The National Field Support division of TELUS Communications in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, won the Gold Stevie for Support Department of the Year in the Support Awards categories of The 2013 International Business Awards.

(The 2014 International Business Awards is still accepting entries.  Review the entry kit here.)

According to Mark Klotz, Director of TELUS Communications’ National Field Support, winning a Stevie Award represented an international acknowledgement of his team’s formidable accomplishments, and has contributed to further success in three areas. “First, the team achieved an all-time high team-engagement score, 7% above the ‘best employer’ index that we benchmark ourselves against,” Mark reported.

“Secondly, it elevated our already amazing culture to a level where front-line agents are driving unprecedented levels of continuous improvement. Lastly, it greatly benefited our customers, because the hope of being recognized by the Stevie Awards for a second year in a row has driven my team’s desire to push the envelope on all our key metrics.”

Providing Technical Support
The TELUS National Field Support (NFS) department trains specialists that capture and resolve anomalies that prevent orders from automatically provisioning in the myriad of complex systems.  They repair these anomalies to meet the customer needs prior to their due date.

These specialists also provide technical support to field technicians by aiding the installation and repair of TELUS products and services for consumer and small business markets in a timely and responsive manner.

The Pressures of Constant Change

Communications service providers are under continual pressure to optimize operational costs, gain agility, and offer superior services to customers. The business of providing voice, data, and TV services requires specialized skills on advanced provisioning systems in order to provide customers with the best possible service in a highly competitive telecommunications industry.

Making Life Simpler for the Customer
The constant evolution of technologies also puts pressure on the team to proactively evolve their skill sets. This evolution has enabled NFS to remain the support team of choice.

We asked Mark what changes in technology he thought would most affect telecommunications customers in the future.

“I see the integration of services, applications, and content as one of the biggest changes coming down the pike,” Mark observed. “This will allow customers to take advantage of more flexible and personalized services and will make their lives simpler than ever before.”

Driving Continuous Improvement

Setting extremely high standards has enabled the National Field Support Department to answer 91% of customer calls within 20 seconds with an average speed of 15 seconds. All calls are directed to a live agent, and 99.6% of all proactively resolved orders meet the service level agreements, demonstrating the TELUS commitment to the customer. Any orders not meeting the level required are handled in real-time by an agent to maintain customer commitment.

As Mark puts it: “The high quality training, the 365-days/year availability, the stringent service level agreements, and the ‘no phone call goes to voice mail’ policy have made the NFS team into a premier support team.”

Enhancing the Customer Experience
Mark reports that his team continues to challenge the status quo and bring forward innovative ideas to help enhance the customer experience. Says Mark: “Despite the unremitting evolution of technologies and processes, the team continues to deliver high levels of success.”

Staying Organized
Mark’s favorite business app is Evernote. “It helps me stay organized using ‘notebooks’, which can include images, photos, and notes,” he told us. “I can seamlessly sync Evernote on my Windows, iOS, and Android devices. There are also several other useful apps that integrate easily into Evernote.”

Inspired By Change

Mark is excited about the future. “The constant pace of change and emergence of new technologies inspires me every day,” he told us. “With that change comes the challenge to constantly prepare and anticipate methods and processes to integrate new technologies with existing ones while making it seamless and transparent for our customers.”

About Mark Klotz:
Mark Klotz has led the National Field Support team through the optimization of office locations and the implementation and integration of the outsourced portion of the team. He is the department’s biggest advocate of change and has instilled within his leadership team a culture of constant evolution.  His thought-provoking challenges continue to raise the bar for the department. Mark brings to the team experience from Information Services, and from Consumer and Business Marketing, Marketing Communications, Channel Management, Strategic Planning, Sales Incentive Management, and Call Center Operations.

About TELUS:
TELUS is Canada’s fastest-growing national telecommunications company, with $11.4 billion of annual revenue and 13.3 million customer connections. In support of its philosophy to “give where we live,” TELUS, its team members, and its retirees have contributed more than $350 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 5.4 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. TELUS was honored to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.

