Instead of focusing on the most popular email marketing solutions in the marketplace and trying to convince yourself that your business is a fit for that tool, I recommend you get a broad understanding of all of the options in the marketplace and then determine which option is the fit for your business now and in the future.

Before we get started, there is one thing you must know:

If you are going to market to people via email, you will want to use an email marketing software to do so. DO NOT load up all of your contact’s email addresses in an Outlook email and push the send button. This is not only tacky, it’s in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act. There is no need to get into detail on this one – just don’t do it.

Now, these are the most popular email marketing software options:

MailChimp, iContact, Constant Contact and aWeber: All 4 of these options are low cost and fairly low functionality. If you strictly need a system to send out emails, this will work.

1Shopping Cart: This is an email marketing option that also has shopping cart functionality.

Infusionsoft: This is an email marketing, shopping cart and CRM solution all in one. This is the most robust of the options, and the most expensive.

You can learn more about each option by visiting the respective websites, talking to other business owners, signing up for a free trial in some cases or signing up for a demo in others. Do your homework and make the best decision for YOUR business.

I think we all can agree that marketing automation is a good thing and something everyone in business should consider using in their business.

That’s the “What”.

Now let’s chat a bit about the “How”.

I attended a conference not too long ago where one of the presenters was a big advocate of (and has been very successful using) marketing automation. This presentation rocked, but the oversimplification of marketing automation made me cringe.

The “How” is where people stumble and often give up when they decide to put marketing automation to work for their business.

Here are 5 things you have to “get real” about so that you do not stumble and stop in your quest for marketing automation:

You need a plan. You would not believe how many “marketing dead ends” business owners have in their current marketing plan. To see for yourself, I recommend you do the following:

Write: I start marketing with someone when ______________.

Then I __________________.

Then ___________________.

Then ___________________.

They have/have not bought from me so ___________________.

Then ___________________.

Then ___________________.

I find more prospects by ______________________.

Then ___________________.

Then ___________________.

And on and on. The point here is to outline your entire relationship with your prospects and customers. I guarantee there are gaps, big ones most of the time.

You need content. Imagine when you go to a movie. You site down and for 2 hours you see a perfect beginning, middle and end. But it didn’t take 2 hours to make that movie. It took 2 years sometimes. And there wasn’t just 2 hours of film. There was probably 2 days worth of film.

With marketing content, you need a lot of it so that you can build out your marketing automation for weeks, months, years (whatever the plan is). You also need to ensure your content is relevant. You can have more content than anyone in the world but if no one is buying what you need to reevaluate.

We quickly take technology aptitude for granted. That was what made me cringe the most when I attended the workshop where the presenter was oversimplifying marketing automation. While there are lots of user friendly tools in the marketplace today for shooting video, setting up landing pages, setting up email marketing and so on, set up of these things is not second nature to everyone.

Yes, you should learn enough so that you can ensure those that step in to handle these things for you are giving you what you need to make marketing automation happen in your business. But to say that every business owner is going to learn how to write copy, build web pages and run an Infusionsoft application for themselves in addition to doing whatever it is they do in their business to make money is not practical.

Don’t let the “how” stop you from rocking your business with marketing automation – talk to colleagues and consultants and figure out how to conquer the “how” in YOUR business.

Periodically I will post common issues that I see businesses facing when using their application. I guarantee others experience the same questions so what better place than to post the info than on a blog dedicated to using Infusionsoft!

Today, the topic is options for prepping emails in Infusionsoft.

Infusionsoft can be used for much more than email marketing, but I would say that email marketing is the most popular feature in the application. With this in mind it’s important to understand all of the options for prepping emails so you make the best decisions for look, feel and functionality that best suits YOUR business.

There are two main email formats: HTML and Text. To oversimplify, HTML emails are pretty and text emails are very plain.

Here is what you need to be aware of with HTML emails:

• You can set up excellent tracking (to measure results) in an HTML email prepared in Infusionsoft.
• HTML emails are more visually appealing
• Because of all of the coding (the pretty stuff) HTML emails can get caught up in junk mail folders*

Here is what you need to be aware of with text emails:

• You can’t track the open rate of an emails sent in text format
• Text emails are not very dynamic / visually exciting
• Text emails do not go into junk mail as much*

*Emails do not simply go to junk folders based on whether they are HTML or test based emails. There are many other factors that can cause emails to go into junk mail, but heavy HTML can be a factor.

In Infusionsoft, you have the option of prepping your emails as “HTML only”, “Text only”, or both. If you choose both, your email will be delivered in whatever format the recipient has set up as their default.

Periodically I will post common issues that I see businesses facing when using their application. I guarantee others experience the same questions so what better place than to post the info than on a blog dedicated to using Infusionsoft!

