March 16, 2015

How to Know When Email Prospects Actually Check Out Your Portfolio

Email Prospecting. How to Know When Email Prospects Actually Check Out Your Portfolio.

Email Prospecting

You have just emailed a new prospect. In your email, there is a link to a presentation of your best work. Wouldn't you like to know exactly when the prospect looks at your presentation?

Now you can. This simple marketing hack will instantly alert you when a prospect looks at your presentation. Read on for a simple step-by-step instruction!

Know Exactly When to Follow Up

The key to this marketing hack is DocSend, an online “intelligent” document service. It lets you track the business documents you send.

DocSend will tell you:

  • WHO views your presentation
  • WHEN someone views your presentation
  • HOW LONG long each page is viewed

Instantly.

The Hartwell Studio Works Example

John Hartwell, freelance graphic designer specialized in sports identity designJohn Hartwell is a freelance graphic designer who specializes in sports identity design. John has been kind enough to let us use some of his work for this example.

Let's say John visited the Ohio State Buckeyes website this morning. He noticed a brief mention of an upcoming celebrity game. After some digging around, John realizes that Ohio State's marketing department probably not had the time or the idea, to design a logo for their new sports event.

The new sports event might be an opportunity for John.

The below could be John's first prospecting email to Jennifer Edwards, their director of marketing communications:

Prospecting Email with a DocSend link. Email Prospecting. How to Know When Email Prospects Actually Check Out Your Portfolio

The instant Jennifer clicks the link to the work samples, DocSend will alert John by email!

In DocSend, Jennifer can flip through the pages, zoom in/out, view it in full screen etc. Below is a page from John's DocSend presentation. Click to see it live!

Portfolio Presentation in DocSend. Email Prospecting. How to Know When Email Prospects Actually Check Out Your Portfolio.

When alerted to Jennifer's visit, John visits his DocSend account to gauge Jennifer's interests. In the DocSend dashboard, he can see which page Jennifer has spent the most time on.

Since John is a freelancer who believes in striking while the iron is hot, he follows up with Jennifer within a few minutes.

How to Set Up the DocSend Marketing Hack

Things You Need

To make this happen, the best combo is Chrome, Gmail, and DocSend. I used Microsoft Powerpoint for creating the Hartwell Studio Works presentation. For a flying start, download the Powerpoint template used in the example.

A free DocSend account is limited to 5 documents. It allows you to view stats for the first 25 visits/month. It gets you started. The Pro account ($10/mo) allows unlimited documents and stats.

How to Set Up This in 10 Easy Steps

  1. Sign up for a free account at DocSend.
  2. Confirm your new DocSend account.
  3. Download the DocSend extension to Chrome.
  4. Create a portfolio presentation! Start from scratch or use my Powerpoint template.
  5. When finished, export your portfolio presentation to PDF format.
  6. In DocSend, upload the PDF to your account.
  7. In DocSend, click the “add link” button! Opt to track the link as individual. Enter the prospect's name.
  8. In Gmail, write your prospecting email.
  9. In Gmail, use the DocSend button to insert a link to your portfolio presentation.
  10. Send!

From now on, DocSend will alert you by email when someone opens up your portfolio presentation!

Each new DocSend link you create will be individually tracked. The first visitor – the person you are sending the link to – won't be asked for any information in order to access the document, but all subsequent visitors will see a form prompting them for their email.

Good luck with your new smarter system for follow-ups!

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