SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR 25% MORE CONVERSION

What is it about social media that is so appealing to bloggers, business owners, and online marketers? Much of the answers we can get by setting up our own social profiles, however if you own a business, then you know social marketing is great for influence. It’s great to build conversions, and even more powerful to help you achieve your bottom line. However, I’m surprised at the amount of people who choose not to incorporate social marketing into their business because I feel they are losing enormous conversions when they don’t. Next,

Did you know social media has shown to improve conversions by 25% when done correctly? I know the number is staggering, however you have to keep in mind the reach on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +. In the end, you just need to know how to use social media platforms to engage the right type of users which I’ll be showing you later on.
With that said,
Here are some things you have to keep in mind when incorporating social media into your business:

• Research
• Social buttons
• Engage readers to share
• Advertising
• Poke top influencers

Let’s get started, and explore some of these factors. If done correctly, they have been proven to increase social media conversions by 25%. Your feedback, and thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Research

Everything started with research, and when it comes to social media, you have to know what networks to target. For example, if you do a quick search for social media networks, you’ll see about 50-60 platforms show up within the SERP’s. However, you have to be careful because if you spread out your efforts you’ll do more harm then good. I like to target the 3 big social media platforms “ Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Did you know 75% of the worlds population are active on only these three networks?
What does this mean?
If you focus on these networks, you’ll be able to generate enormous buzz if you market your content, video or even products the right way. However, you have to make sure you know what your audience is looking for which is why you should research your competition too. I like to use the following to research what’s popular on these networks?

• Visit their social media profiles
• Understand what #hashtags they are using
• View the content type they share
• View the content topics they share
• Read the audience
• Understand the audience

When you have a better understanding of the following dynamics, you’ll be able to setup an engaging social media campaign which converts better then before. Remember, it’s all about visibility, and being able to attract more people then your competition. The more traffic you can drive, the better for your bottom line.

Social Buttons

You can achieve social shares from so many places that I’m surprised at the amount of people who fail to add the buttons in the right place. Right from the top of my head, I can think of 3-4 ways I can get people to share my content:

First, I can add buttons to my content on my website. Next, I can have people share content I’ve posted on social media platforms. Third, when people share guest content I have published on other blogs, and finally when people share content sent to them within their email.
It’s amazing what you can achieve by knowing where to place the right share buttons. Here’s something else. This use to be hard at one point, however you have so many options available that this can be done within a few minutes. However, people still struggle to add buttons because they don’t know where to get started.
Here’s are two tools you have available which will streamline the entire process:
Add This.com  They provide an all-in-one solution to sharing which can be customized to fit all your needs. You can choose what buttons to add, and the code can be placed easily. They offer a great walk-through showing you how to place the code within the backend. Over the years, they have added more social platforms for customization just in case you want to make changes going forward. Next,
If you are using WordPress, you can install their plugin to easily configure the social share buttons.
Next,
Share This.com “ This tool is exactly the same as AddThis.com however has a different style of reporting. Both of them offer great reporting, but you’ll find more options with Sharethis.com. Next, they offer a great WordPress plugin which can be configured within a few minutes.
I would suggest trying them both, then settling with the one you find easier to use. Both offer a great solution to adding buttons below your content, and some can be configured more then the other.
Next,
If you are writing content, or sharing on social media then it’s important to note the share buttons are already included within the interface. You just have to make sure you provide high value content to the audience looking online.

Engage Readers to Share

One thing I’ve noticed is that you’ll add buttons to your content, but very few people will actually share your content. I actually wondered for a while why this was happening, and did a quick case study. I wrote two pieces of content, and this is what I did towards the bottom:

• On one I asked people to share the content, and
• On the other I did not make any reference to sharing.

The results where amazing because when I asked people to engage my social interaction increased by 15%. I thought about this, and came to this conclusion. First, new comers need to be guided on what to do next, and these same people are new to the whole idea of social media. Secondly, many people sometimes forget to share because they have been overwhelmed with high value content. They are probably pre-occupied with absorbing the substance, etc.
Next,
We sometimes forget the actual people looking for content (depending on your niche) have no experience with blogging. This means they land on your page, read the content, and leave right after. They don’t understand how to show gratitude for providing value. Many of them don’t know how a single share will help spread your brand across many different channels. This is why you have to remind them to help you out by sharing your content, and you’ll be surprised how many of them do when asked. Next,
Think about when you buy a product online, and what you do right after. You probably forget to leave a review because you:

• Don’t purchase online too much
• Fail to understand how your review will help the seller
• Fail to understand how your review will help the buyer

However, when you are happy with your experience, and receive a leave feedback email, you most likely will to help out the seller right?
This same approach can be applied to content, and why you should ask readers to engage with your content by sharing it on social media platforms.

Advertising

As these social media platforms have become bigger they have changed the way people interact on them. For example, which once was a portal for people to share content has now become one which people can market groups, content, landing pages, and applications. Even though I always recommend starting out with free social media accounts so you can learn what works for you, it’s important to find out how other options can help increase conversions. For example,
Facebook advertising is a great alternative for those looking to invest money, and build momentum quickly. You can set a budget and promote: content, products, groups, etc. This way when people are surfing online they’ll be able to find your content easily. This is great for someone who is just starting out, and is looking to build that momentum quickly. However, Facebook because of the data they have access to will allow you to target a custom audience, for example,

• Gender
• Location
• Age group
• Interests
• Relationships
• etc

I love the fact that you can set your own bids, and they can even be as low as $0.03 which obviously depends on your purpose. For example, when promoting community pages, you’ll be paying as little as 0.02 per Like which is a very low cost compared to other popular networks. The reason I’m putting an emphasis on FB is because they provide exceptionally awesome traffic for a very low price.
Anyway,
The point is if you have money to invest in marketing, then it’s going to be a good idea to throw it towards some targeted Facebook Advertising.

