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  • Email Deliverability Rules in 2024: Explanation + Tips for Non-Techie Business Owners

    Email Deliverability Rules in 2024: Explanation + Tips for Non-Techie Business Owners

    Email marketing still returns a high ROI for your business – IF you get your emails into the right inboxes and they get opened. Getting to the inbox may be a little different in 2024 as you need to be aware of major changes and requirements from two of the largest inbox/email recipients – Google and Yahoo. The major inbox sources set a start time for these changes as of February 1, 2024. These services want to cut down on phishing attempts, bad actors, and spam filling people’s inboxes; so they are requiring those who send emails to authenticate and prove they are who they say they are. These are good best practices we have already been following! But there are also updates that are a bit technical in nature that you need to follow as well. So let me offer some explanations and break things down if you are feeling non-techie, so you can take necessary steps and keep your email deliverability in a good place.

    What Email Marketing Changes Are We Talking About?

    Google and Yahoo made the announcement in October 2023 with a start date for ‘enforcement’ of Feb. 1, 2024 that their rules for allowing marketing or any ‘bulk emails’ into their inboxes would be changing. They want to cut down on gazillion spam emails out there. Some are calling it the biggest change to email marketing since … well, ever! But let’s not panic!

    Overall, it’s a positive change – none of us like spam! I do not buy into any of the hype or messaging around “Google wants to destroy email marketing!”  We want to be welcomed into people’s inboxes. It’s permission and relationship marketing.

    We also don’t want bad actors, internet scum, to use our mighty reputations and domains to send phishing messages or spam!

    Taking steps to keep an active, engaged email community and follow best practices will help businesses of all sizes, types, industries and niches. It’s just now we have a few extra hoops to jump to get there.

    Read the initial announcements here:

    Gmail protections for a safer, less spammy inbox (by Google)

    More secure, less spam: enforcing email standards for a better experience (by Yahoo)

     

    The Basics of the New /2024  Email Requirements

    Google, Yahoo and all the email inbox purveyors want to keep things clean and make sure people get only the emails they want to receive from whom they signed up to get them.

    They are requiring steps for things like reducing confusion, clearly showing in to/from fields who is sending the email (like using your own domain), and taking technical steps to authenticate all mass sent emails.

    While the initial rules state they apply to those sending 5,000 emails daily, most of the sources I’ve seen indicate this will soon drop lower, so go ahead and take the steps you need to now. (also while the 5k number came from Google, Yahoo didn’t release any min threshold #s and Microsoft has already been acting more strictly)

    1️⃣ Send from an email at your own domain

    2️⃣ Keep a low spam complaint rate, under 0.3% (e.g. nor more than 3 spam reports for every 1000 messages)

    3️⃣ Have a clear, one-click unsubscribe option

    4️⃣ Authenticate your emails using the protocols SPF, DKIM and DMARC.

    Am I Affected? Do I Really Need to Worry?

    Bottom line – if you use email marketing in your business, yes this applies to you; no, you do not need to panic. 😉

    The rules apply no matter what industry or niche you are in, what’s in your emails, or what software you are using for list-building and email marketing; as long as you are sending an email from your domain-based email address out to many people all at once.

    The initial announcement and reports all mention ‘if you send 5,000 messages a day’, so many of the small biz owners I know went ‘whew, that’s not me’ – HOLD UP! Yeah, they do apply.

    One, those changes are highly likely to rollout to all email marketing senders in the near future; so take the steps now and build a good sending reputation.

    Two, why operate under a ‘barely maybe sorta compliant’ strategy? 😕

    Three, even if you have a relatively small list, you could hit that 5K limit.

    What if you’re launching a new course or running a flash sale – the kind where you may send more than one email to your list in a day? And what if you also have some automations going out to welcome people or follow up from a course?

    See how things add up?

    PLUS most of the smart email experts I follow, AND the email software providers, all say that this number is likely to go DOWN, not up as changes roll out. Some of the email software, such as ActiveCampaign, say that Google/Yahoo have told them the 5k limit is “not a safe zone.”

    So … If you use email marketing, email follow-up in your business, sending one email to many people at once – you will need to pay attention and follow the new rules.

    Stop Panicking About February 1st!

    ⭐❗⭐ On the Do Not Panic front and  all the fear-mongering and people trying to get you to fork over money to fix things before midnight on February 1st — STOP!🫸🏻🛑 While February 1, 2024 is given as the new START date, there is NOT a giant switch flipping at midnight that will automatically shut every business out of inboxes instantly if all steps are not complete.

    Google themselves have put dates to the rollout and enforcement of the new changes, because even they know this is big!

    It’s gonna take a little while. Take a deep breath here!

    Here’s a screenshot from the Google sender guidelines FAQ (taken as of Jan. 24, 2024 with FAQ update from 1/18/24 ) with clearly listed rollout/enforcement phases of February, April, and June of 2024.

    Here it is straight from Google!

    I get it, there’s been arguing going on around if this is a hard deadline, a start date, does it affect everyone equally, what penalties will there be, what happens if I email on Feb. 2nd without DMARC, etc etc etc.

    Again, deep breath. Don’t panic. Do take as many steps as you can as soon as you can. Get authenticated. Ask for help. And do not panic!

    You can see from Google’s announcement ( or read about it here from one of the big email compliance checking tools, Valimail) that they will be phasing this in (let’s presume Yahoo and others will too). The requirements start to be something we should all follow FROM Feb.1, 2024 – that’s not the be-all-end-all date!

    You may see some initial drop off in deliverability, higher bounce rates especially for Gmail addresses or for no-longer in-use addresses starting from Feb 1, but this will keep rolling out from there.

    Work towards getting as many of the pieces in place as you can as soon as you can but do not pull a techie all-nighter on Jan. 31!

    So Important to Clarify the Email Deliverability Changes I Created a Video For You!

    Because of all the hype and possible misinformation or scare tactics out there, I was frustrated on behalf of all my less technical friends! So I jumped on video to talk about the issues and the phased rollout shown by Google’s FAQs!

     

    You can also come to my FB group and ask questions and I’ll add more tips to this post and answer to best of my ability and librarian-mode research skills! 🤓

    Need to see your current status? Use Free Authentication Tools (but watch out for upsells!)

    The team at Email Smart has a free authentication checker (email opt-in required; they also have a Done-for-you upsell offer; NO aff link) that can check your domain and email provider setup for *most* of the major email marketing services. (*Grrrr, ConvertKit is NOT one of them! I had used this in past when I was on ActiveCampaign though)

    Here’s another way to check your email authentication using a test email and Gmail account from EmailToolTester.com.

     

    Breaking Down Details on the New Email Deliverability Requirements

    There are a few components to the new rules –

    The “being a good email sender” best practices (that many/most of us already do)

    The certain technical pieces in place to ensure emails sent from you really are from you.

    If you haven’t been following all the email sending, deliverability best practices for things like consistency, segmenting, clean lists, clear content, low spam complaints, and generally keeping an engaged list – well now is a great time to renew those efforts!

    ⭐Since keeping an active, engaged email list is such a key part of email marketing best practices, why not check out my Write Your Damn Mighty Emails Kit – with a planner to help with consistency, prompts to beat blank-screen blues, and templates that encourage opens, clicks and replies – those key signals to the email gods that you have an engaged list! ⭐

    Step 1 – Use Your Own Domain to Send Emails

    Send from your domain email – not a Gmail, Yahoo, or other free address. This has always been a good practice, but I get that some budget-conscious new business owners start by using all the free tools they can.

    However … that’s a no-go now. You can’t authenticate a domain you don’t own, like a Gmail or Yahoo or Comcast address.

    You need a domain for your business so you have a professional email address, even if you don’t end up building out a website. (I’ll save why you should have a website for another argument article)

    So please make sure you’re sending from something like:

    laura@amazingcoach <dot>com   or Kevin <at> krauselandscaping <dot> com

    not …

    lauracoaching@gmail <dot> com   or krauselandscaping@ yahoo<dot>com

     

    ❗Related to this … do use your name and not “info”, “Support”, “newsletter” as they are referred to as ‘role-based email addresses’. These types of addresses are often banned or blocked by both email marketing software and the email inbox providers.

    Role-based addresses are assigned to a title/role in an organization, a mailing list or a group, and not one specific person. Many of the email inbox purveyors see role-based email addresses as ‘generic’ addresses are frequently blocked. They have higher than normal bounce rates and may have higher spam complaints related to them. It’s harder for email services to know if everyone on a possible group address gave permission to receive emails, so that’s one reason they are bounced more. And some email services (such as Constant Contact, MailerLite) don’t send emails out to role-based emails.

    So even if you are the sole person getting or sending from newsletter <at> yourdomain <dot>com – the inbox overlords don’t know that.

    While it has not been declared offlimits publicly by Google or Yahoo, we know from how they treat role-based emails already that’s not a good idea. So now is a good time to switch from using “info” or “hello” or “newsletter” to a real person’s name.

    Related tip … don’t sign up to other people’s email lists using one of these addresses either – you won’t get the info you wanted and it hurts your fellow small business pals in their email marketing.

