Category: Curated Content

If recipients never see your marketing emails in their Gmail inboxes, the effort related to creating them is useless. Fortunately, you can decrease the likelihood that Gmail will think your messages are spam. Here are 8 ways to ensure your emails land in Gmail’s primary tab.

1. Review Gmail’s Bulk-Sending Guidelines

You might spend hours searching for generalized tips about keeping emails from getting caught by spam filters, but Gmail’s rules are the only ones that matter here, especially when sending out cold emails.

It’s a good idea to become familiar with the service’s current recommendations for bulk emails and revisit them often in case things change.

2. Encourage Subscribers to Make Simple Changes on Their End

Gmail’s guidelines indicate some things boost the chances of emails not landing in spam folders.

It’s a plus if your company’s email address is in a recipient’s contacts. Ask subscribers to open an email from you, then click the three-dots icon on the right. From there, they can add the address to their contacts.

It helps, too, if recipients immediately mark messages from you as important. They can do that by clicking the flag icon directly to the left of your email address or n… Read More

When people land on your website, you want them to do something.

Sign up for your mailing list, share your content or purchase a product – something that progresses your goals.

But how do you get them to take the specific action you want them to?

Encouraging a prospective customer to take a desired action is one of the hardest tasks we have as marketers.

You need to focus less on beautiful design or amazing copy – and more on creating a  powerful and compelling call to action.

A clear next step for your visitors, usually in the form of a clickable button.

So how do you create a compelling call to action?

Let’s take a look at some expert examples for inspiration.

Companies that have nailed their CTAs

KISSmetrics: Their simple, yet persuasive, call to action – “Log In With Google” requires little effort and input from a visitor. It tells you precisely what to expect and is ridiculously easy to get started. By mentioning a respected name such as Google, KISSmetrics successfully pique a visito… Read More

Customer expectations keep going up, and up, and up. Customers today don’t give your company or organization a “pass” because you’re in B2B, or financial services, or healthcare, or manufacturing. The greatest companies in the world, regardless of category, are teaching your customer what is possible and what is the norm.

Forrester says we are five years into “the age of customer”: an era of manifest customer expectations increases that will challenge almost every business. Specifically, their analysts say:

“The age of the customer will place harsh and unfamiliar demands on institutions, requiring changes in how they develop, market, sell, and deliver products and services.” – @forrester
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To succeed in this environment, companies must look for every opportunity to understand customer expectations and continuously leapfrog past them, time and time and time again. The cycle for optimization of customer experiences is getting shorter and shorter too. What was a remarkable customer experience in 2016 is table stakes today. And to be able to continue to jump in front of rising customer expectations, your data and systems must be constantly getting better as well.

But … Read More

So you’ve got a great idea for a new business.

You took the time to write a business plan for your startup. After long and grueling months of conducting market research, coming up with prototypes, and analyzing your competition, you’re finally ready to turn this plan into a profitable business.

You even came up with a plan to raise the funds to get your company off the ground.

But before you can proceed any further, you need to name your startup company.

You may have had an idea or two. But how do you know if that name will work?

Naming your startup may seem minor, but it’s actually one of the most important and undervalued aspects of your business. This name will be attached to your brand image for years to come. You need to get it right from the beginning.

Otherwise, you’ll face some challenges if you try to change your name down the road. That’s a headache you won’t want to deal with.

With this in mind, I wanted to show you how you can simplify this process. These are the top 16 tips to keep in mind when you’re naming your startup.

Use this guide as a reference before you finalize your name.

1. Keep it short

The name of your business should roll off the tongue.

People shouldn’t have to take a breath midway through saying your name out loud. Just think about some of the brands that dominate worldwide.

Nike. Apple. Walmart.

I found a really interesting study conducted by a… Read More

I guess I’m now a 4%-er. According to Inc. Magazine just 4% of new companies make it to 10 years. And guess what? We just made it here at Convince & Convert. Our 10 year anniversary is today! This is the longest I’ve ever done ANYTHING continuously (other than being a husband and a father), and I’m so proud of my team and the work they’ve done – and continue to do.

We’re so fired up; we even created a temporary new logo to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Convince & Convert.

I was an entrepreneur before I started this firm. In fact, Convince & Convert is my fifth startup endeavor, and I’m an investor in dozens of others. But this is certainly my most well-known and longest-running venture, so on this anniversary date, I decided to take some stock and think about the mistakes I’ve made along the way. I hope these confessions will help you in your own entrepreneurial journey.

There’s been a lot of successes, and I am incredibly thankful to my team, my family, a… Read More