What are your 3 top email marketing tips for small business?

Our business has recently decided to start an email marketing campaign to drive more customer engagement and, hopefully, make more money from existing customers.

What are the three most important tips you have for small business email marketers?

In particular, because we have limited resources, both in terms of time and money, I would like you to focus on email marketing tips that lower costs and increase productivity.

Top 3 email marketing tips for small business

1. Use a leading email marketing service

Don't mess around trying to build the functionality and features you need to grow and manage a good email list yourself. Specialist email marketing services have developed far better facilities than any one individual business can do by itself.

The top email marketing services help ensure your email marketing is compliant with all spam regulations, your own domain won't end up being unnecessarily blacklisted as a "spam domain", and the features they provide to grow and manage your list will save you time and money in the short, medium and long term.

You can check out the two most popular email marketing services at What is the best email marketing service for small business?

In particular, Constant Contact offers a 60-day free email marketing trial (no credit card required) to get you started.

2. Have clearly defined business objectives

Many businesses run email marketing campaigns that lack focus. They are getting their message out to potential and existing customers, but there is no strong call to actionthat is highly relevant and of great interest to the readers.

Start an email campaign by understanding exactly what you want to get out of it. This will help you build an email list that focuses on precisely the right target market.

With the right target market, and a clear marketing message, you can be assured of higher conversions and returns.

3. Use simple, clear email design and content

With beautiful and powerful email themes and templates available at the click of a button, the temptation is to go overboard with flashy design.

Pick a professional, lightweight design, and focus your efforts on creating highly relevant and engaging content.

It is the quality of your content that will ultimately build sufficient trust for customers to convert.

Finally, make sure that it is very clear and easy for customers to convert once they choose to.

http://wsm4b.com/forums/marketing/what-are-your-3-top-email-marketing-tips-small-business

11 Checks to Ensure Your Facebook Page is Up-to-Date

How long has it been since you’ve reviewed your Facebook Page?

Are you taking advantage of the latest Facebook features?

It’s critical that Facebook Page managers take time to regularly audit their Page and ensure that they are not missing out on new features.

This Facebook Page audit guide outlines 11 key items to review to help maximize your Page’s potential.

Facebook changes often—audit your Page to keep up!

#1: Maximize Your Page Cover Image

Facebook recently updated its guidelines and loosened the restrictions on what you can display on your main Page cover image. (View updated Facebook Guidelines.) This prime location now lets you display your web address, a call to action and more.

The key is that text cannot exceed 20% of the cover image area.

Facebook now allows creative uses of the timeline cover image.

If designed creatively, cover images now afford Pages a powerful new opportunity to communicate key pieces of information to visitors. Make sure to take advantage of this change.

#2: Evaluate Your Profile Image

Your profile image is used whenever you post and it is the first thing users see when glancing through posts in their news feed. Your business should not have a picture of Joe the owner in the profile unless Joe is the brand! Your logo can help reinforce company branding.

Note that your profile image should be uploaded at a size of 180 x 180 pixels; Facebook sizes it down to 160 x 160 pixels.

Profile image that reinforces the brand name.

The Mashable “M” is a profile image that serves as a brand-awareness tool when seen in the news feed.

Key Tip: It’s best to upload a square-designed image.

#3: Review Your Tab Thumbnails

Your tab thumbnails appear below your cover image and lead to the apps in use on your Page. You have the opportunity to showcase three tab apps that are always visible to visitors on your Page. Make sure these capture attention.

The best way to do this is to use simple fonts. Shorten the callout to a few words and consider using your cover image to point to them.

Grandma Mary, Social Media Edutainer, does a nice job with clear, focused tab thumbnails.

Great use of simple, highly focused tab thumbnails.

#4: Maximize Use of Tab Apps

Tab apps are great ways to boost engagement on your Page. They offer interactive and incentive options that can draw visitors to your Page and boost engagement.

