A Much Wanted Impact: Best Social Media Practices for Blog Growth

Blogging has become a profession of its own, replacing “traditional” careers such as law.

Blogging isn’t a demanding career because it is flexible and it is easy to adapt it to your needs. You just need to create your own spot for writing (at home, the office, a café, etc.). Then prepare your mind to unleash your inner world. But you may ask: how can I live from something so personal?

The bright side of this challenge is that many people worldwide share the same interests as you. People are looking for inspiring stories that will make them get out of their chairs and start doing what they have always dreamed about. And if you can add a monetary value to that, that’s even better, right?

Today we are going to review the best practices you can apply to help your blog to develop. By doing so, you are also securing your path to success.

1 – Create your own niche

Even if you want to express every single idea that comes to your mind, that doesn’t mean your blog has to host posts ranging from gardening to photography or cover both motorsports and ballet. That’s madness and will certainly drive visitors away from your site.

Take two to three days and think carefully about what your very own passion is. After that, you can start writing about it, as well as topics related to your passion. You can even write about out-of-niche topics as long as you relate them to your blog’s theme.

If you find creative ways to gain an audience, then you certainly are going to secure loyal visitors.

2 – Engage your audience

Now that you started building your audience, it’s time to invite them to interact and to keep them anticipating what are you going to do next. In my personal opinion, there’s no better platform for this goal than Instagram.

Instagram allows us to communicate through images, which are immensely appealing and valuable. But also, given its latest updates, Instagram also helps us to dialogue with our so-called “followers.” And yes, people are following what you have to say, so keeping the one-post-a-day recipe is the first step to success.

By keeping an eye in your personal stats (follower count, post count, likes), you can determine the best strategy for maintaining and growing your fan base. Tools like Gramblast are indispensable for having an accurate knowledge of your follower count because Instagram doesn’t show the exact number after 10k followers.

Keep an eye on your image quality: avoid any kind of pixelated images! Nothing expresses the term “unprofessional” more than that.

3 – Get some extra help

Guest posting is a practice well-known by many bloggers. The idea behind guest posting is to use the reach of authority websites in your own niche to help you grow your visitor count.

How do you do that? First, you need to reach the authority site’s admin/editor and do a proper proposal. Many websites ask for a fee in exchange for sponsored posts or visual advertisements (some of them on a monthly basis!). Others require you to include advertisements from their sites or to give them a product you sell—in case you happen to host a store as well—in exchange for a spot on their site.

This is where you need to play your cards well: refrain from doing self-promoted posts. Both admins and users hate that. But do tell your story through the article you’re giving to the host site. Any links you include in your post should be natural and be educational to your readers.

You can learn more vital practices on how to pitch your guest blog post from this infographic by Infobrandz.

Infographic Courtesy Of Infobrandz.com

4 – Don’t post too often

As bad as it is to neglect a social media profile, doing the opposite is just as bad, if not worse. Those who post around four to five times per day on a platform such as Instagram or Facebook are only scaring off their audiences. Posting so often looks like an information bomb that has no unique content.

Keep an editorial schedule where you organize your blog posts, but also sort the blogs you post on places like Instagram and Facebook. Twitter works differently. You literally need to tweet your way through the ranks, and the more the merrier as long as your tweets are relevant and not spammy.

5 – Keep healthy SEO practices

From well-written titles and metas to adding tags to your images and posts, giving SEO the attention it deserves is crucial. SEO is the fastest way to grow your website’s authority. There are several guides around the net that summarize the essential elements of SEO, but overall follow these points:

• Naturally add keywords throughout the text
• Do interlinking (adding links in your blog to internal pages of the site on which you’re posting)
• Remove plugins that slow down your website and don’t upload large images—page load time is crucial
• Always fill in alt-tags for your images
• Link to authority sites

By following these tips, you are taking the first step towards becoming a blogging star. However, keep in mind that this is a step-by-step job, and you can’t expect success overnight. With time and dedication, your efforts will pay off. Good luck!

The post A Much Wanted Impact: Best Social Media Practices for Blog Growth appeared first on Growmap.

