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iContact iNews 2008 – Episode III
“Who Would You Trade Positions With & Why?“

The Corporate Communication & Marketing Departments at iContact.com, jointly produces a monthly video newsletter called “iContact iNews.” The topic for 2008′s Episode III was: “If You Could Trade Positions with Anyone in the Company? Who would you Trade With, and Why?”

The video newsletter is produced, filmed, edited, and stars iContact Family Members, and is meant to be as real and natural as possible. We use a $300 Sony DV HandyCam and Sony Vegas to produce our “homemade” videos, for the purpose of entertaining our fellow iContact Family members during our monthly company luncheons.

FuelFrog is a free application that allows you to track your gas mileage by texting (or entering from the web) your Miles, Price, and Gallons to your account with FuelFrog.

The creators of FuelFrog Twitter and decided it would be a great tool to enter your data within FuelFrog while on the move. So if you have a Twitter account, simply sign up for an account with FuelFrog, enter your Twitter username and you’re all set!

Be sure to follow FuelFrog via Twitter at: http://twitter.com/fuelfrog

The 2003 CAN-SPAM Act requires that ALL lists be PERMISSION-BASED Lists. By using Industry BEST PRACTICES when gathering contacts, you maintain integrity and reputation throughout your email marketing campaign. Collecting emails from existing or new clients through physical forms, online signup forms, and through any type of permission-based system, will protect you from potentially devastating fines for SPAM.

OLD LISTS: If you have an OLD list that you have not maintained regular contact with, you may want to consider not using the list, or at a bare minimum, you should utilize our Double Opt-In system to allow them to “Opt-In” to your List.

SIGNUP FORMS: If you have a signup form on your website, or decide to add one, please remember to place a permission statement on the same page as the signup form. The statement should clearly state that by signing up, they should expect to receive emailed content from your organization.

TRADE SHOWS & PERSON-2-PERSON LEADS: If you meet contacts in person-2-person type situations, verify that you have their permission before attempting to send emailed content to them. This simple gesture, can help maintain your organization’s integrity and reputation, and is a professional courtesy to your potential clients.

Tip #2: Email Content Design

Your email content should be simple, easy to navigate, and visually pleasing to your target audience. Your content should be focused to the segment or grouping of individuals in your List(s). In most cases, a short but direct email design can be more effective than a long and bloated email.

INFORMATIONAL EMAILS: If the goal of your email is to provide information to your readers, then clearly and simply provide that information as cleanly as possible. Readers seem to be less likely to read long drawn out emails, verses shorter more direct emails.

WEBSITE CLICK-THROUGHS: If the goal of your email is to direct the readers to a particular website, then provide short 1-2 line “teasers,” and have links that direct them to the full articles on the target website. This will provide your readers with a short and easy to navigate email, while also directing them to your target website(s), and thus, increases your click-through rates and email performance.

IMAGE INTENSIVE EMAILS: If your email primarily consists of images, or is based solely on images, you may want to consider email client compatibility and SPAM-filtering software. Many of today’s Email Clients (Yahoo, AOL, MSN, GMail, Outlook), will automatically block images until the reader ALLOWS images to be downloaded. This feature is designed to help reduce spam, as well as malicious hacks by SPAMMERS. If the basic message in your email relies on the images alone, then your message may be deleted without the reader ever seeing the true content of the email. Messages with images only, which the reader has not clicked on “download images,” will appear BLANK, and therefore, have a higher chance of being prematurely discarded.

USING NON-HTML BASED EDITORS: All emails are coded in HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) code, and therefore, you should always use HTML-based Editing software to compose your email content. From personal experience, using programs such as Microsoft Word*, Publisher, and other Desktop Document Publishing software packages, will result in “quirky” emails containing added line breaks, broken images and links, missing background colors, lost font faces and sizes, and even truncated emails; due to invalid proprietary coding produced within NON-HTML software. HTML Software packages (examples include Dreamweaver, Adobe GoLIVE, & FrontPage), are specifically designed to produce reliable HTML documents.

*If you MUST use Microsoft Word to produce your email content, then please verify that the software which you are using to compose your HTML document, has a filter which will filter out proprietary Microsoft Word code

TIP #3: Subject Line CONSISTENCY & Brand Name Recognition

Avoid using generic subject lines like: “July’s Newsletter,” “Daily Newsletter,” “Weekend Sale,” or any other generic email subject lines that everyone else will be using at the same time. If at all possible, incorporate your organization’s name into the subject line, and then include a short “issue description,” such as “My Company News – July 2008.”

A subject line that is short yet direct, can dramatically increase the performance of your email campaign, as well as produce valuable name brand recognition. Your readers will be able to quickly and easily pick out your email content from their inbox full of SPAM. You want your email to stand out from the crowd, and not only be noticed, but read as well.

So, here’s the story behind the nickname.  A few years ago, I was a Nightlife Events and Concert Promoter, with a Photography and Video Productions company that I was a co-owner of.  One of our biggest contracts was with a HUGE Country club in the Raleigh, NC area.

Being that I am a fairly observant individual, and easily able to pick up most things fairly quickly, I was able to adapt to just about any environment without trouble.  This country dance club was no different.  After a few months, I had learned to line dance, ride the mechanical bull (at full throttle and with the governor off), and even dressed much like many of the regulars.

Being the type of place that it was, and being that everyone knew my colleauges and I as “The Photographers,” many of the Staff and regulars of the club started calling me “The O.C.” for “Oriental Cowboy.”

Now I’m sure many of you are like “but ‘oriental’ describes an object (rug), while ‘Asian’ is used more oftenwhen describing individuals!”

TRUE! But remember, these guys are simply country boys and girls, just trying to relax after a long work week, and nightclubs aren’t typically where you go for grammatically correct conversation, or in most cases, any conversation at all… and that’s how I got my nickname of “The O.C.!”

Aptera, a company is California has developed a futurist 3-wheeled gasoline-electric concept car, which they hope to have in production by late 2008.

Obviously, at first glance the Aptera TYP-1H looks much like an airframe for something more like a single engine aircraft, that an roadworthy vehicle.  However, I personally think this gives the Aptera a very unique and exciting look, which will obviously command the attention of every other driver on the road.

Common sense also clearly spells out the fact that this vehicle is extremely streamlined for aerodynamics, and thus makes possible the seamingly impossible fuel economy from the gasoline-electric hybrid motor under the “hood.”

As I looked over the specs for this vehicle, one of the first concerns I had was for safety.  I mean seriously, how safe can this vehicle actually be?  Well, the Aptera TYP-1 roof is designed to EXCEED rollover strength requirements spelled out in FMVSS 216 for passenger vehicles (in California), and the doors also EXCEED the strength requirements spelled out in FMVSS 214.  And of course, all the standard vehicle safety features are available, such as airbags, firewall, and a design that provides for an excellent front-crash rating!

The Aptera TYP-1H uses a small, water-cooled EFI Gasoline engine with closed loop oxygen feedback and catalytic converter. The engine is coupled to a lightweight 12KW starter/generator, which provides a super clean and quiet ride.

This post is not part of any Aptera marketing strategy, nor am I reinbursed for this article.  I am merely interested in where this next generation of super-efficient “Green” vehicle concept is going, and wanted to share this with those who can appreciate the concept.

Find out more information about the Aptera TYP-1H by visiting their website at: http://www.Aptera.com

Additional Link of Interest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUhPaxvhJCI