SherpaBlog

Summary: By Anne Holland, Content Director

When your CFO casts about for recessionary cost cutting, replacing human beings with automated recordings and online account centers, replacing paper with email, it seems like an awfully intelligent step. And, it may be ... for this quarter. But, you’re risking future profits.

Why? People are... continue...

Summary: By Anne Holland, Content Director

My husband types two-three words per minute (it’s true, I timed him once).

So, late last Tuesday night, when he decided to donate to Barack Obama’s campaign after watching a bunch of speeches on TV, he got me out of bed to go online and... continue...

Summary: By Anne Holland, Content Director

Marketers spent more than $419 million on promotional magnets last year, according to the Promotional Products Association International.

If you’re a niche ecommerce site, I urge you to consider tossing a magnet with your URL and telephone number into all your fulfillment packaging.

Magnets... continue...

Summary: By Anne Holland, Content Director

Have you noticed? Some marketers and email publishers are testing shorter and shorter subject lines.

In the old days, we’d all try to fit in as many descriptive words as possible to increase the chances the inbox skimmer’s eye would land on a word that delighted... continue...

Summary: By Anne Holland, Content Director

The dollar is so low right now that people outside of America are viewing us as one vast discount store. We’re the Wal-Mart for the rest of the developed world. For example, hordes of European tourists are buying European antiques more cheaply in Manhattan than... continue...

Summary: By Anne Holland, Content Director

If I had to vote for any of the three candidates based solely on their email marketing prowess, the winner would be ... Hillary. (Yes, I was surprised.) Here's why and what lessons we could all consider applying to our own email programs:

Opt-in splash pages:
Marketers... continue...

Summary: By Anne Holland, Content Director

The “should all content be free?” bandwagon has come around again, this time kick started by a Wired magazine cover article based on a forthcoming book by editor Chris Anderson.

The timing is kinda weird. Back when this idea was initially red-hot, the economy was,... continue...

Summary: By Anne Holland, Content Director

I’ve been surfing through Sherpa Case Studies and interviews from the 2001-02 era. It was, we thought at the time, the Big Downturn. It was dark, stormy, scary. Several marketers lost their jobs.

Now, of course, we’re in a new recession sooner than expected (aren’t these things... continue...

Summary: By Anne Holland, Content Director

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. If you are a copywriter writing a dollars off offer, do not omit the cents.

Tacking on cents makes the savings seem bigger. Take a look:
(a) Save $100
(b) Save $100.00

Which would you go for?

Obviously, when you’re talking... continue...

Summary: By Anne Holland, Content Director

OK, so you’re working on a landing page, and you’ve got a lot of information to get across but you know people online just don’t read paragraph text. They skim, they scan, they skip around.

That’s why after a quick line or two of... continue...