Definition:

Social networks are groups of individuals who share a commonality. Their common bond of social networks may be the community in which members live, their religion, subdivision, career interest, social interests, common friends or shared beliefs. In short, social networks can arise from nearly any commonality or even a desire to make friends among their individual members. Therefore, to define social networks requires a broad view.

Today's Social Networks

While traditionally, social networks were made up of people who might gather face-to-face, today's social networks are predominately online. Examples of today's social networks include social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and others. With increasing mobile phone popularity and enhanced cell phone technology, even Twitter might be considered a social network of sorts where you can let your network of friends know what you are doing or thinking at any given moment. Today's social networks are predominately free to join, which makes them extremely popular.

Use of Social Networks for Job Search

Social networks can be useful for those who are seeking legitimate work at home jobs. Most social networks include job search tools you can use. In the case of LinkedIn, access to some job postings is limited to members only.

Social Networks for Business Promotion

While strictly social when they began, social networks like Facebook and MySpace are being increasingly used for promoting every type of business from a small one-person business to mega corporations. From its birth, LinkedIn was geared more to fostering network connections within the business community and it's common for entrepreneurs and corporate managers alike to seek out partnership opportunities for their business.

Also Known As: social networking, social media

Examples:

Joining various social networks and opting in to sub-communities within them can also be an effective tool for promoting a business.

In their early days, social networks were also used as a means of building links to business websites - an important search engine optimization technique. However, in most cases, today's social networking sites have made adjustments that make these links worthless for search ranking improvements. Still, such links can bring increased traffic to a website.

A woman finds a finger in her Wendy's Chili but that turns out to be a hoax. A man finds a finger in his frozen chocolate custard and that turns out to be true. A man bites into his Arby's chicken sandwich and finds a piece of human skin. All of these extras in your food just begs the question: What's the PR effect of crisis management?

Wendy's

The story: Anna Ayala claimed she bit down on a finger while eating Wendy's chili in San Jose, California. Police have since ruled Ayala's allegations a hoax and have arrested her. But the finger is legit. Wendy's offered up a $100,000 reward to find the finger's owner and a tip lead to an associate of Ayala's husband who lost his finger in an industrial accident.

The damage: Wendy's reported a sales drop at its Northern California locations. Employees have been laid off and work hours were reduced as a result of Ayala's claims and consumers steering clear of Wendy's.
The fast food chain offered a free frosty day at the San Jose location where the the scam occurred and customers were out the door waiting in line. Wendy's then offered a nationwide free frosty day and the event just happened to coincide with the news that the finger's owner had been found.
Ayala was arrested for making false claims but Wendy's President and Chief Operating Officer Tom Mueller says Wendy's reputation has been damaged nationally. Stocks dropped and the chain reports first-quarter earnings fell because of the finger incident and inclement weather.

