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Email Marketing vs Social Media to Capture Clients

What do Unilever, Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Lush have in common?

In 2020 or 2021 they have all put their social media advertising on pause to take a stand against hate speech and misinformation. More recently Facebook has been under fire for it’s business practices leading some companies to close their accounts with the social media giant or pause making any posts or buying ads.

That leads me to ask you, what would happen if you decided not to use any social media accounts? How would you communicate with your clients and customers? Every company has to review their own values and the values of the providers they choose to support and then make an educated decision.

When you use social media accounts, you really haven’t captured your audience because if the platform goes away, where’s your client list? Your database of your customers, followers and prospective customers? It’s lost.

Consider Adding or Strengthening your Email Campaign System

My recommend is to look again at email marketing vs social media. Look at your email database. I always recommend businesses and nonprofits use a third party email provider so you can comply with CAN SPAM laws and allow followers to unsubscribe at any time. I am most familiar with MailChimp and Constant Contact, but there are many email providers and lots of blog posts comparing them on the Internet.

If you don’t have an account with a third party provider, I suggest you start researching which one will fit your needs and your budget as well as integrate with your website. Many times I put a button (or link) on a client’s website so anyone on their website can subscribe to their emails (capturing your prospects). To entice people to subscribe, you can offer a free gift like a PDF with tips, educational information, fun facts, do’s and don’ts list, whatever you think would be meaningful to your audience. When they subscribe, they get your free offer automatically.

When you have captured your client’s email address, you have it. You can always download your email list and upload it to another provider. They key is, it doesn’t go away like your social media followers could. In fact, your emails stay in your client’s inbox until they read them, whereas posts may be off their radar in just a few hours as they slide down their social media feed.

Something to consider

I just wanted to share this idea with you as something to consider for your nonprofit or business. If you already have a system set up, great! Take some time to review it and make sure you are keeping your subscriber list up-to-date. If you don’t have a platform to manage your email campaigns, consider adding one in December so you can hit the ground running in 2022 and share your message with your clients, customers and prospects.

As always, if you would like some help getting this implemented and integrated with your website, let me know. We can import email addresses from a database if you have one, even if that’s just your accounting software. You have to start somewhere!

Here’s a link to the Resource page on my website. I provide a little more info about MailChimp and Constant Contact and explain how they are different, costs, etc.

https://growyourmindshare.com/resources

Reach out to me with your email marketing vs social media questions!

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Freedom and Choice

What Does Freedom Mean to You? (written July 2021)

Happy Birthday America!

I love July! I love the warmth and sunshine. I was born in July. And we celebrate our freedom on July 4th!! Yay!

Freedom and Choice are two of my top values. I appreciate the opportunity to work with my marketing clients from my Victoria home office or remotely from anywhere in the US as a virtual assistant. We can choose a phone call, zoom meeting or, my favorite, in-person conversation.

I love brainstorming with my clients to find the right solutions to their problems. I love to research and learn new things. The more I can do for my clients, the more freedom and choice I give to them as well. I always tell my clients I will do as much or as little as they’d like me to do. I can work for you in-person or I work remotely.

I primarily work with solo entrepreneurs. They are business owners in a company of one, meaning they do ALL THE WORK themselves and often run out of time or energy to complete marketing related tasks. That’s where I come in! I help send out email campaigns, create and send newsletters to keep their followers informed, manage their advertising campaigns in print and online and fill in when then need me. I love the variety of work and my clients are thankful for my organization, efficiency, effectiveness and reliability. Plus, more freedom for them!

I also work with several nonprofit organizations. I have implemented a platform to help them manage their membership database, sell tickets for events, set up email marketing and run online campaigns for them to help raise funds for their mission.

Making and improving WordPress websites is my specialty. Clients give me an idea of what they want their website to include to meet their objectives and I get to work designing a new website or improving their existing site. There are so many tools that can connect to a WordPress website, the possibilities are endless. Again, giving my clients plenty of choice and freedom to design what they want. We keep it simple and easy to navigate and I always include search engine optimization to help get them found on the Internet.

