How To Create An Awesome Postcard

Sending out a postcard is traditional paper marketing at its finest, and if you do it right, it can pay big dividends down the road. But do you know how to create an awesome postcard, one that is eye catching and, dare we say, interesting even?

Here at Actively Implementing Marketing Solutions, we specialize in helping our clients build the best postcards for their business, and we want to help you create awesome postcards too!

Four Tips for Creating Awesome Postcards

#1 – Get Colorful

Think about the postcards that come into your own home, which are the ones that you are most likely to pick up and read? Chances are, you’re going for the one that is bright, colorful and aesthetically pleasing.

When choosing a color palate, remember to choose colors that are complementary and reflect your theme. For example, if you are sending out a postcard offering Landscape Contractors a free business insurance quote, it would be smart to concentrate on earthy tones, like browns and greens.

We like Adobe Kuler for helping to determine which colors work best together.

#2 – Don’t Be Boring

Space is at a premium on postcards, and you don’t want to waste it with a whole lot of text that isn’t likely to be read. Instead, choose snippets that best express the message you are trying to send. We couldn’t tell you how many postcards we’ve read that has put us to sleep about halfway through. So be succinct, be interesting.

#3 – Be Clear

Be loud, be proud, and prominently display your call to action. If you want that Landscaper to visit a landing page, make the link big and make it bold. It should be the centerpiece to your postcard.

#4 – Brand It

This is it; this is the entryway directly into the homes of your prospective clients, and you don’t want to just be another piece of junk mail. You want to stand out and be remembered. The best way to do this is by branding. Your logo should be featured on both the front and the back of any postcard you send out. When an individual picks up a postcard from your company, they should know immediately who sent it and why.

Photo – © Aquir – Fotolia.com

February 18, 2014

Writing a Strong Insurance Blog

We like to think that writing a strong insurance blog is an art form. Like art, it needs to flow, and it needs to speak to the viewer. Too many agencies out there are forcing it.

If the sole purpose of your blog is to generate sales, then you’re likely to fail. In your face marketing is a turnoff, so it begging for clicks and shares. The goal of your blog should be to attract fans.

Your fans are your biggest cheerleaders, they want to see you succeed, and they want to help you – usually by sharing your blog posts on social media.

And how do you attract new fans? By creating content that they will actually want to read. Let’s be real, insurance isn’t exactly a topic that gets people excited, which is why it is important to write on topics that interest a broad range of individuals.

As an example, we write for insurance companies, and yet our most popular blog post was on safety tips for riding your motorcycle in the wind. Our message wasn’t overt; it was subtle. As an insurance company you want viewers to know that you care about their wellbeing, it’s not just about turning a profit off of their potential misfortunes.

And guess what? Harley Davidson of all companies caught wind of the blog and shared it with their followers on Google+. Now here we are, nearly 20,000 page views later. That’s 20,000 sets of eyes focused on this one insurance company’s content. Here’s guessing not all of those page views came from current customers.

So here are the three Actively Implementing Marketing Solutions tips for writing a strong insurance blog:

Be subtle. You don’t always have to push your products. If viewers are interested in learning more, they will contact you for more information.
Write to a wide audience. Forget the jargon and lose the techy language – your blogs should be informal and easy to understand.
Share information that interests you. Our best, most viewed blogs are always the ones that we enjoyed writing. If you don’t enjoy writing it, how can you expect anyone else to enjoy reading it?

Photo – © Michael Brown – Fotolia.com

February 14, 2014

Are You In Love With Your Website?

Breaking up is hard to do, especially when it’s with your company’s website. It’s one of the hard truths of life that someday you will grow up and be forced to move on to the next big thing. So now you have a choice, go into it willingly with arms open wide, ready to embrace the challenge, or go along kicking and screaming fighting it every step of the way.

Here at Actively Implementing Marketing Solutions we’ve chosen to embrace change, which is why you will soon be visiting us at a whole new site!

When we logged on before, we could see the flaws, and we knew that in order to grow we needed a website that was not only visually pleasing, but also functional and easy to navigate. We hope that when you visit us now you will notice that we have improved our copy, added our blog to the website itself, and you can now easily browse through all our available services.

The best part about all this is that we’re doing it on our own with the help of WordPress. This way, we have 100% control over how our site looks and what it is saying. We’ve also upgraded our logo to reflect the changes we are making to our system – sleek, recognizable and easy to read.

This wasn’t a decision we came to lightly, and it has taken a lot of work, but we think that the final result will be one that we can be proud of. We encourage anyone who isn’t happy with their current website to make the appropriate changes so that when you hand out a business card you are happy to direct others to your site.

We plan to go live with the new site sometime in the coming weeks. Check back with us for updates!

February 7, 2014

Is it OK to take Images from Google?

