Welcome
to the one year anniversary edition of this newsletter. I am going
to mark the occasion by revisiting some of the most popular articles of the past year since many of
you are new here - in fact, the subscriber list has QUADRUPLED since
the beginning and the 300th subscriber signed up just yesterday!!!
For those of you with, or considering an email newsletter, I wrote
an honest assessment of what having a newsletter
means and whether it's worth the work that goes into it. Plus,
I'll share my latest online communication experiment, an RSS feed,
and a beginners guide to what RSS is. And
of course, I have some new happy clients and a few developments to mention.
Best
of "Increase Your Reach"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In case you've never visited the archive, I'd like to share with
you some of the most popular articles of this newsletter's first
year.
Make
Mine to Grow
Postcard
Marketing Your Small Business
How
to Write a Newsletter, Without Being a Writer
Create
a Brand that Sticks
Enjoy!
And feel free to request or suggest subjects you want to hear more
about, too.
Virtual
Professionals Survey Report is Available
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For those of you who missed it, last summer, I conducted an extensive
interview of 70 virtual professionals, and wrote a number of articles
based on the findings. Now, the entire study has been compiled into
a single report complete with charts and graphs, available for download
in PDF. The 12 page report covers three areas: demographics, benefits
and hazards, and current technology in the virtual business world.
Check it out!
Virtual
Professionals in 2003
RSS
- A Beginners Guide to a New Online Publishing Format
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few months ago, I quietly put an RSS feed into
operation for this newsletter, so I could test it out. What is RSS?
In a nutshell, it is a new format for publishing information, where
the reader has all of the control over when, how and where they
read your content. In other words, an alternative way for people
who really care what you have to say to receive information from
you without it getting buried in a deluge of spam. And from a business
owners perspective, even if you don't publish information in RSS,
it is awfully handy for wading through the information one might
want to read.
My
beginners guide explains some of the basics and offers perspective
for both the information seeker and the publisher on what RSS is
so you can stay informed on the lastest development in online communications.
Read
the RSS Beginners Guide
What's
Cookin' at SOHO It Goes!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We have new happy clients to tell you about. First, the postcard
design project for Kingsway Community is completed, and off to the
printer (click
here for the case study). The interface design for the TerraSAR
Satellite web site was delivered and the site should be released
shortly by the team in Germany. We've completed a batch of small
marketing design projects for Weichert Realtors, and picked up a
number of new SOHO clients, including a local law firm, and a photographer
in NYC. And we're providing some new web development services to
the NYS Dispute Resolution Association, one
of our longest continual clients.
In my
free time (haha!), I've recently become the Vice Chair of the Solo Entrepreneurs Council of
the Albany Chamber, and was also invited to participate in the Tech
Valley Portal Planning Committee, which is made up of industry sector
leaders throughout the region. I'm representing the marketing and
Internet communications side of things, and I would like to think,
representing the interests of microbusinesses in the regional planning
process. It is already sizing up to be an interesting year!
Publishing a Newsletter - a Reality Check!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having a newsletter has soft benefits, like the fact that past
colleagues, contacts and clients who would probably slip away from
lack of communication, get a visit from me once a month, and send
me referrals a result of that. I get calls from people I worked with
years ago, for new work, because I stay in touch and remind them that
I'm still going strong. Using a newsletter in growing business is
a slow process - you stay in front of people, show your expertise,
and when they need you, they think of you - but that could be many
months later. Of course, there are a number of people on my list who
may never be clients, who are instead using the info in the newsletter
to build their own businesses. And that's okay - I subscribe to newsletters
for the same reason.
The
other intangible perk of doing this is that I have a built in audience
for testing ideas, gathering information and so on. I've done surveys
like the one above, which lead to published articles, which lead
to exposure, which lead to work. And I also write to small groups
of subscribers for feedback on various ideas I have, so it is like
having a built in focus group for my business.
So is time spent worth it? I still
believe it is. My challenge has always been that I respect my subscribers
and keep my self promotion to a minimal, while offering up lots
of free information. Some marketers might say that its not worth
it to do that way, but I prefer the "slow growing relationship"
road. And there are certainly moments I think "Oh man, what am I
going to write about?" and "when will I find the time to do it?"
But I have yet to discover a better avenue to remaining in touch
with clients and prospects and sharing my area of expertise with
so many people at once. So onward I go! I look forward to hearing
feedback and, of course, how I can help you market with technology.
Sincerely,
Eileen "Turtle" Parzek
Official Mumbo Jumbo
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© 2004 All Rights Reserved - This newsletter is intended
to be read and passed around by entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations
interested in electronic communication, design and technology. Please
don't reproduce this document or its contents without full credit
to Eileen Parzek, SOHO It Goes!
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