If you are looking for some more freedom or would like to know your marketing choices, give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to meet you! Check out my services and how I work.

Michelle Aspelin
Cell: 952-484-6015
Email Me

Read what my past clients say about me on LinkedIn.

 

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Time to Review Your WordPress Websites

If your WordPress Websites are more than a year old, it’s time for a review and probably some updates. Here are a few tips for you to consider as you look over your WordPress Websites.

  1. Look at the content itself. Is it current? Do you have projects or events you need to ADD to your site? Review your COVID language as we are coming out of the pandemic and moving towards more in-person opportunities. Have any elements of your core organization changed? Any new policies to add, adjustments to your mission or objectives? Do you think your website is attracting the right audience to serve your purpose?
  2. Are your images outdated? A picture can speak a thousand words. Maybe it’s time to take some new photos for your website about your own projects, events, products, etc. If you don’t have your own photos, you can consider purchasing some at a very reasonable price. I list a photo website on my Resources page.
  3. Are your forms still accurate and asking all the best questions? Maybe it’s time to send your audience a survey. I seem to be getting a lot of those lately. Connect with your audience to know that you are still providing the products and services they desire. I like to use Google Forms so the answers are automatically transferred to a spreadsheet that creates a database for easy reference and sorting. There are many types of form options to help you gather information.
  4. WordPress websites are enhanced with plugins. Plugins can make your website load faster, keep hackers out, make working in WordPress easier with a drag and drop page editor, and you can use plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Google Analytics. There are thousands of plugin options to make your WordPress website function to meet your needs. Make sure that you ENABLE the option to keep all of your plugins updated automatically. That was a somewhat recent change WordPress made and it’s fabulous. Outdated plugins are a like an open window for hackers to enter your site.WordPress Websites
  5. After looking at your website’s content, images, forms and plugins, if you still think it needs a new look, consider a new WordPress website theme. A theme is what gives your website it’s “look”, determines the layout with rows or columns, what the header and footer look like, the colors and fonts, if it has a sidebar or not, etc. Is it responsive, meaning it “moves” as you scroll down the page. Does your website look good on all devices like phones, tablets and desktop computers?
  6. Maybe it’s time to add a video to your WordPress websites. Videos can explain who you are, what you do, and how you are different. People browsing your website will enjoy the break from having to read everything. Keep your videos around 2 minutes. Much longer and you will lose the viewers interest. Keep it concise and on-point to share your message. You are better off with 1-3 smaller videos than one long video.

If you need help updating your website, let me know. I can help you review what you have and make recommendations to update your site and keep it as safe as possible from hackers. Your website is your hub of your marketing campaign. All of your ads, social media, business cards, etc. drive traffic back to your website. If it’s not current, it can hurt your reputation. Sometimes you just need a few minor changes to have a huge impact. Let me know if I can help with advise or doing the work for you.

Michelle Aspelin
Mindshare Marketing & Implementation Services, LLC
952-484-6015

Email Me

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Check your PHP version and update

Hello!

It’s time to log into your WordPress website and see if you have a warning about the need to check your PHP version of the software. Its software that resides on the server computer where your website is hosted. Most of my clients sites are hosted with BlueHost.com but I know others use GoDaddy and other host services.

When you log in, you will see a warning on the Dashboard. If you don’t see the warning then you are all set. If you do see the warning then you need to alert your hosting company and ask them to update your PHP software. Most times, there is no effect to your website. Check your site immediately after the update to make sure everything still looks ok and links and forms are working properly. I have had one client who’s theme was outdated. The theme maker quit making updates for it. Therefore, it wasn’t compatible with the most recent PHP software version and her site “broke” and wouldn’t display at all.

The good news was that all of her content was still there, we just needed to find a new theme. We chose one from the same provider as the original theme to make the transition the easiest and most cost effective. It only took 2 hours to convert and give her website a whole new look. It’s much more updated looking, it’s simple and easy to navigate.

