We are pleased to announce that Lowell Brown, CEO & Creative Director of Insight Design & CEO of Going Social will be speaking at an upcoming event – Get Down to Business: Cracking the Code on Social Media for Small Business. This FREE event is being produced by Lisa Kember, Regional Development Director at Constant Contact.

If you are new to Social Media Marketing or just interested in learning tips, tricks and how-to’s from experts in the field, this will be an excellent event for you to attend.

We will explore how to use social media to successfully market our products and services. Learn from business visionaries and marketing experts. Hear success stories from fellow entrepreneurs who have been driving new business opportunities through social media. Get your questions answered!

THIS IS A FREE EVENT. Your only cost of entry is a business card.

REGISTER NOW

WHEN
Thursday, May 19, 2011, 8:30am – 6pm

WHERE
Hyatt Regency Toronto
370 King Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 1J9

Paid parking available in the area and at the hotel. Alternatively, the hotel is approx 10-15 min walk from Union Station.

EVENT DETAILS
NOTE: BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH OR PICK UP A SANDWICH ENROUTE. We are offering an optional lunch-time panel of social media experts, a chance for you to get your tactical questions answered. So plan to bring your lunch and stay for the discussion.

8:30-9:00am Registration

9:00-9:45am Keynote: Persistence Pays

Lori Raudnask

9:45-10:25 Social Media Marketing Made Simple: An Overview

Lisa Kember, Regional Director, Constant Contact Inc.

10:40-11:20 Writing Great Content: What Works

Susan Corcoran, Principal, Indigo Oceans

11:20-12:00 Making Email Work: Email as a Social Media Tool

Marc Gordon, Principal, Fourword Marketing

12:00-1:15 BROWN BAG LUNCH / Optional Panel Discussion

Get Your Social Media Questions Answered

Lowell Brown, CEO, Going Social (http://www.goingsocial.ca)

Mark Brodsky, Mark Brodsky Digital Communications

Mike Leon, President, Brand Heroes

Marie Wiese, President, Marketing CoPilot

1:15-3:30 Case Studies: Stories of how small businesses

are using social media for marketing

Alicia Whalen, Principal, A Couple of Chicks Marketing

Tricia Myles, Executive Director, Kid-Safe Productions

Heath Everett, Pres/Master Franchisee, Chili’s Ontario

www.facebook.com/ChilisOntarioFans

3:30-4:15 Social SEO: A Case Study on the impact of social media

Krista LaRiviere, CEO, Gshift Labs

4:15-4:30 Final Thoughts: A Call to Action

4:30-6:00 Cocktails & Networking

Facilitated by Jennifer Beale, Unleash PR

(Cash Bar)

Insight Design is pleased to announce a new relationship with hover.com as our primary Domain Name registrar.

As part of our Web Site Design services, clients often ask us to either register domain names for them on their behalf, or to recommend a good domain registrar. We have used several companies in the past including godaddy.com, Netfirms.ca, Domainsatcost.ca and more. We recently started using hover and have found them to be, in our opinion, the best.

Registering a domain name is simple and fast and their web interface isn’t confusing or distracted with other “add-ons” that other registrars try to sell you on. You get your domain, at a competitive price and your a done.

And if/when you have a problem they are a simple phone call away…and did we mention that there is virtually not telephone wait time?

So the next time you need a domain name, look no further than hover.com!

If you use our unique promo code you can save 10% off your order. Use promo code: “insight”

How often do you keep in contact with your current and past clients?

One of the best ways to gain repeat business from clients is to keep in contact with them periodically. Many business owners end the customer relationship at the end of a sale, thinking that if/when the customer requires additional services they will “come again”.

That’s not always the case.

As amazing as your service may be, you or your company may not always remain steadfast in your clients’ memory.

Your client and contact lists are a huge resource for your business. These are all your contacts that know you or have used your services and know the level of service your company offers. If you remain in contact with your client, even periodically, they will remember that you are the best “X” in the industry and you were the company that went “above and beyond” (you did, didn’t you?). These are the exact reasons your past clients will want to do business with you again and want to refer you to everyone they know!