They are commonly used for running contests and offering deals. In fact, using a third-party app is the only way to run a contest or deal that meets Facebook’s promotion guidelines.  At a minimum, Pages should feature a tab app that lets visitors sign up for the company email newsletter list.

Make sure that your apps stay up to date and that your most important apps are visible in the three slots below the cover image.

#5: Use the Short Description

Your Page can show a brief description of approximately 155 characters that displays below the cover image and the profile image at the top of your Page. This is great space to outline a concise statement about your business and list your website URL.

To update this area, go to Edit Settings in your admin panel, and under Basic Information look for Short Description. Amy Porterfield makes excellent use of her Short Description.

Example of a Short Description that is focused, descriptive and includes the URL.

Key Tip: Include your website address in the Short Description so it is always visible to those coming to your Page.

#6: Optimize the About Section for Search

After adding your Short Description, make sure to review and complete the remainder of the About area, which has subsections such as Company Overview, Description, General Information and Mission. The About area is indexed by search engines, so make sure it contains your keywords. The exact subsections you see will vary depending on the Page category you have chosen.

Complete the Company Overview, Mission and Products fields to help optimize your Page for product searches. Include your address, city, state and zip code in General Information to optimize you Page for local search.

Review and update your Short Description and complete the About section.

#7: Customize Your Facebook URL

If your Facebook Page URL still has “pages” and a set of numbers in it, it’s time to move up to a custom username!

You can customize your Page web address by selecting a unique username that contains letters or numbers but no dashes, etc. Your Facebook URL can be changed only once, after it is originally set, so choose wisely.

Adding a username to your Page makes it easier for people to find your business on Facebook, and your Page’s custom url can be used in marketing communications and more!

Example of a Page that has not set its username.

Key Tip: Use the shortcut “fb.com/username” instead of typing in “Facebook.com/username”. The abbreviation to “fb” works for any Facebook web address.

#8: Review Your Category, Especially if You’re a Local Business

Facebook offers quite a variety of category options, many of which are similar and some that offer different features for your Page. One of the biggest feature differences that any local business should take advantage of is the Check-in option.

If your business has a physical brick-and-mortar location where you want potential customers to visit, be sure to change your Facebook Page category to Local Business.

This will allow users to check into your location, which is helpful for at least two reasons. First, it can raise awareness of your business and location with friends of the user checking in. Second, check-ins can be part of Graph Search results, so that if a Facebook user is searching for a restaurant in Chicago that friends have visited, check-ins appear in results.

Graph Search result with check-ins of friends listed.

To check or change your Page category, go to the Admin Panel and select Edit Settings. Then go to Basic Information, and find Category at the top of the list.

#9: Activate Replies to Comments

Replies is a new Facebook feature that was released in March 2013. When the feature is enabled, it allows Pages to offer their community the ability to reply to a specific comment in a thread. This threaded comments feature allows for more specific and richer interaction around a comment.

Previously, adding to a discussion required you to tag someone (using the @ symbol and their name) and hope that other readers understood which of the previous comments it related to.

The new Replies feature shown in action.

The Replies feature is activated by going to the Admin Panel. Select Edit Settings and then Manage Permissions. Toward the bottom of this section is the Replies area with a checkbox to activate. Be sure to click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Admin area to activate Replies feature for Pages.

#10: Review Admins and Roles

An often-overlooked item is ensuring that admins with access to manage your Page are up to date. Are the Page admins who are listed still part of your team or working with you to manage your Page?

There can be frequent staff transition or marketing support changes and this is an important item to check and ensure that only those you trust have access.

View of the Page admins and roles in admin panel.

You’ll also want to review the roles of each person listed. Is the role accurate based on their involvement with your Page? Facebook offers multiple roles with varying degrees of power and access, so make sure the permissions are set appropriately for each admin.

Facebook admin roles for Pages.

#11: Check Your Notification Settings

It is definitely recommended that Page managers take the time to go to the Your Settings area and review the notification types that are active. These are specific to you as an admin of the Page.

