13 WAYS TO KEEP BUSY DURING ISOLATION

Social distancing to limit spread of COVID-19 doesn’t have to mean social isolation or boredom.  

 

We have enclosed some healthy, fun and responsible ways for those who are isolating to stay occupied during the public health crisis.

 

Feel free to share this list your friends. Stay Healthy!

 

1. Connect with friends – on the phone or online. 
Keep your relationships alive by talking every day to friends, neighbors and relatives.  Check in by phone with the elderly people in your life. Use apps like Skype, FaceTime, Zoom, Google Hangouts or Marco Polo to video chat with long-distance friends. Set a goal to call one or two people each day. 

 

2. Read. Books. Magazines. Digitally or in print. 
This is a great time to revisit the classics, catch up on new releases or indulge in your favorite genre fiction. Reading expands your mind and sets a great example for your children, putting them on a path to become lifelong readers, too. 

 

3. Practice mindfulness. 
The science is persuasive: Meditation reduces inflammation and enhances our immune functions; it also helps us focus our attention and feel less controlled by challenging thoughts or feelings. Start small – just a few minutes per day – and consider apps that help guide meditation initially.

 

4.Go shopping – virtually. 
This is a great time to support local businesses. If they have an online presence, go shopping or purchase gift cards. You’ll be ahead when gift-giving time comes around, and you could help keep a small business afloat.

 

5. Get organized. 
No more excuses: Sort through your junk drawer; organize your kitchen cabinets; alphabetize your spices; untangle and label that pile of electronic cords; clean the garage. Whatever you’ve put off that will make your life easier when this is over, do it now.

 

6. Practice an old skill. 
Maybe you haven’t played an instrument in years. Pick it up and see what you remember (provided it won’t bother your neighbors, who are also self-isolating).

 

7. Learn a new skill. 
Calligraphy? Sketching? Knitting? Poetry? Origami? This is a great time to try your hand at something new. In addition to fun stuff, consider learning a new language or another skill you could use in your career. Online resources are almost endless whether through a virtual class, online forum, YouTube videos and more.

 

8. Cook or bake. 
Whip up something new or make an old favorite. Involve the kids. Fill your home with fragrant scents from spices or baking bread. Perfect grandma’s bolognese recipe.

 

9. Garden. April is a great time for tasks in the garden

10. Spring cleaning.

Revive the tradition of a really deep cleaning to usher in spring. Ramp up your routine with serious attention to details like lamp shades, switchplates, door handles and frames. A solid spring cleaning improves the air quality of your home and may improve your mood.

 

11. Exercise. 
Yes, the gyms and health clubs are closed, but thanks to technology, there’s never been an easier time to start an exercise program at home. Try out at-home aerobics or yoga videos. Consider downloading a fitness app with curated workout playlists.

 

12. Outdoor exercise is good, too:

Take a walk. Ride a bike. Go rollerblading. Just be sure to maintain a 6-foot distance from others while outdoors.

13. List what you’re grateful for.

Start a gratitude journal or just make a one-time list. Research shows gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness, more positive emotions, improved health and stronger relationships.
 

THE SECRET TO MORE SUCCESS? START TODAY.

Stop Thinking About What It Is You Fear

For thirty days you must take control of your mind. It will think about only what you permit it to think about. All you have to do is know where you’re going. Do what experts since the dawn of recorded history have told you, you must do: pay the price by becoming the person you want to become. It’s not nearly as difficult as living unsuccessfully. Take your thirty day test, then repeat it... then repeat it again. Each time, it will become more a part of you until you’ll wonder how you could have ever lived any other way. Start today. You have nothing to lose—but you have a whole life to win. Try this: Commit to taking control of your mind for thirty days. Things are hard and frightening now, so what better time to begin? Start today. Ask these thought-provoking questions prior to discussing the issue: 1. What are goals you have had in the past that you achieved? How did you achieve them? 2. What are goals you have had in the past that you did not achieve? Why did you not achieve them? 1.   What is Success?  ● Are there ways that you are currently conforming to society’s expectations?  ● How has the pressure to conform to another’s definition of success prevented you from chasing your own dreams?  ● What is your personal definition of success?  2.   The Secret Is…  ● Think about someone you know who always seems to succeed. What type of mindset or attitude does this person have?  ● What do you spend your time thinking about? Are most of your thoughts positive or negative in tone?  ● Are your thoughts centred more on your own actions and feelings or on the actions and feelings of others?  3.  Believe and Succeed  ● How often has fear prevented you from pursuing a goal?  ● What negative messages do you find yourself dwelling on?  ● Think about something you would like to achieve and define it as a measurable, specific goal. 4.  You’re in the Driver’s Seat  ● Do you control your thinking or does your thinking tend to control you?  ● Would you describe your life now as “an exciting adventure”? Why or why not? ● Think about how the law of cause and effect has played out in your own life. What are two examples – one good, one bad? 5. The Price of Success  ● What price are you willing to pay for success?  ● Think about a goal you would like to achieve. What fears do you think would arise when trying to accomplish it?  ● If you need to call on motivation and inspiration to help with a goal, what book do you look to for help? (Or, is there a book you’d like to read?) 6. Start Today  ● In what ways can you be of more service to others in your workplace? Family? Community?  ● Visualize and write down a clear description the person you want to become.

