LATEST SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES: HOW BLOGGERS CAN BENEFIT

It appears the global supply chain issue isn’t going away anytime soon. With the labor shortage resulting in dozens if not hundreds of cargo ships stranded off the California and now Seattle coasts waiting to be unloaded and trucked away to hungry retailers and consumers, the U.S. government doesn’t seem to have any answers to the ongoing problem other than blaming the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

And like all things in the world today, the internet, news and social media are the go-to sources for finding the latest and most important trending information — while also being fueled by numerous bloggers and reporting delivering high quality content on the topic as well.

For bloggers and online marketers, this will also bring in a whole new world of opportunity and growth for those who are willing to put in the time and effort to cater to the new needs, services and information that both suppliers, vendors and customers will soon be accustomed to.

Catering to the Needs of Businesses, Brands and Customers Around the World

As we all know, bloggers and content creators often make money by providing audiences with reliable resources and information in reference to whatever it is they might be looking for. The “coupon” and “discount shopping” niches are perfect example of this, while also being quite lucrative in the process.

Focusing on the industry supply issue at hand, these same types of resources and reference guides are quickly becoming in more demand.

A perfect example of this would be to create an article or resource blog on the many different ways businesses and brands can still connect customers with their products, while also looking for alternative supply chains and delivery methods.

For example, the private shipping and import/export companies that depend on a fluid if not resilient supply chain, are becoming creative in their methods in effort to get it moving again. One of these methods is to partner up with a well respected and certified forwarder. Says All Forward, a professional forwarder, while container ships remain anchored off port, all you have to do is go online to “early find the best forwarder” that suits your business needs. 

A good forwarder will give you the best shipping rates available—rates that are based on honest reviews from other professionals like you. Along with a global index of forwarding partners, a good forwarder will make your operation more efficient. In theory, this kind of direct action between supplier and shipper should help alleviate the supply crisis in the long run anyway.

But in the short run, trouble in the waters still abounds. According to a new report, as the global economy began to emerge from the pandemic lockdowns in mid-2020, the general feeling was that business would return to normal ASAP. It was believed that the global economy would snap back in what was then described as a “V-shaped recovery.”    

But the V-shaped recovery never happened. Now, as the second Christmas holiday of the pandemic approaches, the world’s supply chain problem is, in a word, only getting worse. Rather than show an improvement with having had more than 18 months to recover, by many measures, the supply chain crisis is worse than it was a year ago. 

While countries like Australia have managed to skirt the worst of the supply chain problem along with the energy crisis, others like the U.S. have been told to buy their holiday gifts early if they expect to see anything under the tree. They should also prepare for skyrocketing fuel costs now that the pipeline between the U.S. and Canada was plugged up with a single stroke of new U.S. President’s pen, making America once again dependent on OPEC and other foreign sources for its energy needs. 

With all of these key points and references up for discussion, affiliate marketers and bloggers now have the opportunity to pick and choose what sector they would like to focus on, while also niching down further on each.

In short, with the global supply problem now being a great discussion that is affecting all markets, this would also likely increase the chances of content being picked up by news and media outlets, while also be shared more often on social media.

A Global Supply Problem Will Become an Evergreen Topic and Issue

In the world of blogging, SEO and content marketing — everyone loves a hot topic, that could also potentially become an evergreen topic at the same time. This is what we are currently seeing in the global supply chain, as it doesn’t look like this problem is going to be solved anytime soon.

For instance, in Japan auto makers have had no choice but to cut production due to a computer chip shortage the likes of which have never been realized before. But this demonstrates how even the smallest of components can bring even the most efficient businesses to their knees. 

With more small businesses and customers looking to find new suppliers and products online, this is another area what content creators and bloggers can find huge success — in both traffic and on-site ad earnings and through the use of affiliate marketing. But as mentioned earlier, this is all easier said than done, and will require a lot of time, work and effort.

It’s also important to think about the different global markets that one might want to focus on as well. With the US having their own supply problems and Japan cutting production in many different areas, it’s also important to note that in the UK, two-thirds of the businesses which were recently surveyed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) were told that component shortages would continue for at least the next three months and have a negative impact on production well into 2022. This is said to represent “the highest proportion of business warning” regarding supply chain problems since 1975 when Britain faced countrywide strikes and worker walkouts. 

And lastly, over in China, the shortage of coal has already slowed their economy. Now a significant shortage of diesel fuel is causing generators to cease and as a result, rolling blackouts are affecting the entire country along with skyrocketing power costs.

Content Creation and SEO = Success in the Global Supply Industry

At the end of the day, the business of buying and selling goods is always going to make good money. However, with the latest supply chain issues in place, this is putting quite a damper on things. The good news is, no matter what happens in the world, the internet is always there to connect consumers and businesses together to get more done.

