Hasta La Gadget!

Do you have an email list for your business? I don’t just mean a list of customers who’ve bought something from you in the past, but a list of people who’ve opted-in to receive regular newsletters, special offers, or other updates from you.

If not (or if your email list isn’t growing), then you need to make it a priority.

Email is definitely not dead, and while it may not seem as exciting as the latest, greatest social network, it’s a tried-and-tested way to draw in prospects, turn them into customers, and get them to buy from you again and again.

If you focus all your efforts on building a huge Facebook following, you’re going to be limited by the constraints of Facebook itself. Even worse, a large number of your fans won’t see your updates, due to Facebook’s algorithms (and due to the sheer number of other updates they’ll be getting).

There’s also the danger that if you rely on a social network, the network itself could have a huge change of policy, start to dwindle in membership, or even cut you off from your audience (perhaps as a result of a malicious complaint, or simple error).

Your email list, though, gives you full control over what you send, and instant access to inboxes. By simply signing up for your emails, your prospect is indicating that they trust you. Although not everyone will read every single email you send them (we all get busy!), most people are much more likely to read their emails than to read every update that comes their way on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

Why Your Customer Database Isn’t Enough

By now, I’ve hopefully convinced you that an email list is a good thing. You might be thinking, though, that you already have a perfectly functional one: a list of customers’ email addresses, probably provided through your website or shopping cart.

While that’s better than nothing, it’s not a proper marketing tool. Here’s why:

• You’ll only be able to email customers, rather than prospects. A true email list allows anyone interested to sign up.
• In most cases, you’ll be severely limited in terms of what you can send. Perhaps the software only allows you to send plain text, for instance.
• Your emails may not even get through. Major email list providers, like Aweber and MailChimp (I’ll come onto those in a moment) have agreements with the main ISPs so that they can ensure your emails don’t get falsely rooted out as spam — before they ever get to the intended recipient.
• You may get complaints, or even fall foul of anti-spam laws. Customers may not want to receive emails from you, and you’ll need to carefully ensure that those who don’t want to can opt out when placing their order (and at any future stage).

So, how do you go about setting up the right type of email list, in the right way?

How to Set Up (or Improve) Your Email List

Step #1: Decide What Software You’ll Use

There are plenty of email list providers out there; some of the most popular are Aweber, MailChimp, Constant Contact and Get Response. For small businesses on a limited budget, Aweber and MailChimp are great options. (MailChimp is free up to 2,000 email subscribers.)

There are plenty of online reviews and comparisons of these different services, so set aside 30 minutes to do some research into which is likely to suit your needs best.

Step #2: Set Up Your Email List

Different email list solutions will have slightly different methods for this, but with each, you’ll need to set up a specific list. That includes setting up the welcome messages that all new members receive — such as a prompt to double-opt-in, and a message to let them know that they’re fully added to the list.

Here’s the start of the process in Aweber:

The email software will provide you with a sign-up form that you can place on your website (e.g. on your About page and in your sidebar) — this is how members join. Alternatively, you can use a tool like OptinMonster to design and place forms with greater functionality.

You may want to consider sending an autoresponder sequence to new members. An autoresponder goes out at set intervals, based on when an individual joins. For instance, you might have a welcome message on Day One, some useful tips and hints related to your industry on Day Four, and a special offer on Day Seven.

Step #3: Make Joining Easy and Attractive

One big reason why companies struggle to get new people onto their email list is because they don’t make the process easy enough. It’s crucial that you have your sign-up form in multiple places on your website: don’t just tuck it away in the sidebar and expect people to find it.

I recommend you place it:

• At the top of your sidebar (this is common practice, and it’s where people will look for the sign-up).
• On your About page (for many sites, this is one of the most-visited pages).
• In your footer, at the bottom of your page or blog post (if someone’s made it that far, they’re already engaged with your content).
• On a special, separate landing page that focuses on getting people to join the list (this allows you to give more information about the email list, and you can promote this page on social media and in guest posts).

You can even have it directly beneath your header and navigation, like this example from Social Media Examiner:

It’s also a great idea to create a valuable incentive to offer people when they join your email list. Depending on your industry, this might be a one-off significant discount on your product(s), a free ebook or fact sheet, or almost anything you can come up with that your prospects and customers genuinely want.

What next step will you take to get your email list up and running, or to improve and grow your existing list? Leave a comment below to share your plans.

In most large cities around the world, waterways are the norm, not the exception–but some places capitalize on their location more than others. These 15 cities all have unique personalities centered around their waterfronts, where visitors can stroll along bustling harbors, sample the catch of the day, and climb to the city’s best vantage points to take in panoramic views of the water. From the winding canals and historic grandeur of Venice, to the seaside splendor of Cape Town, here are our picks for the world’s best waterfront cities.

by Emily Wasserman

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Twenty years ago this Tuesday I awoke early in Oxford because I was taking a non-Jewish student President of our L’Chaim Society named Cory Booker to Israel for the first time. I was packed and getting dressed when the phone rang. It was my father calling from Jerusalem.

“I don’t think you’re coming to Israel today,” he said. “Why not?” I asked.

“Israel radio just announced the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.” The irony of hearing the shocking loss of a father figure from my actual father was not lost on me, but I had no time to mourn. I dashed to Heathrow airport to try and make the funeral in New York.