WRITING LANDING PAGE COPY THAT CONVERTS

A landing page is a gateway that marks the difference between your online business’s profitability and well… non-profitability.

It’s where your audience lands when they’ve clicked on a link from social media or your web advertisement. A potential lead clicks on your link because they think they’re interested – but it’s your landing page that determines whether they’re going to move forward with your business. This is why you need to ensure that the copy or written text on your landing page is perfect.
To that end, we’re going to cover some killer copywriting tips for your landing page. There are several best practices that are sure to fire up your landing page conversions.
Ready to dive in? Here we go.

Do Your Research. Seriously

There’s a substantial difference between thinking you know your audience and actually knowing them. In the second situation, your knowledge is informed from real data that you gather using tools or by asking your audience for their opinion.

Guessing and making assumptions about who your audience is and what they want will take you down the wrong path – leading to wasted time and resources.

So, how do you do research? You just roll up your sleeves and get busy like the high-powered research nerd you are.

Use analytics tools: Tools like Google Analytics and SEO tools can provide you with a wealth of information from doing website analyses. You’ll learn about the keywords people are using to get to your website, what questions they’re asking, and who your visitors are.

When you look at data like keywords, bounce rates, and other on-site activities, you’ll know whether your website is ranking for the right keywords. If not, how can you change your content? Or you should target another audience? These are great questions that bring you closer to the best solutions.

Demographic information will also help you manage your writing voice, language, and the benefits to highlight in your copy. The language and tone you use for moms will be significantly different from how you’d write for young gamers. Let demographic information and real data support your copywriting decisions.

Create surveys: Use a form plugin for WordPress to create surveys and polls. Share these surveys on social media and other forums and get people’s opinions on what they want. You’ll get rich information that’s actionable.

Do user testing: There are websites that let you test your content on real people. You’ll get recordings of people interacting with your site and content while relaying their thoughts. It’s an effective and insightful way to get information.

With the help of user input, your copy will be more relevant to your audience which creates more leads.

Focus on Benefits NOT Features

Since the dawn of marketing copy, copywriters have been shouting this piece of advice from the rooftops: write about the benefits of your product to your customers, not the features.

But this is a hard piece of advice for some businesses to follow since they believe that their strength lies in their specs. As a result, you can often come across great businesses whose websites do little in the way of conversions.

Remember, people spend fewer than 3 seconds once they land on a page before they decide to leave. You have 3 measly seconds to answer this question in your visitor’s mind “What’s in it for me?”.

Your landing page headline needs to inform people what they’re getting and why it benefits them. In fact, most of your landing page copy needs to tell customers what your business or product will help your audience with. It’s further down the line that you provide them with details like technical specifications.

Keep it Short

Since people don’t spend more than 3 seconds on a website before exiting, you need to keep your content short and easy to read.
Your headline, subheadings, and other copy needs to be simply phrased. When creating your headlines, try to answer these questions about your business as quickly as possible.

• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• Why should they use your product?

It’s a lot to manage with a few words, but it’s possible with some brainstorming and effort.

Use Everyday Language

Even if your product or business is highly technical, it’s important to use a conversational voice in your blog posts and other marketing copy.

Since users are processing a large amount of information while searching, they can get fatigued easily. Using normal and friendly language gets attention first and helps people understand if they should work with you.

