Category: Personal Branding

Common Mistakes Novice Entrepreneurs Make That Cost Them Big

Steven on October 31, 2020

All too often, hopeful entrepreneurs jump into the world of business, hoping to make it big. Drawn in by the idea of working in a field they’re passionate about, calling the shots, and accumulating wealth, they invest time, energy, and money into a business that fails in just a few short years (or less). Though becoming an entrepreneur comes with risks, you can avoid many pitfalls by learning from others’ mistakes.

Ignoring Personal Finances

The main objective of starting a business is to generate profits. Be that as it may, it can take months or even years before you’re making enough sales to earn a decent salary. As such, you’ll have to rely on your personal finances to tide you over until you reach your earnings goals. Your personal finances will also be instrumental in helping you to acquire capital from lenders and investors. As such, you will need to take steps to ensure your fiscal health is up to par. This can mean increasing your savings, following the 50 30 20 rule, and/or using a monthly budget template.

Novice entrepreneurs ignore their personal finances and either run out of money or face an uphill battle to get a loan. Preventing this from happening involves several financial management practices. You need to get your debt under control and improve your credit history. From negotiating with creditors and settling accounts to removing inaccuracies from your credit report and utilizing debt consolidation services like those found on MemphisAssociates.com, there are several resources to help you improve your financial status.

Quitting Their Jobs

You may be dreaming of the day you can march into the office and tell your boss that you quit. If you’re not prepared financially, however, this move could prove detrimental. Novice entrepreneurs leave their full-time jobs behind to make room for their new business without knowing how they’ll cover their expenses. The pressure to turn a profit becomes so overwhelming that it can have physical and emotional consequences.

Before quitting your job, do thorough research to determine how much it costs to run your business type and cover your household expenses. Once you have this data, you should try to save at least six months’ to a year’s worth of costs to provide protection. This way, if it takes a while for your business to start making sales, you’re not strapped for cash.

Taking On All Responsibilities

There are many tasks involved in running a successful business, from accounting and marketing to production and customer service. Novice entrepreneurs make the mistake of trying to take on all these responsibilities themselves. Though it may seem like a feasible way to lower overhead costs, it ends up costing them more.

As each business task requires in-depth knowledge, skills, and experience, tackling things you’re not well-versed in leads to poor results. Not to mention, spreading yourself too thin can lead to emotional overwhelm and a poor work-life balance. Though it does cost to hire employees or outsource essential services, it’s the most effective way to streamline processes, improve customer service, manage assets vs debts, balance your personal and professional life, and grow your business.

Using Free or Cheap Tech

No matter what type of business you own, having reliable technology is imperative to your success. Though purchasing hardware and software for your business can be costly, it’s necessary if you’re going to remain in the competition.

Novice entrepreneurs looking to save money, however, opt for free and cheap tech solutions with limited features and capabilities that leave them behind in the race. It is best to invest in technologies using equipment, personal and business loans to ensure the most efficient products and services for your target customers.

The life of an entrepreneur is hard enough. So, why make the journey more challenging by making mistakes that you could easily avoid? If you’re going to invest everything you have into building a brand that aligns with your passions while providing for your family, make sure you’re doing so wisely. If you don’t want to find yourself among the millions of people who started a business that failed in the first five years, take the advice above to avoid making a mistake that could cost you big.

Legal Branding Local Branding Personal Branding

How to Improve the Visitor Experience in Your Retail Store

Steven on October 14, 2020

If you run a retail store, your sole goal will be to provide customers with the best experience possible while shopping. Turning potential customers into regular visitors can be a great way to expand your brand and increase revenue. After all, consumers are not going to shop in stores they don’t feel welcome in.

Whether you’ve recently launched your store, or you’ve noticed a decline in foot traffic, here are some of the best methods to improve the visitor experience in your retail store.

Offer a Unique Experience

No matter what kind of retail store you run, there will be many others who sell similar products to your own. If you operate in a city, your store needs to stand out for all the right reasons over competitors. Researching the typical shopping process customers go through can help you create a unique experience for your store. Whether it’s engaging with your products in an unexpected way, playing different music, or investing in modern lighting, how your retail store looks can say a lot about your brand and whether consumers want to use your services.

Begin with Your Team

For your retail store to thrive, you need to deliver excellent customer service to everyone who walks through your door. If your team isn’t going above and beyond their duties, customers may not feel valued and appreciated. It’s your job to hold regular training for your employees, which can be a great way to keep them in the know of the latest developments in your business, as well as new tactics to bring in new customers. Regular training can be a great way to identify your employee’s strengths and weaknesses, and what changes need to be made.