Top Influencers

Just like when you are writing content it’s a good idea to network with top bloggers so they’ll help put the work out, it’s good to do the same with social media. If you network with top influencers on Facebook or Twitter, then you can get help from users with 100,000+ followers. A share from these people can boost visibility quickly driving enormous relevant people to your website. However, it’s important you network with people who are in your niche, and which you have established a relationship with from before. For example, some of the people who I ask to share my content I have been working with for several years. I have written content, promoted products, or even asked for feedback way before I got on social media. What does this do?
With an established relationship I can easily reach out to these same people for social media outreach. I can ask them to share my content with their followers which are MOST likely relevant to mine. If these influential bloggers have 100k+ followers, then this can be awesome for my bottom line. However, make sure you have established relationships from before, or can offer something attractive in return.
Here are some options:

• Write content for them going forward
• Promote their product
• Mention them within an article
• Provide free advice or feedback on a topic you have experience in

In the end, these relationships can go a long way in building social awareness.

Final Thoughts

I hope you have enjoyed this quick overview on how to increase conversions through social media. Start by reading through the content again, and implementing some of the strategies mentioned. Test and then tweak until you find which ones provided the MOST conversions. You can then continue using the same methods going forward.

USER PERSONAS AND MARKETING PERSONAS

If you’re a blogger, a vlogger, a podcaster or a social media influencer, you’re in the business of making content. I’ve said before that even if I never make another penny from my writing, I’ll probably continue being a “blogger” in some form or another. But, if the objective is to grow your audience and turn a profit, you need to treat it like a business. And this means getting a good handle on your “customer.” Yes, this includes your blog readers and your Facebook followers. The Power of Personas Back when I was still blogging as “just” a hobby, I didn’t pay much attention to the metrics or how much money I was making. For starters, I wasn’t making anything at all, partly because I not only didn’t know how, but the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind yet. I was mostly in my own head, writing things for my own sake and not necessarily “for” the audience. To be fair, some of the stuff I write on my own blog today still falls into that bucket. That still has intrinsic value to me. These days, compared to the olden days, we are incredibly fortunate to have unprecedented access to user data. We know so much more about the people who watch our videos on YouTube and read our posts on our blogs than ever before. From a business perspective, this puts us in a much more powerful position in terms of determining exactly the kind of content we should be publishing in the first place. A great tool to put in your arsenal, then, are hypothetical personas. No, I don’t mean how you present yourself to the public. Rather, it’s about having a specific person in mind when writing your posts and creating your videos. This hypothetical person is the combination or hybrid of several “real” users, based on the data that you have at your fingertips. And, there are two main types. The User Persona Regardless of the size of your audience and following, it would be impossible to boil everyone down into a single hypothetical being. For the “user persona” to be useful, though, you don’t want to have dozens of them either. In my experience, this works best when you narrow it down to about three to five. Basically, user personas are based on the actual data you’re collecting about the people who are already visiting your website (or watching you on YouTube, following you on Instagram, etc.). Go through the comments, check the demographic information in your analytics, and try to get a sense of who these people are. Where are they from? How old are they? Male or female? What sort of work do they do? For IMPACT, for example, one persona might be the professional adult, approximately 30 to 50 years old. They’ve got a day job, but they’re thinking about starting an online side hustle that might turn into a full-time business, like in Internet marketing and blogging. Crunching the numbers is important to this demographic, because they want to decide when it would be viable to quit their day jobs. It’s with this persona in mind — let’s call her Jennifer from Portland — that I wrote articles on how much money you can save working from home, and what are some US cities with the lowest cost of living. Put yourself in her hypothetical shoes. The goal is to provide content that is meaningful, useful and relevant. The Marketing Persona Whereas user personas are based on the people who are already interacting with your content, marketing personas are the people that you WANT to attract to your website. They may or may not already be there. In this way, marketing personas are related more to market research, for example, as well as sales strategy. So, let’s illustrate this with another hypothetical example. Jennifer from Portland might already be reading these articles, but what if John wanted to start targeting European users with much larger budgets to spend on growing their existing online businesses? Because these users are in Europe, US-centric content may not be as relevant, but the larger budget might mean it could be “easier” to convert them on higher ticket products. The kind of content that you would produce for this hypothetical marketing persona — let’s call him Kurt from Hamburg, Germany — is very different from the type of content you’d write for Jennifer from Portland. In both cases, though, you’re starting from the mindset of Kurt and Jennifer, and not necessarily from inside your own head. You’re writing for them, not for you. The General Is Personal As you sit down to create your content, whether that includes photos and captions on Instagram or sales copy in an email newsletter, act as if you are creating that content for one very specific individual in mind. Don’t write broadly for “entrepreneurs.” Instead, imagine you are writing something that is addressed specifically for Kurt or Jennifer. Imagine you are sitting down and having an actual face-to-face conversation with this person. That’s how you’ll provide the real value. Because the more specific and targeted you can get, the more relatable your content will be.

DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS

The following process to develop leaders has been proven effective with more than three thousand mid-career professionals. More important is the realization that the process that I’m about to discuss has been used by companies to develop and sell every type of product ever sold. This is not a theory. In fact, this is very likely the way your marketing department has chosen to sell your products or services to your customers. I trust that you will find these three basic steps familiar.  

 

Step 1: Definition Phase – the employee analyzes their strengths and accomplishments to determine where they would like to go next.

Step 2: Research Phase – the employee (with the help and signoff from their manager) identifies what roles inside the organization best fit with the goal they identified in Step 1.

Step 3: Confirmation Phase – with manager approval, the employee conducts information interviews with employees who have done the job they think they want to confirm that truly is their goal. 

Try this: Start the Definition Phase of an internal development plan for one of your employees (or yourself). Have that person identify what is a natural skill based on their personality type, five of their most significant work-related accomplishments, and identify the skills most commonly associated with those accomplishments. These are the first steps in determining the best future path. 

BAD WRITING IS GOOD BUSINESS?