Today we've opened voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, a feature of The American Business Awards in which the general public can vote for their favorite new products and services. 

Voting is now open at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com

Voting concludes on 11:59 pm on Friday, August 8. The winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be announced the week before the September 12 awards banquet in San Francisco, California and presented their awards at the event.

There are 42 categories in which the general public can vote for their favorite new products and services of the year. Some of the categories this year include:

Business-to-Business Products
Consumer Electronics
Health & Pharmaceutical Products
Software - Cloud Infrastructure
Software - Web Services
Business-to-Business Services
Consumer Products
Financial Services
Media & Entertainment
Software - Collaboration/Social
Software - Relationship Mgmt
Telecommunications Products
Transportation

Anyone can vote one time in any or all of the 42 categories.

Make your voice heard, vote now at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com

Suzanne McDonald is CEO of Designated Editor in Newport, Rhode Island, USA and winner of the Gold Stevie® Award for Upstart of the Year in the management awards categories of The 2014 American Business Awards, the top business awards program in the USA. 

(Join the mailing list for the 2015 ABAs and you'll be emailed the entry kit as soon as entries open again in October.)

We asked Suzanne McDonald to explain how she came to found her company. “When I started in the Social Media business, I had been a successful journalist. By 2006, with the looming end of print as we knew it in the form of magazines and newspapers, it was clear to me that print would ultimately coalescence with New Media. Even though it was early days for this trend, I chose to jump the journalism ship and set a course for the new world of Social Media, which is where I believed the future of journalism lay.

“Since then, I have become an expert in New Media—the area of marketing information, rather than brands themselves—that includes every aspect of social media, plus everything that is crucial to have a powerful and fully integrated marketing platform and results. This can include face-to-face networking or it can include branding. It all depends on the client.”

Bringing Social Media to Educators
Suzanne explained how she had started providing services in New Media to universities. “In the past year I have become one of the national leaders in the movement to bring social media—really New Media—into university settings. I have spearheaded this movement because I saw—and still see—what happens when young people use Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest and Instagram, but have no idea how to use these tools cohesively to become useful, usable, and effective in a business setting.”

Continues Suzanne: “I believe students must learn these key tools in college and/or graduate school, and then bring their tool-based skills and strategic know-how to the workplace. Doing this, I believe, will make finding jobs a lot easier. There’s nothing like results to prove your value in the workplace, big or small, and today’s metrics-linked communications and marketing makes this entirely doable.”

Top 10 Tips for Students & Businesses
Suzanne has some useful advice for both businesses and university students, the most fundamental of which is: Be sure to get the New Media guidance you need as you move along your online journey. Following are the ten areas where Suzanne feels both businesses and university students need help:

1. The Campaign Counts.  Whether you are a giant global company or a college student or administrator, you must build a comprehensive and consistent focus for your social media/New Media work—and that focus needs to be a “direct hit” with your target audience. 

2. Know your Target Audience.  Believe it or not, most companies—no matter their size—haven’t taken the time to pinpoint their actual target audience. Do it! An often-seen example: Your audience is B-to-B and you are posting some or all C-to-B. 

3. Share Cautiously. The number-one problem in the world of New Media—whether you are a business executive or a student learning the New Media ropes—is oversharing. If you are putting out too much information, some of it will ultimately be detrimental to your image or your cause. And once it’s up, it can be difficult to remove (although this is one of the fastest-growing areas in New Media jobs). If you’re not sure what to post and when, get the expert advice you need first.

4. Ask Yourself: “Are We Boring our Audience?” This may seem like part of the two items above, but in the world of New Media, it very much stands alone. Avoid putting information online that is not of interest to your target audiences. Do that and you risk losing them. Example: Many companies I work with pack their online arenas with press releases that few people care about. My constant advice: Revise those press releases to resonate with your target audiences.

