VernonGirl

Email marketing autoresponders explained

You've probably heard of the word "autoresponder" in email marketing, but do you understand what it means or how it works? Autoresponders are a really slick way of automating email campaigns.  If you want to save time or ramp up sales, consider their benefits.

I admit, it took me a while to wrap my head around the word. Mostly, because it has the word "responder" in it which implies that it responds back for you.

It really should be called auto messenger, auto promoter, auto sales letter, auto newsletter or auto trainer because it sends automated messages for you in the order you define. Auto-responders are also called follow up messages. You can choose daily, weekly, monthly, bi-weekly, twice daily, or any frequency you like. You must plan your campaign, create the content and pre-load the messages, but the system does the sending, or follow up, for you.

The system is useful for blogs, newsletters, training materials, incentives, special offers, tips or any kind of message you want to use to stay in touch with customers, sell products, inform, prompt, promote or remind.

Here is an example of how it can work:

1) When someone signs up to your e-newsletter, it automatically asks the user to double opt-in by confirming their email address. (You have the option to turn the double opt-in off, but it is recommended to keep it.)

2) Once the email is confirmed, it sends a thank you note and tells your reader how often to expect your newsletter or tells them whatever message you pre-load.

3) After the thank you note is sent, it sends out the first edition of your newsletter.

4) One week later, it sends the next edition of the newsletter.

5) A week after that, it sends the third edition...and so on.

The emails can be sent in plain text format or html (pretty pictures).

Here is an example of a 52 Tips Weekly E-Newsletter by my good client Stephen Hammond who uses the Aweber system.

Aweber is recognized as one of the leading email marketing softwares to use auto-responders. (Disclosure: I am an affiliate.)

What I also find useful with this system are the email sign up forms that I can create myself using their system. (Make sure you work in Firefox and not Internet Explorer when you are creating these.)

If you are interested in starting an email campaign, contact me.

Thanks for reading.

Courtenay

Vernon, B.C. Creative Firm Lava Marketing Erupts New Website

Lava Marketing, the creative firm I launched in 1999, erupted with a new website yesterday. It features a portfolio, our clients and packages for search engine optimization (also known as getting your website to the top of Google), Content Management Systems, Web Design, Logo design, Corporate Identity Design and Brochure Design.

Lava Marketing works fast.....

Lava Marketing is a unique creative firm because we can produce high quality work that is affordable, and ready fast. If you need a web site design, ad design, packaging design or logo design, we can provide you with first concepts within 48 hours, guaranteed.  

We break all the rules, and give you original design files....

Have you ever felt that your hands were tied because you couldn't get the original design files for your logo, a print piece or your website design? Lava Marketing does what most web designers or printers will NOT ever do....once you make your final payment for work completed, we turn over all of the editable design files to you immediately. This gives you more freedom in sourcing suppliers (like printers), saves you time, improves the quality of your marketing and especially saves you money.

We work with all file formats....

We know that some of your advertising partners may not have all of the latest design software. That's why we design in Photoshop (.psd) AND Adobe Illustrator (.ai). We also provide .pdf, .tiff and .jpg file formats. This allows you, our client, the most flexibility when transferring files to your advertising partners like printers or online advertising.

We're really quite small, but our experience is vast...

When you hire Lava Marketing, you're hiring me. I personally take care of you. There is lots of me to go around. I have several suppliers, over fifteen years of marketing experience, own two companies, have worked with various sectors (manufacturing, wood products, mortgage, real estate, public speaking, training, health care, leisure and tourism) and I have a very broad perspective.

Ask us for a Quote...

If you are wondering how affordable I am (we are), fill out our quote request form.

I look forward to being your marketing partner.

Cheers,

Courtenay Pitcher

Is your database big enough to fill a movie theatre?

Lisa Salt is the Owner of The Salt Team, a Vernon, B.C. Real Estate Team. Last night she held a private viewing of SALT, the movie, for all of her clients. The place was packed. She had to start the movie about ten minutes late to process her clients (including my husband, our two boys and me) through the popcorn and pop line-up. Everyone got a free ticket to the movie and one free pop and popcorn.

