AshPointLane.com

We’ve been extremely busy this November because we are trying to put out a bunch of new products over at the Arsenal. So that’s one explanation for the lack of frequent posting on the zine. Which by the way, reminds me, we’re still looking for rock solid contributors to the GoMediaZine.

Anyway, here’s my latest review of last week:

• Created some artwork for Vector Pack 13. Specifically some stuff for Robots, Flow, and Bound. The robots were a lot harder than I thought actually. But I think they came out ok. Here are some that I did.

  

• I put a new shirt up on emptees. It’s really just a logo, but it was done for a shirt. It’s some 3D lettering for Fearless Records. It was meant to give off a strong rock n roll vibe. I quite like how it came out.

  

• Arsenal 2 is just about ready to launch into public Beta. Our goal is Thursday!
• Speaking of Arsenal 2, I had to get a Merchant Account and Payment Gateway so I used Merchant Warehouse to do that. Never did it before, but it was pretty easy. Now we will be able to accept credit cards on our site yay! And we’re thinking of getting rid of Paypal altogether. Why? Because Paypal is nothing but problems. From echecks, to chargebacks, to no seller protection, etc. Just watch this video which explains my thoughts exactly.
• We are working on new site for Ballher, a girl’s basketball clothing line. The design was already provided by the client, we just need to make the website work and get his shopping cart and blog installed. We’re using Wordpress and this plugin called WP-Ecommerce.
• We’re getting our aquarium filled up today which is awesome.
• We put in plans to actually make a break room, so we don’t have to eat at our desks every day.
• We’re in the process of building this really awesome Hoodie Template Pack. It’s more than just a template pack though. To be honest, it’s like an all-in-one hoodie design package. It will allow you to create all-over-prints in a few clicks. It will be setting the standard for apparel templates for sure. I think we’ll be releasing that this week.

Anyway, November is insane for the Arsenal. So if you’ve got some ideas for articles or tutorials for our zine, and are looking for some cash this year for the Holidays and a boost in your site’s traffic, hit us up!

Ongoing economic uncertainty has made aspirational luxury customers more selective about what they purchase than ever. "Aspirationals" are aggressively prioritizing discretionary spending, purchasing a select few emotionally charged luxury items but buying everything else at mass or "masstige" outlets. Companies that want to continue to profit from aspirational customers must make their brands accessible and relevant to them by taking their lifestyles into consideration and meeting them half way. Here are seven tips to draw out aspirationals, just in time for the holidays.

Can asking a question in an ad increase sales? Some will argue vehemently that the use of a question is a non-starter, a pre-ordained copywriting disaster. Craig Huey, founder and president of the award-winning Creative Direct Marketing Group, froths at the idea of a question in sales copy. Nevertheless, a question is a tool. And as with any tool, any copywriting strategy or tactic, if a question is not formulated and handled with proper caution it could indeed do immeasurably more harm than good. Well, let me correct that: If you're a direct marketer who tests, you can measure precisely how much harm a poorly phrased question will do... or how well a good one will convert.

It's a fact of list life: You're always going to lose a chunk of your email list to bounces, unsubscribes, and spam complaints. In the past, you might have just shrugged off this loss—typically 30 percent or more annually—because you were able to acquire new subscribers at a much higher rate than what you lost. But your ability to do so might be getting tougher now. With consumers getting pickier about whom they want to receive email from, along with the growing constraint caused by consumer and business spending cutbacks and the prospect of tightened marketing budgets, it's more important than ever to focus on retaining your subscribers and customers. These three strategies can help y

Leading companies do not subscribe to the notion that marketing is a discretionary expense. They know that there is business opportunity during economic downturns, and marketing can lead the way.

This past weekend, we completed our server upgrades, in order to improve system load balancing before the busy holiday season. The holiday season is usually a time when we see email delivery volumes double or triple, so we want to be ready. On that note, we won't be launching any new ...

By Bonnie Malone
Director, Strategic Services

In June we published a research study on how top brands manage the sign-up and welcome experience for their subscribers. As you might recall, our findings were rather shocking. Big, well-known brands were falling down on what many email marketing experts consider basic best practices. We decided to re-visit those same companies and see if they handled the unsubscribe experience any better. Download this new study now.

The good news is that most of the companies studied had the basics in place. They may not have optimized their experience, but they at least stopped sending email quickly.

The bad news is that, again, we were shocked to discover top-brand marketers failing to meet the most basic email marketing necessity - honoring an opt-out request. In fact, many marketers continued to send email - in some cases multiple messages - after an opt-out was requested. While it's true that the CAN-SPAM act allows 10 days before you must stop sending email, it is in the best interest of your sender reputation to stop sending email as soon as possible. Even one more message to an irate subscriber can lead to spam complaints. Multiply this effect across your total unsubscribes and you can end up in big trouble when it comes to email deliverability and brand reputation.

With these basics not yet mastered, it was no surprise to find these marketers completely missing the boat on optimizing the experience. So where do you stand? Don't wonder - - go test your unsubscribe functionality right now! You probably think it's fine - and perhaps it is. Although, I'm sure many of the marketing folks at the companies we studied think their process is fine, too. How else to account for the fact that five of America's top brands continued to send email messages more than 10 days after the opt-out request, five years after the passage of the CAN-SPAM Act? Someone isn't paying attention.

So, do whatever you need to do and rally the resources you need to get your process fixed if it's broken. You don't have a moment to waste! The risk to your company's sender reputation and email deliverability - especially during this holiday season - just isn't worth it.

Download the study now and get our expert advice on optimizing your unsubscribe process.