     

    Step 2 – Avoid Be Marked as Spam and Keep a Low Complaint Rate

    • Only send emails to those who have clearly, authentically opted in to receive your emails.

    Related to that – Don’t buy email lists. Ever.

    • Follow the CAN-SPAM Act rules in the US and similar rules in Canada and elsewhere. This includes things like: don’t use deceptive subject lines; have a clear, real address in all your emails (most services include this in your footer); don’t use any misleading “to”, “from” or “reply to” info in your headers.
    • Keep your spam complaint low.  Gmail is now requiring below 0.3% overall.

    How to keep spam complaints low?

    ➡️ Make sure people are clear on what they are signing up for and what they will get from you, how often you send emails, that your send tips, news AND offers.

    ➡️ Monitor where you get traffic from to your landing pages and opt-in offers – are they truly a fit and match for your business and offers?

    ➡️ Align your opt-in offers with the rest of your content and offers. For example, don’t offer a gift about email newsletters or email deliverability tips when the rest of your emails and offers are about creating your own tarot cards, spiritual business practices ( * this really happened with someone’s gift I claimed in a bundle! 😯)

    If you need some help fixing an unfocused or mis-aligned freebie … why not check out my free 8 tips and fix your freebie? 😉

    Digital download for 8 Tips to Fix Your Email Freebie

    8 Key Tips to Fix Your Freebie

    Take your email opt-in freebie from ‘meh’ to mighty. From unfocused to client-attracting and higher converting. 

     

    ➡️ Related to the next step around unsubscribing – we really prefer people to unsub vs. mark us as ‘spam.’ Another reason we want to make sure the right-for-us people are joining our email communities, that we are offer value, we are consistent, and we don’t let people forget why they signed up in the first place.

    ➡️ Segment your list and send appropriate emails to your segments vs sending everything to everyone.  Related, don’t mix up your lists or include multiple lists in one broadcast email.

    ➡️ Have an active process for managing and ‘scrubbing’ your email list to remove inactive, disengaged or ‘cold’ subscribers. Yeah, this one is a little harder these days with open rates being nearly meaningless, but it’s still necessary! I’ve worked on this a lot the past year and plan a workshop or course on it soon – so be sure to stay in my community for more info! 😉

     

    Step 3 –  Unsubscribing must be super easy and one-click

    Easy unsubscribing has always been best practice but now rules state you MUST have a one-click unsubscribe  (this has a deadline of June 2024).

    Nearly every legit email marketing software/service I’m aware of has rules that your unsub link must be in every email – don’t try to circumvent that! IF your software doesn’t have one-click unsubscribe, it better add it fast or you should change services.  But seriously, this step is (or should be) being handled by the email software such as ConvertKit, AWeber, MailerLite, ConstantContact, Drip, etc.

    Clicking the “unsubscribe” button or link in an email must take users to a page where they confirm unsub, but NOT need to enter any other details (like re-entering their email address).
    [Also say goodbye to those black-hat dude-bro-marketer tactics of redirecting someone who hit ‘unsubscribe’ to a page where you ask them ‘are you sure? How about offer X?’  Blech! Good riddance!]

    Unsubs can be good because you don’t want inactive, cold folks on your list. And you don’t want people to forget why they signed up and click the ‘spam’ button.

    This one may sting a little – as if you have a smaller email list, every unsub represents a larger % of the total until your list grows.

    But unsubs are a fact of life and to be celebrated really – those people didn’t align with your message, your offers, or haven’t been reading your emails. Let them go and get deliverability up by sending only to people who WANT to hear from you!

     

     

    Step 4 – Verifying and Authenticating Your Email Sending Status

    The previous steps may seem familiar and even easy – bet you may already be taking those steps! Good!

    The verifying and authenticating step is the one I see causing eyes to widen, glaze and tech-headaches to form because it feels like it’s a foreign language and requires steps most of us have not had to take. Or it was so long ago we did the steps that stuff has changed!

    Since SPF, DKIM and DMARC protocols are not part of our everyday business life, I’ll walk through the what of these technical requirements, show examples, and point you to further resources.

     

    How to Handle + Setup the Technical Requirements of SPF, DKIM and DMARC at Your Domain

    Now you need to add the 3 policies or records that prove you are who you say you are in your emails and that any software you use to communicate to your audience/list is legitimately sending on your behalf.

    These are the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.

    Here’s some homework or prep to do to get ready for these 3 new records:

    Where Are Your DNS Records? Do You Have cPanel Access? Be Able to Login There

    For many /most of us we will be accessing our DNS records at our webhost. That’s where your DNS records are and can be edited to add the info from your email providers.  (e.g. BlueHost, HostGator, SiteGround, Squarespace; I host with the wonderfully responsive MomWebs[Aff link])  But it’s possible your DNS records may be with who your purchased your domain from.

    ➡️ If you are confused or don’t know you can use this DNS lookup tool to find your DNS provider.  Or the DNS lookup from MXToolbox.

    NOTE: while you may have purchased your domains via GoDaddy, NameCheap, etc – you do not need to go there for any of these email settings UNLESS they are also your host.

    screenshot of Siteground webhost DNS zone editor
    Example from Siteground of DNS Zone Editor

     

    screenshot of MomWebs webhost Cpanel including DNS Zone Editor
    My webhost, MomWebs and my cPanel showing DNS Zone Editor, lower right

     

    Know Where to Find the Values or Records for SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your Email Marketing Software or Any Email Senders

    In a separate tab or window you’ll log in to your email marketing software to get the info from them for SPF, DKIM and DMARC records – each service has their own codes.

     

    Most email services also have links to help sections for major or common webhosts – if yours is not listed reach out their support desks for help.  You can also try Googling or checking YouTube for “Add CNAME record at _____” and replace blank with your web host.

     

    Psst … I did a Mighty Tools Tip video a while back showing how to add a CNAME record via the cPanel for my current, mighty awesome webhost, MomWebs.

     

     

    Check the updates and help files at the end of this post for most major email marketing software providers.

     

    ➡️ In one tab or window you will be logged in to your web host and its DNS editor/zone and in another tab/window you’ll have your email provider info.

    • Log in to your host and the cPanel  (or email the support team at your host for help).
    • Find the DNS editor or DNS zone – and look for ways to ‘manage’ or ‘update’.
    • Go to the account settings for your email service and/or check the help files on where to find their SPF, DKIM, DMARC record values that you will need to enter at your webhost (e.g. here’s the help page for MailerLite).

     

    SPF

    Sender Policy Framework  – is a standard email authentication method. It helps prevent spoofing or phishing as well as messages being marked as spam.

    An SPF record identifies the servers or services allowed /authorized to send email on behalf of your domain.

    It’s recommended that your domain has ONE SPF record, but that single SPF record can have multiple pieces of data for senders allowed to email on your behalf.

    For example, if you have transactional emails coming from SendGrid (receipts, password resets, etc) and your newsletter or marketing emails come from AWeber – each of those is represented in your SPF record.

    Information is stored in a TXT record in your DNS provider or the DNS zone, usually where your domain is hosted.

    Each time you add another platform that is authorized to send emails on your behalf, it gets updated in a combined single TXT record.

     

    ➡️Go to the DNS area at your domain provider or webhost –

    Note: DNS TXT record field names vary by webhost – double check from your webhost AND your email services.

    ➡️Copy/paste the SPF record values provided by the entities sending email as your domain (e.g. MailerLite, ConvertKit, SendGrid, MailGun, GoogleWorkspace, etc).

    It can take up to 48 hours for SPC authentication to show as working.

    Here are examples of what the SPF records may look like that you will copy/paste into the appropriate fields in your DNS editor at your webhost.

    Record Type Host /Name Value TTL
    SPF TXT or CNAME (check your provider) @ Copy the info given by your email services – it may look something like this:
    v=spf1 a:mail.solarmora.com ip4:192.72.10.10 include:_spf.google.com ~all    		 1 hour or 3600 seconds
    Example from ConvertKit CNAME ckespa spf.dm-kmn66p4d.sg8.convertkit.com.
    e.g. MailerLite + Outlook TXT V=spf1 include:_spf.mlsend.com include:spf.protection.outlook.com  ~all
    e.g. someone sending from G Suite/
    Workspaces and ActiveCampaign    		 v=spf1 include:emsd1.com include:_spf.google.com ~all

     

     

    It may look like this, for Google Workspace for example :

    V=spf1 include: _spf.google.com ~all

    When you have other services that send for you, the TXT record will have multiple entries :    “includes:xxx” before the ~all

    You can see more examples here from Google

     

    My cPanel at MomWebs, filtered to show just CNAME types of records as my new (as of late 2023) email marketing provider, ConvertKit, gave me the SPF values in CNAME format, not TXT (last two rows in the photo below).

    MomWebs cPanel DNS Editor showing CNAME records
    My Mighty Marketing Mojo CNAME records – you can see ConvertKit supplied a CNAME for SPF

     

    DKIM

    Domain Keys Identified Email – Like a certificate or tamper-proof seal that verifies your email is legit and hasn’t been altered or messed with.

