Denver Kids, Inc.

Denver Kids just celebrated their 60th anniversary last year. The organization began as Denver Boys, Inc. in response to the aftermath of World War II and the growing prevalence of single-parent households. Teenage boys would drop out of school to help support their families when their fathers didn’t return home from the war. In order to combat this growing trend, Denver Boys enabled youth to gain employment while completing their high school educations. By the 1970’s, it became increasingly apparent that female students also were in need of mentoring, counseling, and educational opportunities; hence Denver Girls, Inc. was formed. In 1993, both organizations merged to become Denver Kids, Inc. and the consolidation of the two organizations was considered to be cost-effective and practical due to the many similarities in services, mission and resources.

Today Denver Kids’ mission is to help students, grades K-12, who face the personal challenges of higher risk environments, successfully complete high school, pursue post-secondary options and become productive members of society.

They serve approximately 800 at-risk kids annually. Most of these kids come from single parent homes, live at or below poverty level, and come from under-educated families. However, after being assigned to a counselor and paired with a volunteer mentor, amazing things happen that help ensure these kids stay on the right track. After one-year in the program, school attendance rates improve by as much as 40%. Over 94% of those enrolled in the program advance to the next grade and don’t get left behind by their other classmates. Kids that go through the Denver Kids program have a 20% higher graduation rate than the rest of the students from Denver Public Schools.

So you can see that the organization really does some amazing work. You can be a part of this amazing work and make a difference in one of these kid’s life—become a Mentor. We invite you to learn more about mentoring opportunities with Denver Kids their next Mentor Mixer:

What: Denver Kids Mentor Mixer
When: April 24, 2007, 5:30 – 7:30P
Where: Wynkoop Brewery

If you are interested, contact the Denver Kids Volunteer Director, Penny Stanley at 720-423-8133 or penny_stanley@dpsk12.org.

5 Critical Elements for Effective Email Marketing Campaigns

XploreNet subscribes to what we call the E3 Code of Conduct, which stands for Email Etiquette and Ethics.  The code is made up of the following five principles of conduct as it relates to using e-mail as a marketing communication channel.  Followed correctly, you will increase your chances of maintaining e-mail subscribers and mitigate the risk of alienating them.

Opt-in Only – Only send e-mails to those who have opted-in, or those who have knowingly given you their e-mail address in some form or fashion.

Frequency Sensitivity – Plan and maintain a communication stream for each of your opted-in subscribers (or lists) so you can manage the frequency with which you send messages.  Some people may sign-up for e-mails that you send as frequently as weekly, but for the most part a good rule of thumb is not to exceed more than 2 per month.

Unsubscribe Ability – Give each recipient the ability to unsubscribe at any time on any e-mail.

Relevant Content – Do not abuse the permission level that a subscriber has granted you.  Communicate clearly at the time you request someone’s email address the type of information and content that you intend to send them and then stick to it.

Tone – Never forget who you are talking to.  Remember that your recipients are customers, or prospective customers.  Speak to them in your e-mails in a tone and manner that you would speak to them in person.  Never talk down to them and always maintain a polite and appreciative tone.  Realize that your ability to communicate with them can be eliminated with the simple click of a mouse (i.e. if they choose to click on “Unsubsribe”).

To learn more about email marketing communication solutions from XploreNet visit our website, or email us at info@xplorenet.com.

Implementing an E-Commerce Strategy

Excerpt from Webplicity - The Critical Guide to Successful Web Strategies by Bill Young

The first step in implementing an ecommerce program is to identify which products you will sell. For our purposes we’re covering products that can be bought online and then, either downloaded or shipped to the customer. Next, you’ll need to review the shopping process options. This is usually referred to as the shopping cart. How do you pick the right option?

Choosing an online shopping cart that fits your needs is a critical decision. Similar to a brick and mortar retail establishment, the shopping process on your Web site is your only opportunity to impress potential buyers. If the shopping process is hectic and difficult, a retail store can go out of business, very quickly. This is true for your Web site’s shopping cart, as well. If the user has problems, he’s gone. In fact, the most important part of the shopping cart is the customer’s private information and credit card numbers. If you do not deal with this information in the right method, you’ll lose sales. Security is paramount.

There are several options when it comes to shopping carts. They range from Web-based systems where your site simply links to the cart, or on-site systems that require programming to integrate the cart into the site. The three main categories include merchant services like eBay, hosted shopping carts, and integrated shopping carts.

Merchant shopping carts like eBay require you to utilize your own merchant account and gateway. A merchant account is the bank account that enables your site to take credit cards, while the gateway enables the transaction to be completed over a secure Internet connection. A site like eBay will allow you to use their system (merchant account and gateway), but you pay higher fees. A merchant service is perfect for companies that are just starting their business or do not have a significant amount of transactions.

