By Debbie Gregory.

Have you ever put an item in an online shopping chart, then changed your mind about buying it, only to find a follow-up email in your inbox offering an incentive to complete the transaction? That is an example of great email marketing.

Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly ways to reach your clients/customers. At least 91% of consumers check their email on a daily basis, which can’t be said of any other communication channel.

Targeting inboxes with email automation allows your business to send personalized, timely, and engaging emails to customers. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you need permission to email your prospects and customers, so make sure that you have an opt-in form in place.

The best way to grow your email list is by attracting people with a compelling offer, often called a lead magnet. This can consist of digital materials like PDFs, MP3 audio files, infographic or videos that you can create yourself at minimal or no cost. It can be absolutely anything you want, so long as it provides value to your visitors for free.

Once you have a healthy email list, using an email platform such as Constant Contact, MailChimp, etc. to send your emails gives you access to templates that you can customize with your company’s logo, and corporate look and feel, strengthening your brand recognition. Your email subscribers want relevant, timely information and updates about your business, since they subscribed to your mailing list; you know that you’re targeting a receptive audience. Make sure they know about up-and-coming products, timed promotions, and seasonal updates.

Email list segmentation is the process of breaking your subscribers into smaller groups based on specific criteria so that you can send them more personalized and relevant emails. This results in higher conversion rates.

Be sure to monitor the performance of your emails to identify areas that need improvement. Then A/B test some of your changes in order to make improvements.

Don’t get upset about unsubscribes, they happen. But ask yourself why people subscribed to your list in the first place, and are you delivering on that promise? Is your content of value to the segment it is being sent to? Are you sending too many sales emails with too little value?

Keeping your loyal customers is much more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. Therefore, rewarding your email subscribers with exclusive offers is a powerful tactic for increasing the chances of them sticking with your business longer than they would have otherwise done.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,

Army Sgt. 1st Class Phillip Kennedy Johnson is the author of graphic novel “The Last Sons of America.”

A gritty future where nobody in the U.S. is able to have children after a biological terrorist attack will soon be brought to life as a Netflix original movie starring “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage — all from the imagination of an Army sergeant.

Based on the post-apocalyptic graphic novel “The Last Sons of America,” which Sgt 1st Class Phillip Kennedy Johnson wrote while serving as a trumpet player with the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Army Field Band. The adaptation will be produced by Matt Reeves, writer and director of the upcoming Warner Bros. film “The Batman,” Netflix announced earlier this month.

Photo Credit: FLIR Black Hornet Drone

By Debbie Gregory.

The U.S. Army has placed an order with FLIR Systems Inc. for $39.6 million worth of the company’s Black Hornet Personal Reconnaissance System (PRS) drones. The Army is procuring these units as part of its Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) program.

The nano-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) resembles a tiny helicopter and flies almost silently. The electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) technology bridges the gap between aerial and ground-based sensors, with the same threat location capabilities of unmanned ground vehicles. The Black Hornets are extremely light, nearly silent, and have a flight time up to 25 minutes.

The PRS gives soldiers the capability of using the onboard camera to look around corners in urban areas or recon unfamiliar terrain, and can transmit live video and HD still images back to the operator.

“We are proud to be selected by the U.S. Army for the SBS Program of Record; this contract represents a significant milestone with the operational large-scale deployment of nano-UAVs into the world’s most powerful Army,” said Jim Cannon, president and CEO of FLIR Systems.

To date, FLIR has delivered more than 8,000 Black Hornet nano-UAVs around the world.

“This contract is a major win for the newly established Unmanned Systems & Integrated Solutions business division at FLIR and demonstrates the strong and urgent demand for nano-UAV technology offered by FLIR. Protecting U.S. warfighters with our unmanned solutions is a key objective for FLIR,” Cannon added.

The company has announced plans to expand its Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) service and repair center in Somerset, Kentucky, to meet the demand for UAS support.

FLIR continues to gain importance as a major military supplier, with an additional $29.7 million Army contract for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Dismounted Reconnaissance Sets and related Kits and Outfits (CBRN DR-SKO) systems in a five year deal. Production for this order will continue to be performed out of FLIR’s facility in Elkridge, Maryland.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,

By Debbie Gregory.

While Congress has agreed to back-pay some 800,000 federal workers the salaries they missed during the government’s 35-day shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal contractors, many of who are veterans with veteran-owned businesses, may not.

Democratic lawmakers, led by Sen. Tina Smith, (D-MN) wanted to attach a bill to the proposed spending package that would provide back pay for these federal contractors. The legislation, which would have been the first law of its kind to grant contractors back pay after a government shutdown, had been tied up in spending negotiations and faced Republican pushback.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) said, “I’ve been told the president won’t sign that … I guess federal contractors are different in his view than federal employees.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) reacted to Blunt’s comments with alarm. “It would be cruel and unnecessary to block back pay for federal contract workers who lost more than a month of wages and are still behind on bills due to President Trump’s shutdown,” Van Hollen said. “Many of them work low-wage jobs and live paycheck-to-paycheck.”

Sen. John Thune(R-SD) told reporters on Capitol Hill that there’s still hope that lawmakers can find a way to “make sure federal contractors are taken care of.”

There isn’t a precedent for providing back pay for federal contractors after a shutdown, unlike those that have been established for compensating furloughed federal employees. So sorting out how many contract workers were affected by the shutdown and how much it would cost to compensate them could be a logistical nightmare.

“I just don’t think it’s ever been done before and figuring out duration of contracts – I mean, it sounds like it’s the timing issues. Hopefully, they’ll get it resolved,” Thune said.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was less optimistic, and much less sympathetic. “Ms. Pelosi and Sen. Schumer should have thought about this and other collateral damage when they initially refused to negotiate on border security, something they are apparently now willing to do,” said Cornyn.

Unfortunately, many of those who served our country and then came home and started their own businesses may end up paying a very steep price.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,

A. A. Milne, an English author and veteran of both World Wars, was struggling to explain this harsh reality to his own child when he penned the 1926 children’s classic, “Winnie-the-Pooh.”  As a young man, Alan Alexander Milne stood up for King and Country when it was announced that the United Kingdom had entered World War I. He was commissioned as an officer into the 4th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, as a member of the Royal Corps of Signals on February 1, 1915. Soon after, he was sent to France to fight in the Battle of the Somme.  Christopher Robin Milne eventually followed in his father’s footsteps and they both served in the Second World War. His father was a Captain in the British Home Guard and he served as a sapper in the Royal Engineers.

It was only after his service that he grew to accept his father’s stories and embraced his legacy, which endures to this day.