    This is the authentication part of the new rules. Or think of it like a digital signature, proving you really sent that email. DKIM records help prevent spoofing and phishing, keep you out of recipient’s spam folders, and can help you build up a good domain reputation over time.

    A DKIM record is a  TXT record you will add via the DNS editor at your webhost.  It usually has a name, version, key type, and the public key – information that is provided by the service sending out emails for you.

    *NOTE: Some email software will ask you to create a CNAME record, not a TXT record – as they consider CNAME more secure. They are entered and created nearly identically in the DNS Editor at your webhost.

    The TXT or CNAME record may look something like this:

    Record Type Host (or Name) Value
    DKIM TXT  or CNAME cka._domainkey
    *ConvertKit for example uses CNAME records not TXT records dkim.dm-kmn66p4d.sg8.convertkit.com.
    DKIM (example from ActiveCampaign) TXT v=DKIM1;t=s;p=MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQDBzXkunA
    132Pf3SwHF7UKTODjFW8JKXUFWCHcNLvRHPCFDzJDPuAuoZq0XAIoOStu+Qq+/
    ggm1zDYbgsaIkOmkBWV9m/NPQ3BbXNEnCqjsyVxWlrQs0R01W4ihsHM8BkbE7
    dGRot1DdDM1HBMxrMDEOPuEZaNjtpgcJVRqswz7YwIDAQAB
    DKIM (CNAME example from AC) CNAME acdkim1._domainkey dkim.acdkim1.acems1.com
    Example from MailerLite CNAME Liteserv._domainkey.mlsend.com  

     

    ** Double Check Recommendations from Your Email Service – including if you did some or all of these steps in the past.

    For example, I used ActiveCampaign for 5 years and had done the DKIM process with them sometime in the past when the legacy TXT record was allowed/recommended – hence the longer example above and in the screenshot below of my DNS records. AC now recommends CNAME as seen above.

    screenshot of DNS editor for legacy DKIM record
    My ActiveCampaign legacy DKIM long-form record at my webhost

     

    screenshot cPanel DNS editor DKIM record new
    new ConvertKit DKIM record for my site

    DMARC

    Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC)

    DMARC is the policy or rules on what happens if someone who is not authorized (by SPF, DKIM rules) to send an email on behalf of your domain tries to do so.

    It used to be that only really big list senders needed to set this up, and the help files at some email marketing software still talks about this being optional. But not anymore!  So we all get the ‘joy’ of setting up this more technical verification.

    The confusion I’ve seen most often among less-techie solopreneurs and online business owners is around the 3 possible settings for the policy, what they mean, and what do we do about this. Also that while one setting is ok and legit, it will throw back some cautions or warnings from the various checking tools. Let’s walk through DMARC.

    Record Type Host /Name Value
    DMARC TXT _dmarc v=DMARC1; p=none;
    Example with DMARC reports added, sent to your domain (replace with your website) TXT v=DMARC1; p=none; fo=1; rua=mailto:reports@yourdomain.com;

    Three basic setting possibilities:

    P=none  >> means nothing happens, it still goes through to destination

    P=quarantine >> means the email gets sent to spam

    P=reject  >> means it isn’t delivered at all

     

    ** for the Feb 1, 2024 changes coming from  Google, Yahoo and other inbox guardians (aka the software/systems someone uses to receive and read emails – inc Hotmail, Outlook, Google Workspaces, Comcast, etc)   – basic or bare minimum is DMARC set at p=NONE **

     

    HOWEVER …. Many of the available DMARC tests out there that check your domain records will come back with a yellow/orange ‘warning’ if you set things up (correctly!) as p=none. You still have a proper DMARC record, it’s just that it’s set leniently. And going forward Gmail, Yahoo, and others would prefer that questionable emails are rejected or quarantined.

    Because yes, ideally, we want it set on reject to prevent someone from using our email addresses in a phishing scam!

    It’s ok as we work on these new, stricter sending rules, to start off at the more lenient p-none setting.

    Why?

    Because there may be a tool or app that needs to legitimately send things on your behalf and we didn’t know or weren’t sure if we needed to setup things on that tool.

     

     Why Is It OK to Leave at “none” to Start?

    We are taking a few weeks to watch for what happens when we send our email newsletters, sales emails, transactions, etc. We want to see if there’s a setting or email sending tool we maybe forgot about or something that is causing problems.

    Which do we need to maybe look out for?

    Calendar/scheduling apps, old lead magnets tied to an email service you switched from (oops, is that just me?), other 3rd party lead-gen tools, external community sites like Heartbeat, Circle, Mighty Networks, possibly payment processing like Stripe, or other transactional-based email apps like MailGun, SendGrid, automated webinar registrations, etc.

    BUT – many of those are sent from THOSE tools’ domains on behalf of your account with those tools. Not a problem.  It’s when we have things set to show up as coming FROM our own domains that need to have things say we are who the tool says we are.

    We are taking a watchful monitoring stance in the first few weeks of these new rules.

    Results of Checking My Setup for the Three New Policies

    I’ve take these steps and set things up – AND sent a broadcast email out to my list since doing so. I ran a few quick tests and I can see I’m good to go.

    Having one of your own Gmail addresses on your email list is great for testing things – you can go to your Gmail inbox, find an email you’ve sent from your email software and click the 3 dots at top right, then “show Original”. Look for Pass/Fail for SPF, DKIM, DMARC.  This post on checking authentication from EmailToolTester details the steps I’ve shown in the screenshots below.

    I will still be editing my DMARC record soon in early 2024 after a few weeks of monitoring.

    checking email deliverability setup in gmail
    In email click the (3) dots … and then Show Original

     

    Here’s my PASS report. ✅✅✅ ☺️

    Gmail showing 3 passes for the new email deliverability settings of SPF, DKIM, DMARC
    Gmail showing 3 passes for the new email deliverability settings of SPF, DKIM, DMARC

    Tools for Monitoring DMARC

    One of the annoyances in Google and Yahoo saying EVERYONE has to implement DMARC policies is it means this watching and monitoring. Back when only really, truly big brand senders had to do this, ok, they have TEAMS to monitor stuff.Fine. But we are mostly solo operators without IT staff and now we have to make sense of these regulations AND monitor things. Ugh. 😡

    Key is to have tools that can help us monitor DMARC and make sense of what’s happening in the behind the scenes. Because if we set it up to send those monitoring reports directly to our inbox (as in the chart above_) … it comes out as gobbledygook (as unreadable XML data files) that even this techie gal can’t read!

    In totally transparency, while I’ve used the SPF and DKIM settings for my email marketing software for a few years on at least two different platforms – DMARC records and monitoring are new to me.

    As techie as I may be, I dislike messing around in the deep backend of my website! So, I’m looking for budget-friendly tools or services to make sense of the monitoring.  We want a tool that presents the data in a way we can read and take any necessary action – especially in the weeks and early months of the new rules.

    I’m testing and checking out DMARC monitoring tools  – the ones I’m listing here are just general recommendations I’ve seen mentioned in multiple places. Test for yourself too!

     

    Valimail   [seen mentioned in several groups I’m in – has a free plan or free trial; I’m wary those of tools that don’t list pricing!  *I’ve also seen that it offers free monitoring for Office 365 users – may be worth checking]

    AppSumo has had email reporting tools – one may have just left the lifetimedeals sale, but  there are probably others coming!

    Dmarcian  tools

    I have used only their free tools – domain checker and inspector; they also have a Record Wizard. I have also seen this tool mentioned many places and by other small online biz owners   [Personal plan, up to 2 domains, 1 user $0; Basic plan for business/nonprofits $24/mo ]

    MXToolbox [Free plan for 1 domain and weekly monitoring; then jumps to 129/mo!]

    EasyDMARC   free plan for 1 domain, up to 10,000 emails, 14 days of data ; then $36/mo

    ⭐Easy DMARC also has help articles for SPF/ DKIM configuration for many email services (I saw Mimecast, MooSend, ConvertKit, Groove, AmazonSES and so so many more!).   Also checkout/ use the EasyDMARC email investigation tool to check your settings;

    Postmark  – free trial/version, $10/mo per domain plans

     

    Other Questions About Making Email Verification Changes

     

    I use ThriveCart as my shopping cart and course platform – do I have to change things there?

    ThriveCart sends out receipts/logins from THEIR domain, not yours so nothing for me to change right now.

    For other shopping carts – check how transactional emails such as receipts, registration, logins, password changes are handled.

    IF you use something like SendGrid, MailGun, Amazon SES – then YES, you will need to add these as authenticated senders to your SPF records at your domain.

     

    Do I have to pay extra for a domain-based email?

    If you already have a domain and your website is hosted somewhere – then you most likely get free email with your hosting! Some people do pay extra to have their domain emails go through Google Workspace (the former GSuite – and I have one domain email where this is the case). OR you could set up forwarding and an alias in a free Gmail account (as I’ve done with another domain-based email – see my video on setting this up here.)

     

    Wait, you said there’s only one SPF record in a DNS setting at a time, but I see something different in your screenshots?  OR  But my email software told me to use CNAME not TXT?

