Tag Archives: social media

How to Best Improve Your Online Store’s Social Media Campaign

You’re doing your best to improve your online store’s social media campaign. You’ve gone live, you’ve added video, you’ve been sure to spread your posts to help and make them go viral. But still, you feel as though there’s more you could be doing to improve the state of your online store’s social media campaign. We understand. That’s why we have this selection of tips that we have to offer you in order to get your online store’s social media campaign going. Once you use these tips, you’ll be better equipped to handle your own social media campaign.

In this post, we’re going to give you a selection of tips that will help you to get your online site’s social media campaign going. Continue reading

Originally posted on March 7, 2017 @ 10:03 am

Tips For Marketing Your Products And Services

Small-Business-Owners
When it comes to business marketing you want to sometimes put your focus on something more singular, and not just on your company as a whole. Most of the marketing you do is likely to get your business name out, but when you have a new product or service that is launched or you want extra attention for, you will do some marketing that revolves strictly around that item.

Sometimes that focus is just what you need to increase product or service sales, or to get someone’s attention. Your business name is still getting out there, but you are also showing current and potential customers that you have something special that you want them to know about, and that it means enough to you to focus on, if only it for an ad or two.

Make A Specific Website For It

You can bet that the lawyers at Morelli Law Firm take on more than just talcum powder lawsuits, but in order to specify to victims that they are there to help for this specific need they have a website set up that is dedicated solely to this one need. You can do that as well, if you have a product or service that you want to bring direct attention to and not have lost in the shuffle of all of the others things your business offers.

Work With Social Media

You can start a page on Facebook for nearly anything. You can make videos and post them to YouTube. You can Instagram photos, Tweet about your day, and even create a board specifically for that one product or service on Pinterest. Do it!

People love social media, they love to review businesses on social media, and if you are advertising specific products and services in creative ways on social media they are going to get noticed. Cross promote from one social media outlet to others, as well. Make memes, create infographics, and do things that are shareable for the most views.

Create An Email And Texting Campaign

Email seems to go by the wayside more these days since social media seems to offer a more direct form of contact between business and customers, but it is still worth using when you can. Offer newsletters or email sign up for coupons. If you want to stick with the times, you can also do this with text blasts.

If people sign up through your website then you’ll know they want to receive these types of messages, but you still don’t want to overdo it. One email or text a week, or even one a month with a coupon, is plenty to peak their interest. Make those blasts about the products and services you want them to notice the most.

Originally posted on September 27, 2016 @ 2:15 am

Supplemental Website Posts That Help With SEO Scores

understanding seo
Creating a successful website these days requires a different set of skills than was required even a few years back. And the primary reason for this shift is because of the importance of good SEO. In the past, you could hijack search engine optimization processes with word stuffing and paid backlinks. Now, a little more thought has to go into the process.

And that’s why supplementary content has become so important in the scheme of things. It’s not good enough anymore just to have valuable information in text form. Now you have to think about things like semantics and Google penalties. So, what are these supplemental types of posts you can make to help you out with this?

Testimonials

Publishing testimonials is a good start to your SEO project. What this does is add intrinsic natural value to the subject of your website. Because people will naturally be using keywords that are associated with your business as they explain that they had a good experience with you, this will organically translate into a much better score from Google, especially compared to a site that doesn’t bother publishing these kinds of reviews digitally.

Blog Posts

And no matter what your website is about, you should always maintain a blog section. This is not only good for business because it shows people the most current news going on, it also ups your SEO score every time you post, assuming you follow basic SEO rules, like making sure there are at least 300 words, paying attention to headlines and subheadings, ensuring that you don’t overuse anchor words, and all of those details.

About Me and Contact Pages

And you should never forget to make contact pages and about me/us sections. Not only does it tell visitors to your site more about ownership and add to transparency, it also gives you ample opportunity to make use of phrases that Google will look on as adding value to your overall website. You can really dig into SEO phraseology in these sections, while still maintaining a completely natural formatting system.

Social Feeds

You can also use social feeds to populate your website in a way that will help with your SEO scores as well. If you have Facebook or Twitter feeds run directly into your site somewhere, Google’s crawlers will see the text as well as the links and images and add that value to the authority of your site.

Authoritative Explanations

And lastly, if you choose to either have authoritative explanations and language directly near certain terms in order to define them more clearly, or even have a separate section where you can use these phrases, that will also give your site a comparative advantage in terms of quality of quantity.

Originally posted on September 18, 2016 @ 1:57 am

Are You Forgetting These Five Important Marketing Tools?

If you’re running your own small business it can be easy to get sidetracked and it can be easy to forget the importance of marketing your business in every area possible. You’re spending time doing the books, talking to customers, and getting your business off the ground. Part of that launch should be marketing focused.

Make sure that the tools below are something you factor into your day to day business. They will all help your business grow into something amazing. The biggest sign of success in a small business is your own happiness. Continue reading

Originally posted on November 12, 2016 @ 9:26 am

8 Things That People Need To Know Before Freelancing

Have you ever wanted to pull away from the corporate world and take your writing career into your hands? It can be a scary leap, but there are many benefits to becoming your boss. If you like the flexibility of setting your hours and working for yourself, leaving the corporate world to become a freelance writer may be the best step for you. Here are seven things to think about before you take the plunge.

Prepare for the Transition

Going from a consistent salary to being unsure of when you might get paid can put a damper on your experience of being a freelancer. It is critical to have sufficient funds saved up because getting your business off the ground may take some time.

