Webontics

Segmenting your business by email addresses

2010-10-11T12:56:00.000+01:00

In order to manage a small business effectively, it is recommended to segment the various functions of the business by having a separate communications channel for each segment: i.e. To have a different email address for the various different functions, such as purchasing@web0ntics.com, sales@web0ntics.com, accounts@web0ntics.com.

The beauty of this approach is that each area can then have its own focus and it can be insured to then function properly without getting lost int he malaise of emails about much less important areas. Another advantage of this approach, is that if you already have an employee assigned to a specific function, and he/she then takes responsibility for the accounts of the company, he is then charged with the responsibility of dealing with ALL issues relating to the accounts@coname.com's folders, and they can be passed to him with ease.

How to manage emails from suppliers that are not Junk

2010-10-11T11:57:00.007+01:00

Over the years various suppliers have been sending us email including their latest product offerings, technology and pricing information. While this information can be extremely useful, it can become quite voluminous and can become more like junk mail, especially at times when it's not on the current requirements list. However, it may become useful later on, so it can be futile to "junk" it!, especially when you need to refer to it again. Solutions?.....

One way I've managed to deal with this onslaught of info into my inbox every day is to segregate it, so that it all comes into one company assigned email account, by only using a specific email address for receiving such mail (such as: purchasing@webontics.com; One that is specifically setup, just to receive all of this type of mail). The advantage of this is that when I'm looking up the latest on (say) memory chips, I navigate through my ram suppliers in this account. Within this account, I then set out setting up rules so that each supplier has their own folder, so that all of the mail coming from (say) Dell, goes into the Dell Supplier folder automatically. Then any mail from new or untested suppliers can go into the Miscellaneous Suppliers folder.

It works for me, and it's very effective, and as it was the majority of mails I was getting on my main accounts, it now helps keep my accounts clear of the "wanted" Junk I get!!!.. If you are getting this kind of mail into your organisation in various accounts (e.g. jim@webontics.com and joe@webontics.com both get some), then I'd recommend that you get Jim and Joe to contact the suppliers concerned, and ask them to divert all of these messages to your new purchasing@webontics.com account. This way you have a nice clean system, from which you know where to look for this type of information in an organised way.

Just one warning about using this method of collecting supplier information, is to make sure that when valued suppliers send you information that might be specific to your needs, that you are careful to distinguish this from the email that is automatically deposited in that suppliers folder. Otherwise you might never think to look at it, and feel angry with the supplier for not replying to your query!. A good way to get around this is to ask such suppliers to send all of their special offers from a different account to that which you might (say) deal with their sales staff. Then you can Auto-save emails from (say) offers@suppliersinfo.com from john_in_sales@suppliersinfo.com. If any of you have been using a system like this, or want to adapt it, I would be very interested in you adding your comments here.

When does an email message become a SPAM (or a "Junk") email message?

2010-06-02T18:54:00.005+01:00

Email activity (the sending and receiving of email messages) is almost certainly the biggest form of data traffic on the internet, and of course we all know about that dreaded "Junk" email that can fill up your inbox with New messages every day. So how do we deal with them, and how do we make sure we're not spamming?

Of course if you've got a good Spam system within your email servers (preferably) or some sort of guard on your local machine the problem is reduced, or in many cases removed completely. The only problem is that there is NO system whatsoever that can determine what is truly junk (or SPAM) or what is not?. For example Junk to one person could be valuable information to another.

There are of course the obvious candidates that are pretty much junk to almost everybody! (such as the Viagra/emails of a sexual nature, selling something; the phishing emails that try to hide themselves as your trusted bank or favourite transactional site, where they are trying to gain financial advantage by having access to your login account details.. the list goes on.. )

But then there are now many genuine "mass mailers" out there that feel that this method of communication is vital for the growth and development of their businesses, and most businesses would agree that regular product and sales updates from their suppliers (and potential suppliers) is useful information, but that may sometimes be considered junk whenever their volume and regularity increase beyond a reasonable level.