This is where we are continually seeing the best opportunities for content creators and marketer. It’s not a matter of if, when and how the supply chain issue gets fixed, it’s a matter of how you are going to take advantage of it, while also growing your online blog, brand or business in the process.

TOP 10 LEADERSHIP QUALITIES OF A GOOD LEADER

Great leaders find the balance between business foresight, performance, and character.

Great leaders understand that they are only as strong as their team. This is why many choose to lead by example. In doing so, they earn the respect of their team and followers, and may even inspire others to join the mission. 

To help you become a better leader, here are my top 10 best leadership qualities that you can start putting into practice immediately. Reference them as a tool to help you develop your leadership style.

1. Vision

Great leaders have a vision… one that allows them to plan their moves strategically to reach their goals. They have a clear idea of where they are going and can motivate themselves (and their teams) to reach it. They practice idealization to visualize the long-term goals they hope to achieve and use their vision and strategic planning to advance towards them.

2. Courage

One of the more important leadership qualities and characteristics is courage. Having courage means that you are willing to take risks in order to achieve your goals. While many people can dream big, only leaders and risk-takers understand that taking a risk and failing is still more productive than not taking a risk at all.

3. Integrity

To dive even deeper though and to help you become a great leader, remember that the core of integrity is truthfulness. Having integrity and a reputation of being honest helps leaders gain the trust and respect of their colleagues and their teams. As a leader, your decisions should be based on the betterment of the group, rather than self-gain. People should look to you for inspiration and aspire to follow in your footsteps. They should know that your moral compass does not waver.

4. Humility

Humility gets results.

Larry Bossidy, the former CEO of Honeywell and author of the book Execution, explained why leadership characteristics, such as humility, make you a more effective leader:

“The more you can contain your ego, the more realistic you are about your problems. You learn how to listen, and admit that you don’t know all the answers. You exhibit the attitude that you can learn from anyone at any time. Your pride doesn’t get in the way of gathering the information you need to achieve the best results. It doesn’t keep you from sharing the credit that needs to be shared. Humility allows you to acknowledge your mistakes.” – Larry Bossidy

Being a great leader means raising your team up to succeed. This means admitting when someone knows more than you and giving them the opportunity to take initiative. It means being conscious of your power, but never letting it get the best of you.

5. Focus 

 “Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focused on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps, they need to take to get them closer to the fulfillment of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents to them. – Jack Canfield

In order to be a good leader, one must have true focus; focus on their goals, focus on the needs of their team, and focus on the bigger picture. This will allow you to strategize and plan for success.

6. Cooperation

“If your imagination leads you to understand how quickly people grant your requests when those requests appeal to their self-interest, you can have practically anything you go after.” – Napoleon Hill

One of the most important leadership qualities is cooperation. Cooperation is the process of working together to reach the same end. Good leaders have the ability to get everyone on the team on the same page in order to get something done.

7. Clear Communication 

Another characteristic of a good leader is the ability to effectively and persuasively. Clear communication begins with the ability to stop, listen, think, and proceed slowly. Being able to clearly communicate with your team will create an open dialogue that allows your team to ask questions, voice concerns, and problem-solve. When people understand the assignment clearly and can openly communicate about it, there will be fewer errors and issues overall.

8. Honesty

When you ask yourself how to be a better leader, never forget honesty. It allows you to gain trust with your team and keep the focus on the vision. When leaders are dishonest and ingenuine, it becomes difficult to keep everyone moving in the same direction. Your team will lose trust not only with you but with your efforts. This will create a chaotic environment full of gossip and drama.

9. Empathy

Another one of the biggest qualities I’ve found in great leaders is empathy and kindness. As leaders, we may be hyper-focused on our own goals and what’s at stake. But, if we are looking for how to be a better leader, we must also understand that without our team, goals cannot be reached. Knowing that, it’s important to check on your team and make sure they feel understood. A team that feels heard will be much more willing to cooperate and participate.  

10. Ability To Delegate

The ability to delegate is also a strong quality that makes a good leader.

“If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.” – John C. Maxwell 

In order for leaders to stay focused on their vision, they must be able to delegate their tasks. Not only does delegating take room off your plate so you can focus on the bigger picture, but it also empowers your employees to take on bigger responsibilities. Delegating tasks shows your employees that you trust them and their work. This will motivate them to produce high-quality work in order to keep your trust and respect.

IN 9 WORDS, TIM COOK REVEALS HOW WE CAN SOLVE OUR MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS

Tim Cook is a techie's tech. He geeks out on things like app development -- to a point that baffles most of us. But he also has a head for business, and is keen on making tech development easier. Case in point? Shine, a recent star in the mental health app space.

Cook spent some time with the app's creators recently, later sharing his experience in an interview published in Bustle. What stood out was not just the meteoric growth of Shine in a time when mental health is societally top of mind, nor was it the attention and plaudits Apple gave the creators.