This observation is not at all backed by scientific evidence and you should definitely take this perspective with a healthy sprinkling of salt. Maybe there really is something to this, though it’s probably a lot harder to notice in this day and age of digital communication. After all, how can you judge the penmanship of a blogger when all you see are the typed words on your computer screen? Either way, follow me on this one. Scribbles on the Page Have you ever noticed that people with notoriously bad writing tend to be more successful in their careers? The stereotype goes, for example, that medical doctors tend to have really bad handwriting. If you’ve ever looked at the writing on your prescription, you probably had a really hard time discerning what exactly your family physician wrote on there. The issue is, of course, further complicated by the fact that you probably don’t know many of these drug names. Clearly, one of the greatest skills that a respected pharmacist can have is the ability to decipher the cryptic handwriting of your typical family doctor. Maybe that’s part of the reason why more and more prescriptions are being sent and recorded digitally these days, along with all sorts of other medical records. That way, no one has to try and figure out the doctor’s chicken scratch. And it’s not just doctors either. Many high-ranking executives and CEOs of large multinational corporations can have very hard-to-read handwriting too. And these individuals enjoy a great deal of professional success. They’re really good at what they do, and they make a lot of money doing it… all while having handwriting that even the best of executive assistants and interns can struggle to get just right every time. But, why is that? Why is it that people with poorer handwriting — both printing and cursive, for that matter — tend to be more successful? I have a theory. The Object of Their Attention There are some people out there who have very attractive handwriting. They might even be the people who dabble in calligraphy or they’ve worked for years on perfecting their cursive. However, these same individuals may spend more time focusing on how their writing looks and less on the actual substance of the content. They’re more concerned about getting the writing to look a certain way and perhaps less concerned with what they are actually writing. And while there is certainly nothing wrong with caring about how things look, it does illustrate (no pun intended) the spectrum between art and practicality. Someone who is perhaps more concerned with the practicality and content may be less concerned with the details of appearance. They just want to get the ideas right, and the precision is of less importance. Maybe. A correct diagnosis with the right prescription is much more meaningful to a family doctor. And maybe the archetype of the starving artist emerges from this kind of framework too. The writing may be aesthetically pleasing, and the art may be profound, but the artist may be less concerned or less skilled with the details on the business side of things. Maybe. Maybe they think a lot more about the value of art for art’s sake, for holding up a mirror to society. Or maybe I could be completely off the mark. Bending the Rules Now, of course, there are going to be all sorts of exceptions to this observation. I’m certain there are plenty of highly successful people out there with very pretty handwriting, just as I’m certain there are plenty of messy scribblers who don’t do so well professionally either. But, this is just my observation. Have you noticed the same? Do you have nice handwriting? Or does your cursive look like something a 6-year-old would produce? Let’s just say I’m glad I get to type my blog posts.

HOW TO BOOST THE SUCCESS OF YOUR SALES PAGE

Do you want to write a killer sales page for your business? If you’re like many website owners and marketers, your goal is to sell a product or service to your audience. Across all industries, conversion funnels will eventually bring potential customers to a sales page.

A sales page is designed to show customers why your product is worth their time and hard-earned money. When you’re crafting sales copy, you have to be persuasive, educational, and entertaining — yes, all at once!

It sounds daunting at first, but anyone can master this effective marketing strategy. Today we will talk about how you can improve existing sales pages and tips to help you get started if this is your first attempt.

Extensively Research Your Target Customers

The only way to reach your target audience is to understand their pain points, goals, and preferences. Imagine trying to write a letter to someone you’ve never met in your life. Now imagine writing another letter, but this to your best friend. Both copies would sound drastically different, right?

Learning about potential customers is essential for writing sales pages. Like you wouldn’t know what to say to the stranger, you’ll have no idea what to say to entice consumers to buy your product or service.

There are plenty of excellent ways to gather information about the people most interested in your products or service. Social media is the perfect place to start. There are over 3.8 billion users across all platforms, and you can bet that a percentage of those people are interested in what you’re offering.

Spend time communicating with people from your industry on social media, and you’ll slowly start to see interested consumers following your brand. Use this opportunity to engage with them by sharing your best blog content or posting surveys to learn more about their needs and wants.

You can also add a feedback form to your website. Allow consumers to answer questions about their pain points, expectations, and experience with your product or service. Use this data to start planning copy for your next sales page.

Put Your Value Proposition on Display

Now that you’ve spent some time researching your audience, it’s time to start thinking about what value you bring to the table. Consumers want to buy from brands that solve a problem or make life easier. If you don’t give readers a compelling reason to stay on your page and keep reading, you could miss countless leads every month.

A value proposition is one or two sentences that set the standard for the rest of your sales page. If you can manage to align your value message with the rest of your content, you’ll have a much easier time keeping users engaged while earning new subscribers and conversions.

The key to determining your value proposition is to answer three questions:
-Who do I want to help?
-What problem do I hope to solve?
-What results can the user expect?

Let’s say you run an eCommerce storefront that sells pet supplies. You offer bundle boxes for cat and dog owners that include a monthly supply of food, litter, toys, etc. If you want to create a value proposition for a sales page, you could say;

“We want pet owners to save time and money by offering high-quality supplies shipped right to their door. Spend more time with your pets, and less time driving to the pet store.”

In this example, we want to help pet owners. The problem they are currently facing is they are taking too many trips to the pet store each month. After buying the bundle box, the customer can look forward to getting all of their pet’s favorite supplies without going out. We touched on all of the bases mentioned above, and thus, our fictional sales page is designed perfectly for pet owners dealing with this issue.

Build Social Proof

Another excellent way to boost the success of your sales page is to build social proof. Essentially, social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people are more likely to make a purchasing decision based on other people’s opinions.

The mentality here is that the product or service must be good if so many other people say good things and use the brand. You can build social proof with your audience in several ways, both on and off your sales page.

TrustPulse is a social proof plugin that lets you display notifications from users on your site to other people, even after the action is complete. If someone is browsing your website, they will be able to see that other customers are subscribing, participating in an event, and purchasing items. This behavior sends a social cue to the person viewing the notification and can help drive sales.

You can also build social proof directly on your sales page. Many marketing teams include testimonials and reviews from happy customers throughout their sales copy. The goal here is to explain your product’s benefits and then show how other people have found success.

We are going to revisit the eCommerce pet store example. Imagine if weaved between your monthly pet box’s different benefits and features, you showed pictures of users that tagged your brand on social media when they received their boxes. When a potential customer sees pictures of other people and pets enjoying your product, they are much more likely to follow through on your sales page.