Today, the topic is the Infusionsoft shopping cart and order forms.

If you have a subscription to the software that includes eCommerce, you can sell your products and services using two different tools: the shopping cart or order forms. You can also use both. Each option has different functionality. Before we discuss the functionality of both options, it’s important to know a bit about the set-up:

It does not matter if you are using the shopping cart or order forms, all products and services must be set up in the “Products” section of the application.

Then, if you are using the shopping cart, you do not have to take additional setps – each product has a link for the shopping cart functionality.

If you are using order forms, you have to set up an order form in a different area in the application. You will choose what you are selling on that order form from a list of products/services. That list is pulling from the Products area of the application.

3 things to know about using the shopping cart:

• You can sell more than one of something.
• You can use promo codes
• You can can set up upsells.

4 things to know about using order forms:

• You are limited to quantity 1
• You may not use promo codes to create discounts
• You CAN create multi payments options (a 2-pay or a 3-pay, for example)
• You can set up subscriptions (recurring ongoing payments)

If you are selling products/services using the eCommerce functionality in Infusionsoft, you will decide which option to use based on your needs, goals and preferences.

Happy selling!

You received this email because you are a Real Estate Professional or affiliated with Real Estate and made your email address publicly available for the purpose of receiving communications regarding real estate business. This email is sent to you on behalf of a Real Estate Professional, developer, or real estate related service and is a business communication or advertisement.

Uh, say that again? I am on this list because I hold a real estate license in the State of Wisconsin which is public record? This is the thinnest interpretation of permission based marketing that I have ever encountered. This is the same concept as entering all of the names in the telephone book into your mailing list software and marketing to them simply because everyone made their information public record.

Here is the thing that you must commit to if you want to be successful in marketing:

Share your information with people that want to receive it, only with people that want to receive it, and accept that YOU do not get to make the judgement call on whether a person wants to receive information from you. There is no judgement call when it comes to permission in marketing. There is no maybe. It’s a YES or it’s a NO. And the answer comes from the prospect, NOT the business.

One thing that I have not always been great at is nurturing prospects on a systematized and consistent basis. Sound familiar? While I am very good at building and nurturing relationships, so many more prospects can be nurtured if you systematize the process and set the process up to run automatically. Here are 4 tips for doing so:

Consider the end game (your goal) from the start. If you are attending networking events, gathering business cards, building landing pages with opt in boxes on them, you must want something to happen. What? Once you are clear on what you are trying to achieve by building your contact list you will be ready to move on to the next step in the process.

Write down three different ways you can communicate with your prospects as you work toward the goal. Once you are clear on what you are trying to accomplish in your business marketing, think of three ways that you can share information with your prospects that work towards your goal.

If you are trying to get yourself booked as a speaker, you will want to help organizations that are looking for speakers like you know what to look for when they are booking high quality talent –  perhaps you can create a checklist of the perfect process for booking a speaker.  Perhaps you would like to offer a 15-20 minute free strategy session so that prospects can get to know you better. Perhaps you wish to send a survey to help you learn even more about your prospects.

These are simply examples – the possibilities are endless in this area. Come up with three things – just three for starters – that would be interesting to your prospects and shine a favorable light on yourself.

Set up the three things on your list to run automatically – the same process for every prospect. Once you have three marketing pieces ready to share with your prospects, set them up to go out to every prospect. If they are all emails, set the emails up to go out on a timed bases. If there are phone follow up or snail mail components, schedule them accordingly.

Rinse and repeat. Nurturing prospects works. You may go through the three follow ups and achieve your goal that you originally outlined. Or you may need to nurture more. But eventually, if you have a list of your ideal clients, your prospects will turn in to your customers if you stay in touch with the,

The same is true in business. When we work together, we accomplish more. I consult with businesses on Infusionsoft strategy. I listen to their goals and help them outline how they can achieve them through marketing automation. I bring experience and perspective gained from working with other businesses on Infusionsoft strategy and this information helps me make better recommendations and very often recommendations that the client would have never thought of otherwise.

How do you help others so that everyone achieves more?

Whether you are a VA or an employee who handles the Infusionsoft support for a business, here are 5 ways to create built-to-last relationships with businesses that use Infusionsoft.

Understand the purpose of marketing automation in general. Infusionsoft is a tool for marketing automation and the businesses that are most successful using Infusionsoft understand the purpose of marketing automation. There are plenty of businesses that do not understand marketing automation and treat their Infusionsoft application as if it is simply a vehicle for emailing their list. These businesses are missing huge opportunities. While you do not need marketing automation expertise, you will become indispensible to your client if you understand the big picture of what their software can do for their business.

