HTML Email - Marketing that Works!

Something I am adding to my roster of available services is HTML Email by way of Mailchimp. I have had a lot of success using html emails for Barrett's Baked Goods, and I am in the process of developing a template and campaign process for New Leaf Farms.

These two clients each require a different strategy.

For Barrett's I create a unique design for each mailing. This is because each mailing is usually seasonal or for a specific holiday, and I tune the look for that purpose. Also, there are different visial elements for each one of their mailings, so reusing a template is not the best solution. We untilize a handwritten "guest book' on the counter at their location and a mailing list sign up form on their website to harvest addresses. I also add any users who submit the contact form from their website to the subscriber list. At the time of this post the mailing list has 551 subscribers. I am most proud number of users who actually open the emails which is approximately 43%. I am not aware of what a normal rate would be, but that is close to half the list opening messages. Also, since I am CC'ed on their website forms, I see that users are sometimes referencing items from the most recent mailing. That means they are actually looking at the content.

New Leaf Farms, a tree and pecan farm in Florida, is a project in development right now. They sent me an example html email from a competitor and asked me to make something similar. In this case they want to send out the mailing twice a month, so a template with updateable elements seems to be the best solution. There are three elements of their mailing that will change each iteration:

• Deals of the Month list - For this list they supply a text document which I need to transpose into spreadsheet form with alternate color rows. From there I make a PDF version of the table, and use the PDF to make a jpeg of the table. The jpg gets embedded in the html email, and it is clickable to open the printable PDF in a new window.
  
• Photos of Deals of the Month Trees - They send between 6 and 8 images of DOM trees, I process them to all be the same size and post them.
  
• Availability List - They send a spreadsheet of their complete inventory list which I do a bit of editing on to make into a one or two page printable PDF. I upload the PDF version and make a graphic on the template clickable to the PDF.

New Leaf is the first time I've been able to maximize the efficiency of using a template based system. This has allowed me to give them pricing for the original template build and first mailout, then a reduced price for each iteration afterwards.  Below is the template that I constructed for them as a user would see it in their email client (note: it is just a jpg, links do not work).

Couldn't Clients Just Make HTML Emails Themselves?

Yes they could. Mailchimp allows clients to run a mailing list of up to 2000 contacts for free. However, my potential clients can benefit from having me do the work for them in several ways:

• Graphic Design - Since I can do graphic design I can make their HTML email look really professional and different from a standard email. I can give it the high quality edge it needs to boost the companies image. Graphic experience also comes into play when designing elements that work well for both desktop and mobile environments, as these messages will be viewed on both.
  
• Familiarity with Mailchimp's Drag n Drop Design Interface - Even though Mailchimp have done a fantastic job of making it -easy- to create html emails, it does take a bit of trial and error to become familiar with their builder interface, and also the terminology/UX of their website as a whole. My clients often don't have that kind of time, but they do have money they are willing to pay for the service.
  
• HTML/CSS Coding Experience - Since I know HTML and CSS fairly well, if an element created using the Mailchimp wysiwyg interface is not behaving or looking exactly as I would like it, in a lot of cases I can edit the actual HTML code the system creates to meet our needs. This usually isn't necessary but I do like to have the ability in my toolbox. 

So, there is a lot of potential here. The ROI is great for clients, and the chance of consistent business is good for me. My next move may be to send out an actual HTML email that explains some of the features I've listed here and how it could help their marketing efforts in an affordable, professional way. 

Sweetwater Creek Nursery / Sweetwater Camellias Website

I'm about to launch the new Sweetwater Camellias website for Sweetwater Creek Nursery. This is a small website for a central Georgia grower that specializes in camellia japonica and camellia sasanqua. Sweetwater Creek Nursery is a wholesaler only, serving landscapers and garden construction professionals.

In this case the client wanted the website to look like their previous site which was no longer in service, but was available for viewing via The Wayback Machine. I lept the design as close as possible, however I did make the new site meet the Google Mobile Friendly criteria by utilizing the most current version of boostrap available at the time of the build.

This was a fun site to build and a great client to work with.

Current Situation

Pretty sure I am nearing the end of my run as a freelance web developer.

I'm good at some aspects of it and I'm not good at others. Additionally, the level of sites which I create don't have the "wow" factor that you can get from an off the shelf wysiwyg web building service like Wix, WordPress, GoDaddy etc. My sites are way practical and simple.

Next I have to decide if I want to try to stay in the web business at all. If so, I no longer want to work on building new site after new site. I think the next step for me would be to get with a company that has a site and be part of a team that works on that site. This may be tough to pull off as I have no compSci degree or other related things that look good on paper.

Gotta make a move in 2020 though, we'll see what happens.

Remote Working Locations - Digital Nomading in South North Georgia

Working at home is fine, but I like to get out and about and work remotely when I can. Basically anyplace with a wifi connection and a spot to plug in a laptop will work, but some places are better than others for various reasons.

Here is a list of places I frequent and what I like/dislike about them.
(In order of amount of usage)

1. Starbucks Friendship Rd  - Great location, lots of plugs, never so crowded that you can't find a spot. Thins out in the evening hours. For as long as I have been going there I have never spent a dime and no staff member has ever given me any static. I don't think they care and also probably figure if I'm there long enough surely I'll eventually buy something. My fave spot.