5. Be Smart about SEO.  As noted above, before you post online, make sure that the post is a perfect fit for your target audience. Avoid posting just for search engines (e.g. the press releases). Have a perfect fit first. Then, if you get great SEO to boot, even better.

6. Know Where to Find Your Audience! Yes, you’ve already segmented your key target audiences, but after doing a nice job, you’ve fallen into the next big New Media trap: you’ve forgotten to find out WHERE your audience exists online. Example: Your audience is primarily female, and you really need to be on Pinterest (largely female) but you’re on only Facebook.

7. Know Your Metrics—and Metric Tools.  Are you analyzing what you have done so far and seeing where you succeeded and where you need to refocus or retool? Example: A participant in one highly successful university-based project I ran used Google and Twitter to analyze the results of a campaign and came up with very little. I stepped in and instead compared them to similar campaigns at other universities and— guess what—they came up near the top, which is where they belonged.

8. Know Your Top Influencers. Be sure you know—and know well—who is following you on Facebook; who is following you on Twitter; and who the influencers are on both. It’s easy to get this information, particularly on Twitter, so use it.  An influencer response can yield big results—if not the first time, then certainly over time—and it’s your job to know who the influencers are.

9. Build New Media Relationships. This is an adjunct of the item above, but it also stands on its own as a key aspect of New Media: build relationships with your top influencers and stick with it until you get New Media placements.

10. Be Pitch Perfect! Where do I see companies and university students/administrators miss the mark most often? Call it “off-pitching.” Example: You’ve found an influential fitness blogger who is vegan, and yes, he or she reaches millions—but you work for a snack food company. Don’t pitch that blogger. Instead, look for influencers who are a perfect match for your product or idea or point of view. One “off-pitch,” and the influencers may never work with you again.

According to Suzanne, these suggestions should be looked on as a tune-up for businesses and university leaders. As she puts it: “Be sure to get the help you need, even if you are working with an agency. You need to know all relevant aspects of New Media, and it is sometimes the case that so-called ‘experts’ give you what they know, not what you need to learn.”

Suzanne’s conclusion: “Whatever it is, take the time to learn the fundamentals in order to be able to ask good questions!”

About Suzanne McDonald
Suzanne McDonald is a revolutionary in New Media who started her company, Designated Editor, with the express purpose of educating clients on every aspect of New Media. This includes social media from Google+ to Twitter, as well as WordPress, blogger outreach/strategy, fully integrated marketing, and face-to-face events/networking.

McDonald’s objective is to combine all New Media into a consistent whole, and to do it affordably and thoroughly. By so doing, she has become the leading purveyor of New Media expertise in New England. McDonald's "techie" forum in Newport, Rhode Island, reaches nearly 1,000 business leaders, and her business has doubled in size each year since it began.

About Designated Editor
Designated Editor is New England's leading purveyor of New Media expertise at affordable rates, encompassing every aspect of New Media including Social Media. Founded in 2006 by Suzanne McDonald, Designated Editor is New England's leading source for techie forums, business-to-business networking for technology pros, and for global clients needing one-stop-shopping for a world that has become treacherous to navigate. As of 2013, Designated Editor is a leader in the movement to educate university students nationwide in New Media. For more information go to www.designatededitor.com.

Melissa Sones Consulting in New York, New York, won a Grand Stevie Award in the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world's premier business awards program for women.  The 2014 Stevie Awards for Women in Business is now accepting entries, with a July 23 early-bird deadline.  Review the entry kit here.

This past November, Grand Stevie Award trophies were presented for the first time in the Stevie Awards for Women in Business to the five organizations that submitted the best body of entries to the competition.  Also a first, the name at the top of that list was not for an individual or company that had been a winner: it went to Melissa Sones Consulting, which had successfully entered several of its clients in the competition.  

We asked Melissa for some insight on this success.  What, for example, did she tell her clients were the most important reasons for entering a professional awards competition such as the Stevie Awards for Women in Business? 

