Solutions include unified communications, video conferencing, network security and mass emergency communication.

Based in Minnesota, the company is privately owned and continues to expand with a goal of reaching outside MN in 2012 and beyond. Current annual revenues exceed $2 million. Learn more about Phenomenal Networks >>

We recently chatted with, Alan Ainsworth, Director Marketing at Phenomenal Networks Inc. to ask him how Phenomenal Networks uses email marketing. Here is what he had to say:

How do you use Swiftpage Email Marketing?

We send monthly newsletters to over 6,000 prospects, industry partners and customers. We split the lists into three segments to reflect and focus on our target markets – Healthcare, Education and General Commercial

Our goal is to both educate and inform readers and continue to build our brand. Content includes latest industry news and ideas, our partner product updates such as Cisco and Vidyo, show dates and often case studies.

We also use  a different format for news releases and specific event invitations from time to time.

What response have you seen from your community since you began using e-marketing?

We have generally got an average of over 10% opens and a lot of positive comments on content and interest in continuing to read newsletters. We believe that our brand is strengthened by use of the newsletters. We have just started a Social Media project and are using the new Swiftpage publishing capability.

Any other comments or advice for businesses looking to use e-marketing?

Key to inform not just sell. Important to be consistent in publishing timing and image. Always feature some call to action – open a link to a PDF, video etc. Keep main content as short and simple as possible with links “for more”.

Phenomenal Networks is doing so many things right — segmenting their list, sending varied communication, tracking their results, and expanding to social media; to name a few. Thanks so much for sharing with us, Alan!

If your company is interested in being featured in a future Meet and Greet, drop us a line and let us know.

1. Facebook

Facebook reaches 750 million + people all across the world. Chances are, if your customers are on a social network, it’s this one. Facebook makes it easy for businesses to create a page for your business. Once your business page is created, keep it updated with promotions, blog posts, pictures of your team, etc. Each time you update your page, your followers see your update in their news feed. To get a feel for a Facebook business page, check out Swiftpage’s. While you’re there, give us a like.

2. Twitter

With over 100 million users worldwide, Twitter is another important social media player. Twitter is a form of micro-blogging, allowing posts of no more than 140 characters. Businesses on Twitter engage users by providing links to interesting and relevant content, offering promotions, and providing support. Sometimes a frustrated customer tweets before picking up the phone, giving you a chance to show all of your followers how you care for your customers by engaging in a tweet conversation. Twitter recently released more business page customization. A note of caution: Twitter can be time-consuming and requires daily engagement.

3. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the professional in the world of social media. Designed for networking, LinkedIn still gives businesses some interesting opportunities. Start by creating a your personal profile and then your business profile. Keep your business page up to date with new releases, promotions, job postings, etc. For users who want to invest a bit more time, consider starting a group for your customers. It becomes like a forum where you can ask and answer questions, provide detailed product information, offer support, etc. LinkedIn is a must for businesses whose business is primarily B2B.

4. Google +

Google finally released their own social media platform. It’s important to consider getting your business on Google+ because they plan to include Google+ results in their normal Google search results. Google+ functions quite similarly to Facebook in that your customers have personal profiles and businesses have business profiles. Google+ allows users to add people and businesses they follow to various user defined circles such as friends, family, acquaintances, etc. Some experts think that Google+ will eventually trump Facebook for businesses. It is certainly worth giving Google+ consideration when deciding where to place your social media time.

5. YouTube

If your company produces informative videos, you should have a YouTube channel. Over 2 billion YouTube videos are viewed per day! YouTube videos often appear in search engine results and can be posted or shared on websites, via email, on other social media sites, etc. Take a look at the Swiftpage YouTube channel for a better glimpse at the possibilities.

Other Players to Consider:

6. Pinterest

Pinterest is a new player in the social realm, but their numbers are staggering. It has grown 4000% in the past 6 months and attract 11 million+ hits per week. Essentially a digital corkboard or idea board, Pinterest is taking the social world by storm, especially with women. Getting a piece of the Pinterest pie is not as clear-cut as some of the other sites. The Next Web wrote an excellent post with some ideas of how businesses can move into the Pinterest space.

6. MySpace

Many consider MySpace to be the original social networking site. While it had a heyday in the early 2000s, its user base has been slowly declining. One area where MySpace has remained strong is in the music industry. Many bands still use MySpace to promote their music. If your business has any ties to the music industry, consider getting involved on MySpace.

