Results for: content marketing

8 Steps on How to Market Yourself as a Logo Designer

Steven on May 28, 2020

Every 2 of 3 successful businesses have their heart craving for “Marketing.” Success or failure of any industry – be it of a logo designer, content creator, clothing brand, or what so ever – highly depends on its marketing strategy!

Marketing starts when a brand introduces its product and promotes it to its potential customers. Without proper marketing, you could be having the best products available in the market, but no one will buy it because they would have never heard of it.

Importance of Marketing

Many companies and brands have been forced to shut down because of enormous losses, which only happened due to poor marketing. Following are some of the reasons to explain why marketing is vital for designers.

It gets your name out to the world and makes you famous.
It helps in boosting up levels of your sales.
It increases the reputation of your company.
It gives you healthy competition, which will never let your customers get bored of your brand.
It builds credibility and the right customer to brand relationship.

8 Tips to Market Yourself as a Logo Designer

In this world of designers and creators, marketing is the best way to take your name out in the world. It is the main element for growing your client base. But the question is how to figure it out. There are no ready-made tricks for getting your name out there in a blink, but sure there are some effective techniques to do so. Scroll below to read on the 8 tips on how to market yourself as a designer.

1. Define your Identity

To build a successful brand, the first and most crucial point is to know your own self. Define who you are and what is your identity. Define the type of work you could portray best. Which kind of industry would you target? These are the list of questions which will help you define your identity as a logo designer:-

What is the vision behind your brand?
Why must the audience choose you and not others?
What is nature (type) of your brand?
What are your specializations?
Who will be your ideal customers?
As a designer, what are your most active skills?
How are you going to describe your work?
How will you convince your clients?

The answers to these questions will define you and your work. It will let you have a clear and wholesome idea about your brand, its personality, and your targeted goals. Once you are done with making your identity as a logo designer, you are ready for the second step.

2. Create your Point of Difference (POD)

Before answering this question to your customers, first of all, you need to tell this answer to yourself. What sets you apart compared to the other logo designers in the market, why would the audience choose you? Once you get a clear answer in your mind, now show this to your targeted audience. Your point of difference will work as a critical stimulant to attract your audience. It will differentiate you from the other logo designers. The only reason why will a client choose you will be based on your point of difference, make sure that it is convincing enough that the client couldn’t turn away after looking at your profile. Make this strategy as the central part of your branding.

3. Be authentic

You must have heard it; honesty is always the best policy. Do not ever market something that you cannot do. Pretending to be an expert at designing iconic logo designs and not being able to deliver the best quality will hit you back as a doom. By plastering your profile with pictures of award-winning logo designs and giving your clients the most affordable logo designing packages is an excellent strategy to bring in customers, but failing at delivering the best quality work will mark you as a noncredible designer in your client’s eyes. Moreover, having bad reviews about your activities will end up failing your band eventually.

4. Build your audience

It is hard to build an audience when you start online logo design services. But always remember that success lies in inconsistency. Do not give up if, in the beginning, you are not gaining as many clients as you had expected, revise your brand strategy, give your business some time to build credibility, and never deliver anything less than 100%. Finally, wait and look at your brand’s growth!

Moreover, take advantage of social media and promote yourself. Look for connections on LinkedIn, follow the people on Instagram, invite people to like your Facebook page, and give and take shout outs every now and then. These are some really effective strategy and works 100%.

5. Start your very Own Design Blog

Starting your own blog is the best way to market yourself. Update your blog with snippets of your design every single day, add some personal projects, write about the services you can provide, talk about designing professional logo designs. This strategy will help you in maximizing your online presence; plus, it will give you exposure within your own industry. Cherry on top of your, clients will see you as an experienced and old pro logo designer. Check out sites of already established logo designers.

6. Master the follow-up

Delivering or posting about the best quality work is not just enough in this advanced era. Making an engaged social media account is more essential than starting the business. Once you have worked with a client, do not let them forget about you. Send the clients personalized notes, greeting, and emails about your promotions and discount offers. Just remember not to irritate them by spamming their email. Showing warm gestures like sending greetings will always make the client remember you and your work; plus, they will also refer your brand to others as well.

It is rightly said, don’t wait around for clients to get back to you. Create a balance between locating new leads and also engaging with past ones. Past customers are always great to re-approach. Since they have already worked with you, there will be fewer barriers to re-entry. Try to get in touch with the customers with whom people you have not heard from in a long while and look if they have any upcoming projects. Do not feel reluctant to ask for referrals, as your clients must be knowing similar businesses and will be happy to recommend you if you have impressed them with your work.

7. Harvest client testimonials

Another of the best marketing technique to get a good number of clients is by showing testimonials to your targeted audience. Ask your clients to write about their great experience they have had while working with you, show their affidavits to the world. Just ask your clients to make a simple tweet or post a Facebook status, even as little as this would be enough.

8. Don’t forget to market yourself offline

Finally, the last one, marketing, is not just done online; for logo designers marketing your work offline is equally important. You can always arrange meetups, conferences, workshops and industry events. These are the great opportunities to meet other professionals and get your name out in the market.

Conclusion

“Good content isn’t about good storytelling. It’s about telling a true story well.” – Ann Handley

It is never enough to be only good at something; being ‘good’ won’t attract clients. Marketing is equally important or perhaps even more important than the work itself. Unless you won’t tell the world out there about your expertise how will they know it! Many designers are very confident about their skills, but when it comes to establishing and promoting them, they get jitters. Yes, there is no easy way of promoting yourself as a logo designer, but with consistency and hard work, you can achieve all you have dreamt about.

Good Luck!

SaaS Branding

A Comprehensive Guide to SaaS Branding

Steven on May 27, 2020

Too many SaaS business owners do not see branding as a crucial segment in the early stages. Especially when there is app development in progress and the business has yet to start growing.

There is one simple assumption that makes them oblivious to the importance of branding — they think that a good product will sell itself. They believe there is no need to invest in marketing campaigns or branding, and all other things that help build a strong company image and name.

However, that assumption is very wrong. And it can be fatal too. If there is no recognizable brand, even a trailblazing app will struggle.

Of course, you can always look for an already established SaaS business for sale, a recognizable brand that already makes a considerable profit. That will save you a lot of time and effort.

But if you’d like to start your business from scratch and build your own brand effectively, you can start so today by taking in as much as you can from this guide.

Before we start — what is branding really?

Branding can be described as an overview of what your target customers think about you and your offer (service/product).

This is the image your company has in the world, and it applies both to how your rivals and your customers see you.

However, when you delve deeper, it is fair to say that branding is a bit more complex. It also includes how the management and team players see and think about the company, its processes, motivation, and beliefs.

This is exactly why you should have your brand in mind before you start creating your business website and other marketing materials. It is this image that will separate your business from other rivals offering similar services or products.

Hence, it is reasonable to say that your brand is a mirror of what customers see and think about your company. And, logically, your goal should be to have a beautiful image in their eyes.

A strong name — a strong brand

The SaaS industry is growing at the speed of light and soon enough it will become difficult to find a unique company that is somehow different from the rest.

Well, the first step towards uniqueness is definitely your domain name. There are quite a few branding benefits of various domain names and extensions.

That is why it is important to learn what the cheapest domain names bring to the table contrary to the more expensive ones. For example, some people think that only an expensive domain name is a good one, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Also, know that there are hundreds and hundreds of extensions that you can use. These range from specific ones such as .TECH, .STORE, and .PRESS to the more general ones including .ONLINE, .WEBSITE, and, .SPACE.

The benefits of a good domain name for branding are quite significant.

Firstly, a domain name tells your customers whether you are forward-thinking or not.
What’s even more important is that it helps you interact with a niche market. You are most likely dealing with a specific audience and that is why you should create specific domain redirects that point customers to what they want.
Finally, since people’s first contact with your business is your domain name, this makes the name an important factor when it comes to your identity. In other words, the message your brand name communicates is what most customers will see first.

Position

It is important to create a strong sense of what your products offer to the world. Additionally, that needs to be communicated in a way that differentiates it from all other available products.

First, it is important to explain what problems your service/products are solving. This is the act of positioning.

For instance, you could be helping teams become more efficient and avoid bottlenecks when communicating with each other (Trello, Basecamp, and so on).

A good position statement is not there only to place your product in the minds of your users but also to let you define your target audience and differentiate yourself from your competitors. This will also ‘vouch’ that you are on a path where every action is ‘on brand.’

Any decision you make will place you closer or further from where your competitors are located. That is why it may be useful to envision your product’s position as a location on a map.

Utilize emotions

No, you are not taking advantage of anyone’s feelings.

When marketing your SaaS, you have to be able to capture people’s attention fast. This will make them interested in your brand and that means that they will want to know more.

Your branding has to resonate well with your customers’ needs, aspirations, and emotions. That will help your company create a connection with people and build loyalty over time.

See what works best for you. For instance, most companies are used to seeing positive, benefit-oriented imagery and copy that highlight the pleasure to be gained from a product. But, this wasn’t the path for one industry giant — Basecamp.

In 2016, Basecamp changed their visuals to a cartoon drawing of a customer with her hair on fire being chased after by notifications, calls, and emails. Oh, they also tripled their prices.

This wasn’t something people were expecting to see. But, it was captivating and in the end, it worked.

Smart, right?

Social proof needs to be a part of your marketing toolkit

Social proof and testimonials are everywhere nowadays. That, above everything else, is a clear sign of how powerful this marketing tool is.

The most effective testimonials describe real scenarios and situations. These talk about problems your products solve and you need to add them to your arsenal.

For a start, you could start gathering testimonials. These can be conversation transcriptions you have with your customers or direct quotes from them.