Even as I was reviewing the Facebook Pages I manage while writing this article, I discovered one area where I needed to make a change! In order to respond quickly to comments, posts and messages for my Pages, I like to have all notifications on.

I found that I did not have Onsite Notifications active. This is important, as it will send me a notification on Facebook when people post, like, comment or send me a message.

Notifications set up area in Page admin panel.

Being aware of visitors’ interactions with your Page is the first step in good customer service. You have to know about interactions to be able to respond to them!

Now It’s Your Turn!

This is by no means an exhaustive list of items to audit for your Facebook Page. Hopefully these 11 items can help you review your Page to ensure that your information is up to date and that you are utilizing Facebook’s newest features.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/11-checks-to-ensure-your-facebook-page-is-up-to-date/

Create An Expert Blog In 13 Steps

If the mere idea of online blogging makes you break out in a sweat, it’s time to reconsider your perception of what an online blog is really all about.

Blogging is merely a way to communicate effectively and casually with those who do business with you. 

Below is a list of the skills necessary to be a master blogger.

13 Steps To A Great Looking Blog

1. Always make sure you have subheadings marked as H1, H2 and H3 tags.

2. A blog should not be less than 500 words. Try and make your blog at least 500 to 1000 words long. Keep in mind that a blog is a much more informal medium than certain other types of websites. Blogging is fun and social and shouldn’t be rigid and structured. Keep this in mind as you write your blog posts. Your reader will want to find content which sounds like it’s coming from a friend, not an Associated Press journalist.

3. Always have your keywords in the title and in the sub headings.

4. Make sure that the keyword phrase is scattered through the content of your blog. You should have a keyword density of at least 2%. That’s means that your keyword phrase should appear at least once every 100 words.

5. When you set up your blog, it may be wise to buy a domain name instead of utilizing a free site. It is not expensive to do this, and it will assist you in looking more professional. Visitors will have less trouble remembering the blog if its title includes your business name.

6. Always bold, underline and italicise your keyword phrase at least once.

7. Make sure you have one internal link to your blog. Use a lot of links in what you post. Your links can lead to older posts that you have made as well as to other websites and blogs that you believe are relevant. Links can also be included back to news sites or university sites that support the claims you may have made in any of your posts. These links will increase the credibility of content on your site.

8. Always post your blog with purpose and have a call to action. If you don’t tell your readers what to do they probably won’t do it. Write about things that people are always going to want to know about. Try blog about subjects that will remain current for many years.

9. Use video content to increase the quality of your blog. In addition to videos, you need to make sure you are still adding quality content. It is always good to write descriptions to accompany your video elements. This will allow you to use key words to describe your videos.

10. Always have at least one picture in each blog post. Remember to fill in the alt tag with your keyword phrase as this will give you increased SEO Optimization.

11. Use social media networking links in order to assist your readers in following you. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter will make your blog more successful and help you gain notoriety. These portals allow you to communicate with your blog’s readers and allow you to promote your blog to other Internet users.

12. Make sure you have relevant tags associated with your blog and categorise accordingly. The longer your posts are, the more you need to make sure that you are separating the article appropriately, and using subheadings. Your blog will look much better, be easy for people to read and understand, and give a wider viewership. By utilizing this simple step, you boost your blogging skills to a higher level.

13. Always make sure you post original content in your blog. Google is a lot cleverer than you think and will know if you are copying someone else’s content.

A Great Looking Blog

I’m sure you will find these tips useful, especially if you are using WordPress. There are many different types of blogs with different styles and results, however if you stick to the basic guidelines I have provided you will have a healthy looking blog.

http://workwithgordon.com/create-blog/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=create-blog

Get Online And Start Making Money

 Making money online is easy, and there are a ton of different things that you can do right now without investing any of your own cash.  From affiliate marketing to using your skills as a freelancer or opening an online store, the possibilities are endless.  You can work through a service or website that matches users with people who do freelance work or you can build your own site and start to promote your own products or services.  If you have the time to invest, and the talent and understanding of your niche, you can open the doors to turning an online profit every time you open your laptop.

