Don’t SPAM me!

Sometimes in the interests of marketing ourselves or our business, we get caught up in connecting with as many people as possible.

Once someone is on our contact list it can be easy to keep sending emails, SMS, or IM to try to get them on board as clients.  But you do need to think about what permission you got from them to contact them in the first place, and there are also rules around ongoing communications.

The Australian SPAM Act was passed in 2003 and that’s a relatively long time ago, so it is not necessarily front of mind.  Under the Act you are required to include an opt-out method with every communication.

Whether you’re continuing your existing marketing communications plan or putting new strategies in place it is worth refreshing your memory and checking that you are complying properly.

Check out the ACMA website http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Marketers/Anti-Spam for clear information on what you can and can’t do.

 

 

Clean out your browsing history

Following on from the blog “Spring clean your computer” posted couple of weeks ago, another idea is to clear out your browsing history.

Clearing your browsing history isn’t just a way to hide whatever websites you’ve been looking at, but deleting temporary files and your history will clear space and help ensure your computer is running fast. If you’ve experienced problems on certain websites it will also clear “cached” pages. Cached pages are computer speak for pages where your computer holds the memory of the page rather than the latest version of it.

Here’s how to clear the history on your PC for several common browsers:

Safari

1. Click on “Edit”
2. Then choose the “Reset Safari” option
3. You will then see a box with multiple options – select whether you want to empty the cache, clear downloads, remove all cookies and website icons, etc
4. Choose carefully, because if you remove all cookies and AutoFill you may find it annoying later
5. Click “Reset” and you’re done.

For Safari on an iPad

1. Go to “Settings”
2. Select “Safari”
3. Then scroll to Clear History and Website Data.

Be careful, because you don’t have any options – it’s all or nothing when you “Clear”.

Firefox

1. Go to the tool bar
2. Select “Tools”
3. Select “Clear Recent History”.

Firefox actually allows you to clear your browsing history by the hour, so if you prefer, you can clear your files based on the past few hours of browsing time only. As in Safari, you can select which files you want to purge.

Chrome

1. From the Customise menu choose “More Tools”
2. Then “Clear browsing data”.

Again you can choose which files to delete, and the time frame (from the last hour out to the beginning of time!).

Internet Explorer

1. Select “Tools”
2. Select “Safety”
3. Select “Delete Browsing History” – just like the other browsers, you can select which elements you want to purge
4. Click “Delete” and you’re done.

You may not see a noticeable difference in the speed of your computer but it’s still a good idea to purge your history every now and again.

 

Keeping track of everything

I used to think I had a great memory and didn’t need to write things down. But I came to realise that there is always so much happening it pays to keep track of ideas, agreements, etc, especially when you are running a business.

I’ve always been a fan of keeping a notepad in my handbag. But now I use Evernote. Why Evernote? Well, it helps me keep track of everything and it works on any and all of my devices (my iPad, android phone, the laptop and my desktop computer).

Evernote lets me take notes (both written and audio), make to do lists, clip and save items from the web, share and discuss ideas and more. I can set up as many folders as I wish to store my information (although I do recommend keeping the number of folders as low as possible). When I’m finished taking notes on one device it shares the information between all my nominated devices. And the best feature is, it is fully searchable.

I use it, for example, in client meetings to take note of important issues or agreements, and even more importantly, while I’m working on something, if a random idea drops into my head I have a safe place to record it.

Evernote was enormously helpful while writing my book, Technology Made Simple, as I could add points to my “book” folder at any time, from whatever device I had at hand, and could easily reference and incorporate them later.

If you’re not convinced how useful this app can be, why not try the free version? I almost guarantee you’ll soon upgrade to the paid version (which is reasonably priced), which has the added benefit of being available offline when you haven’t got internet access and has loads of storage space.

Emails in focus

We’ve talked about emails before, particularly the subject lines, but here are a few more tips to ensure your email gets read:

• Don’t leave your subject line blank. This is your opportunity to catch people’s attention and inform them why they should read your email over the the other twenty or more sitting in their inbox.
• Don’t put “Hi” or something trivial in the subject line – this gives your reader no idea of the content of your email.
• Do include a date if you want people to respond or to RSVP to you.
• Do change the content of your subject line if you have been playing ping pong with your recipient to keep their attention.

So don’t waste time in crafting a great message if you are not going to use your valuable subject line effectively, as I can almost guarantee your message will not get read.

Simple privacy policy solutions

Does your business sell products or services online?  Do you collect people’s contact information via your website so that you can stay in contact and/or provide them with services?

If so, an important part of your business is ensuring you have a privacy policy that complies with Australian regulations and explains how you keep and deal with people’s information.

I’m sure you will know from your own online experiences that most privacy policies on websites (if they have it) are unnecessarily long, use complicated language and are hard to understand, even if you can be bothered reading them in full.  Most of us tick the box without even reading the policy because we just want to buy or subscribe and don’t want to waste our time trying to figure out what it actually means.  Sometimes though, we might be put off or think twice about purchasing or subscribing when a policy is overly complex does not make clear what the business will do with our personal details. You don’t want to lose even one potential customer because of your privacy policy.

Now, thanks to a project developed through RMIT and the Smart Services Cooperative Research Centre, there is a way for small businesses to have a privacy policy that is simple, easy to understand, and fully compliant with Australian requirements for free.

On Simple Privacy’s website you can enter some essential details about your business (these are important details you should know anyway) and generate a simple, tailored policy.  And of course, Simple Privacy’s own privacy policy is clearly documented so you can be reassured before you start providing information!