Then, you could also introduce quick surveys.

For instance, when sending a survey, ask questions such as:

How did our product change your operations?
Is our product helpful?
How does our product help you get on with your work?
How would you feel if you stopped using it right now?
Would you recommend it to anyone?

When doing this kind of marketing, be sincere, and post honest answers. If your social proof seems staged, well, you have failed.

Add an element or two of reality by guiding your customers to highlight the elements of concern they had before they bought your product. When you clear out all the doubt, you win.

Conversational marketing as a cornerstone

If you haven’t heard of it, conversational marketing is a fresh approach to doing business online. The buyers are moved through marketing and sales funnels by using the power of one at a time questions.

But, why should you care about that? How can conversational marketing help you promote your brand?

Well, first of all, you need conversational marketing to ensure that you are providing value. Since this method revolves around messages, you should think about how your messaging platform can deliver content in a personalized and engaging way.

The customer experience should be thought out well and the messages need to align with other marketing efforts.

However, do not forget that you should avoid automating too much. Since the point is to provide a private messaging service (with the aim of increasing the number of personalized interactions with customers), you shouldn’t overdo it with chatbots.

Having technology at your disposal does not mean that you absolutely have to use it. The messaging platform is reserved for the more fluid, back-and-forth, or Q&A interactions. Do not let the customers feel that you are trying to sell something to them.

When a customer realizes that the goal is to have a product sold to them, your brand will look like it is just trying to take advantage of an honest conversation.

So, make sure to use this method but use it carefully. As you do this with more and more customers, your brand shall grow.

Digital Branding

How Does SEO help to improve your Brand Awareness?

Steven on May 20, 2020

Just making a website is not enough. You need to show it in search engine results in order to have visitors and sales. A website without search engine optimization is like a shop in a far plunged area where nobody bothers to visit. They say if you want to hide something from the world, keep it on the second page of Google search results. The first organic search result receives a 32.5% traffic, the 2nd sees 17.6% and the 7^th only gets 3.5%. This shows if you are on the 2^nd page, you get less than 1% of the overall traffic and you are dead if you don’t appear even on the 2^nd page.

SEO helps improve everything, traffic, sales, and brand awareness. For example, if you are a tyre brand in Dubai or an SEO firm in Jeddah and appear on top for the keywords “Tyres in Dubai” or “SEO Jeddah” which have the most monthly search volume, you are going to have maximum organic traffic, higher chances of maximum conversions and high brand awareness. High visibility imprints a brand name into customer’s minds. It tempts customers to believe that you are the best in the field and hence can be trusted. This is the reason brand awareness has become synonymous with SEO.

Ways SEO can Help Boost Brand Awareness

A well-thought-out SEO campaign will go a long way in boosting brand awareness. The following techniques which are all part of SEO can make your brand known globally.

1. Link Building

Link building is an integral part of SEO and a proven way to further brand awareness. Quality backlinks contribute to search engine rankings which increases the brand visibility. They also market your brand to the audience of the back linking sites. For example, gaining a link from Reddit or Entrepreneurs through a guest post will not only high rocket your rankings but also advertise your brand to the thousands of daily users of these websites.

2. Adopt Referrals

Customer referral is a good way to acquire new leads. Customers share about the things that they buy or the newest places they visit. Use the few people who have tried your product to spread the awareness message. You can award them for bringing business to you in the form of discount coupons. This reduces your marketing cost too. Big companies like PayPal, Dropbox, and Uber use this strategy which highlights its importance.

3. Create Guest Content

There is no denying the fact that content plays a key role in SEO. Creating extremely useful content and sharing it on other relevant blogs with a mention of your brand will expose your brand to new audiences. This is great for targeting online readers. If the content educates, consumers will recognize your brand.

4. Use Infographics

Some online searchers prefer images and graphics over blogs. Infographics are colorful displays that you can use to grab the attention of customers. The advantage is that infographics are shareable online. If your infographic has interesting credible statistics and nice looking images, it will go viral in no time bringing in a whole lot of new links.

5. Invest in PPC

Pay per click is a great advertising model you can use to get leads online. Even if the customers don’t click on the ads they will see your brand name in the search results. Reminding your customers of your brand again and again on different platforms is the way to get it known. All big brands invest in PPC.

6. Run Social Media Contests

Being on social media along is not enough. You have to be active and one way to do this is to run contests. Ask your followers to share specific links about your brand and offer a prize to people with the most likes, comments or shares.

7. Seek Local Partners

To get to the top, start from where you are. Form partnerships with local entrepreneurs (this is particularly useful for local businesses) and sponsor seminars, festivals and charity events. This is the key to establishing local dominance.

8. Publish on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a platform that you can use to establish your brand online fast. You can’t ignore this platform if you are in the business-to-business space. Build a blog with active followers. Post useful content regularly with unique headlines and use profile banners.