 

The hardest part about making money on the Internet is finding a credible and reliable site, service or information.  For every good resource out there, there are 100 bad ones who are just interested in taking your money or paying you pennies on the dollar that you can get elsewhere.  Once you’ve browsed some niches and categories that you may be interested in as a career option, you will have to search and do research to learn more about the market and who offers what.  The more homework that you do will translate into fewer headaches and more earnings at the end of the day.

 

You don’t need to have vast experience with technology to make money online either.  Some things like setting up an online store or affiliate marketing require a lot of work and under-the-hood insight in order to get things up and running, but there are many ways that you can put your skills and experience to work simply by finding clients and doing jobs for them.  Can you write?  There abundant opportunities to use your keyboard as a cash register, from creating articles for websites, blogs, marketing professionals or media outlets.  If you can do data entry, customer service, bookkeeping or graphic design, you will find no shortage of earning opportunities right now.

 

If you are more interested in working for yourself and have sales experience, consider affiliate marketing.  You sell other people’s products or services and get a commission.  You can build limitless stores and websites and feature products and services.  When someone buys them, you get paid, and you don’t even have to carry the inventory or handle the shipping or billing.  You can sell advertising space, monetize a blog or even make money referring people for jobs, taking surveys or almost anything else that you can possibly think of.  You can sell your music, art, videos or writings online as well.  Nothing is off limits, as long as it is legal.

 

The Internet is the new frontier where you can get rich and really carve out a niche for yourself, if you are willing to put in the time and work hard.  Just because there’s a lot of money floating around the online universe doesn’t mean that it is easy money, especially when you get started.  But, over time as you get more adept and skilled, build a reputation and build your portfolio or clientèle, the sky really is the limit in terms of what you can accomplish.

 

http://income.com/2258/get-online-and-start-making-money/

Seven Success Secrets

I think we have all asked the same question at one time or another. That question is ...

 

"What does it really take to succeed online?"

 

 If we listen to the emails and websites we read, we hear many strong opinions.

 

"Create your own product" they say.

"Do joint ventures" says another.

"Pay per click advertising is all you need" says yet another voice.

 

And they always make it sound so much easier than it really is, while loudly proclaiming that their way is the only way.

 

And yet we know that can not be true.

 

 So ... what DOES it take to succeed online?

 

While I will not pretend to have all the answers, I will share openly what has worked (and is working now) for me and my clients as well.

 

Experience has proven that focusing on these seven basics will yield results, no matter what market you are attempting to reach or product you are promoting.

 

1. YOU MUST HAVE A WEBSITE TO SUCCEED

 

It used to be that email was enough. But today you need a website. It is incredibly ironic that this vital beginning step is the step where so many people fail.

 

Creating a website can be hard if you don't know how. But there is a solution, and that solution is blogging.

 

Using Blogger.com, you really can put meaningful content on the web today, and do it free.

If you have ever struggled to create a website, if you have been confused by HTML editors and all the technical mumbo-jumbo, try blogging today.

2. USE EMAIL TO FOLLOW UP

 

This is probably the #1 piece of advice I give clients, and it works almost every time.

 

The logic is undeniable.

 

If your site is wildly successful, over 90% of first time visitors will not buy on their first visit!

 

How are they going to remember to return to your site, when there are billions of sites online, many of which are probably your competitors?

 

You must remind them to come back. You must woo them back with enticing offers and give them solid reasons to do business with you. And nothing does that better than email.
If spending money is an issue, you can create a follow up system free at SendFree.com

3. LET THEM HEAR YOUR VOICE

 

There is no doubt about it ... content is king. People come online to find answers to their questions and solutions to their problems. When your site is the one providing those answers and solutions, people will buy.