7. Foursquare

In keeping with the smart phone revolution, Foursquare was developed specifically for mobile users. When users arrive at a location such as a store, restaurant, or theater, they ‘check-in’ using their phone. The more an individual check-ins at one location, they can earn badges and even become mayor of the businesses they frequent. If your business has a storefront, Foursquare is a social network worth exploring. You can read more about getting your business on Foursquare here.

Social media is now a way of life. Businesses who refuse to get involved risk irrelevancy in the coming years. Take some time to evaluate each of the social media sites and select 1 or 2 to start with. Add links to your sites to your website and emails to increase followers. The social world is here – claim your space!

Reach out to the Customer Care group if:

• You’d like to request an invoice from your last payment
• You are interested in the product and has questions about pricing
• You don’t have the time or the expertise to create your own template and you’d like to hire Bright Peak
• You have questions that begin with, “How do I?”
• You have general questions about email marketing or Swiftpage

Ask for Technical Support if:

• You receive an error message while trying to send an email
• You notice glitches in the system
• You experience problems or issues while using the system

Reach our Customer Care group and Technical Support team Monday – Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. MST at (877) 228-8377.  We are here to help and look forward to better serving you in the years to come!

1.       It Makes You Approachable

Before the internet took over much of our daily communications and interactions, most of us had local experts we would call or go visit when we had a need. For example, if we needed to sell our home, we might have called up our Realtor and perhaps met over cup of coffee. Today that meeting is often replaced by a friendly posting on Twitter or Facebook. “Hey Jim, how’s the market? Good time to buy?” As a business, establishing a social media presence gives your customers an opportunity to see the people behind the business. It also gives your business a personality and says, “Hey, we are here for you. Talk to us.”

2.       It Keeps You Visible

Keeping your business on the forefront of your customer’s and potential customer’s minds is paramount to success in today’s day in age. It is not enough to throw an ad in the local paper and yellow pages anymore. Today’s customers often start on the web to decide when, how, and where they will purchase their goods and services. Establishing a presence on social media broadens your presence across the web. Social media sites are included in search engine rankings (think Google search). Establishing a presence on social sites inevitably boosts your SEO and ultimately directs more customers to you. Most social sites also have the option to purchase advertising which furthers your reach to your target audience.

3.       It’s Free!

Getting started on social media is essentially free. All of the major players (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) allow businesses to establish a business page for no cost; all you have to lose is time. Social media also gives you free access and insight into your competitor’s strategies. You can easily see what they are up to and how their customers are responding to them. If you invest your time capital wisely, your return on investment has exceptional potential.

Don’t allow the opportunity to get social pass your business by. Your competitors are getting social and you should be joining the party as well. Check out our post next week to learn more about social media sites and determine where your business should be involved.

What was EVERYTHING HR looking for?

EVERYTHING HR wanted an email newsletter template to use with the Swiftpage Basic Editor. Looking to update their current newsletter, Bright Peak updated their current look with a redesign to match their website and current branding.

Before and After: What was the end result?

Click the image to see the newsletter before.

Click the image to take a look at the newsletter after!

Thoughts from the client:

“I’m the least technical person in the world and Bright Peak made this so easy for me. Many thanks for a great job.”

About Bright Peak:

Bright Peak is the creative services division of Swiftpage, allowing the design and deployment process to be seamless. We focus on providing businesses with creative solutions to drive sales and marketing practices. Clients receive professional, cutting edge design work. If you know what you want to say and maybe even know what you want it to look like, we’ll take your vision and assemble your marketing materials to meet your every expectation.

Interested in having Bright Peak create a template for you? Visit BrightPeak.com for more information.

Basic Email Templates

Click on the image above to see a visual of the Basic Template Guidelines.

Total width of the template: 600 pixels
Header size: 600 pixels wide, 72DPI, no more than a 50K file size
Other Images: Up to 560 pixels wide, 72DPI, no more than 50K file size
Total Column Space: 580 pixels
Template Columns: 2 columns
Space Between Columns: 12 pixels (cannot be changed)
Space on Edges of Template: 4 pixels (cannot be changed)
Vertical Space: Up to 23 Swiftwindows per column, virtually unlimited text (keep in mind that shorter is better for email)

Advanced Email Templates

Advanced email templates are a little different since you import HTML files you have created on your own. We highly recommend that you use a professional HTML software such as Adobe Dreamweaver to create custom HTML templates. Click here to review the Swiftpage HTML Designer’s Guide to Email Templates. Below are a few general guidelines we recommend when creating your own HTML email template.

Standard Template Size: Industry standard is 600-650 pixels wide
Image Sizes: 72 DPI, no more than 50K file size
Background Images: Not supported by Swiftpage or most email clients
Layout: Use tables for the layout instead of DIV tags
Style Sheets: Avoid linking to external style sheets. Use inline CSS instead.