It was the conversation around mental health that unavoidably came out of that encounter.

Specifically, in the Bustle interview, Cook noted something critical to our collective approach to mental health that needs a spotlight. He said:

"[Shine] have done this incredible job, bringing together community and stitching together a number of different things that will make [change] systemic in nature instead of a slogan."

That's the real the key here: Not attempting to solve a nuanced, complex problem with sound bytes. Nor, ironically, is the solution a single app -- even one as good as Shine.

The solution must be people first and systemic, and it must start at the top.

The beginning is discussion. Shine's founders, Naomi Hirabayashi and Marah Lidey, put a great deal of emphasis on "walking the talk," letting their employees know that talking about mental health in the workplace is a critical starting point.

Tim Cook agrees -- and said he, too, shares many of his struggles freely.

Just imagine: If other business leaders follow suit, the stigma that currently swells around mental health issues would disappear. And then, we can start, systematically, making changes that improve our individual and collective wellbeing.

I'll hammer home this point one more time, because I think it's so important:

The solution to our mental health crisis will not be found in social media, apps, or technology. They may help, but the solution must exist where the problem is rooted -- in us. It's a long game, that begins by opening the door to unstigmatized conversation about what ails us, a candid assessment of what triggers our problems, and a thoughtful, systemic approach to healing.

As Cook himself said, it will not be found, in slogans. And it will not be found solely in technology.

THE 4-STEP PLANS THAT CAN HELP TEENS GLUED TO SOCIAL MEDIA

The holiday season is right around the corner, and for many that means more time spent with family across generations. Before you demand that your children drop their smartphone to talk meaningfully about gratitude at the Thanksgiving dinner table, take a moment to consider what you're asking.

When it comes to generational divides, it's hard to find one bigger than technology use, especially social media. How to talk to teens about technology use (and reduce it) is one of the most common questions I get from parents in my child and adolescent psychiatry clinic.

Adults worry that technology overuse is taking a toll on their children's mental health. For teens, it's more complicated. Whether it's social media, gaming or online chat forums, the digital landscape has become fundamentally integrated into their everyday life.

Faced with that conflict, I typically ask parents and caregivers not only how much their kids are using technology, but how they are using it and how that use is impacting their headspace. Once we know the answers to those questions, we collaborate to find solutions.

Rather than try to fight the use and engage in a tug-of-war, families can focus ahead of the holiday season on how they use social media. Knowing that some social media use negatively impacts mental health, families can together can shift to a social media strategy that supports teens' social and emotional health.

It's important that parents and caregivers spend some time in careful reflection in partnership with teens. (Parents, don't try to do this alone.) Here's my four-step framework to help navigate this new space together and make productive, healthy changes:

Step 1: Help teens evaluate how they are using social media

Talk about the quality of the content your children are consuming online. Is it generally positive, like inspirational quotes or pictures of cute babies? Or is it negative, like politically charged news or memes that make fun of certain groups? All content is not created equal, and without intentionally and critically evaluating which bucket the content falls in, it's harder to figure out what to consume more of versus less.

Your teens' pattern of use is just as important. Do they typically find themselves on social media when they are feeling happy, down, bored or angry? Do they scroll through social media to distract themselves from uncomfortable feelings or to avoid doing homework that's been piling up into a mountain? What happens when they step away from their device?

By asking teens to reflect on the link between real life and when they pick up their phone to open Instagram or TikTok, you might identify an underlying problem that needs more attention, like anxiety. Or you could help them identify better ways to cope with uncomfortable feelings, like calling a friend or listening to music.

Step 2: Ask how social media use is serving them

This is where it's time to ask your teens to be real with you about the impact of social media on their mental health. Ask them how they feel after scrolling on social media. Do they notice a difference in how they feel when they view one type of content, like puppy videos or body-positive posts, versus another, like heavily edited and unrealistic photos of influencers or content from someone in a negative headspace?

Often, teens will admit that the thought of breaking from social media makes them incredibly anxious at first. But when they do separate themselves from their device, they end up feeling better. It's not that surprising, as taking time away from social media altogether can help you stay present in the moment in a way that's helpful for your mood and overall mental health.

The more links teens can make on their own between how they use social media and how that usage pattern serves them or makes them feel, the more likely they will be to want to make changes for themselves, if it's on their terms.

Step 3: Encourage teens to identify the changes they want

Ask your teens if they want to change the way they are using social media right now, and if so, how. Perhaps they have identified that they want to spend less time on social media. Maybe they have noticed that they feel badly about themselves after comparing their lives to those of others, and they wish the content left them feeling better about themselves instead of worse. Whatever the changes are, it's a good time to catalog them intentionally and set specific goals.

It can be especially helpful to focus on what they would get out of the changes. Are they looking to gain some time back for more offline activities? Are they looking to boost their mood or self-esteem? Are they looking for more authentic connection and experiences?