“First, I tell clients or potential clients that awards marketing is the number one form of marketing in the world,” explained Melissa. “Just look around you: car companies run TV commercials noting that they are number one on J.D. Power and Associates; others on TV say they are topping Angie’s List. There are many examples.

The Power of Awards

“Second, I tell them I have had personal experience with the power of awards. I won a major award years ago and it changed my life and brought opportunities my way that might not otherwise have come. In my experience winning awards has worked, so I encourage my clients to win awards themselves so that they can do the same for their businesses, ultimately attracting lots more business.

The Thrill of Winning

“Reason number three is the awards ceremony itself.  While I focus on the applications and the actual winning—so far, 99% of those we have entered for major business awards have won something—getting up in front of a large audience comprising a wide range of business owners is a thrill. That’s why I took a table at the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women In Business Awards and encouraged my clients to come. Four of them won Gold Stevies, and it was very exciting!

“A fourth reason is that I want my clients to have a marketing tool that they can use over and over again. Win once and you can put it out there forever. I love that, and it’s effective.

Value for Money

“Finally, there is the cost. As a major marketing tool for a company of any size from sole proprietor to corporation, awards marketing is extremely affordable—a big bang for your buck, as they say. Pay a very affordable fee and we work to help you win. We are also “winner spotters,” so if we believe you can win, you usually do.”

Winning a Grand Award

We asked Melissa what winning a Grand Award at the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business had meant to her.

“I was surprised when I won!” she told us. “It meant that the focus of my company–the only awards consulting company of its kind in the U.S.—is working.”

Additionally, Melissa told us that her awards consulting company does more work with the Stevie Awards than with any other awards competitions.  As she puts it: “Everything about it makes sense for the many businesses I work with. The applications themselves allow for creativity without being too time-consuming; the team at the Stevies is available whenever I need help, such as when filing an application or following up on a trophy order; and the awards have names or titles that I happen to like from a marketing standpoint.  Winning a Women in Business Award or an American Business Award or an International Business Award appeals to my clients, most of whom have come back for more awards, with the Stevie Awards for Women In Business at the top of the list so far!

Living in Integrity

Melissa has been a professional writer her entire adult life, and running a marketing awards company incorporates that.  As she told us: “I have always done exactly what I want to do ONLY if what I want is in my Integrity, no matter what, and I continue to do that. The latter is part of Living In Integrity.”

Melissa is certainly providing a service to others, as her achievements testify.

About Melissa Sones

Melissa Sones is a seasoned, results-focused communications and media relations consultant and writer in the lifestyle arena. Her clients include companies in fashion, beauty, food and restaurants, consumer products, public relations, health, international investment banking, retail, and family publishing.

Known for her corporate seminars on "The Art of Pitching" as it relates to lifestyle, Melissa is a former columnist for Food & Wine; the former beauty editor at Self magazine; fashion features editor (and member of the founding team) of Mirabella; fashion critic for the New York Post; and fashion editor for United Press International. She has been a regular contributor to Glamour and her pieces have appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, and Redbook, among others. She was also a contributor to the Zagat Guide on Shopping. She is the author of Getting into Fashion, A Career Guide (Ballantine) and Full Frontal Fashion: Never Worry Again About What To Wear (Plume/Penguin Group), which was featured in People Stylewatch, on The View, and in other national publications. She has been quoted on lifestyle in O, The Oprah Magazine and Real Simple. Her company specializes in creative thinking and knowing what's coming down the pike before others do. The New York Times featured the company’s creative approach in a 2009 article. In 2013, Melissa Sones chose to make awards and awards marketing the main focus of her company.

About Melissa Sones Consulting

Melissa Sones Consulting (MSC) is an awards consulting company that helps individuals and businesses win the top national and international awards—with a special emphasis on business awards. 99% of the companies MSC has entered for a top business award have won something. If you want to win, you want to work with MSC. For more information, go to www.melissasonesconsulting.com.

Learn all about the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world's top honors for women entrepreneurs, executives, and organizations they run at www.StevieAwards.com/Women.