    Yep, I ran into this with ConvertKit who wants the SPF record to go in a CNAME file, not be added to a single TXT file. Turns out all kinds of rules and best practices are evolving and there’s more than one way to get the info into the right places. Double check with your host and your email service!

     

    I used the checking tools and got different results! For example, MXToolbox gave me green lights but EmailSmart did not. Why?

    Could be several reasons including: the team at EmailSmart checks things at a higher/stricter standard (apparently based on Microsoft’s rules which are stricter than Google?!);  some of the large platforms actually use a 3rd party email protocol/tool to deliver emails and this may show some odd things in tests. (e.g. ConvertKit may show in tests as SendGrid; Drip, Kajabi, Flodesk, Klaviyo and others also use a 3rd party).

     

    I did the checks but it said my emails were coming from SendGrid? I don’t use them, I use ConvertKit – what’s up?

    Ok, ConvertKit actually uses the SMTP (or email transfer/delivery) tool SendGrid on the backend to get your emails to your subscribers. Nothing to panic over here – totally ok.

     

    I ran checks on my setup and it says passed but it also says only 50%! What did I do wrong?

    You likely didn’t do anything wrong! If you followed the initial setup instructions for most of the email software providers, they recommend for now a DMARC policy with [ p = none ] in the TXT field. That’s the bare minimum for now and let’s us monitor things. See above on DMARC monitoring. But since we have it at =none, it’s going to return some fails or say “ insufficient alignment” or that 50% alignment warning in many of the tools.

    That’s ok! It’s saying there IS a DMARC policy to align to … but it’s not set to take action (like quarantine or reject) if the SPF/DKIM checks fail.  We do not want to rush to take actions until we have a clearer picture of what’s going on with all our email sending, the Gmail/Yahoo monitoring, etc.

     

    It’s ok folks! Even if we aren’t feeling techie (and some days I sure don’t!) there’s lots of help out there plus some time to make changes, monitor, and adjust. Keep in mind the other email sending best practices matter too.

     

    ❓Got other questions? Come ask in my Mighty Marketing Mojo Facebook Group and I’ll do my best to answer and update things here as well.

    More Email Deliverability Tools

    Google Postmaster Tools

    Check your DMARC records by MXToolbox

    DKIM Key Checker from Protodave – as recommended by PostMark

    Email Sending Tips + Requirements from Major Email Marketing Services

     

    2024 Deliverability Tips from Aweber

    Verifying domains with MailChimp

    ActiveCampaign’s Guide to Google and Yahoo Changes in 2024

    MailerLite’s updates on the new inbox protection rules

    Flodesk’s updates on the 2024 email marketing compliance changes

    ConvertKit’s update on the Gmail Yahoo requirements

    BirdSend’s tips on email sending and changing your domain  (note – they still haven’t updated to show that SPF DKIM etc are not just for advanced users!)

    Get Response’s response to Google, Yahoo email changes

    Wix help guides for email deliverability

    Squarespace help for adding custom DNS

    Shopify help guides for setting up their email and the Shopify post on the 2024 requirements (even if you use other services for marketing emails, make changes at your Shopify site too for those automated customer emails such as purchase notifications)

    Setting up custom email sending at Podia

    Kajabi’s updates on the Google, Yahoo email requirements

     

     

    Now You Have the Knowledge to Take Action and Control Email Deliverability in 2024 + Beyond

    Hopefully with these steps, record examples, screenshots and resources you’ll feel a little more comfortable about taking the steps necessary for solid, reputable email marketing in 2024 and beyond. The good news is that we have to set this stuff up once and then not again!  Well … not until we change email services. 😉

  • Discover 5 Ways to Naturally Share Offers in Your Emails

    Discover 5 Ways to Naturally Share Offers in Your Emails

    Are You All Give and No Receive with Your Emails?  aka You Aren’t Making Offers to Your List!

     

    When was the last time you sent an email to your mighty awesome community of subscribers, with a link in it? Specifically a link that asked them to take an action like signing up, registering, booking a call, or buying? Every solopreneur I know has been guilty of doing tons of nurturing and giving in their emails, and not enough sharing of offers. Often the reluctance comes from fear – fear of selling, fear of rejection, fear of no one wanting their offer, fear of how to write the offer, etc. What if it were easy to send your list offers? What if including links to offers – yours or an affiliate’s/partner’s – felt quick, easy and natural?  Read on to discover the 5 ways any online solo business owner can comfortably and naturally share links to offers in their emails.

    Email Relationship Are Two-Way Streets of Giving

    Email marketing is about relationship building for sure – but it’s also about building your business, which means earning money from your email list. They look to you as an expert, an insider, a trusted and respected source, and someone who offers them valuable solutions.

    But that can’t happen if all you do is give, give, give and never open up to receive (I don’t like saying ‘take’) – are you making it impossible for your list to give back to you because you never tell them HOW?  Because you don’t make offers?

    Let me guess … because you’re afraid to make offers! You’re afraid to sell or be ‘salesy’

    I get it  – I really do!

    But the offers in your emails could also be for a different freebie – or a webinar – a way to take another step deeper in relationship with you (they are now a warmer lead and more likely to purchase!).

    Or the offers could be affiliate offers – programs, books, courses that you LOVE and recommend.

    You need to work on naturally working in those offers and links to your emails.

    Some will be solo, promotional emails (your offers or affiliate offers)

    Sometimes those links will be just part of your regular newsletter or updates

    No matter which – there’s a way that will work for your audience and your offers. It’s time to start practicing sharing offers so your business actually grows!

    The 5 Ways to Naturally Work in Links to Offers

    List of 5 ways to share offers in email marketing

    The Blog Soft Sell

    Let a blog post do most of the ‘talking’, as a kind of ‘soft sell.’  In your email give a tip or two, as a snippet from a blog post and provide a link to the post to read more. In the post you discuss or review the product/course/offer.  Perfect for review posts!

    Want to see an example in action? For more than 6 years I’ve participated in Kelly McCausey’s annual Stretch Yourself Content Marketing Challenge. And participants frequently write posts about what we love and get from the challenge, as part of the challenge itself. AND we get to use our affiliate links to promote the challenge – in its live and self-study forms. It’s a blog post ‘soft sell’ in action.

     

    The Casual Mention

    You talk about a topic X, give a tip on X, and casually mention ‘oh hey here’s this tool that helps you do X’ in an email you send.  For example, my community knows I check out new software, and I love easy ways to do things, AND I dig video creation tools. It’s perfectly natural for me to email and give a tip or two about creating easy, short, social-friendly videos where you never appear on camera and why they’re so popular on social media (85% of videos watched sound off). And then mention the 3 tools I like for creating videos like that: Biteable, Wave, and Canva– yes Canva (affiliate) does videos. Oh, and each of those links is an affiliate link (yep, they are affiliate links here too!)

     

    See, this is mighty easy so far, right? You’re still giving value and information – but you are including affiliate links to the stuff you already love and recommend for your people. It wouldn’t be very kind or helpful of me if I taught you a tip and left you hanging on how to DO the thing. So I share the course, software, or tool that helps me and you get the thing done. Works for all niches and audiences.

     

    TIME OUT …

    There’s a video to go with this blog post AND it’s an example of content repurposing in action!

    I took a conversation with another online business owner, a question from my email community, and some private label rights content to create show notes/outline for a Facebook Live video. Then some of those notes became my email – with clear Calls to Action – to invite my email community to watch the video. And then I showed how those notes became this blog post and where the video would be added when it was finished. So now I can share this post – with the video in it – to social media or a different email. That’s Mighty Smart Content Repurposing in action! (oh, yes I have a self-study workshop about content repurposing where you can see more demos like this and get your content to work smarter and harder – not you work harder!)

     

     

    Strong Call to Action

    It’s time to move up a notch and to make a stronger offer- by including a clear, direct call to action in your email. Pick a topic for your email, write it with solid tips/info, then end with both text and a button as CTA (call to action) to “go pick up X course on Z topic” or “want to learn more, click here to sign up for X.”   Consider adding another link in the P.S.

    You aren’t being so soft here. You are making your CTA very direct and not buried in the text. Use bold, maybe even a color font, and test out the button graphics in your email marketing software. You are making it clear to your reader what you want them to do, where to click, and where it’s taking them.

    For example, I could write an email about why segmentation is the future of email and how it leads to more engaged subscribers, which means more sales. And then I could tell you the best way I know how to easily create segments is in my preferred software, ActiveCampaign – click here to sign up for your free trial.  It’s similar to the casual mention, but more direct; a little more overt of a promotion.

    Instead of sending you to an affiliate link for my fave email software, I could tell you that I have a webinar on email segmentation (I do!) or to hire me for a Borrow My Brain session to set up tags and segments in your ActiveCampaign account. (clients have done so!)

     

    “Sponsored By” in your Newsletters

    If you have a regular weekly or monthly newsletter you could make an offer for an evergreen product/service of your own (or an affiliate offer) and call it a “sponsored by” message.  Or just in some way visually and design-wise set it off from the rest of your newsletter content-  make your offer a mini ad.

