January 21, 2014

HOW TO EMAIL ALL YOUR LINKEDIN CONNECTIONS

green lightYou've been working hard building a nice quality LinkedIn network. Now you have a meaningful message for all your connections. How do you reach them?

Why Not Post An Update?

Posting an update is quick and easy, but will enough connections see it? The chances decrease if their network is large and they don’t visit LinkedIn often. You can post your update more than once but risk annoying your connections with smaller networks who visit LinkedIn regularly.
LinkedIn update

Email Through LinkedIn

LinkedIn limits your message to 50 recipients at a time. If you have 500+ connections, you can be spending a long time reaching them. The process of selecting the names is a hassle too.
LinkedIn: max 50 email recipients
LinkedIn’s limits are probably designed to discourage spam but most of the messages I receive this way are spammy. Also, you lose basic formatting options like bold, italics and bullets and friendly links (e.g., this instead of http://www.marketingactuary.com/2012/10/building-trust-with-linkedin-your-30.html).

What happens if LinkedIn limits the number of emails you can send in a day?

Email Through Your CRM

max emailsYou can send email through your CRM system like Contactually (the best option for small business). Again. you may face limits on how many emails you can send at a time (e.g., 50) and in a day (e.g., 300). These systems aren’t designed for mass emails.

Perhaps they have concerns over spam even though the messages go through your own email provider (which may also have daily limits).

Your CRM likely holds non-LinkedIn connections too. Selecting the ideal recipients takes time, but is a worthwhile exercise. For instance, you might want to only reach people who live in the same city.

Email Through an Email Service

The ultimate solution is to use an email service like Mad Mimi (review). A free account may be all you need. These services give you a quick, fast way to reach your connections. You also see who’s opening the emails and what they’re clicking on.

Here’s the one-time process
You’re now ready to compose and send your email.

Do You Have Permission?

Are you allowed to send messages to all your LinkedIn connections? I’ve asked around. This isn’t legal advice but the answer looks like yes if you
  • build a quality network
  • send messages infrequently
  • have meaningful content (e.g, skip generic messages like “Happy New Year”)
Your LinkedIn connections gave you permission to establish a business relationship with them. You can’t without communication. You’re simply finding a efficient, considerate way to reach them.

Links

PS Transparence, my monthly newsletter still requires opt-in.

January 14, 2014

DITCH THE SPONSORS AT YOUR EVENTS

a message from a sponsorHere a sponsor. There a sponsor. Everywhere a sponsor, sponsor ...

Sponsors bring gifts but take compromises. In effect, you’re selling (or renting) them your audience. Who wins?

When attendees cover the costs, you know who you’re serving. You have much more flexibility, though less money. 

A Word From Our Sponsor

Sponsors want attention. That might mean the likes of
  • mentions on PowerPoint slides that loop during breaks
  • mentions at the microphone by the host
  • mentions on the handouts, signage and event promotional material
  • a few minutes at the microphone for an infomercial
These interruptions are small, common and perhaps even expected. That doesn't make them welcome.

Attendees pay a much higher price if a sponsor gets a speaking spot. The speaker and content might be good. but now you’ve lost an opportunity for great.

Self-censorship

Sponsors influence the topics presented. For instance, would a bank support a talk about the pitfalls in mortgage life insurance or other products they sell? A subtle form of self-censorship takes place when you make your event sponsor-friendly. You might not even realize that you’re compromising. The result is less for your attendees, which may reduce the audience size and satisfaction.

Prudence

When attendees fund the costs, you need to be more careful about expenses to keep ticket prices low. That’s good. Constraints encourage creativity which helps set you apart. For example, maybe you reduce the catering costs by picking a venue which allows you to bring in your own refreshments.

Speed

Without sponsors, you make decisions faster since you don’t need their approval. You get to focus on what's best for your attendees rather than on what the sponsors want for their investment.

Stand Out

Recently, I saw an event model that looked interesting. You attend for free and donate what you think the event is worth to pre-selected charities. That looks fair, even worthy. A closer review showed three catches for attendees:
  1. Lots of sponsors
  2. Sponsors as speakers
  3. Presentations promoting what the sponsors sold
The result is that attendees pay a very high price since the event is designed for the sponsors.

How often do you see events without sponsors? You stand out if you don’t have any and say why.

Links

PS Here’s an example of a no-sponsor event.

January 7, 2014

THE 2013 POSTS FROM THE MARKETING ACTUARY BLOG

Here are all 51 posts from the Marketing Actuary blog from 2013. You can select them by image or category.