Speaking from experience: No, it is not OK to take images from Google and post them to your own blog or website.

Copyright infringement on the internet is a real thing and it can cost you big bucks; trust us, we know, and so do thousands of other bloggers. Ask Kari DePhillips of The Content Factory or Roni Loren over at BlogHer. Both were hit with copyright infringement penalties in excess of $8,000 for posting a copyrighted photo to their personal or their client’s blog without permission.

You read that right, $8,000 just for using a photo.

The problem is, where copyrights are concerned, a photo is never just a photo; it is another person’s intellectual property.

We did the same thing here at AIMS, and honestly, it was a mistake. We found a great picture on Google, linked it back to the original source and posted away; all the while thinking it would be fine because we provided a photo credit.

Several months and countless blog posts later we were hit with a fat fine and a notice to take the photo down.

Ignorance is no excuse and it is a lesson we have learned well. We were not operating within the Fair Use guidelines for images.

What is Fair Use? It is a provision in US copyright law that allows the use of a copyrighted material on a limited basis for a specific purpose without the permission of the copyright holder.

So, now you may be asking, is my use fair? To answer that question you should be using the four factor test:

1. What is the purpose of use?

Nonprofit, educational, scholarly or research tend to be the most acceptable forms of use.

2. What is the nature or type of work?

Content should be published and fact based.

3. Hoe much have you used?

Use only what is necessary – less is better.

4. What is the market effect?

If it is not possible to gain permission to use the photo, or it will not effect the market value of the photo it may be acceptable to use.

Our advice? DO NOT USE GOOGLE TO PULL IMAGES FOR YOUR WEBSITE.

We started using royalty-free images exclusively, and it has been worth the investment. If you want to avoid costly penalties or lawsuits, it would be in your best interest financially to do the same.

Source – Using Images: Copyright & Fair Use

February 7, 2014

Is it OK to take Images from Google?

Speaking from experience: No, it is not OK to take images from Google and post them to your own blog or website.

You read that right, $8,000 just for using a photo.

The problem is, where copyrights are concerned, a photo is never just a photo; it is another person’s intellectual property.

Several months and countless blog posts later we were hit with a fat fine and a notice to take the photo down.

Ignorance is no excuse and it is a lesson we have learned well. We were not operating within the Fair Use guidelines for images.

What is Fair Use? It is a provision in US copyright law that allows the use of a copyrighted material on a limited basis for a specific purpose without the permission of the copyright holder.

So, now you may be asking, is my use fair? To answer that question you should be using the four factor test:

1. What is the purpose of use?

Nonprofit, educational, scholarly or research tend to be the most acceptable forms of use.

2. What is the nature or type of work?

Content should be published and fact based.

3. Hoe much have you used?

Use only what is necessary – less is better.

4. What is the market effect?

If it is not possible to gain permission to use the photo, or it will not effect the market value of the photo it may be acceptable to use.

Our advice? DO NOT USE GOOGLE TO PULL IMAGES FOR YOUR WEBSITE.

Source – Using Images: Copyright & Fair Use

January 31, 2014

Blog

January 28, 2014

Selling Insurance on Social Media

Selling insurance on social media can be a mean feat. Depending on the content, you run the risk of alienating your followers, or worse, losing some of them altogether. Here are a few of our tips for engaging your current followers and gaining new ones.

Get Real

We like to put people in boxes – our teachers are teachers, police officers are police officers, and insurance agents are insurance agents. You need to show your clients that there is more to you and your company than just pencil pushing.

Give your posts a little personality: put up some pictures from the office holiday party (but keep it classy) or let your followers know when one of your employees welcomes a new little bundle of joy into the world.

Don’t Alienate Your Facebook Fans

I bet a lot of you out there have liked a page on Facebook before only to immediately unfollow it or hide their updates. It happens all the time – you log in and are inundated with special offers or BUY THIS NOW! propaganda. And let us tell you, it really turns a follower off.

If someone took the time to like your page, then they are already one of your fans. You don’t need to get up in their face to try and convince them to like you – they already do.

Learn to “Creep”

The kids these days call it “creeping”, we call it research. Here’s what you do: Get on Twitter and log into advanced search. Look up the keyword insurance, set the place to the city your business is located and hit the search button.

Voila. You now have a list of everyone within 15 miles of you who is tweeting about insurance. So take this opportunity and respond to their questions or comments. There is no one better to answer their insurance based questions than an actual insurance agent.

Post Testimonials

You know who people trust? Other people. It’s why we spend so much time on Yelp and TripAdvisor. You can hawk your own wares ad nauseam, but unless you have someone else to back you up, a current customer for example, you don’t have credibility. Every so often you should pick out a testimonial or two and share it on your social media sites.

