Welcome to module 08, you can download your lesson here:
Databases
Do you have a database? Does it work effectively for you? This is a really crucial part of any business. I’ve actually been on a database search for a long time now. I started with – and for quite some time, kept going back to Microsoft Excel. I am a small (micro) business at the moment and Excel suits my needs. I currently use this in conjunction with my Apple address book, but also with my e-newsletter lists. There is also a lot of valuable information scattered across my social media channels. Some you can export information – did you know you can export your connection list from LInkedIn to Excel which can be handy?
I have to admit, I have not yet found the perfect system but I’m getting closer – and it may well find you some time to discover one as well (and if you do, please share!). The most important thing though, is that you have SOME system to keep track of your customers: current, past and potential.
Here are some others I’ve looked into which you might want to consider – each is suitable for different sizes and budgets. If you’d like to discuss the pros and cons of these or share your own experiences, please come over to the Zestee Concepts Facebook page.
Another name you will hear used is CRM or Customer Relationship Management system. You can read the Wikipedia entry on CRM here.
- Microsoft ACCESS (part of the Microsoft Office Suite but does take some experience to use)
- Microsoft Dynamics (mainly aimed at larger corporations)
- Zoho (this is free for one user and is a fairly good CRM for small business – takes some time to learn but offers a lot more features to manage client relationships than Microsoft Excel for example).
E-newsletters
The email you have been receiving each week into your inbox is an enewsletter, using Mad Mimi. Did you notice the colour themes & layouts differing from time to time? This is me experimenting and showing you some examples of what’s possible! Most of us are signed up for several e-newsletters so you can take a closer look at these to analyze what you do and don’t like. Often, if you scroll right down to the bottom of an enewsletter, you will see the name of the provider so you can try them out yourself.
Last year, I wrote an article for the Cairns Parenting Companion on Enewsletters. You can read the online version of the Autumn edition of Cairns Parenting Companion here. See page 74 for my article and recommendations on enewsletters for your business.
After a lot of research these are the two enewsletter programs I decided on are below (both of these are affiliate links – they do have free versions but if you sign up for a paid version via one of these links below, I receive a small credit on my own account – if you are recommending these sites to others I’d also recommend you look into using affiliate links).
What I have ended up doing personally which works for me (a very small/micro business) is using a combination of Microsoft Excel and my Mad Mimi & Mail Chimp accounts to manage my database. I would recommend linking your enewsletter with your social media where possible (for example, you can have an enewsletter sign up link on your Facebook page).
Ultimately, like most things in business, it comes down to how much time and money you are willing to spend. If you’re able to, you may wish to employ someone to handle your database and enewsletter – this could range from a virtual assistant (e.g. writing content or data entry) to a webmaster (doing all the integration into your website & social media) to a copywriter (who may write your whole enewsletter and even optimise this with SEO).
If you are doing it all yourself, experiment with different systems…my experience is there is no perfect system, but trying several out and asking questions about others experiences will lead you to something that works for you.
Love you to share your thoughts, feedback and links below.
Renee
Zestee 