Talk to the people in your life and make sure they are on board with your decision. If you happen to be the sole provider of health insurance for your family, you will want to ensure that you can afford to go out into the insurance marketplace and provide an adequate level of protection for those who depend on you for their care. If this is a challenge, you might want to consider health insurance a benefit of working for your current company that is a necessity you cannot live without.

Become Comfortable with Self Promotion

If your stomach becomes queasy at the thought of having to sell something, you will want to give becoming a freelancer considerable thought. What would I have to sell? This is is an honest question. The answer: yourself. You will have to be your advocate of your talents and services. Practice this with your family and friends if this is an uncomfortable idea to you.

You will essentially have to turn yourself into a brand. You will want potential clients to equate you and your business as one and the same. To build your brand, you will want to create a logo, get stacks of business cards with your name on them, and create a website for your business that showcases your skills. Possibly blog about a hobby or passion you have. You will have to use all avenues available to you to sell your talents and creativity.

Social media is another way to do this. Don’t be afraid to tell people how great your business is on Facebook, or to have past clients promote your skills on LinkedIn. However, word of mouth is even better, and you might have to humblebrag about your skills to get your first customers. Figure out how you can be confident enough to do this.

To expand your network, consider attending conferences and events related to your field. Go to Meetup, sign up for an account, and join groups relevant to your interests. Whenever the groups hold an event, be sure to join and network with like-minded people there.

You need to establish real relationships with people. Do not just take a simple introduction or a slip of a business card as a sign that this person will be a potential client. It is much more important to try to get to know the people you meet through networking. Try to find out the nature of what they do and how and why they do it, and how you might be of service to them in the future.

Evaluate Your Skills

It is important that you be honest with yourself about exactly what your skills are and why this makes your someone that people would want to hire. After all, competition in the freelance world can be fierce. Many people will be able to use the same software that you do, and might be able to underbid you when it comes to what you feel that your time is worth. What do you have that other people do not?

It is wise to look at sites that freelancers use to find jobs and compare yourself to what other people have to offer. If you feel you can compete, try getting your feet wet by pursuing some jobs and see how it feels. This will help you see what jobs are available and what the freelance marketplace is like.

Have Assignments Ready

It will be easier to quit your job and start freelancing if you have jobs lined up and ready to go. Being ready for success right out of the gate will be a great indicator of future success. Your first jobs might not be your ideal jobs, but everyone has to start somewhere. The most important thing is that you will get paid. This will provide you with the capital to get your business up and running and send you on your way to financial freedom.

Find Your Focus

It is natural to have mountains of enthusiasm for your new venture when you begin. You probably won’t survive if you do not. However, you want to ensure that you have reasonable expectations and goals for your business. Apple did not start out as the Apple you know now, it started in a garage.

Set short term and long term goals. Write them down and check in with your expectations frequently. Three months out, are you on track? Six months, a year? It is important to know exactly what you want to be doing and not to be floundering around because your goals are undefined. “Winging it” is not an option. There are great tools out there to help you stay focused on track.

Also, figure out the kind of clients you want to attract, how much your time is worth, and how you can best meet your customer’s needs.

Next, put together an impressive portfolio. Have a contingency plan for if you are not able to make your business pan out. Don’t feel sorry if you find that running your own business is not your cup of tea. Many people find they like the security of working for someone else.

Get Paid

There are lots of factors involved in how you get paid. There is the side of the client whom you should trust with your money. There have been cases of negligent clients who run away with your work and not pay you back. To avoid this from happen, you need to read cues of terrible clients so you can avoid working with them along with the inconvenience that they bring.

Another set of factors regarding payment comes from your side. While getting payment is of utmost importance to keep your freelance business afloat, some are just not into accounting or have unrefined organization skills. Keeping track of hours worked, invoices to be sent out, accounts receivable, work expenses, and the various accounts that money is going in and out of is a daunting task. Bad accounting has ruined many a business.

This can easily be solved by taking advantage of products as a free software such as ZipBooks. Instead of trying to keep track of it all on an untenable spreadsheet, ZipBooks allows you to enter easily in and keep track of all your accounting data. You can view paid invoices, your total amount of accounts receivable, work time logged, and outstanding accounts all in one place.

Motivation is Key

Freelancing can be crazier than a ride on your favorite roller coaster. You may feel that you are on top of the world one minute, and a complete failure the next.

Being positive is key. It is important that you be self-aware enough to know how to keep yourself motivated when you hit a rough patch.

If you work from home and haven’t left the house in days, change out of your pajamas and go work in a coffee shop or library. What are you going to do if you wake up one day and don’t have a job to keep you busy? Have a plan for attracting clients instead of staying in bed with your dog and a gallon of Rocky Road.

Mentally prepare for tough times in a way that works for you. When things get better, you will be glad you did.

Do Not Fear Change

In any industry, you have to roll with the punches. The economy is always changing. Humans are fickle creatures. Because of this, it is important to keep track of the emerging trends in your field. What are people doing that is new and exciting? How can you adjust what you do so that clients still find your brand and your work desirable?

Being flexible in case you need to change direction from your original business plan is a must. If you learn to accept change and the opportunities it can bring for you, your business will continue to thrive. Go with the flow instead of fighting against it.

The decision to strike out on your own and begin your own freelancing business can be a tough one. As you can see, there are many things to consider. However, if it is what you want and it can work with your lifestyle, go for it! Freelancing can be a wonderful career, and can give you freedom from the 9 to 5 corporate lifestyle.

Originally posted on September 8, 2016 @ 4:44 am