2. Spout Springs Rd Public Library - Another excellent location. There is a nice big table all the way to one side of the building with a plug. It is very quiet in this space so I use it when the work I'm doing is a little more thought intensive.

2.5 Duncan Creek Public Library - Great spot, very futuristic, lots of plugs, and some of the seating is actually soft! Haven't been going there much because there is a construction detour on the way there which makes me go way out of the way at the moment, but I'll put it back in the rotation once construction is completed.

3. Barnes and Noble Mall of Georgia - It's okay, not the best space. You have a choice of sitting at the coffee bar, which has plenty of plugs but you'll be battling the gigantic bright glare from the huge windows behind you the whole time, or you can get a table facing a direction that ha no glare, but your chances are slim to find one with a plug, and the workspace is very small.

4. Starbucks Across from Mall of GA - small store, has lots of USB only plugs but not too may AC plugs. This place is always crowded so getting a small table to work at is very iffy. Parking here sucks. I think that there may be a sweet spot for working here depending on what time you use the space, but I haven't fount it yet.

5. Culvers Braselton - I found a specific table in this location that is tucked away in a corner and has it's own plug. So far I have only used this space once, and the employees didn't seem to mind. The only downside about working at this spot is that eventually you'll want to get some food because it smells pretty good. Their Pot Roast Sandwich is pretty rad. Only been here once but will def try it again.

6. Mocha Moe's Braselton - I haven't been at this spot in probably close to a year. This is an indie space where you feel sort of obligated to buy something if you're gonna use their wifi. I have never sat at a table in this space that didn't wobble terribly. Try the flatbread pizza if it is still on the menu.

7. (Planning to try) Stars and Strikes Bowling Center Buford/Thirsty Turtle Bar - I actually haven't tried working here yet, but I went on a Sunday and over half of the facility was empty. They do have free wifi, I'm just wondering if I can find a spot tucked in out of the way where it won't bother them that I'm there but not bowling. Thirsty Turtle is the bar that operates inside the bowling alley, and it is one of the last places in town where you can actually smoke inside, which is gross, but the smell hasn't been too bad when I have passed through. I'll report back once I give these spots a try.

8. Local McDonalds/Arbys/BurgerKing/Wendys - I don't really do any work at these spaces usually, but they all have free wifi so occasionally I'll login and update some of my Google Sheets that I use for personal info.

Do you know of any great free wifi spots to work from in South North Georgia? Let me know!

Web Development Job Search pt.1

Although things are moving along fairly well with my web development freelancing, the amount of business I am getting is not quite consistent enough for me to make plans or grow. So, I have decided to carefully begin looking into taking a job at a company or agency for front end web development. I say "looking into" because I'm kind of funny about jobs...I want to be the right fit at the right place and positoin, and when I am, I usually stay at that spot for a long time. However, this means that my search and application process is different than some folks.

Lots of people make a resume and send it out to anyone and everyone who will accept a submission, hoping that by casting a wide net they'll land in a good spot. I can'y ping pong around life that way, I have to be more precision. So my process involves carefully screening out any positions that are at all questionable regarding my current skill set, and my estimation for what I can learn and adapt to quickly.

Also, my search is actually two-fold.

While I'm keeping an eye open for "the job", I am in a position where I think what may be a better situation at forst is to take "a job."

The Job is a career type position, full time, and will be my primary employment, and possible end or at least severely back burner my web freelancing.

A Job would be a part time 20-25hrs/wk, no heavy responsibility type position that allows me to continue giving my freelance web work equal or more importance in terms of commitment level.

I haven't done this in a while so it will be a process of refreshing and learning as things have changed since the last time I applied for a job back in 2008. Hopefully the process will be fun and educational. I'm lucky that I have my freelancing to help me out while I'm looking for my next move forward.

CSS Grid

I keep hearing about how CSS Grid is going to be the future of layout. So far I have not tried it out at all, but I plan to give it a whirl soon. At the moment I'm still using Bootstrap 4 which has elements of flexbox, but I've never really dove into flexbox either. The developer who court the convention circuit seem to be really pumped about CSS Grid though, so that I where I think my energy is best pointed. The only downside of being a bit late to the game is that CSS Grid is pretty much compatible with all modern browsers at this point. My thinking in the past was, no sense developing a skill set for a framework that can't be used universally.

Hopefully I'll have some great updates soon.

Hey Guess What I'm Still Here!

Hi Everyone,

It's been a long time since my last post and a lot of things have changed. Let me quickly bring you up to speed.

As of June 2017 I am no longer working at LandscaperWebsites.com/Porterware. I was not fired and I did not quit. Circumstances happened that made the company no longer have the income to afford an employee, so we parted ways. It stunk to lose stable employment but I will say it was a good run and I left on good terms with the owner.

So, what have I been doing since then? First I took some time to try to figure out my next move. During that span of time, some clients that I had built relationships with over the 9 years I was at LandscaperWebsites contacted me directly and asked for some help with their websites. Since I still had access to the servers their sites are on, I was able to do a few jobs for them. It was during these jobs that I decided to try my hand at doing freelance web development, site maintenance, and some seo work. We can talk later about why it's only some seo work.

At the moment I am still kicking along doing freelance sites, consulting and general web related work, mostly with the landscaper and pest control industries. If you're interested you can view more about my website offerings at robertwilliamashton.com. Give me a shout via the contact page if you need an affordable, practical, inexpensive site for your upstart business.