It’s story time, kids.  Gather ‘round!

Creating content is a part of every marketing venture, email included. Even just creating the copy that will accompany products (never underestimate the value of an entertaining instruction manual or product guide, for example) is a creative effort. So, how do you keep the content come week after week or year after year? Let me tell you a story….

I was once, in my *cough* illustrious career as an SEO writer, contracted to produce mass amounts of content about a particular type of footwear.  Actually, this happened twice and now I know a lot about footwear. Not only was I writing press releases, product descriptions, web, email and marketing content, but I was also writing lots of articles for publication on various knowledge-based websites. SEO has changed since then; it’s much more suave now. So there I was, producing literally thousands of words a week on a very specific topic. You would think I would have run out of things to say, but I didn’t! So the next time you think you’ve said all you can about whatever it is that you’re writing about, I challenge you to look at things just a little differently.

Try a New Angle.  There’s always a new angle. Get out of your box and walk around.  I didn’t just write about wearing boots, I wrote about the history of boots, the construction of boots, the materials boots are made of, proper care of boots, the different styles, the cultural associations, and yes, even the future of boots. 

Make Up a Story. Writing about flip-flops (even nifty designer ones) can get a little dull.  So why not write “A Day in the Life” from the shoe’s perspective?  Being a little off-the-wall can land epic results - good and bad. But epic, nonetheless.

Conduct Casual Interviews. Let me assure you, whatever it is that you are writing about, it is at least as legitimate a thing to ask people to talk about as what’s on their feet.  For me, asking questions was a new way to think about the products I was writing about.  By learning what other people thought, I could write with a broader awareness of my potential audience.

There’s nothing to fear when you’re staring down the barrel at producing seemingly endless amounts of marketing and product content. Keep your personality intact, remember your audience and always, always proofread.

I got an email recently that really struck me by how clear it was, how honest in its marketing efforts.  Here’s what worked for me:

The Call-to-Action was clear:  There was no question in my mind why I was being contacted.  Having engaged with this particular group, they now wanted me to connect further and validate them by “liking” them on Facebook. 

The reward appealed to my higher self:  The result of my actions?  A tree would be planted.  I love it - the call to action has an incentive, but rather than offering something to the individual, they will instead do something good for the world.  (And yes, I’m one of those people who appreciates a “we did this charitable thing in your name” as a gift, so your mileage may vary.)

The request was well-explained:  Beyond being a plea for social media interaction, this email marketing venture had a crystal clear explanation of what kind of information would be available via Facebook and why I would be interested in connecting with them there.

My favorite part was at the bottom.  It was the sentence that began with “If you’re not on Facebook….” and it gave an alternative way for people to participate and have a tree planted.  It pays to be inclusive - not everyone engages with all social media platforms and assuming they do runs the risk of alienating those who might otherwise be engaged and interested participants.

Like excited grade-school kids getting ready for recess - we are set to push the new interface live on May 1st. This has been an amazing process and kudos to everyone that gave us kind words, excellent criticism, feedback, and suggestions. I also want to give an extra hand-shake to Jeff and Milo for pulling this masterful piece together in shape, form, and function - you can do the same via the new “Feedback” utility.

Back to the important message at hand - we are moving the new interface live this Wednesday, May 1st (time is TBD).

The old system will no longer be available.

The new system’s issues with Enterprise, BannerMaker, and Upgrading accounts will be gone - yay.

Very shortly after we go live, new and improved Genie Themes will also be available; they are more contemporary and attractive. The older themes will still be available in the “old school” filter in the system.

Big fat disclaimer:  I am recounting a dream below. A strange dream. A dream that is highly unlikely to be prophetic in any way. 

Ok, so I dreamed about email marketing last night.

I had made all of these really complex email newsletters for local businesses and gotten everything ready to send out but when I went to schedule them I couldn’t find that feature.

When I called up our general manager to check in, he told me that the new craze in email marketing was to make email newsletters on MNB and then post them on light poles and hang them between traffic lights.  When I protested that this didn’t make any sense he informed me that I would find there were already clips out in public ready to receive newsletters. 

Not entirely convinced of this I went outside and sure enough, there was our marketing director on a ladder clipping up email newsletters….

If there’s a moral to this dream/story I’m not yet sure what it is, except maybe don’t send anything out in an email marketing newsletter that you wouldn’t want to have posted in public…

Everyone’s feedback has been exceptional; thank you so very much. At this point in time, we’ve got all reported issues fixed and pushed to the beta site, which include:

1. Subscriber updates (adds, edits, moves, deletes, and CSV uploads)
2. Navigational fixes with pop-ups related to the top-right corner (username, logout, etc)
- Please note: you can now switch back to the live site by simply clicking on the beta logo (top-right)
3. Some OSX and Safari fixes related to buttons getting ignored (weird, right?)
4. Custom footers are now available from your User settings

We are halfway through our ramp-up period and getting lots of great use of the new interface. I’m looking forward to a May 1st push of the beta to our live site. If you haven’t checked it out, get familiar as-soon-as-possible.

Thank you again for your continued support.