Create a Child-Friendly Atmosphere

Many shoppers bring along their children for convenience. If you’re a parent, you will know how stressful the experience can be. So, making your retail store child-friendly by adding things for children will mean they stay entertained, as well as not throw a tantrum out of boredom. A television, a train set, or a chalkboard will keep kids occupied, meaning the parents will spend more time in your store and purchase products. Also, having staff who know how to interact well with children can help you build a reputable brand.

Make Your Store COVID-19 Secure

In unprecedented times we find ourselves in, the coronavirus pandemic has transformed the way retail stores operate. If you have stayed open, you need to make sure that you’re following government guidelines to keep customers safe and protected. Whether it’s by having hand sanitizer stations, reducing capacity, or installing glass shields, customers will appreciate the measures you’ve taken to reduce the risk of contracting the coronavirus.

Your customers are the people who keep your retail store afloat. When shoppers step through the entrance, you want them to feel relaxed and enjoy the whole experience. So, using the right methods can transform how your retail store operates, helping to build a loyal audience who will stick with your brand.

Local Branding Personal Branding

4 Visitor Management Tips That Keep Everyone Safe

Steven on October 7, 2020

Back-to-work season is on the horizon if you haven’t already zoomed past it. Either way, visitor management plays a crucial role in your reopening. It helps you tightly control the safe flow of guests in your space, making sure only authorized visitors may access your facilities.

It protects your business and employees, but it also signifies to visiting delivery people, contractors, and clients that you take their health and safety seriously.

Learn how you can streamline your visitor management system to help you welcome guests back into your spaces safely.

1. Communicate Your New Check-in Process

Your check-in process may need a total overhaul to uphold safe social distancing. Make sure these changes are clearly communicated to your guests in the form of signs throughout the building.

Don’t hesitate to use floor decals, ropes, and other tools to clarify where they need to stand. This signage clearly explains why they may be experiencing a delay or unusual check-in process, while also indicating what they have to do to move through your facilities safely.

2. Minimize Shared Surfaces

Gone are the days when your visitor check-in process can be a sign-in booklet. This old-fashioned technique increases how many surfaces your staff and guests touch, increasing the risk of spreading the virus, as well as other illnesses.

Visitor management technology can eliminate the need for physical proximity when your guests arrive. Some cloud-based services let your visitors use their smartphones to sign-in to your facility, requiring absolutely zero contact.

There are also card printer systems that produce proximity cards or smart cards. These ID badges rely on RFID technology to allow for contactless entry to authorized facilities in a quick and convenient way. You can check out the latest visitor pass solutions that include a smart card printer or prox card technologies to see what you need to upgrade.

3. Introduce Screening Questions

Screen your guests by asking the right questions before you allow them any further into your building. Here are some examples of great questions you can ask:

Have you traveled out of the country in the last 14 days?
Do you have a fever or other flu-like symptoms?
Have you come into contact with someone who has a fever or flu-like symptoms?

You have the right to deny entry to visitors who answer “yes” to any of the above questions. This is an efficient way to keep high-risk individuals out of your building.

4. Disinfect Check-In Tools

A regular cleaning schedule will help mitigate the risk that shared surfaces will spread the virus. You can instruct your staff to wipe down desk spaces, pens, and other items between each guest.

What becomes more challenging is when your check-in process revolves around technology. iPads, tablets, and other mobile devices need to be cleaned carefully to prevent damage.

In light of the outbreak, Apple has released this guide to safely cleaning its products. They recommend using a 70% isopropyl alcohol solution or Clorox wipes to disinfect keyboards, displays, and other non-porous surfaces.

Bottom Line

The coronavirus pandemic has made it necessary to reduce human-to-human contact as a way to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.

This does make it challenging to welcome guests back to your business, but not impossible. Use these tips above to help change how your reception operates, and make sure your visitors (and staff) know their health is your priority.

Digital Branding Personal Branding SaaS Branding

Do Press Releases Still Work for Startups and Online Businesses in 2021?

Steven on October 1, 2020

Press releases are among the most commonly used public relations tools that companies can apply to their effective PR campaigns. Anyone who has created a press release or has had one written up for them knows that they are many benefits to press releases, like contributing to improving the recognition, reliability, image, reputation, prestige, revenues, and visibility of brands companies.

They are just one of the first steps in an effective PR campaign; from there, they can provide backlinks and many other benefits to a company.

In this article, we will look at:

1) What are press releases?

2) How do Press Releases Help SEO?

3) Are Press Releases Still Worth it?

4) Advantages of a press release

5) How to make Press Releases effective

1) What are Press Releases?

Nowadays, press releases can be created in written, audio, or video format. It is a way of getting the word out there, distributing, and announcing events to media outlets about any important event that is happening or about to happen.

It can be hard to get the media’s attention, and it is even more challenging of media outlets. After all, they need to filter all the information they are getting sent because they want to publish only the best, more exciting news. That is why platforms like Pressfarm exist so that it makes it easier to find media outlets through their databases.

2) How Do Press Releases Help SEO?

