I love sharing my feedback with clients on my opinion of programs, including InfusionSoft. Coming from my extensive knowledge of 1ShoppingCart, I have to say there are several distinct differences. Both programs have pros and cons and I enjoy working in both of them. So…I have to say I haven’t decided yet which I would recommend over the other. But, I will share with you here what I tell my current clients when asked this question about what I have found that I like about and what I am not to crazy about with InfusionSoft.

PROS:

• InfusionSoft does has EXCEPTIONAL broadcast and segmenting abilities. That is what it is known for. I absolutely love the way it allows you to segment and send very very targeted emails. Let’s say you want to send an email to those on your newsletter list and EXCLUDE those who have signed up for your teleclass or product you are promoting already. Piece of cake.
• I love the way you can create a follow up sequence task. For example, you can create a “task” via an email that will prompt a team member or even yourself a to do item after a purchase has been made. Love that. Automation at its best.
• They have free technical phone support. Gotta give them thumbs up for that. Seriously. Especially as a Virtual Assistant and Online Business Manager it is critical to get immediate support…and FREE.
• Very detailed customer record section. You can see what emails were sent to each contact, which were opened by them and more. Very very cool.

CONS:

• Interface is a bit more confusing than most. It has a much harder learning curve (but then again, free support to help you with it!)
• Shopping cart is not as easy as I would like.  I find there are several steps to take in order to get it setup. (But love the fact that you have shopping cart abilities)
• Support documents are hard to read. Much easier to just call support again, which is free.

I will continue to share with you as I learn more. There is so much about this program – but for now, I am still on the fence as to which is the best…

Here are a few reasons why I like postcard marketing:

• Postcards are less disruptive and intrusive than e-mail, since many consider email spamming as an inconvenient way to get unsolicited information. Postcards also enjoy less competition.
• It’s easier to read a postcard at a glance than to open an envelope.
• Unlike e-mail, postcards can take on any size, color, gloss or graphic and is even more personal and tangible than email communication.
• Another good and practical reason for resorting to postcards is that you can create, print and mail postcards without a big investment and are practical. This is practically so because you can use both sides of the postcard, although not every inch. You may use side like a poster or a picture display and the other for a few details. Or simply put an advertisement on one side and a personal message on the other, whichever suits you best.
• They are simple. This is so because it does not have a lot to it. Messages are timely, ideas straight to the point and messages brief and concise.
• Postcards are multi- faceted since it can double as a gift certificate, coupon and event ticket, among others. Recipients can then present the card to claim an offer or avail of a good discount as well as a good tool to measure effectiveness.

It is important to remember that although it is good to send out your postcards to the most number of people as possible, the effectivity of your mailing list will also determine the captured market you may end up with as you move on with your postcard marketing campaign.

Hope this helps!

Amber

My first response is usually to laugh (with all due respect of course!)

Here’s the thing. Yes, a Membership Site can “technically” be set up in a week. And by technically, I am referring to the “nuts and bolts”. BUT, what I have learned is that it takes MORE than just these nuts and bolts and some old audios and previously written articles to make a membership LAST.

What I have seen happen over the last few years is that everyone is in a rush to create a membership because someone told them it was an easy way to make money online – with little or no effort. This is a lie folks. Sure, you can – but here is what will most likely happen. Your clients will come in, download what they need, and cancel. Simple as that.

A truly successfully membership site does more than provide “content”. I provides a community…somewhere for your clients to not only learn the valuable information you were born to share – but to also find a place of belonging. And guess what? YOU need to play an active role – not just upload it and let it run itself.

I recently had the opportunity to do some coaching and brain storming with the 1Shoppingcart.com creator and Guru himself, George Tran, around Membership Sites and around his methodology. For someone who has been providing membership site support for years to my clients – I learned an incredible amount from George on the mindset that MUST happen first before you even begin to setup a membership site – if you are looking to create something that will last.

Stay tuned as George and I roll out a new wave of training on this and his new program with Practice Pay Solutions called Ecommunity. I know this will blow your mind as it did mine! My clients are already seeing the benefits of my new way of thinking and managing their membership sites!

To Your Membership Site Success!

Amber

Q: Why do my clients get a security warning when someone is taken to the billing checkout page?

A: If you are using the 1Shopping Cart system (aka Practice Pay Solutions, Kickstart Cart, Easy Web Automation and more) and you receive security warnings when your checkout page comes up – there is an easy fix!

Most likely you are using the top or buttom html box to custom the look and feel (and if you are not, I highly recommend you do!). If you have not loaded your images, including a header graphic into your carts media center,  any browsers will display a warning message because it is trying to open a secure page (https) that contains un-secure media (somewhere on an unsecured server, ie www.yourwebsite.com/images).

This is something you do not want when trying to make a sale

This can be easily fixed by first uploading your media images  in the shopping carts media library – and then grabbing the url given for that image to use in your html code.

Hope that helps!

Amber

I’ m so excited that we have scheduled another basic shopping cart certification program this fall. Don’t miss new opportunities to grow your client base because of your lack or self confidence in this 1 stop solution.

Join me on my upcoming4-part series to jump-start your skill set as a support professional and become a shopping cart specialist.

—> 4-Part Training Series Starts September 28, 2009 <— 2 payment plan available!