9. Hire Influencer Marketers

Influencers are people who are well known and can help significantly in promoting your brand. Since they already have huge followings and their words are trusted, getting them to recommend your brand will do wonders overnight. You can even form partnerships with them if they complement your business. LinkedIn is an outstanding platform where you can easily search for influencers and evaluate their profiles so that you can decide if they are the right fit for your business. Once you have found the right individual or group of influencers, you can easily reach out to them via LinkedIn’s messaging system or send them a direct email. This is where an email finder tool comes in handy; with such a tool you can quickly search for any professional’s email address on the web (through social media profiles, websites, etc.) and easily import it directly into your CRM.

Bottom Line

SEO is crucial for brand awareness. There are so many ways directly or indirectly related to SEO that you can use to enhance your brand awareness. The above-mentioned ways are not only sneaky but easy to implement – exactly what you need to take your brand to the next level.

Digital Branding Personal Branding

6 Things To Consider When Making Your Own Brand

Steven on May 13, 2020

Creating your own brand when building a business is essential to its overall success. A recognized loved and eye-catching brand will help you stand out from the crowd and become relevant amongst your target audience. When generating your brand it is of the utmost importance to ensure that you both have your customers in mind as well as being able to illustrate your business’s brand clearly and effectively. If you are competing in the same field or niche as other more established brands, setting yourself apart from the rest is vital. It is the number one killer to the impact you make on the market if you appear as just the same run of the mill brand. Identifying what makes your brand unique and using that to your advantage will benefit you and your business exponentially. The creation of an incredible brand will allow you to attract potential customers effortlessly while establishing a reputation and relevancy amongst your demographic. Successful branding is also imperative to presenting your clientele with a high standard experience from the get-go and set yourself up for making a great impression from the very first interaction with your business.

This article will provide you with a detailed list of incredible advice and insights to give you the confidence you need towards successfully creating your brand. Arming yourself with as much knowledge and understanding as possible is essential to effectively achieve your goals.
Here are 6 Things To Consider When Making Your Own Brand:

1. Create An Eye-Catching Logo

The first element to consider when establishing your brand and type of experience you want to get across quickly to your audience is creating eye-catching Logos Brisbane. Do not be afraid to think outside the box and let your personality shine through when generating your logo. This will be your identifier when customers interact with your brand. This will be the first, stand out feature of your business and it is essential to ensure you are creating one that is noticeable, recognizable, and aligns with your brand’s voice.

2. Establish Your Brand’s Vision

Establishing your brand’s vision is another vital element in creating your overall brand. How do you want your brand to be perceived by potential customers? Crafting a clear vision about what your brand is passionate about and what you can provide your customers with that others can not. If you believe in your business and what you are all about, the likelihood of your target market following suit and believing in your vision and brand, skyrockets.

3. Determine Your Brand’s Voice

Along with establishing your brand’s vision is it imperative that you determine your brand’s voice. Do you want to communicate in a professional manner, more casual, friendly and inviting, technical, conversational, etc? There are so many ways you are able to get your message across and present your brand and this is important to determine an action from the get-go to maintain your brand’s consistency.

4. Consistency

This brings us to our next important element to consider when building your own brand – consistency! Consistency is key when it comes to creating a solid brand that customers can rely on. Once you have made up your mind when it comes to how your brand sounds, is viewed, and captures its audience it is important to follow through and align your brand’s ‘feel’ consistently across the board. When your business comes across as though it is all over the place and your communication style does not align with your brand type, it can present as confusing and noncohesive. Consistency provides a level of comfort and professionalism to your demographic.

5. Research Competitors

Unless no one else in the entire world provides anything similar to the products or services you are offering it is essential to your success to ensure you research your direct and indirect competitors. Although standing out and being unique is vital it is also extremely beneficial to see how other successful brands are dominating the market to provide a level of guidance.

6. Identify Demographic

One of the most important initial steps of building a successful brand is to identify your target market, audience and demographics. This will help you greatly in achieving the above-stated objectives and align your brand’s attractiveness to your potential customers. This will also help you establish your brand’s logo, voice, and overall experience.

About the author

Kelly Wilson is an experienced and skilled Business Consultant and Financial advisor in the USA. She helps clients both personal and professional in long-term wealth building plans. During her spare time, she loves to write on Business, Finance, Marketing, Social Media. She loves to share her knowledge and Experts tips with her readers.

Digital Branding

How To Grow As an Ethical Brand During COVID-19

Steven on May 7, 2020

With COVID-19 spreading throughout the world, there’s absolutely no doubt that we all are experiencing a crisis situation. The whole world is terrified, and people are suffering from a huge loss in businesses due to lockdowns. However, with all the current insane situations, we need to keep one thing in mind that all of this will soon be over. There will come a time soon when we’ll find a vaccine for this virus, and then we’ll be able to continue with our happy and healthy lives.