Having any information posted about a company or event on heavy traffic news sites is beneficial for a company’s brand and SEO.

The way that companies can achieve SEO is through backlinks. When media outlets start spreading the word about a company, they will not only get backlinks from those new sites, but they can also receive a high number of backlinks from people who will read the news.

Backlinks are fundamental to SEO. On a basic level, the more sites that link a company’s information, the more authority Google awards the site. Backlinks are considered to be a proxy for authority since more popular and authoritative sites will have more sites linking into them. Building backlinks can be one of the most difficult tasks for SEO and building high-quality ones are even harder, but combining methods like obtaining them naturally, buying them, or possibly using tricks like PBNs can be considered the best link building method available because it helps companies build links rather quickly, they are all completely natural and won’t result in any penalties if done right.

There are many press release tactics that can be quite effective, but companies and individuals quickly realized that it was easier to get links from the press releases themselves instead of from news publishers. A reason for that is press release spam because instead of creating high-quality news stories to improve their business, companies distribute as many press releases as possible to as many platforms as possible “spamming” media outlets, which decrease the importance of the press release on certain sites.

So, in order to maintain high-quality backlinks and interest up, companies should not just post a press release for the sake of getting a backlink, but post it actually to attract the attention of media outlets.

3) Are Press Releases still worth it?

Publishers will always be in need of news topics, so no matter what, as long as companies have news, press releases will always be useful. Press Releases can be effective not only with backlinks, but also with social media likes, shares, and comments.

The question that does get asked though, is why press releases seem to be less popular than before. As mentioned before, it is because of press release SPAM. As the Internet and SEO became more popular, media outlets received many pieces of information, so they need to start filtering news stories that can make press releases a less effective SEO strategy and how accessible it is.

However, again as mentioned before, if companies focus on the right things, which can improve the business, services, or products and create an effective press release that is focused on getting the media’s attention instead of just trying to grab backlinks, press releases are more than worth it.

4) Advantages of press releases

Press releases can give any business amazing results regardless of its size, profit margin, profile, and industry. Here are some of the main benefits of press releases.

Instant Exposure

When it comes to press releases, the two things that are the most important are content and distribution. Each type of content plays a significant role in an effective strategy; landing pages help companies introduce their brand and goods to the world and convert leads into customers. Blog posts allow companies to establish a personal connection with readers by answering essential questions, offering advice, and sharing insight with audiences. While landing pages and blog posts will help, press releases allow companies to build trust and authority on different fronts; it will enable media outlets to cover the store and prospects a new reason to visit the brand through websites or landing pages.

Increased Sales Potential

Press releases not only bring credibility and allow companies to stay in the public eye, but it also increases a company’s profit margins. Writing and distributing press releases for different occasions and highlighting key benefits and features of products can position the company’s merchandise on top of any others currently available on the market.

Chance to boost the effectiveness of marketing plan

Press releases represent an affordable marketing addition that companies can add to their campaign. There is no way that companies can go wrong with these tools because they are designed to be controlled by their creators in terms of targeted audience and message.

Opportunity to brand yourself as an industry expert

As mentioned before, press releases are a great way to build trust and credibility in any industry. If a company has a great PR campaign, it will offer them a chance to brand themselves as a high-authority business owner and show off their products’ unique attributes.

Increased traffic to website

People are now flocking to the Internet, looking for unique insights and exclusive stories. Companies need to try and use any PR tactic to push their feature to the top of a potential client’s newsfeeds and boost exposure. Using press releases and including a few links to organic content can guide potential readers to other platforms to promote and sell their goods.

Companies can boost their website traffic through press releases by optimizing key elements, including keywords, headlines, videos, photos, hashtags, and descriptions.

Important SEO benefits

Press releases that are published on different media outlets can offer companies valuable backlinks to their website. By optimizing content, companies can also increase visibility online and make their content searchable on the Internet, which allows them to unlock instant SEO benefits.

Ultimately, the company needs that one media outlet on a renowned site, and things will fall into place. If they target individual reporters, there is a higher chance of getting featured. They do not need to use press release platforms to make a press release useful, they might need to email media outlets personally or message them on their social media profiles.

If companies and individuals opt to use platforms to create an effective press release, they can use press release agencies like Pressfarm to help them with any public relations needs. Some services they provide include templates for companies to create their press releases and press kits, a media outlet database for companies to find the appropriate media outlets for their business, and packages for companies that need assistance in creating an effective public relations strategy.

The packages that Pressfarm provides include; the Starter package, the Launch package, the Campaign package, and the Enterprise package. The Starter package is a great start for small teams looking for the fundamentals to take their communications to the next level, the Launch package is ideal for growing companies to increase press coverage, improve effectiveness and personal communication with the media, the Campaign package is for businesses to gain full control of their company and stay consistent across the globe, and finally, the Enterprise package also allows companies to gain full control of their brand and stay consistent and is ideal for companies preparing for a big product launch or multiple stories to pitch, but need a PR expert to help them reach leading press contacts.