I hope to see you there!

http://www.carttraining.com

Amber

About six months ago, something touched me – something moved me. A commercial – A Message. Now those who know me well can testify that yes, while up in the wee-hours of the night with any of my children, I have had a tendency to order infomercial products. But this is different. This makes a difference. It is not a CD collection, gadget that makes cool looking sandwiches with your leftovers or the air climber that is to help you lose weight (ok so I did get the air climber too). This was to help someone get the stuff they needed that could not be done on $25 a month budget. Yes, I typed that correctly, $25 a month.

That is how I met Mary and became her sponsor through Compassion International. I decided that while I sat here well fed – others were not and although I am one person, I could still help. Mary lives on the plains of Kiini, home to approximately 4,000 residents. Typical houses are constructed of earthen floors, brick walls and iron sheet roofs. Her diet consists of maize and beans and she is faced with malaria, a common health problem in her area.  She is supported solely by her mother who is a farmer.

My reason for this today is that I would like to send Mary a Christmas gift and provide her with more than just my monthly sponsorship fee. And – I have decided that all my clients can help!

For the month of September, I am sending Compassion International 5% of my earnings so that Mary can have a special Christmas gift. So, if you are a current client – nothing you need to do but know that I am doing this and for those of you who are thinking about having my team help – now is the month to get started!

About Compassion International. They exist as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults.

Founded by the Rev. Everett Swanson in 1952, Compassion began providing Korean War orphans with food, shelter, education and health care, as well as Christian training.

Today, Compassion helps more than 1 million children in 25 countries.

I was blown away when Dave shared these statistics with me:

- Most people lose 28% or more of their work day to interruptions and the recovery time from interruptions

- Most people can only work 11 minutes until being interrupted

- Most people report being stressed out and too busy, IN SPITE OF  the technology that was intended to give them more time

I wanted to let you know Dave is offering a FREE webinar this week and you can bet I’ll be on it!  I am continually amazed at how much FREE and useful content Dave always gives away.

Check it out! I’ve already saved my seat!

While I’m not sure about all of the url shorteners available right now, I can share with you the ones I use on a daily basis.

In the past, I always used tinyurl.com. They were the “original url shortener” and came around in 2002. They were for a while, the most known and widely used.  I personally do not use tinyurl anymore because  some of the other shorteners have come out with some great additional features – such as shorter urls (the whole point of a tiny url is that it is tiny!) and at the time of this post, they do not currently have a way to track your links for you. Tinyurl.com does provide a 301 redirect which is good. With a 301 redirect it tells the search engine that the url you requested to shorten has “permanently” moved to the original url – giving credit to the original url – not the shortened url.

As far which shortener I use for he majority of my clients? Well that would bit.ly.com and snipurl.com.  Both provide shorter characters in the urls created, offer tracking, support Tweetdeck, Twhirl and Twitterfeed and allow sharing.

I also prefer to use the custom options and actually give my shortened url a real name at the end – instead of allowing the program to create a random one for me. ie – www.bit.ly.com/amber compared to www.bit.ly.com/X23df. But that is just my preference. I think it looks nicer in emails

Is there another shortener that you just love? Share it with me here, I’d love to know!

To Your Delegating Success!

Amber Miller

I multitask during many aspects of my life. Here are a few examples:

1) While cooking dinner I will open/review mail, load the dishwasher and make lunches. (Have always wondered why I burn the bread every single time!) Dave’s book clearly tells me why!

2) While driving I tell my kids to ask me their homework questions they have. Why not?  (I Wondered why my daughter received a “D” on her homework I helped her with.) Dave’s book clearly tells me why!

3) While sending an email I was also on the phone paying my water bill. Who likes to wait during those automated messages so why not compose an email. (Couldn’t figure out why later I sent the email to the wrong “Joe”.) Dave’s book clearly tells me why!

After learning about Dave’s book The Myth of Multitasking, I decided I had to go to the bookstore last weekend and get it. Let me tell you. I couldn’t put the book down and read the entire book on Sunday afternoon. Amazing. His book is amazing. He clearly shows me how multitasking is hurting me – way more than it is helping me.

Dave says in the first chapter of his book, “Your lack of effectiveness has everything to do with your multitasking”. Wow. Is he serious?

Still skeptical I continue reading – and by the time I got to his ” multitasking test” (which I LOVED!) I realized, Holy Cow! He is really on to something here.

I recommend you check out his book The Myth of Multitasking, or if anything, his free training videos that will for sure give you something to chew on if you think Multitasking is effective!

1) Customer support via telephone. Are you required to only use a help desk or email to get support? For me personally, I like to pick up the phone and talk to someone who can assist me.

2) CPanel – do they have CPanel or another user friendly control panel interface? This can be helpful especially for those who are not very technical.

3) Fantastico – or the ability to easily install wordpress and other ecommerce and blog applications.

4) Backups. Do they backup your server? If so, how often do they back it up, how long is the data retained by them and is there a fee for them to restore.

and newly added #5 – drumroll please….

5) Email distribution limitations…what are they? You may not have a large list now, but hopefully soon you will and then will your growth be at their mercy? (learned the hard way with this one )

To Your Online Success!

Amber