We are delighted to learn more about Berufebilder.de and share their story with all of you.

Berufebilder.de

You probably know that worldwide, there are over 200 million blogs. Berufebilder.de is recognized as one of the 500 most important German blogs according the Blogger Relevance Index and one of the most widely read German Jobblogs according to Wikipedia & DIE ZEIT (the German “Times”). It’s also running the News-Service Best of HR, giving an overview about German HR-Media.

We at Nouri.sh recognize that building Berufebilder.de every day is a challenging task. We wanted to understand and share with you how Nouri.sh email newsletter and marketing adds value to their network and subscribers and helps them grow.

Today we have invited Simone Janson, a renown author, columnist and expert in HR Communications who operates Berufebilder.de for a short interview. Here is how they use Nouri.sh to engage and grow their community.

Q: Simone, please tell us more about Berufebilder.de.
A: It is all about Career, HR, Management, Digital Change and the Future of Work. What makes us stand out is our large community. Not only do we have more than 8.000 daily readers and over 10.000 subscribers to date and growing in different channels, but also a large network of Experts and Partners.

Q: What does “Berufebilder” mean and how it is related to its mission?
A: Translated it would be something like “Vocation Building”. It’s a play on words and it means to create your personal job, your personal vocation or the job of your dreams if you want to call it like this, the job that matches exactly your skills and abilities. In the digital and flexible working world of the future this will be a more and more important competence. Berufebilder.de wants to help meeting this target, giving tips, information and examples of job profiles. In German job profile means Berufsbild, which is quite a similar expression.

Q: Why did you want a newsletter in the first place? 
A: Because it’s easier to keep in touch with our network and it is more comfortable for our clients. Our readers like a weekly overview of all the news and information delivered with a personal approach.

Q: Why did you choose Nouri.sh?
A: Because we found it simple to set up, very convenient for our email marketing program and matching our ongoing and growing newsletter needs. Also the ability to set up different campaigns to segment subscribers and ability to combine different RSS feeds.

Q: How easy was it to get going with Nouri.sh?
A: In the beginning I found it a bit unusual compared to other tools, but once I understood the system, I found it much more easy and quick to use than other systems, especially the layout-design.

Q: Would you recommend us to friends/ colleagues?  
A: Yes, and I will recommend it to all my readers on http://berufebilder.de !

Q: Do you want any new specific features which will help make your Nouri.sh newsletters even better?
A: It would be nice to add customizable auto-responders for new subscribers. Also a double opt-in function.

Q: How much has your web traffic increased thanks to Nouri.sh? Do you see any change in figures already?
A: It’s difficult to say, because I started Nouri.sh together with other marketing channels. However I have already received a lot of positive feedback for the clean design of our eNewsletters powered by Nouri.sh. And last but not least, the number of our subscribers nearly doubled in less than 3 months!

Nouri.sh: Congratulations! How cool is that?!

Q: How do you intend to promote your newsletter to increase subscribers? 
A: I have already set up a subscribers-only area which brings a lot of new subscribers.

Q: Anything else you’d like to share: stats, news, info…
A: I would like to thank Nouri.sh for the great support!

Nouri.sh: Thank you Simone! It is a pleasure having you on board and learning from you!

Dear Nouri.sh readers, I hope you enjoyed today’s story. Let me know how you use Nouri.sh by emailing me at my[at]nouri.sh. Sharing your story will help us and others discover you and learn more about your business.

With any Nouri.sh paid plan you can create as many different campaigns as you need and segment your subscribers in a way to deliver the most meaningful content to each group. Nouri.sh campaign statistics and integration with Google Analytics provide you with insights into what works well for your newsletter and which aspects you can improve.

Interested to find out how Nouri.sh can also help you and your business engage with the right audience? Then drop me an email at my[at]nouri.sh – I will be glad to help you get the best out of your email newsletters with Nouri.sh.

Then email my[at]nouri.sh for the chance to have your newsletter featured on our blog for all to learn about you!

Yes, we are renewing the Featured Newsletter series!

Yes, we love helping our customers in any way possible!

Yes, we would love to have your entry and generate more awareness and exposure for you and your business!

And Yes, You win!

There is no deadline for this, but why wait!? This is a fantastic chance to get showcased and gain more subscribers, so send your newsletter now.

Don’t forget to join us on Facebook and Twitter and share your tips on how to get the best from you eNewsletter.

And last but not least, if you need any support with getting your newsletter as bright and powerful as you want it, just drop us a line! We will be more than happy to help 🙂

So it’s that time of year again, just over a week to go until Christmas Day. As consumers step up their spending we in the office are unsurprisingly winding down for a small (well deserved) break.

It is common for businesses to avoid change as the festive season approaches. This can be because it is the busiest time of year and not the appropriate moment to be changing strategies, for others they feel it is just not the time of year to get things done. People will inevitably have holiday, partners will be closed for various amounts of time, and others are simply excited for one too many glasses of bucks fizz!

Whilst we have a few more working days available, let us prepare a few treats we can give our business. After all, the Christmas indulgences may very well inhibit your judgement, so it best to outline some plans before the holidays.

