Email marketing is an inexpensive way for companies to communicate with their customers. You can think of email marketing as a form of direct mail that goes into an inbox rather than a mailbox.

Many companies have already started using email blasts and e-newsletters as part of their marketing campaign. If you still aren’t sure what email marketing can be used for, here are a few suggestions:

• communicate with current customers
• keep in touch with potential customers
• inform customers of upcoming sales or promotions
• give your company a personal touch
• enhance customer service
• and so much more…

As wonderful as email marketing is, if it’s not done right, it can fall flat on its face, wasting all that time and effort. If it’s done poorly, it can backfire.

One of the number one important lessons to learn about email marketing is that it is like any other piece of marketing you do – it needs to be branded. Just as you wouldn’t hand out a brochure without your logo and contact information, an email newsletter or email blast is the same. Your email message needs to be consistent with your website and printed materials.

In today’s digital age, people are getting email marketing sent to them on a daily basis. What they choose to open needs to create a huge impact. Putting in the effort to make certain your message and design fits your branding will help consumers remember you in the future.

Email marketing is here to stay. At Net Elevation we are always working to help our clients find the best design possible that tells the story of their brand and product while being unique and memorable.

Have you used any email marketing? Did you make sure to brand? We’d love to hear.

Every website looks different and has a different purpose all because of decisions that were made during its inception. Here are five big ones that you may not even think about, but can have a huge impact on how your site looks and the message it gets across:

1. The font

There are many styles of font out there, and picking one that is easy to read while still being stylish can be a tall order. Make sure to peruse other sites and see if you like the style, size, and spacing of the font. Take notes on what you like and why and let your web designer know your preferences.

2. Adding a blog

Adding a blog to a site is a great way to help with your SEO and impart more information to your readers. The only important decision to make here is if you’re going to put in the time and effort to upkeep the blog. If you know yourself and you know that blog will be updated only a few times a year, it might be best to leave it be.

3. Picking a header

This is another design decision that can really impact the feel of a site. Some headers are huge and take up most of the above the fold action. Other headers are quite small and let the content and graphics do the talking. Whatever header design you prefer, make sure it is branded correctly as it’s the face of your site.

4. Including social media

This is another decision that rests on your ability to upkeep your social media platforms. Having the links makes you look current, until visitors click on them and see they are never updated.

5. The navigation

Deciding what tabs are most visible will help visitors understand what you offer and what they can learn from visiting your site. Some websites choose to have only a few tabs on the top — the most relevant and important ones — and keep less necessary tabs on the bottom, in the footer. Others choose to have everything uptop. Take a look at other websites and see what you like the best . These are only a few of the important decisions you will need to make when it comes to website design, but knowing what you like and what suits your business the best will have you end up with a better site overall.

2011 is here, and that means many businesses are starting out the year by making new years resolutions. Among the most common resolution for a small business to make is the declaration to revamp their website. It’s a good resolution to have because websites have a lot in common with fashion — if you don’t update them enough, they start to look worn, tired, and out of style.

At Net Elevation we work with a lot of companies to help give their sites anything from a facelift to an entire head-to-toe makeover. In case you are thinking about making this the year you bring your website to the next level, here are a few factors to keep in mind:

1.) Your website design should be professional. Take a good, honest look at your color-scheme, typography, and graphics and compare them to your competitors. Does your look stand up to theirs? Or do they have a more
modern feel? Having a fresh first impression will only help your site.

2.) Navigation is key. When building a website, the page navigation needs to be intuitive and make sense. Having a user-friendly experience is key to using a website to make sales. If a potential customer or client is frustrated searching for a particular piece of information, they are likely to leave your site before making a purchase. Ask a few friends or even strangers to find an important piece of information on your site and see how easily they can do it.

3.) Update to include social media. You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again, but social media is all the rage these days. Having a blog, and being active on Facebook and Twitter makes you look hip and in-tune with today’s current trends. If you’re putting in the effort to maintain these platforms, make sure their icons are prominent on your site.

New years resolutions are never easy to keep, but this should be the year you decide to update your website, so make sure to keep these three important factors in mind.

Have these questions been on your mind?

• How do I use LinkedIn for business?
• How can I get leads, set appointments and network through Facebook?
• What the heck is Twitter, anyway?! It sounds painful…

If so, be sure to check out the latest Special Report from our friend Jason Rosado at Distinctive Coaching:

Untangling Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and More

Jason has outlined the ins-and-outs of using these sites to promote your business. If you’re curious about these new tools, or looking for a creative way to reach a hip, young audience, I highly recommend downloading Jason’s report.

We’re not affiliated with Jason in any way…I’m recommending this report because I’ve read it and I think many small business owners could benefit from Jason’s tips.

I’ve been helping a new client this afternoon who is trying to sort out where exactly his website is hosted, and how to access it to make updates. He called the folks who supposedly host his website, and they’re pulling him through a long bureaucratic process of back-and-forth faxes in order to prove his identity so they can finally grant him access to his site. He just wanted to make a few web updates, and that simple desire set off this whole process. It’s sucking away his afternoon and he’s thinking about giving up on the whole idea.

Sadly, this is a situation we run into quite often. So many business owners created their website years ago and now they’ve lost track of the web hosting details. Some of them have no idea who their hosting provider is or who is paying for it.

Almost always, this mess happens when they sign up for a rock-bottom hosting deal with a big-name hosting provider, such as (ahem) GoDaddy, Network Solutions or Yahoo. Those supposed savings, often only a few dollars per month, resurface later as the hidden costs of dealing with a monolithic hosting provider. How many hours, sometimes days, are wasted in negotiating with a big company while trying to re-gain access to your site?

Net Elevation is a sensible alternative to the nightmare of rock-bottom hosting. We use the same reliable, secure technology as the big guys, but we’re committed to maintaining a first-name relationship with all of our customers. When one of our customers has a question about their site, they call us and we help them. No rabbit holes, no lost productivity, no bureaucracy and no overseas phone operators. Doesn’t it make sense to host your site with the same people that build and maintain it for you?

We had a blast designing the brand new site for P.J. Clarke’s, a popular restaurant chain in Chicago. The project allowed us to flex our design muscles, and craft a site that reflects the comforting, well-worn retro style of the restaurants.

When you visit P.J. Clarke’s, one of the things that stands out is the way the walls are covered in old photographs–of Chicago neighborhoods and Hollywood celebrities. So we decided to use photography as a motif for the website. We incorporated a row of Hollywood head shots on the homepage, and scattered old snapshots or postcards throughout the site.

So many restaurant sites are visually amazing–with “cool” animations and sound effects– but they are slow-loading and nearly unusable. We were conscious to avoid this trap with P.J. Clarke’s. As you click through the site, you’ll realize that this is a good example of a site that is aesthetically rich, while still remaining easy to navigate and understand. As fun as the design process was, we were careful to never lose sight of the fact that P.J.’s website needed to be a quick and easy source of information for potential customers.