It's critical that your teen set their goals for themselves. It's how they will buy into the process and likely follow through with any changes.

Step 4: List and commit to the steps needed to get there

Now is the time to get concrete. What is it that needs to happen for your teens to achieve their stated goals? Do they need to take screen-time breaks, or place restrictions on their phone? Does the phone need to go into a basket at dinner, or be left in the common space when it's bedtime?

Or maybe they are happy with how much time they are spending online but want to focus on what they are consuming. What accounts that make them feel bad do they need to unfollow or block, and what types of accounts will they look to follow? How will they approach spring-cleaning their feed? Will they replace five negative accounts with five positive ones per day, or do they have another method they'd like to try?

Some teens have noted that disabling comments, making their accounts private, or keeping their social media use within certain bounds, like particular hours of the day, are helpful tricks to regaining some peace of mind.

With a generation of digital natives sitting across the Thanksgiving table from generations who grew up solely playing outside with the next-door neighbors, it can feel like both parties are coming from different planets when it comes to topics like technology and social media.

Rather than try to fight where teens are coming from, accepting that technology use is part of their way of life, and instead focusing on quality over quantity, will allow for more productive conversations. That's the space in which real, healthy change can happen.

- Dr. Neha Chaudhary, child and adolescent psychiatrist, is chief medical officer of BeMe Health and faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

FOR MORE SALES IMPROVE YOUR BLOG DESIGN

Blogging is the cornerstone of content marketing today. 

With high-quality blog posts, you can bring traffic to your website and get higher search engine rankings. 

But the real test of your blog’s effectiveness is whether it can generate sales or not. 

You could be making small but impactful design mistakes on your blog that are keeping you from generating revenue. 

In this post, we’ll look at how to design your blog site so that it creates trust and compels people to buy your product. 

1. Make your blog easy to read

People who land on your blog are going to skim it first to see if it’s interesting to them.

If your post uses small font and isn’t formatted properly, your readers will quickly leave it and find another site. 

Make sure that you use short paragraphs with a maximum of four lines in each one. Use bullet points to break down a series of steps or ideas. 

And add a subheading to each section of your post so that readers know what your post is about with just a glance. 

2. Include pictures and videos

Seeing pictures and videos is far more memorable than just reading text. Pictures and videos also provide context that supports your ideas. 

Another reason why adding graphics, pictures, and videos matters is that it breaks up a long article. By making your content easier to consume with the help of visuals, your readers will recall your blog more easily.

Other ways to add imagery to your content are by using emojis (but sparsely) and including gifs and memes whenever it’s appropriate. 

People prefer casual modes of communication today. And when done right, the pictures in your post will set the mood for your blog.

3. Make your navigation simple

Navigation is one of the critical parts of any blog. 

When a user has a goal, they should be able to look at your home menu or submenus and figure out what to click on right away. 

Make sure that every page on your blog has links that go back to the home page and help readers navigate to other posts too. 

If a user clicks on a link and doesn’t find what they need, they’ll leave your site and never return. So, work on your blog’s navigation and add a search tool to every page so that readers can find exactly what they need.

4. Give readers the ability to subscribe to your blog posts

Adding an optin popup to your blog will help you connect with readers directly. Many readers leave a blog with the intent to return again. But people often forget the URL or get distracted. 

To avoid this, add an optin popup form to your website. And also create subscription forms and place them in many places around your blog. 

Your blog readers will subscribe to your newsletter and you can send them updates whenever you post something new. 

5. Choose a brand color pallet

Another important design principle is to do choose a fixed color pallet for your blog. Many people who are new to website building get overexcited and use far too many colors for their blog. 

This only serves to distract your audience and makes your blog look poorly designed. 

Every website needs a fixed number of colors that are repeated throughout. You need the main brand color, an accent color, a dark shade, and one or two others to compose your brand pallet. 

I suggest that you use an AI color pallet generator that automatically pairs together colors that look good. 

Colormind.io is an AI color pallet generator you can use for your blog design

Then stick to this pallet when designing your website. The end result is that your website will look professionally made even if you’re new to website building. 

6. Keep it simple and straightforward

The most professional and attractive blogs are ones that are simple. They avoid too many colors, images, and don’t use complicated layouts for their blogs. 

You shouldn’t worry about your blog looking too plain. Instead, actively make sure that it doesn’t look cluttered with too many links, images, or varied font styles. 

The same principles apply to your writing style too. Use a conversational tone, just like you would when chatting with a friend.

When you keep things simple and tidy, people find it easy to read your content and your blog will look more appealing to readers. 

7. Choose the right content widths

A major secret to good blog design is establishing the right content width or widths. 

You want to avoid choosing a 100% content width for your posts as that will make your content appear from edge to edge on a device. It’s not a good look and is very uncomfortable for people to read. 