Within the packages, some of the services provided include a professionally designed press/media kit, press release proofreading and review by PR Experts, a personalized PR action plan on strategies and PR industry trade secrets to maximize press coverage, a tailor-made PR media list of 500+ contacts by Account Executive for initial PR outreach, access to startup directories and review websites to improve SEO and gain exposure suitable for all companies, access to PR contact per month of media outlets and influencers for a full year, and finally priority email support. When it comes to press releases and SEO, Pressfarm also helps increase release visibility in relevant search results across major search engines.

A press release, especially when managed by a PR company, is way more than just writing a piece about company news and publishing it on a newswire service. It is just one element of an effective PR and media strategy. A professional PR agency should align its client’s PR strategy with its commercial, operational, and business strategies. It enables the agency to plan when and what they are going to release to the media. A good PR strategy will develop an interesting angle on the information given to them and turn it into something exciting and original.

They will then publish it onto any newswire service with no SEO benefit, but they will use their knowledge of media strategies to get the press release, and other information picked up by media outlets as a news story because this is where the real value is. A good PR company can turn a press release into an actual piece of news written up by journalists through practical outreach work. The press release is no longer what it started being; it has now become an article in a publication and media outlets will often include a backlink in the articles.

Something to remember is that backlinks are usually “follow” (they pass on link equity to the site) because there is no reason to make them “no-follow.” The reason behind it is because the article had to go through an editorial process to get published, it means that it is not low-quality link spam. When it has been published, the client’s site gets a direct SEO benefit, which is really great for SEO and is a great example of how PR and SEO work well together.

Some things that companies need to understand is that not every press release that gets picked up by media outlets and written into an article will include a backlink, and even if there is one, sometimes it will be “no follow” but PR professionals know that companies will get more backlinks in this instance because it reduces the most risks of penalty. Which means that when managed effectively through a PR service, press releases can still provide a lot of SEO benefit.

Conclusion

As long as press release distribution is not abused, it will always be useful for SEO. Just one press release to a high traffic site could bring in tremendous results. Companies need to create innovative, original, and exciting content, something that will set them apart from the rest of the competition. Employing PR agencies can take the stress out of it and also yield great results. PR agencies also know the right people and the format of presenting content to various media outlets within the company’s niche to focus on the right outlets and target audience.

Personal Branding

5 FlexJobs Careers To Work At Home

Steven on September 11, 2020

FlexJobs is one of the best sites to search for work from home careers Whether you are a student, stay-at-home mom, or someone searching for remote jobs, this is one of the best sites to visit.

Even though the site has over one hundred job sections, here are the careers to consider.

1. Data Entry

Data entry flexjob For someone with excellent typing skills, familiar with basic computer programs, and has good communication skills, data entry is among the best FlexJobs careers to consider.

Data entry is to input numeric, alphabetic, or symbolic data into a computer. As a data entry clerk, you may be asked to key-in data, edit data, or verify some information. You can be hired by administrators of schools or hospitals, business people, or companies.

Types of data entry jobs include data entry clerk, specialist, system coordinator, library assistant, transcribers, administrative assistant, accounting assistant, record coder, research assistant, medical record assistant, word processor, and many others. Even though the jobs may have different titles, most of the tasks are the same.

In this profession, you must be able to maintain a high level of accuracy. Also, you need to be detail-oriented, be a person who can maintain data integrity, and have excellent typing skills. Other essential skills include reading, spelling, grammar, communication, and organizational.

Although some data entry careers do not require any form of training, it is important to have some experience. For instance, if you want to work in a medical field, learning more about medical programs is an added advantage.

Since you will be working from home, you need a good computer, a reliable internet connection, and a good working area.

2. Consulting

Consulting flexjob If you are an expert in a particular field, you can start a career in consulting. Consulting is to help people solve issues and achieve their business goals.

This is another career with numerous job opportunities at FlexJobs. As a consultant, you need to provide expert advice to a person or company in a particular area. The main aim is to assist them in identifying problems within the organization and help determine the best solutions.

There are different types of consulting careers. They include management consulting, financial consulting, human resource consulting, business consulting, IT consulting, software consulting, sales and marketing consulting, social media consulting, and career and coaching among others.

Companies prefer external consultants since they can easily identify issues that business owners and managers cannot see. Happily, you can work remotely as a consultant.

Some people prefer to work as freelancer consultants while others choose to be hired by consulting firms. Working from home as a consultant comes with flexible schedules.

If you are considering starting a career in consulting, you must be an expert in the area you wish to work in. Also, you have excellent written and verbal communication skills, managerial skills, exceptional problem solving, and analytical skills.