 

But first things first - people have to find your site. And that means getting listed in the search engines. And getting listed in the search engines means providing new content as often as you can.

I suggest adding content to your site every day, or at least every week.

 

The great thing here is that you don't have to write it! If you can write your own content, by all means do that. People love to hear from other real people, much more than they want to hear from some slick marketer. If you can't write, or just don't want to, then look for resale rights products that offer articles.

 

Using Google, just enter this search phrase. "resale rights" + articles You will find lots of sites offering pre-written articles that you can use as content on your website.

4. BE COMMITTED

 

Here is a huge mistake that is made over and over again by very well-meaning people. They join a program, try making it work for six or seven weeks, then quit when things don't happen as quickly as they were lead to believe.

 

This is an understandable situation, but one that will lead to failure every time.

 

The fact is, success takes time. Just as you would not expect to open a pizza shop in your town and become an overnight success, so too you should not expect immediate success online. It can happen, but it is rare, no matter how many say they have done it.

 

The key here is to do your homework before committing to any program or business. 'Doing your homework' includes asking questions, hearing from people who have succeeded with the program, getting wise counsel from people you respect, and taking the time to think it through.

 

Once you find a product or program you believe in, make a commitment to stick with it until you have tried everything possible to succeed. That commitment will take time to accomplish, and you might just find that an extra month or three of hard work is the key that unlocks the success you desire.

5. EXPAND SLOWLY

 

There are many ways to make money on the Internet. There are even more ways to advertise or promote a product or program. And that wide variety of choice is often the downfall of many a well-meaning person who is new to the ways of the Internet

.

The best advice here is to choose one or two methods of marketing, and get a deep knowledge of what to do in each before moving forward.

 

One way to do that is to make a list of all the possible ways you could use to promote your offer. Then number the list, making #1 the method you think would be most likely to succeed. Learn all you can about that method, moving on to your second choice only when you feel you have mastered the first tactic.

 

Doing this will help you save money, sell more products, and help you become an expert at marketing online, which will give you the power to sell any product to any market any time you want!

6. DEVELOP SALES RESISTANCE

 

This might sound odd coming from a guy who sells things online for a living, but it's a big one. So big, I almost made this number 1!

 

If you and I were to count how many products we have bought in the last 12 months that are going unused now, we might get downright depressed!

 

It's a fact, Internet marketers know how to sell. Their sites know how to get us to take action now, and boy do we buy. We buy things we don't need, and sometimes we buy the same thing over and over again!

 

The way to develop sales resistance, and keep more of your money in your pocket where it belongs, is to ask questions. Here are three that I ask before buying anything.

 

Do I really need this now?

 

Do I already own it, or own a similar product?

What problem will this purchase solve?

What is my specific plan for using this product in the next 24 hours?
 

I believe that we should buy what we need to succeed. Be that information, or a service, or a product to sell, you simply can not make money without spending money. But spending wisely is a must!

7. BE REALISTIC

 

We touched on this in point 4, but it's worth another look. My friend, sites that say you will earn $10,000, $20,000 or more in the next 90 days no matter what your current level of experience is are lying to you.

 

We live in an amazing time. The Internet has opened new possibilities to anyone with a connection and a burning desire to succeed. And that is a wonderful thing, one that will literally change our world.

 

But it takes skills and time to succeed online, and there is no getting around that.

 

Can you make a living online? For most people, the answer is yes. But that yes must be tempered with the knowledge that it takes work, certain skills, some startup money, and time to succeed online.

If you are realistic, it can work.

 

The seven secrets revealed above have passed the test of time, working for people on almost every continent and in every economic circumstance.

 

Let me encourage you to take these seven secrets and make them your own. Take time to choose what you want to accomplish online, then take action today using these seven secrets as your guide.

Henry David Thoreau said "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

 

Nowhere is that statement more true than on the Internet. I hope that 2013 is all you dream it to be.