It’s important to set a narrower content width for your main content. And there’s no single answer as to what dimensions you should choose for your blog. 

Factors like what devices your readers use will matter when it comes to choosing the right content widths. Your best option is to experiment and check that the width you set for your blog content looks appealing on all devices. 

8. Stick to two fonts

The last tip is to use a font-generator tool and select just two fonts for your entire blog. If you’re an expert in web design and typography, then you can easily select more fonts and apply them with great effect. 

Otherwise, pick two fonts, one for titles and one for body text. And keep them consistent across your site. Although it may seem too simple, sticking to a limited font set will make your blog appear professional. 

A font generator will pair together cohesive styles

Conclusion

The design principles mentioned here will quickly make your site look amazing. But you always need to experiment to figure out what works best for your own website. 

Keep experimenting to create a gorgeous blog and you’ll reduce bounce rates and increase traffic to your website.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN BRAND KIT

You may have heard the term “brand” used in conversations with friends and colleagues, when discussing the clothes you are wearing, or the kind of gadgets you are using. This is a common occurrence, fuelled by the misconception that a brand refers to the name or logo of a product or service.

This may have been accurate a couple of decades ago.  In fact, the first concept of a brand actually started in the 1800s when cattle breeders stamped their mark on their livestock to distinguish them from other ranchers. 

How To Define A Brand

The concept of a brand has evolved since the old times, and it has then represented more than just the visual identity of a company, product, or service. According to Dental Marketing Guy, a company that specializes in dental website design, a brand is the sum of all experiences that the customer had with you and how it makes them feel when they think of you. It also reflects your promise to the customer, so they know what to expect when they encounter your product or service.

And lastly, it differentiates you from your competitors, particularly in competitive local brick and mortar businesses. 

In short, it is an intangible concept that keeps changing, depending on the quality of the customers’ experiences. This is why branding is a very important part of your business strategy. If a brand is the sum of your customers’ experience, branding is the process of shaping those experiences into what you want your brand to be. 

Why Branding Is Crucial

As branding shapes the customers perception of your company, product, or service, it has the power to move your business forward – or pull it back down. 

A powerful and effective branding strategy has the capability to build your customer base, create customer loyalty, and increase the value of the company as it helps make your message resonate with your ideal customers. On the other hand, a flawed strategy can instead drive your customers away as it fails to connect your brand with their needs.

Create Your Branding Strategy

One of the keys to an effective branding strategy is consistency. You have to first identify what is the correct message and identity that your customers can relate to, and then stick with it. When the customer knows what to expect when they encounter your brand, and they keep getting the same satisfying results again and again, it builds their confidence and makes them feel secure in their interactions with you.

It is human nature to want to reduce risks and eliminate any sense of danger.  Thus, when given a choice between working with someone they already know and who has never let them down before, versus working with someone unfamiliar and completely new – with all other factors being equal, people would naturally turn to the safe and familiar.

Make sure you do not get distracted or make your customers confused with contradicting messages and brand identity. One of the ways to achieve this is by having a Brand Kit.    

Prepare Your Own Brand Kit

From the name itself, it is easy to see that a brand kit refers to a set of tools that are used for your brand. It contains all visual guidelines that describe your brand in full detail, to ensure that the brand identity is protected regardless of the communication material used. 

A brand kit guarantees that you would look like the same familiar brand that your customers have grown to love no matter what activity the team does or what campaign your agencies do for you.