The obvious no-no's that firmly place emails into the "junk" category are ones that fit the following criteria:

They appear to be mass mailing to just about any address they can find on any database, and are totally non-discriminating on the subject content of the message as to it's relevance to the recipient
The senders address is disguised often to be some cool name relevant to the content of what they are sending, or (more horrifically) hijacking YOUR email address as to be that of the sender
It is not possible to REPLY to any of these messages, as this feature is blocked by the sender (or their mail system). Often they will have numbers as part of their address so it's easy to dynamically change address, as they avoid getting caught (e.g. jbloggs6536@websitename.com; which then changes to jbloggs6537@websitename.com on their next spamming session, as the previous one has already expired)

Opt-in Lists: These are lists from websites that you sign up to receive email from.

Opt-in lists are the only true way to eliminate spam, it has been argued, but I will be the first to admit, that I have opted in to (at a guess) less than 5% of the emails I receive that are NOT spam (i.e. one's that I want to, or don't mind receiving). Hence it could be accepted that any email received that does NOT generally fit into the above criteria is NOT a junk email. You comments would be welcome on this one! (click on "comments" below to post a comment).

Email marketing campaigns: How to succeed in them

2010-05-15T15:04:00.000+01:00

Email marketing campaigns: Key issues addressed here:

- How often do you need to email?.
- What is the best approach to such a campaign?.

Many companies start out all enthusiastic by sendging out regualr monthly newsletter emails to inform their clients of their latest offerings, only to find that after about 8months (this duration varies) they start to lose interest, tend to get very little response, so the newsletters stop coming on time monthly, and usually eventually not at all. This can be highly damaging for a business who's receipints recieved their newsletters with pleasure, as they might just assume that the company has gone out of business. So whatever your initial level of email activity, MAKE SURE YOU CAN STICK TO IT.

How often should you send out emails?. This is a very personal issue to the business, but some useful guidelines apply:

- Daily messages: First of all it is not recommended to send out messages every day unless there is something particularly dynamic or exciting about your business offerings, as this is will generally be regarded as spamming, and may put you on some of the anti-spam websites which can seriously damage your online reputation.

- Weekly messages: Again this can be a bit too frequent unless youve got something significantly new on a weekly basis.

- Monthly messages: This is probably the most common mode in which businesses send out their messages, and believe it or not many companies that are not used to this kind of activity find it difficult to keep this up (so imagine trying to send out daily/weekly messages: no chance!)

- Quarterly or Annual messages: This can be the most effective form of communicaton, as customers who don't want constant barrage of information from you are greatful to hear from you (having not heard from you in a while) and oftn loook at such emails very favourably, and can be the most effective way to generate new business. However, again the context of the messages are important (i.e. in a more dynamic market this rate of messages may seem a little off-putting).

Investing in web based advertising / marketing is key to future success

2010-05-15T14:50:00.000+01:00

In todays recessionary times, businesses need to get the best bang for their buck when it comes to advertising / promoting their business, so the key is to be smart about where you invest your advertising/marketing revenue. As we all know, the growth in the web as a medium for advertising has been growing at a phenomonal rate over the last couple of years, and this trend it set to continue (at an almost exponential rate).

Hence it is key to start now by employing the services of a company who can evaluate your overall business strategy, and blend that into a successful online marketing campaign. There are a few summary points here to help you guide you on your way (but it must be pointed out that every case may have it's own unique requirements):

1. The Company Website: When you produce a website (or have one done for you), does it best reflect the type of company you are, and more importantly attract the sort of business you want to be best at?. Focussing on the style / presentation / overall content of your website is a key starting point to facilitating a good start to creating new business.
2. Business Communications (NewsLetter / Subscriber Options): Do you have a subscriber list setup on your site?. It it working (i.e. Getting the adequate no. of signups per month: A typiical small company may get beteen 10 and 20 signups per month)
3. Business Communications (Email marketing campaigns): Do you currently have a regular email campaign in operation?. If so how are you measuring the results you are getting from it? How often do you send out your emails?. (This is the subject of another Post)
4. Have you got a WEB-Blog?: How dynamic is your website? (or better put: how dynamic does it NEED to be?): As trends change in your business (as they do, with most businesses), is your website (or even your business) reflecting / adapting to those changes?. A web-blog is typically the best way to address this issue, by letting people know what's happening currently in your business.

Welcome to Webontics Blog

2010-05-10T09:28:00.000+01:00

The purpose of this blog is to find out the purpose of this blog!!..
No, seriously folks the.... (to be continued, same time, same channel!!!)