Christopher S. Penn has thrown out a great idea for bloggers: The Evergreen 5.
If you’ve blogged for any length of time, you have a handful of posts that are your real hits. They get regular views. They’ve been retweeted and shared. The comments are healthy.
Then you’ve got those posts that you know are great, but nobody read them for some reason. That’s your Evergreen 5, in Chris’ words.
So, to join in on the fun, I followed Chris’ formula and came up with the Marketing In Progress Evergreen 5. Here’s to a second chance. Enjoy (and RT and comment while you’re at it!).
I recently shared some stats on email open and click-through rates. Shortly after, I found this post from Drew on a study sharing ideas on what a good open rate for email marketing is. So thought I’d pass it along. Here’s the original study at MailerMailer.com.
A few half-baked observations:
I’ve received some sobering advice lately.
First, in an email from Pamela Wilson, she quickly let me know she wasn’t crazy about a dry, sarcastic headline I’d come up with for a project. She told me it didn’t motivate her to do anything.
She’s right.
Then, Dave Curlee replied to an email with this simple statement: “Lay this out for me again will you. No fluff, Just the facts.”
Regardless of how much you try to resist it, you can’t help but get reflective this time of year. Sure, it might be driven by the idea of a new year giving us the proverbial clean slate to build from. Or it may be a state of shock emerging from the holi-daze wondering how you could possibly be this fat, this broke and this far off where you thought you’d end the year.
Take your pick.
But in the spirit of thinking 100% about me, I thought I’d look back on 2010 and see, on a professional level, what themes emerged that neatly wrap it up.
Input. Someone must’ve drilled me with a g
Pardon me while I get a bit self-indulgent over the next few days.
Yes, I’m totally in a reflective mood as 2010 closes down. So I’m slowing digging into some of the data-licious morsels that my site’s analytics are unveiling to me, and thought I’d pass them along. This one’s a no-brainer, although it’s amazing how what you think is gonna be popular and what actually is are always two very different things.
While we’re at it, here are the top posts from 2009, if you’re interested.
Last week I took part in the Predictive Index survey. You’ve seen things like this before. They’re kind of like personality tests. One I’m used to is DISC. There are many more out there. The process is always essentially the same. You answers some questions and then you get back a profile. In a group [...]
Funny thing about network marketing: while many get involved to help gain some kind of freedom and gain some time and space in their lives, it can be a real time-suck at the beginning. Which is to be expected, right? The vast majority of direct sellers are fitting in their direct sales business “on the side” and “in their spare time” now so they can reach that goal of life on their terms.
So although the ends most certainly justifies the means, it doesn’t make things any easier. Your calendar was already booked solid before you started your network marketing business; how in the world are you going to find time to make it happen now?
One of my favorite parts of working at a direct sales company is getting to attend events by the Direct Selling Association. This past week, I attended their annual Marketing & Communications seminar, themed “Be Connected.” The presentations are usually pretty informative, but it’s the networking and “catching up” with those I would now consider friends that really takes the cake for me.
Unfortunately, I was only able to attend the second day of the conference this year. But it was enough to stir up some thought-provoking thoughts I figured I’d pass along.
It’s been a while since I batched up of the great stuff I’ve read lately that you may have missed. Check these lil’ morsels out, and spread the love.
Men Are Idiots …: I’m only vaguely familiar with this story about Cali Lewis from GeekBeat.tv, but I know enough to know this is funny on many levels. Nice grab, Gio.
Alienating the 2%: Hey, what’s a mash-up list without a post from Seth, huh? His premise is that 2% of your crowd is gonna be disappointed with what you’re doing. They just squawk so much that you can’t tell if they represent everyone else, or if they are, truly, just 2%. My experience in direct sales also tells me this 2% is often your top leaders (at least in leadership levels), and therefore you listen even more. Seth says stop.
Content Strategy and the Dying Art of Execution: Forget that this is focused on content marketing. These pitfalls apply to just about any project. Joe’s nailed the pits of quicksand we so easily get stuck in. My favorite (if you can call it that)? Lack of support from the execs. Being able to get executive buy-in truly is a gift and skill. Find people who can do it and put ‘em to work.
8 Simple Facebook Tips: My friend Jen Fong neatly packages some nice Facebook reminders that are so easy to forget. Read ‘em. Do ‘em.
My Favorite WordPress Plugins: One of the things I love most about Michael Hyatt is how he so readily pulls back the curtain and let’s you know what he’s doing behind the scenes. WordPress plugins are a lot like iPhone apps: there are a lot of cool ones out there, but who’s got the time to weed through them all. Michael’s list will help you cut through some of the clutter.
I was chatting with a friend the other day who was ranting about some of his disgusts with his current job. He wiggled through his thought process until he made the following statement: “I guess I could just go start my own business. But the insurance ….”
The insurance?
No, seriously, the insurance?
I’m convinced too many good entrepreneurs with good ideas do nothing about it due to a silly little thing like insurance. They think the risk outweighs the reward.
Sure, taking care of your family’s and your personal health needs is important. I’m not suggesting you do without.
