Union Square's Fred Wilson looks at the way Facebook and other social sites use e-mail notifications to drive repeat use and retention.
The theme in board meeting after board meeting in recent months is driving repeat usage and retention. Whether the product is a mobile app, a social app, a mobile social app, a marketplace, an ecommerce business, or something else, everyone is looking at montly actives/total registered users and saying "let's push that number up and to the right." And I'm nodding my head in violent agreement.
I asked one of the best product centric entrepreneurs I know why he thinks that Facebook does so well on that metric (monthly actives/total registered users) and he said to me "when I get an email from Facebook that a friend has tagged me in a photo, I click on it and go check it out every time."
I've always thought that photo tagging was the killer feature and that photo sharing is Facebook's primary utility. I've said that on more than a few occasions. But there's another piece to this that you cannot leave out. That is the email you get that tells you that someone has tagged you and brings you back to Facebook.
I remember four or five years ago, people, myself included, were asking if social media was going to lead to the end of email as we know it. In an ironic twist of fate, it turns out that email is social media's secret weapon. And more and more social applications are leveraging the power of email to drive repeat usage and retention.
Our portfolio company Return Path is the category creator and market leader in email deliverability. I asked Matt Blumberg, Return Path's founder and CEO, yesterday if they are seeing an increase in the usage of email among their social media and mobile clients. He told me that they are seeing very strong growth across the board in that part of their client base. I'm not the least bit surprised. If you are going to start sending a lot more email, you need to make sure you do it right so that you don't just send all the mail into junk folders.
I do think the rise of alternative notification channels; sms, mobile push notifications, direct messages on twitter, facebook messaging, etc are going to move some of this kind of thing off of email over time. But today, if you want to drive retention and repeat usage, there isn't a better way to do it than email.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
2011 Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition
Conference Agenda
E-Commerce Shifts Into Overdrive, The Race is On!
It's become abundantly clear: Consumers are shifting buying to the web. During the recession, web sales grew while store sales shrank and now with the recovery, web sales growth far outstrips store sales growth. The change is coming fast. It will be permanent. And consumers are accessing the web in many more ways than they ever have before, through desktop and laptop connections, netbooks, mobile phones, iPads and Web TV. The challenge: Engage today's consumers who are always online and only a click or two away from your competitors.
The 2011 Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition will lay out strategies for marketing and selling to the web-centric, anytime, anywhere consumer. It will look at mobile commerce, e-commerce, and how the two work together; the ways that TV and the Internet will merge and the opportunities and challenges that merger provides; how online marketing is changing; how to ensure your customers will come back to you when they are ready to buy again; how the immediacy of ordering merchandise on the spur of the moment affects inventory and fulfillment; how customer service must change to keep up with the new consumer. It will also deal with new payment and security issues, new technology investment, staffing and management challenges, the specific challenges that small retailers face, the new kinds of merchandising that a new market will require, and more.
The IRCE 2011 Keynote Presenters
Keynote Speaker—June 15
Christopher Payne, Vice President and Head of eBay North America
A new retail is emerging. It is a seamless way of shopping that is more convenient, more accessible, more local and global - and more relevant to more consumers - than any retail experience to date. eBay has implemented a clear strategy for taking advantage of new retail trends across mobile, social, local and digital, with the aim of helping merchants sell more and bringing new experiences to life for shoppers. The head of eBay North America will provide insights into how eBay views these new retail trends and their impact on the future of shopping.
Keynote Speaker—June 16
Sona Chawla, President,
E-Commerce, Walgreen Co.
Walgreens has been a trailblazer in the new age of retailing: Within the past year, the 7,600-store chain has revamped its web site and mobile site, gained 600,000+ fans on Facebook, launched 24/7 live chat at its web site that puts customers in direct contact with a pharmacist, hosts 1,500 videos on its site and is creating content for web TV. Our Day Two Keynote Speaker is the head of Walgreen's e-commerce operations. She will describe in detail the drugstore chain's mobile and e-commerce initiatives and how they work together with its stores to capture the anytime, anywhere customer.
Special Guest Speaker—June 15
Arianna Huffington, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post
Arianna Huffington is the leading example of how the Internet will overtake traditional business models. She launched the online-only news service TheHuffingtonPost.com in May 2005 and in just over five years, the site has become a leading source of news - so much so that AOL bought the operation for $315 million - in part to gain Ms. Huffington's expertise in creating a successful online news operation. Arianna Huffington will talk about how the Internet changes the news business, the competition she faced and obstacles she overcame to establish The Huffington Post, and the lessons that her experience holds for online retailers. Whether you are a chain or a web-only merchant, a cataloger or a manufacturer, understanding the disruptive process of the Internet is crucial to your success. Arianna Huffington will be your guide to how you can harness that disruption for your benefit.