 

http://www.newaffiliatemarketingtips.net/2013/05/seven-success-secrets.html

 

How To Make Money Online (2013) | Best Way to Make money

How Your Business Can Use the New Facebook Cover Photos

Are you familiar with the new Facebook cover photo rules?  You are now able to put calls to action and your website or address information in your Facebook cover photo, but there are still text restrictions.

 

Would you like some inspiration for what your business can do with a cover photo?

 

Many people have not updated their cover photos to be in compliance.

 

In this article I’ll tell you what’s changed and show you 9 examples and how you can leverage the new rules to boost your business.

 

Facebook’s New Rules

As of March 6, Facebook’s rules state that cover photos may not include more than 20% text. But the previous restrictions that were in place were removed (i.e., no calls to action, no websites and no address information).

 

The maximum 20% text rule also applies to any photo in a Facebook ad as well, so keep that in mind with your next ad campaign.

 

There was some initial confusion about how the 20% text area was measured, so Facebook came out with a post that clarified how this area was calculated and what was acceptable.

Check your Facebook cover photo with the Cover Compliance Tool.

Facebook Cover-Photo Compliance Tool

Use this tool by Paavo to help you see if your cover photo is in compliance. All you need to do is to put the link to your Facebook Page (or your Fan Page ID, whichever is easier for you) in the box labeled Fanpage ID and click the blue check mark. Then select the boxes that have text in them.

For cover photos, they have a grid of 25 blocks (5 x 5) over the photo. If there is text in more than 5 of those boxes, your photo is out of compliance.

 

One thing that is confusing in the example provided by Facebook is that there are a couple of boxes that have text extending slightly into the box and Facebook did not mark them as having text. Hmmm.

 

Also worth noting is that the 20% text policy doesn’t apply to pictures of products that include text on the actual product. But Facebook goes on to say that they aren’t allowing images that are edited to include text as a “loophole to policy.”

 

Some of these 9 examples may have a little text that appears in one other box (similar to Facebook’s own examples). The examples are for your inspiration and we recommend you comply with the 5-box maximum guideline to avoid any problems.

 

#1: Mari Smith – Facebook Marketing Expert

As usual, Mari does a great job with her Facebook marketing and is on top of the trends. Her cover photo does apply the fact that the image of the Facebook Marketing report shown is a product photo and therefore is not included in the 20% text allowance.

You can now have calls to action such as “Click Like!” with an arrow.

 

#2: Intuit – Small Business Products and Services

Even though it’s a little busy, I like the Intuit cover photo. It showcases some of the good things they are doing, as well as the members of the community. Your Facebook Page is always about your audience and how you can serve.

A good example of a brand showcasing their audience.

 

#3: Qlixite – Marketing Solutions

Qlixite does a great job with drawing your attention to the freebie that they have every month. The photo is simple and the graphics are eye-catching.

A simple photo with a big attention shift to the Apps space.

 

#4: James Haydon Coach Realtors

James Haydon Coach Realtors’ cover photo looks nice and is easy to create with Pagemodo. The free version will have the attribution in the lower right corner but if you sign up for their monthly subscription (with more capabilities), you can have the photo without the attribution.

 

As the new rules state, you can have your phone number on the cover photo and that is a smart idea for local businesses like realtors.

This cover photo was easily created with Pagemodo.

You can also use a free tool like Timeline Cover Banner or iPiccy to create a cool cover photo.

#5: Harvard Business Review

You may just want to keep things simple with an engaging picture. The Harvard Business Review chose an artistic shot from their current magazine.

Keep it simple with an interesting photo and no text.

Make sure you caption the photo to tell more about it and possibly include a link to your website to which you want to direct traffic.

 

#6: Through a Dog’s Ear

Through a Dog’s Ear has a great example of a cute picture (which is a little easier to do if your business involves dogs) and their tagline and website all in one cover photo.

Add your tagline and your website.

