Today's question comes from a kitchen designer named Susan, who is starting a new venture and wants to know if she should create a new email list or use the one for her kitchen design business.

The short answer is YES. New strategy, new list, there's no question about it. Here's how I would approach it with your subscribers: they already know and trust you, so you just need to tell them about your new business and give them a chance to opt in to a new list.

The process is simple:
1) Create a new list, along with a dedicated subscription page, and standalone thank-you page, not the one your email service provider builds into the form by default. You should be able to set your subscription form to direct to this thank-you page.

2) Send your existing list an email telling them about the new venture, why they should subscribe, what types of emails they'll get. Be very obvious about the action you want them to take, which of course is to click on the link in this email to subscribe. I'd recommend making that the only link in the email, and maybe placing it in the body of the copy more than once. The link, by the way, goes to that custom thank you page.

3) In your email campaign, set a rule so that anybody who clicks on that link gets automatically added to the new list. This saves them the trouble of having to type their email address into a new form.

The end result? Your subscribers get an email asking them to opt into your new list, they click on a link that takes them to a thank-you page. Seamless for them right? 

If you want to take things up one more level, set up a welcome email from the new list to go out to new subscribers, thanking them again. This is a good idea if you are using a different email address for your new business, so that they have the opportunity to whitelist it.

Susan, I hope that answers your question about when to start a new email list. And if you're listening or reading, I hope this helped you as well. Speaking of email, my subscribers are the ones whose questions I answer in this segment, so if you'd like to join any of my email lists, head to stephanhov.com/subscribe to sign up. Until next time!

Quick Tip: When should I start a new email list?

How does a small business bring marketing and web development together?

This question comes from Tom, a web guy like myself, and brings up an important issue as a whole: The online marketing landscape is changing rapidly, which means the trusted sources are changing (if they aren't able to adapt).

Web developers typically have their ear to the ground with the latest technical changes, but aren't always the best marketing advisors. My suggestion for these companies is to educate and empower their customers so they can stay current with best practices and avoid scams or low-quality service offerings.

For the small business owner, take stock of your entire online presence, and ensure that you have a strategy in place (whatever that strategy is) that justifies the time and expense you are investing in each channel. Focus on fundamentals like customer experience and conversion optimization, they are taking center stage to help you stand out and not only bring in new customers, but nurture existing relationships and build advocates that will refer you.

Hope you enjoyed this stephanhov Pro Tip. Subscribe to this channel and join my newsletter list to stay up to date with the latest on building a better, smarter web presence for your business: http://stephanhov.com/subscribe 

Should I combine marketing and web development for my business?

Every business should be using marketing automation in some form to refine the messaging it's sending to its audience. This makes your company appear more relevant and valuable, which results in higher conversions.

In this second episode of Get Smart About Email Marketing, Stephan Hovnanian of Shovi Websites welcomes Adam Tuttle, Head of Sales at email marketing service provider ActiveCampaign, to talk about the basics of automation and to get you into the right mindset for what types of techniques result in higher conversions.

Stay informed about upcoming shows in this series: http://www.shoviwebsites.com/emailsmarts

Tips For Higher Conversions Using Email Segments And Marketing Automation

Once you've mapped out a content marketing strategy, it's time to execute, and that's where businesses realize how much work is involved. 

In this quick tip, we cover what roles are present in a content marketing strategy, and how you can both fill and scale them. 

I would love to hear how your content marketing team is structured, leave a comment or send me an email to hello@stephanhov.com.

Subscribe to this channel for weekly quick tips about content marketing, web strategy, social media, email marketing, and more to help your business build a better, smarter web presence.

How Do I Delegate Responsibilities for my Content Marketing Strategy?

Collecting emails from landing pages is great, but are those people just interested in the freebie download?

In this quick tip, learn how to create expectations, build trust, and value, so you can invite these new contacts to a deeper part of your lead gen funnel.

Download your copy of The Complete Guide to Creating an Opt-In Guide at http://www.shoviwebsites.com/optinguide 

How to nurture leads from your opt-in campaign

When done right, landing pages play a key role in acquiring new leads and email subscribers. You're giving someone an opportunity to solve a problem by opting into your offer; but it isn't that simple.

In this free discussion, learn the factors that go into a well-designed landing page that communicates your offer clearly, and encourages signups.

Unbounce's Director of Marketing, Georgiana Laudi, joins host Stephan Hovnanian of Shovi Websites, to dig into this topic and answer your questions live:

http://www.shoviwebsites.com/emailsmarts-landingpages

HIGHLIGHTS:
(1:20) When is it a good idea to use a subscription box on your website vs. a dedicated landing page?

(6:38) When you're collecting email addresses for something finite in nature (webinar, ebook) how do you move people through the funnel?

(10:43) What are the 5 key elements of a great landing page for growing your email list?

(19:21) How does Unbounce compare to other options for landing page? Thanks Carrie-Anne Foster for the great question!