Kohl's Frozen Custard

The story: Clarence Stowers found a finger in his custard at Kohl's Frozen Custard in Wilmington, N.C. He thought it was candy and ate all of the ice cream off of it before realizing it was actually a human finger. He only wished his find was a hoax. But an employee had lost part of his index finger in a freak custard accident and Stowers was the lucky finger finder.
The damage: Kohl's Frozen Custard only has locations in North Carolina. The story, while disgusting to most of us, wouldn't have made such a huge media splash had it not occurred right on the heels of the Wendy's chili finger claims.
What makes this story even more bizarre and has kept it in the media spotlight is that Stowers won't return the finger to Brandon Fizer, the 23-year-old employee who lost it to a custard machine. Now it's too late for Fizer to get the digit re-attached but Stowers says he's keeping it as evidence and it's been reported that he's hired an attorney to sue the custard company.
Another employee lost part of his finger on the same custard machine less than a year ago. While it was determined he was negligent and it wasn't the store's fault, the images of cut off fingers are still there for consumers.
Arby's
The story: David Scheiding bit into his Arby's chicken sandwich in Ohio and found a slice of human skin as a special topping. The fast food chain's local manager had sliced his thumb while shredding lettuce. He says he cleaned and sanitized the area but didn't throw away the lettuce.
The damage: The incident happened on June 18, 2004, but didn't make headlines until the man filed a lawsuit on April 1, 2005, after rejecting a settlement. The buzz around this story started at the end of April 2005 and has hit the major networks and news outlets but still hasn't become the phenomenon of fingers in food.
Golden Puffs
The story: In early May 2005, Jordan Willett, 5, opened his box of Golden Puffs in the U.K. and out popped a corn snake, alive and well. Willett thought the snake was a toy at first.
An expert analyzed the snake and thinks it was someone's pet before escaping to the box of cereal. It's believed the two-foot long snake had gotten in the box but not inside the sealed cereal packaging.
The family is considering taking the matter further. The small grocery store where the Golden Puffs were purchased says this is one of those freak events but did check with its suppliers to attempt to find out what happened.
The damage: This is one of those odd events that would probably be a bigger deal if it had happened in the U.S. While it did make national news, it wasn't covered nearly as much.
Malt-O-Meal's Golden Puffs are basically a less expensive version of Post's Golden Crisp. The company recently reported a 33-percent growth in one year, from 15 million to 20 million families purchasing its products. Malt-O-Meal hasn't reported a sales drop and since the product was purchased at a small store in the U.K. and with lower press coverage, the damage shouldn't be significant.
Take a look at some of the gross things people have found or have reported they've found in their food:
McDonald's A Virginia woman ordered a box of Chicken McNuggets and found a fried chicken head as one of her pieces. While this story has been reported as true, a detention deputy reported he found glass on his cheeseburger at a McDonald's in Florida and that story has been found to be false.
A woman in Georgia repoted she found a condom in her burger and it was later determined to be an employee playing a joke by putting the condom on top of the burger after it had been prepared. A Wisconsin woman says she found a rolled up condom in her Big Mac. A Tennessee woman said she bit into her McNugget and a hypodermic needle lodged in her jaw.
McDonald's has been quick to cooperate with authorities when people report finding objects in their food. Some have been found to be true, some are not and some have been investigated but they simply can't find if an employee did something to the food or if the reports were simply a hoax.
Burger King A two-year-old began screaming after his family says he found a fried lizard in his french fries. They say they were horrified at the discovery and the little boy immediately got sick to his stomach. Burger King said they needed the lizard for analysis to find out the reptile's source.
This happened in the U.K. back in 2000 and didn't make a huge impact on the media in the U.S. Nor did it make a dent in BK's profits.
Cracker Barrel CBRL Group's Cracker Barrel stores were already having a low-earning month when a woman reported a mouse in her soup at one of the Virginia locations. Carla and Ricky Patterson, a mother and son, said they found the mouse in a bowl of vegetable soup they ordered. However, a mouse autopsy revealed the rodent had been beaten to death and that it wasn't cooked like it would've been had it been in the soup vat.
Police arranged to arrest the Pattersons when they told Cracker Barrel they would turn over their camera phone pictures of the mouse soup for $500,000. Cracker Barrel also cooperated with authorities to find out the truth and the truth turned out to be a lie.
Jack in the Box On a different wiggly note, Jack in the Box suffered a huge PR and financial blow when more than 600 people got sick in 1993 after eating undercooked hamburger patties contaminated with E. coli.
Since most of the people who got sick were children and four of them died, Jack in the Box seemed to be on its way out of business fast. Not only did the chain suffer from a huge financial loss nationwide, they ended up in court with multiple multimillion-dollar lawsuits. Some plaintiffs with minor injuries received $12 million. A girl who was in a coma for 42 days received $15.6 million. One lawyer said he had recovered $40 million for his clients. Litigation ended after four years.
An investigation revealed the problem traced back to meat supplier Foodmaker. But Jack in the Box waited two days to pull the meat from its stores and didn't get out there to tell the public what had happened. They recovered somewhat when they instituted a state-of-the-art food handling system in an attempt to prevent the tragedy from happening again.
It took Jack in the Box and its chain owners several years to recoup their losses. The chain has survived and many franchise owners are now reporting high gains in profits.
As for Wendy's, Kohl's Frozen Custard, Arby's and Golden Puffs, just like with any of the companies who've suffered a PR crisis, time is the factor that plays a hearty hand in getting consumers to come back. A free frosty is a nice treat but it won't make the thought of a finger in chili go away, even though the claims were a hoax. The image of a man licking a finger in his custard thinking it was candy is something that may even pop into your own head no matter what company's frozen custard you're eating.
Consumers may skip a particular food or even that particular restaurant for a while but most come back. And if you don't think people will go back to Wendy's for chili after the hoax, just think of the consumers who've returned to Jack in the Box after the E. coli deaths.

Question: How can I send bulk Email responsibly?