Test Your Existing Sales Page

Our final tip of the day is going to focus on split testing your existing sales page. A/B testing, also known as split-testing, is a popular marketing strategy where you change elements of a campaign to improve click-throughs and conversions.

A/B testing is an essential part of success whether you’re talking about your email marketing campaign, on-site forms, or sales page. The best way to start split-testing is to change one part of your campaign at a time. If you start switching around too many things, you’ll have a hard time telling which change produced the positive results. Consequently, you won’t be able to use this strategy in future campaigns.

Instead of focusing on everything, use split testing tools to target specific parts, like the color of your CTA box, or placement. Make small changes and allow some time for new results to come in. After you’ve analyzed the reports, you can make more tweaks to see if you can improve the results in other ways.

This is by far the most time-consuming part of boosting your sales page success. You won’t be able to see if your split testing efforts are working overnight. However, this is one strategy worth pursuing because it gives you additional insights on your target audience’s behavior, and presents new content marketing opportunities for future campaigns.

Back to You

Your sales page is, without a doubt, one of the most critical parts of your website. As your business scales up and you diversify your product line, you’ll have to make changes to your existing sales copy.

Don’t be afraid to get out there and learn about your audience base. Spend as much time as possible with potential customers and use what you’ve learned to craft a killer value proposition. Afterward, you should split-test your page so you can take your sales to the next level. All the while, you should be building trust and social proof across all platforms.

Ultimately, building a successful sales page takes time, but it’s one effort worth pursuing if you want to see your business grow.

TOP WAYS TO USE MISTAKES AS STEPPING STONES TO SUCCESS

The more successful people are, it seems, the more mistakes they’ve made. Errors often turn out to be more valuable down the road than the expected outcome. Just ask the chemist who was trying to cook up a strong glue and thought he’d failed -- the resulting adhesive is used by millions daily on "Post it" notes! Knowing what to do about, and with, our mistakes is one of the best success tools around.

 

1. Accept the reality that mistakes are part of everyone’s life -- even yours. You have made, are making, and will always make mistakes.

 

To be perfect and human is a contradiction in terms (sort of like jumbo shrimp, etc.) Make peace with this fact of life, and you’re well on your way to a great tasting lemonade from those proverbial lemons.

 

2. Differentiate between the small stuff and situations that are warning signals. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Some people lose sight of the fact that those little errors (forgetting someone’s name, breaking your partners favorite coffee mug) are just part of life (see #1). However, if the same type of situation keeps happening -- if you always scramble at the last minute to complete a task, if your co-workers and family continually complain that communicating with you is difficult -- pay attention. Someone once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results!

 

3. Accept responsibility for your mistakes.

It’s easy to blame other people, poor procedures, miscommunication, etc. for the failure of a project or situation. That only sets you up to repeat the same errors again and again. Go off alone, sit in silence for a while, and ask yourself -- What did I do to contribute to this situation? How can I make it better next time? How did my behavior affect other peoples’ actions?

 

4. Find people with whom you can process the situation.

Seek out honest and trustworthy supporters who will not sugarcoat their feedback or divert you with too much sympathy (a little reassurance and empathy, are, however, always welcome!). Ask for time specifically to discuss your mistakes and how you can learn from them. Offer to reciprocate (see #1!). It’s amazing how the process of actually verbalizing our concerns and challenges can help us solve them.

 

5. Own responsibility for your mistakes.

Share your insights with your boss, co-workers, friends, and family as appropriate. Tell them how you’ll change your behavior, or ask for input. (My inability to get the statistics on time delayed the project for a week. From now on, I plan to allow six weeks instead of three for information gathering. Do you have any other suggestions?)

 

6. Expect that you’ll make mistakes even in your areas of expertise.

For example, in my twenty years’ experience working with people, I’m usually able to communicate or reach some kind of mutual understanding with almost everyone I encounter. There are, however, those memorable folks who have really tripped me up. I learn more about myself, in a shorter period of time, in these situations than in almost any other. Time and distance eventually ease the embarrassment and awkwardness, and the value of the learning far outweighs the temporary discomfort.

 

7. Be prepared for your mistakes with constructive self-talk.

Start by tuning in to how you talk to yourself when those little things go wrong. Replace that internal self-flagellation (Damn, what a klutz! It’s amazing ALL my dishes aren’t broken!) with well-grounded support and encouragement (OK; I’m trying to do too much too quickly. Let me just stop and breathe for a minute here and slow down.) Be sure your language is self-enhancing (I’m going to allow myself fifteen more minutes to get across town from now on) rather than self-defeating
(Late again! I just can’t seem to get anywhere on time!). This is especially important for those times when #6 kicks in.

 

8. Mistakes often happen when things are going well.

People tend to get over-confident or over-anxious when all their hard work starts paying off. The key here is to strive for balance. Self confidence is important, combined with a healthy dose of reality, proper perspective and enough concern to maintain motivation and forward momentum.

 

9. The bigger the mistake, the more important lessons it contains.

Use the questions in #3 as a starting point. As painful as it is to examine a tough situation closely, the information it will yield is priceless.

 

10. USE the information you gain from your mistakes immediately, and integrate it into your daily life, activities, and behaviours'.

 

A colleague once told me: Information without implementation is useless.

- by Nancy Birnbaum-Gerber

HOW TO WIN WITH FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM PAID ADVERTISING

It is already a known fact that Facebook is one of the most popular social media websites in the world. Collectively, there are over two billion users on the platform and hundreds of millions of users who are active every month. Through the platform, users can do everything from posting their own pictures to even learning more about current news.

However, as more users continue to age out of Facebook and look for the next hottest thing, they ultimately find themselves over at Instagram. As time went on, people realized how they can use it to their advantage to grow their reach, site traffic, brand and business.

Instagram is starting to become known as one of the most popular social media platforms that people continually log into and use on a daily basis. With mobile usage on the rise, so is the demand for social networking applications like Instagram. It’s also not just users who are getting in on the action, it’s also a huge opportunity for businesses and brands of all sizes as well.

With all of this in mind, if you want to find success with both Facebook or Instagram, you will need to invest some time and effort into learning about what works best on each platform.