Luckily, I was already packed. I called Cory, who would later become my own Senator in New Jersey, and said, “Cory, the Rebbe just died. I can’t go to Israel with you. But I’ll arrange for someone to escort you,” which I did. Knowing my close relationship with the Rebbe, he understood.

The airline miraculously had a Jewish check-in clerk who somehow got me and about 30 other Chabad Rabbis on a flight that would get us into New York on time. It was a miserable flight with so many memories passing through my mind. Arriving at JFK amid a steady downpour, I dashed to Crown Heights and made my way into the Rebbe’s office where I saw the Rebbe cloaked in a prayer shawl. Governor Mario Cuomo was there looking somber, his head bowed. Few cried and noone spoke. Downstairs in the Rebbe’s synagogue thousands were dancing in the belief that this passing was a stage in the Rebbe’s revelation as Messiah. The celebration sickened me and I went back upstairs where they took the Rebbe’s body out in the wooden remains of his prayer stand. A wall of sound hit me, almost knocking me over, the cry of 20,000 women wailing upon seeing the Rebbe in the makeshift coffin.

I ran behind the body, losing my hat, tearing my suit, and struggling not to be trampled. The pushing became so dangerous that they put the Rebbe in an ambulance and slowly began to drive. I ran alongside, increasing my speed as they accelerated and sprinted until I could run no longer. It was only then that, as I stopped gasping for air, I began to cry. If the Rebbe were still alive he would have kept me running. But who would inspire me now?

Approximately 50,000 people attended the funeral, far smaller than other great Rabbis, like Moshe Feinstein, who had died just a few years earlier and it was mostly Chabad who attended.

The twentieth anniversary of the Rebbe’s passing is being accompanied by the portrayal of the Rebbe as the founder of Judaism with a smile. He was vastly popular, opened more Jewish educational centers than any Jewish leader in history, and helped to turn the tide of assimilation after the devastating losses of the holocaust.

But this is not the whole story and it sanitizes the Rebbe’s legacy. In truth, the Rebbe was a revolutionary. His Judaism was warm but it was also controversial and intentionally divisive. The Rebbe forced you to take a stand. He played on your conscience and made you choose. Would you practice a convenient Judaism that focused only on your own spiritual development or would you turn your personal home into a communal center, inviting in the less observant and neglected? Would you practice Judaism in private or would you be identifiably Jewish, with a kippah, in the street? Would you make peace with the world’s flaws or would you clamor for a Messianic, more perfect world?

Chabad today is mainstream and, as such, has lost some of its revolutionary ardor. It is inconvenient to rock the boat when you are the boat. Hence, we hear little today about the Rebbe’s intractable opposition on territorial concessions in Israel. Gone are the Rebbe’s battle cry that Israel’s retreat would embolden its enemies and invite further attack. We hear little about the Rebbe’s insistence that Judaism had a message for non-Jews amid its call for a universal ethical covenant.

When I made Cory the President of the L’Chaim Society at Oxford University and included thousands of non-Jewish members at our activities, it famously cost me my job as head of Chabad at Oxford. Today, of course, various Chabad Rabbis to whom I introduced Cory compete to publicly proclaim their influence on the Senator and their inclusion at our prayers at the Rebbe’s grave. But outreach to non-Jews who are not public officials remains highly controversial.

And we hear little about the Rebbe’s constant discussion about Messianism — not his personal candidacy for Messiahship, which he found vulgar and strongly rejected — but in people being fed-up with a flawed, murderous, evil world and demanding better from God. The Rebbe’s thundering cry to G-d — always done in public where he proclaimed “Ad Mosai-How much longer?” — objecting to the Creator allowing the indiscriminate murder of Jews in terror attacks, has today been replaced with a silent, religious resignation where God is always just, even as the long-promised Messiah still tarries.

Today the Rebbe is popular. But his funeral told a more honest story. He never pursued popularity and there were many who boycotted his message. He never feared controversy. It was influence, rather than numbers, that mattered. His mission was to make Jews uncomfortable with a materially driven life and he never intended for his movement to simply open centers the world over so that Jews could get kosher meals on vacation in the Caribbean or doing business in the Far East.

That Chabad can provide these essential amenities, thereby ensuring Jewish observance in the most remote places, is vital, but of secondary importance. The Chabad House’s principal purpose is to spread the influence of the Torah and make the Jewish people a light unto the nations.

The Rebbe loved all Jews and he loved all people. He despised the squandering of human potential and demanded even more of his followers when they believed they had nothing left to give. He always sought to be inspirational but was prepared to be an irritant.

At the end of the Bible Moses ascends to his burial at Mt. Nebo — unknown to us till this day — alone by God’s command. There was none to say the kaddish for him, none to offer a eulogy, no honor guard and no twenty-one gun salute. His legacy was not of the popular leader who was lauded by the people but rather the law-giver who pushed his people to aspire to holiness, often against their will.

The Rebbe, who followed in Moses’ footsteps as one of the great Jewish leaders of all time courageously trailblazed the same lonely path. Will we run alongside him?

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is founder of This World: The Values Network, the foremost organization influencing politics, media, and the culture with Jewish values. He has just published Kosher Lust: Love is Not the Answer. Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley.