News
Welcome! Join us for client publication news and updates, plus explore our thoughts on publishing, marketing, and customer service, as well as new technologies and ideas to make your next project soar!
Monarch Media is the new publisher of Austin Lawyer
Monarch Media & Consulting, Inc. is thrilled to announce that we are the new publisher of Austin Lawyer, the official publication of the Austin Bar Association. Austin Lawyer is published 10 times per year and features articles written by, and about, the Austin legal community. With over 4,000 legal professionals reading Austin Lawyer, the publication keeps attorneys and their clients up-to-date with the ever-changing developments in law.
Beginning with the July/August edition, Monarch Media will be providing complete custom publishing services including promotion, advertising sales and administration, design, and production.
We are excited to be working with the Austin Bar Association to provide a vehicle for the organization’s communications as Austin Lawyer continues to strive to be a primary information resource for Austin’s legal community.
A New Perspective on Marketing Emails
I do a lot of emailing, and I try to provide good content in each message along with an offer for purchase for one of our varying client’s products. In the process of emailing, I have found that having a good email list is challenging from a time commitment standpoint. If a client doesn’t have a solid email list, then it’s up to me to research and seek out who are potential customers – this takes time. Your list is only as good as what you have to offer them. If your offer is engaging and gets people to open your email, then your time spent building a list will begin to pay off.
My main job is sales, and I often grow weary of making the continual ask. I ran across this article by Jeanne Jennings, and it’s given me a new perspective on emails. Maybe my emails need not always be marketing focused – what a concept! I think I’ll try this out.
Here’s the complete article on how content marketing drives sales through editorial service emails with some tips on how to go from “marketing” emails to informative emails to turn prospects into customers.
What are some techniques you use in your email campaigns that result in positive click-through statistics?
— Chellie Thompson, Cofounder, Monarch Media & Consulting, Inc.
My Out-of-Control Inbox
How many emails hit your inbox in a day? I recently sat next to someone at a seminar who said she received close to 500 emails each day. Wow! I then started pondering how I would deal with 500 emails each day and decided that if this ever happened I’d need an assistant or at least a good stylist to cover the gray hair that would ensue. That seems like a crazy high number to me and I have to wonder how much of that is newsfeed type emails. I do receive a lot of newsfeed emails, but I also asked that company to populate my inbox. If it gets to be too much, then I can always unsubscribe. These messages typically get a quick glance and a decision to “read later” or “delete.”
How do you manage your inbox? I’m just curious. I recently devoted an afternoon to clean out my inbox as it had swelled to over 400 messages. I know there are IT folks who are cringing at this confession, but it’s true. It doesn’t take long to have an out-of-control inbox! Granted I have a lovely “filing” system within my inbox, and it takes a mere second to drag a read message to the right folder, but I seem to always forget this step. At face value I do have a system. I flag messages that need follow-up and assign a reminder date. I mark messages as “unread” when they require more immediate action, and on a good day I move messages out of the inbox that I have answered and don’t need further action. Is this the normal approach or is there a better way? If you have a system in place and don’t mind sharing, feel free to comment. I’d love to hear what works for you!
— Chellie Thompson, Cofounder, Monarch Media & Consulting, Inc.
Customer Service – A Plan
When we set out to start Monarch Media, we made a plan. It was a rough outline of the services we wanted to provide, markets we felt comfortable working with and a timeline to a launch date. In essence, it was the first draft of our business plan. We did eventually formalize this initial plan into the business plan we are using today, but it all started with a few thoughts. I hope if you are in business you do have a business plan that you review quarterly, amend annually and use as your guide to grow your business.
So, the internal plan is in motion. How about the plan for external customer relations? Do you have a customer service plan? You may not have heard of such a thing, but really a customer service plan guides you every day with each interaction you have from business to personal. Do you have standards for what makes good customer service? Do your employees or coworkers know these standards and follow them?
One basic customer service rule that I try to adhere to every day is our quick response standard. When an email arrives in my inbox, I respond immediately letting the sender know I received their message. If I’m able to respond to their request, then all the better! If I need some time to respond, I’ll let them know that in my initial email. Maximum time to respond is 24 hours. This same time frame applies to a voicemail. Yes we’re all busy, but your customer has a question and they took time to contact you, so you need to do the same.
I’m convinced that if you respond promptly to your customers they will notice, and they are more likely to stick with you as a customer (and maybe even tell others). I encourage you to add a section for customer service to your business plan and review it quarterly right along with the other sections.
— Chellie Thompson, Cofounder, Monarch Media & Consulting, Inc.
Congratulations, Sue!
We want to congratulate one of our earliest clients, Sue Melton, for her BIG win last week in the state elections. She will be serving as the State Board of Education member for District 14! We are so proud to have been a part of her team. Way to go, Sue!
Read more about her campaign and win here.
Blog Relationships
Have you found your customers wanting more of a relationship with you, and is your blog helping achieve this? Having just spent a couple of hours in a social media seminar, this article by Michael Sheridan at Social Media Examiner caught my attention this morning on how to cultivate relationships through your blog. From the seminar last night, I learned the face of advertising is changing into relational marketing as opposed to a static ad in a magazine or on a website. Consumers want to be heard, and static ads don’t allow for this interaction; but your blog does. Here are few tips to build relationships with your consumers through your blog.
— Chellie Thompson, Cofounder, Monarch Media & Consulting, Inc.
Email Marketing Still Preferred
I recently read an article on marketingland.com which confirmed my suspicions. In a world of social media, people still prefer to receive marketing information by email above all other methods.
As I embark on a large phone campaign to obtain email addresses, I hope this article holds true! For the complete article, click here.
— Chellie Thompson, Cofounder, Monarch Media & Consulting, Inc.
Customer Service – Understanding
It’s about understanding. A few weeks ago I wrote (or ranted) on customer service, and I’m continuing to expand on the points I briefly mentioned. One such point being understanding.
You have to understand and find value in your product. If you don’t believe in it then how are you going to convince others to believe in it?
I’ll step away from the business world for a moment and apply this to my personal life. We are in the throws of finding what type of discipline works best for our 3-year-old. I haven’t found one that is completely successful because I haven’t found a solution I truly believe will work – yet. So with each tantrum we continue to try things that will deter the behavior. It’s a learning process. It takes time, but it begins with us – the parents.
This is true in sales as well. If you are a business owner and you have a product to sell or a service to provide, it starts with you. Do you believe in it? If you don’t, then odds are you probably aren’t going to be successful at selling it or training someone else to sell it. Of course it does take time to learn products and services, so give yourself (and your sales people) some slack at first. How much slack is up to you, but if they are commissioned, you’ll find people will be motivated to do their homework and learn at a much quicker pace knowing their knowledge will be directly reflected in their paycheck! But, do encourage them to believe in what they are selling. It will be reflected in their performance (and your bottom line).
— Chellie Thompson, Cofounder, Monarch Media & Consulting, Inc.
Ballet Austin Guild
Monarch Media is proud to team with the Ballet Austin Guild to produce the 18th Annual Women On Their Toes print program. This year Women On Their Toes honors outstanding volunteers from Badgerdog Literary Publishing, Breast Cancer Resource Center, The Trail Foundation, Hospice Austin, The Amala Foundation, New Milestones Foundation, Texas Hearing and Service Dogs, Assistance League of Austin, The Christi Center, and Breakthrough Austin. Learn about the honorees here.
The April 10th event features a fashion show by Estilo and helps support Ballet Austin Guild volunteer activities like the Docent Program (helping to introduce ballet to thousands of area grade school children) and other educational activities and volunteer work.
Tickets to Women On Their Toes are still available. Visit balletaustin.org.
In addition to graphic design, Monarch Media successfully implemented an advertising sales campaign for the 20-page program generating revenue to help support the event. It’s been an honor to work with talented Ballet Austin Guild committee members, Ballet Austin staff and volunteers. Thank you!
Customer Service – “Listen to me”
“Listen to me.” This statement can lead to your success or your failure very quickly. I have long been told, as many of us have, to treat others like you want to be treated. This is the golden rule of customer service. Think of the worst customer service experience you have encountered. For me, it came recently when unauthorized transactions appeared on my bank statement. My initial phone call I thought fixed the problem, but in reality four calls later, more fraudulent charges later, I found myself walking away from a banking relationship that began 12 years earlier. In an earlier blog post I mentioned a few things that make good sales people. This first one was listening. If each person I spoke with on the phone had listened they would have pulled up my account and verified the debit card had been canceled like I mentioned on each call. Ultimately the fourth phone call achieved the goal I set out to accomplish with my first call. It should never take four calls. They lost a client, and I don’t want you to do the same.
From the very first opportunity you have to make a current client happy, make it count! From the first opportunity to talk about your product or service with a potential client, make it count! Don’t assume you’ll have another opportunity. You have to make those first ones count and it all begins with listening. I’m adamant about sales people providing the highest level of customer service. Look for future posts on this topic!
— Chellie Thompson, Cofounder, Monarch Media & Consulting, Inc.