E-Commerce Shifts Into Overdrive, The Race is On!
It's become abundantly clear: Consumers are shifting buying to the web. During the recession, web sales grew while store sales shrank and now with the recovery, web sales growth far outstrips store sales growth. The change is coming fast. It will be permanent. And consumers are accessing the web in many more ways than they ever have before, through desktop and laptop connections, netbooks, mobile phones, iPads and Web TV. The challenge: Engage today's consumers who are always online and only a click or two away from your competitors.
The 2011 Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition will lay out strategies for marketing and selling to the web-centric, anytime, anywhere consumer. It will look at mobile commerce, e-commerce, and how the two work together; the ways that TV and the Internet will merge and the opportunities and challenges that merger provides; how online marketing is changing; how to ensure your customers will come back to you when they are ready to buy again; how the immediacy of ordering merchandise on the spur of the moment affects inventory and fulfillment; how customer service must change to keep up with the new consumer. It will also deal with new payment and security issues, new technology investment, staffing and management challenges, the specific challenges that small retailers face, the new kinds of merchandising that a new market will require, and more.
The IRCE 2011 Keynote Presenters
Keynote Speaker—June 15
Christopher Payne, Vice President and Head of eBay North America
A new retail is emerging. It is a seamless way of shopping that is more convenient, more accessible, more local and global - and more relevant to more consumers - than any retail experience to date. eBay has implemented a clear strategy for taking advantage of new retail trends across mobile, social, local and digital, with the aim of helping merchants sell more and bringing new experiences to life for shoppers. The head of eBay North America will provide insights into how eBay views these new retail trends and their impact on the future of shopping.
Keynote Speaker—June 16
Sona Chawla, President,
E-Commerce, Walgreen Co.
Walgreens has been a trailblazer in the new age of retailing: Within the past year, the 7,600-store chain has revamped its web site and mobile site, gained 600,000+ fans on Facebook, launched 24/7 live chat at its web site that puts customers in direct contact with a pharmacist, hosts 1,500 videos on its site and is creating content for web TV. Our Day Two Keynote Speaker is the head of Walgreen's e-commerce operations. She will describe in detail the drugstore chain's mobile and e-commerce initiatives and how they work together with its stores to capture the anytime, anywhere customer.
Special Guest Speaker—June 15
Arianna Huffington, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post
Arianna Huffington is the leading example of how the Internet will overtake traditional business models. She launched the online-only news service TheHuffingtonPost.com in May 2005 and in just over five years, the site has become a leading source of news - so much so that AOL bought the operation for $315 million - in part to gain Ms. Huffington's expertise in creating a successful online news operation. Arianna Huffington will talk about how the Internet changes the news business, the competition she faced and obstacles she overcame to establish The Huffington Post, and the lessons that her experience holds for online retailers. Whether you are a chain or a web-only merchant, a cataloger or a manufacturer, understanding the disruptive process of the Internet is crucial to your success. Arianna Huffington will be your guide to how you can harness that disruption for your benefit.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
THE GOOGLE ALGORITHM SHAKE UP
THE GOOGLE ALGORITHM SHAKE UP
Around two weeks ago, Google made major changes in its search algorithm. And this made a great impact in the search engine results which also caused an enormous shake up for many websites competing for the top rankings of Google.
Again, since I have been loosely comparing internet traffic to everyday road traffic, let me explain the repercussions of this Google algorithm shake up in layman’s term where many people can relate to.
Following The Rules Of Traffic
The rules of road traffic are governed by street signs and traffic enforcers. You know which street to turn right onto because you can ready the street signs posted by the street corners. You know when to start and stop because of traffic signs and traffic lights at the road intersections. And, in some cases, traffic flow is even moderated by human traffic enforcers whose main responsibilities include assuring the smooth flow of traffic on the roads.
But what happens when the street names are changed? Or worse, the street posts containing the street names which guide motorists disappear from view. Have you ever been caught in a traffic jam only to realize that the reason which caused it was a non-functioning traffic light at the intersection? And to make matters worse, there is no traffic enforcer in sight to regulate the flow of traffic.
Chaos.