INSTAGRAM STATS ALL CONTENT CREATORS NEED TO KNOW

With Instagram, more people are taking part in the social sphere, and its boundaries are opening up. Photo-sharing apps have evolved from once being used mostly by vacationers, influencers, and advertisers to now being popular among all types of users. With stats, you can figure out what parts of your marketing efforts need to be changed, such as how many people you should target when to post or what kind of content to offer. Knowing the latest Instagram facts is essential as you devise your social media marketing strategy for 2022. Listed below are the most important Instagram stats you need to know this year, as we want you to work with the right information. Now let’s dive into the top five Instagram statistics for 2021 to help you determine whether Instagram is worth your time and money. 1. Use of Instagram hashtags As hashtags are used to identify topics and tags on social media, their usage has surged since their creation in 2007 (by Twitter). They are now considered an essential part of social media activities. This applies to Instagram as well. There are many people and businesses using hashtags on Instagram, including companies and influencers. According to the latest statistics, so many hashtags are being used in Instagram posts that each post contains an average of 10.7 hashtags. To learn more about how to come up with the best keywords, tags and phrases that best match your content and audience on social media, be sure to take a look at these top fashion hashtags on Instagram. 2. Businesses Use Instagram A recent study revealed that 7 out of 10 hashtags on Instagram are branded due to Instagram’s increasing popularity.  The engagement rate on Instagram is considered the most important metric by more than 80% of businesses. Many marketers consider Instagram engagement a major KPI, but it’s not easy to measure. Due to the swift development of the Instagram platform, it cannot be easy to measure what’s new and what should be measured. 3. Use of Instagram Stories Instagram stories were launched in August 2016. It lets users take photos or videos that expire after 24 hours – a feature that changes the game.  And with more focus on the usage of hashtags, stories and user reach, more businesses and brands are spending more time and money on growing their IG following as well. Instagram users started sharing way more after launching this feature. Instagram Stories are seen by 500 million users every single day. The most popular Instagram stories from businesses account for 1/3 of all views.  4. Growth of Instagram Sponsored Content Instagram influencers have become increasingly popular in publishing sponsored content, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. Instagram influencers used the #ad hashtag 133 percent more often between February 2018 and February 2019. According to Instagram, nearly 25,000 accounts were posted with the hashtag #ad in the first quarter of 2019. And this is also why big brands love influencers on social media as well. By partnering with top influencers that have millions of followers already in place, it just makes the process a whole lot smoother. Posts by influencers who have more followers are more likely to have a larger following, and they are more likely to be sought out for influencer marketing efforts. 5. The Young Generation Loves Instagram The majority of Instagram app users under 35 represent 71% of the billion monthly active users. As of January 2019, this stat shows how many Instagram users there are across the globe. Users between the ages of 25 and 34 make up the largest users, followed by those between 18 and 24. What is the demographic of your target audience? Your brand will be able to determine which social media platforms make sense based on social media demographics. And just like how it seemed as if Facebook was the most important social media platform in the world, we are now seeing less attention given to FB, and more user movement towards IG and TikTok. As a result, you’ll minimize the chances of creating content for a platform that doesn’t have an audience. And at the same time, it’s always important to pay attention to any new up and coming social platforms, as you never know where your audience might be heading next! Adding Value to Your Social Media Marketing Efforts With Instagram starts, you can obtain data that will inform your content strategy. You can use that data to identify what is working (and what is not) for your audience. As you consider those benchmarks, it will be much easier to create incredibly engaging content.

CONTENT MARKETING AND MAXIMIZING ROI TO WIN

You have a business, sales have slowed, but you are still blowing through your marketing budget. Sound familiar? Not to worry, because you are definitely not alone. Many businesses fall short or peak when it comes to marketing. And much of it has to do with the current content marketing strategy, or lack of.

Is your content marketing on point? Do you need to regroup and make some serious tweaks? Content marketing is still a major player when it comes to growing a business. This is why 70 percent of marketers are investing more in content marketing.

And content marketing has gone beyond text. Businesses are combining video, text, and SEO, like this digital marketing podcast. The following dives deep into how to win at content marketing and maximize ROI.

Start By Really Getting To Know Your Audience

Getting to know your audience doesn’t mean throwing a big party to meet them all. 

“Knowing your audience is all about understanding who they are, what they like, where they are online (and offline), as well as their interests.”, says Matt Bertram of EWR Digital.

Why is this important? Well, you can’t develop a powerful content marketing strategy and win if you don’t know who you’re trying to reach. Who you’re really trying to reach. Here are a few questions to consider:

• What is the age range of your target audience?
• Where does most of your audience live (country, state, city)?
• What devices do they use?
• What are their interests online and offline?
• What social media channels do they use the most?
• Do they have an education background in common?

The list can go on, but you get the idea. Knowing your audience will allow you to create better content. Because if you can’t attract attention from your audience, you will waste valuable marketing money.

Analyze Content Marketing Efforts That Are Working (And Not Working)

This is another very important consideration when it comes to winning at content marketing, especially if you want to maximize ROI. If you already have a content marketing strategy with current campaigns, it is time to deep dive and see what is working, as well as what is not.

Doing this helps you identify where you are wasting money, and where you need to double down. For example, if you are pumping $1,000 into social media ads, but not seeing any conversions, or even an uptick in web traffic from social, it is time to make some serious changes.

But on the same coin, if you see that your email marketing efforts are crushing it, double down on email marketing and give your subscribers even more value. You can even divert money from social media marketing to grow your email marketing, thus maximizing ROI.

Let An Influencer Create Content For Your Business

Influencer marketing is no longer a trend, it is a viable marketing strategy that has serious ROI. Why? Influencers already have the target audience you want to reach and make long-term customers from. Here are a few essential influencer marketing stats:

• 93 percent of marketers utilize the power of influencer marketing
• 9 out of 10 marketers agree that influencers are effective
• $18 is the ROI for every dollar spent
• 57 percent of marketers planned to increase their influencer marketing budgets in 2022

Statistics like those above paint a pretty clear picture. Influencer marketing can help you win at content marketing and maximize ROI. But finding the right influencers can be tricky.