Beats Electronics, SunTrust Bank, and Yahoo, Inc. Among Winners of Gold Stevie® Awards;New Product and Tech-related Winners to Be Announced at Second Event in San Francisco on September 12

The 12^th Annual American Business Awards^SM announced Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Award Winners last Friday night, June 13, at the first of two gala award ceremonies taking place this year.

Friday evening’s ceremony took place at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park Hotel and honored winners in categories for customer service, human resources, corporate communications, live events, publications, videos, and selected categories for company/organization, management and marketing.  Winners in all new product and technology-related categories, and other management, marketing, and company/organization categories, will be announced at an event at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco on September 12.

The American Business Awards, the top business awards program in the U.S., honor an all-inclusive spectrum of American business people and organizations -- from non-profits, emerging start-ups, major public companies and government agencies, to corner-office executives, corporate communicators, support staff and customer service teams.

Notable Gold Stevie Award Winners announced on Friday include:

­   Communications, IR, or PR Executive of the Year: Susan Johnson, AT&T Inc.

­   Marketing Department of the Year: Univision Communications Inc.

­   Public Relations Agency of the Year: PMK*BNC

­   Company of the Year - Food & Beverage: Checkers and Rally's Restaurants, Inc.

­   Executive of the Year - Advertising, Marketing, & Public Relations: Amanda Currie, Adconion Direct

­   Customer Service Department of the Year: Wells Fargo Treasury Management Client Delivery

­   Global Issues Campaign of the Year: Center for Climate and Energy Solutions

­   Support Team of the Year: Electric Insurance Company

­   Best Consumer Event: NASCAR, Inc.

­   Best Public Relations Video: Peabody Energy

­   Most Innovative Company of the Year - More Than 2,500 Employees: Yahoo, Inc.

­   Human Resources Team of the Year: UST Global

AMD won five Gold Stevie Awards on Friday, more than any other organization, while Quality Systems, Inc. took home four. Winners of three Gold Stevie Awards are Medtech College and MWW.  Organizations who took home two Gold Stevie Awards are Accenture, Angel MedFlight Worldwide Air Ambulance, AT&T, BDS Marketing, CapitalOne ShareBuilder, Engility, Hager Fox Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Home Instead Senior Care, Makovsky, NASCAR, Inc., Pacific Life, Renters Warehouse, SCRA, Slack and Company, and Univision Communications.

More than 3,300 entries were submitted to The 2014 American Business Awards, and 240 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners. 

For a complete list of the Stevie Award winners in this year’s American Business Awards visit www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Every new product or service nominated in The 2014 American Business Awards will automatically be included in voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products.  Voting will open to the general public on July 7, and the winners will be honored at The American Business Awards ceremony in San Francisco on September 12.

Last night’s presentations were taped and will be broadcast by Biz Talk Radio (www.biztalkradio.com) on Tuesday and Friday nights.

About the Stevie® Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in five programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  A sixth program, the German Stevie Awards, will debut later this year.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.

Sponsors and partners of The 2014 American Business Awards include Biz Talk Radio, CallidusCloud, Citrix Online, Cvent, Engility, John Hancock, LycaMobile, PetRays, and Softpro.

Yesterday was the final entry deadline for the 11^th annual International Business Awards, the world’s top business awards program.

By popular demand, we have decided to universally extend the final entry deadline through Wednesday, July 9.  No additional late fees or penalties will be required, and late entries will not be penalized in any way in the judging process.

GET THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

The IBAs typically receive nominations from organizations in more than 50 nations and territories and are the world’s only completely international business awards competition. All organizations and individuals worldwide are eligible to submit entries.

This business awards program features a wide range of categories to recognize achievement in every aspect of the workplace, including

• Customer Service Awards
• Company/Organization Awards
• Creative Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Management Awards
• Marketing Awards Categories
• New Product Awards
• Corporate Communications, IR, and PR Awards
• Support Awards 
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

See the full list of International Business Awards categories.