If you need help to check your PHP version of the software or fix your site if your theme is outdated, let me know. There are some scans I can run ahead of time to see if your site might have issues. It’s important to keep all of your plugins updated as well as your theme and WordPress version. Updates are typically done to improve security, speed, fix bugs, and add options.

Let me know if you have any WordPress or website hosting questions. For questions about BlueHost, visit my Resources page. To see all of the services I offer, view my Virtual Administrative and Marketing Services page.

Click here to learn what technically PHP is.

Michelle
952-484-6015

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How to Start a Blog, a jam-packed Resource for New Bloggers

I was listening to a podcast called How to Rock a Blog and they mentioned a resource with step-by-step instructions on how to start a blog. The podcast was produced by ChooseFI.com, an organization that promotes financial independence (FI). They encourage their W-2 income followers to set up a side hustle for additional income. However, anyone can have a side hustle, it’s the start to becoming an entrepreneur where you own your own business instead of working for someone else. Many of my clients are independent contractors or entrepreneurs who own their own business; therefore, this podcast has value for my clients too.

Here’s a link to the podcast I listened to that introduced me to Ashley Barnett and her role as the managing editor for the blog of the company she works for, the ChooseFI organization. https://www.choosefi.com/how-to-rock-a-blog.

You can listen to the podcast or just jump right into the blog post Ashley wrote called How To Start a Blog: https://www.choosefi.com/how-to-start-a-blog/.

It was posted May 26, 2020. It has an enormous amount of tips and suggestions for new or advanced bloggers.

Here are a few things I want to point out from the blog post.

Keep in mind, the content in this blog post is one perspective, from one professional blogger. I will say that I disagree with the website/blog hosting services recommendation. I strongly recommend using BlueHost.com and I do not pay anything extra for unlimited email addresses associated with my domains, and neither do any of my clients. You don’t need to pay for Office 365 for your email service, unless you require Outlook. I have a free solution for email management. See more about BlueHost on my Resources page. I also prefer to have my domain name and my hosting with the same company. I have not used SiteGround for website hosting, so I have no experience with their level of customer service, etc. BlueHost is good. They answer the phone and are ultra-knowledgeable and helpful.

As you read through this very thorough blog post about how to start a blog, try not to be overwhelmed. You should review what she recommends, then prioritize what’s important to you and start there. You don’t have to do everything on her list all at one time, ease into it. And if you are starting a blog as a hobby vs a business, much of the resources won’t apply to you. I do agree with her Canva recommendation for creating graphics and I use 123rf.com for images. (more about that too on my Resources page). I have a shortcut recommendation instead of Grammarly that’s free, ask me about it.

And if you want to learn even more from the author, Ashley Barnett, you can take her (paid) course called Hit Publish. There is a link to it at the beginning of the blog post and several times throughout the post. She also provides links to other paid courses for additional education on related topics.

Let me know what questions I can answer for you about how to start a blog or website. I highly recommend WordPress. I think you will find this resource extremely useful, it covers a lot of topics.

While I am a BlueHost Affiliate, there is no affiliate link with ChooseFI.com. I listen to a lot of their podcasts and find their information on personal finance to be very useful. You can ask me more about that too! I am a Learner and I love to share the things I have learned with others. Yes, Communication is another of my strengths, read about My Top 5 Strengths!

 

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10 Basic Rules of Copy Writing

The 10 Basic Rules of Copy Writing

I help my clients with copy for their websites and marketing materials. I always start by asking them who their ideal client is. I want them to envision an actual consumer or business. I ask them to write as if they are having a conversation with their ideal client. It helps them clarify their message and encourages the sort of authentic communication that everyone values.

