“All the darkness in the world cannot put out a single candle.”
“All that we are arises with our thoughts.”
“Allow your confidence to carry you through each day.”
“A good friendship is often more important than a passionate romance.”
“Any day above ground is a good day.”

These fortune-cookie sayings are from my family meal last night at a local pan-Asian restaurant - the broad-based truths contained in each provoked smiles and knowing nods from the family as we read and shared them. These little slips of wisdom provided great end-of-the-meal conversation and provoked a thoughtful look from those to whom they spoke most directly.

Without being blatant about it, these sayings advertise a product. There is no Trademark or Copyright symbol on them, but the product is clear nonetheless: positive attitude. Although the skies are blue and the sun shines brightly outside, the clouds of economic recession darken many people’s present and immediate futures. The best things for these people to do are to (1) remember that as bad as things are, they could be worse… and (2) that in times of darkness, reaching out to your fellow humans can be a way to brighten both your situation and theirs.

What is it about you and your company that can bring light to others situations? Your words? Your products? Your ideas? Your employees?

Consider these methods for getting you in front of those who need to hear your message:

• Call, e-mail or connect to your friends through social media, e.g., Facebook, Linkedin, etc.
• Update your web site with renewed energy and information
• Send a carefully worded survey to your closest friends or colleagues
• Speak at a local, regional or national event
• Update or start a blog to build up an image about your brand
• Sponsor a local charitable, educational or business event
• Update or start an audio or video podcast - be passionate about your message
• Send a quarterly e-mail blast to your top 5,000 opted-in contacts

Whatever you do to reach out to your fellow human beings, January 2009 is the time to do it.

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days of long ago

[CHORUS:]
For old long ago, my dear
For old long ago,
We will take a cup of kindness yet
For old long ago

We two have run about the hillsides
And pulled the daisies fine,
But we have wandered many a weary foot
For old long ago

We two have paddled in the stream
From noon until dinner time,
But seas between us broad have roared
Since old long ago
And there is a hand, my trusty friend,
And give us a hand of yours,
And we will take a goodwill draught
For old long ago

And surely you will pay for your pint,
And surely I will pay for mine
And we will take a cup of kindness yet
For old long ago

Happy New Year from the Ennect Team!!!!!

If you’ve made a resolution to send an email newsletter to your clients and associates, here are a few tips to help you succeed:

1.) Choose a tool with already existing email newsletter templates. This will save time and eliminate the hassle of getting the actual newsletter designed.

2.) Split your list in half and send out two different subject lines, compare the results to see which one gets more opens. Use the best subject line as a guide for future newsletters.

3.) Make sure that your email newsletter has ‘call to action’ links (and make sure you test those links before sending the newsletter to your entire list).

4.) If possible, segment your list and create a different marketing strategy for your different lists.

5.) Create a contact strategy calendar for the entire year. This will help ensure that the newsletter goes out on a consistent basis.

6.) Make sure that you are familiar with the CAN-SPAM Act and make sure that your e-newsletter follows these requirements on an ongoing basis.

Happy Marketing in 2009!

The Parent company of our Ennect Products, Elliance, would like you to help us ring in the new year by sharing your warmest hopes and dreams with the world.

Share your Hopes by clicking the image below:

Several Ennect Survey customers have asked us for providing guidelines for successfuly crafting a web survey, maximizing participation and evaluating survey results. We have turned that into a small presentation for you. Enjoy and let us know if you have questions or suggestions.

We all know the story. An acorn fell on Chicken Little’s head. She mistakenly thought the sky was falling. She hysterically spread that fear throughout the land and panic ensued.

It appears that today we have an abundance of Chicken Littles heralding a great depression. Prompting frightened marketers to slash and burn entire programs.

Bad idea. In challenging times like this smart marketers don’t overreact. They remain cool. They are survivors who focus on immediate, measurable results.

Smart Marketers know the wisdom in the old saying, “things are never as good as they seem, they are also never as bad as they seem”. Today, smart marketers will optimistically work to achieve immediate sales so their brand is positioned for a greater market share as the economy inevitably improves.

All the best in 2009!

The Survey Says….

Source: BtoB’s “2009 Marketing Priorities and Plans” survey

We have added a revolutionary data visualization view for text/verbatim responses. Let’s say you are about to present to a group of non-profits and decide to survey them so you know, in advance, what the audience would like you to cover. With the tag cloud view, you would get a quick answer like

To our knowledge, Ennect Survey is the first web survey software that visualizes data with tag clouds. We are seriously committed to making it easy for marketers to get insights faster, so stay tuned for more useful data visualization utilities. As always, we are open to suggestions from you.

At the recent Business Technology Conference in Pittsburgh, I presented ‘Email Marketing Best Practices’. I have posted my slides on Slideshare

. Enjoy it and give us your comments. Thanks.

Online registration is one of those tools that can be used in many different ways. Some people may think that event planning software is only used for conferences, seminars or major events. But, that is simply not the case.

We have a client that is a small local school. One of their big fund raising events this year is going to be a festival. The festival will be a week long and the school is actively recruiting volunteers to help with set up and work the booths. Managing volunteers, the times they can work as well as all of their contact information is an administrative nightmare.

The school will use Ennect Event to put up a marketing Website outlining the details of the festival. They will also outline, in individual sessions, the times and areas where volunteers are needed. From the marketing Website volunteers will be able to sign up online and choose the times and areas they wish to work. The school with then have all the volunteer contact information in one place and be able to manage where and when volunteers are needed.

The school will also be a able to cap the number of registrants per session. So, if there are too many volunteers signing up for a specific time and /or area, they can close that session and have the volunteer choose another session.

Putting together a week long festival is a major undertaking. This local school will need all they help they can get. We hope that by using Ennect Event it will elevate some of the headaches they are about to encounter.

Good luck to the entire team working to pull off this event!