Understand your client’s goals. Every time a client asks me a hypothetical question about their business and Infusionsoft I always jump to the last page of the book they are writing and ask them what their goals are in this area. Based on their answer (and they may have to think about it and get back to you) you can work together to determine the best course of action within Infusionsoft to achieve those goals. It’s easy and tempting to take a client’s wish list and plug it in to the system and then await the next set of instructions. But flying blind with this software serves no one long term. Require your clients to have somewhat of the endgame in mind. If they don’t or won’t, find another client to work with.

Keep sharpening your saw. I frequently encounter people that offer Infusionsoft support that tell me about their long history doing so. In the software world, this doesn’t mean much. Infusionsoft is constantly releasing software updates and the know-how that someone acquired 2-3 years ago isn’t going to serve much of a purpose now. Infusionsoft does a great job at keeping users up to date on what’s the latest and greatest with the software. Take advantage of any and all learning opportunties so you know exactly what’s going on with the system at any given time. Business owners do not have time to stay on top of that information and you will be a valued resource if you do that for them.

Mix and mingle with your Infusionsoft support peers. There is no place for a scarcity mindset if you want to be very successful in the world of Infusionsoft support. There are currently 7000+ application users. I’ve yet to meet a VA wishing to work with more than 10 clients (if they have a solo practice, perhaps double that if they have a multi-VA practice), so it’s safe to say that there is enough market share for you and any colleague you have ever met in your life.

The other very important thing to consider if that you will never know all there is to know about the software. If you don’t learn from your peers you are doing your clients a disservice which is the polar opposite of creating value.

Strive to figure out how to refine every system you put in place. There is no shame in trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to Infusionsoft. Every day users are figuring out better ways of doing things in the application. These discoveries often lead to changes in the software or training topics that we all can learn from. If you want to be the go-to person for your client’s Infusionsoft needs, always be open to the possibility that there is a better way to do what they are trying to do with the software.

For starters, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant is a small business owner who offers Infusionsoft consulting services. This may include strategy, implementation and ongoing support consulting. It may also include more advanced skill sets such as building membership sites that integrate with Infusionsoft, API, and other programming.

In the past, when a customer signed up for Infusionsoft they automatically had to purchase a Quick Start bundle to help them get a strong start quickly. The deliverable in the Quick Start program is strategy and coaching on how to use the application. This was and continues to be a great option, but it’s an option that does not always meet the needs of the customer because implementation is not included in these services.

An ICC can resell Infusionsoft as part of their certification. Businesses that sign up for their Infusionsoft application through an ICC instead hire the ICC to provide strategy and implementation consulting services in lieu of the the strategy-only package. Note: BOTH options have merit. I do not offer strategy-only proposals for new Infusionsoft customers because I feel Infusionsoft direct is the best option in this situation.  

ICC is the only certification available from Infusionsoft at this time. Even I was fooled and had to double check before including this tip. I saw someone online referring to themselves as an Infusionsoft Support Specialist and I must say it sounded very realistic. It isn’t. Infusionsoft Certified Consultant is the only real certification available and only those that are really certified can use the term in their marketing.

Pay to play is not an option. The certifications in the world that rank in the silly category are very often the ones that are pay to play. Pay to play means: pay a fee, receive a designation. That’s all. On the contrary, the ICC designation involves 2.5 DAYS of classroom time and a 5+ hour exam. People that pay the participation fees DO fail the exam sometimes and do not receive the designation. The exam, by the way, is no joke. Very, very challenging.

Infusionsoft only refers certified consultants to their customers. Since ICCs have demonstrated a certain level of competency with the software the company knows that they are making a strong referral when they direct customers to the consultant’s directory.

ICCs take their role very seriously. Actually, everyone that is associated with Infusionsoft takes their role in the company very seriously. This is a software company that is growing FAST, and more customers than ever need consulting services. All of the ICCs that I know (and I know a lot of them) LOVE the work they do.

Business owners that are ready to start using Infusionsoft or start using their existing application better than ever would be wise to seek out an ICC for assistance. There are personalities and skill sets to meet every need in the marketplace. Invest wisely!

Everyone loves a story. The most successful businesses know this and use stories to connect with their audience. You can too – so what’s your story? Here are 3 simple steps to figure it out:

Consider why you got into your business in the first place. Many businesses are born from a need. A need in the marketplace or a need for the owner that’s quite personal. Job loss, life change, a hobby are all examples of this. Think about why you started your business and determine if there is a story to be told connected to this.

Consider the first time you made a real connection with your audience. Did you impact a life? Change a life? Inspire someone to do something? Make life easier for someone? Think about the first time you received feedback like this and decide if there is a story to share.

What drives you? If you love what you do (and I sure hope you do), think about why you love what you do. There is always a why – and this why probably makes for a great story that the world would love to hear.

Wayne Dyer once said: “Don’t die with your music still inside you.” This could not be more true. Everyone has a story – what’s yours?