In a manner of speaking, this is how website traffic got affected by Google’s algorithm change. Google changed the way it ranks websites in its searches. It decided to change the rules governing search engine results. And it greatly affected the entire SEO industry.
Google Algorithm Changes
If before, it seemed pretty simple on how website owners can optimize their websites so that their pages can rank highly for specific keywords, now, the changes in the algorithm also changed the rules by which these website owners, and SEO practitioners for that matter, abide.
As you may know, SEO is built around optimizing webpages for them to rank highly in search engine rankings, particularly Google rankings. But if Google makes changes in the way they evaluate webpages, SEO experts shall now try to figure out what those changes are so that they can make corresponding modifications with their SEO techniques.
The problem is that Google does not exactly say what those changes are. Well, they release statements which give hints as to what the changes are. But it is not specific enough since they do not want the public to explicitly gain knowledge on how to manipulate search engine results.
Providing High Quality Content
According to the Google’s principal search engine engineer, Matt Cutts, the changes were aimed to, as always, improve the search engine results by giving people the most relevant results and reducing the rankings of low quality websites which offer copied contents, low-value added knowledge, and not-so-useful content to the users.
At the aftermath of this major algorithm shake up, the websites that were negatively affected by these changes included the so-called “content farms”. Content farms are websites which generate tons of content specifically designed to satisfy search engine algorithms so that their pages rank highly in search engine results. While it is arguable that some of these content farms do offer high quality content to its readers, some of these article directories obviously contribute to the rising amount of low-quality garbage content littering the roads of cyberspace.
But it is just a matter of time before SEO experts figure out the changes made by Google in its algorithm. And, as always, website owners and SEO experts are forced to abide by the new rules set by Google. And in the end, the golden guideline still remains to be the most important factor that should be followed by website owners. And that is to provide high-quality content to its readers. That way, everyone comes out as a winner – the website owner, the webpage reader, and almighty Google.
Around two weeks ago, Google made major changes in its search algorithm. And this made a great impact in the search engine results which also caused an enormous shake up for many websites competing for the top rankings of Google.
Again, since I have been loosely comparing internet traffic to everyday road traffic, let me explain the repercussions of this Google algorithm shake up in layman’s term where many people can relate to.
Following The Rules Of Traffic
The rules of road traffic are governed by street signs and traffic enforcers. You know which street to turn right onto because you can ready the street signs posted by the street corners. You know when to start and stop because of traffic signs and traffic lights at the road intersections. And, in some cases, traffic flow is even moderated by human traffic enforcers whose main responsibilities include assuring the smooth flow of traffic on the roads.
But what happens when the street names are changed? Or worse, the street posts containing the street names which guide motorists disappear from view. Have you ever been caught in a traffic jam only to realize that the reason which caused it was a non-functioning traffic light at the intersection? And to make matters worse, there is no traffic enforcer in sight to regulate the flow of traffic.
Chaos.
In a manner of speaking, this is how website traffic got affected by Google’s algorithm change. Google changed the way it ranks websites in its searches. It decided to change the rules governing search engine results. And it greatly affected the entire SEO industry.
Google Algorithm Changes
If before, it seemed pretty simple on how website owners can optimize their websites so that their pages can rank highly for specific keywords, now, the changes in the algorithm also changed the rules by which these website owners, and SEO practitioners for that matter, abide.
As you may know, SEO is built around optimizing webpages for them to rank highly in search engine rankings, particularly Google rankings. But if Google makes changes in the way they evaluate webpages, SEO experts shall now try to figure out what those changes are so that they can make corresponding modifications with their SEO techniques.
The problem is that Google does not exactly say what those changes are. Well, they release statements which give hints as to what the changes are. But it is not specific enough since they do not want the public to explicitly gain knowledge on how to manipulate search engine results.
Providing High Quality Content
According to the Google’s principal search engine engineer, Matt Cutts, the changes were aimed to, as always, improve the search engine results by giving people the most relevant results and reducing the rankings of low quality websites which offer copied contents, low-value added knowledge, and not-so-useful content to the users.
At the aftermath of this major algorithm shake up, the websites that were negatively affected by these changes included the so-called “content farms”. Content farms are websites which generate tons of content specifically designed to satisfy search engine algorithms so that their pages rank highly in search engine results. While it is arguable that some of these content farms do offer high quality content to its readers, some of these article directories obviously contribute to the rising amount of low-quality garbage content littering the roads of cyberspace.
