Learn
The Creation Shop is here to grow your creative ideas and connect you to your clients through new forms of social media. Marketing through new media is becoming one of the most effective ways of marketing and communication businesses can have. Email marketing, blogging, podcasting, and other forms of social media invite clients and customers to interact with your business by communicating their perspectives and experiences about your products and services.
We want you to understand the purpose and process of social media marketing and how it will make your business thrive. TCS offers training seminars, audio podcasts, and its own blog to provide information on tools, best practices, and promotion strategies to help you with your social media marketing efforts.
FAQ’s
Below are Frequently Asked Questions about TCS and social media including information about email marketing, blogging, and podcasting.
What is The Creation Shop?
How can TCS help to grow my business?
Why have custom-designed blogs and e-newsletters?
Email Marketing
What is email marketing?
How will email marketing help my business?
What are permission-based emails?
Why email marketing?
What does “Hosting an image” mean?
Why do I need to host images
What is the best solution for hosting images?
How will different mail systems affect my newsletter?
What should I include in my content?
What is the best day of the week for sending a newsletter out?
What makes a successful subject line?
Blog
What is a Weblog?
What can a blog do for my business?
What are the benefits of consistently adding new content to my blog?
Why does TCS recommend that you become a blogger?
What-is-RSS?
How can my blog work with my email newsletter campaigns?
Podcast
What is a podcast?
How would podcasting help my business?
What is The Creation Shop?
The Creation Shop is a social media marketing service provider powered by Synergy. TCS helps businesses step into innovative technologies that allow the exchange of fresh insights and new ideas with their clients and customers. The TCS team specializes in social media consultancy and offers email newsletter services, design solutions such as custom designed blogs and e-newsletters, and is equipped to record and edit podcast episodes.
TCS offers several levels of services from design solutions and consulting to complete social marketing solutions. Blogging, podcasting, email newsletters, and other advanced collaborative pathways should be the next step in the natural progression of Internet marketing. That is why The Creation Shop is here to grow your creative ideas and connect you to your clients through new forms of media.
How can TCS help to grow my business?
As a marketing tool, social media is one of the most cost-effective ways to maintain an ongoing dialog with your clients. Email marketing, blogging and podcasting are very efficient, convenient and cost effective ways to communicate. TCS leverages these advanced collaborative pathways to further enhance your company’s brand and reinforce your services in front of current and future clients. For example, through TCS’s podcasting studio, you can personally communicate what makes your services and products valuable before a captive and interested audience. By having TCS develop your custom blog community, clients can actively engage with your products and services. With the custom permission-based email newsletter campaigns TCS offers, customers receive new messages, features and information about your business into their in-box. TCS connects you with the tools of social media to build your Internet presence.
Why have custom-designed blogs and e-newsletters?
A custom designed blog and email newsletter reinforces your company’s brand identity and establishes credibility with current and future clients. The more familiar marketing materials are, the more willing clients will be in engaging with your services and products. It is very important to ensure that your email newsletter is complimentary to your website, blog, and printed collateral materials. The Creation Shop will create custom-designed media that helps clearly communicate a familiar, meaningful message to current and future clients.
What is email marketing?
Email marketing is a way for you to market your business through permission based emails. It provides for you a way to advertise to your clients or potential clients at their leisure- no more frustrated clients. Send email newsletters with up to date information about your company, products or services-and give your clients the opportunity to open them and read when they have the time. Email marketing is not considered spam, as long as it is used appropriately. There are many anti-spamming laws that prohibit businesses from sending emails to clients who are not aware that you have their email address. In order to be successful in marketing your business through email, they must be permission-based. As long as you follow the rules, The Creation Shop will help your company grow.
How will email marketing help my business?
Email marketing will help your business tremendously! It will save your company money and time! Plus, it only takes second maybe minutes to send out emails and its right at your fingertips! Mass mail-outs can take days to put together and get into the hands of your clients. And it costs more money (paper, stamps, ink, etc). Email marketing makes your clients happy, since you give them the opportunity to check out your products and services on their own. It gives them a sense of respect coming from you, making them more willing to buy your products or services in the future! Why wouldn’t you want to save money and time, drive up your sales and make your customers happy?
What are permission-based emails?
With the Can-Spam act of 2003 in place, there are many rules reguarding sending out emails- especially in mass quantities. The main concern is that each email address you obtain comes along with permission from the recipient. Constant Contact will not let you send out emails unless you verify that you have the permission of the recipient. This means that you cannot purchase lists or obtain lists without permission of each recipient. As long as you make sure each person knows you will be sending them emails, and you provide a way for them to opt-out of the emails if they decide they no longer want to receive them, you are okay. Click here to find out more information about Constant Contacts policies regarding permission-based emails. Check out the tips that Constant Contact had on getting permission.
Why email marketing?
From 2000- 2005 internet usage in America has grown by 110%. Currently, about 70% of America is actually using the internet. (Miniwatts marketing). Everyday more and more of the world is getting connected to the internet. Which means, they are converting from phone calls and snail mail to internet and emails. Also, according to Doubleclick’s 2004 Consumer Email Study, consumers increasingly value permission email marketing messages and prefer them to other types of marketing:
Since so much of the world would prefer the internet as their form of communication, we provide a way for you to connect with your clients using the internet.
Check out what Constant Contact had to say about email marketing.
What does “Hosting an image” mean?
If you use images in your newsletters, blogs, websites, etc. you need a place to “host” these images. Hosting basically means that you store your images in a certain location online (with a url)- where you can refer back to them, so others can view them. You need this location so that whenever you want the image to show up somewhere (newsletter, website, blog etc.)- you can place the url that refers to the image into the html (with the right tags), then the image will show up. If you have a program that puts html together for you just click on the option for link and enter in the information needed and it should show up. To read our blog article about this click here (http://www.thecreationshop.com/2007/01/31/wait-i-have-to-host-my-images/)
Why do I need to host images?
When you host an image somewhere online (and then use it), if you ever delete the image from the location in which it is hosted, the image will no longer show up in places where you have used the image (newsletter, blog, etc). Basically, make sure if you host an image and then use it, DON’T DELETE IT! (Unless, you only want to show the image for a short period of time). If you only use images in newsletters and don’t archive newsletters - none of this matters. However, we highly recommend archiving! Reason being, that if one of your clients ever wants to see information from a past newsletter, if you archive, you still have it on record for them to see it.
What is the best solution for hosting images?
There are many options in hosting images on the web. We recommend using a site that will allow you to store many images and allow lots of bandwidth! (Bandwidth basically means how many times you image can be used and viewed before it is unable to be viewed anymore). Many image hosting websites have great packages that are free - or at least not too pricey. Some suggestions are: Photobucket, imageshack, or flickr. But there are many other options out there, Google it and find one that suits your needs or if you have the ability and space - host on your own site by creating a folder that will hold these images, where you can reference them.
How will different mail systems affect my newsletter?
Different mail systems can affect your newsletter tremendously! Each mail system allows different versions of mail to come through- some allow html and some only allow text. There are some carriers that allow broken html- it doesn’t show images but shows the content, in a different format. Constant Contact has a chart so that you can see what providers allow to come through. Sometimes its up to your reader to choose which way they receive mail. Its very beneficial for you to send a test version out to several different mail systems to see what your letter looks like in each one, then you can make tweak to your newsletter. Check out this blog we posted that talks a little bit about this.
What should I include in my content?
In your content you should always include information about your business, articles that relate to your business or current specials going on, and a statement saying something like- “you have received this newsletter because you subscribed to it and you can opt out at anytime by clicking the link at the bottom of the page”. With some of our clients we have found that if you add a little section that talks about yourself, your family, or even that has random funny stories, facts, pictures and quotes- most people will read that section and click on the links provided. Most of the time, the clients actually look forward to seeing this section.
What is the best day of the week for sending a newsletter out?
There is no guaranteed best day of the week to send your newsletter out- but Constant Contact suggests that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 12 pm to 3 pm are the best days and times to send out. These are the reasons they say these days and times are best:
We have found that those days, for our clients, have had successful open rates. It all depends on your clients and when they are able to receive the newsletter.
What makes a successful subject line?
There are many techniques to writing a successful subject line that will get you a great open rate. One person on the community board said that he had a successful open rate by writing a subject line that shocks the customer. At The Creation Shop we have found that there are many determining factors in writing a successful subject line. You may want to consider the following:
To read more about this check out our Blog post on this topic.