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A Much Wanted Impact: Best Social Media Practices for Blog Growth

Five Best Chat Programs For Your Small Business

If you work with a small business team, you know the importance of communication. Oftentimes, you quickly need to get an idea across to someone who’s not in the room. Rather than relying on calling, which is time-consuming, and texting, which some can see an invasion of their personal digital space, many businesses now rely on an internal digital chat system. There are many to choose from, depending on your team’s needs. Here are the most effective chat solutions for your team.

Skype: The Old Standby

Of all the apps and programs on this list, Skype is the most established, having been one of the big players in online communication for more than a decade. With all that time to refine their product, Skype offers a consistent experience across nearly all platforms, including adaptability with many enterprise systems. While Skype specializes in international voice calling, video chats, and group chat, there aren’t many other killer features. Still, these functions should be just fine for small businesses that are looking for a no-frills chat client.

Google Hangouts: The New Standby

While Google Hangouts doesn’t offer many more features than Skype, it should be the preferred chat client for businesses that have gone Google. Besides compatibility with other Google products such as Calendars, and Google Docs, Hangouts does have one pretty cool feature: Hangouts On Air. With this feature, users can broadcast live to the public or even host a talk on a private channel. If you’re looking for a new way for your business to connect with its customers, you might want to take a look at this feature.

Slack: Making Waves in the Chat Solutions

Slack is a relatively new mover and shaker in the digital communication sphere, but it’s quickly winning over hearts and minds with its setup. Rather than having your team focus all their communications on one or two chat groups, Slack suggests making separate channels for each project you’re working on. Channels can be set to viewable by everyone or made private for certain members. If you’re willing to change the way you do messaging, your team may just find this option more efficient.

Basecamp: Tons of Features for Getting a Project Done

Live chat is a huge part of Basecamp, but that’s not the only thing this platform has going for it; Basecamp is also a full-fledged project management system. Among its features are a message board for posting announcements or ideas, automatic check-ins that pose regularly-scheduled questions to team members, and boards for documents and other files.

Kik: The Up-and-Comer in Chat

You may not associate this chatting app with business use, but if you’re part of a team that’s looking for less distractions and more communication, this may just be your option. By default, Kik is available for mobile only, but this can be inconvenient for businesses that don’t rely on mobile communications. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t use still use Kik from your computer.

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Five Best Chat Programs For Your Small Business

How to Build Rock Solid Trust Online So Your Best Prospects Buy

So picture this: you’re strolling along in a major department store, cold drink in hand, on one of the hottest days of the year.

All of a sudden, from out of nowhere, in walk two extremely large males, wearing trench coats and ski masks!

Does that particular image breed confidence and trust on your part, or do you think it might be safer if you just got the heck out of there asap?

I’m definitely with you on that! Then again, maybe they just have a thing for wearing trench coats and ski masks on extremely hot days. Who knows?

You’re probably wondering what, if anything, these two particular shoppers have to do with successful online marketing. The answer is quite simple: your potential online customers will not buy a thing from you until they get to know, like, and trust you.

So How Do You Build Unshakable Trust Online?

Here are five proven ways to help you develop this trust. None of these market-tested strategies are expensive or very time-consuming. But if you continue to ignore these proven trust-building tactics, your online ventures will definitely continue to struggle!

Trust-Building Strategy 1 

Ladies and gentlemen, please bear in mind that whenever someone first lands on your site, be it your blog or website, the two of you are strangers.

You have at most three to five seconds to try to convince them to take the action you prefer most.

So it’s best that you try to set up some type of opt in form (especially on your blog) in order to build your opt in email list. You should also offer some type of market-tested, free, “how to,” problem-solving lead generating giveaway. This giveaway should help your target audience members solve one of their major problems or concerns.

Then you can use your follow up email sequence to build trust and credibility with your subscribers.

Trust-Building Strategy 2

Here’s another big one. It’s an all too common online marketing mistake that you see lots of local, offline marketers making with their websites.

For some odd reason, lots of local, offline small business owners fail to place their phone numbers prominently on the home pages of their websites or blogs.

Don’t make your online visitors have to search for your local number! Instead, place it prominently in either your header or in your home page’s footer section.