    Several of my pals have added in regular reminders and mini ads to let people know they currently have coaching slots available.

    Pam Hamilton Coach email ad coaching offer
    Pam Hamilton of Building Visibility

     

     

    Kelly McCausey Love People and Make Money email ad coaching offer
    Kelly McCausey of Love People and Make Money

    Or I could create a “sponsored by” area with links to ActiveCampaign  – a natural fit for me.  Or add in my own little graphic ‘ad’ area for Borrow My Brain offers or a coaching offer.

    What offer could you choose to be your ‘sponsor’?

    Ok, time to power up our asking and receiving even further – it’s time to work on a purely promotional email. But keep it in your style, your tone, your vibe and keep it natural! If you’ve built a relationship with your list as someone they trust, then they trust you to give them the straight info on how to work with you! Remember, they opted-in to your list because you OFFERED them some kind of a solution. Give them the next part of the solution!

     

    The Stand Out, Stand Alone Solo Promo Email

    Now we are taking a slightly harder sell because this email is dedicated to promoting a product or service and encouraging the reader to click and buy – or at least click and check out the sales page. Again, this could be something you sell or an affiliate offer. (hmmm when was the last time you did a dedicated campaign for an affiliate? Multiple standalone promo emails – talking about benefits, sharing results, overcoming any objections?)

    Solo promo emails are necessary! Your CTAs and offers can sometimes get lost otherwise. The issue our communities can have is when they become the ONLY email someone sends.

    It’s one thing for Kohls, Wayfair, Frontgate, Penzeys, or Readers to send me sales emails every day – they are all big retailers, all known for never-ending sales, and we signed up to their lists basically to get coupons and the sales. And THEY know, and WE know, that we delete 99% of those emails – which is why they send them ALL the time, so the one time I DO need towels or spices – boom, there’s the sale or coupon I need.

    We serve our clients a little differently. We believe in content marketing – which puts education first. People subscribe to our lists looking for information, and yes for solutions, and I hope to hell they realize we are BUSINESS OWNERS WHO SELL THINGS, but it’s not the only thing we send them.

    You have (or are working on – yay you!) built a relationship with your email community – you respect them, they respect and trust you, and you are establishing GIVE and RECEIVE. Your email community WANTS to know what you’ve got that can help them – and they can’t read your mind. So, sometimes you need direct, promo emails and sometimes you need to gently nudge and remind them via the other ways.

     

    See, that wasn’t so hard! Surely you can incorporate at least one of these 5 tips you’ve learned today to more comfortably make an offer via email this week. Mix and match your emails using a combo of offer types. Regularly work in links in your email that encourage your readers to click and take action. Sometimes it’s to check out an affiliate offer. Sometimes it’s to tell them about YOUR offers.

    Start right from the beginning of your email relationship to get your community used to seeing links and offers from you. They will come to know you send them quality offers, that the links are worth clicking, and they will build a habit of giving back to you by buying.

     

    Need help getting started with email marketing? Want to make sure you are setup for success right from the moment you decide to start a list? Then grab my FREE guide and 12-step checklist for the Mighty Email Marketing Setup for Success.

     

  • 5 Email List-Building Tips You Don’t Want to Overlook

    5 Email List-Building Tips You Don’t Want to Overlook

    Don’t Overlook These 5 Simple Email List-Building Tips

    As a busy solopreneur you have a lot on your plate and many marketing tasks are calling your name. I get that growing an engaged email community can feel like a super slow process; but every effort we make adds up. Are you taking advantage of the easy, plug-n-play, or nearly set-and-forget ways to build your email list? Here are at least 5 email list-building tips you don’t want to overlook.

    Let’s simplify marketing, not over complicate it. We KNOW we should be using email marketing and building our list, but many small business owners struggle with HOW to build. Or they don’t have a simple plan to show them where to go. Take small chunks of time each day to start with the little things that can work for your business 24/7/365 and add on the efforts that bring in new people in bunches as well.

    Bullet List 5 Easy Ways Build Email List Don't Overlook

    Don’t Miss These List-Building Tips:

    One: Your Email Signature

    Add a compelling description of your free gift to your business email signature.

    You probably send dozens of one-to-one, personal emails daily. Why not get a little extra boost from each by including not just your website, but a link to a great email opt-in gift in every one of those emails?

    There’s even software and plugins for your email that will make your signature look better (and convert better), like WiseStamp. You can see email signature examples from them here. Also see the tool NewOldStamp for branded email signatures – more ways to add a call-to-action in the emails you send every day.  And YesWare has a few more tips and examples on how to create a more effective email signature.

    WiseStamp software examples email signatures

    Also add a link to your free gift landing page to the signature field for any non-social media forums or groups you are in too!  [below is a pic of my profile in an online forum where I can share a bio and add a link to an evergreen free gift landing page]

     

    Jennifer's Profile and signature in online forum

    Two: Your Social Bios

    Add a ‘link in bio’ area to your social media profiles that links to a landing page for your free gift.

    There are apps and software like LinkTree, Lnk.Bio, FeedLink, Later (a great IG social management tool- has a free ‘link in bio’ option) or others  that can make this easier, especially for sites like Instagram where there are no active URLs in posts or captions.  LinkTree and similar options make it easy to share more than one link, when you only have space on a social profile for a single link.

    LinkTree bio link tool example photo

    BETTER ….  make your own super basic ‘link in bio’ landing page on your website – that way YOU get the benefit of that social media traffic to YOUR site, not LinkTree.

    Create a page with a short name, like  yourcoolsitename.com/connect

    That page has a top resource, or your most recent top social posts/videos, or your book, a video, could be an Amazon affiliate link to a product you talk about on social, your other social accounts, but most importantly – your email opt-in freebie link.

    And, this way you don’t have to change out the link in your bio every day (ugh who on earth does that?!) over on IG if you are promoting or sharing different things. You send them back to one page on your site – and THAT is where you put the most up-to-date offers.

    List Building opportunity with Link in Bio Landing Page with SeedProd
    Link-in-bio landing page example made with SeedProd

    You can use any page-builder plugins or tools you already have for your site, such as: Elementor, BeaverBuilder, ThriveSuite; or tools like LeadPages.

    Here’s an article with step-by-step instructions on using Elementor to create a ‘link-in-bio page.’

    Keep the page simple, mobile-friendly, easy to click, and don’t miss out on opportunities from that social media traffic.

     

    [Note: No, I don’t have a landing page that looks like this, mostly because I don’t use IG for business, only personal use. But if I were using IG I’d go the route of making my own page with Thrive vs. spending for a 3rd party tool. If you aren’t comfortable creating your own landing pages – by all means use one of the apps!]

     

    Three: Make It Easy for Your List to Share with Friends

    Be sure there’s a signup link in the newsletter itself – great for if a member of your email community forwards your email to a friend.

    Why not also use that as a CTA (call-to-action) in your next email – ASK your people to forward a great email from you to a pal who would be interested.

    Bonus related tip from your email software:

    Use the archive feature in your email marketing software to share the page for a sample issue of your regular, newsletter-style emails (like when I send a #ThursdayTips with the area for Tech-Tools-To Read). There should be a link on that page to your sign-up form in your email software.

    Another Bonus Tip:

    If your friends or colleagues are part of your ideal client audience, have you invited them to your list yet? Use the app for your email marketing software or their tools for gathering contacts legally, offline, and ask the next time you see them. Or forward them one of your great newsletters – that has that link to sign up – and ask them to join. OR … send them to your free gift page and ask them to sign up that way. Make it easy!

     

    Four: Putting Your Link in All Your Videos

    Do you mention how to join your email list on all your social media videos, live chats, or YouTube videos? Is the URL to your best-converting landing page in the description of each video on YouTube? Don’t forget that the world’s second largest search engine … is YouTube!

    Use simple video editing software to add in a graphic during your video or at least at the end of your video with a call to action to get your free gift and show the URL. Make it short and easy to remember.

    My preferred video editing software is Filmora – it’s pretty easy and intuitive to use and has lots of goodies built in (like title graphics, lower thirds, music, etc). But you can do simple edits with the Video editor built-in to Windows and even YouTube has a simple editor.

    Did you know I make simple animated intro/outro video clips for clients? I just made a simple outro animation to go at the end of all videos and remind viewers to Like-Comment-Subscribe AND it has a link to an evergreen free offer for my client. Contact me to learn more!

    Here’s a still from an outro I use in videos to remind people to join my Mighty Marketing Mojo Facebook Group. I have others with my blog, landing pages, or other CTAs.

    Still image from video join Facebook group
    Outro – at end of videos with call-to-action to join Facebook Group

    Five: Your Most Visited Pages

    Look at your website analytics – what are your most visited pages? I’ll bet that over a year or more, your About page, services page, the category pages for blog posts, your resources or recommendations page – all get a ton of the percent of traffic on your site. Do you have attractive, attention-grabbing, and relevant opt-in forms on each of those pages to connect and convert those visitors to members of your email list?