What is a Weblog?
According to Webster’s dictionary, a weblog, or blog, is a web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and hyperlinks provided by the writer. Through blogs, businesses invite their audience to interact by communicating their perspectives and experiences in this interactive forum. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. To see an example, click here to interact with the TCS blog.
What can a blog do for my business?
A Blog is useful for any business to use simply because it helps generate traffic to your website. By constantly refreshing your blog with new articles and content, traffic to your website increases thereby putting your business in front the eyes of a growing amount of visitors. With The Creation Shop, you are able to combine email marketing campaigns with your blog, reports are generated which reveals what topics your clients are interested in. For example, email newsletter campaigns provide a report for each newsletter, which includes the links clients are clicking on which connect back to your blog. This helps in deciding what topics to write about and post on your blog. The result, interested readers will continually go back to your blog to receive the latest information about your products and services.
What are the benefits of consistently adding new content to my blog?
The Creation Shop will set your blog to notify Technorati as well as other RSS readers each time you post a new blog entry. RSS readers then notify their subscribed readers that new content has been added to your website. In turn, subscribed readers will visit your blog to read new information you have added. Google, Yahoo, and MSN constantly check these RSS readers for new sites and new content which helps guide search engine profiling. For example, if Google sees that your website is consistently updated on a regular basis, it will come back to your website more often, thus increasing your profile in the eyes of the Google search engine. The result - traffic to your website will increase.
Why does TCS recommend that you become a blogger?
In short, to build relationships. Blogging isn’t just for promoting something online, and it is more than just an outlet for your thoughts and insights. At its core, it’s a great way to build relationships with others that have similar interests or who are looking for your products or services. Web users are always looking for information as well as looking for opportunities to share the knowledge they have gathered.
Blogs are the logical evolution of virtual relationship building. As a blogger you have a voice in a format that allows you to present yourself in a well thought out way to your readers. It also allows your readers to participate in, as well as audit your thought process by commenting on your posts. To start, blogging means posting information on your website on a regular basis. However, to really make use of your blog, you must respond to comments left by your visitors. TCS also recommends that you visit other sites and offer your comments which gets your name and perspectives before more eyes. The principals and power behind “group intelligence” comes into play when it comes to blogging.
It is important to understand that you are your best sales tool and sales are built through relationships. Your blog should be a reflection of your business culture and your personality. It is an opportunity for your readers to get to know you and your company better. Through this process, a firm relationship is built and that’s worth more staying power than any blast marketing campaign could ever do for you.
What is RSS?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. Feed readers or news aggregators are other phrases that describe the software of RSS. News feeds help bloggers and Internet users easily stay informed by retrieving summaries of the latest content from sites they subscribe to. The benefits include saving time by not visiting sites individually, and no software installation as many news aggregators make the user’s “feeds” available on any computer with Web access. The number of sites offering RSS feeds is growing tremendously from a variety of industries, news stations, educational institutions, private business, and individuals.
How can my blog work with my email newsletter campaigns?
An effective use of your blog is to combine it with email newsletter campaigns. Your blog can be used as a place to link to and archive all your articles in your email newsletter. In your newsletter, you can then shorten your articles and add links to the full articles in your blog. This way you are giving your readers the option to choose if they want to read the article or not. They get to choose which articles they want to read and it will make your newsletter more appealing to them because it is shorter and to the point.
What is a Podcast?
A podcast is a series of electronic media files, such as audio or video, that are distributed periodically over the Internet by means of a web feed. Users can choose to subscribe to podcasts by using software capable of RSS formats. Podcasts are audio or video recordings of people talking about various topics that your audience can access via RSS or directly streaming from a website.
How would Podcasting help my business?
Podcasting has become a preferred mode of communication putting anyone on the same playing field with big names and independent voices alike. Now it is possible for your voice to be heard in the midst of such diverse company through this new tool of communication. The Creation Shop’s podcast recording studio gives you the opportunity to communicate what makes your services and products valuable before a captive and interested audience. TCS will record and edit your podcast episodes helping your products and services maintain an even stronger presence in front of your clients.
To learn more about TCS’s approach to podcasting, click here to listen our conversation that is filled with tips and information for the new podcast entrepreneur.