Trust-Building Strategy 3 

This next tip might seem like good old-fashioned online marketing common sense, but apparently it’s not as common as it ought to be. Technically, every sales page, website, and blog is required by law to have some sort of contact page so your online visitors can get ahold of you.

Ladies and gentlemen, believe it or not, I know some rather popular bloggers whose blogs have no separate contact page! So if their visitors aren’t following them on social media and are not one of their email subscribers, it’s virtually impossible for a stranger to contact them!

This situation definitely does not bode well for building and developing unshakable trust, correct?

Trust-Building Strategy 4 

If you do have a blog component to your website, or if you just have a mobile responsive WordPress blog in general, be sure there is a picture of you. That way, your visitors can begin to associate your face with your business or service.

By the same token, in order for your blog commenting strategy to be effective, be sure you get an avatar at gravatar.com.

With Gravatar, each time you leave a comment, your actual picture appears with your comment, rather than the default (impersonal) image. Remember, the very first thing your visitors buy into is you—or your major competitors!

Trust-Building Strategy 5

Finally, once prospects join your opt in email lists, they want more than a series of thinly disguised sales pitches. If you are doing little or no actual educating of your customers, it will be almost impossible for you to build any type of long-term credibility with them. Then you’ll end up working a lot harder than you actually need to work.

There’s nothing earth-shattering about any of these five tactics. My friend, are you currently marketing online or planning to do so in the not-so-distant future? Then do yourself a favor and stop ignoring these five proven online fundamentals.

Otherwise, you’ll continue to struggle to build long-term trust. Don’t you agree?

Please share your extremely valuable comments in the comments section below. What are strategies people can apply to their businesses, products, or services in the next 30 days or less?

As always, if you got any value out of this post, please Google Plus or tweet this. Thanks!

And be sure you grab your explosive, free 22-step small business marketing idea kit series. It will help you increase your profits by as much as 25% in the next 90 days or less. It will also help you master your effective communication in marketing skills, no matter what your particular niche market is. It’s a $ 97 dollar value and it’s free!

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How to Build Rock Solid Trust Online So Your Best Prospects Buy

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing – Which Gives the Best ROI?

Marketing has changed, thanks to the digital revolution. With the introduction of the Internet, we have moved from outbound marketing tactics towards inbound marketing.

In this post, I will share the differences between both strategies and why inbound marketing is a better long-term investment.

What Is Outbound Marketing?

Outbound marketing consists of disrupting customers. Its success is based on how many people you can get your message in front of. With this tactic, think of old media forms such as TV, radio, print, billboards, etc.

I like to refer to this as “marketing that interrupts” because the consumer is performing another task and you pay to disrupt them. This method has little ways to measure ROI and is based on large-scale impressions. Outbound marketing is expensive and challenging because it’s hard to reach a narrow target market.

However, this approach is ideal for achieving general awareness and for broadcasting a message to the public as a whole. Outbound marketing techniques are ideal for extensive marketing campaigns that are focused on a broad audience. Think of products in national stores or nationally released movies.

What Is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound marketing is the process of getting consumers’ permission to give them information that educates, entertains, or informs.

Some mediums for inbound marketing include search engines, blogs, podcasts, and email newsletters “that you have subscribed to.” I like to consider this “permission based marketing” because the consumer searches for a solution, and you provide an answer.

Inbound marketing uses precise analytics to measure its ROI, and it’s usually performance based (pay per click or pay for impressions). If you’re a small business, inbound marketing helps to minimize your budget and also helps you focus on a narrow target market.

The four primary forms of inbound marketing include search engine optimization, content marketing, social media, and pay per click. Since the majority of businesses are small businesses, I assume you will focus on inbound marketing techniques. Now I want to share the main metrics you should focus on based on which form of marketing you’re using. I also want to give you information about what strategies to use first and why.

Search Engine Optimization

With inbound marketing, you must focus on SEO first due to the need to understand if a topic you want to write about has any demand. Without researching keywords, you will end up writing content without actually understanding your customers’ needs and what they are searching for online. By finding keywords with a good search volume, you can create content that your potential clients care about, but more importantly are seeking out.

