Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary in August!

Sorry so late with the blog… We have been working hard to bring you the new site version of Personalized Marketing Inc, which I am happy to say launches August 1st! I have also returned to school to obtain my Masters in Business with a certification in Marketing, it’s been a great experience so far.

Today’s topic … Websites!

I know I recently did an article series not long ago that mentioned websites in them, however, with us launching our new design and some bumps along the road, it seems pertinent. Websites require reliable hosting, they require access to dedicated servers, they most generally use a database and often have areas where security is a must; which if you do not have an SSL you could find yourself falling in the rankings!

Cindy and I built Personalized Marketing Inc’s new site on the content management platform (CMS) WordPress, so we have all of those needs mentioned before and sometimes additional headaches. If you have ever used WordPress then you know of plugins, which are great when they work but when they do not it can be a headache. Plugins, unless you make them, are generally taken care of via third party, if a core update conflict with the plugin, it can and will stop working right. If that happens then your entire site will come down. Recently, I have noticed several plugins that worked beautifully for years stop working correctly or adding unnecessary id tags. The cleaner your website code the better it works.

WordPress generally sends out an update at least once a month and lately several times a month. Turning on Auto Updates in your hosting is an option for keeping the site updated, however, if you have one of those pesky “non-compatible” moments you just found yourself with that headache we mentioned. Which can and has brought websites completely down and if you rely on that site for your business, well you now have a bigger problem. So, if you are not willing to pay to have someone go in and care for your website, then you have to learn to do it yourself. What is your time worth?

Our Anniversary!

It is hard for me to imagine that Personalized Marketing Inc is 10 years old… It does not seem like that much time has come to pass. In the past 10 years, we have had many changes but one thing never will, we are a transparent company that is focused on providing customized services based on the client’s needs and wants. We are a Faith based company that cares about the people we work with and we want to help them thrive by providing the best service we can.

We mark the birthday of the company each year in August for two main reasons: one it is my birthday month and two because I like giving gifts during my birthday month! Normally, I run one discount special all month long, however, this year we are going to be giving out multiple gifts to celebrate. We are also going to draw one special surprise during the month as well. So if you haven’t already signed up to receive our newsletter, if you are not following the blog, or maybe you have not connected with us on Social Media, August 1st is the day to start!

Real Marketing For Organic Growth PT 24

WOW! We’ve done it!

1 Year Blogs and The Time Has Come…

Sorry I am a week late, we had storms come through and we focused on client items and the blog was put off a week…

When I sat down to write this week’s blog post, the calendar kept nagging at me, and the topic made me stop and think of how many blogs we’ve written. I have to say it caught me off guard that we have been doing the “Real Marketing For Organic Growth” blogs for a year!

Today’s Topic – Review

Since we are celebrating a year of “Real Marketing For Organic Growth” and we are halfway through 2018, I thought it was time to review some of the basics…

1. Collect your stats from ALL your networks and sites
   1. Compare them to previous months
   2. Compare them to last year
2. Review your stats from your networks
   1. Are you on track?
   2. Are you posting when your followers are online?
   3. Are you keeping your content relevant?
   4. Are you being informative but also interesting?
   5. Keeping the “soapboxes” to the minimum?
3. Are you using a marketing tool yet? If not, are you keeping records of your post?
   1. Twitter, Facebook and other social networks have a way for you to download your post. You can also collect statistics on the post from the sites as well. If you haven’t already done it then you need too soon.
   2. Having copies of your post can help you to determine if you are posting relevant content.
   3. A record of the topics you’ve covered.
   4. If you are using a Marketing Tool, then it most likely has a way for you to export what you’ve sent out. A good Marketing Tool will also help you determine when the viewers are online and let you know the interactions of the post you’ve made.

ARE YOU PLANNING FOR YOUR END OF THE YEAR EVENTS?

If you remember in some of our earlier post, #3 and #5, we discussed how life happens and planning only what you are willing to commit too is essential? Well, July marks the begging of the end of the year rush, recently kicking it off with Canada Day on July 1^st or Independence Day on July 4^th, depending on where you live. Then we generally have fairs in July or early August. August also marks school starting back up. September also marks several holidays including Labor Day, first Monday of the month, this year on September 3^rd. Then follows October, November and December … which we all know what holidays are in those months and the goals we hope to set. 

So have you begun planning your end of the year events yet or are you going to wait until the very last moment and try to cram it all in at once.  

In the past year, I hope that you have learned about how to do marketing around your schedule. Realized when you needed help and asked for it. Took time to take stock in what is important to you. Learned some of the basics of marketing and even increased your own over time.

However, the time has come to adjust the Real Marketing For Organic Growth blog series. We are going to open up our blogging topics to include other important areas of your online presence, such as privacy, social media changes, and current happenings found online. (Such as the Web Presence Mini-Series) We are also working on the Real Marketing For Organic Growth Workbook and will be sending out those important updates to our newsletter subscribers.

Tools We Use: 

• Zoho https://www.zoho.com/social/
• PostCron https://goo.gl/msz3Lc 
• Crowdfire: https://crowdfire.grsm.io/fyrULLGozz 
• Constant Contact https://www.constantcontact.com/signup.jsp?pn=personalizedmarketing
• Canva https://www.canva.com/personalizedmarketinginc
• Siteground https://www.siteground.com/recommended?referrer_id=7588908
• RiteTag https://ritetag.com/hashtag-search 
• Commun.it http://mbsy.co/lCpGN  

Popular Hashtags on Marketing

#marketing #growthhacking #startup #success #digitalmarketing #networkmarketing #onlinemarketing #contentmarketing #socialmediamarketingtips #marketingagency #socialmarketing #growthhacking #startup #seo #tech #entrepreneur #socialmedia #business #twitter #instagram #work #startups #success #tips #smm #world #motivation #web #content

Real Marketing For Organic Growth PT 23

Are You Branded?

