Today I needed to send a personalize email to the people who had attended my presentation at the ICF conference. Luckily I had one of my nifty online tools available - eMail Merge.
It's cool because you can easily import the names and emails from a text document and then write a customized, personalized letter and send them out one at a time (so you don't trigger the anti-spam police from your ISP).
This is software for the Mac: www.sigsoftware.com and I'm sure there's an equivalent for the PC.
So today's eZine is about this - Nifty online tools that make your marketing job easier. I'll list some of my favorites and if you have some that you really like, just let us know on the blog:
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
AWeber - This is my premium email tool. It's how I manage my More Clients list. But it's also great for creating other lists, such as sign-up lists for teleclasses. Easy to use, inexpensive and tons of useful features. Couldn't live without it. Check it out!
Form to Email - I use this to create simple and very reliable response forms on my web site where I don't need an autoresponder. Costs a whopping $29!
Google Groups - The best way to get a conversation going with any kind of group. I use this with my Mastery Program to communicate with the participants. Great for brainstorming, networking and resource sharing. Zero dinero.
TinyUrl - Makes long urls very tiny. Nice for long urls you want to include in an email or for affiliate links. I also like that you can create customized urls such as http://tinyurl.com/HEOB-teleclass
1ShoppingCart - The is the premier shopping cart system for small businesses. Enables you to accept credit cards online. You must have this if you want to take your business to the next level. I recommend a particular brand of 1shopping cart called "Easy Online Store." It's identical, except that it comes with lots of free training to help you set things up (which can be a bear).
And you can get a 30-day trial for $3.95!
Google Analytics - You do track the traffic on your web site, don't you? Well, if you're doing anything online, this is essential. For instance, if you hold a teleclass you want to know how many people went to the signup page compare to the actual signups. If you don't know this, how can you improve your page? No cost.
Survey Monkey - I love this. The limited version is $0. The unlimited version is just $20 per month. And if you want to do an extensive client survey just once, pay $20 and then quit.
Atomz - Search tool for your web site. I don't use this anymore, but for some sites a search function is really useful. And again, it doesn't cost a dime.
Well, those are just a few. Check them out. They can all help you increase your online productivity and effectiveness.
Now please share some of your nifty online tools with us.
The More Clients Bottom Line: Don't just let your web site sit there like a lump. That won't do you any good. Make it interactive and you'll get better results. Include sign-up forms for your eZine, web stats to determine web activity, surveys to learn what people are looking for and a shopping cart to actually sell something on the site. Most are easy to use and get started with.
What nifty online tools do you recommend? Please share on the More Clients Blog. Just click on the Comments link below.
I think these tools must be very helpful specially for marketing purposes and i think all marketing people should get this this will make their work easier. Thanks for sharing this software.
Posted by: cheap computer | June 16, 2010 at 09:50 PM
For solopreneurs who want to know if their press releases make the grade, I highly recommend www.pressreleasegrader.com.
Just "cut and paste" your press release draft into this free tool, and you'll get a report that shows how well your release scores on a scale of 1 - 100. The report you receive even guides you to know how to make your press release better. The closer to 100 your score, the better your press release.
Try it and see how much better your press releases become with a little free online help.
Posted by: Nancy Juetten | February 02, 2010 at 12:46 AM
if you hold a teleclass you want to know how many people went to the signup page compare to the actual signups.
Posted by: cheap computer canada | January 10, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Well those were some great tools, however about survey monkey....I'm not sure if they really pay you for all the efforts after all ?
Posted by: cheap computers canada | January 05, 2010 at 05:59 AM
Thank you so much for the applications and the online tools...I just loved "tinyurl". Addition to your tools, I would like to include a free online tool "Billing Boss".
Billing Boss is a secured online invoicing tool that helps you sending your invoices on time to your customers. You can send unlimited invoices to unlimited customers instantly. It helps you to have transparent transactions. Creating and sending invoices through Billing Boss is absolutely free of cost.Visit http://www.billingboss.com for more details.
Posted by: Tracy Anne George | January 05, 2010 at 02:43 AM
Thanks for the apps, especially Send Personally, love it. Also, we just decided on 1shoppingcart for my new site which will be done in Feb and am glad you like it too.
Darci www.swirlsolutions.com
Posted by: Darci | December 16, 2009 at 06:31 PM
I often print off your newsletter, Robert, and like to remove the line breaks to save paper. I love this Remove Line Breaks free tool:
http://www.textfixer.com/tools/remove-line-breaks.php
Posted by: Alyson B. Stanfield | December 15, 2009 at 08:32 PM
http://www.quickscrib.com/
An online, sharable notepad. You just
go to the site, enter a title for your "Scrib" enter the text and click "Scrib it" and it will create a custom URL for you.
You then have the option to share your scrib on Twitter, Facebook
or via email. Or you can just take your URL and share it any way you want.
Posted by: Jim | December 15, 2009 at 10:29 AM
When I need to share large files with a client, this is the web tool I use: www.SendToPerson.com and of course, for audio recording a virtual meeting/conference call, there's still my long time favorite which is free - www.freeconferencecall.com
Dory Willer, PCC, SPHR
Your best success tool - a Coach!
2003 International Coach of the Year
www.BeaconQuest.com
Posted by: Dory Willer | December 15, 2009 at 09:59 AM
I just made this my we browser's home page: http://teuxdeux.com
Before it was the NY Times... now I'm constantly reminded what I want to get done and not tempted to read the news.
Posted by: Jim Eaton | December 15, 2009 at 08:58 AM
Whenever I've wanted to convert files without the need to download software, I've used Zamzar.
Zamzar helps transform songs, videos, images and documents into different formats. They have split their file formats into these categories - Document formats, Image formats, Music formats, Video formats, Compressed formats, and CAD formats.
"Anonymous" access gets your files sent to you by e-mail without having to register. You can also signup for additional online management options through Free, Basic, Pro, and Business subscriptions.
www.zamzar.com
Posted by: Michel Hudson, CFRE | December 15, 2009 at 06:36 AM
MozyHomeRemoteBackup has saved me several times. It's set to automatically back up all changed files each night. . .Very inexpensive and vital to my business
Posted by: June Van Klaveren | December 15, 2009 at 05:53 AM
Robert,
I'm a Mac person too now, but when I was using a PC I used an add on for Outlook called "Send Personally" which does something similar to Email merge. You send an email to a distribution list and it sends to each person individually and can replace tokens like %NAME% with their actual name. it works via Outlook's address book so doesn't need any work to format lists.
Ian
Posted by: Ian Brodie | December 15, 2009 at 03:19 AM