Content Marketing

After researching keywords, writing content is the next logical step.  The Internet is nothing more than a bunch of files hosted on databases. Ask yourself, why do you go online?

More than likely, you do so to absorb information that educates, entertains, or informs. Create content with keywords within your title, in your meta description, in your content, and also in your alt tags.

If your industry is competitive, you might need to write long form articles. I recommend analyzing the first page results for your targeted keyword to determine the domain authority and the average word count of each article. Moz toolbar and SEMrush are two great tools that can help with that process.

It should be noted that inbound marketing is a long-term strategy. Expect to rank for keywords within six months based on competition. I personally recommend using HubSpot ROI calculator to determine how inbound marketing can benefit your bottom line.

Social Media Marketing

Now that you have content, you face a challenge that makes or breaks websites. You need to create a social media plan that helps you promote your content.

Social media is important for three reasons. It allows you to build awareness, engage with customers, and also increase your reach. For the purpose of this blog post, I will focus on reach. I like to correlate reach with the ability to distribute content.

To increase your social media shares, consider linking to the content of bloggers who are active on social media. This practice will allow you to perform blogger outreach effectively. The ROI can be enormous. Expect to gain some social shares from bloggers, and in some cases, you may even acquire a backlink.

Pay Per Click

I rank this inbound marketing strategy last because it requires capital to do it effectively. While all of these strategies cost money to implement, effective PPC is by far the most expensive initially. However, it has the quickest results because you pay for a particular action or website visit.

Use Google Analytics to focus on the first three tactics to gather data for about a month or two. Then consider what conversion goals you want to focus on. In addition, look for trends, potential keywords, and opportunities around which to create paid campaigns.

Next Steps

Now go and take action. The best lessons learned in life come through trial and error! If you want to take your company to the next level, take time to develop an inbound marketing strategy.

The post Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing – Which Gives the Best ROI? appeared first on Growmap.

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Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing – Which Gives the Best ROI?

4 Tips to Attract the Best Employees

In running your business, are you doing everything conceivable in order to attract the best employees?

As the New Year draws ever closer, now would be a good time to assess how you are going about bringing in new talent.

Keep in mind that hiring such talent is not simply the result of placing a help wanted advertisement online and/or in the newspaper.

Not only do you have to get qualified candidates through the door for the interview process, but you then have to determine which one or ones are best positioned to help your business moving forward. As you might imagine, there are no 100 percent guarantees when you hire someone. They could be one of the best workers ever to come through your doors or one of the biggest mistakes you will end up making.

That said do you know how best to go about attracting the top employees?

Incentives Can Go a Long Way

So that you are able to have the best odds of bringing in and keeping to-flight employees, remember these four tips:

1. Workplace – First and foremost, do you have a workplace environment that is second-to-none? For many workers in today’s workplace, having a place to call home for many years is not the norm. In many cases, employees will use one job to eventually get to another one. In doing so, they may turn out to be great workers in their time at a place, though they could also turn out to be real duds. By offering a workplace environment that is inclusive and makes people feel welcome, you stand a better chance of getting solid employees, employees willing to go the extra mile for you and ultimately stick around;
2. Incentives – Offering your employees incentives will be a great means to keep them around, not to mention make sure they are happy during their time with you. For example, solid group benefits for employees are a great place to start. Given how expensive medical insurance is becoming for many individuals these days, paying for a sizable portion of their medical needs oftentimes proves a big help for both you and the employee. If you’re worried about the costs becoming too astronomical for you, shop around for the best medical plans out there. In doing so, you can oftentimes find a plan that is financially cost-effective for you when all is said and done. Other incentives include not only increases in salary over time, but also the ability to grow within the company (see more below).

Don’t Overlook Growth Importance

3. Growth – When it comes to growth, many workers will state that having a chance to climb up the corporate ladder is important to them. Without those opportunities for growth, some employees will feel like they are simply going through the motions each day, something that is a problem for you and your customers. Be sure to make growth opportunities one of your key offerings when sitting down and interviewing candidates;
4. Honesty – Lastly, don’t you like it when employees are honest with you? Assuming the answer is yes, you need to return that ounce of respect. If you don’t, you can lose people (both figuratively and literally) before you know it. Be honest with workers when there are problems, be they with the individuals themselves or the company in general. If you see cutbacks coming down the road, don’t wait until the last minute to inform those impacted by them. Also speak honestly in grading one’s performance level. If you’re not honest with them, you hurt both them and your business overall.