By Images

YOUR FAVOURITE POSTS OF 2012YOU NEED TO READ DAN PINK’S ‘TO SELL IS HUMAN’ADD WEBINARS TO YOUR MARKETING MIXCOLLECT, PLAN AND DO WITH TRELLOREASONS FOR LEAVING THE TORONTO (REGION) BOARD OF TRADETHREE RULES TO USE THE RIGHT WORK TOOLSBUILDING TRUST WITH NETWORKINGARE YOU AS RELEVANT (OR IRRELEVANT) AS THE OSCARS?WHEN TO HIRE A COACHHIGHLIGHTS FROM SETH GODIN, GOOGLE AND BLACKBERRY AT TECH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE 2013BUILDING TRUST BEFORE MEETING IN PERSONTHE WRAP ON ‘DECISIVE’, THE NEW BOOK FROM CHIP AND DAN HEATHRECOVERING FROM ANOTHER COMPUTER BREAKDOWNONE BILLION REASONS TO CREATE YOUR OWN VIDEOSWHAT IF YOU GOT BAD PUBLICITY LIKE RBC?WRITE A WORKBOOK INSTEAD OF A BOOKADVANCED NETWORKING: LAUNCH YOUR OWN PRIVATE COMMUNITYCREATING THE PERFECT NETWORKING EVENTFORGET ABOUT WHO WINS AND LOSESEVEN NIAGARA FALLS GETS BORINGWHERE FREE BEATS PAIDWHY BOTHER SEEING A SPEAKER LIVE?STARTING YOUR OWN PRIVATE SOCIAL NETWORK: NING 3.0 BEATS SOCIALGO AND GROU.PSTHREE STEPS TO GET REPLIES TO YOUR EMAILSREDISCOVERING EMAIL NEWSLETTERSSPEAK UP: DO YOU SAY WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID?OF RAIN STORMS, BLACKOUTS AND MEMORIESCASE STUDY: GETTING NEW TRAFFIC FROM OLD CONTENTWHAT LASTING GIFT CAN YOU OFFER EVERYONE YOU MEET?BLOGS vs NEWSLETTERS: WHICH IS BETTER FOR YOU?THREE YEARS LATER: HOW TO WORK FROM A HOME OFFICEUSE MAD MIMI FOR YOUR EMAIL NEWSLETTERSPRE-ANNOUNCE OR SHIP? COMPARING STRATEGIES AT APPLE, BLACKBERRY, GOOGLE AND MICROSOFTHOW TO MOVE FROM OUT-OF-SIGHT TO TOP-OF-MINDTHREE STEPS TO RECYCLE OLD CONTENTHOW HEALTHY IS YOUR MARKETING?HOW TO HIRE THE RIGHT PERSON (OR NOT HIRE THE WRONG PERSON)HOW TO FIND A FREE VENUE FOR YOUR EVENTREFLECTIONS ON TEDxTORONTO 2013HOW TO BEAT GOLIATH WITH YOUR MARKETINGAPPLY THE NETFLIX MODEL TO YOUR BUSINESS (BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE DOES)CASE STUDY: HOW TO LAUNCH A NEW BRAND (MONEY 50/50)FOUR CLEVER WAYS TO SLASH NO-SHOWS AT YOUR FREE EVENTHOW TO NUDGE A COMPANY TO MAKE WHAT YOU SELL MORE COMPETITIVECHANGE YOUR QUARTERLY MARKETING MESSAGES TO MONTHLYWHY YOU MUST TAKE NOTESAVOID UPGRADING FROM WINDOWS 8.0 TO WINDOWS 8.1HOW NOT TO ORGANIZE AN EVENTWHY CONTACTUALLY IS THE BEST CRM OPTION FOR SMALL BUSINESS10 TIPS FOR USING A WEBCAM FOR BUSINESSWHAT WILL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY FOR TODAY'S CUSTOMERS?

By Category

You’ll find all the 2013 posts arranged by category and then in chronological order.
Content
  1. Your favourite posts of 2012
  2. Write a workbook instead of a book
  3. Three steps to get replies to your email
  4. Case study: Getting new traffic from old content
  5. Three steps to recycle old content
  6. Change your quarterly marketing messages to monthly
Leadership
  1. Speak up: Do you say what need to be said?
  2. How to hire the right person (or not hire the wrong person)
  3. How to beat Goliath with your marketing
  4. Apply the Netflix model to your business (before someone else does)
  5. How to nudge a company to make what you sell more competitive
  6. What will you do differently for today’s customers
Learning
  1. When to hire a coach
  2. Highlights from Seth Godin, Google and Blackberry at the Tech Leadership Conference 2013
  3. The WRAP on Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath
  4. Of rain storms, blackouts and memories
  5. Reflections on TEDxToronto 2013
  6. Why you must take notes
Networking
  1. Reasons for leaving the Toronto (Region) Board of Trade
  2. Advanced networking: launch your own private community
  3. Creating the perfect networking event
  4. Starting your own private social network: Ning 3.0 beats SocialGO and GROU.PS
  5. How to find a free venue for your event
  6. Four clever ways to reduce no-shows at your event
  7. How NOT to organize an event
Productivity
  1. Collect, plan and do with Trello
  2. Three rules to use the right work tools
  3. Three years later: how to work from a home office
  4. Why Contactually is the best CRM option for small business
Marketing
  1. You need to read Dan Pink’s To Sell Is Human
  2. Are you as relevant (or irrelevant) as the Oscars?
  3. What if you got bad publicity like RBC?
  4. Even Niagara Falls gets boring
  5. Where free beats paid
  6. What lasting gift can you offer everyone you meet?
  7. How to move from out-of-sight to top-of-mind
  8. How healthy is your marketing?
  9. Case study: How to launch a new brand (Money 50/50)
Newsletters
  1. Rediscovering email newsletters
  2. Use Mad Mimi for your email newsletters
  3. Blogs vs Newsletters: Which is better for you?
Technology
  1. Recovering from another computer breakdown
  2. Pre-announce or ship? Comparing strategies at Apple, Blackberry, Google and Microsoft
  3. Avoid upgrading from Window 8 to Windows 8.1
Trust
  1. Building trust with networking
  2. Building trust before meeting in person
Video
  1. Add webinars to your marketing mix
  2. One billion reasons to create your own videos
  3. Why bother seeing a speaker live?
  4. 10 tips for using a webcam for business
That’s 2013. There’s more ahead.

PS Have you seen the 2013 posts from Riscario Insider?