***************************************************
Get 50% off Unbounce for 3 Months & Save up to $300!
http://www.shoviwebsites.com/emailsmarts-unbounce 
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(23:42) How important is responsive or mobile-friendly landing page design, given the importance of mobile in email marketing?

(27:43) How to reduce "leaks" on your landing pages. This is particularly useful when you are doing paid promotion to drive traffic to your landing pages.

(29:11) "What is the effect on SEO when you have your landing page hosted on Unbounce? If you set up a subdomain, wil your Unbounce-created landing page appear to be part of your site [from the spider's view]?" Phenomenal question, thank you Jen!

(33:39) What are the best tests to run on your landing pages? And how much traffic should a page get to consider the results of the test significant?

Get updates on upcoming episodes of this series at:
http://www.shoviwebsites.com/emailsmarts

Grow Your Email List With Landing Pages - Episode 3 - Get Smart About Email Marketing

What does it take to create a marketing strategy that gets attention and brings qualified traffic to your website? 

Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars is a new book that brings 23 marketers together to share their tips and insights.

In this video, Stephan Hovnanian (Chapter 17) hosts author Mitch Meyerson (Chapter 6), online visibility specialist Denise Wakeman (Chapter 8), and PR maven Barb Rozgonyi (Chapter 9) in a discussion that will answer the question at hand.

INTRODUCTIONS and CHAPTER OVERVIEWS:

(2:00) Mitch talks about the essentials for presenting your business online in a way that will keep visitors on your website.

(4:24) Barb redefines PR and talks about making sure the attention you are seeking is on message and on brand.

► Watch and learn Barb's 5 Steps to Powerful PR

(7:10) Denise walks us through all the different forms of micro-content, and how they can capture the attention of your audience in the streams they're engrossed in everyday.

MAKING YOUR BRAND STAND OUT

(11:08) A musical interlude from Mitch, who brings up an extremely important point about making your brand stand out. He calls this the "elephant in the room."

(14:35) More guerrilla marketing strategies and ideas to really distinguish yourself and get major attention from influencers, press, and brands. 

(19:09) Redefining PR from "Public Relations" to "Personality + Reputation". Barb explains this brilliant idea.

► Did you know that the brain process images 60,000 times faster than text?

A LIVE ONLINE VISIBILITY and CONVERSION STRATEGY

(22:27) Listen to Mitch, Barb, and Denise walk through the landing page for the book, OnlineMarketingSuperstars.com.

► Mitch breaks down the elements of the landing page.

► Denise gives us ideas on promoting it with microcontent.

► Barb talks about a press release strategy.

► Stephan has some other ideas for using audio and creating human connections.

[SH: the audio gets a little choppy until around 28:30 but stick with it...there are really, really good lessons in this segment]

PARTING THOUGHTS

(35:45) Action steps from each of our guests that you can use for your business right now.

► Buy your copy of Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars here: http://www.OnlineMarketingSuperstars.com

► Watch the next installments in our launch celebration:
Google+, Facebook, & Publishing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g1lBJQVKyQ

From Tactics to Attention:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4UUcxMDqiU


ABOUT YOUR HOST

Stephan Hovnanian is the owner of Shovi Websites, a web strategy company located outside Boston. Stephan has spent his career helping companies overcome the challenges of maintaining their online presence effectively by developing and executing strategies unique to them.

► Sign up for Shovi Websites' Get Smart About Email Marketing web series: http://www.shoviwebsites.com/emailsmarts

Content Clicks And Conversion - Online Marketing Pros Tell Their Secrets

Do you need to build a case for your company to include Google+ in its marketing mix? This discussion with MarketingProfs tells you what to focus on and has results to back up their efforts.

MarketingProfs is a well-known source for online marketing studies and information. They serve the marketing community through their blog, live events, online educational courses, and membership (free and paid) programs that makes them one of the largest marketing communities online.

Having said that, MarketingProfs could not build the case to invest time and effort into Google+, until they brought in Rob Zaleski. Rob sat down with us to explain the pitch and how focusing on the right metrics has created real measurable results.

You can read the recap here:
http://www.marketingprofs.com/opinions/2015/26837/adopting-google-is-easier-than-you-think-and-worth-it

Google+ Business Spotlight - Ep38 - MarketingProfs

I own Shovi Websites, a website design and email marketing firm based outside of Boston. On a daily basis, I strive to call on my experiences and expertise in web design and online marketing trends, and present them in a way that works more appropriately for your particular situation, your goals, and yes, your limitations.

“Because at the end of the day, I believe your website is the most important part of your company’s digital presence, and it needs to be performing at as high a level as possible.”

I also run WebSIGHT, a blog of sorts geared toward building a better, smarter web presence. Through webcasts, tutorials and insights, you'll gain knowledge about what goes into a successful website, email marketing campaign, and social media strategy.