As a business owner, how do you go about attracting the best employees to keep your company churning along?

Photo credit: Pixabay

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

 

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4 Tips to Attract the Best Employees

What Is The Best Soundbar Under $200? We Reveal!

A soundbar works by amplifying your television’s audio quality. It also comes with various features to ensure an ultimate listening experience. Soundbars offer plenty of advantages, and they do not cost as much as stereo speakers. In fact, you can already purchase good quality soundbars for only less than $ 200.

The next time that you head out to search for the best soundbar, take with you the tips and product reviews below to help you decide which is the right one for your audio experience.

Factors to Consider

There are plenty of brands and models out there for you to choose from. Choosing the best soundbar under $ 200 can be overwhelming and confusing. Below are the important buying factors to consider:

Design

Soundbars come in various designs. The active ones have speakers, amplifiers, and others housed in a single bar. The passive ones, meanwhile, have the amplifiers placed outside the unit. These two differ in the audio quality and installation process, as well. Active soundbars have cleaner installation, while the passive ones are better when it comes to audio control. The right choice will vary from person to person, which is why you have to decide which type will best serve you.

Connectivity

Most of today’s soundbars can now be connected to your smartphone or tablet, as long as they have a Bluetooth option. This means you can listen to your favorite playlists through your device or play some music during a house party. If you wish to share your music with other people using your mobile device, it will be ideal to look for soundbars with Bluetooth connectivity.

Subwoofer

If you are somebody who wants to clearly hear the audio effects in your favorite movies, then you will want a soundbar with a subwoofer. This is an external device that can enhance the audio effects, like explosions and fight scenes. It normally comes with the soundbar upon purchase.

Set-up

A good quality soundbar should also be easy to set up. Most models are designed for quick installation. Unlike the conventional sound system, these soundbars do not need many wires or speakers to work. They only come with a single cable, which you use to connect to your device.

Size

Soundbars also come in many shapes and sizes. Not all models will fit your stand or television. It is important to check the dimensions of the model/s you want and make sure they will fit well with your current entertainment set up.

You now know the important factors to note when looking for the best soundbar under $ 200. Without further ado, below are five of today’s best soundbars that you can check:

2017s Best Soundbars Under $ 200

Vizio SB3821-C6

This 38-inch soundbar is ideal for your large television (42 inches and bigger). It features DTS and Dolby audio technologies, and a wireless subwoofer for added flexibility. It also has a Bluetooth option that lets you stream from your mobile device. The good thing about this popular model is that it is extremely easy to set up, which means you can enjoy a superb audio experience almost right after you pull it out from the packaging.

BÖHM B2

The B2 soundbar is designed for your home theater system. It is made more compact, and comes with a slim and sleek design, unlike its previous version. The installation process is simple, as well. All you have to do is to plug in the unit to your television’s audio output.

The package comes with three audio modes: movie, music, and TV. You can choose your preferred mode to suit your taste. With a touch of the button, your room can be transformed into a theater that comes with superb sound effects.

Pyle WiFi Sound Bar Speakers

This Pyle soundbar has the capability to produce a high-powered audio output. It offers a wireless playback feature, as well as Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity. This means you can easily connect your smartphone or tablet to the soundbar for streaming. Furthermore, this model can produce a stereo sound exceptionally and its bass response is as impressive.

The whole unit is designed for quick installation and connection to your desired electronic devices. You can also connect it to your PC, laptop, HD TV, and more. The package comes with a dual-tweeter and mid-woofer for that superb audio experience.

Samsung HW-J355 2.1

This Samsung soundbar is designed to provide users with a superb audio experience. It features a wired subwoofer that has the capability to produce dynamic and rich bass. Its Bluetooth connectivity allows you to connect to your mobile device, so it is not limited to your TV alone.