She began the evening thanking everyone in the theatre for all of their referrals to friends and families over the years and especially in this market. "This is our little way of giving back." She said. "I can only hope they make a sequel."

She and her agents (real estate that is) were dressed in black with T-shirts that said "Who is Salt team." They greeted everyone at the door and thanked us for coming. There was a large RE/MAX balloon propped outside the theatre at the front door.

It was brilliant of her to capitalize on Hollywood's millions of marketing dollars to promote a movie with her same name. All of it was possible because she keeps a very good database of clients. Invitations were sent by email first, and then I received a follow-up physical invitation by postal mail.

Do you have a list of email and postal mail addresses you could access if the right marketing opportunity came along?

By the way, we loved the movie. It was action-packed and had a great twist at the end.

Thanks for reading.

Courtenay Pitcher

How a luxury real estate brand for Kelowna, Vernon and Calgary is born

When Gord Fowler, a dually licensed RE/MAX real estate agent in Calgary and Vernon, came to my company Lava Marketing to create a luxury real estate brand for him, I was delighted.

Obviously, everything about a luxury brand must scream:

professionalism,

quality

and class.

When a new brand is developed, we also make sure that elements like colour, font choices or design touches are consistent throughout the client's marketing pieces. 

For Gord, we developed a proposal that included a new logo, tagline and marketing photo. Once these projects were complete, he hired us to do a web page design, business card design, web page programming and 8.5 x 5.5 flyer.

Gord was decisive about choosing his new brand name: Fowler Luxury Homes. 

We came up with several tagline choices. The one that took first prize was:

You Deserve The Best.

This tagline has a double entendre....not only do you deserve to live in a luxury home with a luxury lifestyle, but you also deserve a specialist and seasoned professional in dealing with Okanagan luxury and resort properties, Gord Fowler.

Here is the logo with the tagline:

 

Every great real estate agent needs a really great photo. Our original intent was to take Gord's picture in front of a crackling fireplace inside a luxury home. As it turned out, the location we used for the photoshoot had a fabulous balcony in front of the Vernon Yacht Club. What better backdrop to scream "luxury" and "Okanagan lifestyle" than yachts? (A blue suit is always a safe and professional choice too.) Here is the result:

We integrated his logo/tagline, with his image to create a web page design that we uploaded (in pieces) to Ubertor, a template website system popular with real estate agents. I have to admit that working with a template system like Ubertor is challenging. We had to adapt our original design to fit into their rigid template. But I'm pleased with the results:

Here is the business card (front and back) that incorporates many of the same elements:

Business Card Back (notice the background with elements of the logo):

This is the 8.5 x 5.5 flyer design just approved:

What do you think of Gord Fowler's new marketing pieces? Do you think we hit the mark so that when you are looking to buy a luxury property in Calgary or the Okanagan, you'll call Gord Fowler? Please leave a comment at the bottom of this blog.

I really enjoyed working with Gord on this project. Thanks Gord!

Thanks for reading.

Courtenay Pitcher, Personal branding specialist

Three lucky charms for thriving in a tough economy – Okanagan business style

Lucky Charm One – Keep Overhead Low

In these tough economic times, Tammi Berzins, co-owner of Berzins Designs in Vernon, B.C. says, “People are still building, renovating and doing a bit of everything.” Tammi has been in business for four years. She says, “I love what I do and enjoy working in the Okanagan.” Tammi and her business partner Carley Sawka travel to interior design related trade shows to make sure they are current in the design world.

Berzins Designs recently completed an FF and E (the interior design and installation of furniture, fixtures and equipment) at Firelight Lodge at Silver Star Mountain Resort, but Tammi does admit these times are difficult. Tammi says, “We try to keep things minimal, and not have a large overhead. We were fortunate that the (Firelight Lodge) hotel project happened at a good time. My best suggestion for business owners is to keep expences and overhead as low as you can.” 

Berzins Designs does commercial and residential interior design work for a handful of builders in the Vernon area.

Lucky Charm Two – Fill A Need, Even if it’s only temporary

Elizabeth Sweezie has a background in accounting and a Business Administration diploma from Okanagan College. She has been organizing offices and their paperwork systems for twenty years. She started her business Office 2 Office one year ago because she knew it could fill the gap for a “temp” service.

Now, she steps in temporarily to help small businesses who are bursting at the seams with paperwork, lack of efficient systems, or expansion to organize their offices. She does collection letters, customizes forms, creates invoices, puts payables and receivables into one place and labels it all so they can find it. She says that the companies she helps just need, “a little specific organizational business to be done. This frees owners up to take care of their business.”

To find clients, she keeps herself involved with several organizations including:

Vernon Women in Business (Website Director)
North Okanagan Referral Association
Toastmasters (Acting VP of Education)
Okanagan Business Exchange.

Next, she will look at helping bookkeepers and accountants.

Lucky Charm Three – Diversify

When Adrienne Harris’ phone stopped ringing, she diversified to survive in business.

Adrienne Harris has owned Lasting Impressions Home Staging and Design for four years and she helps the homeowner or real estate professional prepare the condition of a home or property to sell. She says, “This enhances marketing, because 90% of home buyers look on line before purchasing.” According to Adrienne, when a homebuyer works with a realtor, they look at location and what they can spend. Once those needs are met, they buy that home based on its condition….that’s where she comes in.

(Before shot)

Her husband Adam Harris is a real estate agent with Century 21. Her and Adam have been buying, renovating and selling houses (also called “flipping”) for the past three years. This has led to doing small renovations for others.

“To survive in business, we’ve had to diversify. My husband went from full time real estate to taking on more renovations. I’ve had to diversify too. I’ve had to recreate my business. My phone was no longer ringing. I may do the work myself rather than sub it out to a sub trade. I’m not going to hire someone to powerwash a client’s dock when I’m more than capable of doing it.” Adrienne remarks.


Recently, Adrienne and Adam combined two businesses they own, Lasting Impressions Home Staging and Design and Portico Property Concierge, into a corporation called North Okanagan Property Services. She says, “We want to be a one stop shop service for homeowners whether they need maintenance, renovations or want to sell their home.”

You can follow Adrienne on Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/okanaganstager

What are you doing to survive or thrive in these tough times? I would love to hear from you. Comments can be left at the bottom of this blog by clicking the comments link below.

Thanks for reading!

Courtenay Pitcher, Business Survivor

Follow me on Twitter (@vernongirl) or subscribe to my blog.

Newspapers are out, on line marketing is in for Vernon, B.C. Realtors

Social media is changing the way that real estate agents advertise. (Photo credit: The Salt Team Re/Max Real Estate Agents at The Rise overlooking Okanagan Lake in Vernon, B.C.)

Lisa Salt, Re/Max Real Estate Agent in Vernon, B.C. says, “Social media is the main focus of the speakers and panels right now at all of the industry trade shows and conferences I’ve attended. Everybody is using it to differing levels. The people who are doing it well have a system in place to make sure everything is updated every few days. They have information going on everything: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc..”

Re/Max has brought in a number of social media professionals to give people an idea of what users of social media are expecting, who the audiences are, and a little idea of how to start with it.

“I’ve had a few realtors call me and pick my brain. We’re starting, but we’re still feeling our way around. We could do so much better. I can’t say I’ve had x number of sales from social media. Two people contacted me directly through Facebook. One Re/Max referral came directly from LinkedIn. We’re in the beginning stages. It’s a long term effort.” says Salt.

Salt is using Youtube to post video tours of houses she has listed. She says, “Sellers are impressed when their house is on Youtube.” She also posts other videos about local schools and is slated to post videos with beaches, parks, golf courses and lakeshore developments.

“Social media helps us create connections and give our listing clients more exposure. We’re able to contact way more buyers. If you’re not there, it’s going to be a problem.” she says. “The realtors who use social media will be the ones that shine in the next five years. Then it’ll be something else, or it’ll look different in five years.”

That being said, Salt knows realtors who have advertised on Facebook, but have discontinued it. She hasn’t made a commitment to advertising with Facebook yet. But she has been using Twitter and blogging for around the past six months. She is following Steve & Greg Hamre Re/Max agents out of Ottawa on Twitter because she thinks they are doing a good job.

As far as her predictions for Spring/Summer real estate in Vernon, B.C., she says, “I think the market has stopped falling. We’ll see a more balanced market with a one to three percent growth. More back to what we would consider to be normal. Nice and calm. Not a buyers or a seller’s market.”

In terms of traditional marketing, she comments, “Some sellers expect us to have their houses in the newspapers. It’s tough to get rid of what we’ve been doing. Social media doesn’t cost a lot in dollars, but it does cost in time. Re/Max is looking at putting out a monthly booklet rather than have it hodgepodge in the paper every week. It’ll help with the transition to get away from the paper and move forward with online and social media. We’ll advertise with them [the newspaper] in a different way.”

There are six licensed realtors and two unlicensed realtors with The Salt Team (including Lisa Salt and Gord Fowler).

Thanks for reading!

Courtenay Pitcher

The next generation: A brand new logo and tagline for a second generation real estate agent

When Melissa Fowler, Re/Max Real Estate agent of Calgary, Alberta approached me to develop a new logo and tagline for her, I was delighted. Here is a quick story about how we strategized about the tagline and the imagery we would use.

Melissa Fowler has been in real estate for a number of years in Calgary. She is a second generation real estate agent, following in the footsteps of her father Gord Fowler, a well-known real estate agent in Calgary, Alberta who now makes his home in Vernon, B.C. and is part owner in the Salt Team with Lisa Salt, his wife, of Re/Max Vernon.

First, I met with Melissa by phone. I asked her who her ideal customers were and how she pictured herself. She mentioned that she wanted to be known as a cutting-edge agent who uses social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to market her client's homes. Also, that she truly cares about her customers. What she was most proud of, however, was that fact that her father still has such a good reputation as an agent in Calgary, that often times she'll be asked by a prospective new client if she is related to Gord and, "How is he doing". Then, she'll hear stories about how he helped them choose their first home, or how he helped them sell.

As a Marketing Strategist, I wanted that pride to translate into her new tagline. "What is a tagline?" you ask. A tagline is a short statement after your company name that quickly and succinctly tells your customers and prospects exactly what you're about. It's a feeling. It's a bold statement. It implies your values or what is important to you. It is also a statement that positions you against your competitors, or sets you apart in the minds of your customers.

Here is what we came up with.....drum roll please...... "The Next Generation"

This statement, first off, lets us know that Melissa Fowler is indeed related to Gord Fowler. Next, it tells us she is leading-edge. It implies that she is using the latest technological and social media tools available to market, which is one of the main objectives of a great real estate agent. Thirdly, for anyone who is thinking about tearing down their old bungalow and putting an infill in, which is so popular in Calgary, it implies that the next generation of home can be accomplished. Fourthly, it speaks to those young professionals who are either thinking about having children, or have just had them, and are looking for a larger home.

Once the tagline was established, we moved on to an image for her company, also known as a logo or icon. We chose a font that looked fast and next generation-like for the main word that we wanted everyone to see: "Fowler". We used really easy-to-read fonts (typeface) for the rest. And we came up with a futuristic looking building on top of them all. Most important, was that this logo would be easily read on real estate signs. 

We made over 27 designs for her to choose from, and then refined them from there. We had the first 5 designs to her within 48 hours of our very first telephone meeting. The whole process took less than 30 days from start to finish.

Here is the final result of the blue version of the logo:

 

Once the logo was complete, we created it in black on white, white on black and red and blue, for marketing in other materials. Here is the black on white version:



Plus, we provided Melissa with the logo in .psd, .jpg, .ai, .pdf and .eps formats so that she could easily email the files to her printing partners in one single zip file to work with the format of their choice, depending on the size, colour and software they were using.

How do you like it? I would love to have your comments back right in my blog comments section.

For your next logo or tagline, please think of my company, Lava Marketing, to design it for you. The cost is way less than you probably think and I've been doing this for over ten years now.

Thanks for reading. 

Courtenay Pitcher, tagline writer extraordinaire

Owner of Lava Marketing & VernonGirl.com

http://www.vernongirl.com

http://twitter.com/vernongirl