Hi, well I am a week late with this week’s blog post however a lot has been happening lately. First, my youngest turned 18 which is both amazing but also a tug at the mother’s heart strings. I am very proud of her and know that she will do great things in life. Another thing that has been taking place is a new look for Personalized Marketing Inc, which means we have to work on our branded images and ensure that the change takes place well. So that is the topic for today’s post.

But First… Some GDPR Tips

We were asked to discuss the GDPR some and so originally we were going to go a little more in-depth over it. However, there are already some great posts out there about it (including the ones from your newsletter program) so how about a few tips instead.

1. Make sure that you are sending the “Please resign or confirm email” to only those you have too. I have received many of these types of emails and I am not affected by the changes taking place. That being said I am not receiving the same amount of newsletters as before.
2. If you are going to send out the request then make sure you give the person a reason to stay with you. Remind them of the benefits behind getting your emails. Also, please do not make the subject line “Will you resign up?” this immediately indicates that there is a reason they should not.
3. Use the tools included in your newsletter provider. Many such as the Email Campaign provided through Zoho have features in them that help with your newsletters’ success. Such as scheduling them when the person receiving the emails are more likely to be around. Also, sharing them on your social media networks, just not for the GDPR email.
4. Include your branding in the email; it is coming from you so it should look like it. Headers, logos, banners, any image really that shows the viewer immediately who they are getting an email from.
5. Remember that newsletters and emails are not a one-way communication tool; they are designed to encourage a conversation. Let them. You can ask viewers what they like to see, you can add polls, and you could even do a Q&A session. Something that talks about you but also gives them a chance to respond.
6. Most likely however the emails have gone out and you did not get the responses you were hoping for, now what? Save the list check them out and make sure they are not already on a different list. Good email programs will help sort them for you.
7. Finally, if you are offering a special for those who did sign up, double opt-in and even said yes to your GDPR email, then thank them and make sure they got their gift. Many times you will find that the “gift” was not claimed so check and see if they did. You offered them something for signing up, help to ensure they get it.

Now On To Branding!

Have you ever heard the story about how a certain drink lost a lot of sales because they changed their logo? It happened a little over 15 years ago and the drop was drastic. If you have done your work and have good branding changing the logo might not be the best bet. However, if you are like PM Inc, then it might be necessary. We are going with not just a new look but also a new website design. This is mainly because we want to not only meet current website design guidelines but also because we are celebrating our 10^th anniversary this summer and it was time.

So what to do now that you are revamping everything?!?

1. Don’t panic. You have already determined this is necessary for you and your business. So you have gone over the pros and cons behind the change.
2. If you do not already have one, make a plan outlining the steps of the change.
3. Make sure that you not only have your new branding images but also your old ones. If possible plan transitions affects converting over to the new look by changing small elements along the way. If however like us, then consider doing a before and after. You cannot put an animated image on your logo for social networks so plan out post showing the transition. Not only is this a good marketing idea for creating eye-catching graphics but also a great way to get the change across.
4. Stay on track with your new look. Set a completion date, set a marketing push date and stay with it. You have already done the homework of when is the best time to start the process, so use that timeline.
5. Plan on a few post of why you are making the change and talk about it before it happens. When you launch a new product you talk about it before it actually comes out, your website or branding should get the same attention.

Notice how I mentioned website? Well as I commented earlier we are doing some drastic changes to our website. We have a new color scheme coming, new images and even different layouts for the pages. Each one of the images we are using has several layers to it, this is great if we wanted to show an animated transition from the old to new look. Now, you cannot see this just yet, we are building it on a back site. This way we have time to make the changes we want without trying to rush everything. We are however using the same server system so that will help. (Also, just for our valued readers, we are including a sneak peak of our new homepage look) 

When building a new site, working on new branding, making larger changes to your site, if you can do them where viewers do not accidently see the mess. Gone are the days of “Excuse our mess, while we make something new.” If your hosting company or website platform does not offer these advantages contact us. We can not only help you with your changes but also send you to a hosting company that can accommodate you.

That’s all for today’s post… Whew right? As always everything we talk about on our blog we not only have expertise in but often implement them ourselves. 

#PMInc #RealMarketing #OrganicGrowth

Tools We Use: 

• Zoho https://www.zoho.com/social/
• PostCron https://goo.gl/msz3Lc 
• Crowdfire: https://crowdfire.grsm.io/fyrULLGozz 
• Constant Contact https://www.constantcontact.com/signup.jsp?pn=personalizedmarketing
• Canva https://www.canva.com/personalizedmarketinginc
• Siteground https://www.siteground.com/recommended?referrer_id=7588908
• RiteTag https://ritetag.com/hashtag-search 
• Commun.it http://mbsy.co/lCpGN  

Popular Hashtags on Marketing

#marketing #growthhacking #startup #success #digitalmarketing #networkmarketing #onlinemarketing #contentmarketing #socialmediamarketingtips #marketingagency #socialmarketing #growthhacking #startup #seo #tech #entrepreneur #socialmedia #business #twitter #instagram #work #startups #success #tips #smm #world #motivation #web #content