Answer: Always use these four elements to send out a responsible bulk Email ad campaign:

1. Accurate subject line
"You forgot!" or "Remember me?" is not only misleading, it's also a trick spammers use. Since it's a widely common practice to use deceptive subject lines, it's also a tip off to spam blocker software and Email filters.

Your message may never make it to your intended recipient. Keep subject lines simple and straightforward.

2. Acccurate headers
Spammers often forge the headers on the Emails they sent. This means they attempt to bypass any means you have of tracking down their true location and ISP.

3. Use your physical street address
Let consumers know there is a person and a real business behind your messages. Give them your physical street address in all correspondence.

Most spammers simply use their Email address and don't give out any kind of contact information such as telephone numbers or street addresses. If you do give out this information, it lends so much more credibility to your message and the company behind it.

4. Give consumers a way to opt-out
You're not going to gain business by forcing someone to receive your messages. Give them the option to unsubscribe from your mailings and truly allow them to do so.

Since most spammers devise a trick that makes people think they're opting out when all it does is confirm there is a real live person on the other end of that Email address, you should run a legitimate way to allow someone to discontinue receiving your messages.

Question: How can my Email ad campaign be spam free?

Answer: Just because you're sending bulk Email, doesn't automatically make you a spammer. There are two key points to always keep in mind when beginning a bulk Email ad campaign:

1. Where did you get your Email addresses?
Did you buy an Email address list from a reputable company that consumers opt-in to receive such mailings? Did you collect your Email addresses from newsletter subscribers and tell them up front they may receive special offers from time to time by signing up?

Know the answer to these questions before beginning your Email ad campaign. If you went to a message board covering your type of business and grabbed the first 1,000 Email addresses you see for your Email ad campaign, you're a spammer.

2. Send spam free Email by knowing what to look for within your own message.
People who have asked for your mailings may not be getting them because spam blocker software and Email filters are set so high that they sometimes catch mail you really do want to receive.

For someone about to embark on an Email ad campaign, you can reduce your chances of your message getting discarded by these automations by using these quick tips:

A) Avoid caps. JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK YOUR MESSAGE WILL BE LOUD AND CLEAR IN ALL CAPS DOESN'T MEAN IT WILL ACTUALLY MAKE IT TO YOUR RECIPIENT. Spam blocker software and Email filters are designed to look for capital letters and will immediately flush your Email.

B) Avoid excessive exclamation marks. Your message is powerful!!!!!! What could say that better than a few dozen exclamation points at the end of your sentences? This is another alarm signal for spam blocker software and Email filters. Exclamation points can't prove a point any better than simple text...especially when those exclamation points get your message trashed before it even reaches your intended audience.

C) Avoid repeating the same words and phrases over and over. In advertising, you're taught to use a subtle message while driving home points within your copy. You can do this without being repetitive. Many people Buy Diet Pills and when they run out they Buy Diet Pills and what could be better than if you Buy Diet Pills. this is another tip off to spam and spam blocker software and Email filters will catch it.

D) Send your message to yourself using spam blocker software. If your own spam blocker software catches the Email, chances are it's going to be caught by someone else's. Play around with your message until you receive it without your spam blocker software or Email filter catching it. When it arrives in your inbox without being caught, you're ready for your Email ad campaign to begin.

Put People in Your Commercial
People relate to other people. Putting people into your commercial can help draw your target audience in as opposed to a 30 second shot of your building's interior, exterior and the parking lot. You don't want your commercial to look hokey so you do want to be careful about having people waving at the camera or standing there smiling. Have them doing something that relates to your business so your commercial doesn't look like a photo that's come to life.

Plan Out Your Video
Using a furniture store as an example, you may have ten different kinds of recliners, eight living room sets and six bedroom suits you want to feature. You're going to have to narrow those shots down because you simply can't get them all into a :30, :45 or even a one minute commercial without flashing so many different pieces of video on the screen that your potential customers will feel like they're in a lightning storm. Wide shots of your showroom are good to get a bunch of your furniture displayed at once and you can select a few items you want to be featured alone. It's crucial you not cram a bunch of video into the small amount of time you have for your commercial. Your video should tell the story about what you're advertising even if a customer has their volume turned down.

Writing the Script
Make sure your commercial's script times out to 30 seconds (or however long you have bought air time for). Use short sentences that grab your potential customer's attention. You've got a very limited time frame to capture your audience and you need to get your message across quickly. Don't get wrapped up in long sentences. Keep them short and punchy. Your audio should also tell the customer what you're advertising even if the customer is in another room and can't see the TV when your commercial airs.