Other preferred qualifications include a bachelor’s degree from a recognized institution, 1 or 2 years of experience, advanced knowledge in specific programs, and the ability to lead a team or teams.

3. Freelance writing

Writing flexjob When you think of a career in writing, you may consider working as a freelance writer. This is one of the most searched remote jobs at FlexJobs.

It is a career where you can write for coaches, small and big companies, business people, bloggers, or communication companies.

FlexJobs has several work-at-home jobs in the writing field. You can be hired to work as a blogger, content writer, ghostwriter, journalist, or a children’s writer. Luckily, the demand for qualified writers continues to grow every day.

With a writing career, it does not matter when you write. The most vital thing is to deliver high-quality content. It is a career that provides a flexible schedule, good pay, and several benefits. With a good computer and a reliable internet connection, you can start a career as a freelance writer.

Most freelance writing occupations require someone with writing skills. It is also essential to be familiar with writing tools and programs, have several writing samples, and identify the niche you love. This will boost the chances of landing a job at Flexjobs.com.

4. Information technology (IT)

If you are an IT person, information technology is full of career opportunities. You can work for a school, hospital, or a small and big company, among other areas.

Information technology is a wide career. Once you visit FlexJobs remote jobs, you will notice there are many IT openings from large and famous companies. Happily, it comes with good pay and benefits. You can work remotely as a part-time or full-time employee.

The main types of information technology careers include IT consultant, computer forensic investigator, database manager, software engineer, web developer, mobile app developer, IT specialist, and IT manager.

Due to advancements in technology, most companies prefer to hire IT professionals who can work from home. The good news with the information technology profession is that you can work in any industry and there are great growth opportunities. Nevertheless, you need to keep learning due to continuous changes in the sector.

To begin a career in IT, a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree in computer science is needed. Also, some employers may need someone with several years of IT experience, good communication skills, analytical skills, and the ability to use relevant programs.

5. Accounting and Finance

Accounting flexjob Flexjobs.com is an employment site where you can search for accounting and finance jobs. If you are searching for a career that provides employment flexibility, this is a great career.

Some of the positions in this area include financial consultant, loan coordinator, bookkeeper, auditor, accounts clerk, certified public account, investment analyst, auditor, payroll clerk, accountant, and business instructor. Working remotely in the accounting and finance department means you can work part-time and have flexible scheduling.

To work in this sector, you must be detail-oriented and have a passion to work with numbers. Employers hire people to work in the accounting department who have experience in accounting, have a bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting, and can work with basic accounting programs.

For more information about stay-at-home jobs, visit www.limberlink.com.

Personal Branding

How To Style Your Surfboard

Steven on September 3, 2020

Surfing is a very common watersport and it is loved by a lot of people. However, you must know that you can style your surfboard in many different ways as per your liking and it gives out a really cool look.

There are two things to consider when decorating your sur board if you are going to use it for riding or just for decoration on walls and around the house. If you want to decorate a surfboard that you want to use it for riding will require more care but the results can be super awesome and professional.

Here are some of the ways to style your surfboard, even if you are not using it, you can still decorate it and keep it as a decor item at home.

Photo by Clarence Alford from Pixabay

Spray Paint Your Surfboard

One of the ways to decorate your surfboard is by using spray paint. Just clean the surface of the surfboard with the acetone. This step will be good for removing all the dirt and oils that could prevent the paint from sticking to the surface. You will need some 320 grit fine sandpaper as well that will rough up the slick surfaces so you can paint knowing for sure that it will stick. Be sure to hit all the surface areas that you want to paint. You can use tape for parts that you want to keep the original shade. There is also a possibility of using multiple colors by using tape.

Photo by Mig OConnell from Pixabay

Painter’s Tape

There must be a color scheme you would want for your surfboard, so you should mask off each color location. The basic step would be to tape off logos, fin housing, or anything particular that you want to keep original. You may require a different size of tapes and masking paper so you know that you don’t overspray any area

The logos you want to keep must be cut out precisely with razor blades. If you don’t cover up the logos or other designs properly, then there is a good chance that the paint will get it.

Start Off With One Section

Experiment with one section first, the best bet would be to use a primer first, to experiment you should use the same color as the paint would be. Spray painting is not an easy job because you have to keep the even tone and it may not be as easy as it looks in videos. You may end up applying too much in one spot etc.

Once you are sure that you know how to spray paint, lay down a coat of primer and let it dry and then use the sandpaper on it to take it off. If you think you have correctly done it with the primer, it is maybe time that you start painting your surfboard. Apply two thick coats of the color you like. You must also use acrylic-based paint because of its qualities of adhesion, gloss, and color.

Photo by Jessica Crawford from Pixabay

Get a Decorative Surfboard

This is for people who aren’t really good at painting or surfboard decor. You can get already decorated or painted surfboards from different vendors selling online and in-store for riding and decorating both purposes.