 

#7: Realty Austin

If your business revolves around your website, have it on your cover photo. Realty Austin has a simple, clean cover photo and their website address stands out.

Add your website prominently.

 

#8: Inbound Zombie

Talk about minimalist cover photos! Inbound Zombie has a very clear call to action on their cover photo and all within the new guidelines. Once you click on the tab clearly marked Free Webinar, you can then sign up right on Facebook.

No mistaking the call to action in this cover photo.

 

#9: Lawyers.com

This one may be outside the 20% rule, but I had to share it because it’s cool and it could easily be made compliant with some shifting of some text.

Feature something new.

Lawyers.com uploads a new cover photo that features their latest blog post. When you click on the picture, you get the link to the blog post in the description. Great way to showcase new content!

 

Final Thoughts

 

As the Facebook news feed changes start rolling out, it will become even more important to have an

engaging and interesting cover photo.

 

Facebook is putting greater emphasis on cover photos when people interact with your Page. And if you have a Page that is noncompliant, it’s a good idea to fix that as soon as possible.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/new-facebook-cover-photos/

How Can Bloggers Leverage Social Media Effectively?

Effectively obtaining tons of followers for your blog involves more than just creating a WordPress account and posting to it regularly. It takes some effort for readers to find you and become enticed. Employing some social media strategies along with your blogging will help develop a well-followed blog.

Great Tweets Make a Difference

Image via Flickr Rosaura Ochoa

There are some stunning social media statistics of which bloggers should be aware. If Twitter were a country all its own, it would be the 12th largest in the world; not to mention, users compose a mind-blowing 750 million tweets each second of every day. So when you tweet your posts, your goal should be inspiring Twitter followers to open your links in 140 characters or less.

For example, if you blog about the top ten laptops on the market today, encourage followers to click on your URL with engaging tweets. You might tweet something like, “Laptops you can’t live without” or “Who is winning in the laptop arms race?”

You Need More Than Facebook Likes

Image via Flickr birgerking

There are approximately one billion Facebook users and they aren’t all there to share funny vacation photos. Many Facebook users want to learn something new and follow links that interest them — including your blog posts, potentially.

 

To get the most out of Facebook, make a fan page for your blog. Maintain a regular blogging schedule, and you’ll be able to use Facebook as a tool for building followers and trust.

Don’t Ignore Digg, StumbleUpon & Pinterest

Image via Flickr birgerking

In some senses, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Pinterest are very similar. These interactive share-just-about-anything social media venues allow people to “thumbs up or thumbs down” certain posts categorized according to user interests. For Digg, the more “diggs” you get, the higher your ratings. And Stumbleupon relies upon random “stumbles” to bring users to unexpected content, which can be a major traffic-generator.

 

For its own part, Pinterest is exploding in popularity. The average user spends around 98 minutes per month, and they spend 80 percent of their time repinning. So if you post links to your blog on the right Pinterest boards, chances are they’ll be viewed and repinned.

Google+ Is a Gateway to Gain Followers

Image via Flickr Magnet 4 Marketing dot net

Statistics reveal users click on the Google+ button a whopping five million times per day. Not only do you need to post your blog articles on your Google+ page, you need to have a place within your blog for the Google+ button too. This is becoming increasingly important for search engine results as well, because Google’s algorithm is moving toward personalized results that are closely integrated with Google+ activity.

LinkedIn Isn’t Just for Professionals

Image via Flickr TheSeafarer

This social media platform started out as a professional networking site, but today it has 161 million users in 200 countries. So start posting your blog articles on LinkedIn and join LinkedIn groups (there are approximately one million) that are similar to what you’re blogging about.

 

While there are ways to become a successful blogger without being very active on social media, you’re still missing a major trick if you ignore these outlets. What social media technique do you use to engage followers?

http://www.bloggingcage.com/how-can-bloggers-leverage-social-media-effectively/

Why Blogging is Way Better Than Studying For A JOB?

