Michael Leander well received in Beirut, Lebanon for Digital Marketing Seminar

New country, new market, new people, different culture. It is always very exciting to be speaking in a "new" country for the first time. I presented the Digital Marketing Seminar in Beirut, Lebanon for the first time in March 2010. A few days ago I received the evaluation and an invitation to come back to Beirut soon. Here is my report. Evaluation results at the bottom.

A quick story and praise to Beirut
First, let me tell you a quick story. A few months ago when traveling from Prague to Cairo, I came to talk a person whom was traveling to Beirut. My first question to her was "Wow - isn't that dangerous?" - she of course replied, "no, not anymore".

I think that many people have a misconception about Beirut and Lebanon. So let me make one thing very clear:  Beirut is a fantastic place. Rather well organized offering visitors a great mix of modernity and awesome history, still affordable yet offering world class hospitality and a whole lot of fascinating places - most of which I haven't been to myself - yet. On top of that; people there are great. Hospitable and most speak English, which helps a lot.  I highly recommend you to go there for a visit. You won't regret - guaranteed. 

Email Marketing Masterclass in Lisbon, Portugal coming up in April

The Michael Leander Email Marketing Masterclass is coming to Portugal for the first time. Sponsored by Kodak, e-Goi and Canalmail, it is a one day seminar taking place in the heart of Lisbon.

Marketers in Portugal are seemingly suffering from the same email marketing problem as marketers in many other countries South of the Alps and in Eastern Europe. Too much spamming going on for a number of years prior to permission legislation being put in place. The result is  - based on our non representative research - meager open rates and very low numbers for click through rates.

That is one of the reason I am looking forward to present my Email Marketing Masterclass in Lisbon on April 20, 2010. Hopefully I can provide some insights to marketers that will help them change their email marketing results from poor to good to great.

The Email Marketing Masterclass have invited Thomas Wimmer from Kodak to provide some insights about new trends in direct mail and individualized print part. I am looking forward to hear Herr Wimmer. At the Email Marketing Masterclass in Sofia, Bulgaria, German Sacristan from Kodak delivered a highly interesting and engaging presentation - and I am sure Mr. Wimmers will be equally interesting to experience.

You can learn more about the Email Marketing Masterclass here

Avoid Aweber if you require international character support for email marketing

Aweber.com is one of the most widely used online email marketing solutions. But if you need international character support, Aweber is not a solution for you. 

Aweber users whom happen to attract subscribers with names such as Jörgen, Mendonça, Renè, Ascânio or João are in trouble. The image above will give you an idea of what I am talking about.

The reason being that Aweber cannot handle international character support, which obviously is a problem if your subscribers primarily are residing in countries where socalled international characters are widely used. But - as you will have guessed - it is also a problem for someone in the US, the UK, Australia or an other predominantly English speaking countries who attracting subscribers from all over the world.

Michael Leander's Email Marketing Masterclass in Sofia, Bulgaria appeared to have been a hit

InterContact Bulgaria were the perfect hosts of the first ever Michael Leander Email Marketing Masterclass in Bulgaria. Judging by the evaluation from nearly 200 delegates, the Email Marketing Masterclass appeared to have been a hit.

From Email Marketing Masterclass Sofia Bulgaria Feb 2010

Held at the InterExpo Center in the outskirts of Sofia on February 25, the Email Marketing Masterclass also featured great presentations from German Sacristan of Kodak and a government representative speaking about the permission marketing legislation in Bulgaria.

Marketers attending liked what they heard and saw
After the Email Marketing Masterclass attendees were asked to evaluate their experience. On a 6-point scale where 6 is high, Michael Leander were given this evaluation:

From Email Marketing Masterclass Sofia Bulgaria Feb 2010

Presentation: 5,58
Information: 5,35

Says Michael Leander; "I am very pleased with the result. Especially considering that quite a few of the delegates depended on the interpreters, which arguably is a bit of an obstacle.".

100% will recommend Michael Leander's Email Marketing Masterclass in Cairo

Following the 2 day Digital Marketing Seminar at the Conrad Hotel in Cairo, 27 delegates joined the Email Marketing Masterclass with Michael Leander on Sunday 21st of February 2010. Judging from the delegates evaluation, the Email Marketing Masterclass was a huge success

The Email Marketing Masterclass was held for the first time in Cairo. Delegates from companies such as Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas, Saba Medical Group from Saudi Arabia, Elsewedy Cables, Better Home and hospitality marketing professionals from San Giovanni and Conrad Hotel, the 1 day Email Marketing Masterclass all said in their evaluation that they will recommend the masterclass to others.

Read more about the rating here

Excessive customer service and the trouble of languages

In conjunction with my Email Marketing Masterclass in Sofia, Bulgaria, I stayed at the wonderful boutique hotel Crystal Palace in the center of Sofia.

This hotel does not offer a coffeemaker in the room. So one morning - when time did not allow to go down for breakfast - I decided to order some coffee from room service. The previous day I ordered a pot of coffee, and got 1,5 cup, which just wasn't enough. So I decided to order a thermo with 5 cups of coffee.

The service was very nice indeed. And the woman from room service arrived with the thermo only 5 minutes after I placed the order. And - to my surprise - carrying a tray with the thermo and 5 coffee cups. She delivered it with the following remark "and I remembered cream and sugar too"

This just goes to show how difficult languages really are. I cannot help wondering what she must have been thinking when she saw me alone in the room. But she probably thought I was just another weird foreigner with strange habits.

98% will recommend The Digital Marketing Seminar with Michael Leander

At The Internet Marketing Seminar recently held at the Fairmont Towers Heliopolis Hotel in Cairo, Egypt, Michael Leander provided insights to a wide range of topics relating to digital/online marketing. This successful event will be repeated in Cairo in February 2010 (learn more)

Nearly 80 marketing professionals from respected companies such as Elsewedy Cables, Cadbury, Google, Vodafone, Egyptian Banking Institute, Credit Agricole, Smart Management, Glextel Egypt and Noun Travel attended 2 day internet marketing event in Cairo. The event featured opening addresses by assistant minister of Investment Dr. Ashmawy, country manager for Citibank Mr. Ahmed Aftab and a surprise visit from mobile marketing expert Mr. Con O’Donnell, Managing Director of Sarmady Egypt.

After the opening addresses, internet marketing expert Michael Leander presented 1,5 day of internet marketing topics including

- 7 things you need to know to become a successful online marketer
- How to build or revamp your website
- How to drive traffic to your website
- How to get started with email marketing
- Leveraging social media and social networks for your business

45 out of 46 surveyed recommend The Digital Marketing Seminar
Based on the delegate feedback, the seminar was a success. When asked 98% of the attendees said they would recommend the seminar to others. Or to be more precise: 45 out of 46 delegates – who submitted the evaluation form – said they would recommend the internet marketing seminar.

Go on - read more about this story now