Nominations should cite achievements since January 1 2013. There is no eligibility timeframe for app and web site entries - it does not matter when they were first published.

Winners of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards will be announced on August 13, and the winners celebrated at a gala banquet at the Westin Vendome Hotel in Paris, France on October 10.

Do not hesitate to contact us with your questions about how to participate in The 2014 International Business Awards.

The first of two awards banquets for The 2014 (12th Annual) American Business Awards, the premier business awards programs in the U.S.A., will be staged next Friday, June 13 at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago.

* Get your tickets here

* Reserve guest rooms at the Fairmont Hotel here

The customer service, human resources, live events, publications, public relations & corporate communications, support and video awards categories, and selected categories for company/organization, management, and marketing, will be presented in Chicago next Friday.

The app, IT, new product and service, and website awards categories, and other selected categories for company/organization, management, and marketing, will be presented at a second event on September 12 in San Francisco.

So who's coming to the gala in Chicago next week?  Here's a current list of the organizations who've already confirmed their attendance.

7-Eleven
97th Floor
AAA Auto Club Group
ABM Franchising Group
AccountingDepartment.com
Acorda Therapeutics
Adconion Direct
AECOM
AHC
All Florida Paper, Inc.
AMD
American Medical Response
American Solar Direct
AT&T
Avention
BackBay Communications
Bankers Warranty Group/Bankers Financial Corp
BDS Marketing, Inc.
Benefitmall
Best Doctors, Inc.
Bloom Health
Bloomin' Brands
BMO Capital Markets
Borro
Capital One ShareBuilder
Cars.com
Checkers & Rally's Restaurants
Cisco Systems
Citrix Systems
Cub Cadet
CyraCom International, Inc.
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Dean Evans and Associates
Digital Grin Communications
Diligent Board Member Services
Echelon Design, Inc.
Electric Insurance Company
Empire Today
Endurance
Engility
EPS Financial
Experian Marketing Services
Extraordinary Events
Fazoli's Restaurants
FBMC Benefits Management
Fiksu
FleishmanHillard (for AT&T)
Fora Financial
Google, Inc.
Graebel Companies, Inc.
Grand Canyon University
Grass Roots Meetings & Events, Inc.
Grow Marketing
Hamilton Jewelers
HighPoint Global
Home Instead Senior Care
HRsmart
Hyatt Legal Plans
Hyundai Motor America
IgnitionOne
Information Builders
Insperity
Integral Ad Science
InVNT
Isagenix
Kowa Pharmaceuticals
L.C. Williams & Associates
Level 3 Communications, LLC
Locus Telecommunications, Inc.
Lyris
Makovsky Integrated Communications
MarketBridge
Marriott Vacations Worldwide
MassMutual Financial Group
mBlox
Medtech
Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
Minacs Marketing Solutions
Monitronics
MOSAIC Rehabilitation, Inc.
Move Management, Inc.
MWW
Nongshim America
NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION
Omnitracs, LLC
One Eighty
Oswego Community Unit School District 308
Oxford City Football Club, Inc.
Pairelations, LLC
Pepco Holdings, Inc.
Petplan
PetRays / CardioVet
PrintingForLess.com
ProcessPro
Quality Systems, Inc.
Realityworks, Inc.
Redbud Financial Group
Renters Warehouse
Roof Diagnostics Solar
Roth Staffing Companies, L.P.
Ryan, LLC
Saatchi and Saatchi
SCRA
Sentient Interactive
Sentric, Inc.
SignUpGenius
SingleHop
Slack and Company
Snowbound Software
Squaremouth
Squarespace
Stratus Interactive
SunTrust Banks, Inc.
Tallie
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES
TechnologyAdvice
Teletrac, Inc.
Terapeak
The 5th Avenue Theatre
The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
The Remi Group, LLC
The Webster Group
TIAA-CREF
Trex Company
Trupanion
U.S. Green Building Council
UAE Embassy - Consulate Division
UAE Embassy - Police Division
USHEALTH Advisors
Utah Basement Kitchen & Bath
Velie Law Firm
Virtusa Corporation
Washington Street Properties
Wells Fargo Bank
Wheels, Inc.
World Water Works, Inc.
Xcelus
Yext (Representing Citibank)

Want to network with this impressive group of organizations? Get your tickets here.