Audio and Video Must Match
When writing your commercial, you must make sure your audio and video match. When you're talking about new car models arriving, you don't want to see video of the current year's make. When you're talking about your big showroom of furniture, you don't want to see the building from the street. You must merge your audio and video to create a powerful sales tool.

Never Forget Your Call to Action
Your call to action gets customers to buy or act now. Don't get to the end of your commercial and leave off your call to action. You want to tell customers to visit today and give your complete contact information, including Web site address, phone number and street address (giving a quick line about how to find you if possible). For example, "That's Simple Designs, located next to the old train depot downtown."

Stick to Time
You've bought a :30 commercial package. As tempting as it might be to squeak in an extra few seconds, you just can't do it. Your commercial must time out to the exact time you've paid for. Going over will only get your all-to-important call to action clipped because those last few seconds will be cut off when your commercial airs.

Hiring a Production Company
Of course, you want your commercial to be professional. You can hire a production company or many television stations have their own production companies in-house. They can handle all aspects of your commercial, including writing, shooting and editing your commercial. Shop around for prices. Some production companies are able to offer you a commercial package for as low as $100 that will include still pictures shot with a high quality video camera.

Scheduling Your Commercial
Placement of your commercial is very important. It determines who will see your commercial and how much you will pay for its air time. Having your commercial air at 3 a.m. will save you money but if you don't reach your audience it's not money well spent. The same holds true for the station you're airing your ad on as well. If you're advertising your maternity clothing store, you don't want schedule air time on ESPN with your local cable company.

Frequency
Television is less demanding on frequency than radio but it still deserves more than a one-shot deal. If you were advertising during the Super Bowl, that would be a completely different story. But on the local level, you need to identify the key times your ad should run and buy enough air time for your commercial to reach your audience at least twice. More times would be ideal.

Consistency
Use the same announcer, jingle, fonts, colors, etc. to keep your commercial consistent. This helps people start to get to know your company by all of these factors. The more you recognize the lady pitching the hair salon down the street, the more you know exactly what that company's name and address is before she even speaks in the commercial.

You sent out the best direct mail piece you've ever seen. Your catalog belongs in the Smithsonian. Your brochure is so great you framed it and put it next to the pictures of your kids.

So why aren't you getting sales?

Take a look at your call to action. With any advertising materials, it's crucial that you get potential customers to act. Now!

Use the following techniques to create a call to action that will have your phones ringing off the hook and your profits reinventing your sales graphs:

Give a Deadline for Ordering
We've all received some sort of promotional material that has a deadline for ordering. The offer could end on that date.

Or you could use the deadline in conjunction with an upgrade or free gift. For example, order by the 15th and receive....

Also, try to make the cut off date in the same month as your materials will be received. That way, your potential customers know they only have a limited time to respond and they won't fall victim to the "I'll do it later" syndrome.

Advise of a Price Increase
People want to get in on a good deal. If your price is going up on a specific date, let your customers know. They'll want to buy before your product's price increases.

Establish a Trial/Introductory Period
Trial periods are a great way to get new customers. Offer a special deal, extra service or a lower price during your trial/introductory period.

Free Gift
Nothing attracts new customers like free gifts. As an added incentive for ordering, offer your free gift to the first 100 or 1000 people that respond.

"No Risk" Trial
People want to know there's no risk involved if they're not satisfied with the product/service. Let new customers know they can cancel for any reason before the trial period expires.

"Not Available in Stores"
Is your product exclusive to mail order? If your product's not available in stores, be sure to tell your customers. They'll know they can only order your product from you instead of visiting the local stores.

Offer an Upgrade
One simple line can boost your sales. "Order within 10 days and we'll upgrade you to the deluxe model."

Free Supplies/Accessories
You've seen this technique used with computer sales. Buy a computer and receive a free printer. This works with a whole range of products. But be sure to include a date on your offer. This politely urges people to take advantage of your offer before time runs out.

Use Action Phrases
No matter how you approach your own call to action, be sure to include action phrases:

Call Now. Toll Free. 24 Hours a Day. Mail this coupon today in the postage-paid envelope. Fax your response card.

Avoid Passive Phrases
Be sure to avoid passive phrases like:

You know how to reach us. Call when you're ready to order.

Give your customers the perks of responding immediately. They'll grab their wallets. You'll see an increase in profits.

