ListMessenger.net is an online service for e-mail marketing and sending e-mail newsletters

Next to my work as a consultant, I own a business offering an online service for e-mail marketing and sending e-mail newsletters. It’s called ListMessenger.net, and earlier this month we’ve launched a new website. At the same time, we introduced a new pricing model. An account now costs US$ 149 per year.

What is ListMessenger.net?

ListMessenger.net is an online system for e-mail marketing and for sending e-mail newsletters. Every user gets their own online account. Using their login, they can create a newsletter and send it to their mailing list at any time. Mailing lists are built using a complete double opt-in mechanism, making the system compliant with today’s rules and regulations.

ListMessenger.net has been in business since 2003, and many companies and organisation have sent their messages to millions of e-mail addressess.

ListMessenger.net pricing

From January 2010, an account at ListMessenger.net costs US$ 149 per year. This comes with mail credits to send 10,000 e-mails. Customers needing more can order additional mail credits at a price of US$ 30 per block of 10,000 mails.

About the new site

A nice detail about the new site is that it was made entirely using WordPress. This free software turns out to be incredibly simple and effective for website development, and much more than just a blogging tool.

Google Website Optimizer helps webmasters and site owners improve their website and increase conversions and sales

When people arrive on your website after clicking an ad or a link, the first page they see is what is known as the ‘landing page’. The purpose of this page is to enable the visitor to buy your product, request a quote, sign up to be a member or receive a newsletter, or whatever action you had in mind.

There are many things that can distract your potential customer from completing that action. Online expert and author Tim Ash presented a webinar on “7 Deadly Sins of Landing Page Design”, for the Google Website Optimizer YouTube channel.

It’s a pretty long video, where the 7 most common problems are presented, including recommendations to fix those problems. In the second part of the video, Tim answers questions from the audience.

If you don’t have the time to watch this video, I’ve made a list of the 7 common problems in landing page design and the fixes that Tim Ash suggest.

7 Deadly Sins In Landing Page Design

7 common problem in landing page design and how to fix them

1. Unclear call to action

Question: What does this website want me to do?
Solutions:

• Call to action should be clear & draw the eye
• Placement of call to action should be above the fold
• Competing calls to action should be de-emphasized

2. Too many choices

Question: What should I do next?
Solutions:

• Don’t present details too early in the process
• Group choices in a small number of categories
• Use visual shortcuts to reduce reading

3. Asking for too much information

Question: Is this information absolutely necessary to complete the current transaction?
Solutions:

• Ask only for absolutely required information
• Collect additional information at a later date
• Shorten labels and unclutter form layout

4. Too much text

Question: Do you really expect me to read all this?
Solutions:

• Use clear headlines and (sub) headings
• Put the important information first
• Do not write in complete sentences, use bulleted lists
• Ruthlessly edit and shorten your text

5. Not keeping your promises

Question: Is this the page I expected from clicking a link or an ad?
Solutions:

• Repeat the ad text or keywords on your page
• Provide clear access to the information that was promised in the ad

6. Visual distractions

Question: Where am I supposed to look?
Solutions:

• Make the page more boring
• Don’t let the design of the page compete with the call to action
• Remove colorful page elements and animation/motion
• Replace generic photos with specific relevant images

7. Lack of credibility & trust

Question: Why should I trust you and buy from you?
Solutions:

• Borrow & solidify trust
• Feature well-known trust symbols prominently
• Use client logos, brands or media coverage as ‘badges’
• Remove anxiety with generous policies & guarantees

More information

The presenter of this webinar, Tim Ash, also wrote a book called “Landing Page Optimization“.

Time Zone Check shows the time zones on a pretty map

Since I started my company, I’ve worked with many people from all across the globe. Five or ten years ago, this would have been virtually impossible, or at least extremely expensive. My telephone bill would have gone through the roof. But today, with e-mail, instant messaging and Skype, it’s easy and affordable to communicate with people everywhere.

So now that distance and communication costs are no longer an issue, I’ve found that there is a new challenge: finding the right time to talk. With clients in many time zones, this sometimes takes a lot of calculating and planning. Fortunately, the web offers nice tools to manage this too. One of the prettiest I know is Time Zone Check. This site shows me a map of the world, with my own current local time. Then, when I point my mouse at the location of someone I would like to talk to, the map shows me what time it is in their part of the world. I can even search for cities by name if I don’t know the exact location.