Hosted shopping carts are similar to a merchant system except they include the merchant account, gateway, and shopping cart. They typically charge an upfront set-up fee and then a small fee for each transaction. This is also good for a small business just starting out. The negatives of this choice include a templated cart (your image may not match their offerings) and few functional options other than the base plan.

An integrated shopping cart is a full custom, programmed cart. You receive all the “bells and whistles” and can often leverage many different technologies to up-sell or cross-sell various items. This process is the best option; however, it will be the most costly.

Once you’ve chosen the best option for your ecommerce process, you will need to run tests with usability (How easy is the cart to use?), marketing tools (How do you get the user to the cart?), and up-sell or cross-sell opportunities (How do you set up accounts and when do you offer more options?)

Completing the Sale

Now that you’ve chosen your options, how do you make sure users complete the sale? Here are some helpful tips:

Make the shopping experience simple: Make sure the products are easy to locate, that pictures and graphics match the product, and that product descriptions are easy to read.

Provide detailed explanations: Explain both your shopping process and other policies in detail. Show a diagram and explain in words, how the person can, and will, shop your site. The more specific your directions are, the more shoppers you will retain.

Common sense check out: Allow the customer to purchase products and/or fill up their shopping cart and then ask for payment. During the payment process, ask for detailed information about the customer. Don’t ask for this information before they enter their credit card number and don’t over do the questions on the detailed information. Their dog’s favorite toy might not be appropriate – stick to the basics – contact information and customer feedback.

Multiple shipping options: Use a shipping company that has on-line order tracking. Make it easy for your customers to use this.

Dividing sections: Make sure your products are divided into categories that make sense. For example, you will want all the wood products to be together, and separate from the metal products, or your consulting services to be separate from your financial services.

Accept credit cards: The great advantage of on-line shopping is its immediacy. The entire transaction should be completed in just a few minutes. Customers will simply leave and go elsewhere where the need for instant completion of the transaction can be fulfilled if your process takes too long, or in the extra time they have before completing the transaction customers may change their minds about purchasing form you. Also, remember that credit cards are by far the easiest way for non-U.S. customers to order directly from the U.S.

Confirm Orders: Make sure the customer not only receives a page saying, “Your order has been received” (or something similar), but also the ability to print out a receipt for their records and receive a confirmation email.

Provide Help Areas: Create a help area similar to FAQ (frequently asked questions). This area should include the FAQs along with methods to get in touch with you, and a link to your live chat tool, if you have one. Address problems that may come up and solve them online whenever possible.

List Important Information: Your customers should be able to place an order without a hassle. Make sure they don’t have to fill out three pages of forms before the order is accepted. Receive important information for your database, like name, address, preferences, zip code, etc. after they have placed their order. The fewer steps and shorter the process, the more likely the customer is to complete the sale.

Remember International Customers: Don’t lose orders by narrowing your market just to your home country. Make sure your order form takes international zip codes and provides a valid payment processes. Many sites reject orders if the zip code is not a valid U.S. zip code. International customers have money just like Americans. Many will find your site on a search engine and if your interface is “internationally friendly” they may order. At least give them the option.

More information/order Webplicity - The Critical Guide to Successful Web Strategies.

Social Media

Ten years from now, will we ever leave our houses?

If we don’t already, we’ll all be able to work from home, order groceries from home, get all of our entertainment delivered – maybe even our kids will go to school at home through video-linked teaching. The only thing we’d need to leave our houses for would be to meet other people – or would we?

Whether that’s your ideal futuristic vision or the prelude to a 21st century version of Dante’s Inferno, the technology that will make it all possible revolves around social media. Social media is the umbrella term for instant messaging, blogs, MySpace, and every other form of online communication, all of which have flooded into mainstream web use in the last couple of years.

While wildly popular, they have also been received with skepticism and fear. After all, that hilarious prank your friends videotaped in high school no longer disappears in a pile of defunct VHS tapes, it instead premiers on the worldwide Top 10 list on video-sharing website YouTube.com and is part of the public domain forever. (So much for your political career.)

Internet fatalists claim that social media is contributing to the destruction of our culture and society by enabling people to have impersonal interactions via the internet instead of face-to-face encounters. There are plenty of studies from reliable sources, including Stanford University , that say that the internet is the ultimate isolating technology. Then again, people said that about the telephone in the early 20th century, too.

On the upside, social media, when used well, can be a great connector and communicator. Whether that means you and your friends stay more connected through blogs, your employees use instant messaging or inter-office RSS feeds to keep each other up-to-date whether they’re in or out of the office, or your customers get a regular podcast of your latest product developments, social media can work to your advantage.

What’s your take? Join the conversation and tell us how and why you use (or don’t use) social media.