We all used to think Facebook was for kids; I'm with you I used to think the same thing as well, but it's time to change our thinking. There are many companies using Facebook to market and seeing success in doing so.

Consider the following statistics provided by O’Reilly Media. Between September 2008 and February 2009...

• The number of Facebook users between the ages of 35 and 44 increased by 51%
• Facebook users among the ages 45-54 grew by 47%
• Facebook users ages 26-34 increased by 26%
• More than half of the 140 million Facebook users are out of college

As you can see Facebook is no longer for just college students. Why should you use Facebook as a marketing tool? The answer is easy; you can use Facebook to gain new clients, stay in touch with current clients and promote new products and sales offers. You can also use it to create buzz and PR that is specific about your business.

How do you do this? Facebook offers you many tools, to be successful in marketing your business you must have an understanding of these tools. In this article we will look at two in particular:

• Facebook Pages
• Facebook Groups

Facebook Pages

Facebook Offers you Facebook Pages. What does that mean? You can use Facebook Pages to create and give your business their own profile on Facebook; the best thing is right now they are free. These pages give your business an identity on Facebook which strengthens your brand. Current customers or even potential customers can become fans of your page and by doing so this allows them to follow you and receive any updates that you post to your page.

The great thing about Facebook Pages is that every time someone becomes a fan of your page all of their friends see that they have become a "fan." This often attracts other followers as well as creates a buzz regarding your business and of course your Facebook Page.

You can use your Facebook Page to not only share your company information, but you can also use it to post photos, videos, applications and messages. Any activity that you perform on your Facebook Page is then broadcast into the mini-feeds of your followers.

When creating your Facebook Page, there are things to keep in mind. You will be given a choice of three options when you start out. You will be asked whether your page is about:

• A Local Business
• A Brand or a Product
• An Artist, Band or a Public Figure

Which are you? Good question. This depends on what you want to promote. Do you want to promote your business locally, do you want to promote your brand or a product or are you working to promote an artist, band or public figure?

Each of these categories will provide you with an opportunity to complete your "basic information", "detailed information" or your "contact information." Each option will provide you with a page that enables you to provide different ways of showing your information. It's important to realize that you cannot edit your page type once you select it, and also remember that the page type that you select will categorize your page with other like pages in that category; this is why you want to make sure you select the correct category to be displayed in.

Your Facebook Page, when done correctly can be used to bring in new customers as well as to help you maintain current customer relationships.

Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups, carry a similarity to Facebook Pages, the difference is they are built around a group of people rather than your business or your brand. You must be a member of Facebook to create a Facebook Group. In order to create a group just login to Facebook and then click on the Groups link in the main menu on the left hand side of the page.

You can use Facebook Groups to create awareness, but they do not have the feature that allows users to become fans, they only become members. The downfall of this is it will not share as much information with friends of "group" members as they interact with the group.

Which One is Right for You?

The question I hear most when it comes to marketing on Facebook is "Laura, do I need a page or a group?" The answer depends on the goal you want to achieve with marketing on Facebook. The truth is you will gain more exposure from a Facebook Page, because it can be seen by unregistered users, but a group page can only be seen by registered Facebook users.

Now, that feature alone should make it easy to decide, right? Wrong. You must also consider that when you send a message to Facebook Page members, they will only receive an update notification, but if you are sending a message to your Facebook Group they will receive the message via their Facebook inbox. If you goal is to be able to communicate in a personal way, the Facebook Group option may be a better fit for you.

This is Part Three of the full Learn About Email Marketing With Campaigner interview with Mike Pugh.

Bryan: Where do you see the email marketing industry in 5 years from now?

Mike: We predict a convergence with social. Email will continue to be the preferred communication channel for B2B and B2C communications and for transactional messaging.

Bryan: Social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, has really changed how we communicate. How has this change affected your business?

Mike: Yes, people are sending out more emails to promote their Facebook and Twitter pages. We’ve also adapted our product to support these media. They both use email to communicate with their members, so they are all supportive of each other and the overarching goal of engagement.

Bryan: Are email lists typically larger or smaller than social media followings, such as Facebook fans, or Twitter followers? Are they typically the same people in both groups?

Mike: Email lists tend to be larger and there will be some overlap. However, Facebook pages tend to get additional followings through a passive recommendation from a friend. If you see that they liked Campaigner in their news feed, they might check out the page and decide to like it too.