Blogging has really changed in the last 10 years. Earlier, people used to write their thoughts through their blogs. But now, blogging has become an online business. Blogging itself has become a worldwide industry standing on its own feet.

I am a 3rd year engineering student of B.Tech IT and have been blogging for about 15 months now. But from what I have seen, if you have got the passion for blogging then you will learn some pretty good stuff in 4 months of blogging than in 4 years of studying engineering.

Here are some reasons why I think being a self-employed blogger is way better than studying for a job.

#1. Blogging develops your Writing Skills

When you study in school or college, a lot of emphasis is given on developing your writing skills. Not only in school or college, but you also face parental pressure at home. Blogging can really help in this case.

Blogging means sharing your thoughts, experiences, tips etc. Now, if you want people to read your posts or articles, you need to have good writing skills. Blogging requires different sets of writing skills which includes well structured and meaningful sentences.It also requires short but descriptive articles i.e you would want to convey more in fewer words, simply because no one likes to read a long boring post which repeats the same thing over and over again.

Writing content for your blog isn’t the same thing as writing articles in your exams. In exams, you would simply get less marks if you screw up. In blogging however, you would not be able to earn money (if you want to) or to put it in a simple way, no one will read your blog.

#2. Blogging develops your Interpersonal Skills

Like writing skills, a lot of emphasis is given on developing interpersonal skills which simply means the art of communicating. A lot of classes are held in my college for developing communication and interpersonal skills which are not very effective simply because they lack practical discussions.

In blogging, you need to make relationship with other bloggers because they are the ones who will share your posts and follow you on social media. When you interact with other bloggers especially established bloggers, it not only increases your knowledge but also develops your communication and interpersonal skills.

#3. Blogging develops your Programming Skills

Most schools and colleges teach programming languages like C, C++ and Java. But there is a bigger world out there and a lot of other programming languages.

Some of the basic things that you will learn when you start blogging are HTML and CSS. If you didn’t know, HTML and CSS are mostly used for designing web pages.Blogging requires you to learn at least some basic HTML and CSS skills which is better than nothing.

PHP and Javascript are more of processing languages. They are mostly used for developing applications and data processing on the backend of your site. More difficult than HTML and CSS, but you get familiar with them once you start experimenting with them. The same goes for HTML and CSS as well.

#4. Blogging develops your Marketing Skills

Blogging requires marketing, extensive marketing if you want to expand your reach. Marketing is not only about sharing your post on social media. It also includes when you share it and how you share it.

Sharing your posts on Facebook, Twitter , Google Plus and LinkedIn requires a lot of strategy than you might think. Your time and your method of sharing determines your CTR. Another thing about social media is that not everyone sees your posts because everybody is not logged in at the same time and with too much going on in the news feed itself, someone logged in may also miss your update.

A better approach of Internet Marketing is E-mail marketing which includes gathering a list of subscribers. E-mail marketing also has higher CTR(Click through rate) than Social Media marketing. Ideal for making affiliate sales, you could probably earn thousands of dollars if you can do it effectively.

Of course, acquiring these skills takes time, probably years. Some of the top affiliate marketers like Zac Johnson and John Chow have been doing these for years.

#5. Blogging develops your Entrepreneurial Skills

Most top bloggers out there see their blog as a business. If you have the passion for blogging, you will probably see your blog as a business as well. Like any business, Blogging requires entrepreneurial skills as well. Like any business, the service provider takes care of all the needs of its customers.

In blogging, you as the blog owner, is the service provider who provides valuable tips to your readers i.e the customers. The readers truly are the customers because if they trust you then they will buy the products that you recommend and in exchange you earn money from your affiliate sales.

With more and more experience as you develop your entrepreneurial skills you get more readers and more customers and you make more money.

Conclusion

So, that’s about it. The reasons I mentioned are the best reasons why you should start blogging in the first place.

http://www.bloggingcage.com/why-blogging-is-way-better-than-studying-for-a-job/