A few years ago there was an article on using email to increase your revenue on the Glazer-Kennedy Insider Circle (GKIC) site, an online entrepreneur marketing network.

The article emphasized three important ways to maximize the returns (ROI) of e-mail marketing:

1. Setting up automated email campaigns
2. Gaining valuable information from email
3. Using email to build brand loyalty

Not getting the results you want?

Entrepreneur recently posted an article about the to-do lists and people lists that business owners should keep. These are mainly lists of resources and projects that could mean the difference between success and failure.

The People Lists:

You know the old saying, "If you don't know where you are going, then any road is as good as any other." The same is true of a marketing and sales strategy. If you don't have a strategy that you are executing against, then any kind of marketing is as good as any other. Cost and ROI be damned!

Jordan Hatch, my long time friend at Infusionsoft wrote a great blog post a couple of weeks ago on "How To Create A Sales and Marketing Strategy" that I want to share with you.

In a recent blog post here, we talked about "Building A Fence Around Your Herd." One of the strategies there was having a membership site. I recently wrote an article published in the July 2015 issue of the Joomla Community Magazine, that offers 10 reasons why you NEED a membership component to your website. Check it out by clicking here to go to the article.

If you have a membership site, how do you use it? Paid? Free? How do you use it to drive traffic and revenue?

When school lets out for the summer, it's the perfect opportunity to spend some time with your children and teach them some of the skills you've learned. And perhaps this year you can thwart those cries of “I'm bored” with some of these fun activities:

1. The art of brainstorming. Regardless of whether you're 7 or 70, you are going to encounter problems of one type or another. Sometimes these problems could be as simple an issue as the inevitable summer boredom. An important skill you can help your kids learn is how to come up with possible solutions. Here are some ideas that can help you get started:

• Play “what would you do if--”. What would you do if it were snowing? What would you do if there were no electricity? What would you do if you were Superman? What would you do if you had no hands? Ask serious questions, share funny answers, etc. This is a good way for kids to see things in a different light.
• Start with the desired end result and work backwards. For example, if your child wants to dive off the diving board, have him/her tell you the story of how he/she became a great diver, all the steps that he/she took to get there.

In A. E. Hotchner's 1966 book Papa Hemingway, the author relates a conversation between Marlene Dietrich and Ernest Hemingway. When Dietrich told him that she couldn't decide about accepting a job offer, Hemingway told her: "Don't do what you sincerely don't want to do. Never confuse movement with action"—meaning she shouldn't accept the job if it wouldn't put her closer to her ultimate goals in life.

When we set goals for ourselves, particularly when we're enthusiastic about them—losing weight, for example—we may give it our all only to find we've accomplished nothing. There are usually two reasons we fail at achieving our goals: not being clear about what the goal is, and not having a way to measure success at reaching the goal.

As a small business owner, there are bound to be times when you have questions and aren't exactly sure where to find the answers. There's also bound to be times when you aren't certain what the right questions even are. What is a business plan, and why might you need one? What kind of security measures do you need to take for your business? How should you set your prices? Is it better to lease or buy your equipment for your office? How can you get financing?

Who can help you answer your questions??!?

Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) are organizations set up around the US to provide assistance to small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. Hosted by universities and state economic development agencies, there are over 1800 SBDCs which are funded in part through the Small Business Administration.

If you’ve ever talked to a web-site designer, you’ve heard about ‘making your website search-friendly’or heard the term ‘SEO’thrown around. The purpose of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is to ‘get them in the door.’These days, that’s likely to be with Google. Creating content for the right keywords will help your business appear in the search results that your customers use.

But what words to use? That’s where the fun starts.

“After all is said and done, more is said than done.”— Anonymous

If you Google “procrastination,” you'll get over 11.5 million results. It's a problem just about everybody encounters from time to time. Many people agonize over never seeming to get anything done or only finishing projects at the last minute. Not only does procrastination cause a lot of stress, but it can also deplete one's self-esteem and confidence.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. The truth is we DO usually (finally) accomplish things. But often we've put ourselves through so much emotional or mental tension that we only see that we've procrastinated once again. Most chronic procrastinators keep to-do lists with the hope that somehow it will change things this time; often they've put things off so long that the list is so long they'll never manage to finish it.

It's been three years since this article “5 Things to Know Before You Start a Marketing Plan” was published. Content marketing is still such a new creature to most of us that it might be a good idea to expand on some of that information, and look at how you can use it to finish out the calendar year on a roll.

What's in it for your customers? The main benefits for most customers are time and money—are you addressing both of these? Customers appreciate being informed of sales and other specials, but it's just as important to be considerate of their time. Are you delivering your messages in a timely fashion? Are you consistently reminding clients of appointments? Do you have a system in place to let them know their purchase is ready to be picked up? Are your customers able to access your content quickly? Marketing often involves tying up these loose ends.

There probably isn't a week that goes by when you don't notice an ad on a website or in your email talking about “creating killer content”. So what does it really mean, and why do you need to do it?

Content marketing is often sought out by customers. It offers them the information they’re looking for when they need it the most.

Here's how to make it work for you:

Herding cats is hard work. Just ask any of the ranch hands in the award-winning EDS ad made back in 2001. The slippery felines gave them all they could handle and more. Proud, independent and stubborn, every cat wanted to make its own way whether the ranch hands wanted it to or not. Does it sometimes feel like keeping your customers happy is a lot like cat herding?

A key recommendation by Dan S. Kennedy, the marketing expert, is to build a fence around your cats (customers) to keep out poachers and to prevent them from going off on their own. Just because your customer has made a purchase from you in the past doesn't mean he or she is your customer forever. It's important to try to offer your clients extra products and services -- extra value -- that will keep them coming back to you.

When we left for Pine Point Beach in Maine for a few days of R&R, I had high hopes of doing some research I’d been wanting to do in between relaxing on the beach and generally chilling out.

That was Tuesday.

On Sunday, I was shocked to realize our time away was slipping like sand through an hourglass. I completed only about ¼ of my research and didn’t really start relaxing until Friday. Clearly my plans and my execution were not in sync.

In addition to being one of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin was also an inventor, scientist, author, printer and a diplomat. He is well-known for having created libraries, fire departments, and the postal service. If that weren’t enough, he invented bifocals, the Franklin stove, and the lightning rod. He was involved in politics, wrote a newspaper, traveled, had an active social life and was a single father.

Franklin was also a man who made to-do lists. Mr. Franklin's lists included things like housecleaning and reading, as well as reminders to bathe and be frugal. No doubt someone as busy as Ben needed to be reminded of those things!

Are you thinking of opening a larger office? Perhaps you’ve been contemplating expanding your inventory or trying a new product or service. Starting or expanding a business requires time, planning, and money. A small business loan or line of credit might be the answer; community banks and credit unions can frequently offer lower interest rates to small business owners. 

But what about "free money", or a small business grant?

What kind of grants?

It may take a bit of research, but there are grants available to anyone who is interested in building their business. Many grants are out there for minorities, women, the disabled, military members, or those businesses located in rural areas. If your business is trying to recover after a natural or economic disaster, there may be special opportunities for you as well.