Digital Branding

Key Tips on Creating an Ecommerce Marketing Strategy

on August 17, 2019

Ecommerce is one of the most revolutionary transformations ushered on the internet. It has streamlined the virtual exchange of goods and services across different industries globally. Because of its capacity to streamline business processes, many established and budding entrepreneurs have shifted the majority of their transactions online.

However, given the volume of ecommerce websites in the market today, it’s crucial for you to develop an effective marketing strategy to stay top-of-mind with both existing and prospective clients. If designed correctly and with the help of the right ecommerce marketing agency, such an initiative will help you optimize your advertising and sales process.

In this article, let’s learn surefire tips on creating a marketing strategy for your ecommerce business.

Sign Up for a Google+ MyBusiness Profile

One of the primary ways to establish a web presence for your ecommerce business is Google’s My Business Profile. It’s the internet giant’s free web platform that streamlines the dissemination of information between business owners and their customers. It provides an outline of your business right when people are searching for you on Search or Maps. Among the critical information your customers can access instantly are the product’s price, reviews, and location if you have a brick-and-mortar counterpart for your online business.

Google prioritizes listings uploaded on Google+ My Business Pages in local searches. Thus, optimizing your profile will help boost your local search results ranking.

Here are other vital ways of how this platform can help you enhance your marketing strategy:

  • Having a Google+ My Business Profile increases your chances of getting into Google’s most sought-after local three-pack. These are the search results that appear even before the organic results, thus increasing web clicks for your business.
  • Aside from having a fuss-free platform on top of your website, you also get to enjoy creating content in the form of texts, photos, and videos. It also has an Insights feature that’ll allow you to track your customers’ essential site activities, such as inquiries, calls, or web visits.
  • Since Google runs multiple verification steps before allowing businesses to get listed for local searches, potential customers can make sure that your company is trustworthy.

Educate Customers with Useful Blog Content

Content is king when it comes to ecommerce marketing. However, in a data-saturated marketplace, you need to ensure that the content you put out adds value to the lives of your potential and existing customers.

With thousands of blog posts being published and circulated online daily, how do you intend to win the hearts of your target audience?

  • Showcase your expertise in the industry by creating content that’ll help your audience make informed decisions. Remember to write for humans and not merely for keyword ranking.

For example, if you’re running a clothing website, outline tips that’ll help users find the right fit and style for their budget. Don’t make it sound like your shoving down the products you sell to your customers’ throats. Ensure that your brand voice remains friendly and reliable, not intrusive. You can also publish easy-to-follow hacks that’ll guide your customers, or inspire them to produce some organic user-generated content.

  • Play with relevant visuals. Given a person’s diminishing online attention span, it’s essential to capture your audience’s attention through compelling visuals. Whether you’re into B2B (Business-to-Business) or B2C (Business-to-Customer) business, you can bank on appealing and useful infographics to simplify complex topics relevant to your brand. With the right ratio of text, image, or moving graphics, you can establish brand authority across different market segments.
  • Remember to write blogs with high EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). These three principles are significant benchmarks by Google’s content raters, as indicated in their Quality Rater’s Guidelines.

Reach Out to Relevant Online Influencers

Suppose you already have the right product and service, a functioning website, and a smooth distribution channel. How can you then outshine competitors who promise the same marketing offerings as you?

  • Although in-house content marketing for your ecommerce business is a good step towards attracting quality leads, it’s also essential to enhance your content distribution channel to achieve maximum exposure.
  • Today, people hold in high regard online influencers’ reviews on specific products and services before making a purchase. Many people, especially the millennial market, find their candid first-hand experience reliable and value-rich as opposed to the outbound content most brands distribute.
  • With the level of influence these so-called “everyday experts” have over your potential buyers, it’ll undoubtedly play to your advantage if you consider tapping them to create and publish content for your product or service.
  • Look for online influencers that’ll best represent your brand. As a rule of thumb, remember not to rely on the number of their following alone. Instead, choose an influencer that you think will generate quality engagement for your product or service.

In a Nutshell

When finding ways to create an ecommerce marketing strategy, remember not just to sell but add value to your customers’ overall experience. Kick-start your campaigns with concrete, realistic, and measurable marketing plans today. Define your goals and develop tactics that’ll help you achieve it!

Local Branding

Why Finding A Full-Time Job Can Be So Difficult?

on August 16, 2019

Photo by Alejandro Escamilla on Unsplash

The times are changing. It’s now becoming much more difficult to find a job, especially a full-time one. In fact, a study conducted last year showed that 50% of Australians aged between 15 and 25 years were not working full-time, and it’s taking around five years for students to find work following the completion of their studies. What’s strange about these statistics is that this generation is often considered the most educated, with more than 60% holding post-school qualifications. So why is it so difficult? 