For example, ‘Traffic Analysis Solution’ as a headline can be taxing and unappealing for people who are sifting through several websites. An easy to read headline like ‘Learn who’s visiting your site’ or something along those lines that shows customers clear benefits.

Once you’ve won over a lead, you can provide them with information that specifies technical content.

The Proof is in the Numbers … and the People

A powerful way to get attention and win trust instantly is to use numbers in your headline copy. You can add statistics such as how your product increased a client’s profits by 10%, how many members your site has, or the number of lives that have been affected.

Statistics offer a factual reason for your audience to trust you. It creates more credibility and authority – two things that are essential to build a strong brand image.

Another way to power your landing page copy is to add social proof. This is a psychological phenomenon where people ‘follow the crowd’. For example, you’re more likely to choose an already crowded restaurant than one nearby that has fewer people. This is because you interpret the sign of more people using something as evidence that the product or service must be good.

You can add social proof by showcasing testimonials, reviews, the number of ratings, and other content to help your audience build trust.
An effective way to showcase trust and boost conversions is to use a social proof notification feature. A plugin like TrustPulse lets you display notification bubbles on your site showing current purchases, subscriptions, and other information happening on your site in real-time.

Using numbers and social proof is a way to “Show, don’t tell” in writing copy. It’ll help you boost your conversion rates substantially in a very short time.

Create Specific Calls to Action

Calls to action ensure that your site visitors aren’t left hanging after they browse your landing page. It gives them something to do: subscribe to your newsletter, become a member of your community, or sign up for tutorials.

When you create a call to action such as opting into your mailing list, you’ll also be able to nurture visitors into leads.

Remember to create specific calls to action. In copywriting, specific and actionable language is more impactful than vague, generic content.

Make sure that your buttons and calls to action don’t just say ‘Click Here’ or something ‘Join Now’. Instead ‘Sign Up to Get Your Free Video’ and other specific calls to action let your audience know exactly what will happen next. They’re more likely to take action that supports your business.

Be Consistent

One easy-to-make mistake is to make your landing page appear inconsistent with your ad link and content. It’s important to use similar if not the same words in the ad that people clicked on to get to your landing page.

Make sure that the content is relevant to the search term and the ad itself. For example, if people clicked on your link because the text says that you’re offering a free trial, then your copy on the landing page needs to address that first. Don’t use this as the time to push your paid subscription, instead, mention it discreetly.

Do A/B Testing

Doing A/B tests or Split Tests is an important step to make sure that you’re using the best landing page copy possible. You need to test different copy versions and look at KPIs such as bounce rates, conversions, and others to see what’s working best.

In the end, even the best copywriting formula needs to be tweaked for your business, and testing helps you create the best version of your landing site.

Conclusion

There you go. We’ve looked at some specific ways that you can boost your landing page copy so that you get more conversions.

It’s a great idea to keep observing landing pages that you visit. Notice headlines that appeal to you. What are they doing right? Likewise, think about landing pages that made you quit immediately. What did they do wrong?

With these tips, some effort, and testing, you’ll be sure to create copy for landing pages that convert visitors to leads effectively.

WAYS TO DEAL WITH STRESS AND ENJOY GREATER PEACE OF MIND

We've all been there, the bills are piling up, your workload is overwhelming you, and your kids are giving you a hard time at home. Before you know it, you are stressed out of your mind and you can literally feel your blood reaching boiling point.

It's true, stress is something that we all experience, it's simply unavoidable. But that doesn't mean you need to let stress get in the way of your daily life. In fact, you have more control over stress than you think. Here's a few suggestions to help you get stress under-control so you can enjoy greater quality of life and the peace of mind you deserve.

#1 Burn Off Stress With Exercise
Studies have shown that physical activity promotes the brains feel good neurotransmitters. On top of this, exercise helps you burn off a little steam. You don't need to sign up for a gym membership or run a marathon but a few minutes of physical activity in the morning and once in the evening can really help you to unwind mentally and physically.

#2 Mindfulness Based Stress Therapy
Mindfulness Based Stress Therapy (MBST) is a stress relief system that combines mindfulness meditation and yoga. Don’t be put off if you've never meditated or practiced yoga before, you don’t need to be a Buddhist monk or Yogi to benefit from MBST. If this strategy does tickle your fancy, then you can enrol in this free online MBST program (no catch).