Speaking of the pandemic, businesses are suffering, and as a result, the economy isn’t great either. Everything seems like falling apart, but the bright light shining at the end of the tunnel is that businesses can use the break to prepare for the future. It’s time for us to buckle up, get some motivation, and get back on our feet to bring our businesses back on the success track.

Today we are going to mention some of the most useful tips that you can use to ethically grow your brand during COVID-19. You’ve got plenty of time to do some research, and you’ve got plenty of time to work on your business.

Here are the tips that you should be using nowadays!

Work at home during COVID-19

Growing Your Business as an Ethical Brand

1. Lean on your assets

Are your files and social media accounts filled with contacts you thought were useless? It’s time for you to check them out – the emails, the social media profile links, the online groups. You need these people, and you need them to drive your sales now that everyone’s locked up in his house. Take the opportunity to ramp up your communication and build your network from scratch. Right now, you can lean on those assets of your business and use them to grow ethically and financially.

2. Work on your online presence

First of all, an ethical brand always has a strong online presence. If you don’t have one, it’s time to get it developed because, without it, your survival isn’t possible. Especially during this situation, all you can do is that you can rely on your website, your social media profiles, etc. This is how you can communicate with your customers and be there for them. In case you already have social media accounts and a website, then put some effort into improving them and fixing the issues that you’ve always wanted to but couldn’t find the time for it.

Launchn ew prouducts

3. Launch new products

Be there for your customers and be active. You’ve always worked behind your desktops in an office before, but now you have to do your work from your house. Even though you are in a different setting, you can still launch new products. People want things like hand sanitizers and masks, etc. at affordable prices. During this situation, meeting the demands of hour, such as introducing face masks at a reasonable price will be enough to grow your brand’s presence.

4. Interact with your people

You don’t want your customers to forget you, right? If yes, then this is the time to ramp your interaction skills too! Just talk to your people, engage with them, and let them know that you are there for them all the time. Even if you just discuss the current COVID-19 situation with your customers and how they can cope with it, it will be enough for them to remember you!

Help supply others during COVID-19

5. Help others you build your ethical brand

We are talking about growing a business ethically here, which means that you need to help other people who are fighting this virus and the current situation of the world. If you can’t donate something on your own, the least you can do is to do some marketing for those who are working for a good cause and supporting people financially.

Conclusion

These are some important things you should be doing right now for your business. Believe it or not, it will help you grow ethically, and once all of this is over, these efforts will bring you great results.

Digital Branding

4 Reasons Why You Need LinkedIn for Your Business

Steven on May 7, 2020

It’s an undeniable fact that we all are living in the digital era which means you need a solid online presence if you want your business and your professional identity to survive. If you have the kind of time and money to get a website developed for your business or your profession, it’s great, but if you don’t want to take it to that level yet, then start with social media.

For starters, social media is free! This is probably the best news for you. All that matters on these platforms is your effort. The more you invest time and effort into building a good social media identity, the better it will be for your business and for your career.

Speaking of social media and business, today we are going to talk about one of the most powerful platforms that you can use to promote your business’s interest. We are talking about none other than “Linkedin”.

Using LinkedIn for Your Business

Here are some convincing reasons that will explain why you need Linkedin for your business;

1- Google Your Name

Let’s put it straight! Google is the platform people use to search for businesses online. Now there are two ways to get on Google. The first is to get a website developed, and the second is to create a Linkedin profile. When you have a Linkedin profile, Google will automatically show you if someone searches for your business. If you want people to get in touch with you, just fill up your “contact us” page on Linkedin and then leave it all to Google.

2- It Speaks For Your Business

There are millions of business accounts on Facebook and Instagram, but honestly, when it comes to Linkedin, only the professionals know how important it is. In other words, when you have a solid profile on Linkedin, people automatically assume that you are the person they’ve been looking for and that you are professional. Furthermore, you can customize whatever information you want to put on your Linkedin account. You can tell what your business is about, and you can put a great impression with just a little effort and research!

3- A Solid Linkedin Profile Can Do Wonders For You

It’s true that it will take you some time to build a solid Linkedin profile, but it’s not impossible, right? On top of everything else, there are platforms like InBusinessNinjas who can generate leads for you and increase your followers. These people are professionals who know how to get the type of account you are supposed to have for your business. You can get in touch with them directly at https://inbusinessninjas.co.uk/. We assure you that you won’t be disappointed with their services and they will do wonders for your business’s success.

4- Fastest Way To Reach Your Next Client

As said earlier, the entire world has gone digital so you can now get to your next client easily without any hassle. With just some research and marketing, you can get the top clients for your business. In a nutshell, this platform can be the next best thing that will happen to your business.

Conclusion

These are some of the most important reasons that explain why you should get on Linkedin as soon as possible. We assure you that you won’t regret your decision and sooner or later it will bring you the results that you are expecting. Just stay consistent with your efforts and then see how things work out.

