93: 5 Reasons You Should Be Using Google Alerts

One of the most overlooked tools in the search giant’s toolbox is Google Alerts. In the hands of a savvy entrepreneur, marketer or blogger, this superpower can be a force for good.

The linked article is the exclusive content of OPEN Forum by American Express.

10 Tips for Better Marketing Emails—Part 2: Dont’s

Email should be an important component in every marketing campaign you create. Because the medium is free or very inexpensive, the temptation is not to place as much effort into it as with more tangible and public media. Beware of that pitfall. Surpass your competition’s emails by doing the small things right.

10 Tips for Better Marketing Emails—Part 1: Do’s

If these suggestions seem like common sense, know that I’m still not seeing them used as common practice by many small business owners—auctioneers in particular. For all you do to sell your professional brand in the marketplace, don’t sabotage that work and expense with cheap and lazy email marketing.

90: 6 Weird Intruders in Your Mail Box

Your media needs to make a good first impression, hold that attention, and then leverage its impact to evoke a specific response. The first step and the transition to the second step are typically where I see auctioneers stumble. They assume that the recipient is as interested in what they’re selling as they are and that the recipient will interact with an advertisement as though they already know the content will interest them.

89: The Ebay Rule for Advertising Estates

If your audience would investigate a collection because of who owned it, by all means use the seller’s popularity to their advantage. But if the seller isn’t the selling point, stick to the facts important to the buyers in your advertising headlines.

88: 6 Marketing Myths Entrepreneurs Believe

In short, avoid myopia at all costs. Get outside of yourself, your business, your ego. Don’t get bored with your branding; instead, realize that well-policed marketing will accelerate your brand over the long haul—long after most YouTube sensations have come and gone.

87: Measuring Your Social Media Influence

Social media analytics won’t tell you where to advertise your auctions. They won’t tell you how many people are absorbing your message—only those who interact with it. These sites don’t supplant the most important question to analyze your media outlays: “How did my bidders hear about my auction?” But they can give you a more informed perspective of how you’re doing at building an interactive brand on the Internet.