11
SHAWENON COMMUNICATIONS   
Effective Messaging
No. 75
June, 2012  
Greetings!

I went into my boss' office yesterday morning and said, "I don't really want to write about Social Campaigns. I know I promised that I would have something for the June issue, but I need more time for that piece. Can I write about Event Marketing? I just used that product and it's really cool."

She said yes. I love working for myself!

So the first article is about . . . Constant Contact's Event Marketing product. The second article is my picks of the top 12 Web Tips over the past six years.

Last month's Web Tips about Kickstarter got a lot of clicks so here are some tips on how to use it. I'd love to hear about your project if you're using or plan to use Kickstarter.

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In This Issue
You're Invited - Event marketing is easy
Top Tips - 12 great Web Tips
Web Tips - Online education
Ask an Expert
You're Invited

Invitation 

Constant Contact first introduced Event Marketing some years back. I remember finding it a bit awkward and non-intuitive. That was then. This is now.

I've done two event campaigns recently and both were impressively easy. In less than two hours I created a list from scratch, wrote and designed everything and sent the invites.

The product has three elements: an invitation, a registration and a homepage. It tracks responses and allows you to print a list of attendees, among other features.

The Elements

To start, you fill out a questionnaire with answers to the obvious questions--where, when, what, cost etc. The system works for online events, too. Then you have a choice of what to create next. All the elements are optional. If yours is an open event and you don't need to know who is coming, you might just want the homepage. If, like ours, you want RSVP's, but it's a closed invitation list, then you can skip the homepage and just use the invitation. The elements you choose to use are all customized to the same theme so they match.

As with email marketing, Constant Contact has a huge selection of pre-designed themes that include specific events like Halloween and Father's Day, general templates for business or charity events, personal celebrations like birthdays and anniversaries and then some all-purpose templates that will do for anything.

The registration form has check boxes for information you might want to collect from attendees, or you can choose to customize your questions. Since our event is pot luck, I asked people to say what they are bringing.

The event homepage is a web page hosted by Constant Contact with text and images to help promote your event. If you include a homepage, it will be the first stop for registrants. Otherwise, invitees will get an email invite with a link to the registration form.

Alternatives

Of course, I recommend Constant Contact because I'm a business partner and think their products are great, but there are other options for online invitations. Check out Punchbowl, Anyvite, Pingg, Zoji and Manvite. The latter is for guys only. You'll get a laugh at their list of events.

When all is said and done, you can't beat Constant Contact for service. Phone help hours have recently been extended to Monday - Thursday: 7 a.m. - 11 p.m. ET; Friday: 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. ET; and Saturday - Sunday: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET.   

Top Tips
Best

Likely you've heard of David Pogue, technology commentator for The New York Times and CBS, among others. He's great at decoding the world of technology in interesting and creative ways. Recently he wrote about his personal hardware and software choices, which mean a lot coming from him.

The piece inspired me to do another "Best Tips" article. The last one was in February, 2010. I was surprised at how much has changed since then.

Top 12

Here are my current top Web Tips. The list is totally subjective and combines tools I personally rely on heavily with tips that others have found especially useful. The order is random except that products precede techniques.


1. Weather Underground. My personal most visited site by far and the one I miss the most when I can't get Internet access. In addition to local and regional radar, they have a WunderMap� that positions the weather on a map.

2. Snagit. I haven't updated to the latest on this one, but I still find it a most useful tool for capturing things online and using them elsewhere.

3. ColorCop. This handy free tool allows you to identify colors and match them using the hex code.

4. Jacquie Lawson. Besides having some amusing electronic greeting cards, the site sends me reminders for upcoming birthdays. As soon as I get the notice, I send the card and it's delivered on the celebration day.

5. iStock. I still use this online photo provider monthly for Web Words, but the prices are going up on a lot of their graphics. If you have another favorite, please let me know.

6. Caring Bridge. This is a wonderful free service for updating family and friends about a loved-ones' health when there are problems.

 

7. TED. Which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design is an amazing source of short lectures to entertain and inform.

8. Freecycle™. A great way to give away what you don't want and get what you do. My latest good fortune was a bunch of plants for a problematic area of my garden.

9. Password managers. I haven't done this yet, but with the latest flap about LinkedIn passwords, it's a good idea.

10. Texting via email. If, like me, you don't text and don't have reliable cell service, this trick will let you send a text to someone's phone and get a response via email.

11. Enlarging type.  Can't read the type on a website? Try this.

12.  Adding attachments. This will keep you from leaving off the attachment to an email. Published first in 2007, it's the Web Tip people still mention most. 

As always, I'm interested in your favorites. Please send them along. 

Web Tips

Tips2 Khan Academy is an online educational organization "with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere. . . .It doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology."

Founded by Salman Khan, a former-hedge fund manager, the site offers thousands of little mini lectures, mostly about math and science. I checked out the history section, which was a little lame. But Khan's style works brilliantly for math. With funding from Google and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, this online university is likely to have a huge impact.  

And Finally . . .

Shawenon Communications collaborates with small businesses, solopreneurs, professionals and not-for-profits to get their messages across in the written word.


We specialize in electronic communications, including e-zines and other forms of email marketing, Web sites and social media.  We also ghostwrite articles and other business communications. As a solution provider, we resell Constant Contact's email marketing service.

 

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Sincerely,
First name
Susanna Opper
Shawenon Communications
413-528-6494


Ask an Expert  
Mauve SO headshot
Constant Contact has lots of additional information on their website. This is a clip from the "Ask an Expert" series about event marketing. It's a little sidebar to our piece in this issue.

Remember I'm a Constant Contact business partner eager to help you with all their products and services.

Be in touch to learn more about how email marketing can boost your business with very little effort.

 
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