Digital Branding Legal Branding

How to Start Earning Extra Money Online in 2020

Steven on May 5, 2020

2020 has been a challenging year for many, and some have found themselves without work. Whether you need to make extra money for some luxuries or to pay the bills, we have come up with the best way to do it.

Strengths and Skills

The first thing that you should do is take an inventory of your strengths and any skills that you have and write these down on paper. People who are looking to make extra money make the mistake of charging onto the web and looking at opportunities at random, hoping to find that magic wand of instant riches.

We need to be clear here. There’s no instant fix, and making money online requires effort and time. So if you jot down your skillset, it will be a lot easier to find the right way for you to make some money.

For example, if you have solid organizational and admin skills, then you might consider opportunities such as a virtual assistant or data capturer. If you’re an expert in coding, then perhaps you’ll want to look at app development. You can always start any course from scratch. There’s something for everyone, so don’t give up.

Preferences and Pet Hates

Next, make a shortlist of things that you would like to do and others that you really dislike the idea of. It’s a good idea to think about what you don’t enjoy as you’ll be putting time and effort into making money, and you don’t want to get stuck doing something you hate.

Like using the phone? Consider a remote call center position. Enjoy being creative? Then logo design might be your thing.

Opportunities for the Taking

Once you have made the two lists above, start searching for openings. With your list in hand, you can quickly see what would work for you and what wouldn’t, saving you time. Opportunities for making money online are vast but are usually divided into set categories.

You’ll find network marketing, direct sales, virtual assistant and typing work, call center work, writing, drop-shipping, and call center positions. Most writing positions, like blogging, can be 100% online. Other opportunities, such as network marketing, might consist of both online and offline work. Choose what fits you best.

Contact the company advertising the opportunity and make sure to get all the details you need to get started. Once you’ve found something that fits you, apply for the job and put in the daily effort to grow.

Don’t Forget the Branding

Whether you have decided to become a virtual assistant or write for a magazine, remember that you have a brand. You are your brand, and you need to make sure that you put yourself forward in the best possible light. Create a personal blog page with all your details and skills, set out in an organized manner.

Here you can include things such as your area of expertise, your values, and your passions. It’s not so much a resume as it is an opportunity to present yourself as a whole. This will create an image for you and, ultimately, a brand you can build on. When applying for new projects or even a job, you can use your personal blog for marketing yourself and your strengths to prospective clients.

Final Thoughts

Don’t get yourself down if you can’t find something to help you make money online straight away. Instead, take your time to find the right company and opportunity. There are many false promises and claims out there, so do it right. Remember, it takes time and effort to make money online or offline. By following these steps, you should find something suitable for you to work from home every day of the year.

MoneyMow is a blog about Carl and his family’s journey towards financial independence and retiring early at age 33. He writes about saving money, making money, and investing with the purpose of living a more free and happy life.

Digital Branding

Discover Different Ways To Weigh Video Animation During The Coronavirus

Steven on April 29, 2020

Businesses using video animation for their ads are getting the highest rates in advertising and know their audiences will sit through the entire ad. Now, with everyone being lockdown due to the coronavirus, companies are not using real people to sell their ads due to social distancing. Animation videos are an excellent avenue because the ads can take you anywhere from Maui to the tombs of the Ancient Egyptians! Everything weighs on the imagination of the creators.

It’s All Entertainment

We all seem to be surrounded with doom and gloom about coronavirus but we need an avenue to focus on something else once in a while. Think of the vast number of animated commercials that we have all grown to love. Think back to the Geico piggy commercial that placed Geico as offering the very best animated commercials holding the #1 spot for a very long time. Right now, everyone needs stuff that distracts us and is loaded with humor and takes us away from doom and gloom.

Companies can create short movies with any number of characters that viewers are going to flock to and leave everyone with a big smile on their faces. Viewers will have something to look forward to instead of feeling depressed while stuck in their homes and listening to the negative stuff coming off the news. Animation can bring in a concept of life that helps people become uplifted and production companies should come to realize how very fun and unique these animated videos can be, it’s a win-win situation.

Helping People Become Aware

Being aware of our surroundings has become critical, especially during these times with a life-threatening pandemic like СOVID-19. This disease is extremely contagious because it spreads so quickly through contact. Therefore, it’s really important that we use animation to educate people on what they should and should not do. Creating good videos loaded with valuable content like how to practice safe social distancing, how to properly clean your hands, and what you must know about the coronavirus should a family member or friend becomes affected by it.

The production of really good, informative videos will spread like crazy and help everyone by providing information that will help them during this critical time. Keep in mind, really good, informative could save someone’s life, including yours.

Marketing Campaigns

Time and time again, animated videos have been very effective marketing tools because these ads are both physically and psychologically appealing to viewers and offer really high engagement. This, in turn, is essential for marketing because it fulfills the desired effect. You will know you have done a really great job when your ads go viral with your viewing audience.

