While the down economy is on everyone’s minds and small businesses are keeping their overhead low, there’s still a great way to reach targeted potential customers without breaking the bank.

Consider e-mail marketing if you haven’t already. It’s a great way to promote your business to thousands without the large expense of traditional direct mail printing, mailing costs, postage, etc. Sending out e-mail blasts on a periodic basis keeps your name out there and dramatically increases your chance of engaging that person who may require your goods or services. The e-mail should be professional and reflective of your business and should provide a call to action that will make them want to click through to your website - which of course should also be professional and reflective of your business.

Of course I can testify to this since we recently started a periodic e-mail program to get the word out about Designsite and our design and marketing solutions to small businesses, primarily in Fairfield and Westport. We’ve received several inquiries already from just our initial e-mail blast, and just signed up our first client as a direct result of the program. We look forward to many more local clients as we continue to send out e-mail blasts.

The most interesting part of the process for us is that we’re able to see how many people have opened up our e-mail and how many clicked through to our website for more information. Not only are we informed about how many - but we can exactly who clicked through. So, for instance, if you send out 100 e-mails and 20 people clicked through, then it says there is some interest from them in our services. We can then follow up with another e-mail to these 20 people who may be on the fence about doing something with us. It’s really amazing when you think about it.

Yes, the economy is down right now, but you almost can’t afford not to try e-mail marketing and see if it works for you. We’ve started helping other businesses with e-mail marketing and they’re as enthused with the possibilities as much as we are. Just make sure you have a compelling message and your e-mail and website reflects that message. And of course, if you need help in those areas, Designsite is at your service.

More information about Designsite small business services

             
Brad Mehldau is one of the most highly regarded jazz pianists in the world today. He’s also a client and we designed his website a few years ago. In that time, we’ve gotten quite a few compliments on it - and we’re glad that Brad liked it so much.

Only a week ago, Brad’s management called to let us know there was a new album to be released March 25. Great, we thought - we’ll make some updates, get a free copy and listen. But it wasn’t that easy. The album was getting a real buzz within the record company (Nonesuch) and those who had heard it, so Brad wanted a brand-new website that reflected the look of the new album. Not only is Brad a great musician but that showed me he’d be a better marketing guy than most marketing guys.

Of course, the task was easier said than done. The site is deceptively large: not only is Brad a great musician, but he’s a very brainy guy who likes to write very long essays about his music and music in general. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

We worked out a beautiful template in a day, and then started pouring the content in, as well as designing and producing all the graphics to be included. Fortunately, most of the content from the previous site didn’t change, so it was ported over to the new design pretty quickly.

The week was a blur with only two working on the site (while we had other projects going on) but we’re really happy with the results, and fortunately, Nonesuch, management, and most importantly, Brad are jazzed at the end product (pardon the pun).

I guess the message here is that it’s a good idea to revitalize a website to keep it current and fresh, and if done properly, a website can be built very quickly and cost-efficiently.

The album has already received a four-star review from Financial Times and five-star reviews in iTunes. It’s a great album and you should really pick it up if you’re interested in perhaps the best jazz trio today.

BradMehldau.com

More information about Designsite Music websites, podcasts, blogs, album previews

Capitol Records enlisted Designsite to create an online marketing strategy to promote their reissues of the Beach Boys seminal 1966 “Pet Sounds” album and, more recently, their hits compilation “The Warmth of the Sun.”

We recommended producing a blog where Beach Boys experts could interact with fans around the world, creating a buzz for the new CDs.

In addition, we created breakthrough podcast series to reach a new generation of fans who primarily purchase music online. We interviewed Brian Wilson (an experience not to be forgotten) as well as other surviving members, weaving stories that incorporate the albums’ music. The Pet Sounds series was a 15-episode extravaganza including an overview video podcast, 13 audio podcasts (one for each album track) and a bonus episode about the making of the Beach Boys legendary “Good Vibrations” single.

This was actually the first podcast series specifically designed for the burgeoning podcast market.

The results were spectacular: “The Pet Sounds 40th Anniversary Podcast Series” quickly became the world’s most popular music podcast (ranking #1 on Apple iTunes and #10 most popular all categories). To date, more than 250,000 people have listened to the series. Most importantly, the series helped to propel sales of the CD, where it zoomed to #8 on Billboard’s Pop Catalog Chart - an amazing feat for an album originally released five decades ago.”

The Warmth of the Sun Podcast Series” also achieved similar results. This goes to show that some out-of-the-box thinking can help CD sales in this very uncertain time for the record industry.

The Pet Sounds 40 Anniversary Podcast Series in iTunes

The Warmth of the Sun Podcast Series in iTunes 

      
Podcasting is the hottest tech trend on the web these days and it’s here to stay. Why is podcasting such a phenomenon? It’s simple: people are more on-the-go- than ever. The question is how can you reach an audience that’s never in one place too long?   

Actually, it’s easy. Everyday you see people with the ubiquitous white earphones. And the numbers are growing exponentially. Sure, they’re listening to music - but more and more they’re listening to and viewing podcasts. Smart podcasts that manage to captivate an audience in transit. 

We recently produced two iTunes Top 10 music podcast series for Capitol Records. We helped generate an enormous amount of interest that translated into real CD sales for Capitol - not easy in the record business these days. We think the same success could meet the real estate business. Imagine having high-end real estate properties at the finger tips of the podcast audience - who, by the way - are twice as likely to have a master’s degree and are nearly twice as likely to earn over $100,000 than those who don’t listen to podcasts. 

Podcast viewers could view home and commercial properties, take a virtual tour, see photographs - anytime they want, anywhere they are. In fact, we’ve already produce a podcast (both video and audio) for one of our real estate clients, The Riverhouse at Goodspeed Station. Potential brides and grooms can take a tour of the facility and see if it fits their needs. Because they’re reaching an audience of men and woman primarily in their twenties and thirties, chances are pretty good that they have an iPod and buy their music and movies - as well as download free podcasts right from iTunes. 

Who would think that someone could rent George Clooney’s latest movie or the buy new Alecia Keys song - as well as download The Riverhouse podcast all from iTunes. Well, it’s happening, and it’s certainly worth the real estate - and corporate - worlds to understand this is a very effective, cost-efficient way to get the word out to the millions of visitors that visit iTunes everyday. 

OK, now here’s the plug: this is new territory, but we already have a successful track record creating , producing and marketing compelling podcast series.  Call us today at 203.372.2912 or e-mail me at mdemartin@designsite.com for more information.

The Riverhouse podcast at iTunes