Facebook and Instagram Best Practices for Small Businesses

With so much attention on FB and IG, it’s easy to find yourself quickly lost in the crowd. This is something that will take a lot of time and effort to get out of, and not necessarily something you can throw money at. Instead, be sure to implement each of these recommended tips and best practices.

• Visual media is considered by a lot of people as more interesting and engaging as compared to getting texts. Just take a look at the visual below to show how the mind absorbs both types of content. This means that if you could show people what you can offer through pictures or videos, they will become more interested. Those paid advertisements should contain visual media to make people look more than once.

• Remarketing is one of the most powerful ways to connect and re-engage with users on social media. Since Instagram is owned by Facebook and they both run off the same powerful self-serve advertising platform, they have amazing remarketing ad campaign tracking in place. For example, you can create ads for users that visit your site and don’t purchase, or for users they receive your email, or any other data sub-set you might have. If you haven’t tried remarketing yet, this is a definite must to add to your list.

• The use of both Facebook and Instagram can be a very smart move for businesses because you can do multi-layer audience targeting. It is a known fact that there are different people who may become interested in different social media platforms as compared to the others. For example, through the demographic chart below we can see younger people may prefer Instagram while those who are older may prefer Facebook. Advertising through both platforms will allow you to reach more people. This can surely be good for your business.

• Always do enough research before you release any paid advertisements. Having paid advertisements is not a guarantee that people will actually check out what you can offer. They need to be interested in what you are offering first before you can get their interest. How are you going to do that? You need to do a bit of researching first. The more that you know about what people want, the more that you can formulate ads that they will like.
• Through the use of hashtags, any IG account can quickly reach their target audience and get immediate engagement from other accounts. A perfect example of this would be if you were to launch a legal directory, and then start using hashtags like #legal, #attorney, #laws and #arrests, you would soon have your content and profile ranking for relevant terms and status updates that others are searching for or writing about.

• Remember that a lot of people may be viewing the advertisements through their chosen gadget. Most people would use their smartphone to view your ads. The ads need to be easy to click and should not hinder people from what they are doing. If you cover the content of what they are reading, they will find it easier to reject what you are trying to offer.
• When using any type of social platform, you are always going to come across a lot of bots and automation. It’s great to have thousands of followers, but only if they are real. This is also a huge factor if you are using paid advertising to reach your followers (and hopefully not fake ones). A great way to get a quick status update on your account, is to run an profile audit. It’s free to try and will give you a quick idea on just how many of your followers are real. If you end up finding that a good majority of your followers are fake, it might be time for you to reconsider your social media marketing plan and to also run a process to remove your fake followers as well.

• Create advertisements that will not make people feel that they will be obliged to purchase. You can just show the beauty of using your products or how your offers can help solve their problems. When you provide a solution to what people are going through, this will be enough to make people interested for sure.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Social Media Marketing Efforts

The attraction for social media marketing is massive. With over three billion users spread across all of the major social platforms, how could you know be tempted to grow your audience and improve your reach.

As always, be sure to keep an eye on your competition. This will allow you to get some new ideas, while also staying up to date on their latest promotions and marketing efforts.

All of this sounds great, but you also need to make sure that you have a proper plan of action in place. Be sure to run through each of the recommendations and tips laid out above, and then see what type of content creation, marketing and paid social media ad campaigns might work best for you.

YOUR DAILY GRATITUDE LIST

There is always something for which to be grateful, even when you feel as though your world is at an end. Thinking of things to be grateful for helps many people put life into perspective, especially during tough times. You will have your own personal things to add to this list. Here are some samples of things people can be grateful for daily.

 

1. Being alive! George Burns often joked in his later years that a great day for him was waking up and not seeing candles, hearing church music, and seeing people attending his funeral.

 

2. Nature and natural beauty. No matter where you live, there are natural things to look at and appreciate. Rainbows, fluffy clouds and blue skies, the fresh smell of ocean air, the warmth of the sun on a cool day, the coolness of a breeze, or a rain shower on a hot afternoon are all things you can appreciate and enjoy.

 

3. A home and shelter. Many people take this for granted. Look around most cities and you will see people whose homes are cars, cardboard boxes, bridge underpasses or "shelters".

 

4. Abundant food to eat. You have a huge selection of good, inspected, healthy food to buy from numerous sources anytime.

 

5. Friends. So many people are totally alone. If you have a friend, and even kind neighbors, you are better off than many people.

 

6. Living in a democratic society. Politics aside, most of the world lives in a country where people can have rights such as voting and freedom to worship.