Adding to that, when videos hit a higher shareability, you have entered an excellent engagement rate. There will be a connection with your audience that will relate to them and therefore lead to higher conversion rates.

Video animations are not only entertaining but marketers can weigh them to explain difficult concepts that are not lost on the viewers. They are a great deal more cost-efficient than other marketing techniques which, for now, marketers really need because of the economic impact from coronavirus and its impact on companies.

Education Must Be On The Rise, No Matter What!

The coronavirus has taken its toll on the education industry by shutdowns, putting parents, students, and everyone else in a really bad situation. Education is such a critical part of our lives, anything short of getting it up and running is unacceptable.

To help out, online educations is stepping up to the plate and is not compromising in any manner. Unfortunately, students are not exactly eager to get online and get an education. They should consider, they are stuck at home in an undesirable and very uncomfortable situation. It might not be the best environment for being educated, but it’s heading in the right direction.

What you might not know, animated videos might just be the change that will help students get back to work. If educational institutions were to invest in videos, spending a little time and energy to create animated videos for teaching, students might just look forward to online classes and get into valuable lecturers. Students will get a much-needed break from hearing about the pandemic while not harming their education.

Ever since the СOVID-19 pandemic, businesses are working remotely in an effort to keep their businesses going. Working from home is not easy, especially for office workers. Communication, motivation, and productivity has taken a major hit. This is why they should be taking advantage of tools and resources that are available to help make working from home more effective.

Animated videos play a large part as useful tools during a time like this. They can increase the emotional connection with your team while providing attractive visuals. These videos can be a motivational message, an important announcement, or even a birthday greeting. Also, employees are less likely to skip these videos because they are so incredibly engaging and a lot of fun.

Have fun staying in touch with your team and let them know you have not forgotten them during challenging times like this.

Videos In The Medical World

The medical world has always been an important part of our lives. They treat us for colds, mend limbs harmed in sports, and especially now for the coronavirus. There is no secret that animated videos are also used in the medical world. Videos assist professionals in examining the body or guiding them to the right spot for a delicate operation.

Using an animated explainer, doctors and other professionals can simulate the spreading of coronavirus and use the video to understand more clearly what’s going on. Also with the shortage in the medical world of doctors, nurses, staff as well as medical students, inexperienced medical staff can get excellent training using 3D animated videos and help out professionals.

Video animation is an amazing thing and incredibly flexible for so many different purposes. It doesn’t matter if you are creating a video for a marketing ad, a student, or a kid looking for something to do while stuck at home, video animation will help you out. As we move forward with social distancing, animated videos are going to play an even more significant role for all of us.

Guest post by the talented video production company Inovit.

Digital Branding Personal Branding

A Quick Guide to Branding Your Small Business

Steven on April 24, 2020

When it comes to the success of your company, the branding decisions you make are vital. Many businesses make the mistake of dismissing image building as a waste of time or a needless expense, but this aspect of planning can actually mean the difference between success and failure. We understand that a proper branding campaign will cost and you shouldn’t try to do it on the cheap. There are certain ways to release funds for this purpose, such as refinancing student loans or property. Refinancing your student loans will leave you with one consolidated loan with a new payment schedule and interest rate. You may even save money, as the interest rates are normally lower. Whatever way you get access to funding, the investment you make in your branding will pay its dividends. So how do you start branding your small business? In this article, we’ll cover some top tips to cement your company’s identity, making it immediately recognizable.

Logo Design

Every company needs a logo, no matter how complex or simple. If your brand name is longer, consider using an unfussy image or icon alongside it that is easy to remember. If it’s short and concise, you might simply present it in a certain eye-catching font. Try to make sure that your logo can be easily seen and recognized when presented in postage stamp size and held at arm’s length. You should also take care that it can’t be mistaken for another brand’s imagery and that the font you use doesn’t have connotations of the wrong industry. It’s definitely worth spending a little money on professional logo design. This practice is both an art and a science and always benefits from an expert touch.

Colors

Most companies restrict the palettes of their logos, web design and stationery to just two or three basic colors and then repeat those brand-wide. Try to restrict your use of color to just a few hues to make sure your look is cohesive and can be easily ingrained into a customer’s memory.

Tone of Voice

Think about your audience. Consider how they might speak and how they would like to be spoken to. This will help you to decide on your brand’s tone of voice. To some degree, this will be dictated by the industry you serve. The tech, medical, and law sectors tend to use language that inspires trust and displays a level of authority. The fashion and entertainment industries have a little more flexibility, enabling them to use fun, quirky terminology if required. You should also consider the level of product or service knowledge held by your average user. In most cases, it’s best to stick to layman’s terms, keeping things simple without over-explaining or condescending. Try to think of a range of preferred words and pieces of terminology for your brand and consider banning certain phrases if they give the wrong impression. Be careful to double check all spelling and grammar to ensure an air of professionalism.

