Virginia’s Complete INTERNET DIRECTORY for Business,

Organizations, Groups and People

Use Connect321 Business Tools to communicate, collaborate and engage customers, friends, prospects, members and colleagues

Let’s Get Started

Step 1 - Click Join Connect321 and you’ll see this registration page

Step 2 - You’ll receive an email at the account you entered with a User Name and Password. There will also be a link that you can click to take you back to the Directory. You will be on the Settings

Registered User

Step 3 - Click Change your Password so you can create a new one that is easy to remember Register - have your

friends, customers and prospects sign up

Sign In

Start Using the Directory

Learn More

Go to our profile for suggestions on how to use the DirectoryStep 4 - Type the Password from your

Email into the Current Password field and enter a new password twice and

Step 1 - Enter your Business Name in the Search Bar and Click GO. If your business is already in the directory, click it.

Add A Business

Step 3 - Once approved, you will receive

an email that explains that your profile is available to be managed by you. When you return to your Profile page in the Directory, you will see a new link in the Quick Actions box - “Access Tools”. When

you click that your Sales and Marketing tools will open.

Step 2 - Click “Is This Your Business?” and a

form will appear asking if you are the owner or an authorized employee. When you submit this form, a Concursive representative will contact you to confirm your status

How to Use Your Sales and Marketing Tools

1. After you register your business, you will receive an email with the Subject “Your Connect 321 Tools Are Now Ready To Use”

2. You will be prompted to return to www.connect321.com, login and search for your business.

3. When you click the Access Tools button in the Quick Actions box, your CRM Tools will open.

Before You Get Started

• Leads - when a user in the Directory clicks Become a Fan, their contact information will be placed in this module. They want to learn more about your business - a prospective customer.

• Contacts - are customers. You can add them manually by clicking “Add A Contact” in the Quick Actions box on the right. You can assign certain Types to each contact ( what they buy, what they like, when they shop, etc.). This will make it easy to do email marketing blasts to specific types of customers about specific promotions, products, etc. You can configure the Types menu by clicking Admin at the top and going to Configure Modules>Contacts>Lookup Lists

• Accounts - these are companies. If your customers are companies too, add their information in the Add an Account link in the Quick Actions menu. Now you want to add the person you work with at that company. Click Add a Contact in the Quick Actions menu and select the company you just entered, and that person will be attached to that company. You can assign certain Types to each account ( industry, size, what they usually buy, etc). You can configure the Types menu by clicking Admin at the top and going to Configure Modules>Accounts>Lookup Lists

• Marketing - email blasts, campaigns, surveys, etc.

How to Send an Email Campaign

• Click the Marketing Tab and Campaign Builder

• Name the Campaign (Holiday Sale, Monthly News, etc.) and select Broadcast or Email

• Broadcast - your message will go as an email and a text message. You must fill in both addresses in the Contact record of your customers. Text message addresses look like email addresses depending on the cell phone company - for example, a text message to an AT&T account would look like this - 5555555555@text.att.net. You ask your customer for their cell phone number and carrier along with their email and enter them into the system

• Electronic Mail is email only

Step 1

Step 2

• The parts of a campaign are listed. You must have a Target List and a Message

• Attachments and Surveys are optional, but available.

• Click Target List and New at the top and you can start to build your list of recipients

How to Send an Email CampaignStep 3

• Name the Target List

• To select individual customers, click the Add/Remove contact link and place checks in the boxes beside their names

• To build a List using a criteria, select one from the drop down list. If you select Account Type or Contact Type, a menu with the Types created by you appears and you select.

• Click Add and Save and the list is created. You can Add multiple criteria, if desired.

• Check the box next to the Target List and Click submit.

Step 4

• Click Select Message in the Check List and click New at the top of the popup

• Name the message. You can reuse it later

• Put an email address you would want people to reply to in the From: field and add a Subject

• Write your email and click Save

• Tip #1 - Insert an image/picture, click the screen to the right of the anchor

• Tip #2 - Highlight text in the email and click the unbroken chain link to the left of the anchor and assign a web address to it ( ex. http://www.connect321.com), and your email will have a live link wherever you want people to go

How to Send an Email Campaign

• Click Specify Run Date and select date and time

• Create a few campaigns and set them to run at different times

• Click the Activate button

Step 5

Surveys

• On the Check List, click Select Survey.

• Click New at the top of the screen, name the Survey, fill in the text and click Next

• Click Add a Question and select Question Type

• When finished, click Done and Select for the Campaign

• Results of the Survey show up on the Check List screen of the Campaign. Click the Results link.

Tips for Using Sales and Marketing Tools

• Personalize Your Email Message - when creating an email campaign, every email should be individually addresses to the recipient. When creating a message, begin with ${firstname}. This will pull the first names of your recipients from the target list. ${lastname} will work also.