Another great thing about this model is that you can switch it on using any Bluetooth-enabled device. The Samsung Audio Remote mobile app is created to let you control the soundbar using your Android device. With a 120W power that is equally shared by the soundbar and the subwoofer, the sound quality is made dynamic and rich. It also supports various audio formats, including OGG, WMA, MP3, FLAC, WAV, and more.

Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker II

This Bose soundbar may be small in size, but its deep bass and huge sound will make you check this one out. Its compact size will allow you to bring it wherever you go without hassle. Since it is wireless, you can easily stream from anywhere. There is a voice prompt that will help you pair your mobile device to this speaker.

Reconnection will never be an issue as this unit remembers the last eight electronic devices that connected with it. The package comes with a charging cradle for quick charging. It can also be charged via USB, so bringing it outside will be a breeze. Lastly, the unit has a soft cover to keep it protected from damage.

Conclusion:

These are the best soundbars under $ 200 that are worth checking. With so many options to consider, you will need to take note of the tips above to help you decide better. Soundbars are perfect for people who truly appreciate audio quality, and there is no need to spend a lot of money on one.

Image Source.

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What Is The Best Soundbar Under $200? We Reveal!

Give Customers the Best Mobile Experience Possible

How much mobility would you say your business has as the New Year unfolds?

While many businesses are on top of their mobile games, others are woefully dragging behind. For those in the latter group, missed opportunities to connect with consumers and bring in more revenue are but two of the pitfalls of such inaction.

Assuming you do not want to end up in that latter group, it is important that you do all you can to have a sound mobile app presence. When you do, there are many more opportunities to grow your brand and be seen as a leader in your respective niche.

So, are you prepared to give customers the best mobile experience possible?

Being a Frontrunner in Mobile Apps and Marketing

In order for your brand to get as much positive promotions and feedback as possible, being a major player with mobile apps services is important.

With your mobile game in play, you should focus on:

• Marketing – Having a mobile app in play for your business gives you the opportunity to expand your marketing promotions like never before. Take into account the fact that millions of consumers use their respective mobile devices on a daily basis. As a result, you can literally reach out to them anytime and anywhere. For example, do you have a new special promotion you’d like them to know about? If so, simply sending the message out via your mobile app is a great start. You may decide to throw in a digital coupon offer that saves them money on their purchases. Whatever your promotion is, make sure your mobile marketing messages spell it out loud and clearly;
• Appearance – Even if you have some of the best products and/or services you want the world to know about, how you put that message out there is important. Keep in mind that mobile devices give you less of a screen view than a regular laptop or desktop computer. As such, if your message doesn’t properly fit on the screen of a mobile device, not only can your brand look unprofessional, but you may not get your entire message out there. Be sure that the design is what you want it to be, giving customers the best user experience possible when viewing your message;
• Feedback – Finally, expect and accept the consumer feedback you receive regarding your mobile app. Yes, some of it may be critical at times, but take those opportunities as a chance to improve the user experience for consumers. Without ever knowing what they like and do not like, how can you expect to come up with the perfect mobile app? Without duplicating their efforts, also take some time to see how competitors are using their mobile apps to build business. By seeing what kind of feedback they receive from consumers, it will give you a few ideas of what to do and not to do with yours.

Don’t Shortcut Your Brand on Mobility

Lastly, mobile apps are not going anywhere anytime soon, so educate you and your staff on how important they are in growing your brand.

As important as using your mobile app for sales is, don’t forget other options for your app.

For starters, load your app up with relevant content and videos.

When it comes to content, you can provide articles not only talking about your products and services, but what your overall industry is doing.

For example, if you’re a Realtor with a mobile app for business, articles on trends in the real estate market would be quite worthwhile to those individuals and families looking to buy or sell properties. You can (and should) also add videos to the app, something that is usually a sure winner with consumers. By showcasing different properties on your app, potential buyers and sellers can look at different homes and/or condos right in the palm of their hands.

It is safe to say that mobility within your business is important now and will continue so down the road.

When you give customers the best mobile experience possible, they are apt to keep coming back.

Photo credit: Pixabay

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

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Give Customers the Best Mobile Experience Possible