A Blog

If you don’t have one, get one. It can be used in so many different ways, depending on your requirements. It allows you to have a voice, whether this is for selling, informing, helping or simply connecting with people it is a great way to compliment any social media work you do. The only thing you may need to pay for is content creation, so blogs bring a whole host of benefits for very little outlay.

An eNewsletter Campaign

Again it is essential that you have a voice and that you communicate. This could be a newsletter for your staff members, a newsletter for clients or why not just implement both! You can use content from both social media campaigns and from your blog. In fact, any source that has an RSS feed. You can tag certain posts so they only go to certain groups and the whole thing really can be tailored to your individual needs. Have a think what would benefit or add value to your company and if you have any questions please post a comment and we will get back to you.

Appraisals/Reviews

These are great opportunities to rebuild relationships with staff. If you have been focussed on a project and haven’t given them much time over the past few months, suggest a catch up. This is a great opportunity for an employee to share thoughts about their own progress and it really doesn’t need to be your analysis of them. Have a chat, make some notes and then get back to them with a plan of action. Another benefit about engaging your staff in this way is that they feel they can share ideas and solutions to their everyday problems. With your help these can be implemented, so you end up with a happier employee who has a little more spare time to make you some lovely money!

A Christmas Party

The highlight of the social calendar, new dresses, new shirts and everyone is filled with festive cheer. It is great to end a year on a high and recognising hard work with a nice meal or a few beverages is always appreciated. It is nice to remind ourselves that we work with great people and this is something we often overlook in the office. Especially in the run up to Christmas, tensions in the office can run high. A lot of people under a lot of pressure cannot end well. The great thing about socialising outside of work is you get to know and appreciate the person, not the job title.

Merry Christmas!

From the Nouri.sh team

Yes it is hard to build up momentum on social media sites, but just because it is difficult to get going it is still imperative that you give it a go.

There really is no excuse for not getting involved

It is quick and easy to create a page that can be viewed by millions of people. And you control your own destiny, the more time and effort you put in the more fans you will acquire.

Every day you avoid getting involved is a day wasted…

“How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” – Seth Godin

So let’s hit the ground running and ensure you dedicate some of your time to social media pages each week. You can use this time to tweak the look and feel of the page, interact with clients and potential clients, and if you have the time (or a sudden burst of inspiration!) collate a few ideas for future posts and comments.

Connecting with your audience

Enhance your posts with images, not just any old image but a relevant one preferably! Don’t be afraid to add text, if it is not clear what the image is trying to convey then add a few words. Even if you are repeating what you have said in your post, it is better to make it obvious from the get-go as people are naturally drawn to the images first rather than the text.

Don't let readers invent their own meaning - Annotate any ambiguous images

Another benefit is that your social media page can act as a forum where you interact with your clients. It is clear that just having a page gives you some degree of credibility, if your company name doesn’t appear in a search people are obviously going to wonder why.

Free publicity

Some people argue that social media is the cheapest form of marketing; however it can only be used as marketing tool if someone is putting the effort in to create and maintain a great page!

Team this with the services Nouri.sh offer to really exploit these great tools. Your pages can easily be turned in to RSS feeds and in turn these feeds can be used to produce a newsletter. You will be surprised how many people would love to receive a newsletter summarising all your posts rather than logging on to the social media sites every day.

Communicate! Why internal email is essential.

Avoid gossiping, address issues, eliminate hand written scribble that ends up in the trash and keep your employees in the loop. These are just some arguments for why an internal newsletter is indispensable.

Recognise that you need to communicate with staff members.

Just because we are in the digital age doesn’t mean we should stop communicating. When people have an issue and they keep it bottled up inside it will eventually, inevitably explode. Avoid your business being caught up in the mess by creating an easy-to-manage internal newsletter.

If employees don’t know the goals of the company or what is expected of them then they don’t really have a cat in hells change of achieving it. There is no need to bombard your staff with an in-depth breakdown of figures or reveal the ins and outs of your strategy, but if an employee can see where they fit in to said “big picture” then this brings a whole host of benefits.

Set the record straight.

Along with sharing positive information with your workforce, there may also be the need for damage limitation. If you can foresee an issue then it’s best to inform employees in advance. First of all they may be able to help or make provisions so they can handle the situation better themselves and secondly it gives you time to present a calming and reassuring turn of events. Someone that knows there will be a 48h technical hitch with their pay will undoubtedly be less enraged than a person who is still clicking refresh on their online banking at 5pm.

Furthermore, gossip spreads like wild fire and just like the relationship between celebrities and the press, you may wish to make an ‘official statement’.

Tailor your message

Whatever information you would like to share, blogs, social media posts, events etc… You can tailor your newsletter campaign to the audience. All you need to do is have the relevant person subscribed to the relevant campaign. You could differentiate between simple things like department or seniority, right through to people of different ages, shift patterns and even personal interests.
So come on, what are you waiting for? Connect and engage with your employees and let them know communication isn’t dead.
If you are looking for a newsletter solution with the possibility to manage multiple campaigns then I would recommend Nouri.sh. It is easy to use, can be tailored to your needs and has a dedicated customer care team.

