Biznet Adds New E-Newsletter, Online Registration To Professional Society
WIXOM -- The American College of Healthcare Executives is an international professional society of more than 40,000 healthcare executives who lead hospitals, healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations. ACHE is known for its FACHE credential, signifying board certification in healthcare management. The Midwest Health Executives Group and Associates is a local chapter of ACHE that provides access to networking, education and career development for nearly 1,000 ACHE members in Michigan and northern Ohio.
The Midwest Health Executives Group and Associates was seeing a drop in response to its events and requests for volunteers. Board members were hearing stories that the group's main method of communication -- weekly emails – was losing its effectiveness.
"Our members weren't reading the emails, and therefore, were not aware of MHEGA's programs and networking opportunities," said Ellie Heinrich, MHEGA president.
The plain text emails were not compelling or professional in appearance, she added. Additionally, the group's secretary was bogged down with sending event registration flyers and registration forms to members. The forms had to be opened from the email, downloaded, printed, completed and faxed or mailed back with payment information. The process was time-consuming, and resulted in extra hours devoted to tracking registrations and processing payments. The group was aware of online tools that its sister organizations were using, but the volunteer-supported group didn't have resources to investigate or implement high-tech solutions.
MHEGA sought assistance from Biznet Internet Solutions, a full-service Web solutions company located in Wixom. Based on MHEGA's budget and goals, Biznet recommended Constant Contact for event and email marketing. This system was ideal for MHEGA, which like most non-profits, is budget-conscious and needed a solution that would be easy to use.
Standard features offered by Constant Contact would enable MHEGA to use email marketing and event registration to its full potential. This included scheduling and tracking email, as well as linking event registration to PayPal for online payment.
Once the system was chosen, Biznet created custom designed templates for the newsletter and events pages to match MHEGA's brand. Most importantly, however, Biznet offered support and training throughout the implementation process.
"There are complexities to implementing technical solutions," notes Ellie. "We relied on Biznet's expertise to guide us through unfamiliar territory. Biznet was instrumental to coordinating the implementation and resolving issues that might have otherwise derailed the project. When we ran into issues related to our bank account and collecting payments online, Biznet worked with us and the vendor to uncover the solution."
MHEGA's newsletter template is clean, professional and engaging. It now includes links to online registration and payment for events. Initial feedback from members has been positive.
Now, the MHEGA staff looks forward to spending less time managing event registrations as well as increased event participation due to simpler registration processes. MHEGA intends to use some of the tracking tools at its disposal to monitor and improve its communication. For example, they plan to study email view rates to determine the best days and times to send email.
"Biznet was fantastic to work with," emphasizes Ellie. "They were always available to answer all our questions and provided expert advice to help us achieve our goals. We're really happy with the results."
Based in Wixom, Biznet Internet Solutions is an ROI-focused, full service Web products and services provider. Core offerings include creation of business and mobile Web sites, advertising agency support and Internet marketing, including search and social media marketing. Biznet Internet Solutions is a Kentico CMS Gold Certified Partner. For more information, visit www.biznetis.net.