Promotion from within

For many businesses, promoting from within is often much more attractive than hiring external candidates. The biggest reason for this is that the business knows more about the employee as a worker, and the employee already has an understanding of the business culture and processes. This means they can spend less time on training if they hire from within. However, often this means there are only junior-level jobs available, some of which many job seekers will be overqualified for.

Issues with resumes

Companies and job websites generally use tracking systems that only forward on resumes that include certain keywords. 75% of resumes are actually rejected purely on this basis, meaning they’re never even seen by the hiring company. This means that following this process, only a handful will be brought in for an interview.

 

On top of this, many job seekers are relying on outdated resumes. Employers want something that stands out from the crowd and showcases the potential value of the employee to the company, regardless if he or she bought a professional resume.

Tight selection criteria

Many companies are also becoming overly selective. Just a few decades ago, companies would hire candidates with the assumption that they would stay with the business for life and therefore would be happy to invest, both financially and educationally, in a junior candidate. However, now employees often flit from job to job throughout their career. Consequently, companies are less willing to invest the time or money into training or upskilling and are instead looking for immediate value for their business from highly skilled and qualified individuals.

Related: Glassdoor Alternatives to Find Jobs

Lack of vocational and practical experience

In a recent survey of 14,000 people aged between 15 and 25 years old, about three quarters of respondents said they didn’t believe they had the relevant practical work experience required for certain advertised job. The problem here though is that practical experience is often prioritized over educational qualifications; it becomes a chicken and egg scenario. An applicant’s educational requirements are meeting the job description but their practical experience is not. However, how are they actually going to get the practical experience if no one will hire them? 

Are there even enough jobs?

Another reason why people are questioning their ability to get hired full-time is simply a supply and demand issue. Are there enough jobs for the number of applicants? This is greatly affecting new graduates especially, perhaps because it has been shown that there has been a decline in the level of employment of new graduates. On top of this, more and more people are completing tertiary studies, meaning it’s possible that the market is flooded with junior-level job seekers.

Alongside this comes competition. While previously graduates and junior-level job seekers were competing against only one or two years of tertiary leavers, now they’re competing against several years’ worth.

 

On top of this, many employers are actually looking to fill part-time, contract, or even freelance positions, rather than offer full-time employment. “Full-time work is often difficult to find in certain industries where it is more attractive to employ part-timers. Employers are looking for innovative ways to reduce costs and make it easier to dismiss employees,” says David Alexander, Director of Student Services at The International Career Institute. 

Recent years have seen a substantial rise in the numbers of older workers in Australia and globally. For example, the number of over 65s in employment in Australia has more than tripled. There has been a similar increase in over 65s in employment in the UK. Since employers must abide by age discrimination laws, it means increased competition for roles.

Tips and tricks

Of course, there are several things you can do to land that dream full-time job you’re seeking.

  1. First develop a solid job search plan including target industry, timelines, and expectations.
  2. Second, look at your resume and skillset from a manager or HR perspective. This doesn’t mean you should put skills on your resume you think they’re looking for or answering questions in the way you believe they want. It means looking at your strengths and weaknesses against the job description. What can you bring to the job that no one else can? Remember, you’re more likely to be hired if you can add value to the organization.
  3. Be persistent. Just because you don’t get the first job or even the sixth job doesn’t mean you won’t find anything. Job searches take time and some employers take weeks to fill a position. This is frustrating, but patience pays off.
  4. Revisit your resume and cover letter. Don’t send the same cover letter to each job application, and adjust your resume when necessary. Different employers from some of the best rental businesses for example will be looking for different things, so tailor your cover letter and resume to the unique opportunity.
  5. Check your digital footprint. In this day and age, our social media profiles, even if set on private, can be accessed to some degree. Make sure your digital footprint is clean and accurate. Do a search online for your full name to see whether you have been tagged by another company or friends in images. If they’re inappropriate, you can request to take them down.
  6. Get your foot in the door. Even a small job can make a world of difference. It may take time to build up to your dream job, so don’t expect it right out of the university gates. Remember, the first-ever female commander and pilot of a Space Shuttle, Eileen Collins, began her career as a part-time math teacher.
  7. Seek remote employment. If you live in an affordable city like Minneapolis, don’t be afraid to cross state lines when looking for jobs; remote work is out there if you search hard enough for it!

Finding any kind of employment can be tough, and finding a full-time job can be even tougher. The freelance economy is upon us and for the first time, less than 50% of employed Australians are in permanent full-time jobs. However, if you do want to secure full-time employment, there are still ways to get there. It’s just about being patient, creative and persistent.

Digital BrandingLocal Branding

How to Nail Your Small Business Branding 

on August 16, 2019

Do you believe that branding is only meant for large corporations and companies in the world? If your answer is yes, then you will be surprised to know that small businesses need branding just as much as the market leaders. However, you should also know how to get it right. 

Remember- starting a small business is only the first step but you can take these additional steps to take your enterprise to the next level with branding:

1. Start with a Logo

One of the most important aspects of a brand is the logo- there is no question about it. You can study various examples like Coca-Cola, Nike, Apple, etc. All of them are considered top brands and they all have iconic logos. What this goes to show is that even if yours is a small and generic business, you can project it as a big and trustworthy brand by creating a unique logo. Then, once you are happy with your logo you can work on improving your brand awareness. This can be done in several ways. For instance, you may wish to Create Stickers with Cricut as this can be a great marketing tool, especially for small businesses.

2. Work on Your Relationship with Customers 

You can’t build a brand without bolstering your bond with your customers. So, learn how to build strong customer relationships online and apply methods that can help them trust you more easily. These include improving your public messaging, becoming more accessible to the customers, and providing better customer service.

3. Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Social media provides you one of the most inexpensive ways to market your business. You can use it to connect to your target demographic and also open a channel for them to communicate with you i.e. share feedback and complaints. This can go a long way in establishing a brand.

4. Find Your Voice

Let’s say that you sell handcrafted wood furniture in a particular city. If you have competition, then how will you stand out? If all the businesses sell handcrafted furniture, then what makes you special? Well, branding is the answer.

By finding your unique voice, you can attract new customers easily no matter how crowded the marketplace is. There are various ways you can go about it too. For instance, you can create a brand that’s all about providing employment to the veterans, or you could be a brand that appeals to the college students who need affordable and long-lasting chairs, tables, etc. 

5. Don’t Let Your Customers Down

Small businesses often take unethical measures to fight competition which is the opposite of what you want to do if you want to create a brand. For instance, some businesses start offering subpar products or ignore the complaints of their customers which only hurts their reputation. 

Strong brands have strong customer bases because the customers take pride in being their patrons. That’s something which can only happen if you offer exceptional customer service and treat them with the best products that you can provide.

6. Never Take Your Eyes off the Target Demographic

As a business owner, you want as many customers as possible. However, you simply can’t sell to everyone. There is only a small portion of the market that you can target for your products/services. So, it’s important that your messaging, logo, slogan, etc. are appealing to the kind of individuals you want to focus on. 

Brands are important to small businesses, and there is no way around it either if you want to maintain your market position. That said, the tips shared above are quite effective and proven to work. So, apply as many of them as possible and you will see a considerable rise in foot traffic/online traffic to your store/website. Good luck!

Digital Branding

Seeing the Red Flags: How to Spot Fake Printing Businesses Online

on August 12, 2019

https://www.pexels.com/photo/coward-cowardly-crime-cyber-crime-271078/

 

There is no denying that the Internet has made doing business easier, more convenient, and faster. However, the sad fact is that while you also want to ensure that all that speed and convenience also comes with safety and security issues. There are so many websites that are scams, fraudulent, or fake. The ease and speed of the Internet has given rise to so many cybercrimes that it has ballooned into a $1.5 trillion (yes, with a “T”) industry.

There are many types of cybercrimes, such as third-party content injection (where external parties can “inject” content into your system where you connect to unsecured WiFi connections), fraud ($40 brand new iPad anyone?), or most commonly, phishing.

 

What is Phishing, exactly?

Phishing is a type of cybercrime where a scammer will try to gain your sensitive information, particularly financial information, by providing false pretenses. There are various methods of phishing, such as sending out fake emails about your bank account getting hacked, or websites asking you to “validate” your account. Usually these messages have a link attached that will lead you to another website where you will enter your financial information, thus making it available to the scammer. These messages will often appear as legitimate emails from banks, online payment portals, or other financial companies, luring you into a false sense of security.

When you try to buy checks online, you are a prime target for these scammers because you will need to provide your financial information in order to complete the ordering process!

How Can I Protect Myself?

While there is no 100% guaranteed method of protecting yourself from scammers online, there are ways to avoid websites that can make you a more vulnerable target. Here are some tell-tale signs that you can look out for, and if you see even one of them, you should immediately close that window.

  1.     The URL is your first clue

You might think that a suspicious URL would be a dead giveaway, but you would be shocked how many people don’t take the time to actually check the address bar when they visit various websites. Trusted and reliable websites will have a URL that begins with “https://” and there is a small padlock icon on the right side of the address bar. Google will even do a lot of the work for you; if the site is safe and trusted, it will highlight the URL in green. If there is something suspicious about the URL, it highlights the whole address bar in red and you might even get a warning message!