Bryan: What’s the most important component of an email marketing campaign?

Mike: The permission and the message. If you don’t have permission you get high complaints and get blocked. If your message is poor, then you’ll also negatively affect your future campaigns. Unfortunately one bad campaign can have an impact on future ones. Make sure you explain clearly to your subscribers what they can expect from you and then keep that promise.

Mike Pugh is vice president of marketing at j2 Global Communications, Inc., a pioneering provider of cloud-based services. Campaigner is a division of j2 Global.

This is Part Three of the full Learn About Email Marketing With Campaigner interview with Mike Pugh.

Mike Pugh is vice president of marketing at j2 Global Communications, Inc., a pioneering provider of cloud-based services. Campaigner is a division of j2 Global.

Bryan: What does Campaigner do?

Mike: Campaigner is an email marketing service that makes it easy for small-to-medium-sized businesses and organizations to send professional and relevant emails to their customers, prospects and members.

Bryan: How does Campaigner differentiate itself from the other email marketing firms? What makes you stand above the others?

Mike: We are obsessed with our customer’s satisfaction and success. We want to make email marketing as simple and effective as possible for them. Campaigner is the only email marketing service that offers free telephone and email support based out of North America 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Bryan: Why should online businesses use email marketing?

Mike: It’s the fastest, most cost effective way to communicate with your audience. It has the highest ROI of any form of direct marketing. The DMA supports this by stating that you can expect a return for every marketing dollar spent, doing email marketing right, of $43 for 2009.

Bryan: How does Campaigner help build a responsive following?

Mike: By listening to our customers and making them an integral part of our product development.

Bryan: Everyone hates spam. How does your company prevent your users from becoming “spammers”?

Mike: We have an excellent team of postmasters that have been doing this for many years. We are also founding members of the “Email Senders and Providers Coalition” and adhere to the most-stringent best practices and reputation management techniques.

Mike Pugh is vice president of marketing at j2 Global Communications, Inc., a pioneering provider of cloud-based services. Campaigner is a division of j2 Global.

This is Part One of the full Learn About Email Marketing With Campaigner interview with Mike Pugh.

ike Pugh is vice president of marketing at j2 Global Communications, Inc., a pioneering provider of cloud-based services. Campaigner is a division of j2 Global.

This is Part Two of the full Learn About Email Marketing With Campaigner interview with Mike Pugh.

Bryan: How does Campaigner market itself?

Mike: Thought leadership, online marketing and cross-selling within our broader j2 Global® customer base, which includes eFax® (online fax), eVoice® (virtual phone system), FuseMail® (hosted email), KeepItSafe (online backup), and Onebox® (unified communications).

Bryan: How significant of a role does email marketing play in your marketing strategy?

Mike: It’s integral. We use email marketing extensively in our lead nurturing and on-boarding programs for all of j2 Global’s services. In the case of Campaigner, we use it as an effective way to teach our customers how to do email marketing right with proper list management, professional email creation and staggered email touches.

Bryan: What role does your affiliate program play in your marketing plan? How much of your new business comes via this channel? Please explain how the program works.

Mike: We run an affiliate program as part of our marketing mix. We use it to provide greater reach to our message, getting out the word on Campaigner and email marketing to our affiliate’s audiences.

Bryan: How has the email marketing industry changed in the last five years?

Mike: It keeps evolving and the rate of change is accelerating with the widespread adoption of social media and the explosion of mobile device usage. We view social as a great way to build awareness and loyalty. Email gets them to listen to you. It is predicted that one out of every two Americans will have a Smartphone by the end of this year. This means more mobile inboxes and a lesser need to have a traditional computer to check your email. It’s a game changer and we are ready for it.

Bryan: What social media networks and communities do you use to communicate with clients and prospects?

Mike: You can find us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter (@CampaignerEmail &@CampaignerHelp) , our blog at blog.campaigner.com and our community atcommunity.campaigner.com

Mike Pugh is vice president of marketing at j2 Global Communications, Inc., a pioneering provider of cloud-based services. Campaigner is a division of j2 Global.

This is Part Two of the full Learn About Email Marketing With Campaigner interview with Mike Pugh.

Email marketing is a fundamental part of most online businesses. The expression “the money is in the list” has never been truer than it is today. With all of the online clutter, an email newsletter helps communicate directly with your readers, prospects and clients.

One of the challenges of email marketing is actually creating an attractive and functional campaign.