#3 Do Something That Makes You Laugh
You've probably heard the saying "laughter is the medicine." Well it's true. When you laugh you release more of those feel good neurotransmitters. On top of this, it's hard to feel stressed or anxious when you are having a good old giggle. So when you feel the stress building up, do something that makes you laugh and brings a smile to your face.

#4 Declutter and Organize Your Home
There’s nothing worse than running around indoors trying to find paperwork or the remote for the television. If this sounds familiar, then maybe it’s time to have a declutter and organize your home a little better. There’s no need to go all Feng Shui but an organized home is a stress free home, and when you consider how much time you spend at home it makes sense.

#5 Spend Time Doing Stuff You Enjoy
With the hustle and bustle of daily life it’s easy to get caught up in the rat race and neglect the things we enjoy. But if you don’t make time for doing the things you love to do, then you will miss out on the finer things in life. Ask yourself “what makes me happy.” Then make a commitment to spending time doing these things.

#6 Make Meditation a Daily Ritual
Studies have shown that meditation helps to relieve stress, anxiety and other psychological disorders. I recommend a basic mindfulness meditation as you will learn to observe your thoughts without over analyzing them. Don't worry, you don't need to be a monk to get started. Just get yourself comfortable, close your eyes, breathe deeply and focus on resting in the space between your thoughts.

#7 Keep a Journal and Update It Daily
Journals are a great way to unload your thoughts and vent your mental frustration. Journaling also helps you to track and pinpoint the things in your life that are causing you stress. I recommend updating and reading through your journal every night. Then each night when you close your journal tell yourself “that’s it for today, there’s no use stressing during my quality time.”

The Bottom Line
There you have it, seven practical ways to keep stress at bay. Put these tips to use today and you’ll be one step closer to enjoying a stress free life. And remember, stressing over something doesn’t make the problem go away, it just makes it worse.

- Ricky O'Shea

5 TIPS TO INCREASE LEAD CAPTURE FORM CONVERSION

When you start a business, you put a lot of thought into your conversion strategy and how you’ll garner enough customers to build ROI. But have you put the same effort into creating optimized lead capture forms?

Too many marketers overlook the importance of a well-designed contact form and how it affects their conversions. A staggering 81 percent of users have abandoned a form after beginning to fill it out, which means not enough businesses are doing their job to cater to their website visitors.

To move customers through the sales funnel, you need to gain their trust, and building an email list is the perfect first step. However, converting visitors to subscribers is challenging when you don’t create optimized lead capture forms.

For any business to generate leads and build ROI, it needs to provide a smooth UX for the visitor. Forms that fail to cater to the consumer push them to bounce from your website and never return.

So, if you want to boost your lead capture form conversions, here are five tips to help you get started.

Use a Single-Column Format

A recurring theme of successful lead forms is that they don’t overwhelm the user. Remember, you want to provide a pleasant experience for the user from start to finish so it’s easier to complete.

Opt for a single-column layout in your lead form. They’re simple, minimal, and easier for users to focus on and finish. Users filling out your form will likely be new to your brand, and presenting them with a lot at once might scare them away. 

Reduce Form Fields

People don’t have the patience to fill out tons of information about themselves on your website, especially if they’re relatively new. You want to make it as easy as possible to grab their contact information.

So, you need to reduce the number of fields in your form and asking only for essential information. HubSpot found that minimizing the number of form fields from four to three increased their lead conversions by a whopping 50 percent. Even the simplest tweak can make all the difference in how your forms perform with visitors.

Eliminate any confusion your form might present to users. Specify which fields are required and which are optional. If some fields need more context or explanation, make sure to provide it. This makes it easier for users to move through your form without issue, thus increasing your conversions.

Don’t Ask for Too Much

Visitors who are new to your website need to build trust with your brand before they can move through the conversion funnel. People aren’t keen to share their personal information with just anyone, so you need to make sure they feel comfortable while on your site.

Avoid asking for too much information in your form. This means asking only for what’s necessary and nothing more. Many businesses make the mistake of creating a form that’s invasive to new visitors and scares them away.

You don’t need home addresses, phone numbers, and birthdays right away, so leave it out of your lead form. In the beginning, the most you should expect from users is their email address and name.

Include Social Proof

When someone signs up for an email list, it means they trust that brand enough to hand over their information and be contacted later. But to get to that point, you need to build brand credibility with your audience, and you can do that with social proof.

