I’m a huge Phoenix Suns fan.  I have enjoyed their strong regular season win-loss records for the past 20 years.  No team in the NBA has a better regular season winning record than the Phoenix Suns over the past 20 years.  But championships aren’t won in the regular season.  Championships are won in the playoffs when mental toughness, not talent, is the most important characteristic of a team.

This year I hoped we would finally break through.  We traded Shawn Marion (who I love as a player) for Shaquille O’Neal.  As much as I hated to lose Marion, I believed it was a good trade that would help us in the Playoffs when toughness would be required.  Shaq’s tougher than Marion.  And some of the other guys have stepped up their toughness.  But one thing is still missing…

The leader of the team is the coach.  And although I like a lot of things about the Suns’ coach, Mike D’Antoni, I really don’t like his mental toughness.  It’s weak, simply put.  In Game 1, he made so many crucial mental mistakes in crunch time that I was yelling at the TV like an idiot.  I’ve since seen the error of my ways and calmed down… a little 

Toughness.  NBA Championship coaches have it and their teams mirror their coaches’ toughness in the way the teams play.

What does this mean for entrepreneurs?  You’ve gotta be mentally tough to win, to lead your team, to accomplish something so many others say you can’t accomplish.  You’ve gotta be smart, calculated, hard-nosed and tenacious in your pursuit of your entrepreneurial goals.  And if you’re leading a group of people, I can promise you this, if you don’t develop the mental toughness your company needs, your people will not exhibit that toughness in their work every day.

Our re-branding initiative has created quite a stir.  One of my all-time favorite bloggers, Paul Greenberg, called us out in a recent blog post.  You can see my reply on his blog.  Suffice it to say, our focus is on entrepreneurs and small businesses and what they need to efficiently GROW their businesses, regardless of what the market calls our software.

As I said in my reply to Paul, I think eMarketing software more accurately describes the marketing automation software we provide to help small businesses grow fast.  Simply put, eMarketing software is automated, integrated marketing and sales.  And I think automated, integrated marketing and sales (or eMarketing software as we say) is the future of small business.  Whatever it’s called, I think Paul and I agree on the fact that automated, integrated marketing and sales is the future of small business.

In CRM Magazine, writer Marshall Lager’s coverage of our re-branding pointed out that Aberdeen Group’s research bodes well for our focus on marketing automation.  Lager said:

Infusionsoft may be tapping into emerging market demand. According to research from Aberdeen Group, “the average small business does not have the luxury of many disparate solutions due to budget and resource constraints, but…they are aware of the benefits of these technologies.” In fact, Aberdeen says, 76 percent of small businesses — which the research firm defines as having annual revenues of less than $10 million — do not currently use marketing automation solutions, but 66 percent are planning to implement them over the next 2 years. Aberdeen also suggests that all organizations are “starting to assess the strategic value of integration between sales and marketing technologies.”

Hmmm… “The strategic value of integration between sales and marketing technologies” ???  Sounds like eMarketing to me. 

When I did my MBA program about 10 years ago at BYU’s Marriott School of Management, there weren’t many schools in the country offering an Entrepreneurship track.  I had one class on running small and family-held businesses, which was outstanding.  But beyond that, there wasn’t much offered.

Lately, I’ve noticed more and more universities and b-schools offering up Entrepreneurship degrees and MBA tracks.  I think that’s GREAT!  And I have some pretty strong opinions about what should be offered.

So, the other day when I read Scott Shane’s post on Anita Campbell’s blog, I had to chime in.  Scott’s original post and the many replies are seriously worth the read for any entrepreneur.  Check it out.

Infusion users send a lot of email. By “a lot” I mean over 250,000,000 messages in 2007! We’ve worked hard here at infusion to build the technological infrastructure and to establish the relationships in the email deliverability industry to get our user’s email delivered. However, much of the success of getting email delivered rests solely with the sender using best practices. The following are a few tips to help:

1. Focus special attention on the beginning of the email relationship
The most significant decline in email performance comes a couple months after recipients opt in. Engage your new subscribers immediately with an orchestrated campaign that includes a welcome message that is sent out upon confirmation, followed by something of value like the current newsletter or promotion, or emails offering a set of best-of newsletter articles or an email-exclusive offer just for newcomers.

2. Clearly establish expectations
Make sure you manage subscribers’ expectations from the start by adequately explaining the email program’s value proposition, frequency, type of content and privacy policies. Be sure to mix-up sales pitches with valuable content targeted at your subscriber. Don’t be a “blastard”.

3. Test, Test, and Retest
What worked for you just a few months ago might not work today. Companies need to test variables continuously, including format, design, copy style and calls to action, subject line approach and offers, personalization, content types or product categories. Start with simple A/B split tests, and repeat the test at least a few times to verify results.

4. Use Content Best Practices
Don’t try to be tricky with subject lines or introductions. Proof your work and use a content checker. Use a rendering tool to make sure your email formatting appears correctly in a number of different email clients. Use targeted, relevant content that provides valuable information to your subscribers.

5. Get Permission!
It might seem obvious, but without doubt the number 1 way to get your email delivered is to get and confirm permission from your subscriber. Capturing an opt-in and confirming it with a follow-up email is the best practice to ensure you only add recipients that want your email.

The email deliverability landscape is always changing as ISPs try to keep ahead of the SPAMers. The thoughts above are just a few of the many best practices used to get email delivered. Post your ideas on what works and share your success tips and trick a little effort, everyone should be able to have successful and profitable email marketing campaigns.

I’ve spent some time recently with John Jantsch, a great guy who really knows his stuff when it comes to small business marketing. He’s written one of my favorite books on the subject, Duct Tape Marketing, and we recently did a podcast together where we talked about the real engine of business growth - marketing automation. Check it out. I think you’ll be glad you listened.