But it is just a matter of time before SEO experts figure out the changes made by Google in its algorithm. And, as always, website owners and SEO experts are forced to abide by the new rules set by Google. And in the end, the golden guideline still remains to be the most important factor that should be followed by website owners. And that is to provide high-quality content to its readers. That way, everyone comes out as a winner – the website owner, the webpage reader, and almighty Google.
CAN-SPAM New Rules Require Single Action Email Opt-Out, Designated Senders
There are (4) new rules issued by the Federal Trade Commission that amend the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 that you should know about.
I've enlisted the help of a friend of mine, Anne P. Mitchell, who helped author & assist with the development of the CAN-SPAM act amendments to cover the (4) changes. The new rules came out as a 109 page memorandum. [Yawn!] Let's see if we can save you some time.
Let's jump into the (4) changes:
WHEN: These go into effect at the end of June 2008.
WHO: They affect all senders of commercial email who have an email list of any size.
WHAT:
1. The ability to opt-out of a mailing must be accomplished by one single action - either replying to the email, or clicking through to a single web page. Only.
2. The first new rule relates to the definition of "person" for the purpose of whether CAN-SPAM applies. This applies to everybody... Meaning, anyone, including non-companies, can be liable for sending commercial email.
3. The use of a post office box or private mailbox ("PMB") as the physical address in commercial mailings satisfies CAN-SPAM.
4. For any mailing which contains advertisements from 3rd party advertisers, either the party who the email is "from" must have an advertisement in the email (in which case they become responsible for processing opt-out requests) or all of the advertisers with advertisements in the mailing are responsible for opt-out requests. This is known as the "Designated Sender" rule.
Several of these are rather confusing to someone outside of our industry, and require further explanation. Thankfully Anne created a 49 minute MP3 that fully explains in detail these changes, including the complicated "Designated Sender" rule... what they mean to you and how to comply to the changes in detail.
THE POWER OF THE EMAIL LIST
THE POWER OF THE EMAIL LIST
I stated that building an email list is the most powerful way to monetize a website.
The reason behind this may not seem obvious to many, especially if you are not an internet marketer. But getting a visitor’s email address is actually like capturing the attention of that visitor whenever you want to tell something to him or her.
With the other method of monetizing a website, the results are pretty straightforward. If a visitor clicks on and ad or buys a product or service through your website, the website owner earns money. But with an email list, the method of earning money is not that straightforward. But behind that seemingly innocent subscription box asking for a visitor’s name and email address is a very powerful method for the website owner to earn money. Wait, let me qualify that. An email list is a very powerful method for the website owner to earn money over and over again.
The Importance Of Email Lists
Here is the difference.
When a visitor clicks on an ad on your website or buy a product through a link from your site, you earn money form him since you lead that visitor to the website of the sponsor. But after that click, there is no assurance that that particular visitor would visit your website again, unless he bookmarked your website or find you again through the search engines. But what are the chances, right?
But with email lists, you may not earn money outright when that visitor gives you his email address. After all, it is just an email address. There was no money which exchanged hands in that transaction.
But what that visitor gave you may prove to be more valuable than that one-time click or one-time sale that you may earn from him using the other methods of monetization. That visitor actually gave you permission to contact him anytime you wish. Just send him an email containing valuable information about the subject which he subscribed to, or important information about a product that was just released in the market. And from time to time, you can even do a hard sell on a particular product that you are promoting.
So, instead of that one-time chance of being able to sell to that particular visitor, that email address which he gave to you actually gave you the opportunity to cultivate a relationship with him, and hopefully also end up in a sale, or even sales with an “s”.
And as long as that visitor does not unsubscribe to your list, you can continue on sending him emails and give you the chance of a sale for every product that you intend to promote. It is that powerful.
While a visitor buying a product that you promote, or clicking a link that you advertise on your site, gives you immediate profits, building a list on the other hand, creates a long term potential of creating even more income over and over again. That is the power of the mailing list.
I stated that building an email list is the most powerful way to monetize a website.
The reason behind this may not seem obvious to many, especially if you are not an internet marketer. But getting a visitor’s email address is actually like capturing the attention of that visitor whenever you want to tell something to him or her.
With the other method of monetizing a website, the results are pretty straightforward. If a visitor clicks on and ad or buys a product or service through your website, the website owner earns money. But with an email list, the method of earning money is not that straightforward. But behind that seemingly innocent subscription box asking for a visitor’s name and email address is a very powerful method for the website owner to earn money. Wait, let me qualify that. An email list is a very powerful method for the website owner to earn money over and over again.
