To create the registered trademark symbol so that you can type ZUMBA®, hold down the ALT key while pressing 0174.
On a laptop you may have to turn on numlock and use the number keys on your keyboard. On my laptop, I turn on numlock by holding down the function key and pressing F11. Then hold down ALT while pressing MJ7U.
On a Mac keyboard, hold down OPT and press the R key.
To create the symbol in HTML for a website, use ® OR ®.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Free and Easy Email Marketing
Check out http://mailchimp.com/ for sending easy email newsletters. After signing up, create a new list. You can add your email contacts, but make sure you're adding people who have expressed an interested in your business. Once you start sending emails, they will have the ability to opt out of future emails. After you create a list, create a campaign. You can use the built-in templates as a starting point.
Before you send your newsletter, make sure you send a test to yourself. If possible, send it to an email account that can be viewed with Outlook because if it looks OK in Outlook it should look good anywhere. But watch out! You can only send 6 test emails per campaign with a free account. When you send the test, make sure that ALL links and images appear correctly, particularly the links that MailChimp includes for you in the footer such as facebook and twitter.
Don't forget to add your branding to all list-related pages and emails, not just the email you create. These pages include the signup form, email confirmation of signup, etc.
Check out my last newsletter or Zumba Fitness with Adrienne's newsletter for inspiration.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Drive Traffic to Your Site with a Short URL
Recently I organized a flash mob event which required participants to register by making a donation. Instead of giving everyone this link: http://www.capbigs.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=119&Itemid=165 I created a shortened URL: http://tinyurl.com/bigflashmob
TinyURL is a free service that is easy to use and doesn't require you to create an account. You just enter the long URL and it can generate a random tiny url such as http://tinyurl.com/8xognkl or you can specify a "custom alias" which is what I chose to do. As long as the custom alias isn't already taken, you can use it for your short URL. For example, you can't use "google" as a custom alias because it has already been used. Just go to tinyurl.com/google to find out.
There are many URL shortening services to choose from. I see bit.ly used often in twitter posts because it creates a very short URL. When posting on twitter, you want a URL with the least characters so you can use the remaining characters for your post. However, you might prefer a service like TinyURL to create short URLs for posters, fliers, business cards, class schedules, etc or even for saying out loud so that someone can remember. Bit.ly allows custom URLs but does require you to create an account and sign in.
I also like to use http://goo.gl/ for short URLs. I haven't found a way to customize the URL, but you can track the clicks to see how many people are using the link.
TinyURL is a free service that is easy to use and doesn't require you to create an account. You just enter the long URL and it can generate a random tiny url such as http://tinyurl.com/8xognkl or you can specify a "custom alias" which is what I chose to do. As long as the custom alias isn't already taken, you can use it for your short URL. For example, you can't use "google" as a custom alias because it has already been used. Just go to tinyurl.com/google to find out.
There are many URL shortening services to choose from. I see bit.ly used often in twitter posts because it creates a very short URL. When posting on twitter, you want a URL with the least characters so you can use the remaining characters for your post. However, you might prefer a service like TinyURL to create short URLs for posters, fliers, business cards, class schedules, etc or even for saying out loud so that someone can remember. Bit.ly allows custom URLs but does require you to create an account and sign in.
I also like to use http://goo.gl/ for short URLs. I haven't found a way to customize the URL, but you can track the clicks to see how many people are using the link.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Swipe Credit Cards on Your Smart Phone
More and more people are starting to ask if I will accept a credit card for Zumbawear purchases. The answer is YES! I can process payments on my smartphone using an app or with a card reader. There are a few companies to choose from, but for the occasional sale, I recommend Square. See https://squareup.com/.
There is a 2.75% swipe fee per transaction, but there is always a fee to accept credit cards no matter what service you use. If you type in the card number instead of swiping, the fee is 3.5% + 15 cents. Why? Because swiping proves the physical presence of the card, lowering the risk of fraudulent charges that the credit card company would be responsible for.
One downside to this technology is that it makes people nervous. The card reader doesn't always pick up the card information on the first try, so the customer needs to trust that if you swipe her card 10 times, she will only be charged once. After you swipe successfully, your customer signs the screen and will receive an email receipt.
One downside to this technology is that it makes people nervous. The card reader doesn't always pick up the card information on the first try, so the customer needs to trust that if you swipe her card 10 times, she will only be charged once. After you swipe successfully, your customer signs the screen and will receive an email receipt.
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