If you are having trouble with your template or have other question about Swiftpage, reach out to our Customer Care team. They are ready and waiting to assist you with your email marketing needs.

Happy Emailing!

P.S. Have a burning question you’d like to see featured in FAQ Fridays? Drop Audrey a line and let us know! ahowes@swiftpage.com.

Quarterbacks often bear the brunt of losses and receive the most glory from wins. In interview after interview, Tebow continues to give credit to his team, spotlighting their efforts over his own. When teammates make a mistake Tebow doesn’t berate them, he encourages them. Take this example from the game against the Chicago Bears. Demaryius Thomas just missed a touchdown catch. Tebow greets him with, “Guess what, you’re about to catch the game winner here in a minute. So you’re good. No big deal. It just makes it closer a little bit longer. You’re about to catch the game winner and then you’ll be the hero of the game.”

As leaders in our businesses we can inspire our team members to do great things for our companies or we can tear them down and leave them operating at far less than they are capable of. Tebow shows us that team inspiration is good for business.

Respect Your Competition

Tebow has a reputation for being friendly, even with the team he is about to try to beat. He compliments opposing players on their plays and greets them with enthusiasm when they meet on the line of scrimmage.

Building relationships with your competitors can lead to opportunities you never would have imagined. Plus when tough business decisions need to be made, your relationship with your rivals can keep the decisions from being personal.

Be Your Business

Love him or hate him, Tim Tebow has gained notoriety for being himself. He makes no apologies for his faith, upbringing, or unconventional quarterback style.

Real success happens is when your business stops trying to fit in and begins to be itself. Stop trying to conform to the norm. Instead, take risks and stand firm in what you have created your business to be. You may catch a lot of flack like Tebow, but you will also gain a lot of wins.

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Leadership is never easy, but Tim Tebow shows us it is worth pressing on to be a great leader. Your business can only be as successful as its leadership. Take these lessons from our quarterback and see where your leadership takes your business.

Go Broncos!

Why should you care? Regularly monitoring your opt-outs is an important and necessary part of the email marketing process. If you find that a large number of subscribers unsubscribe shortly after signing up, evaluate the type of information or offers your are sending and relevancy for your email audience. If you have a significant number of opt-outs after a certain email, try to ascertain what was unappealing or possibly offensive about your email.

Want to see your opt-out list? Login to Swiftpage and click on the Reports button, followed by the Suppression Data button at the top of the screen. Then enter your Account Password and click on Email List. An Excel file with contacts who have opted-out of your emails will be emailed directly to you.

Important note! If a request to be opted-out is sent directly to you, it is still a valid opt-out. If you are using the Swiftpage List Manager you are able to go to the contact’s listing and manually check the opt-out box. You may also send the recipients’s email address to support@swiftpage.com with your Account Name and we will add that email address to your opt out list.

Have questions about Swiftpage? Get in touch with one of our helpful and friendly support agents.

P.S. Have a burning question you’d like to see featured in FAQ Fridays? Drop Audrey a line and let us know! ahowes@swiftpage.com.

“You now have to decide what ‘image’ you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place.”

- David Ogilvy, “The Father of Advertising”

Questions to ask yourself: What is your brand’s image? What personality does your brand portray?

10. Reawakening Inactive Customers – Great thoughts to get those customers off the couch and reengage with your business.

9. An Unactionable Email – A worthwhile lesson on missed opportunities that remind us to make the call to action in our emails clear.

8. Navigating the Marketing Doldrums – All of us marketers get into a rut at times. This post gives some new insights to move beyond the ruts to success.

7. Best of 2011 Superbowl Commercials – A welcome break from the marketing monotony. We all need to take time to laugh!

6. A Lesson in Marketing from Steve Jobs - We all know we lost one of the greatest minds in history this year. This post is a look back at his brilliant marketing strategy for Apple.

5. Creating a Customer Service Strategy – Important lessons and reminders on the necessity of good customer service.

4. Meet and Greet: Front Range Christian School – FRCS has a unique Drip Marketing plan to reach out to prospective families.

3. Create an Email that Gets Results – A helpful primer on creating emails our recipients want to read.

2. 4 Small Business Tips from a Pizza Shop in Berkley – An insightful look at a small pizza shop and what we can learn from their success.

1. 21 Reasons Why I’ll Delete Your Email in 3 Seconds – Ok, so this was really 3 posts in a series, but the series taught all of us email marketers some very important lessons.

There it is, our top 10 list of our favorite posts for 2011. What was your favorite? What do you want to hear from us in 2012?