In recent weeks we’ve received many requests for Featured Nourish newsletters. This month we were delighted to learn the exciting story of Underground Book Reviews and could not wait to share it with you.

Amy, one of the writers answered a few questions to show how they are using Nourish for their email newsletter. Here is how it has been adding value by engaging their readers:

Why did you want a newsletter in the first place? Why did you choose Nourish?
I started Underground Book Reviews last August with three other writers, hoping to help new authors gain exposure and get credit for their hard work. We offer a review and interview every week, and highlight undiscovered and up-and-coming authors. The website has gained a lot of interest in the writing community, and also appeals to adventurous readers and anyone looking for a good read that isn’t mainstream. As we grew, we began to worry that we would lose subscribers due to too many posts.

I use Feedburner, however it sends our subscribers an email every time we do a blog post. With an average of three posts a week, I worried about cluttering subscribers’ inboxes. I started looking at different possibilities, and found that most of the websites that offered a weekly newsletter required payment.

How easy was it to get going with Nourish?
I didn’t have a problem at all! The layout is user-friendly for my purposes. It worked seamlessly with my Feedburner feed. When I addressed Nourish with questions, they immediately responded and were very helpful. It’s rare to find a free online service with such great customer support.

Would you recommend us to friends/ colleagues?
Absolutely! If I had known about Nourish I would have put it on the blog as soon as I started it.

How much has your web traffic increased thanks to Nourish? Do you see any change in figures already?
Traffic has stayed steady, but our subscribers have increased. We usually gain one or two subscribers a week: in the first week we started with Nourish, we gained ten! Many more switched from our daily email option, to the weekly newsletter through Nourish.

How do you intend to promote your newsletter to increase subscribers?
The blog tends to do a pretty good job of self-promotion. With every new book we review, or author we interview, we gain subscribers. If we continue to produce quality work, we expect the blog to grow on its own. However, we’re greedy for more exposure, so we occasionally do promotions with other websites and offer book-related deals to our subscribers. We recently started a series which we call the “Emerging Author Series” in which we bring an aspiring author to the blog as a guest. After the interview or guest post, we ask our subscribers to vote to read a sample of their work. This gives the writer much-needed exposure, and encourages subscription to our blog.

Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I’m completely satisfied with the quality here, and the customer service is outstanding. You won’t be losing me any time soon!

Visit Underground Book Reviews to read more.

Offering nice prizes or inviting subscribers to vote is a fantastic way to engage your audience and identify which topics generate more interest.

With any paid level plan, Nourish allows you to create as many different campaigns as you need and segment your subscribers in a way to deliver the most meaningful content to each group. Nourish campaign statistics and integration with Google Analytics provide you with insights into what works well for your newsletter and which aspects you can improve.

I hope you enjoyed today’s story. Let me know how you use Nourish by emailing me at my[at]Nourish. Sharing examples with others is beneficial for your newsletter.

– Remember, I am here to help you get the best out of your Nourish newsletter. Reach out to me if you have questions or suggestions.

Stay creative!
Mariana

In 2011 we will continue to nourish your business communications by distributing your successful newsletters. So we decided to continue offering promotional discounts to all new and existing customers:

• Our standard discount to new customers is giving you 1 month free if you pay for 11 months.
• If you have signed up in 2010 we give you the option to prepay for 10 months and use Nourish for free for 2 more months.
• Either if you are new or existing customers you can receive a free newsletter template (worth $99) completely customized to your business’ unique look by prepaying for 22 months. On top of the free template you will get 2 more months for free.

To give you even more means for awesome year start we decided to extent our offering by introducing our personalized discounts. What do we mean by that? We will be happy to discuss your unique business requirements and prepare a custom proposal especially for you! Did I say at no obligation, just as a special gift from us!?

Just use the comments form below or email me directly at my @ nouri.sh to express your interest and I will be in touch promptly.

Don’t miss this out. We at Nourish look forward to helping you make 2011 your best year yet!

* Pay for 11 months and get 1 free (standard discount)

* Already have a Nourish account? – Prepay for 10 months and get 2 free (offer is available for all clients)

* Pay for 22 months and get 2 free + a free template + support with website form integration – Sign up now and receive a template completely customised for your business. Choose your own colour scheme, logo and design for a completely unique look to your newsletter!

Express your interest using the comments form below or emailing me at
my @ nouri.sh

I will be glad to answer any questions you may have or assist you with choosing the best plan for your business.

Offers only available to the end of the month. Don’t miss out – sign up now for your Nourish early Christmas gift!

… Enter our newsletter competition then by sending your newsletter to my[at]nouri.sh

We intend to award a feature every month and there is no deadline for this contest but why wait!? This is a great chance to get showcased and gain more subscribers. Send me your newsletter now at my[at]nouri.sh so that we generate awareness and exposure for you from our blog!

Join us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to follow our discussions and share any comments and statistics you may be willing to share with us and other followers.

And remember if you still need a little help getting your newsletter as smart and powerful as you want it, just drop me a line, I’ll be happy to help 🙂