• Searching - there are two ways to search in the system. For specific criteria, click an orange module tab and click the search link in the sub-menu. For general searches, the oval field below the round icons on the top right of the page will find people and companies

• Moving Existing Contacts into Sales Tools - from your current contact manager, export your contacts into a spreadsheet or .csv file, when prompted. Save that file to your computer. Click the Contact tab (or Account tab if your customers are companies), and click Import in the sub menu and follow the simple instructions

Tab What is it / How Should I Use It

How Do I Do It?(make sure you’re signed in)

Reviews Consumers are more willing to buy from businesses that have been reviewed by customers. If you are working with your customers to give them the best experience possible, you should invite them to your Profile in Connect 321 to give you a review.

1) Click the Send a Friend button in Quick Actions menu and ask friends, customers, family, etc. to review your business2) To send multiple invitations, click Access Tools and the Connect 321 tab and send one message to multiple people

Blog A free form discussion of happenings in your business. Talk about a new product or service, or a new employee or a great movie you recently saw.

You are creating a personal relationship with your customers and prospects

1) Click the Blog tab and you’ll see a link - “Add a Post” in the Quick Action box on the left2) If you choose “Draft” or “Unapproved”, your post won’t appear to other users. 3) Type into the page editor as you would an email 4) Assign a category to your post, using one of the options in the category menu or

adding your own. This will organize your blog and make it easy for viewers. The categories will display in the right column as links.

5) You have the ability to edit or delete post. Click the icons next to the post title

Calendar Add coming events to the calendar including sales, new items being offered, special happenings

1) Click Calendar tab2) Click “Add Event” link3) The event will automatically stop appearing at the end date4) Complete form

Directory Social Networking Tools

Tab What is it / How Should I Use It

How Do I Do It?(make sure you’re signed in)

Wiki Wikis provide facts about a particular topic. Use a wiki to share knowledge. A running store can have a wiki on proper hydration before a race.

1) Click Wiki tab2) Click “wysiwyg editor” and add content3) To organize wiki entries, type in the title of the next page at the bottom of your

entry. Highlight it.4) Click the unbroken chain link icon in the tool bar and click Insert. Click Save

Page. 5) Click the new link and a new page will open. Click “wysiwyg editor” and add

content.6) Click Save Page. Click Show Wiki Index in the Quick Action box, and your

pages will be displayed

Discussion Forums are a great place for networking, getting advice, sharing an opinion or answering questions. Connect321 is populated with topics, called forums, that help visitors ask questions or make comments in an organized manner. Anyone can ask questions or share insights and views about your business or organization.

1) Click Discussion tab

2) Connect 321 is pre-populated with Forum subjects that can be edited or deleted by clicking the blue Select button

3) Click Create a Forum in the Quick Action box to create a new topic

Promotions Highlight the special deals and promotions that you create throughout the year. Set a beginning and end date to make sure the promotions are displayed when you want them to be

1) Click Add a Promotion in the Quick Action box 2) The promotion will be displayed on the Profile page and under the Promotion link3) The end date entered will trigger the promotion to stop being diaplayed

Directory Social Networking

Tab What is it / How Should I Use It

How Do I Do It?(make sure you’re signed in)

Documents Post documents or pictures that would be helpful for your prospects and customers. Organize them into folders of multiple items that are related or add individual items to your profile

1) Click Documents Tab2) Click New Folder and name it or Submit a File directly3) Upload items from your computer by clicking the “Browse” button and selecting a

file4) Document types include .doc and.pdf 5) Picture types include .jpg and .gif

Lists A great way to let others know what businesses, organizations or groups in Connect 321 you consider worth a visit.

1) When visiting another business, organization or group in Connect 321, click the “Add to My Lists” button in the Quick Actions menu.

2) Add to an existing List or create a new one

Members You can keep track of others who request to Become a Fan of your business or invite people to participate in your business profile.

Different people can have different permissions to participate in your profile

1) From your Profile page, click Add Members in the Quick Actions box2) Type in the name or email address to find the person and click Find Recipients.

They must be a registered user of Connect 3213) You will be prompted to assign a role and asked if you want to give them access

to your Tools. Only give access to Tools to trusted people - these are your customers.

4) These invitees will receive emails with instructions. On their personal profiles, an invitation will be waiting for them to Accept or Decline.

Directory Social Networking

Member Permissions

• Guest - view only. Cannot add reviews or make comments in Blog or Wiki areas• Participant - comment in all areas• Member - same as participant• VIP - same as member plus view team members and upload files• Champion - same permissions as a manager. Used to differentiate a user other than an owner• Manager - complete access to all tabs and functions. The person who sets up the profile is automatically given this designation.

Tips for Using Directory Tools(must be signed in)

• Personal Profile - a personal profile page is created when a user registers with Connect 321. It can be accessed by clicking the name at the top of the screen, next to Hello. This can be filled with content and pictures. By clicking Send to Friend in the Quick Action box, you can invite registered users to join you

• Edit Business/Personal Profile - click Edit link on Profile page to change contact information, description and keyword phrases

• Events - Click Add an Event in the Quick Actions box, and you can set up any one time event that you or your organization or group may be having. Click Send to a Friend to let other know about it

• Groups -Click Start a Group in the Quick Actions box and you can set up and invite as many people as you want into your Group

• Ideas -Click Add an Idea in the Quick Actions box and see how many people have their own ideas about it and start collaborating