Photo by Lecreusois from Pixabay

Before You Style Your Surfboard

Painting and decorating your own surfboard can be really nice and thrilling but you also have to consider the fact that you can very well mess it up if you haven’t done it before. If you are particularly going for decorating the surfboard to keep it as wall art, it is better to get the already decorated ones and there are many people selling surfboards as art.

Digital Branding Personal Branding

How to Leverage Your Instagram Account for Marketing Campaigns?

Steven on August 28, 2020

Year after year, social media see a subtle increase in the number of users, especially Instagram, which now has more than one billion users. It’s not a surprise that many companies turn to this popular social media channel to carry on their marketing activities.

In fact, brands are doing a great job on Instagram; almost 90% of Instagrammers follow a brand on Instagram.

So, if you run a business and want to promote it on Instagram, you need to have a clear marketing strategy, because the virtual world is wholly different from traditional marketing.

In the following, I’m going to show you how to employ Instagram to its full potential and promote your marketing campaigns based on the goals you wish to achieve. Here’s a graphic to cast a glance at:

Why is Instagram Perfect for Running a Marketing Campaign?

Instagram tools are free
Instagram marketing campaigns can be easily measured
You have unlimited access to potential customers all over the world
It is suitable for any business
Instagrammers love to consume products and services they find on Instagram

Top Marketing Campaign Goals that you Can Achieve Using Instagram

You may have many reasons to run an Instagram campaign, from announcing your new product to establish a better relationship with your potential customers. The good news is, no matter what your goal is, Instagram can help you achieve it.

#1 Marketing Campaign Goal on Instagram: Increase Your Brand Awareness

Although many businesses use their page only to sell their product and services, Instagram can be incredibly helpful for enhancing brand awareness.

How can you make your brand more visible on Instagram? Easy; start gaining more followers and start engaging with them.

You may hire an Instagram manager or use Instagram management apps to cut the expenses. If you don’t have any experience using these managing apps, you can try using those that offer Instagram followers trial to see if it meets your expectations.

#2 Marketing Campaign Goal on Instagram: Increase sale

Instagram Shoppable was a revolutionary feature that the company introduced. If your marketing goal is to increase your sale on Instagram, a combination of Instagram Shop and Instagram Ads can be immensely helpful.

Instagrammers can access to shops in their Explore page and pay for the items on the app, which makes the shopping so much easier. Moreover, you can use Instagram ads to attract specific customers based on age, location, and gender.

To have an Instagram Shop, you need to have a business account and a Facebook catalog. Don’t forget that you can only sell goods on Instagram Shop, and not services.

#3 Marketing Campaign Goal on Instagram: Introduce New Products or Services

You can use Instagram tools such as feed posts, IGTV, Live, and especially Stories, to introduce your new products and services.

Instagram Stories can be handy as they enable you to be more flexible and funny. You can use a wide range of tools available on Stories, such as a countdown sticker, to gain your followers’ attention for the upcoming products’ announcement.

#4 Marketing Campaign Goal on Instagram: Target New Customers

With Instagram, you can focus on finding specific customers. For example, if you want to attract local customers, you can use geotags and locations hashtags that contain your city or neighborhood name.

Another great way to target a specific audience is to use influencers. Usually, influencers’ followers come from particular demographics. For example, a beauty influencer might have more teenage and young women in her audience.

By investing in specific influencers for promoting your less-common products that might have a particular audience, you can save the budget and avoid mass advertisements.

Just be careful about fake influencers! These people use fake likes and followers to show you they have a high level of engagement. Want to spot them? Read this.

#5 Marketing Campaign Goal on Instagram: Improve Customer Relationships

Want to engage your customers with your brand, make them loyal, and even gain the trust of other followers? What is better than running an Instagram user-generated content campaign to do that?

Besides the fact that user-generated content is authentic and considered a free advertisement for your brand on the platform, it can significantly help you with the time-consuming process of content creation.

Many major brands, such as @gopro and @airbnb, constantly run Instagram UGC campaigns to maintain and enhance their engagement with the customers.

Another great way to improve your relationship with customers on Instagram is by responding to them promptly on the platform. When you publish a post on Instagram, many (potential) customers ask questions about their purchases, new products, or even complaints about an issue they experienced with your brand. It is crucial to answering these queries quickly and with the right language.

Don’t forget that people are more impatient on social media. They expect a reply in less than one hour!

Final words

An active Instagram marketing can make a massive difference for your business. If managed correctly, the Instagram campaign can help you enter new markets, grow market share, and even improve stakeholder relations.

About the author

I’m Rezvan, a freelance copywriter at SocialPros where I write about Instagram marketing. I’m a Potterhead, resistant to caffeine overdose, and love old songs.