I just completed a test drive of Campaigners Smart Email Builder. And it is a hassle (and code) free way to easily create professional email marketing campaigns.

Visit Campaigners Website

Creating a Professional HTML Email Marketing Newsletter

Campaigner offers two primary ways of creating a newsletter: 1) Smart Email Builder and the 2) Full Email Editor. Here are some of the features of each(bulleted points quoted from Campaigner.com)

Smart Email Builder

• Easiest to use when getting started and creating newsletters
• Start from prescribed layouts and themes: easily change at any time
• Just enter your content to create a professional looking email in minutes

Full Email Editor

• For those familiar with HTML or needing the most flexibility
• Start from hundreds of templates, including seasonal "Featured templates" or custom "My Templates"
• Create HTML or plain-text emails from scratch

So while its great to have flexibility, the majority of small business owners don’t know, and can’t be bothered to learn, HTML coding. For them, I recommend Smart Email Builder.

Choose from 5 Primary Layouts:

• Single Column Layout
• Column Layout
• 3 Column Layout
• Left Sidebar Layout
• Right Sidebar Layout

With each of these layouts, there are 16 different appearances (fonts, colors, sizes) each with their own set of color themes - which will create hundreds of different appearances - all without any custom HTML coding. Of course, the HTML is created, but it is all behind the scenes, automatically. You won’t need to know any.

Once you choose from these three primary options (layout, appearance and color themes) you move to a second screen. This split screen has your draft email on the left and the edit window on the right. This updates in real time, allowing you to see just what it looks like, as you add your content. This feature is outstanding. With other email marketing providers its possible to accidentally delete a bit - or even a whole section - of HTML code without even knowing. (I’ve done it many times.) But with Smart Email Builder this problem is completely avoided.

My Favorite Feature of Smart Email Builder Tool

Layout and color options can be adjusted after the content is added. This sounds like a small detail, but this isn’t a common feature. Imagine the frustration of creating a campaign, with custom text, photos and links, only to decide to change to a different layout. With other providers you will need to start from scratch, choosing templates and colors - then re-loading your photos, link and other content. With Smart Email Builder, you can change out templates and theme colors with a click - maintaining all of your modifications and data.

Creating marketing in house is a big enough responsibility - don’t make it harder by using an email marketing provider that has antiquated creation tools.

The Bottom Line: For a professional, HTML based email campaign, I haven’t seen a better, more intuitive app than Smart Email Builder by Campaigner. If you are just getting started with your email marketing, check out these interviews with Campaigners experts: Mélanie Attia and Mike Pugh.

Visit Campaigners Website

End note: There are, of course, two other ways to create an email campaign. A simple text based email or custom coding the email completely. The first option is something to consider, while the second option is something that should be completely avoided.

Mike Pugh is vice president of marketing at j2 Global Communications, Inc., a pioneering provider of cloud-based services. Campaigner is a division of j2 Global.

Campaigner is an email marketing firm. They offer a full set of tools and templates to get started in email marketing. Mike recently responded to a Q&A covering everything from the basics of email marketing to how they market as a company and the future of email marketing. The interview is divided into three sections:

1) What is Campaigner?

Mike Pugh covers the basics of email marketing:

• What differentiates Campaigner from the other email marketing firms
• Why should an online business use email marketing?
• How to avoid becoming a "spammer"

Read the full What is Campaigner section.

2) How Does an Email Marketing Company Market Itself?

So email marketing is an important marketing tool for every online business. But how does an online business market itself? In this section, Mike covers:

• How does Campaigner market itself?
• The role of email marketing in Campaigner's marketing strategy?
• What role does the affiliate program play in their marketing plan?
• How has the email marketing industry changed in the last five years?
• What social media networks and communities do you use to communicate with clients and prospects?

Read the full How Does an Email Marketing Company Market Itself section.

3) The Future of Email Marketing

Is email marketing dying, thanks to social media? Mike Pugh discusses the following questions:

• Where do you see the email marketing industry in 5 years from now?
• Social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, has really changed how we communicate. How has this change affected your business?
• Are email lists typically larger or smaller than social media followings, such as Facebook fans, or Twitter followers? Are they typically the same people in both groups?
• What’s the most important component of an email marketing campaign?

Check out all of Mike's responses in the The Future of Email Marketing section.

Mike Pugh is vice president of marketing at j2 Global Communications, Inc., a pioneering provider of cloud-based services. Campaigner is a division of j2 Global.