Email Marketing - A Powerful Tool for Any Business

When it comes to marketing today, the Internet is by far the most sought after platform, as companies and businesses acknowledged the fact that consumers are no longer using traditional outlets to search for products or services, but are solely relying on the Internet. And even within this field, there had been many discoveries and marketing strategy approaches, from bulk email marketing to social media and banner promotion, all in the attempt of catching the eye of the consumer and attracting him. Email marketing has been among the very first types of Internet marketing and has allowed companies to advertise their products and services quickly and in a targeted manner. However, as social media platforms appeared and became amazingly popular among consumers, many turned their attention in that direction and didn't want to buy email lists anymore and promote their business that way. Nevertheless, social platform advertising, as enticing as it may have seemed at the beginning, failed to convert into sales, which determined many companies to come back to email marketing and resort to steady support, such as companies that offer email data and software.

There are many benefits to bulk email marketing and it has been proven to be a very powerful tool that still works, regardless of the many changes that have occurred in the online world, consumer behavior and market trends. One of the greatest advantages of this type of marketing is that the email hits the customers' inbox instantly, which means fast promotion and quick generation of sales. Furthermore, if you buy email lists in bulk, you are able to advertise your products and services to thousands of potential customers, not to mention that it is a very inexpensive manner to build and maintain a large contact database for your company. Last year, 90% of all major companies online made use of email promotion for branding and the results were more than satisfactory. By using email lists, companies were able to target consumers by state or city and even promote their business internationally, which significantly helped with performance improvement.

It is very important for companies that choose to buy email lists and take advantage of the great opportunities that bulk email marketing offers to find a reliable and professional email data and software provider, in order to benefit from fresh and updated lists with outstanding deliverable data. It is also essential for the lists to include not only the email address, name, city and state of the targeted consumer, but also IP address, website source, verification date and time, in order for companies to make sure they are using new, fresh data, compiled from live feed. There are several such providers on the web and companies should do a thorough research before choosing to collaborate with one or another, as email marketing seems to be here to stay and this collaboration might turn into a long term partnership, which is why it's so important to find a good provider.

Source: http://emailflow.com

5 quick-hit history facts about the 4th of July, aka Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July! Happy birthday to the United States of America!

It's been 238 years since the founding fathers declared independence from Great Britain and formed a country of 13 colonies.

You know that, of course. But it's been a while since history class. So here's a quick-hit history lesson on the holiday.

We should be celebrating on July 2.

Representatives of the 13 colonies, called the Second Continental Congress, actually voted on July 2, 1776, in Philadelphia to declare independence.

John Adams believed that day would be marked with celebrations throughout the nation's history.

But it wasn't until two days later that a congressional committee approved the final draft. And it wasn't until Aug. 2 that delegates signed the document.

But when it went to the printer, July 4 was affixed in big letters at the top of broadsheets. 

You probably haven't memorized the first line.

Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian delegate who became the nation's third president, wrote the declaration as a formal explanation of why the colonies should secede in June 1776. Adams, later the second U.S. president, and Benjamin Franklin edited.

Its first sentence is a doozy:

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

The second sentence is a much catchier – and better known: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The Revolutionary War started before independence was declared.

The declaration did not kick off the Revolutionary War.

The battles of Lexington and Concord, in April 1775 in Massachusetts, achieved that. (That's when Paul Revere made his midnight ride.) Though at that point, most colonists still hoped for reconciliation with Britain.

The Constitution came a decade later.

During the Revolutionary War -- which eventually involved Spain, France and the Netherlands and ended in 1783 -- the colonies were governed by the Articles of Confederation. In 1787, the U.S. Constitution was created to give a central government more power. (That's the "We the people" you remember from grade school.)

We don't call it Independence Day.

Why Americans refer to the holiday as simply the Fourth, rather than Independence Day, is a question for the ages. We don't wish our neighbors happy October 31 while trick-or-treating, or a happy Jan. 1 while singing Auld Lang Syne.

At first, the new country hardly recognized an Independence Day. But after the War of 1812, copies of the Declaration of Independence began circulating again. The deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams on July 4, 1826, may also have helped to promote the idea of July 4 as a date to be celebrated, according to Slate.

Independence Day was officially made a national holiday in 1870, as part of a bill that officially recognized several holidays, including Christmas.

Some history just can't be explained.

Minnesota exports rise 2% to $5 billion in 1Q

Minnesota’s manufactured exports rose 2 percent to $5 billion in the first quarter, though sales to its two biggest markets faltered.

The uptick alleviated worries that the increasingly critical export market might falter as it did during several months last year.

Sales to Minnesota’s top trading partner, Canada, fell 12 percent to $1.2 billion as orders lagged for mineral fuels, machinery, beverages, ore and vehicle parts, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) said Thursday.

Companies such as snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle maker Arctic Cat recently reported that 30 percent of their revenues were negatively affected by Canada’s difficult currency exchange rates. Company officials said the problematic currency translation rate is expected to hurt that company for the rest of this year. But it was not clear from the report by DEED if other companies have similar concerns about Canada.

Minnesota’s second-largest trading partner, China, also bought less during the first quarter. Exports to China fell 2 percent to $523 million.

On the upside, Mexico, Japan, ­Belgium, Germany and Australia gobbled up Minnesota goods at a hearty rate, with percentages increasing from 23 percent to 49 percent from the first quarter of last year.

Mexico, which is Minnesota’s third-largest trading partner, bought $433 million worth of goods, up 49 percent. That increase was driven by an uptick in demand for Minnesota-made machinery, vehicle components and electrical equipment.

Exports have become an increasing part of Minnesota’s economy and helped boost the state’s beleaguered manufacturing sector during and after the Great Recession.

State and civic leaders have pushed small- and medium-size businesses to consider selling their goods overseas and have set up teams to assist them in exploring possible market opportunities. In several cases state officials have set up satellite trade offices in other countries to help Minnesota businesses more easily make connections.

“Minnesota exporters saw strong gains in our traditional markets during the first quarter,” DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben said in a statement. “But they also made headway into newer markets for Minnesota products, with exports growing 11 percent in the Middle East and 16 percent in the Australia-Pacific region.”

Source: http://www.startribune.com

Stop Accepting Advice

According to the weather app it's 57 degrees and mostly cloudy. I was hoping to sit outside, get some work done and soak in some vitamin D.

I looked outside. Not a cloud in the sky and the sun was warm. Obviously the weather app was wrong.

Can you guess where I am right now? Outside on the deck!

I'm glad I didn't take that expert advice at face value.

There is so much expert advice being offered to business owners.

It could be about a "sure fire step-by-step system" that absolutely needs to be followed or you will never fill your next workshop. Or the 5-key elements that every single website must have and if not, don't even bother having a website at all. Or the exact script to use in a sales call because if you don't use it nobody will ever buy anything from you and you will be broke.

Most of these experts, unlike the weather app I was using, know what they are talking about and absolutely offer valuable advice. The question to ask yourself is: is the advice you are being offered right for you AND your business right now?

Did you notice that I highlighted the word AND in that last sentence?

Let me explain. Sometimes there is something that you could do for your business that is exactly right for where you want your business to go, but it doesn't work with who you are or what you are willing to do at that time. Sometimes the reverse is true. Advice is offered to you that works with your schedule, what you want to be doing, how you want to be doing it, but won't yield the results you want.

It's vital that whatever you decide to focus your time and energy on is what's right for you AND your business, and if it's not that you rethink your priorities and shift your plan and expectations so that it does.

Here's a suggestion to help you check in with your own reality and decide what advice to follow and what to let pass you by. Take a few minutes to create a vision for yourself of what you want your business to look like and especially get clear about what you want to be doing on a day-to-day basis.

Once you understand that assess all of your decisions based on that vision and determine if accepting that advice, doing that program, attending that event, marketing in that way is what's right for you and your business.

Source: http://carriegreenecoaching.com/

New Minnesota Zoo exhibit swarms with Big Bugs!

It's going to be buggy this summer at the Minnesota Zoo -- very, very buggy.

The Apple Valley zoo opens its Big Bugs! exhibit Saturday with 13 giant animatronic insects on display along the Northern Trail. The exhibition runs through Labor Day and is included with zoo admission.

The robots were created by Billings Productions, which brought animatronic dinosaurs to the zoo last year. While they are a spectacle, there's an education purpose to the exhibit, too.

Insects are typically an unnoticed and often unwanted part of peoples' lives, and the exhibit tries to open a window into their fascinating world, said Jessica Madole, interpretive program developer.

"We want to highlight the fact that bugs are all around us," Madole said.

Black ants, bombadier beetles, giant devil's flower mantis, orb-weaver spiders, giraffe stag beetle and a jungle nymph walking stick at the Minnesota Zoo.
"When they're this big, you can't ignore them."

Insects pollinate much of our food, break down dead plants and animals and help control the populations of other insects.

"Your breakfast plate would look one-third empty without pollinators," said Erik Runquist, butterfly conservation biologist. The exhibit includes information on how residents can "plant for pollinators" by limiting pesticide use and installing native plants in their landscapes.

The sheer size of the animatronic creatures makes it easier to learn about them as they flap their wings, close their pincers or slurp imaginary nectar. Visitors can even control the movements of a stag beetle and watch a bombardier beetle shoot gas from its backside, although it's technically referred to as the "lower abdomen."