Digital Branding Legal Branding Local Branding Personal Branding

17 Tips for Starting and Succeeding in Your Own Offline Marketing Business

Steven on August 25, 2020

How to start your own business in offline marketing when online is dominating? You have to show potential customers the benefits of using offline tools. According to Statista, almost 40% of marketers worldwide consider offline campaigns important.

Here are 17 tips for starting your own business in offline marketing. Besides offline, start-ups, the hints can help marketing specialists to promote a brand beyond the online realm.

1. Newspaper Ads

Newspaper ads are rather cost-effective. Many people are still buying them. For example, universities and schools always have some. You can post an ad there if it’s the place where your target audience exists. All in all, it’s a good advertising tool when starting a business.

2. Media Giveaways

The media is always eager to take some free products or gift certificates as prizes. TV shows and radio regularly host competitions. They will distribute your samples or gift certificates as prizes. In return, customers will have a chance to try a product or service.

3. Free Publicity

Some media are looking for stories to write. You can use this to promote a brand if you are starting a business with no money. All you have to do is to find relevant media and share your story with them.

4. Free Samples

Giveaways are always a good idea. It’s a working way to attract customers, promote brand awareness, and let potential clients try out your product or service. You can give samples for free or launch a competition and reward the winners.

5. Networking

Connections matter. Especially if you are looking for ways to minimize costs. Joining local clubs, business communities, etc., opens new horizons. You can learn valuable insights and acquire new connections. All this will help to run the business cheaper.

6. Educational Workshops

We live in an era of meaningful connections. Customers look for value. They want to see more than just a product to use. That’s why educational workshops are an excellent idea to attract such an audience. By the way, sharing knowledge is probably the cheapest business to start.

7. Handouts

Who hasn’t heard about flyers, coupons, and handouts? It’s an ever-working cheap marketing tool. All you have to do is to print a lot of flyers and hand them out in a crowded place. Keep in mind: you should distribute them within an area where your target audience exists. Online companies like Lasting Trend agency can work to a wide audience. But in offline marketing, this is not permissible.

8. Trade Shows

Trade shows help to promote your brand in a niche. Usually, it’s a narrow-filed event, where you will find predominantly your target audience. Although usually participation is paid, the fee isn’t high. Especially if we are speaking about local events.

9. Direct Mail

Direct mail allows businesses to target specific geographic markets. It’s cost-effective: you may pay about 50 cents per piece only. Moreover, it’s an amazing way to stand out in the era of digital.

10. Banners

Banners are an ever-lasting offline marketing tool that keeps proving its efficiency. Many companies like Fortunavisual considered them as the basis when starting offline marketing business campaign. However, it requires a specific approach and professional equipment.

11. Cross Promotions

Although cross-promotions are widespread in retail, you can turn to them regarding the industry. Basically, it’s a situation when companies with related services or products promote each other. This is usually done for free, considering a mutually-beneficial effect.

12. Business Cards

Business cards are an element of branding. They are compact yet comprise all the main data. Therefore, they are ideal for cheap offline marketing strategies. Distribute them everywhere your potential clients may be.

13. Gift Certificates

Offer your potential and existing clients gift certificates. If a person doesn’t know you, it’s a way to let him try you out. If he deals with you, it’ll enhance his loyalty.

14. Cold Calls

To create a business plan, you need to think through ways how to attract clients. One of the traditional ways is cold calls. You will have to cover relatively small costs.

15. Host a Party

Who doesn’t like parties? You can host one devoted to your grand opening or anniversary. Many people are likely to come if you offer an entertaining program.

16. Sponsorship

You can become a sponsor of a local event or a sports team. In return, you will gain access to all the visitors or fans. It’s a good way to make the world hear your name.

17. Interviews

Interviews in local magazines or newspapers are a working tool for promoting an offline business. Radio and TV shows are also a good opportunity to increase your brand awareness among existing and potential customers. Just stay honest and open.

Here are 17 ideas for offline marketing. Do you consider offline ads performing? Please, share your opinion with us!

Legal Branding Local Branding Personal Branding

How to Throw a Memorable Corporate Event

Steven on August 25, 2020

From organizing a Christmas party for your investors to sharing a milestone with your business partners – throwing a memorable corporate event is always a must. This will make you look more professional, but also more friendly and outgoing than most people knew you are. Turning your corporate events into memorable moments you’re going to cherish forever might not be easy, but it’s the only way to make all your plans come true. If you’re planning to do that soon as well, here are a few tips that might help you quite a lot.

Create a guest list

This should be the first item on your list regardless of what sort of happening you’re planning. You need to know what to consider when planning an event. From a simple birthday party to a massive corporate event – knowing who’s supposed to come and who’s not is essential. Creating a guest list might not look like the easiest thing in the world, but it’s actually not that hard either.