Twenty Percent of Marketers Sent Additional Email Messages To Consumers After Confirming The Person Had Unsubscribed

New York, New York, Denver, CO, and Mountain View, CA - For Immediate Release -Twenty percent of top brand marketers sent additional emails to subscribers after confirming an unsubscribe request, Return Path discovered with its new research study titled Keeping the Subscriber Experience Positive After "Unsubscribe Me." Eleven percent of the companies studied emailed subscribers more than 10 days after confirming an unsubscribe request - a violation of the federal CAN-SPAM Act. Marketers risk impacting their overall email reputation with spam complaints if they have a faulty email unsubscribe process.

Return Path, the leading e-mail deliverability and reputation management company, conducted the study by unsubscribing from the email lists of 45 companies from the retail, consumer goods, travel, and media/entertainment industries. Return Path originally subscribed to these email lists to conduct its Subscriber Experiences study.

"We conducted the Subscriber Experiences and Unsubscribe Experiences studies, because we were concerned that marketers were having issues with two very important points of contact with their email subscribers - at the beginning and the end of the relationship," said Bonnie Malone, Director of Strategic Services. "Unfortunately, the studies confirmed our concerns. Marketers often fail to optimize the beginning and end of the email marketing cycle, even though this interaction with their customers is a key factor in their email sending reputation. If marketers don't immediately honor an unsubscribe request, they risk consumers clicking the "Report Spam" button, which ultimately and negatively impacts their email reputation, determining whether or not their emails are delivered to all their subscribers' inboxes."

When consumers unsubscribe from email marketing, they could potentially be enticed to remain subscribed but with less frequency. However, the overwhelming majority of marketers studied missed out on keeping consumers subscribed to less frequent mailings. Only two companies out of the 45 studied offered options for subscribers to change the frequency they received email or the ability to opt out of some of the marketers' emails.

"Marketers work very hard to design compelling email marketing campaigns, but can't neglect to evaluate the entire email experience for subscribers - including when those customers decide to unsubscribe," Malone said. "While email marketing may have a small influence compared to the overall digital and traditional marketing campaign reach, email is a very direct, one-to-one interaction with customers and potential customers. Even a single negative email experience can lead to a poor overall brand image for consumers."

Return Path's study also revealed that most marketers have not designed their unsubscribe procedures to accommodate consumers who simply want to change their email address - yet remain subscribed. Only 11% of companies allowed subscribers to change their email address on the unsubscribe landing page. When email change of address (ECOA) is not included as part of the unsubscribe process, consumers are forced to manually unsubscribe from one address and resubscribe with a new email address.

"Instead of placing barriers in front of consumers who simply want to change their email address, marketers should make it simple and easy to stay subscribed while changing email addresses," Malone said.

Download the study now.

About Return Path
Founded in 1999, Return Path helps commercial email senders get more email delivered to the inbox. Our tools and services give senders the tools and insight to diagnose and prevent email deliverability and rendering failures by improving and maintaining their email sending reputations. Return Path works with both the sending and receiving communities to bring transparent standards to email delivery and filtering. Return Path's runs the internet's most widely used third-party whitelist, Sender Score Certified. For more information, please visit www.returnpath.net.

Press Contacts:

Tami M. Forman
Return Path
212-905-5500 ext 205
tami.forman@returnpath.net

Jeff Rutherford
Jeff Rutherford Media Relations
413 369-4128
jeff@jeffrutherford.com

There's been a bit of buzz in the blogosphere of late about "personal branding" (if you want to catch up on the kerfuffle, kicked off my occasional blogging provocateur Geoff Livingston, you can pick up the thread here and here and here and here and here).

I don't think anyone will argue whether the bathwater of an inauthentic persona (faux personal brand) should be tossed out. But, let's talk about the baby.

I've tended to view personal branding as a secondary issue. If you're looking to project a personal brand, the primary question to you need to answer first and foremost is: What is your value-add?

You don't have a brand worth a nickel unless you are clear in what value you have to offer. That's true of personal branding, corporate branding, political branding, and whatever other type of branding du jour we'd like to dream up.

Look around you. Right now - in your office, your home, or even look at all the various Twitter avatars and e-mail addresses on your computer. Not a single one of those people can offer what you do. Each one has inherent value as a person, and unique value as an individual who can contribute to the greater good. And you, too, have a unique and irreplaceable value-add. Focus on the gold - what is it?

I know mine, though it has taken many years to clearly identify and articulate it. But even if you are struggling to put your own value-add into words, you still have that value, and probably those who are closest to you can tell you what it is. Here is an exercise to help you - try to find 5-8 adjectives or nouns that summarize what you do best. Ask your friends and colleagues to help (you might even want to have some fun by making it a Twitter exercise).

Now you're much closer to figuring out your "personal brand," because you're understanding where you add value. And you should think about your value-add on at least 2 levels - the professional level (how do I help my employer and clients succeed and make money?), and the community level (how do I help my family/church/neighbors/network grow and succeed?). Usually, you'll find quite a bit of overlap, because you are you in both realms, and your strengths carry over.

And that's the point about having a personal brand. The best personal brands are those that are authentic - that is, they reflect who you truly are, in all realms. You may emphasize specific activities and outworkings in your projected identity, because we all put our capabilities and strengths to use in tangible realms of endeavor, but that projected identity - that personal brand - is coherent with who you are. If you changed jobs, locations, or responsibilities, your brand would remain quite consistent.

If you're trying to create a persona to hide behind - a faux personal brand - you're wasting time and energy. Toss the bathwater out the window, identify your true value-add, and embrace it. Then you can project yourself without fear, and we won't need to waste so much digital bandwidth beating down "personal branding"!

(Image credit)