To max out ROI and achieve influencer marketing success, you need to find influencers in your industry. These influencers will need to have a strong engagement rate, and meet the goals of your marketing strategy. For instance, if brand awareness is your top goal, find an influencer that knows how to do this to perfection.

Another important influencer marketing best practice is to ensure the influencer has influence on the social media channel your target audience hangs out on. If you want to reach women between the ages of 20 and 25, you need an Instagram influencer. And if you can add video to your influencer campaign, even better.

Wrapping Up . . . 

Knowing how to win at content marketing and maximize ROI doesn’t need to be a challenge, or unachievable goal for your business. By employing the above strategies, you can revamp your content marketing plan and experience powerful growth. 

And the above is to just get you started. There are certainly more ways to win at content marketing and maximize ROI. What’s your top content marketing strategy? We want to hear from you.

FOR MORE SALES IMPROVE YOUR BLOG DESIGN

Blogging is the cornerstone of content marketing today.  With high-quality blog posts, you can bring traffic to your website and get higher search engine rankings.  But the real test of your blog’s effectiveness is whether it can generate sales or not.  You could be making small but impactful design mistakes on your blog that are keeping you from generating  revenue.  In this post, we’ll look at how to design your blog site so that it creates trust and compels people to buy your  product.  1. Make your blog easy to read People who land on your blog are going to skim it first to see if it’s interesting to them. If your post uses small font and isn’t formatted properly, your readers will quickly leave it and find another  site.  Make sure that you use short paragraphs with a maximum of four lines in each one. Use bullet points to break  down a series of steps or ideas.  And add a subheading to each section of your post so that readers know what your post is about with just a glance.  2. Include pictures and videos Seeing pictures and videos is far more memorable than just reading text. Pictures and videos also provide context that supports your ideas.  Another reason why adding graphics, pictures, and videos matters is that it breaks up a long article.  By making your content easier to consume with the help of visuals, your readers will recall your blog more easily. Other ways to add imagery to your content are by using emojis (but sparsely) and including gifs and  memes whenever it’s appropriate.  People prefer casual modes of communication today. And when done right, the pictures in your post will  set the mood for your blog. 3. Make your navigation simple Navigation is one of the critical parts of any blog.  When a user has a goal, they should be able to look at your home menu or submenus and figure out  what to click on right away.  Make sure that every page on your blog has links that go back to the home page and help readers navigate  to other posts too.  If a user clicks on a link and doesn’t find what they need, they’ll leave your site and never return. So,  work on your blog’s navigation and add a search tool to every page so that readers can find exactly what they need. 4. Give readers the ability to subscribe to your blog posts Adding an optin popup to your blog will help you connect with readers directly. Many readers leave a  blog with the intent to return again. But people often forget the URL or get distracted.  To avoid this, add an optin popup form to your website. And also create subscription forms and  place them in many places around your blog.  Your blog readers will subscribe to your newsletter and you can send them updates whenever you  post something new.  5. Choose a brand color pallet Another important design principle is to do choose a fixed color pallet for your blog. Many people who are new to website building get overexcited and use far too many colors for their blog.  This only serves to distract your audience and makes your blog look poorly designed.  Every website needs a fixed number of colors that are repeated throughout. You need the main brand color, an accent color, a dark shade, and one or two others to compose your brand pallet.  I suggest that you use an AI color pallet generator that automatically pairs together colors that look good.  Colormind.io is an AI color pallet generator you can use for your blog design Then stick to this pallet when designing your website. The end result is that your website will look  professionally made even if you’re new to website building.  6. Keep it simple and straightforward The most professional and attractive blogs are ones that are simple. They avoid too many colors, images, and don’t use complicated layouts for their blogs.  You shouldn’t worry about your blog looking too plain. Instead, actively make sure that it doesn’t  look cluttered with too many links, images, or varied font styles.  The same principles apply to your writing style too. Use a conversational tone, just like you would  when chatting with a friend. When you keep things simple and tidy, people find it easy to read your content and your blog will  look more appealing to readers.  7. Choose the right content widths A major secret to good blog design is establishing the right content width or widths.  You want to avoid choosing a 100% content width for your posts as that will make your content  appear from edge to edge on a device. It’s not a good look and is very uncomfortable for people to read.  It’s important to set a narrower content width for your main content. And there’s no single answer as to what dimensions you should choose for your blog.  Factors like what devices your readers use will matter when it comes to choosing the right content widths.  Your best option is to experiment and check that the width you set for your blog content looks appealing on all devices.  8. Stick to two fonts The last tip is to use a font-generator tool and select just two fonts for your entire blog. If you’re an expert  in web design and typography, then you can easily select more fonts and apply them with great effect.  Otherwise, pick two fonts, one for titles and one for body text. And keep them consistent across your site.  Although it may seem too simple, sticking to a limited font set will make your blog appear professional.  A font generator will pair together cohesive styles Conclusion The design principles mentioned here will quickly make your site look amazing. But you always need  to experiment to figure out what works best for your own website.  Keep experimenting to create a gorgeous blog and you’ll reduce bounce rates and increase traffic to your website.