There also are live insects on display both behind glass and in the hands of zoo workers and volunteers. Most of the live bugs are big, too; many come from the warm, wet climate of the South Pacific.

Jamie Ries, bird supervisor, said early visitors to the Big Bugs! exhibit were excited to interact with both the animatronic and real insects.

"It put all the work into perspective," Ries said. "It was the icing on the cake."

Besides their ecological value, Cale Nordmeyer, butterfly conservation specialist, hopes visitors will appreciate insects for their intrinsic value.

"They're beautiful," Nordmeyer said while holding a jungle nymph, a green stick insect about 10 inches long. "That's the whole purpose of this exhibit, to get people to think about bugs."

Christopher Magan can be reached at 651-228-5557. Follow him at twitter.com/chris_magan.

IF YOU GO

The Big Bugs! exhibit opens Saturday and runs through Labor Day. Zoo admission is $18 for adults and $12 for children and seniors. Parking is $7.


Source: http://www.twincities.com

Stunning view of the Americas on Earth Day

Today, April 22, 2014 is Earth Day, and what better way to celebrate than taking a look at our home planet from space.

NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured this stunning view of the Americas on Earth Day, April 22, 2014 at 11:45 UTC/7:45 a.m. EDT. The data from GOES-East was made into an image by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

In North America, clouds associated with a cold front stretch from Montreal, Canada, south through the Tennessee Valley, and southwest to southern Texas bringing rain east of the front today. A low pressure area in the Pacific Northwest is expected to bring rainfall in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, stretching into the upper Midwest, according to NOAA's National Weather Service. That low is also expected to bring precipitation north into the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. Another Pacific low is moving over southern Nevada and the National Weather Service expects rain from that system to fall in central California, Nevada, and northern Utah.

Near the equator, GOES imagery shows a line of pop up thunderstorms. Those thunderstorms are associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The ITCZ encircles the Earth near the equator.

In South America, convective (rapidly rising air that condenses and forms clouds) thunderstorms pepper Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and northwestern and southeastern Brazil.

GOES satellites provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. Geostationary describes an orbit in which a satellite is always in the same position with respect to the rotating Earth. This allows GOES to hover continuously over one position on Earth's surface, appearing stationary. As a result, GOES provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes.

When Strategies Are Not Strategic

Modern business planning owes it origins to two very different parents.

The first is the obligation to prepare a "Prospectus" when floating a company, outlining the "prospects" of the new venture. Although an early prospectus has little in common with a modern business plan, it might well have contained elements that might find their way into such a plan - a statement of purpose, a "vision" of where the new company intends to be in a few years, an analysis of opportunities and threats, and so on.

A prospectus is primarily a legal and financial document, but it is also a marketing tool to sell the new company to investors. What it is not is a strategy.

The second major influence on business planning is military planning. Many of the early pioneers of business planning were professional soldiers or naval officers who were retired or who found themselves surplus to requirements between wars. They brought the techniques they had learned in the services into the world of commerce.

There is a saying to the effect that "When amateurs talk about war, they talk about strategy; when professionals talk about war, they talk about logistics."

There is much truth in that. The key to winning wars is less actual fighting than being able to move men and material at short notice and under pressure to the place where they are most needed. The army that does this most effectively will usually win the fighting.

Since professional soldiers devote a great deal of their time and thought to this, they tend to get good at it. Experience has taught them a few simple techniques that are usually very effective in practice. Although there are many famous logistical failures, they are famous because they are exceptional. This is the military efficiency that proved so useful in the private sector.

However, the downside of professional soldiers being good at logistics because they talk about the subject more than strategy is that they are not so good at strategy.

Career soldiers are not necessarily expert strategists. The skills that make them good at logistical detail rarely come with a view of the bigger picture. Experienced commanders have often made elementary strategic errors that even a well-informed amateur would have foreseen and avoided. Whatever one's view of the policies of the West in Iraq and Afghanistan, no one can deny that the implementation of those policies has been full of avoidable strategic errors.

Many of the fine military minds that influenced the development of business planning were characterised by the same combination of logistical skill and strategic blindness.

Here then is the great gap between the two sources of business planning: neither was particularly interested in actual strategy.

Those who could draft a good prospectus might be able to conjure up an enticing picture of how things could be, and those in the military tradition could deal with the nuts and bolts of running a business, but the problem of turning the pretty picture into the nuts and bolts was never addressed.

There were plans and plans but no real strategy.

This original problem has never quite been resolved. One sees it reflected in too many business plans today. They are big on the broad vision and sound on the operational details, but have no strategy to turn one into the other - which, one would have thought, was the whole point of a business plan in the first place!