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Fifteen Great On-Demand Tools for Your Small Business

I am lifting this list from the Seattle Tech Startups discussion thread because this response from Ksenia Oustiougova is too good not to share broadly.  Ksenia runs a great company here in Seattle called lilipip! that does animated marketing videos.

Here is her list in response to the question of "what tools do you use to manage your personal workload."  Her answer is a great snapshot of the tools used to run a small business and an example of how any company can access a wide variety of really great products on-demand and at relatively low cost these days.

1. Project management - Basecamp
   
2. CRM - Batchbook
   
3. Documents (signing contracts) - EchoSign
   
4. Docs automatically stored if sent by fax via eFax
   
5. Invoicing - Freshbooks
   
6. Taxes - OutRight
   
7. Operations (manual, overseas VPA's, etc) - Google Docs
8. Scheduling - Google Calendar
9. Voice - Google Voice
10. Newsletter - MailChimp 
11. Birthday/Thank you cards - Plaxo
    
12. Conferencing - Skype
    
13. Video management/hosting/tracking - Wistia
    
14. Money transferring (anywhere in the world) - Xoom
    
15. Sending huge files - DropBox and YouSendIt

This is a great list.  I think I'd add a few like a blogging platform (Typepad or Wordpress), a wiki/collaboration space (like PBWorks), and various Twitter tools (like Tweetdeck & CoTweet) as well as the fact that you can address all your email needs with Google Apps.  Other adds would include marketing specific items like PRWeb for press releases, Jigsaw for lead generation/list building, and, of course, Gist for personal relationship management.

What are good email marketing open and click rates?

I'm a fan of using email marketing as part of a broader marketing plan as long as it is not abused and functions as a platform to share information the recipient will find valuable as opposed to shameless product pitches. 

There are lots of different options here including self-service ones like VerticalResponse (which I currently use), Constant Contact, and MailChimp as well as ones like Portland-based eROI and Nashville, TN-based Emma which integrate agency services along with the email capability.  The full list of options is very long (including Atlanta-based Silverpop & Seattle neighbor WhatCounts) and I know I am not doing it justice here.

The purpose of this post is to dig into what are good results from an email marketing campaign.  How many opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, etc. are actually good when compared to what is best in class?

I know what I have seen in my efforts and am happy to discuss one-on-one if you are interested.  Here is what I found after a few quick searches:

• Great chart from the folks at MailChimp with a breakdown by industry (small businesses).  The average of the averages (sorry mathematicians) pegs this around a 25% open rate with just over a 4% click rate looking across some 273M sent emails. Unsubscribes are pretty low at .36% while hard bounces (not a valid email) seem high to me at almost 6%.  People change jobs and email addresses go stale but I have not seen a result this high or it could be due an extended interval between sends.

• Good stats posted on eMarketer although pegging the high end of list size at 1000+ seems curious to me (my lists are always much larger than this and I hope yours are too).  Their citation of a report by MailerMailer puts the "worldwide" open rate at 12.5% at the end of 2008.

I'm not sure I am leaving you with what is best in class but at least this can function as a frame of reference.  I am not an email marketing expert by any means but believe in it and its responsible use for any organization.

Great ad from Motorola about aggregating content on a mobile device

This ad ran during the World Series and I thought it was a great take on the type of thing we are doing at Gist.  The ability to sift through an increasing amount of content, information, chatter, and other types of noise to get to the things that matter most. 

Does too much available capital limit creativity?

This video was referenced by a variety of folks here in Seattle after Mark Maunder blogged about it.  It is quite good and a nice lesson in what we think we can and can't accomplish based on the availability of capital.  It definitely is a nice perspective builder and a reminder that it doesn't take venture capital to be an entrepreneur.

Busy couple weeks

Apologies for slow posting over the past couple weeks.  I've been bouncing around a bit as we continue to roll out Gist at a series of events around the US.  You can always keep up with me on Twitter - ReplytoAll as it is sometimes easier to do a short update while in motion.

Made some great new friends, recruited lots of new Gist users, and even had the chance to reconnect with some old friends.  A few more events through the end of the year including Defrag in Denver and Salesforce.com's big Dreamforce user event in San Francisco.  If you'll be at either, let me know and we'll connect.

Blogging will change your life

Don't believe me?  Then listen to what Tom Peters and Seth Godin have to say about it.  Good friend Max Effgen at 12Sided posted this some time ago and I flagged it to share here.

It is short and captures the essence of why I started blogging and the fulfillment I get from doing it.  It forces you to more fully and thoroughly think through things, truly grasp why you believe the way you do, and structure those thoughts and beliefs for others to consume.  I write as much for myself as I do for others and am thankful to those of you who think my posts are worth reading and keep coming back for more.

Beware the 2%

In every project or task there are always things that get overlooked, don't go quite right, or are just wrong especially if you are moving fast or entering uncharted territory as often happens in a start up.  I view this as the" 2%."  The key is isolating this 2% down to things that will have the least material impact if they occur or, if they do, can be quickly fixed with limited impact.

Drive for perfection but understand it is elusive.  Understand that things will go wrong but focus on keeping their impact to a minimum.

Earn permission to respond

This is a great (and short) blog post by Seth Godin on the topic of being accessible and making it easy for people to initially contact you.  Think about the last time you wanted information or were looking to buy something.  Did you want to answer a bunch of questions or provide a lot of information about yourself?

Email contact is like a first date. If you show up with a clipboard and a questionnaire, it's not going to go well, I'm afraid. The object is to earn permission to respond.

Keep it simple.  Request an email address or make it easy for people to send you an email with some questions (and be sure to respond quickly!).  This is just the beginning of the discussion not the end.

Can you only handle 150 true social relationships?

In a day and age of "friending", "being a fan", and even the emergence of LinkedIn LIONS (super networkers or connection collectors - your call), the question of how many true and stable social relationships one can maintain definitely comes up....at least in what I do.

Enter Dunbar's Number and the commonly cited approximation of 150.  These are: 

...relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person...

I suppose this number varies depending on what you do and what priority you place on maintaining or developing relationships.  I have an open "friending" and connecting policy where I rarely reject a connection...but, again, this is what I do and is consistent with my blogging efforts to connect with as many people as I can even though it is more of a one to many relationship.

What do you think?  If you look through your contacts in MS Outlook, Gmail, or contact management system, your LinkedIn connections, your Facebook friends, or even Twitter followers/following, how many do you have?  How often do you truly connect vs. comment on a post, read a status, or send an email to check in?

It takes effort to build relationships and they are best built when you don't need something.  I always try to ask folks I meet with how I can help them vs. putting myself first. Give it a try.  I promise it will be much more rewarding and appreciated than always wanting something for yourself when you get together with someone. 

Maybe it is possible to have more than 150 true social relationships.  I know I am going to keep trying.

Don't forget about accounts receivable

Having run my own consulting company and been part of several start ups at this point in my life, I can't emphasize enough the need to focus on accounts receivable.  This is the life blood of your venture and your ticket to freedom (if you are venture backed) - inbound cash flow.

Yes, it is important to get that first customer or client but pay attention to payment terms and cash flow implications.  Big companies are big and don't always promptly pay an invoice...so be diligent and understand that your near term cash needs are not the most important thing for your customers.

Be creative, structure pre-pay agreements, and provide incentives for early or complete payment.  It will benefit you in the long run.