--> Not email related per se but I hope you find it useful. In my opinion, too many people live in the past and dwell on what they did wrong, what they might have become, or what they could have achieved. It's at this time of the year that people have time to dwell on this and have a depressing time instead of a great time. So, if you're one of those people, I have some advice. Advice I'll be taking myself. Stop beating up on yourself and letting those inner voices destroy you. Most people have pasts they'd like to change but can't. Sometimes you think of things in the past that when you were about to do them, you knew they were wrong and you would probably regret them later. But your weaker nature won the day and you went ahead and did them anyway. You do not stand alone. It is human nature to fail. The trick is not to fail twice but to learn from it the first time. Be gentle with yourself. Learn not only to ask for forgiveness but also to forgive yourself. Live in the present. The past is what it is, gone and never to return. Start living and building the better you. Over the break, say this to yourself: Whatever wrong I did, it is gone forever, so I will no longer allow it to dominate my life. Instead, I will forgive myself and focus on the better me. Merry Christmas and have a well-deserved break. Glenn

Just got approval to send a newsletter and I wrote this message to our senior developer: Can you have a quick check of the stats and see what day has got the best opens in the first 24 hours please? I’m thinking this could be a weekend email but I’m not sure. Does your current email agency or you put any thought into your emails, or do they/you just press send?

Are you using email marketing as a tool to grow repeat customers? I wrote this article 11 years ago. Yup, you read that right. 11 years and if you're still not doing it, let's talk. <=========> It’s often said that it’s much easier (and cheaper) to gain repeat business than it is to find new customers. However, so often the focus remains on acquiring new buyers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that new customer acquisition isn’t important. But all too often we neglect our repeat customers, who make up approximately 80% of our business. For example, telcos offering an exceptional deal to new customers signing onto a plan, but not allowing existing customers the opportunity to access the same deal. Email is an important channel It’s time that we find some balance and start taking care of the customers that we already have. Email is an important channel that can be used to do just this – building engaged, loyal customers and positive brand advocates. On the most basic level, it enables you to keep in touch with your customers and provide consistency. Which then helps to engender a consumers trust – because you’re doing what you said you would sending relevant and valuable content to them regularly. This not only shows that you care but also further reinforces that you know what you’re doing (and talking about). Simply put, email marketing keeps your business top of mind with your customers. Though beyond this, email marketing works in a vital relationship-building sense. Email for traditional bricks and mortar stores The potential of email to engender repeat sales online is great. This can be done, via the use of ‘you might also like’ emails and special deals or discount codes that only go to your email database. The potential of email for traditional bricks and mortar stores, or retailers with both foot and online traffic, is also significant. Consistency, trust, loyalty Our mantra is “consistency leads to trust, which leads to loyalty, which leads to people talking about you at bars and BBQs”, which is what you want. Email marketing allows you to prove consistency to earn that trust and allows you to give customers the positive stories that they need to share. It’s an opportunity to reinforce your points of difference, highlight why they should want to come back and share exclusive sales. There’s no shortage of kinds of emails that can be sent to encourage repeat business. It’s also a valuable way to collect additional data through competitions and surveys to members of your list.