I have a book called Phrases That Sell by Edward Werz and Sally Germain (Amazon). I reference it when I have a client looking for new ways to describe their products or services. The book also outlines key elements to copy writing and a few rules of copy writing. Here are a few:

  1. Know your audience (what I refer to as your ideal client)
  2. Understand your product or service. People buy BENEFITS not features. The more you understand your benefits, the more powerful your message will be.
  3. Find your principal selling position (PSP) or unique selling proposition (USP). Do you know how you are different from your competition? What makes you stand out?
  4. Write benefit-orientated copy (how it will feel, results). Effective copy is action-provoking, be descriptive.
  5. Choose active vs passive words (flowers brighten the room vs the room is brightened by the flowers).
  6. Short sentences and short words can add up to big ideas. Don’t say “It exhibits a user-friendly interface.” Instead say, “It’s easy to use.”
  7. Use formats that promote like strong headlines, bullet selling points, offers, and numbered lists.
  8. Use offers that sell. Can you offer a guarantee? Maybe a 30-day trial? Incentives should be 20% or more to be effective. Consider BOGO (buy one, get one free) or additional products or services with a purchase.
  9. Tell your reader what to do. This is so important. Your readers need to know exactly what you want them to do. Call, email, visit, signup, or follow.
  10. Tout your name. Every time you create an ad or promotion, you have the opportunity to build recognition for your company by including your business name or brand.

Let me know if you have questions. If you’d like a list of “phrases that sell” specifically for your business, let me know.  I can also help you create a memorable tagline and 30 second introduction too!

Michelle Aspelin
Professional Implementer
Mindshare Marketing & Implementation Services LLC

 

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Get Malware Protection: My Personal Malware Experience

Please read to the end!

I recommend a Security Plugin to all of my clients for their WordPress websites, and I have it on my own sites to protect from malicious activity. As we know, the plugin doesn’t offer 100% security and I got hacked! I want to share my experience with you and tell you about a stronger option than the plugin for your WordPress site. I want to help PREVENT this from happening to you. (I spent 4 hours fixing the problem and lost my email for 2 days because of other complications.) For additional protection, I chose SiteLock and they are just one such company that offers this service, you can use whoever you’d like. SiteLock is a partner with BlueHost (who I recommend for hosting) and therefore, a company I felt I could trust to get me out of my immediate situation of having ALL of my websites go down from the Internet at once.

‘Malware’ (A word created from combining Malicious + Software)
is an umbrella term used to refer to a variety of forms of hostile or intrusive software, including computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, scareware, and other malicious programs. It can take the form of executable code, scripts, active content, and other software. When your site has malware, it might go down, or it might automatically refer users to another site, a “not good” site if you get my drift.

My emergency started on June 7, thankfully I was in the office and able to work on this immediately when I got the notification. Here’s what happened to me.

12:37pm I get an email from BlueHost saying my BlueHost account has been deactivated because BlueHost detected Malware on my account. I call BlueHost immediately to find out what happened. I am referred to SiteLock, their partner that provides security services. After an hour on the phone with the technician, he explains my website was infiltrated and once into a site on the server, they got into ALL of my sites. I set up an account to get moving towards repair. He explains two services, one to scan my site and find the malware and one to actually REMOVE the malware. I need help with this, I can’t detect malicious code behind the scenes on my sites, I don’t read code. We set up the account and he submits a ticket to get 2 of my websites scanned and cleaned.

He transfers me back to BlueHost and they walk me through how to delete the WordPress installation and all the files on 4 other sites I own that are partially developed, just ideas we were working on, but not launched to the public. Bad news though, I had tell my daughter that the website I made for her so she could sell her photo note cards has to be deleted now too because she doesn’t make enough profit monthly to cover the cost of the scanning to clean it and protection moving forward. 🙁   (We made a commitment to check on other distribution methods – another business teaching moment for her.)

2:41pm I get an email from SiteLock saying that my sites are now clean, they removed the malware. THANK YOU! I thought that was fast service. Luckily BlueHost deactivated my account before my site was blacklisted by Google, which is another story about getting that resolved and the consequences of being blacklisted.

