Tortus September Newsletter

September 16, 2009

It's Official, Tortus Has Gone Bananas

Part One of a Two-Part Series

What do entrepreneurs and bananas have in common?

A lot more than you’d think!

But let’s be clear, we don’t think all entrepreneurs are bananas. By the way, did you know that the yellow banana you ate for breakfast on your cornflakes is threatened with extinction? We’ll get to the fate of the banana later in this two-part series.

One of the goals of this newsletter is to radically alter your next trip to the produce section of your grocery store. And you thought all we cared about at Tortus was helping you increase your revenues and reducing your expenses. Nope, that’s not all! We care about technology and knowledge—applied. We hope that in the future while you’re perusing the banana section, you may smile (or snicker) with your newly acquired knowledge of bananas. You see, we believe that the more you know about any subject matter, including bananas, the better your odds for success. Knowledge isn’t power; however, knowledge applied properly is all-powerful.

So, if you’re inclined or just bananas, we highly recommend Dan Koeppel’s entertaining book Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World. We don’t have a secret banana hand shake—yet―but if you keep reading this newsletter, you’ll be more knowledgeable than the average bear about bananas, and learn some things about the nutritious and seemingly innocuous yellow fruit that will shock and amaze you! Read more…

Tortus Talk

UMassFive College Federal Credit Union Website Goes Live

UMassFive has a robust online presence with a new website that enables users to apply for membership and loans, check interest rates daily, view electronic statements, monitor their Co-op Points, improve their financial literacy, and many other functions. On the back end, Tortus developed an innovative form generation system that enables UmassFive to design their own feedback forms complete with required fields, confirmation emails, and much more. In addition to being highly functional, the new UMassFive website also has a look that we think you'll agree is both visually appealing and easy to navigate.

Upcoming Seminars

E-mail Marketing: Basics and Beyond

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 from 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Back by popular demand! Tortus will be offering a seminar on broadcast e-mail marketing again in October. With e-mail marketing, your organization has the capability of reaching hundreds or thousands of potential customers with just one click. But how do you improve the chances that your e-mail will actually be read instead of deleted?  In this seminar, we'll explore e-mail marketing strategies that can help your e-mails get noticed and acted upon.

Join us for a discussion of broadcast e-mail best practices and learn how to create a marketing e-mail that will get noticed. Topics will include subject lines, avoiding spam filters, timing, list segmentation, and more!

This seminar will be held at the offices of Tortus Technologies in West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Seating is limited (15 per seminar) and available on a first-come first-serve basis. Email us today to sign up.

September Seminar: Website Workshop

There are still a few seats left in our  seminar next Wednesday, September 23 from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m.

Join us for our free website assessment workshop! Review your organization's website with Tortus and local business associates. Find out what's working for others and share ideas that will help grow your web presence. Have questions or want advice? Then this seminar is the one for you!  Email us today to sign up.

Are You Smarter Than a Tortus?

Every month, we'll be asking readers to test their wits and try their hand at answering a question posed by one of our Torti. Our inaugural question: why don't people ride zebras? Read the answer here!