Janine Popick is CEO & Founder of VerticalResponse in San Francisco, California, USA, and the winner of a Gold Stevie Award for Female Executive of the Year-Business Services (up to 2,500 Employees) in the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

The 2014 Stevie Awards for Women in Business competition is now open.  The early-bird entry deadline is July 23.  GET THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

“How do I build or get an email marketing list?” As the leader of an email marketing software company for the last 13 years that’s been the most common question I’ve heard whenever I’ve talked to small businesses.

I’m also often asked if it’s okay to use a purchased, rented, or scraped email list.

My answer? Nope. Nada. Not so much. There are no shortcuts to growing an engaged and loyal base of subscribers, fans, and followers.

In reality, rather than get you the results you want, that purchased list could tarnish your relationship with your recipients—not a great way to start out.

So, how do you grow a list with engaged subscribers who want to hear from your business? I have five sure-fire ways, so read on!

1. Offer Value

In exchange for giving you their email address, subscribers expect to get something of value. Whether it’s a discount, exclusive deal, advance access, tips, how-tos, advice, or something else, make sure the value is stated on your email sign-up form.

2. Give ’Em a Sneak Peek

You can give folks a sneak peek of what they’ll get by joining your email list. How? By providing tangible examples of your emails, newsletters, and invitations right on your website. This gives them a chance to “try before they subscribe.”

At VerticalResponse, we archive our weekly VR Buzz e-newsletter so folks can preview what they’ll see before they hand over their email addresses. Also, once they’re a subscriber, if they happen to miss a newsletter, they always have easy access to it.

3. Subscribe (Opt-in) Everywhere

Sending emails to your subscribers is all based on getting their permission first. Here’s where your “join my list” form—also called an opt-in form—comes into play. An opt-in form is priceless because, when people willingly give you their email addresses, they’re saying they want to hear from you. And by getting opt-in permission, you build a relationship and gain trust. It’s a win-win for both parties.

Tip: Make sure you keep your forms short, and easy.  Also, give folks the opportunity to sign up whenever they contact or interact with your business, including from multiple pages on your website (homepage, contact page, pricing page, etc.), your blog, your Facebook profile, transactional emails such as receipts and invoices, and at events or tradeshows.

4. Get Them to Pass It On

The ability to forward an email to a friend seems to have been around since the dawn of email marketing (trust me, I was there), but it’s amazing how many people still don’t include the forwarding ability in their emails.  This is a missed opportunity, especially now that people are totally accustomed to sharing any messages that they think friends or co-workers might get value from or enjoy.

Encourage the forward by saying something like: “Share this email with friends you think might enjoy it!” All email service providers should allow you to insert a forward to a friend link very easily when you create your email. The bonus is that an email service will usually include an option to sign up for a mailing list in these forwarded emails, and that will add to list growth!

5. (Social) Sharing is Caring

Make sure that every email you send can be shared by your current subscribers on their social media networks. Most email service providers let you include social media buttons in your emails that allow recipients to share your message on Facebook and Twitter.  Reporting and tracking will allow you to see how many people are sharing your messages.

There you have it:  Five sure-fire (and easy) ways to grow your email list. Have any to add to my list? Share them in the comments!

Did you enjoy this post? If so, sign up for the free VR Buzz weekly newsletter and check out the VerticalResponse Marketing Blog.

About Janine Popick
Janine Popick is the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse, a provider of online marketing tools for small businesses that include email marketing and social media marketing. Janine brings over 20 years of experience leading direct and Internet marketing programs for some of the biggest brands in technology and entertainment.

About VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse Inc., a subsidiary of Deluxe Corporation, provides a full suite of online marketing tools to help small businesses connect with their customers on email, social media, mobile, and more. More than 1 million users worldwide have relied on the VerticalResponse platform to easily create, manage, and analyze their own marketing campaigns, all from a single account. For more information visit www.verticalresponse.com, or connect on Twitter and Facebook.

The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards gala awards banquet took place this past Friday in Seoul, South Korea where five Grand Stevie Award winners were announced along with Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners.

The Grand Stevies were conferred upon the five highest-scoring Gold Stevie Award-winning entries from the five nations that submitted the most entries to the 2014 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.  Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners were announced in April. 

The Grand Stevie Award winners are:

• Maras Group, of Adelaide, Australia.  Steve Maras, Managing Director & CEO of the firm, won Gold for Services Executive of the Year in Australia.

• PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Tbk (Telkom Indonesia) Jakarta, Indonesia, which had won a Gold Stevie for Technology Company of the Year

• PartspARTs & IMSEONOC, Seoul, South Korea. 
  IMSEONOC's Korean Uniform for the 2015 Sochi
  Winter Olympic Closing Ceremony had won
  a Gold Stevie.

• ABS-CBN, of Quezon City , the Philippines,
  which won one of their two Gold Stevie Awards
  for Services Company of the Year.

• Delta Air Lines - Asia Pacific Customer Engagement and Sales Support Center, Singapore, Gold Stevie winner for Customer Service Leader of the Year.           

 

The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards are the first new Stevie Awards program to be launched in seven years.  This business awards program was open to all organizations operating in the 22 nations of the Asia-Pacific region. 

Review the full list of Stevie Award winners here.

The 2014 awards offered 18 categories to choose from including Technology Company of the Year, Servcies Company of the Year, and Fastest Growing Company of the Year. We congratulate those who were awarded with a Stevie Award this past Friday.

Join the mailing list for the 2015 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards and you'll be emailed the entry kit as soon as it's available this fall.

The entry kit for the 2014 (11th annual) Stevie® Awards for Women in Business is now available and entries are being accepted.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

The early-bird entry deadline, with discounted entry fees, is July 23.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are the world's top honors for female entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and the organizations they run. All organizations and individuals worldwide are eligible to submit entries. Startup of The Year is a new category this year, and the entry fees for the New Product and Services categories have been reduced significantly.

The entry kit contains all of the information you'll need to be able to prepare and submit entries to this year's awards. The final entry deadline is August 27, but late entries will be accepted through September 24 with payment of a late fee.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business feature categories to recognize achievement in many facets of worklife, including

* Entrepreneur Awards
* Executive Awards
* Management Team Awards
* Company of the Year Awards
* PR Awards
* Marketing Awards
* New Product Awards
* Website & App Awards
   and More

Wondering how you or your company can benefit from entering the Stevie Awards for Women in Business? Past winners share their experiences:

Winning a Stevie "shone a bright light on Signature HomeStyles’ mission to make a difference … one home at time. The Stevie Awards helped create more awareness about our company with articles appearing in the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Daily Herald, and other news outlets."
--- Madolyn Johnson, founder and CEO of Signature HomeStyles

"The town where I lived at the time I received the award -- Davie, Florida --  was so proud of and impressed with my Stevie Award that they named a day after me!  I never could have anticipated that this type of recognition would elicit such a response from my community, and I am grateful that the judges acknowledged the importance of supporting those with autism.  Winning the Lifetime Achievement Stevie Award was one of the high points of my career."
--- Valerie Herskowitz, president of the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists

“I encourage every woman in business to explore the Stevie Awards program and consider nominating yourself or another worthy advocate for the awards. The Stevie Awards staff and community are incredibly supportive and insightful. Going through the nomination process is fun and generates powerful self-discovery. Take that step – find your voice!”
--- Liz Ryan, founder of Human Workplace

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in five programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and a new program, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.