It’s all about using simple yet effective tricks that go a long way – including all your important business partners and potential investors, organizing all your guests in certain categories, updating your database regularly, and making sure everyone has confirmed they’re coming to your event. Doing that will help you come up with the best guest list in the world without spending too much time, money, or energy.

Define your budget

Speaking of money, this is another crucial issue you should look into as soon as possible. Spending a ton of money doesn’t mean your corporate event is going to be a major success, and vice versa. Still, you need to define your budget and take every single detail of the event in it.

From your catering to your open bar – everything has to be perfect unless you want your event to turn into a complete failure. In case you realize you don’t have enough money after all, you should consider canceling your event instead of throwing a party that’s going to embarrass you and your company. You may not be aware of the things that look cheap, but your guests definitely will, and that’s not something they’re going to appreciate, so either be bold and go all in or don’t throw a party at all.

Celebrate a milestone

From time to time, simple corporate events turn into something else and deserve more attention than you’ve planned. When you’re celebrating a milestone, you have to try extra hard to organize an event that’s going to be memorable. Milestones mark an end of one era and the beginning of the next, but they’re also a sign that you’re doing something right with your company, so they deserve your full attention.

So, when celebrating a milestone, you have to do things you wouldn’t do for your ordinary corporate events. Booking a special guest speaking, looking into those professional audio video rentals and hire that will help you bring everything to a whole new level, and finding an amazing venue everyone will love are just some of the ways to do that. Keep in mind that milestones come and go, but the way you treat them shows the world what kind of person you are, and that has always been vital in the world of business.

Hire a planner

Doing everything on your own and trying to turn your corporate event into a night you’ll remember is quite all right, but there’s one huge problem in this plan – you’re not a professional planner, are you? Just because you’re a successful business person and are great at what you do doesn’t mean you’ll be a successful event planner as well.

Luckily, there are people who do this for a living, and they’re the ones you need to contact. Hiring a professional planner might seem obsolete and unnecessary at first, but once you start discovering how many things need to be done – you’ll be happy to pay them whatever they’re asking for. Doing this comes with a number of benefits, so be sure to take this idea into consideration before it’s too late!

Throwing a memorable corporate event doesn’t have to be too hard, as long as you follow these simple steps. Take your time and look into these tips, and you’ll surely be able to throw the most amazing corporate event in the history of your company!

Legal Branding Local Branding Personal Branding

How Data Analysis Helps in Making Smart Marketing Decisions

Steven on August 13, 2020

Today, companies have a big quantity of data at their disposal. If utilized effectively and correctly, such data can be of top-notch help for making correct decisions and avoiding terrible mistakes in marketing and branding domains. Some approaches an enterprise can follow to use the information to gain a competitive edge in the market are listed below:

Investment of Funds

The success and failure of campaigns enable organizations to understand whether or not it is an effective investing budget in similar activities. For example, an event may do wonders if it’s attended by the right audience. When a product is promoted to uninterested people, the campaign will be a failure, irrespective of the exceptional attributes of the product. The information on the profile of site visitors and the corresponding conversions will throw light on whether the company should invest assets in similar campaigns and activities or not.

Product Launching Strategy

There are several methods of launching a new product in the marketplace. The company may prepare a massive event, get the endorsements done by celebrities, or conduct a press conference. By studying the information of previous campaigns, one might also decide the best way of communicating the benefits and advantages of the product to the target audiences and reporters.

Budgeting

The various tools for advertising include PR, social media, paid advertising, and many more. With the help of the information about the number of clicks, the number of shares, likes, & followers on social media websites, internet visitors, and subsequent conversions one may effectively find out the most feasible channel for accomplishing advertising and marketing activities, and accordingly set a budget for each of the channels. The company may additionally increase or decrease the finances based on the overall performance of the various mediums of advertising and marketing.

Deciding the spokesperson of the company

The spokesperson serves as the face and the voice of a business enterprise. While in maximum instances, the CEO speaks on behalf of the company at primary activities, Sometimes, other technical or product managers may also play the role of the company representative. The decision of selecting the proper spokesperson may additionally rely on the anticipated questions of the media outlets. If the data indicates that the media aims to cover the financial scenario of the organization, then the CEO would be the best person for the process.

Understanding of the Customer’s Needs

Data Analysis enables the organizations to gain insight into how much progression or regression their overall performance is showing. Data visualization is a great way to make sense of the data you acquire and analyze it. It additionally facilitates a higher understanding of the customer’s needs and requirements. Learning about customers’ necessities and behavior will open new doors for effective marketing. Companies can come up with innovations by keeping in mind their customers’ viewpoints. Data Analysis will help the company to gain insights properly and thus effectively lower the risk of business.

Companies that keep aside a huge amount of budget for advertising purposes must ensure that they take the effective and efficient strategies. In such instances, it becomes imperative for organizations to take the help of PR firms to decide the most feasible solution by analyzing data.