    Mighty Marketing Mojo blog post traffic summaries data

    While you’re working on opt-in forms on your website – if you want to check out 3rd-party opt-in form tools (this means NOT the kinda ugly forms built-in to AWeber, ActiveCampaign, MailChimp etc) – 2 of the stand-alone tools I have tested and recommend are: Sumo and OptinMonster.  Sumo has a Free Forever plan worth checking. OptinMonster is super robust, but plans start at $9/mo.

    My preferred tool that I’ve paid for happily for years is ThriveLeads and its part of the great set of tools in ThriveSuite. You get access to all their conversion-minded tools and plugins in ThriveSuite. I personally like the analytics and color-coded dashboard that shows me how each opt-in form or lightbox is doing. But ThriveSuite is way more than just an opt-in tool and it might not be right for every biz owner.

    I know these tips can seem basic, but every bit helps. And we shouldn’t forget about the easy, very nearly set-n-forget ways we can build our communities while we’re off doing other great things in the world.

  • Solopreneurs Know Your Productivity Sweet Spots

    Solopreneurs Know Your Productivity Sweet Spots

    Solopreneurs – Find What Works for YOU for Productivity and Run Your Business, Don’t Let it Run You!

    There are soooo many tips out there all saying they have the secrets, magic, or right way for people, especially entrepreneurs, to be oh so very productive in their business. Maybe you’ve heard of or tried: miracle mornings, journaling, “leveling up” (what is this, a Nintendo game?!), color coding your calendars to your chakra levels, freezing cold showers to wake up, getting up at 4:30 am to get it all done in the quiet before mere mortals rise. No wonder people then need cold showers, they’ve fallen back asleep by 8am! 😁 I’m a night owl, and 4:30 am is literally the middle of my night – that tip is never ever going to work for me. But it might for you. The point is you need to find the productivity tips and tools that work for YOU and your business.

    That said, while researching and preparing for a presentation to give to a meeting of awesome solopreneurs (my pals at AIIP), I came across some tips that could be almost universal, or at least up the odds that you’ll find some here that are your productivity sweet spot.

    And of course in my presentation I talk tools – the apps, software, or gear I’ve checked out (maybe reviewed in other publications and presentations) and what I am personally using. People ask me why I keep researching apps and tools…

    1) because I search for the holy grail of the perfect solopreneur tool(s)

    2) because what appeals and works best for me might not be best for YOU.

    Find your productivity sweet spot and focus on what moves your business forward profitably and with more ease.

    A few tips and my presentation will be shared here too:

    Some good articles I ready were eye-opening about how we approach productivity, procrastination, and time management wrong. Productivity – according to research and the article in the NY Times from Adam Grant – is an attention management issue, not a time-management one.  And in Forbes, former productivity expert Chris Winfield talks about quitting the field and saying “productivity is shit.”

    I love when someone calls B.S. on a thing that everyone else seems afraid to go against! We keep trying tips and hacks to do more in less time, and keep cramming ever more into each day. Stop!

    “We actually put ourselves in a very precarious situation. One problem, one unexpected roadblock in the day, and the whole day is ruined. And sadly that’s the case of many entrepreneurs. “

    Productivity Stope Worshipping at Alter of Hustle

    Focus on the money tasks first – do you know what your most valuable tasks are?

    • Can this task be done by someone else – or just you? Be honest here! If you were a NY Times best-selling author, writing is clearly a valuable task only you could do. If you’re a coach, then coaching your clients is your highest value task.
    • Does this task make you money? Will it lead to income in the short or long term? Fussing over logos and colors on your website are not money tasks. Changing out your social media headers – not a money task. A lot of social media is not an immediate, money-making task. Sending emails to your list – money task.
    • Are you energized by the task? Does it use creativity and brainpower? Is it strategic?

     

    More basic productivity ideas – suggestions since they may not be your sweet spot:

    • Two-minute rule –  if a task will take less than 2 min to do, just DO IT right now already! Whether it’s refilling Rx, shooting off quick email answer, calling to make an appointment – don’t put it off.
    • Don’t neglect self-care. You need sleep, exercise, getting outside, saying hydrated. And you need to actually plan it. Try a set break time during the day – not just lunch!  Maybe you go get a tea or latte at 2:30, or walk around the block at 3pm. Schedule it in your calendar.
    • Try a productivity ‘cheat day’ – like some diets offer. Productivity ‘cheat days’ give yourself permission for one day (maybe 1 per month, on what would ordinarily be a work day) to do ‘all the things you aren’t “supposed” to do if you’re trying to be really productive.’ Most Americans are seriously overworked  [2017 Enterprise Rent-a-Car study of 1,000 people, 7 in 10 said they worked at least 1 weekend/month, equivalent to a full work day] and we aren’t actually productive at paces like that! This is kind of like diet/eating ‘cheat days’ – you’re great and on-target 6 days, 1 day you do whatever you want. Cheat days give us fuel and motivation for rest of the time
    • Set goals – SMART goals – for your business, for marketing your business – breaking up into quarters, by month.
    • Go with your natural rhythms – if you’re a morning or night person. I’m a night owl, do doubt. This NBC News article spoke to me – about when we try routines and they fail because they go against our nature.

    “setting routines and bedtimes … I fail when I try it myself. Daytime me says “Go to bed earlier! Try exercising in the morning!” But when the time comes, inevitably nighttime me says “Oooh, there’s something to read on the internet!” And when I wake up, morning me says, forcefully: “Go back to sleep.”

    Some of the tools recommended in my presentation – tools/apps I use:

    [UPDATED– folks wanted pictures and links to the physical. essential gear I showed off during my talk]

    • SanDisk SSD – after failures of backup drives that spin, need power (and these all WILL fail at some point), I started keeping everything on an external, 480GB Solid State Drive, connected to my computer by inexpensive USB adapter. It goes wherever I go. Light, silent, nothing to break or fail. (and since prices have fallen by HALF since I bought mine – there’s no reason you can’t go grab one, including the SanDisk SDSSDA-480G-G26 model I own plus its USB 3.0 to SSD cable from Sabrent)
    • My beloved Logitech C920 external webcam (there are newer versions, I prefer my older one as it has a superior Zeiss lens) with crisp 1080 HD pics and a universal tripod screw-mount. I keep it on my old Joby Gorillapod tripod 95% of the time.
    • When I talked traveling with backup cords and plugs, someone asked me about for international travel. For an overseas trip last year I picked up this Pac2Go Universal Travel Adapter – and described it like a swiss-army knife of travel plugs. It was awesome – including ability to plug in to the USB port for direct charging, no wasting key plug spot for mobile devices(there were questions if it could handle odd, non-standard plugs/outlets from Africa and Asia – according to this quote it can “at home in cities like London, Paris, Singapore or Dubai as well as the European, African, American or Asia back roads.“)
    • I literally do not leave home without my travel cord kit – it rolls up and has elastic bands, slots, and 2 zipper pouches to keep snug my extra cords, USB connectors, memory cards, and assorted travel goodies. I was tired of rounding up cables and charger from around the home and office before every trip – leaving something at home, not being able to charge some device (like my camera, or Fitbit). So I got the roll-up kit and a back-up copy of all essential charging devices. I keep a dual port USB charger (like this one from Aukey – have an Aukey, iClever and Anker ones at home) plus a spare single charger that came with some Apple device. The roll-up cord kit lives in my backup – ALWAYS.  [I’ve given away a version of my travel kit at 3 different events + 2 to family members – if you can’t find the one I linked to, I found one under $10 at Staples that I gave away at AIIP19; Target sometimes carries one <$10, especially at the holidays. just search for ‘travel cord organizer’]

     

    Books to check out:

     

    Do check back as I may add more info on the tools.

    I put a lot of the tools – with descriptions, pricing, and links in this Google Doc that’s shareable.

    My presentation on productivity tips and top tools – for my AIIP pals

    Whole presentation done in Canva, presented live in Canva (affiliate) 😮

    https://www.canva (affiliate).com/design/DADWB6O1xe4/view

    By now you know I get geeky and excited when sharing about cool tools and apps that can make work or life easier. If you want more recommendations like this on a regular basis – get my Mighty Marketing Mojo emails and my Social Tools Guide gift.

    ​10 Tools for Social Media Success

    Sign up below to get ​your FREE guide to my favorite time-saving, budget-friendly social media tools for solopreneurs!

  • How Can Solopreneurs Beat Imposter Syndrome?

    How Can Solopreneurs Beat Imposter Syndrome?

    Every Business Owner Faces Imposter Syndrome at Times – How Do We Handle It?

    I haven’t met a solopreneur, consultant, coach, author, photographer, marketer or researcher who has NOT had moments dealing with feelings of Imposter Syndrome. Shoot, some of us feel and battle it on such a regular basis we’ve given our Imposter a name and picture.

    Meet Imposter Monster Mine is Bob

    So relax, you’re in good company if you’ve had moments where you ask ‘who am I to be creating this?‘ or ‘why would anyone hire me to do that?‘  Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

    But how do we tell that Imposter Monster to go away so we can get on with the work we KNOW we’re meant to be doing right now? You know, that reason we went out solo, hung our shingle, started our own business and are working to find more of our ideal clients. And how do we get back to that reason when the doubts inevitably come again?