2:47pm I get another email from SiteLock saying that SiteLock has successfully configured SMART (Secure Malware Alert & Removal Tool) on my websites.

3:09pm SiteLock sends me an email saying they have successfully configured TrueShield (Web Application Firewall) to my websites. Thank you SiteLock! Whew! This could have been so much worse! I am so glad it got caught when it did.

3:18pm I check my sites and they are still down, my BlueHost account is still deactivated. I am now on the last step, still keeping my cool and using all the patience I have. I call BlueHost and alert them that all sites have either been deleted or fixed so they can reinstate my site. They run their own scan to confirm it’s safe and reactivate my account. Then, I start the process of changing passwords on all websites and my BlueHost account as recommended.

I think to myself, WOW…that was too close for comfort! I want to alert all of my current and past clients of what happened to me and how they can hopefully prevent it from happening to them. I think of it like insurance. If you want to pay a fee to prevent problems with your website or blog, and it effecting even more like your computer, then read on. If you want to take the risk and only treat the problem if/when you get it, you can do that too, but still read on because there is extra preventative advice at the end that I share from SiteLock.

I Negotiated a Discount For You

I called SiteLock back after everything was fixed and explained that I have many clients that might want their services too. I spoke with KIMBERLY. Because I explained I would refer numerous clients to SiteLock because they did such a fast and complete job, she offered a discount, but you need to call her directly for the discount. I get no kick-back, no incentive for referring to them, it’s just a discount that they agreed to offer to my clients. And you don’t need to choose this company, you can research your options yourself, just don’t wait to do it!

Malware creation has broken new levels. With 160,000 new malware strains detected every day (and growing), millions of websites are vulnerable. SiteLock scans over 5 million websites every day for malware and vulnerabilities. Their website scanning tools evaluate your website both from the outside-in and the inside-out to fully analyze your website or blog.

Here is Kimberly’s offer:

SecureSpeed Plan – $45/month with a 6 month agreement. (Regular $79/month)

What it includes:

SiteLock Premium Scanner scans your website for malware and utilizes SMART (Secure Malware Automatic Removal Tool) to help automatically remove 95% of the known malware in our database. On top of that we perform daily vulnerability scans where we replicate techniques used by hackers to test the website to see if there are any issues with vulnerabilities.

SiteLock Premium Firewall proactively protects websites against malicious bot traffic, and works with sites with SSL’s. It leverages the SiteLock TrueSpeed Global CDN to accelerate website speed by as much as 50% and saves 40-70% bandwidth by caching static & dynamic content using patented intelligent dynamic caching technology. It will also provide you with traffic statistics within your SiteLock Dashboard.

Below is a link to the SiteLock website that describes the plans and here’s an image of the plans. If you don’t currently have malware, then you can sign up for the SecureSpeed. Since I got infected and needed to get the malware removed, I signed up for the SecureSite plan. This cost is per website/domain. If you have more than one website or blog, you will want protection for each one. If you own 3-5 sites they have a discounted offer. Again, call Kimberly directly for the discounted amount.

https://www.sitelock.com/plans.php

SiteLock Plans

If you would like to call Kimberly and ask questions, you can reach her at her direct line 480-725-9248 anytime between 6:00AM and 2:30PM Arizona time. She works Monday through Friday.

After my websites got cleaned I got this notification, read the PREVENTATIVE measures you can take:

Dear Michelle Aspelin,
We have successfully configured SMART (Secure Malware Alert & Removal Tool) on your website.
How does SiteLock protect me?
The SMART scan takes a comprehensive look at the surface of your website from the outside-in, as well as the files on the back-end from the inside-out, to detect hidden malware. If any website malware is detected, the automated tool quickly removes it so that your website does not become blacklisted or incur any downtime.
SMART ensures that your customers receive a secure experience when visiting your website
Your issue has been resolved and this ticket will be closed. Please feel free to contact us 24/7 at (877) 257-9263, or email support@sitelock.com with any questions or concerns.

How to maintain preventative security for your website, visitors, and data. The most important thing you can do to keep your website safe is play a proactive role in the security of the site.
Passwords
Set a strong password for all your logins: FTP, Admin backend, Database, Host (Plesk, cPanel, etc). It is recommended to have a 7-15 character password, using a number, character and upper case letter. Make sure that you are changing the password at least every 30-90 days as a preventative measure.
Never log in to an account from a link sent via email. This can be a form of a phishing attack.
User Access
It is best to limit the amount of users that have access to your hosting account, passwords and FTP. The more users you create, or share logins, the more at vulnerable you are to security risks and exploits.
Updates
It is critical to make sure that your website is always up to date with the latest software release. It is best to ensure that all plugins, modules, themes, and versions are always up to date. These updates will help prevent known vulnerabilities to the application of the site.
Clean-Up
Set a regular time to run through proper maintenance of the site. Remove all old coding, unused user/FTP accounts, and unused files. Make sure to never leave a back-up of your website on your server, this is a huge target to hackers. Properly maintaining regular clean-up will ensure less vulnerability to security risks and exploits.
Sincerely,
The SiteLock Team
Phone: 877-257-9263
Email: support@sitelock.com

So, if you’d like to try to prevent malware issues, I recommend you call KIMBERLY directly and set up an account with SiteLock.

Remember to keep your WordPress version and all plugins updated and make your passwords complex!

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Open Rate and Click Rate Tips from Constant Contact Webinar

Constant Contact logo

Hello! I just attended a one hour webinar from Constant Contact and I want to share the tips they offered with you. The data they compiled is from ALL of their customers, covering ALL industries. Keep in mind, the best practices for your specific industry may vary from these recommendations. The webinar was called The Art and Science of a Great Email.

How to increase OPEN RATES:

Keep subject lines to 50 characters or less, about 5-7 words. Sometimes subjects like “December Newsletter” will work for your subscribers. Or you might want to get more creative and use something like “December Must Read Highlights” or “What to know from XXX for the month of December”.

Highest amount of OPENS occurs for emails sent between 6-7AM on Monday mornings. The open rate declines as the week progresses.

How many emails should you send a MONTH? 1-20. After 2 or more, the open rate decreases. More emails = less opens.

Keep in mind, this information was from ALL Constant Contact customers across ALL industries. Some of these practices I agree with 100%, others I think are open to more flexibility. I will however, go back and review the results I’ve been getting for myself and for my clients and see how they compare to these recommendations based on their statistics.

How to STRUCTURE your email:

Read more

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Replace your Akismet Spam Protector

Akismet is no longer a free option for protecting you from spam Comments on your blog/website.

I have removed the Akismet plugin from my own blogs and searched the plugins for an alternative. I am using one right now and will see how it goes.

You can do the same, search for and test a new plugin to reduce your spam on your Comments. If you’d like me to replace your Akismet for something else, please let me know. Chances are, if you haven’t logged into your site for a while, there may be other plugins that you need to update as well as your WordPress version itself. Maybe some of your content needs to be freshened up too. Here is an older post I made about the importance of maintaining your site.

Call or email if you’d like my help. WordPress is not a “set it and forget it” type of website. Keeping your site fresh is your best way of generating new leads and new clients or customers.

I don’t charge my clients a monthly fee to keep their sites maintained and using the most up-to-date features and functionality. I allow my clients to do that themselves. But if you find you can’t keep up with it, let me know and we can set up a maintenance plan that works for you.

Michelle Aspelin
Mindshare Marketing & Implementation Services LLC

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Upgrading from PHP 5.2 to PHP 5.4 on your BlueHost Account

If you got the following notice from BlueHost, you need to act right away. If you are using the PHP 5.2  (single php.ini) version of the software, you need to update to 5.4 Single php.ini.

To do this, follow the instructions in their email. Read more

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