If you use URL’s that are long and deep, your reader’s eyes will tend to skip over the URL, because it looks like a jumbled mess. Instead, use something that is short and sweet, with clear benefits that will help reinforce the value of what’s on the other side of the link (Remember our article two weeks ago about enticing the reader?).

Now here’s something: What if you don’t have control of your site structure (the URL)? Here’s a simple way to bypass it: go to bit.ly and create a URL that points to the URL you actually want. A side benefit: bit.ly will actually track the people who visit your links. But you don’t need that, when you consider Online Outbox’s statistics, do you?