Getting a 100% open rate every time you send out an email is more or less a pipe dream. Even when you send an important announcement to your customers, you can be confident that one of two things can happen: 1) people will complain they never got the email or 2) automatically delete the email. Now that we have have gotten the reality check out the way, I should add that if your open rate is zero, then you should definitely reevaluate your strategy.

Let’s start with the core of it all, your database. If you are building your email list with nothing but an email address (not even a name), then your chances of segmenting your list are nil and you’re blindly sending all of your customers the same content time after time. Now, let’s think about this for a second, don’t you think it makes more sense for a small/medium size business to collect as much information about their customers as possible? Why would I send all my customers information about my graphic design services when half of them came to me to design and code HTML email templates?

Let’s take a look at the cross-section of the Mailchimp list shown in Figure 1.1, it has more fields than your usual email address and name, but it allows for the creation of segments for the specific purpose of tailoring content.

Figure 1.1

Isn’t there more work involved with doing that? You bet! First, it requires for you to collect more information from your customers and also generate different content for them. If you want to differentiate yourself from the competition, that usually means going the extra mile.

If you are willing to put in the extra work, your distribution list will be more receptive to your content and your open rates will improve.

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Either approach actually works, sort of. For some weird reason, when RSS feeds are introduced in a regular campaign, the fluid layout (assuming you are working with a responsive email template) is affected. The first sign of that problem can be observed in Mailchimp’s ‘pop-up preview’ feature, where the smartphone simulator screen displays the design being cut off on the right side of the screen. Initially, I thought the problem had been introduced by a two column layout being added to the template. However, after extensive testing, I saw how the design was actually being affected only when RSS feeds were being introduced. Here’s a screenshot of the behavior being displayed in Mailchimp’s ‘pop-up preview’ window:

Here’s another screen shot of how the problem gets magnified on a smartphone using Android:

As I said before, it was only after a long an tedious debugging process that I found the RSS feed tags themselves to be the culprit (when used inside a regular campaign). Please keep in mind that the behaviour was only observed when working with a responsive email template. The odd behaviour in the ‘pop-up preview’ window prompted me to send an actual test to my iPhone, but much to my surprise, the email came through looking perfect just as I had seen it initially in browser testing. Still a little skeptic, I decided to run Mailchimp’s Inbox Inspector (powered by Litmus), which still showed everything looking good for Android 4.0 and Windows 7.5 powered smartphones. Well, you know how they warn you that the Litmus tool is a good reference, but still not a 100% representation of an actual device rendering? This was one of those situations. The problem was actually brought to my attention by the client, who received a test email on his Android phone (the one from the screen shot above). As you can imagine, I was completely amazed at the fact that the ‘pop-up preview’ feature had been more accurate than the actual Inbox Inspector, but I still had to figure out how to solve the problem.

Solution

At the time of writing this article, the only solution I could come up with (and also after talking to Mailchimp’s tech support) was to relegate the use of RSS feeds merge tags to RSS campaigns when using responsive email templates. The issue also presented itself in Mailchimp’s drag and drop editor, which actually didn’t even work when used in RSS Campaign mode, as the three column layout got completely messed up when four different RSS feeds were introduced. In all fairness, creating responsive email templates with multiple column layouts that work in all major email clients is harder than you might think. I hope you found this information helpful.

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You might be wondering, how does that affect me? Well, chances are that at some point or another, you will come across a project calling for skills that you simply don’t have in-house. When that time comes, you’ll have two options:

1. Find a local solution provider by using Google, asking a friend, Yellow Pages, etc.
2. Use one of the various freelance directories available online, where you can get specific about the type of skills you are looking for

I started using Elance because the platform offers a number of useful features for freelancers, such as “workrooms” for specific projects, where all communications and file uploads can take place. Another reason to join was its reputation, as the company is one of the more reputable platforms for both freelancers and employers. However, in order to be fair, I decided to include some of its competitors in this article. Keep in mind that these directories are no longer limited to freelance programmers and designers, you can find content writers, social media and marketing experts, etc.

Elance

From a business perspective, companies can hire freelancers and use the cloud workspace to manage the project. This is a plus for companies that need to manage multiple contractors at the same time.

Elance also streamlines the oft-troublesome invoice and payment process — the company pays Elance, then Elance pays the freelancer. Elance guarantees that its online system will get users paid on-time.

oDesk

oDesk is similar to Elance in that companies can hire contractors from the oDesk database or they can bring their own team together using the oDesk platform. In both cases, oDesk handles the payroll.

The difference is that oDesk does not charge the contractor or the company to sign up with them — there are no fees to post jobs or create profiles. oDesk makes its money by taking a 10% cut of all payments, which is outlined in the FAQs on its site.

Sologig

Sologig is reminiscent of a traditional job board. Freelancers can register for free and sign up for an e-newsletter so job opportunities come right to your inbox. Once you’re signed up, you can search for jobs or peruse an RSS feed of open gigs. To target opportunities that would be a good fit, you can upload your resume and let Sologig’s job-matching technology match keywords in your resume with company listings.

Companies such as Ernst & Young, Lockheed Martin and Medix IT Staffing Solutions pay a fee to post jobs. They also can access the Sologig profiles database to search for freelance talent directly.

Freelance Switch

Freelance Switch is a community site that lists freelance jobs in addition to providing information about the freelancer lifestyle. The site has many articles about setting prices, finding and dealing with clients and getting referral business. It recently relaunched its regular podcasts, which cover topics such as debt collection, personal branding and contract negotiations.

Accessing the resources is free, but applying for jobs is possible only with a paid subscription. Rates start at $7 per month. Companies are able to post freelance opportunities for free — Sony, Nokia and Adobe have posted jobs on Freelance Switch.

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IMPORTANT: Before you click the Demo button, keep in mind that you should resize the template window to see how it adapts to the different sizes.

It’s finally here! A responsive email template that looks great on your desktop, as well as on your tablet or smartphone. Moustacho was built to take the guesswork out of responsive design for email marketers.

We even went the extra mile, to make Moustacho both Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor-ready. That means that as an email marketer or designer, you no longer have to worry about adding all the necessary proprietary tags to make the HTML code work with either platform. All you need to do is upload the template and start creating blocks of content as you see fit.

Even though Moustacho is supremely easy to use, we have taken extreme care to make sure that we include all the necessary elements (in English and Spanish), from properly commented HTML files to manuals and video tutorials, so that you can use the template to its full potential. Chances are that you won’t need to use another email template for all your customer communication needs.

Don’t worry, Moustacho has been tested to work with all the major email desktop clients, as well as web-based email services.

Do you want to know more about Moustacho, you can click HERE to visit Moustacho’s official page, from where you can view a live demo of the template or buy the package.

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You see, even though coding for the web involves using HTML markup from decades past, the challenges faced are very much the same as those of your everyday web developer today. It sure isn’t fun to make a website play nice with every major browser out there and it’s pretty much the same situation when dealing with email clients (please leave a comment if you hate MS Outlook 2007 and 2010 as much as I do). As if all that weren’t enough to keep you on your toes, responsive web design came along as a result of the explosion in the use of smartphones and tablets. Many reports and research studies point to the evident rise of mobile devices for email reading, to the point that as much as 40% of all emails read today are first read on a mobile device. If you call yourself an email marketer and are somehow still wondering about the merits of responsive emails, then you need to get out of your comfort zone before you lose your job.

I’m hoping to start a series of posts on the challenges that I’ve come across when designing responsive emails and the solutions that I’ve found scattered all over the web. There are plenty of great resources out there, such as Litmus’ blog, as well as Campaign Monitor’s and Mailchimp’s. Responsive email design involves more than just CSS queries and every design layout that we are tasked with comes with a unique set of challenges, which I’m hoping to address here as much as possible. Please feel free to comment or provide better solutions to the issues presented, as all information shared helps all of us improve as members of a community.

Let’s start with the first question of the series:

How do you prevent the two tables included in the following section of code from stacking on top each other when viewed in MS Outlook 2007 and 2010?

The code works as expected in every major email client (the exception being MS Outlook 2007 & 2010. It actually works just fine for Outlook 2011 for Mac).

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Featuring historically valuable pre-war photographs depicting events like the construction of the Grand Central Station to snapshots of the former World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, this beautifully curated site will certainly evoke a sense of nostalgia in you.

See more pictures from NYC PAST below:

Beautiful, Precious Photographs Of New York City From Days Past – DesignTAXI.com.

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Thurs Jan 24 – Sun 27, 2013

Exhibition Hours: Thurs 6-8pm, Fri 11am-8pm, Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-5pm | Exterior, Café, Ballroom + 2nd Floor Gallery
Opening Reception: Sat Jan 26, 2013 | 7-11pm | 2nd Floor
Love Design Party: Sat Jan 26, 2013 | 10pm-2:30am | FREE | (this is the official closing party for the Toronto Design Offsite Festival)
Panel Discussion: Evolution – Designers Conversations in a Collaborative City: Sun Jan 27, 2013 | 1pm-3pm | Gladstone Ballroom

My good friends at Sumo Project will be participating this year, so I strongly encourage you to visit their room because it’s really going to mess with your brain, guaranteed! Here’s the invite to their installation.

There are other artists there as well

25 installations, 40 Artists, 4000 people all in under 4 days

Visit the 10 Year Come Up To My Room Web Archive Project

Coinciding with Toronto Design Offsite Festival and the Interior Design Show

Come Up To My Room (CUTMR) is the Gladstone Hotel’s annual alternative design event. CUTMR invites artists and designers to show us what goes on inside their heads. Coming together in dialogue and collaboration, participants are limited only by their imaginations, making CUTMR one of the most exciting shows in Toronto.

As this is an important anniversary for this ever-expanding show, the tenth installment will emphasize the idea that formed the basis for the very first CUTMR – occupying and altering a space in a dramatic, conceptual, or experimental way.

Founding curators Christina Zeidler and Pamila Matharu return this year and are joined by Noa Bronstein and David Dick-Agnew.

CUTMR 2013 Participants

Rooms
Quadrangle Architects
Rachael Speirs
Fictional Territories
SUMO Project
Amy Markanda & Zanette Singh
Woman King Collective
Youki Cropas & Emily Young
Bruno Billio
Tomas Rojcik & Andrew Lovett-Barron

Public Space
Maryam Karimi & Ya’el Santopinto
Micah Adams & Amanda McCavour
Joseph Clement
studio kimiis
Fugitive Glue
Deanne Lehtinen
MADERob Southcott
Tong (Raine) Shen
Humber Student Chair Projects
Orest Tataryn
Tara Keens – Douglas
Michal Maciej Bartosik
Greenbelt Arts
Department of Unusual Certainties
Institute Without Boundaries
University of Waterloo Architecture School Chair Project

Come Up To My Room | Gladstone Hotel.

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