There’s even a concept called “The Line of Death”, which is an idea that an Internet user should not trust anything below a certain point on your browser, as it is easy for a scammer to make the website appear legitimate. In the case of websites where you will give sensitive financial information, the “Line of Death” is as early as the address bar.

  1.     Trust seals should be available

Many companies that handle sensitive financial information for their clients will go out of their way to show that they invest in their security protocols, so you will most likely find trust seals on top of their website. These can include logos from trusted anti-virus companies such as McAfee or Norton, or even an accreditation from the Better Business Bureau. However, it is also quite easy to just copy-paste these seals into a website’s layout, so make sure to click on these seals to see if they are legitimate.

  1.     The content CAN be a red flag

In the past, it was quite easy to spot a website that was fraudulent. These websites often used stock images, the layout was cheap, and the grammar of the content was horrible. These days, however, scammers have gotten more sophisticated, and you can find fraudulent websites that are difficult to distinguish from the real thing at a glance. If you are in doubt (some websites do use generic images and content while still being actual businesses), try looking for other details such as a physical address for the business, contact numbers, a policy page, or customer reviews. Most scam websites won’t go as far these details because they simply won’t have the time, manpower, or resources to create such a detailed scam website. They want to be able to scam as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time, so they go for quantity over quality.

  1.     Google can be your best friend

Google can be a useful, if not completely foolproof, tool in determining if a website is legitimate or not. You can use their Google Safe Browsing Transparency feature. Simply copy-paste the URL of the website in question, and Google will give you an idea whether or not you can trust a website. However, the simplest way is still the most basic way: if in doubt, just close your browser and look for another website.

Digital Branding

Essential KPIs that Matter to Savvy Social Media Managers

on August 11, 2019

This post is contributed by Olu Bunmi.

 

Social media managers must master and monitor certain essential key performance indicators (KPIs) for more effective social media management, which encompasses the process of strategizing, creating, and managing content and interactions across social networks.

Doing this per network can be time-consuming and confusing without measurable KPIs, and given several such indicators, social media managers must decide which ones align most with their business goals. This would inform what strategy, approach, and platforms will be most effective.

In this post, we’ll be highlighting seven (7) such social media KPIs that should inform your social media marketing strategy and help you improve productivity, results, and ROI for your business ASAP, but first

https://pixabay.com/photos/twitter-facebook-together-292988/

What is Social Media KPIs?

Social media KPIs are social media metrics that measure the performance of your social media activities. Some of these are vanity metrics that do not really impact your bottom line but are measured simply because they’re measurable.

Recently, Instagram announced it will be hiding the number of likes from the public in selected countries as a test case. The aim is to get users to focus more on engagement than the number of likes. If your entire Instagram marketing revolves around a number of likes, for instance, you may need to start considering other ways to get more Instagram followers to grow your business for social commerce purposes.

This brings us to

The Evolution of Social Commerce

In the early 90’s, retail websites were like mere online product brochures with limited accessibiility and functionality, cahracterized by poor UI and UX. The term ‘Social Commerce’ was coined in 2005.

These days, social commerce has evolved and improved and  differs from social media marketing. As a social media manager, understanding this difference will most likely be the difference between just promoting brand visibility and actually making sales.

Creating online brand awareness with the aim of creating visibility and driving traffic to your social media page is social media marketing. This does not guarantee sales, even though it promotes sales. Direct sales resulting from social media marketing is social commerce because at this point, you can measure ROI.

Social Media Marketing by the Numbers

Statista reports that social media global penetration rate is now 45%. Meaning nearly half the world’s population or 3.48billion people are on social media, growing the worldwide total by 288 million (9%) since this time last year.

  • As of Q4 2018, Facebook had 2.32 billion monthly active users.
  • As at April 2019, Instagram had over 1billion monthly active users.
  • Youtube currently has 1.9 billion monthly logged in users

This shows how social media is shrinking global space and creating opportunities for large scale commerce for businesses.

Furthermore,

  • 95% of young adults between the ages of 18-34 are most likely to follow a brand on social media
  • Currently, there are over 60 million businesses using Facebook Pages
  • 6 million of these businesses use Facebook Ads.
  • 78% of people who complain to a brand via Twitter always expect and receive a response within an hour.
  • On Instagram, top brands get to see a per-follower engagement rate of 4.21% which is 58 times higher than on Facebook and 120 times higher than on Twitter.
  • 90% of Instagram users are less than 35 years old, making it the best social media platform to target millenials, etc

Why Businesses Need a Social Media Strategy in Place

Without a social media strategy in place you’d be beating about the social media bush. As more businesses go online, your competition increases as evident in the foregoing statistics. To stay ahead of the game, you will need an effective social media marketing strategy that will boost visibility, sales and customer satisfaction.