STEPS TO FIX EMAIL OVERLOAD

Do you dread even opening your inbox? You’re not alone. Most of my clients are perpetually drowning in email.  In my training programs, I provide a 4-step strategy to overcome email overload. Here’s an overview of that process.

 You Aren’t Filtering

Chances are, your inbox holds a wide assortment of email — from spam to newsletters to discount offers to important communications from your boss or colleagues. With all of these different, and varied, messages vying for your attention, it’s overwhelming to sort everything out and take action. No wonder you’re drowning in email!

The first step to solving email overload is to make smarter use of email filters. You probably already have a spam filter, but did you know you can also filter messages you still want to receive? I use a tool called Throttle to create a single daily digest of emails I want to read but that I don’t want filling my inbox throughout the day and distracting me from work. Throttle works well in tandem with another email management tool, SpamDrain.

I also use rules within my email client to corral certain kinds of messages. For example, I know that system generated and “FYI-in-the-subject-line” messages aren’t time-sensitive and don’t require a response, but they are good to keep for reference. So I’ve created a rule in my email client (Apple Mail, but this works with Outlook, too)  that any emails from one of my programs, or with “FYI” in the subject line, automatically get marked as read and sent to specific folders that I can scan at my convenience.

It’s important that the messages are marked as read – the last thing you need is a folder with 1,000 unread messages weighing on you! (Another important note: you’ll have more control over your email if you use a client such as Outlook or Apple Mail instead of trying to manage your email in a  browser.)

However you decide to filter your email, the goal is have only work-related communications — actual messages from actual people — reaching you during the business day.

You Need a Shift in How You Think About Email

This is one of the biggest reasons you’re drowning in email, and it’s something that most people never really think about.

For some reason, many people seem to believe that email is something they should be able to squeeze in around their “real work.” But email is real work. It’s from your bosses, your colleagues, your customers, your vendors. It merits your focused attention when you work on it, not just a quick glance and a dashed-off reply between meetings.

A backlog of messages is just one of the consequences when you don’t treat email as real work. You also risk important messages falling through the cracks and miscommunications or damaged relationships when you miss an email or reply without fully processing it.

Your Schedule Isn’t Realistic

Since email is real work, it takes real time to address productively. On average, the professionals I work with manage about 100 emails a day, even after applying filters. If we figure that, on average, each of those emails takes about 2 minutes to process, then you’re looking at almost 3½ hours a day just to manage that work (that just happens to come to you via email).

Now consider that these same professionals probably schedule themselves for several hours of meetings each day, and you can see why there’s a problem. If this describes you, it means you aren’t just drowning in email you don’t have time to address. This email overload is also seriously hampering your ability to get anything else done! The overflow work is probably seeping into your personal life, with you checking email at the dinner table, at your child’s school functions, late into the night, and during vacations. This robs you of the time you need to rest and rejuvenate.

Let me give you a wake-up call. You’re headed for burnout. And it’s urgent that you get real about your schedule and everything that’s on your plate. Now I’m not expecting that you’ll magically find a couple of hours every day to work on email. But I do want you to recognize that real work requires real time to do it, and to get realistic about what you can accomplish.

For example, if I’m traveling to work with a client, I might not have much time to devote to email for a few days. So I just keep an eye out for urgent messages and, for the time being, don’t worry about the others. When my trip is over, however, I don’t schedule anything else for my first day back in the office. This gives me a chance to catch up on email.

Your Email Doubles as a Task List

The last reason that most people are drowning in email is that they don’t have a good system for managing their tasks. To figure out what they should be working on, they have to consult several places — the Post-its on their monitor, the legal pad they take to meetings, the notes on their phone, and their email inbox.

Because many of the work emails you get represent something you need to do, it can be tempting to work from your inbox. But working this way isn’t productive. You become tethered to your email, perpetually scanning your messages for important tasks you might have missed. That keeps you in a constantly reactive mindset. If you’re always “on alert,” you never enter the state of deep focus you need to do your best work.

The solution here is when you create time to really deal with your email, you’ll dispatch most of it. And anything you can’t take care of during your “processing” time needs to get moved out of your email — and anywhere else you are tracking tasks — and into a great to-do list tool that is part of your personal workflow management system. Such a system makes you more efficient and gives you greater peace of mind.

If you’re drowning in email, the strategies in this article can help you regain control over email overload, make better use of your time and attention, and give you greater peace of mind.

For more on managing your email and your overall productivity, check out my books, Personal Productivity Secrets and Work Without Walls. You can start reading either or both for free, here.

 - Maura Nevel Thomas, author of The Happy Inbox