Social proof is a psychology trick that marketers use to reel in site visitors and gain their trust. By showing users that many others like them are performing certain actions, it’ll convince them to do the same.

For example, some ecommerce stores display live buying activity on their website so users can see the purchases happening in real-time. You can do this by using a social proof tool like TrustPulse.

Other popular forms of social proof include:

Ratings and reviews Customer and client testimonials Case studies User-generated content Certificates Social media shares and mentions

Social proof is important for any marketing strategy because it builds credibility between your brand and its audience. Users can’t navigate your lead form and move through the conversion funnel if they don’t trust your brand first. So, you need to make sure to establish key points of trust on your website in the form of social proof.

Optimize Your Call-to-Action

Your call-to-action needs to reel in visitors and entice them to click through. Users are used to the common CTA catchphrases overused by many, including:

Submit Download Join

While these verbs are straightforward, they don’t encourage visitors to take action because they’re boring. You need to harness your creativity in all areas of your marketing to build your customer base, and that includes your CTAs.

Use relevant, targeted keywords in your CTAs to grab users’ attention and convince them to convert. If you have a specific offer or deal, you can mention that in the text.

Netflix used specificity in their CTA text to collect visitors’ email addresses and provide them with a 30-day free trial:

Your Turn

Whether you want to grow your blog or boost sales, every marketer should know how to create a lead form that converts visitors into subscribers. They lay the foundation for your customer base and are an important part of your business’ success. You need to prioritize the UX you provide on your site to ensure you cater to user needs, and this includes your contact forms. 

HOW ONE SIMPLE IDEA CHANGED THE WORLD

Following the end of World War II, life in America had settled back into the peaceful routine that had been established by generations gone by. Each person knew the role they were expected to play in the family and in society—a role that they had been trained for from the time they were little children. While many may have been uncomfortable or unhappy with the roles they were expected to play, they continued on, living unhappy, unfulfilled lives. To do otherwise would have labeled them as a “misfit” or a “rebel,” and they would have been ostracized as having something “wrong with them,” so people continued to play roles for which they believed they were not suited, living lives of unhappiness and loneliness, dreaming dreams and having visions of living lives differently from those around them but believing that where they were was where they were supposed to be.
Then, in 1956, along came a man who had lived in poverty as a child and had seen war up close and personal. His name was Earl Nightingale, and he not only had visions of how life could be lived in a way that differed from the multitude, but was actually living the life that he had imagined. Through a recording he created for his team, he suggested that each of us has the power, the gift, and the ability to live our lives as we imagine them to be and then went on to reveal this “secret” as to how those ideas, dreams, and visions may be accomplished by us all!
After all, men and women have been “following the followers” since the beginning of time, and this man with this recording was suggesting that it was not only okay but that we owed it to ourselves and our families, as well as to building a better society, to think about what we would like to pursue in order to become our best selves. He was not only giving us permission but was telling us that we have and have always had the power to direct the courses of our lives. This whole premise was so bizarre that each time the record was played, it sparked a response so great that each person wanted to have a record of their own and couldn’t wait to play it for others, who, in turn, wanted a copy of their own to share!
And so it was that this simple message that was written and recorded to be played for two weeks to just a handful of salesmen sparked a new idea that soon spread like wildfire, not only across the United States but, in time, around the world, selling millions upon millions of copies and igniting a new spirit—one of entrepreneurial genius—inspiring people to think in new directions. Suddenly, a new industry called personal development was born, inspiring and inviting people to become all they wished to become simply by changing the way they thought about themselves and about life. People began changing, and so did our world.
For more than sixty years, The Strangest Secret has stood the test of time, still selling daily somewhere in the world, and still changing lives for the better. Earl Nightingale has been introduced often as the dean of motivation, a legend, one of the world’s leading authorities on success, and the greatest philosopher of his time. I remember Earl Nightingale as a man of integrity who was generous in spirit and love, a man who searched for truth and wisdom and had a strong desire to share all that he learned with others so that they might benefit from that knowledge as well. I am so blessed that this incredible man chose to share his journey with me and that he has left me with his timeless legacy, one that I am proud to share with the present generation and with those to come along with the desire that each will find the secret that lies within: that we all become what we think about.

--Diana Nightingale