Scare Tactics

It might be cliché, but sharing horror stories works. There is a reason you went into the insurance business: To protect people and their belongings. Every insurance agent out there has a story to tell of a off the wall claim or a common claim. Let your followers know this, and let them know that the unthinkable really can happen to anyone.

Follow along with AIMS for more great insurance marketing tips and tricks!

Source – 18 Ways to Sell Insurance on Social Media Under the Radar – See more at: http://www.insurancesplash.com/blog/selling-insurance-social-media/#sthash.aHX3sp8r.dpuf

January 21, 2014

WordPress Camp Phoenix AZ 2014

Hello all! I just returned from three days in Phoenix, Arizona at the 2014 WordPress camp. I got to listen to amazing speakers and gain a whole lot of WordPress knowledge! I would like to tell you what I took away from WordCampPhx:

One: I am not a designer or a developer; I am a marketer.

Two: Building a Website is an art form that takes years of practice to perfect.

Three: I will not be building a php website any time soon.

Now that you know this blog will not be about those three things let me tell you about the event itself. I found this event great for any freelancer or individual who is starting their own business.

Why? Because you are introduced to new technologies and the people who know how to use them. Not only that but, you learn the best practices for web design, content creation, customer engagement, legal issues, branding, and how to ask for the money you are worth. This conference would also be great for anyone who wants to get down and dirty in the world of website design and development. Unfortunately, every time I tried to listen to the masterful designers and developers at WordCamp Phoenix I found myself lost as the content was going in one ear and out the other with no comprehension.

A few things I took away from WordCampPhx:

Use Google Analytics!
Scream your call to action and tell your clients what you want them to do. (No really, be bossy.)
Know what you want from your website.

Why do you want a website?
What do you want people to do when viewing your website?
What do people want from you?
Where are people when viewing your website?

All of the Speakers did a great job and I want to recognize the few I was able to see this weekend. Thank You for sharing your knowledge and insight:

Betsy Cohen
Ken Granger
Joe Casabona
Stacey harris
Joe Manna
Jennifer Bourn
Ruth Carter
Elisa Camahort Page
Chris Lema
Heather Hogan
Troy Dean
Patrick Rauland
John Gough

Without all of the camp’s sponsors we would not have been able to attend such a lavish event for the small ticket price of $50.00. I was truly impressed by the event and I would like to thank the event organizers, volunteers, as well because with out their hard work this would not be such a special event.

Want to know more about what I learned at #wcphx connect with me on Facebook.

January 14, 2014

Content Calendars: Plan to Brand

We know that fresh content is important in driving consumers to a website. With the recent uptick in content marketing however, we are seeing fewer and fewer quality posts. You really can’t log into Twitter or Facebook without running into some infograph or another.

Flooding the web with content might get you page views, but is it really generating leads for your business?

As a business owner, you are the one who knows what your clients are looking for. Which is why we want your input as we plan out your content marketing schedules for the year.

Content calendars allow us to plan around key events in your industry and tailor content to fit current events. If you see a gap in your content plan, we can easily rearrange the schedule to fit the needs of your business. The further ahead we plan the more consistent we are in our postings.

Here is a sample calendar we have made for some of our current clients:

Our goal is to help you build a brand, and that brand relies on a constant stream of digital content. We want the content we produce to represent you and the image you are trying to project for your business.

Blogging is fun; it’s informal and it is one of the best ways to connect with potential customers. So tell us, how do you want to connect? What would you like to see more of? Or conversely, less of? Would you like to see more current event blogs? Safety tips? Commercial lines?

At AIMS we are here to work for you. Contact us and let us know what you would like to see done in 2014 to help build your brand. We will be happy to build a custom content calendar for your business!

January 7, 2014

Welcome Emily Pick to the AIMS Team!!

Big news here at AIMS! We have added a new member to our staff! Everyone please welcome our new Marketing Assistant, Emily Pick.

Emily joins our team primarily as a copywriter and editor, but will also be helping with social media, design and other business functions. She is a 2010 graduate of the University of Oregon having received her degree in Human Physiology. In the past, she has worked as a freelance copywriter, crafting original content and press releases for various businesses.

Outside of work, Emily is very fitness oriented and loves to travel. She is also a very big Oregon athletics fan (Go Ducks!). Her favorite international city is Istanbul, Turkey for its beautiful architecture and amazing food (although Jamaica and its beaches rank a close second!). She ran her first half-marathon in the summer of 2013, and is looking forward to getting her feet wet with her first triathlon in July of 2014.

Emily is here at AIMS to learn more about the business of marketing and is looking forward to helping incorporate the use of analytics into our social marketing strategy. With her help, we are hoping to grow our clientele base and continue to put out a quality product that is both creative and refreshing.