Product Range or Service Specification

The best brands specialize in just a few areas and do it extremely well. Try to limit your offerings to just a few recognizable products or services, as this tends to give a greater impression of quality and expertise and will help to make sure what you offer is instantly recognizable.

Digital Branding Personal Branding

Start-Up Business: Turning Your App Idea into a Business

Steven on April 23, 2020

Coming up with novel ideas is something we’re all capable of. Everything single one of us has woken up in the middle of the night or sat up straight in the bathtub with a lightbulb flashing over our heads, marveling in wonder at how brilliant our imaginations are, and how great we are at dreaming up new ideas and concepts. This, in itself, is nothing particularly special. What is special, however, is finding the resources, energy, and motivation to transform those ideas into something real, tangible, and – perhaps most importantly – profitable.

If you’re able to take these next steps with your mobile app ideas, then you’ll quickly make yourself stand out from the crowd… and the vast majority of ideas never making past the initial stages.

Taking Steps to Mobile App Success

Why do so many mobile apps never get transformed into businesses? Well, there is no shortage of reasons why this is the case. However, perhaps top of the (rather long) list is the undeniable fact that making mobile apps work as businesses is something that takes real-time, real effort, and real planning and validation.

Thankfully, there are plenty of steps mobile app developers and budding business people can take in order to help their ideas progress, and in order to gain success from the very earliest stages of development. In this blog, we’re going to look at some of the absolute essential actions you should be taking if you want to see your mobile app business take off… and they’re a lot simpler and easier than you might expect. Remember, these aren’t absolutely foolproof hacks for success, but they will establish good practices, and they lay the foundations on which mobile app business success can be built.

Identify Your Audience

Knowing your target audience isn’t just essential for mobile app businesses, it’s a key part of launching any business. It’s all too tempting to say ‘my app is for everybody’ – this isn’t going to get you anywhere.

If anything, you need to be narrowing down your target audience as much as you can, and identifying the key criteria which set your ideal market apart from others. Once you know exactly the type of people your app is for (and we mean age bracket, income level, job status, lifestyle, etc, etc, etc), you can start tailoring everything from your marketing efforts to your app design to appeal directly to them.

Research Your Competition

Once you’ve figured out who your app is for, and you know exactly what your app does and why it does it, the time will come to really check out the competition. Unless your idea is something completely novel and unique, there will be other apps out there offering very similar or identical solutions; your job is to research what difficulties they overcame, what their audience loves and dislikes about their app, and how you can take the concept one step further.

Clearly Define What Your App Is

Apps come in all shapes and sizes, styles, and uses, and the market can be massively confusing for those seeking solutions for their mobile devices. Your job is to define your app as clearly as possible: make sure that, from the very first moment, your audience can identify exactly what your app does, who your app is for, and how your app can make a positive difference. For example, you are developing an app for tracking calories, you might want to define the benefits of tracking calories and who can benefit from using the app.

This will help with everything from your listing on the App Store etc, to the way your app is marketed and used.

Carefully Consider Branding

Make no mistake: branding is of the utmost importance when it comes to your app business, as this will define how your app will be seen and received on the marketplace, and it will create that all-important first impression among countless competitors and distractions.

There’s plenty of information out there on the net regarding which colors communicate which ideas, and how logos, emblems, and slogans can make a difference, and we’d encourage you to spend some time getting used to the way branding can be key to getting your message out there. At some point, as your plans grow and start to become finalized, you’ll most likely need to start delegating certain tasks. Bringing in a branding or marketing expert and a copywriter could be one of the best decisions you make unless you’re confident you have the time and objectivity to really make it work by yourself.

Get It Out There

Once you’ve put the time in following the above steps (and believe us, this is far from an exhaustive list as you’ll also need to assemble a team of dedicated partners, and spend time costing your business venture), you’ll be ready to launch. While this is an exciting time, it’s also a period that requires plenty of preparation in order to get the most lucrative results.

You know the nature of your app better than anybody, so you’ll hopefully have a clearer idea of how to launch and what the launch will need. A website and some key social media platforms are surely essential, and most apps nowadays come with mailing lists and preview lists, too. Sites like the beta list can help you identify and target early adopters and influencers, and if your app has local appeal, then events, happenings, and parties might be appropriate, too. No matter how you approach your launch, your goal should be the same: to get people talking about your app, using it, and having the best possible experience with it. If your launch manages to do this while drumming up excitement, then you’re onto a winner.

Well, there you have it – Messapp’s guide to turning those ideas into a reality and making your mobile app ideas into a business that works for you. We’re specialists in mobile app development with years of top-level experience, and we’re confident we can assist you in making your concepts fly. Get in touch today to speak to a member of our team; it’s the first step towards success.

About the Author

Though a lawyer by trade, Vasily Malyshev found his passion for mobile tech, self-taught design, and development. He is the founder of Messapps, one of the top New York app development companies. Today, in addition to working with Messapps, Vasily is also teaching app development and marketing at New York University and regularly invests in other tech startups.