Sign My Personal Finance Education Petition on Change.org

Every day we hear about the “gap”. We hear about the education gap, the wealth gap, the technology gap. Some people are at a disadvantage, some people are reaping all the rewards.

But I’ve grown concerned about another gap, one that does not get nearly the attention it deserves. It’s the gap between what we’re expected to know financially, and what we’re taught.

The amount of personal finance education in this country, and the attention that it gets, is disgusting. In my opinion, if introduced correctly, financial education in our schools could have the single largest impact on the success of future generations (and the country as a whole).

And that’s why I’ve decided to act. I just created a petition on Change.org to ask our federal government to push the need for financial education throughout the country.

Please take a moment (it takes less than 60 seconds in total) to sign on.

And thank you in advance for your help!

Sign here - http://www.change.org/petitions/us-department-of-education-push-states-to-set-up-a-personal-finance-curriculum

The Power of a Phone Number in Advertising

Last week, I tried to pay attention to all of the advertising that I was exposed to. Between the ads I saw on the subway to and from work, the ads I encountered on various websites and search engines, the billboards I saw walking around New York City, and the television commercials I saw because I still watch live TV from time to time, I realized that I’m exposed to lots of it. As are most people these days.

One thing that I noticed is that many of these ads were missing one key element – a phone number.

Sometimes there was a URL or a way to click on the ad. Sometimes there was a call to “search” something online. And sometimes there was no contact information given at all. And while I don’t necessarily think that every ad needs a phone number, more often than not a phone number will help you.

Having a phone number in your ads…

• Instills confidence that a real person can answer my questions
• Allows me to take action immediately if I’m on the go
• Allows you to track calls coming from an ad

The bottom line is, if you want someone to take action when they see an ad, you had better include an easy way to do that. And the best option you have is, include a phone number.

What’s Below the Fold?

Who cares?

That’s the philosophy most internet users have. Test after test have proven that anything below the fold on a webpage is likely to go unseen more often than not.

That’s a big deal for anyone using a website to sell: goods, services, ideas, yourself.

Take a look at your website. Without scrolling, can you navigate to every page? Can you see all the calls to action? Are you missing any key messaging or information?

Now think about what your website would look like, how it would change, and how it would function, if you had to design it all over again and keep everything above the fold.

Many websites are trying to do this, putting 99% of the most important content near the top of the page. Or, if that’s not an option, making it clear that there is more content below. You can do this by allowing people to expand the page their looking at, including a “see more” option, or including on page navigation that jumps from one section to another.

For web designers and developers out there, it’s time to pay attention to usability. Users don’t want to scroll. Users want to land on a page, immediately understand what they’re looking at, and what to do next.

If it’s below the fold, it might as well not exist.

5 Reasons Your Email Isn’t Generating Clicks

Welcome to another edition of the “5 Reasons” blog series. This will be a weekly blog series, with a fresh post every Monday. Last week’s topic was “Five Reasons to Start Using Google AdWords”.

This Week’s Topic = Five Reasons Your Email Isn’t Generating Clicks

On January 14th, I wrote about the 5 reasons your email is not getting opened. But maybe you’re problem is not getting opens. Maybe your open rate is strong, and rising. But what about clicks? A good open rate does not always translate to a good click-thru rate.

Let’s take a look at 5 reasons your email isn’t getting enough clicks:

1. Needs plain text. Too many HTML emails are sent as one large image file. While your designers might brag about beautiful your emails look, your subscribers might never even see them. When I get an email from you, I have to accept images. If I don’t, you’re not getting your message across.
   
   
   
2. Needs more links. While logistically it might not make sense, I’ve seen time and time again that more links = more clicks. Placing several links to the same page within the content of your emails should make it more likely that someone clicks. Some people click on the first link they see, others read the whole email before clicking.
   
   
   
3. Needs a stronger CTA. Just including a link in your email is not enough. Your Call to Action should give someone a clear reason to click. And it should tell them to click. Just because you think it’s obvious what the action a reader should take is, doesn’t mean they will.
   
   
   
4. Needs a better offer. Your call to action might be clear and obvious, but if I’m not interested in what you’re offering, I still won’t click. Maybe your subscribers just don’t see the value in clicking through one of your emails. They either aren’t interested in the offer or don’t like the content. That’s a tougher problem to solve, but one you can diagnose with a simple survey.
   
   
   
5. Needs to be delivered at a better time. If everything else looks right, you may just need to vary when you’re actually sending the email. If your emails land in a crowded inbox, you may get people to open your email, do a quick scan, and then quickly go for the delete button. See last week’s post on email timing.

As always, if you have your own tips, please include them in the comments below.

“I” of the Consumer Week in Review

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the Mothers out there! To my Mom (yes, I’m told she reads sometimes) I want to say thank you. Thank you for everything you’ve done to support, teach, and inspire me for 28 years. You will never know the extent to which I admire and respect you. Without you, I would not be half the man that I am today.

If you spent the last week hunting for the perfect gift for Mom, you may have missed these posts:

1. 5 Reasons to Start Using Google AdWords
2. The Free Shipping Test: Try It
3. A Guest Blogging Strategy for Companies
4. #UnsubscribeFail

Happy Sunday!

Bonus - 3 Ways to Boost Your Marketing Knowledge:

1. Subscribe to my monthly newsletter to get answers to all your marketing questions
2. Ask a marketing question that I will answer in my monthly email newsletter
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