4 WAYS TO STRENGTHEN YOUR ONLINE WRITING SKILLS

As a beginner, it can feel daunting and downright overwhelming to start your writing journey. But it doesn’t have to be. With enough perseverance and practice, you can quickly improve your writing skills so you can publish your work online and, eventually, make money. The content marketing industry is worth more than 300 billion dollars, and that number continues to rise each year. The need for content across industries is vital for success in expressing ideas, educating readers, and producing conversions. Whether you just started a blog or want to learn how to become a better writer for personal reasons, here are four tips for beginners to improve their writing skills. Use Conversational Language When someone stumbles across your content, they’re looking for answers and solutions. Most of them are beginners at their own projects and look online for quick fixes and step-by-step help. Like you, they’re beginners in their field. So, it’s best to speak to them like beginners. That doesn’t mean dumbing down what you say. Instead, you need to clearly get your point across in plain language that anyone can understand. For reference, you want to write so that a middle schooler can understand what you say. Use conversational language that’s easy to follow and takes users from step one to step two. It’s easier to increase user engagement by speaking to them how they want to be spoken to. If you have trouble staying away from formal writing, then pretend you’re speaking to a friend. The conversations you share are effortless and fun, and that’s how your writing persona should be too. Use active verbs that paint a picture and avoid passive voice. If you can explain something in action, it grabs readers’ attention more and keeps them invested. Write Regularly If you’re new to online writing or haven’t done it in a while, then you’ll need to get back into the routine of doing it regularly. It’s important not only to generate leads and grow your audience but also to get better at it. Around 60 percent of marketers produce at least one piece of content every day. At first, however, you’ll want to focus on writing to write. Don’t concentrate on how many words you’re producing. Instead, set a timer and dedicate a specific amount of time to writing each day. If you have trouble writing every day, then include it in your routine. If you’re serious about becoming an online writer, make time for it the same way you do anything else. Consider when you’re most productive and write during that time so you can write more. You can’t become a professional writer without practice. We like to think we can pump out a quick draft and it’s ready for the world to see, but it doesn’t work that way. To create loyal readers in your niche, you need to cater to their specific needs and interests. You can’t do that if you don’t know how to express yourself. Join a Community It’s easier to stay on track and remain excited about your projects when you have a community experiencing the same thing. You can bounce ideas off of each other, talk when you don’t feel motivated, or have a good conversation. It’s up to you how you want to join a writing community. There are tons of online resources and groups looking for new members to share their input. You can join a membership where only registered users have access so you know you have shared interests and ideas. Don’t forget to scour social media for groups interested in new participants. Facebook Groups make it easy for those already on the platform to hold discussions, encourage others, and improve your writing skills. Learn Proper Formatting Have you ever stumbled across a blog post that consisted of one huge wall of text? You likely didn’t even know what the main points were because they didn’t stand out or catch your eye. These types of posts bring in zero conversions because they fail to give readers a positive user experience. As a result, your bounce rate inflates and you’re back at square one. So, it’s crucial to learn proper formatting for any online writing you publish. For simplicity’s sake, we’re going to go over how to format a blog post so readers feel compelled to engage with your content. When writing posts online, make sure to: Separate main points through headings, subheadings, and paragraphs.  Leave plenty of whitespace in between the text. If it’s difficult to read, it won’t convert.  Add visual content such as images, videos, graphics, and more.  A whopping 90 percent of users watch video content online at least once a month, which means it’s more likely to boost your conversion rate. Include bullet points or lists to break up long bits of information that are otherwise difficult to consume.  Back to You When you start your writing journey, it’s important to stay focused and remember to take it one step at a time. With consistent practice and continued learning, you too could have an online writing business that thrives. How will you improve your writing skills this year?

THE SEVEN SISTERS OF SUCCESS

I recently had a chance to interview several groups of extremely successful people. A handful are famous athletes, several are nationally known artists, writers or politicians, and all are multi-millionaires. I asked them for the keys, or essential factors that allowed them to accomplish so much more than the rest of us.

Their answers included a wide variety of specifics, but to an astonishing degree, 7 items came up in every discussion. I've called them the "Seven Sisters of Success", and want to share them with you.

 

1. Self-awareness.
The first thing that struck me about these men and women was the degree to which they understood themselves. They know their values and goals, and are comfortable with the choices they have made in life.

They admitted some regrets and mistakes, but they have made peace with the past and are eager, confident and optimistic about the future.

 

2. Specific Goals.
Every single one of these 26 people have written goals, ranging from 30-day projects to 10 year programs. I was impressed that their goals are IN WRITING. Athletes had performance targets, and the business leaders had sales goals. They all had family or personal goals that were just as detailed as their professional objectives. The advice we have all heard about writing down your goals really works!

 

3. Powerful Networks.
They all acknowledged their network of friends and colleagues. Each one gave credit to a mentor or friend who taught them the ropes, opened doors, or gave them a chance when they needed it. They were profoundly grateful and appreciated that success is the result of partnering with many people over many years.

 

4. Surprising Idealism.
I was surprised at the degree to which these seasoned, mature individuals openly discussed their ideals. Some talked about religious beliefs, others framed it in political or psychological terms, but they all want to make a difference, fulfill a life-purpose, or pursue a dream. They are motivated by a desire to create a better world, to contribute, and to help others.

 

5. Intense Pragmatism.
Balanced with their idealism, these highly successful people were extremely practical. They are solution-focused, and use technology, information, and skills to reach their most important goals. They were not interested in theories, or in defending past choices or old traditions. They use practical tools to help them reach their goals.

 

6. Extraordinary Curiosity.
They observe culture, read the paper, read about their industry, and try to learn about everything around them. They read about politics and religion, they want to know about the stock market and cooking. I was surprised that most of them were not "experts" in the usual sense, but they are extremely educated, bright and curious. They have earned their doctorates in "real life". Very interesting!

 

7. Personal Discipline.
They don't waste time, and they don't lie to themselves. They don't exaggerate or minimize, and they don't generalize. These people were precise when they spoke about their age, relationships, business affairs or dreams. Numbers and dates, dollars and cents were important to them, and I found them easy to talk with, and very clear in their communications.

 

What impressed me was that the keys to their success were not related to family or background. They had not been born wealthy, and only about half completed college. They did not seem "driven" for success.

They did not make their fortunes in high-tech or by winning a lottery. Instead, they followed a plan that created persistent, high levels of success or a lifetime.

Each of these skills can be learned by anyone! There are no "secrets" of success, and talent, family and luck had little to do with it. These highly successful people knew what they wanted, and used their networks, hard work, patience and discipline to achieve outstanding results. So can you!

- by Philip Humbert

THE ROBOTS ARE TAKING OVER

On some level, we have to come to accept a technological inevitability. The harsh reality of the situation is that if your job can be outsourced, if your job can be automated, if your job can be made obsolete, that’s precisely where it’s going to go. It’s only a matter of time. Put another way, the robots are taking over, even if we don’t have to accept an inevitability of a Skynet-powered apocalypse.

To this end, what you really need to think about for yourself, both in the short term and over the long term, is how can you make yourself and what you do so indispensable, so irreplaceable, that you’ll never get supplanted by a machine or some form of artificial intelligence. Speaking for myself, as a freelance writer and editor, this is very much a clear and present danger. You don’t need a hundred monkeys sitting at a hundred typewriters; you just need one algorithm, right?

The Robot Copywriter

In July 2019, a monumental deal was struck between Chase Bank and Persado, the latter a New York-based company “that applies artificial intelligence to marketing creative.” Put simply, Persado has the technology to “write” marketing material. Rather than hiring a human copywriter or a human team of marketing geniuses to put together the best ad copy, they simply get the software to do it.
“But,” you might say, “humans are way better at actual writing, especially in a more creative and nuanced field like marketing. A computer can’t replace a writer, can it?” Except, it basically did. When Persado’s machine learning algorithm wrote some ads, it outperformed the ads that were written by living, breathing human beings. In some cases, the ads written by the machine were generating twice as much clicks as the ads written by humans. The differences can be subtle, but the difference in results can be drastic.
Without cheating and clicking on that source link I provided above, let me ask you this. Below are two examples of digital ads. One of them was written by an actual person. The other was written by the Persado technology. Can you tell which is which? Can you tell which performed better?

1. It’s true — You can unlock cash from the equity in your home.
2. Access cash from the equity in your home.

The “it’s true” statement sounds a little more human and natural and conversational, right? It’s also the one that was written by Persado and achieved better performance numbers. The machine learning led to more humanity, as contradictory as that may sound. It also had the added benefit of “learning” from a much larger library of potential ad copy than any human could possibly absorb and comprehend.

It’s the End of the World?

So, as a writer and editor, am I doomed? After all, spellcheck, autocorrect and grammar check technologies are getting better all the time. This goes all the way back to the assertion made at the very beginning. If you can be outsourced or automated, you can indeed be replaced. To this end, people who work as simple proof-readers, simply checking for spelling and grammar, probably will be replaced to some degree if they haven’t been replaced already.
And you’ll definitely see this much more on the lower end of the market, the end of the market that is much more cost sensitive. However, at the middle and higher end of the market, in areas where nuance and complexity and originality are more highly valued, the human element will persist. At this point and for the foreseeable future, we can’t expect some algorithm or machine learning to replace award-winning scriptwriters or novelists. Or bloggers, for that matter.
There is an increasing desire for authenticity on the Internet. That’s part of why social media has become so popular, even if it may not necessarily reflect reality in a completely realistic kind of way. That’s a big part of the reason why we enjoy watching vlogs on YouTube or listening to podcasts with long-form human interaction.

The Human Touch

The robots may have taken over some jobs in manufacturing, and even in areas like finance with automated investing, but there will always be a place for human ingenuity. That’s where you need to find your place. Because if you’re doing a job that a machine can do for less money or with higher efficiency, your job might not exist tomorrow.

THE POWER TO GET THINGS DONE

Every human being has enormous power. 

One of the key turning points for me was when a highly
successful friend of mine flew across the country to spend
time with a colleague who was earning far more than my
friend. His reason? My friend told me, "obviously, he uses
his time differently than I do." What an insight! We ALL
have 24 hours in a day. We ALL have enormous power, but we
use our time and our power in different ways, and we get
different results.
What keeps you from using your power in more productive
ways? That's a critical question!
I've studied highly successful people for over the years,
and I've also studied many "almost successful" people, and
here are some of the key differences.

1. FEAR! There's a wonderful quote that is attributed to
both Nelson Mendela and Marianne Williamson, that we are
not afraid we are powerless, but that we are powerful
"beyond measure." I love that! We know we are powerful.
Right now, you have the power to change your diet, to
change your living situation, to change your habits. We all
know this. But we also know that if we make changes, our
lives will change (duh!), and so we hold back. We avoid
risk. We play it safe, and we give up our power.
The answer is certainly not recklessness! But we can use
our power a bit more aggressively than we have in the past.
Make a few changes. Talk with family and colleagues to
reach agreements, then take charge. Take the risk. See what
happens.

2. Do What You Can. Even the President does not have
unlimited power! Successful people, however, take the steps
they can and they make consistent, daily progress. "Inch by
inch, anything's a cinch." "Rome wasn't built in a day,"
and few of the big things in life will happen over-night,
but day by day, move in the direction you want to go.
Even if you could, making massive changes all at once may
not be wise! Use your power to make changes day by day, and
you'll reach your goal in a more life-affirming way. Take
action. Do what you can every single day.

3. Start Where You Are. How many people have avoided
seeking wealth because, "it takes money to make money?"
Hogwash! It takes ideas and initiative, creativity,
determination and a good business plan to make money! It
takes personal power, and you have that! Start where you
are and, trust me, investors will flock to help, checkbooks
in hand!

4. Get Partners. Very few things in life are achieved by
acting alone. We think of Rosa Parks refusing to give up
her seat on the bus and the social changes that resulted,
but remember - while Rosa acted alone, the great social
changes came because thousands of other people were
inspired and joined her! You have the power to be a
sparkplug! Don't forget that! Start something! And along
with way, you'll find partners and colleagues to help.

This is where a good coach is incredibly valuable! Have
someone from the "outside" to encourage and guide you,
someone who is objective, trusted, and smart. EVERY high
achiever has a team of smart people behind them. They may
be called advisors or "staff" or something else, but to get
maximum performance from your personal power, get a coach!
You'll love the difference!
You have enormous personal power! You have influence over
your own life and over the people around you. Your dreams
matter! Your desires are achievable, but only if you take
action. Use your power. Start where you are, move slowly if
you must, but get moving. Day be day, move in the direction
of your heart's greatest desire. And never, never quit.

THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING

Companies have products and services they’d like to sell you. The challenge, in this way, has always been two-fold. First, they need to be able to reach you in some way. Second, once they’ve managed to get your attention, they need to convince you that you should pay for their product or service. It’s the tale as old as time, though the specifics of the tale have certainly changed over time. And we’re now very much engulfed in a brave new world of what marketing and advertising actually mean.

Whereas print ads in newspapers and magazines have been around for decades, the effectiveness in reaching audiences has understandably been waning ever since the dawn of the digital age.

When was the last time you actually picked up a physical newspaper or paid for a physical magazine at the newsstand? And while there may still be a place for television commercials, PVRs/DVRs have empowered viewers to skip commercials… assuming they watch conventional television at all in this age of cord cutters.

Personalizing the Brand Message

So, where does this lead us with the future of advertising? You probably already know the answer to some degree, especially if you’ve spent much time reading blogs, watching YouTube videos, or listening to podcasts. “Branded” content, advertorials, sponsorships and other variations on influencer marketing have really only just begun.

We’ve barely scraped the tip of the iceberg at this point, especially as more and more brands recognize just how much further their ad spend can go compared to more traditional media options.

