Chris Baggott's Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing By The Numbers Released!

Well we did it!  Finally, the book that many of you contributed to is available.  I hope you are as proud of Email Marketing By The Numbers  as I am.

Something like this has never been tried before.  When the publisher, Wiley, first came to me I resisted.  The reality was that I had been working on a whitepaper asking the question:  Are Business Books Relevant in the world of Blogging?

Since most authors have blogs before books (Think Chris Anderson and the Long Tail) does anyone really need to read a book any more to get the authors ideas?

What I proposed was a "Compendium" of lot's of ideas.  Not just mine, but include as many people in our industry that wanted to participate.  Call it "Book 2.0"  if you don't choke laughing :)

Anyway, this is the first time something like this has ever been attempted and you will notice some rough spots.  But like all things new, this will get better over time and hopefully represent the beginning of a new hybrid between print and online publishing.

So the next task is to make this a commercial success.  Wiley judges 'success' in this type thing as 10,000 copies sold. 

That seems like a low bar, but it depends on how much work we are all willing to put in to promote it.   

I've set up an Amazon Affiliate link which you can access:   Please use this link if you are posting on your blogs. 

I've not done this before, but apparently it kicks back 5%.   I'm hoping we collectively can blog, email and generally promote this book as well as point people to this link.   I'm not sure how we'll use the money, but it belongs to all of us so we can decide when we have something there to decide about....perhaps a donation in all our names, or a big party at some industry event.

At any rate, thank you so much for your participation.

ExactTarget Hunts for CMO

Lost in the shuffle of my new startup Compendium Software, was the fact that ExactTarget needs a CMO.  You won't find a listing online so the best way to recommend someone is to email Scott Dorsey directly.

Ken Magill wrote a little blub about it yesterday:

Wanna move to Indianapolis? ExactTarget’s Chris Baggot stepped aside in February as chief marketing officer to pursue a new venture and the Midwestern e-mail software concern is looking for a new CMO.

And no, Baggot apparently hasn’t left “to pursue other interests,” or “spend more time with his family,” as the cliché press releases always say when someone gets bounced out on his rear end. Baggot is actually, really pursuing another interest—a corporate blogging technology provider called Compendium Software—and will remain a shareholder and member of ExactTarget’s board.

Which, of course, begs the question: Is the new CMO going to have Baggot breathing down his or her neck? Not so, according to ExactTarget’s CEO Scott Dorsey.

“The CMO will have complete free reign,” Dorsey said. “We are looking to hire someone at a very senior level who will have full control over branding, demand generation and all the elements of a sound marketing strategy.”

Dorsey said ExactTarget is also looking to expand its international business, which currently accounts for about 5% of the company’s sales.

He added he realizes he may have to look outside the immediate industry.

“We have feelers out in the industry and out in the broader software-and-services industry, as well,” said Dorsey. “We’re most likely going to be hiring someone with strong software-and-service experience, but perhaps from a different field than e-mail marketing.”

Since the company was founded in 2000, it has reportedly grown to almost $20 million in annual revenue. According to Dorsey it has 225 employees, 20 of whom will report to the new CMO.

And yes, the new CMO will have to live in Indiana. “We believe it’s important to have someone in this type of strategic role based here in Indianapolis,” Dorsey said. “We’re hoping that we’ll be able to entice people to our wonderful city.”

ExactTarget is not involved in Baggot’s new venture, according to Dorsey.

Baggot also has a new book coming out this week available on Amazon.com: “Email Marketing by the Numbers: How to Use the World’s Greatest Marketing Tool to Take Any Organization to the Next Level.”

Best practice in emailing a blogger

So here is another good example of how to solicit a blogger:  A personal note on top of an apparently mass email.  I know Scott, I respect him and think the Cha Cha project is pretty cool so I support people trying it....  Good lesson.

Chris,
Here's a note that I'm sending to some of my contacts.  I'm always interested to hear your thoughts and reactions.  And I'd love to get your help getting the word out broadly.  Let me know if you have ideas and interest in helping get that job done.

I hope your new venture is going well!

Cheers,
Scott



I hope all is well with you!  I've got a BIG favor to ask.  Would you mind trying out my search engine, ChaCha, for the next month or so and give me feedback on your experience?  I think you will be impressed if you simply use it for your normal searching needs.  ChaCha has been featured in the NY Times, USA Today, Business 2.0, CNBC, Good Morning America, and other media.  See www.chacha.com/info/press <http://www.chacha.com/info/press> .

I've been using ChaCha myself since it launched last Fall and find it to be as good as Google (or Yahoo) in most situations and often better than Google when I need extra help from a "guide" (a search expert) who is at your service instantly whenever you need assistance.  (for example, when I was looking for a videogame for my boys for Christmas, my ChaCha guide found me the "good stuff" very rapidly... it would have taken me much longer).  We're getting great feedback that ChaCha is saving people a lot of time sifting through too much irrelevant information provided by the "first generation" search engines (i.e. ones that give millions of results in a split second, which isn't particularly useful).

ChaCha is like having a Free "VIP Service" at your fingertips!   You can try ChaCha out by clicking on this link:  http://try.chacha.com/?rid=142 <http://try.chacha.com/?rid=142>       Creating this search engine is where I've spent most of my time this past year.  I'd really appreciate you downloading the toolbar (and/or making it your homepage).  And, please let me know what you think of it after a few weeks!

I really appreciate it.  (and please feel free to pass this note along to anyone you know who might be willing to help out)

Warm regards,
Scott