    I love the posts from Copyblogger because they go so far beyond writing or blogging. They live out their mantras on content marketing, they educate and give value, and help all of us as business owners – not matter what kind of business. So that’s why although this recent post mentions ‘creative business’ in the title – the tips and wisdom for handling imposter syndrome apply to all of us.

    This simple post on getting real about imposter syndrome really resonated with me:

    You have to be comfortable getting paid for work someone will inevitably dislike.

    Just like we can NOT market our business to everyone, or even all busy moms, or all authors, or any other super huge group of possible clients. We must get used to the fact that not every person in even our ideal target client group will be the right fit, find value in what we do, or join our community. It’s ok. The services we provide, the products we create, what we write – it won’t resonate with all the people we hope it might, but we still want – and deserve – to sell our work, to be paid for our skills and expertise.

    The two key tips offered in the article, that I believe are helpful no matter whether our solo work involves traditionally ‘creative’ work:

    • Step #1: Trust that the people who don’t like your work don’t matter  – easier said than done, but something we strive for all the time.
    • Step #2: Embrace the value you produce – get clear on our ‘why’, and how our values drive our work [hey, if you want to work more on getting clear about your values, I highly recommend the “My Values” training from my coach, Kelly McCausey]

    Do you have an Imposter Monster? Would naming him/her help in shoving them aside so you can get back to your important work? What else has helped you in handling these feelings when they creep up? Leave your thoughts in the comments or come talk about your tips in my MMM Facebook Group.

     

  • 9 Ways for Busy Solopreneurs to Keep Up With the Latest Marketing Trends

    9 Ways for Busy Solopreneurs to Keep Up With the Latest Marketing Trends

    Check Out 9 Ways You Can Keep Up with the Latest Marketing Trends

    Staying on top of the latest marketing trends can present quite a challenge. With that being said, there are a few ways that you can stay on top of the game and make sure you are using the most up-to-date methods of marketing your business.

    As a business, it is essential to make your presence known. Keeping a professional website is the first step in making sure that is done. Your website is the “storefront” for your business and this is what actually sets the tone for those that express an interest by visiting your website. Make sure your website is search engine optimized. Having a perfectly optimized website is awesome, but make sure you gain the exposure you need in order see the success you are hoping for.

    But having an awesome and optimal website isn’t enough. You need to do your homework to stay on top of the latest and greatest marketing opportunities available for you and your business. But hey, I’ve done the homework for you! Check out these trend tips:

    9 tactics that can keep your solopreneur marketing one step ahead:

    Visit Internet/Digital Marketing Blogs

    Interact with others in the community by visiting forums and read posts by others regarding marketing methods they have tried or those they intend to try. If you see a new opportunity that arises, take advantage of it.  Few of my favorite marketing blogs to recommend (other than my own here!):

    • Duct Tape Marketing – from author and small business marketing expert, John Jantsch
    • Marketing Profs – articles, training, strategies, conferences for both marketing departments and individual marketers
    • Content Marketing Institute – want to know more about the world of Content Marketing, this is THE place and they do awesome yearly benchmarking research on B2C, B2B and nonprofit CM.
    • Chris Brogan’s Blog – speaker, author, consultant, marketing guru with a focus on entrepreneurs; personable, approachable style.
    • WebInkNow – blog from best-selling marketing book author, David Meerman Scott
    • HubSpot – they are the ultimate model of content marketing – they teach it, live it, help other businesses execute it properly. It’s well worth giving them your email address in exchange for some of the fantastic guides, planners, spreadsheets and tools they offer as lead magnets.

     

    Participate in Conferences

    This will allow you to meet other people, many of whom are right on top of the game. This is a great way to gain useful insight and information that will prove to be invaluable for you and your business. This might mean planning for 1 conference a year that’s not in your clients’ fields, nor your own professional association, but a marketing-centric meeting or conference. Look for ones with other small, solo businesses so you can pick up tips from others facing similar challenges. It doesn’t help to learn about tools that only the really BIG girls and boys can afford.

    Network meet people at coffee tea breaks conferences events

    Networking

    Take time to network with other business marketers. It’s good for more than building your contact list, it can build your knowledge too if you ask interesting questions and listen a lot! Share information with others and gather information from those who are trying to do the same thing you are. This allows you to stay on top of the latest marketing trends, and extract information from others as to their experiences with certain methods.

     

    Research

    You know this is one of the most important actions you can take that will help you gain knowledge about current marketing trends. Put your research skills to use and find information about the newest marketing trends. If anything in life is certain, it’s the fact that marketing trends are always changing. Keeping up-to-date can really be like a rat race if you don’t do your homework and commit time and effort in keeping up with the changes presented into today’s marketing world.

    person taking notes doing business research

    Subscribe to Alerts

    You can use Google Alerts  and get an email any time Google finds new results anywhere that matches your topic(s). Use it for tracking your competitors, key influencers in your niche, tracking the main industries of your clients, and of course keeping up on specific marketing topics. Note: Google Alerts has been buggy and not 100% reliable for a little while.

    Alternatives to Google Alerts:

    • Talkwalker Alerts [FREE] – simple, bare-bones style, sends alerts to your inbox or an RSS feed reader.
    • SocialMention [free again] – especially good at monitoring blogs, social networking, videos and the comments sections for your selected keywords/topics.
    • Mention – probably most powerful monitoring tool – you pay for power and reliability though! [Free trial, solo plan starts at $29/mo]
    • Meltwater News – [paid] big time, industry level online media monitoring (a good tool for info pros to know of for their own work – if you have it, don’t forget to use it to monitor YOUR brand and how to boost your own biz)

    Talkwalker alerts tool

    Subscribe to Blogs and News Sites

    You can subscribe individually to many blogs and get the latest posts emailed to you automatically (check the sidebar to the right and sign up for posts from me, The InfoHound). Or you can grab the RSS feed of a blog.
    The RSS feed is NOT dead – and with many new magazine style apps out there for mobile, there are more ways to read and keep up with your favorite blogs (like this one!) and news sites. Basically, an RSS feed talks to the feed reader (aggregator) and every time something new hits a site you’ve subscribed to, it’s sent to the feed reader and it’s ready, waiting for you.

    I personally love Feedly (Web-based version – I only use for making some adjustments and doing a lot of content curating to Hootsuite; I use the Feedly app on phone + tablet DAILY!) and have TONS of sites feeding in, organized by various topics. I can keep News and Politics separate if I want (hard to do in life!) and I have ‘folders’ for Marketing, Tech, Photography, Libraries, etc. It’s simple to set up and you don’t have to know anything about RSS feeds really, you just tell it the URL of a site you want to have added to your ‘feed’.

     

    Feedly RSS feeds alerts
    Feedly RSS Feed Reader – Keep your content filled up

    I also use a similar app called Flipboard that pulls my preferred topics from an assortment of news sites and blogs. It shows all the images as well as original text and is easy to read on mobile devices.

     

    Get Social

    Besides reading forums and blogs, go join some LinkedIn Groups, Facebook Groups, or start a list in Twitter. Ask questions in those marketing related groups about what others are seeing as emerging trends, hot trends, trends that don’t really matter, and their best practices. Create a list on Twitter of influential people, who post regularly with helpful Tweets, on the marketing for small or solo businesses [Here’s a few I like: Melissa Galt, Edmund Lee, Ken Watson, Barbara Schenck, Viveka Von Rosen,  Berrak Sarikaya, Melinda Emerson, SCORE Mentors (do find your local SCORE chapter too!) and Ian Brodie].  Add a few who are overall marketing luminaries (like Guy Kawasaki, Ann Handley, Jay Baer, Chris Brogan, and John Jantsch) and see what they’re talking about. You can even create a hidden or secret list of your competitors and monitor and learn from them in real time too – maybe see what NOT to do!

     

    Be Ok with Change

    Make yourself readily available for change. Be resilient and flexible. Don’t forget what the main goals of your business really are. Think outside the box. Those are all ways of motivating yourself to entire ownership of the actions you take in marketing your business.

     

    Never Stop Learning

    Sign up for 1-2 courses, workshops, online training or webinars every 3-6 months. The world moves fast, technology changes, best practices in marketing shift around – so stay on top and keep learning. Professional development and education expands your business mind, keeps you up to date, gives you new tools and insights to help clients with, and makes sure you stay on top of your game.
    HEY – maybe you want to check out new offerings from me, The InfoHound!

     

    Your success really is based on your efforts in putting your business name right in front of your intended audience. Using the information given will give you the insight and knowledge you need in order to help you keep up with the latest marketing trends for your business. So will reading the blog here with me, The InfoHound, and signing up for classes, webinars and the training I offer especially for small, solo info-preneur businesses like yours (and my own!).

  • More than 19 Ways to Brainstorm Enough Content to Last You Forever

    More than 19 Ways to Brainstorm Enough Content to Last You Forever

    How can you brainstorm ideas for enough content to last you a long time? 11397008_s

    Do you need brainstorming help? We all do from time to time.  Writer’s block strikes everyone who writes at any level. The idea well can run dry, or pressures from other work and activities mean you don’t have as much creative time as you’d like.