We’ve been seeing this transition toward increasingly personalized “brand messaging” for a number of years. It used to be that you might just throw a banner up on your website and earn a flat rate. Then, it may have moved to a CPM model, and then later a CPC model. After affiliate marketing hit more of the mainstream, CPA/CPS and other “performance” based models took off. But even then, many of these ads weren’t really personalized to the publisher or the reader. They were just pushed out across the board.

In Your Own Voice

And that’s really where influencer marketing has completely changed the game. If XYZ Company approaches one influencer to promote a product on their Instagram, that influencer is going to offer a completely different image and text than another influencer, even if they operate within the same niche.

The audience is a little different, the voice is different, the approach is different. Fans of these influencers follow them because of their unique perspectives or personalities, and it is this very real connection that brands are trying to leverage with these types of sponsored deals.

In the case of YouTube, while a brand can pay for a video that is completely dedicated to their product or service, more often you’ll find the “advertisement” portion as a segment within the larger video. To this end, the “advertising” is still very much an “ad” and it is usually seen as such. Similarly, a podcast may contain a commercial break with “a word from our sponsor,” just like how you’d find on the radio or on television. And it’s really easy for listeners and viewers to skip these ads.

The advertiser has “reached” the audience, except they really haven’t. And that’s why it appears that the future of advertising is to overcome this problem. Put another way, it’s taking the “personalized” message of influencer marketing and taking it even further.

Ads That Don’t Look Like Ads

A prime example of this is Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast.

It has sponsors too, except some of these segments are really positioned as just more content, content that audiences actually want to hear, even if they know it’s technically and clearly an advertisement. Rather than just touting the features and benefits of some product, he may have the CEO of the company on as a guest in a segment that’s part of a larger podcast. That segment can be informative and entertaining, while also working to promote the company and its products.

In other words, the future is advertising are ads that look less and less like ads. As a content creator yourself — social media, blog, vlog, podcast, etc. — really think about the kind of value you can deliver to brands who seek out these types of sponsored collaborations. How can you help them reach and engage with a wider audience, all while retaining the integrity and quality of your own content? How can you establish a win-win-win all around?

SIX THINGS YOU'RE DOING WRONG ON INSTAGRAM

As the social media platform that reportedly boasts the highest engagement rate of them all, Instagram is a coveted space for influencers, marketers and brands alike. While there will never be any sort of magic bullet approach to Instagram, or to any content-driven platform for that matter, there are some obvious mistakes you’ll want to avoid when trying to extend your reach, maximize your potential, and grow your presence on Instagram.

1. You Lack Consistency in Posting

The importance of consistency is (at least) two-fold. First, just as you should decide on a reliable publishing schedule for your blog — editorial calendar plug-ins are great for managing that — you should also be mindful of how frequently you post on Instagram too. You really need to avoid unleashing a flurry of content over a couple of days, only to have the account go almost dormant for weeks. Be consistent. Ideally, you want to have a new post on your main feed at least once every day or two. This keeps the grid looking fresh and active, and it surely helps with the algorithm for organic reach too.

2. You Don’t Maintain a Consistent Style

Second, just as you will likely stick to a certain format for your blog, the same is also true with Instagram. While you may not need to set hard and fast rules, you will want to develop something that resembles a signature look. This might include choosing certain color palettes, sticking with certain font choices, or applying the same small number of presets. It’s about managing and meeting expectations, and establishing a brand identity.

3. You Focus on Yourself Too Much

I know that this can sound completely counter-intuitive in the context of social media, especially since Instagram very much leans into a “look at me” kind of approach. I get that. And it’s true that the overwhelming majority of the things that you post on Instagram are probably going to be about you and your experiences in some way. What I am saying, though, is that you need to think about how you can frame this content so that it’s not just about you. It’s also about how this can benefit your followers.

Think about your audience and how you can best satisfy their wants and needs. If you’ve got a food-centric page, then remember to include pertinent information in the caption, like the name of the restaurant, name of the dish, and what makes it special. How can you inspire through choice quotes or provide guidance with helpful tips? What purpose are you serving?

4. You Stick Only to Squares

It’s true that you want to maintain a consistent style with your Instagram posts. And it’s also true that Instagram started out by forcing users to post only square photos. However, that limitation is no longer in place. In fact, while the grid on your profile will default to squares, the actual posts themselves do not need to retain the 1:1 aspect ratio.

Instead, you may find that it’s in your favor to utilize a slightly taller aspect ratio, like 3:4 or even 2:3. The advantage here is that your post will take up more vertical real estate as users scroll through their Instagram feeds. It’s also advantageous to leverage video or carousel posts upon occasion too; your carousels can consist of taller photos too! It makes no sense to use the “photo grid” style of post anymore.

5. You Don’t Capitalize on Your Bio

Until you reach 10,000 followers, you’re not going to have the “swipe up” feature in Stories. Since your bio only allows for a single link — hence why everyone uses the “link in bio” approach — you might think that your bio functions in much the same way as a Twitter bio or the byline bio you might have in an author box on your blog. Not so! There are many creative ways you can maximize the impact of your Instagram bio.

Instead of writing out a single line of plain text, consider leveraging line breaks in a creative way. Think about how you can integrate emojis too; travel bloggers oftentimes put the country flag emoji of where they last visited or where they are currently. And while URLs in bios aren’t “clickable,” you can include easily memorable short URLs (301 redirects on your own domain are an easy way to do this) for key pages you want to highlight.

6. You Forget About Stories

Ever since Instagram “borrowed” this feature from Snapchat, Stories has quickly risen in popularity among users. Whereas IGTV hasn’t gained nearly as much traction, Instagram Stories are a great place to engage with your followers in real time, providing more of the “between the posts” type content that isn’t necessarily as polished or curated as your main feed.

In addition to posting to your main feed every day or two, ideally you’d like to add new content to your Stories every day, several times a day. You don’t want to overwhelm your followers, but you do want to keep your brand front of mind, and this means pushing your Stories out so you remain near the beginning when they open the app. Take advantage of questions and polls to encourage greater engagement.

These are just some of the basics when it comes to finding some success on Instagram. What other major pitfalls should users avoid?