The Importance Of Email Lists
Here is the difference.
When a visitor clicks on an ad on your website or buy a product through a link from your site, you earn money form him since you lead that visitor to the website of the sponsor. But after that click, there is no assurance that that particular visitor would visit your website again, unless he bookmarked your website or find you again through the search engines. But what are the chances, right?
But with email lists, you may not earn money outright when that visitor gives you his email address. After all, it is just an email address. There was no money which exchanged hands in that transaction.
But what that visitor gave you may prove to be more valuable than that one-time click or one-time sale that you may earn from him using the other methods of monetization. That visitor actually gave you permission to contact him anytime you wish. Just send him an email containing valuable information about the subject which he subscribed to, or important information about a product that was just released in the market. And from time to time, you can even do a hard sell on a particular product that you are promoting.
So, instead of that one-time chance of being able to sell to that particular visitor, that email address which he gave to you actually gave you the opportunity to cultivate a relationship with him, and hopefully also end up in a sale, or even sales with an “s”.
And as long as that visitor does not unsubscribe to your list, you can continue on sending him emails and give you the chance of a sale for every product that you intend to promote. It is that powerful.
While a visitor buying a product that you promote, or clicking a link that you advertise on your site, gives you immediate profits, building a list on the other hand, creates a long term potential of creating even more income over and over again. That is the power of the mailing list.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Some prices for Email Marketing Lists - realistic prices
US IT Executives 100,000 Records, Price: $599.00
US Software Industry 200,000 Records, Price: $599.00
US Finance Industry, 300,000 Records , Price: $599.00
US Advertising Industry, 100,000 Records, Price: $499.00
US Retail Industry, 40,000 Records, Price: $399.00
US Services Industry, 300,000 Records, Price: $599.00
US C-Level Owners & Founders, 400,000 Records, Price: $699.00
US HR Professionals, 50,000 Records , Price: $399.00
US Automotive & Transportation, 40,000 Records , Price: $399.00
US Entertainment & Media, 30,000 Records , Price: $399.00
US Biopharma & Healh Industry, 50,000 Records, Price: $499.00
US Construction & Agriculture Industry, 50,000 Records, Price: $399.00
US Manufacturers, 100,000 Records , Price: $499.00
US Sales & Marketing, 250,000 Records, Price: $499.00
US Distributors, 100,000 Records , Price: $499.00
US Telecom Industry, 90,000 Records , Price: $499.00
US Products Industry, 35,000 Records, Price: $399.00
US Hardware Producers, 50,000 Records , Price: $399.00
New Email Marketing Databases - builded from scratch!
Newton Portfolio is a leading provider of direct mailing lists and database services. Hundreds of customers (from Fortune 1000 to small-office/home-office and individual salespeople) use our products and services to find new customers, increase revenue, reduce selling costs and grow profits. We offer our clients a very different and unique approach to buying mailing lists. We believe that a well planned and properly executed direct marketing campaign can provide an important competitive edge in today's ever-changing business world.
Newton Portfolio has been around for last 3 years and it is conviniently located in one of the oldest business parks in New England - Wells Avenue business park.
We are able to provide professional email marketing campaigns per your request by using our email databases. We can provide a required number of hot leads per month for your sales team to follow.
Please visit our Product section to see how far we are willing to go to help our partners from CISCO/Hardwick Techniologies and from NuSphere, Inc. to sell their products products.
More to say - we can represent your company in US by opening sales office, fully stuff and manage it by using our Incubator Program.
Our aim is to develop effective partnerships with our clients. To help you achieve complete success, we focus on understanding your overall business goals.
We look forward to working with you!
Oleg Puzyreff, Director
Newton Portfolio Corporation
Newton Portfolio has been around for last 3 years and it is conviniently located in one of the oldest business parks in New England - Wells Avenue business park.
We are able to provide professional email marketing campaigns per your request by using our email databases. We can provide a required number of hot leads per month for your sales team to follow.
Please visit our Product section to see how far we are willing to go to help our partners from CISCO/Hardwick Techniologies and from NuSphere, Inc. to sell their products products.
More to say - we can represent your company in US by opening sales office, fully stuff and manage it by using our Incubator Program.
Our aim is to develop effective partnerships with our clients. To help you achieve complete success, we focus on understanding your overall business goals.
We look forward to working with you!
Oleg Puzyreff, Director
Newton Portfolio Corporation
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