This month we’ll share some tips with you on how you can easily keep in contact with your clients using email marketing tools.

What is email marketing?
Email Marketing or permission marketing is an integral part of an effective online Internet marketing strategy. While being targeted, measurable and effective, and at half the cost of traditional direct marketing efforts, e-marketing campaigns and newsletters have provided a form of communication that many companies are now adding to their marketing initiatives.

Insight Design recommends using an email marketing service called Constant Contact. Constant Contact Inc. is a leading provider of email marketing and online survey tools for small organizations, including small businesses, associations, and nonprofits.

We’d like to share a very useful article with you on how all businesses and organizations can provide great content for subscribers . Click the link below to view an article written by Anissa Freeman Starnes, of Constant Contact.
http://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/hints-tips/ht-2010-02.jsp

We’d love to share our email marketing ideas with you. Contact us today to inquire about our various Email Marketing Services ranging from template creation, and consultation to full e-marketing campaign management.

Did you know that you can reduce your vulnerability to spam email by protecting the way your email address is displayed on your website?

Let’s face it. We all get lots of spam email. While spam email filters are a great way to weed out those annoying emails within your email client, the best protection is to restrict your vulnerability.

Email addresses are commonly posted on web site contact pages or staff directories. Your email address may also be posted on the Internet in various directories such as your domain name registrar details. These web pages are all publicly visible and your email address is up for the taking!

Many people don’t realize that one of the leading causes of receiving spam originates from email address(s) being posted on various website pages (another major cause is from joining sites, online promotions, or community forums from sites that don’t follow common online privacy practices).

Malicious hackers have developed specialized scripts called “bots” that automatically scour the web looking for email addresses and building lists that they then sell or distribute to spammers. That’s one way you get spam.

The best protection is to not post or submit your email address on the Internet. If you keep your address private, hackers wont find it. But, you do need to post your email address(s) on your site so your clients can get in contact with you right? There are coding practices that should be used on web site pages which will “mask” your email address from spammers and bots. Specialized coding “tricks” can fool these bots by adjusting the way the email addresses “look” in the code. It is not 100% bot-proof, but research shows that it does make a difference.

If you are sick of getting tons of spam and have your email links posted all over your site, contact Insight Design. We’ll be happy to help control your spam vulnerabilities. We won’t eliminate the spam, but we’ll help restrict it.

Insight Design was hired by Jonathan Preskow Catering Inc. to create and manage various online marketing campaigns. One aspect of JP Catering’s online marketing initiatives is their monthly newsletter – The Monthly Drizzle.

Insight Design assisted JP Catering by creating a customized newsletter template using Constant Contact, a online services specializing in email marketing and online survey solutions for small businesses, associations, and nonprofits. We designed a newsletter template consistent with JP’s web site brand, organized monthly newsletter content, established email list building strategies and developed creative advertisements catered to niche targeted audiences.

In two short months, we were able to more than double overall traffic to the JP Catering website, established an online marketing plan to promote company services and boosted overall sales for the company.

In our case study, we first measured overall site traffic from the previous 6 months activity on the site. Specifically we looked at the Unique Visitors, Monthly Site Visitors and Average Monthly Page View totals. This allowed us to establish a base to measure our marketing initiatives against.

Our first email marketing campaign showed an incredible change in online activity. Monthly unique visitors boosted by 72%, Monthly Site Visits boosted by 74% and Monthly Page Views boosted by 54%!

Within the Constant Contact system we were also able to track various statistics related to the email campaign itself. Our reports indicated that 47% of contacts received and viewed the email newsletters (the average is 37%). 35.7% of contacts clicked from the email the their website – www.jpcatering.ca (the average is 8.9%).

These stats allow us to measure the impact email marketing had on site traffic and business activity and also provides a basis for us to compare against future campaigns. Insight Design continues to work with JP Catering Inc. each month to develop and design monthly newsletters, targeted announcements and establish creative promotions to drive repeat sales.