    So here are more than 19 ways to brainstorm and generate new ideas for your content, no matter what format

    Plus – more than 22 questions that your audience is probably asking and you need to answer! Read to the end for enough questions alone to fill your content calendar for months.

    Garden-boy-creekExplore New “Places” –

    Change up your routines, your normal working space, your writing music or even the sites or sources you usually turn to.  Go offline and try looking for information in a new “place”.

    Monitor Magazine Trends –

    Look at the headlines and attention-grabbers on the magazines, trade press or journals in the topic areas you write about or create content on – these are usually ‘hot’ topics. Try searching on the keywords or article titles to see what else comes up or if it sparks an idea for your to riff or take off on.

    Ask Your Audience –

    Talk directly to your readers, your listeners, subscribers or users.  What do they want to read, hear or see more of, need more help on? You’ll get a much better response if you guide and “trigger” them into responding. For example, ask them what they think you haven’t written about yet. . Or ask them to complete a sentence such as: “The most frustrating part about selecting a new novel is ___________________”.

    Look for Ideas on TV –

    No, not reality TV or soaps – though you might be able to make that work.

    Watch documentaries, behind-the-scenes shows, science shows. Take notes. See how you can make connections to your business. Really, that’s your homework!

    Categorize, Then Think of a Topic –

    Topics are easier to come up with if you are directed in some way, so write down a minimum of four categories:

    • Evergreen (topics or ideas that are always current)
    • New Information
    • Top Tips for ______
    • “How-to” do  ______

    Now try to come up with your best idea for each category. You’ll be surprised how well this tip works. But even if you just come up with one idea, it’s totally worth the effort.

    Change a Pattern

    Sometimes running out of ideas means you’re getting stale. And you get stale when you never vary your patterns.

    So, vary your thinking, your research techniques; even your route when you’re walking (if you’re prone to getting ideas while out walking or jogging). Change your routines, change your patterns.

    Write in the morning instead of afternoon. Write at a coffee shop instead of your desk. Write at someone else’s desk!
    And go read some new publications, sites or blogs.

    Look for Triggers

    Log onto a relevant forum or discussion group and see what issues are currently triggering (a) many responses (b) heated responses (c) conflict. Those are tip-offs that you can turn these triggers into topics. What questions or topics are heating up members of your professional associations, email lists, Facebook Groups? Can you write something that addresses those hot buttons? Do a Pro/Con post, point to resources for learning more?

    woman-megaphone-50092_640-shoutingSpot Complaints

    Learn to be alert for complaints in forum and social network posts as well as in others’ blog posts.  Have you heard complaints in your library, on your email lists, on your own Facebook page or blog? If you can provide a solution, point to some help, or solve their complaint you’ll gain instant hero status.

     

    Carry a Notebook

    Go old school! The best ideas are always the ones you don’t jot down, so make sure you carry some kind of physical notebook (I like little Moleskines) and always have a pen or pencil with it, so you can scribble down every idea you have – no matter how uninspired you might feel it is. Later, when you have no memory of them and read them, you may be surprised at the topic ideas these notes trigger.

    Oooh, I have a new notebook love – check out Rocketbooks – finally a notebook that lets you write on paper, but capture your thoughts digitally. You can scan with your phone and send your notes to email, Drive, Evernote, Trello, or wherever you pick online.

    Keep an “Idea Jar”

    In the old days, writers would often literally keep a container and a stack of blank paper slips for quickly jotting down ideas. Create your own ‘idea jar’, or basket, mug or even bucket!

    Write down a keyword, a question, a person, a website, app or tool – something that is relevant to your audience. Throw the slips in your jar. When you have one of those blocked moments,  pull an idea at random from your particular jar, then force yourself to write XXX number of words on whatever comes up connecting that slip and your topic.  This can be a wonderful way increase your article – and idea – generation power.

    Read the Comments

    When you read articles that come up in response to [your keyword] topic ideas, be sure to read the comments below the articles. That’s where you find the real gold – when readers point out omissions and errors, add more thoughts of their own or ask further questions. Write a post, create a quick video and address those questions or point out where someone could find more information to address the errors or missing data.

    Follow ‘Official’ Authority Blogs

    Who are the other top writers, bloggers, v-loggers, social media gurus and sharers in your field? Who else writes about things that matter to you,  that you read and follow? If you want news and tips, read up on what others are writing. What are their commenters or followers saying? How can you add to the conversation?  [I’d love to hear from you as to who your favorite writers or bloggers are! Leave me a comment with your blog or your favorites]

    Search for [Keyword Topics]

    You have tried the direct route, right?  Go to Google  and search for “[your keyword] + topics”  See what comes up in the auto-complete box as you type, what the top results are, what the paid ads alongside are for. Now, look for what’s missing. What doesn‘t show up? What can you add a twist or your own spin to these top results?

    Google Search Phrase example solopreneur content marketing
    Sample search “solopreneur content marketing”

    Make Topic Generation a Game

    Find ways to make topic generation fun for you – not something you dread. Challenge yourself to find ten topics (not one). Give yourself a piece of seriously excellent chocolate, a handful of Skittles, some fresh strawberries or other small prize if you come up with a real winner. Take yourself out for a cappuccino if you fill up your monthly blogging/content calendar with topics. Whatever it takes to engage your brain ultimately ensures your topics themselves will be more engaging.

    When I know I need to kick my content in gear, I look at my Stretch Yourself Content Marketing Challenge Guide– and since I’ve participated in many of the SYC years, I have practice at pushing myself in a 30 day challenge. You can always get the SYC self-study guide if you can’t join the once-per-year live challenge. You can read about some of my participation in the content challenge here and why I think it makes content marketing easier here.

     

     

    Think Visually

    Use mind-mapping software or hand-draw your central niche topic in a circle. Brainstorm ideas connected with that topic (don’t try to make headlines or blog titles just yet).  What You Need To Get Started

    Think Like a Newbie

    You may be so over-familiar with topic, your job, or your audience that you find yourself making assumptions, glossing over terms and methods, and worrying about coming up with someone “new”.

    Topic generation is all about balance – different types of posts, media and content. Think about those newest to your niche, those who are least familiar with your services, and see the world through their eyes again.

    Try to think what that person who is a brand new parent, brand new to paper crafting, brand new to an online business, might ask next. What would someone doing social media marketing for the first time be afraid to ask – for fear of looking silly? Help those new folks out.

    Use a Life Example

    People don’t respond to topics – they respond to people. Use a single example from your own life, from a recent experience in your  business, from a client or even from a famous person’s life to illustrate a point in your core topic area or niche.

    Stories are powerful marketing tools – use them often and wisely. (I highly recommend the book by Donald Miller, the Story Brand to learn more)

     

    Questions to Help Brainstorm– Figure Question Mark

    Using question to drive brainstorming probably deserves its own post – because there are so many ways they can prompt great new thoughts and content. Here are more than 20 questions to get you started thinking.

     

    Ask Yourself Questions

    Set aside an uninterrupted fifteen minutes. Turn off your cell phone. Think about your niche. Think about your audience. Think about your patrons/users/customers.  Then start asking yourself questions – and do your best to finish them.

    Don’t over-complicate the process: Ask yourself questions like…

    • What if…
    • Why Should You…
    • When is it…
    • What should I have done instead . . .
    • What do I wish I knew about . . .
    • What I am afraid of about . . .
    • What do I love about . . .

    Questions From Your Users/Clients – Your Audience –

    What are the questions you know that your customers/clients have; PLUS the ones you think they SHOULD have;  ones maybe they are a bit afraid to ask.

    If you aren’t sure what types of questions your clients/users are asking or SHOULD be asking – take a look at this partial list borrowed from Darren Rowse of ProBlogger

    • What are the most frequently asked questions you get from – customers, clients, partners, etc?
    • What are the biggest misconceptions people have about your organization?
    • What are the biggest myths in your industry/niche/field?
    • What is the story behind one of your new products or services?
    • Who are the people who work/staff/volunteer at your organization; and what brought them there?
    • What does a ‘day in the life’ of your organization look like? Or a ‘day in the life’ of a particular type of staff member?
    • What are the top 3 things someone in your field needs to learn to become an ‘expert’/ ‘be successful’
    • What’s a surprising statistic about your user base you want to share?
    • What are the most common mistakes you see being made – in your field, niche, industry, department?
      • Which ones are you guilty of making? What did you learn from them?
    • What do your customers/users have really hard time doing? Learning? Using?
    • What’s a lesson you learned in the last month? Year?
    • What are some key takeaways you got from a conference, meeting, industry even you attended recently?
    • Who’s a real leader in your niche or industry – what would you ask them?
      • Even better – actually interview them! Email or live (record it via Skype, Google Hangout)

    I think that probably adds up to more than 19 brainstorming tips! I hope these techniques let you break out of any content creation ruts or writing blocks you may hit. Feel free to share your own tips for how you brainstorm and create new content ideas.

     

    [orig Jan 2016; update Oct 2020]

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