The map also shows me where it is night and where it is day, the places in the world where they’re currently enjoying daylight savings, the abbreviations of the time zones and the time difference between those time zones and my own time zone.

Mozy is a free backup tool for your computer

One of those products is called Mozy. It’s a piece of software that you install on your computer (did I mention it’s free!), and then you can literally forget about making backups. Mozy will remember for you, and automatically make those precious backups once or twice a day, or just as often as you want. The backups are stored on Mozy’s servers, on the internet. So if your computer or laptop is stolen or breaks, your data is still safe and sound, ready to be restored as soon as you have a working computer again.

I’ve been using Mozy for some months now, and I like it very much. Twice a day the software automatically backups all data in the folders that I’ve said are important, including any new file or sub folder I created since the previous backup. In addition to the software itself being free, you also get 2 Gigabyte of storage space on the Mozy servers free of charge.

But wait, it gets better: if you use this link to sign up, install the software and make your first backup, you even get an additional 256 Megabytes of storage space, completely free. Just click the link, and then click on the big “Get 2 GB for Free” button.

I can really recommend using Mozy for your computer backups. It’s as easy as ’set it and forget it’. Just give it a try, it’s free!

http and www are a given, but what comes after that?

Your domain name is the first point of contact on the internet. It is a vital part of the address of your website and of your e-mail address. You’ll be using that domain name for a long time, so it’s crucial to spend some time deciding on the best name, to find out if that name is available and to register a few variations of that domain name. In this article, I will present some tips and suggestions about the steps involved.

Is your own name a good domain name?

It’s smart to select a domain name that is easy to remember and spell. Many people will want to use their own name. That’s fine, no problem here. I’m using my own name for my website, found on the internet as www.erikgeurts.com.

A different approach is to select a domain name that describes your service, your product or something unique about your business. A dry cleaner in Manhattan, operated by the Jones Company, could use jonescompany.com. However, a domain name like drycleaningmanhattan.com is probably much better. This name is easy to remember and easy to tell others. And this name is likely to do very well in Google. It is a known fact people will often search for a combination of the service they need and a location, so having both dry cleaning and Manhattan in the domain name is a good strategy.

Variations and spelling

If your brand is world wide (or you have plans to go international), it’s a good idea to register some international variations from the start. So in addition to the .com version of the domain name, consider the .co.uk or .cn versions (for the UK and China respectively). These are just examples. You don’t have to start using them right away, but it does mean you will not see others running away with your domain name. For my business I’ve got erikgeurts.nl too, being used for the website in Dutch for my home market, in addition to the international site in English on erikgeurts.com.

If it could be unclear how to spell your brand, business or domain name, it may be a good idea to register a few alternative spellings. For instance, the dry cleaner mentioned above should also register drycleaning-manhattan.com, drycleanermanhattan.com, and drycleanersmanhattan. By doing this, they can avoid these alternative spellings from being used by domain name squatters for all sorts of evil.

A brand name as domain name

You can register a domain name that has someone else’s brand name in it. But the rightful owner of that brand might object to your using it. He could start a legal procedure. Some examples of uses that would cause trouble are to use brand name A to link the website of competing brand B, or to use a domain name for brand C to start a web shop with products by C. You might say: C should have registered this domain name. But intellectual property laws will most likely prevail and C will probably win.

Domain name registration

Registering a domain name is easy and doesn’t take a lot of time. There are numerous internet providers and companies that specialize in this aspect of internet business. In most cases your domain name will have to be paid for in advance, for a period of 1 year. Often the costs for the domain name are part of your web hosting subscription.

I’d like to help you decide on a good domain name

If you’re thinking about a domain name for your site or business, you could consider hiring a consultant to help you. I’ve been involved in this in many projects and I’d like to offer my assistance. Just contact me if you’re interested in using my services.

This week, Google posted some guidelines on their Official Blog, on how to choose a good password and how to keep it safe.

In my business, I constantly have to come up with new passwords, for accounts and systems I work on for my clients or for my own use. Instead of being creative with new passwords, I use a tiny little tool on my computer that generates completely random passwords for me. It’s called Password Generator, and it’s free! You can download it here (PC only).

What this program does not do for you is remember which password you created for which site. That’s the second challenge. My web browser Firefox can remember them for me, and since access to my PC is protected by a password too (and that one I do remember of course), I feel it’s reasonably safe this way.

Update October 2009

Google have posted an article on their official Gmail weblog, with tips for choosing a smart password.