To implement your social media strategy, you’ll need a platform.

Here’s how to pick the right social network for your kind of business:

  • Identify your audience and their favorite social networks with the highest engagement. You can identify your targeted audience by studying their demography, which includes their age range, gender, income and social trends that interest them.
  • Identify the resources needed for a successful social marketing plan, bearing in mind that each social media platform is unique. This will ensure that your business goals and network align.

Next step is to find a good social media manager who can help coordinate and implement your social media strategy.

Following are seven (7) key areas to judge your social media manager’s performance

7 Essential KPIs For Savvy Social Media Managers

Measurable metrics generally vary per network, some are similar. Following are 7 key social media KPIs you should watch:

  1. Audience Growth Rate

This indicates how fast your brand is growing. This can be tracked by identifying the number of new followers for the month divided by the number of your total audience. If you’re currently focusing on Instagram, here’re smart ways to get more Instagram followers.

  1. Click Through Rate

The number of clicks on links you post show how eye catching the title and images in your posts are. This typically shows if it got the attention of your audience. You can calculate this by dividing the number of link clicks you have by the number of people who have seen the post.

  1. Likes

This also shows how interesting your content was, and it helps in favoring your page visibility for platform algorithms. Instagram is currently experimenting with hiding likes from the public to encourage more engagement.

  1. Shares

Shares indicate that your posts are interesting enough to warrant recommendation, and this can be used to measure your virality rate by dividing the number of people who shared your post by the number of people who saw it. This also shows your amplification rate. Also note the number of mentions you get, for virality.

  1. Comments

Note that relevant content sparks conversations and engagement is one of the top areas you should pay attention to on social media. Engagement is often evident in the comment section. Authentic engagement means you’re doing a lot of things right.

  1. Reviews/Feedbacks

Customer testimonials help to build trust and credibility for your brand. You can also measure this by creating a survey to evaluate customer satisfaction with your products or services.

  1. Impressions/Profile Visits

Although not every social network displays the number of new people who visit your profile, most do, and this will tell you how well all other factors above have influenced people who heard of, or came across your brand to check it out. It shows you your reach.

Conclusion

As a social media manager, the success or failure of your social media strategy or campaigns largely depend on you. Knowing what to and how to measure this success or failure rate (progress) is key. Let us know which social media metrics or KPI matter most to you.

 

Author Bio:

Olu Bunmi is a freelance writer who loves to write business, ecommerce, entrepreneurship and social media content.

Crisis management
Digital Branding

Handling Of Crisis Management

on August 11, 2019

In your company, a crisis is an event or circumstance that alters the regular dynamics of business processes. Appearing unexpectedly, crises can come from both internal and external factors. Industrial or occupational accidents, strikes, problems in customer service, product failures, or policy changes might produce internal crises while changing economic policies, social changes, or natural phenomena outside the control of the organization might upset a company as well and require crisis management.

Such moments of difficulty are natural in any company, and it is important to understand how to identify a crisis in your company. Before a negative event upsets the normal flow of business, becomes public, and threatens to harm the brand, it is time to activate crisis management techniques before the crisis calls into question the image of the company in front of consumers.

An administrator should know that no matter how bad the situation is, it can always get worse. By applying such proactive techniques, the company does not destabilize after that event.

One of the first questions that usually arise is: “Should you speak or remain silent about the situation?” Poorly conducted communication in times of crisis, with misconceived statements, will enhance what is already ruined, but choosing to keep quiet is usually not an option in crisis management. If the company doesn’t speak out about something that is obviously happening, journalists can write whatever they want.

Crises can destabilize your business

Employ Crisis Management Techniques

When Is The Best Time To Act?

When situations arise that break down the normal functioning of the organization, it is time to immediately proceed to implement business crisis management tips such as those offered at www.PR360.com to develop strategies.

Once the importance of having excellent business crisis management strategies is understood, the next step is to design your plan. Given this, several questions may arise, such as: what factors should you consider? What should you do first? Who makes decisions? What resources do you need?

The management of business crises includes all the actions or measures taken to address the different scenarios to be presented at three different moments along a timeline:

  • The pre-crisis or prevention stage
  • The crisis
  • The post-crisis or recovery stage

Pre-crisis is the most crucial stage because all possible risk scenarios are projected here. You should analyze your strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats. This will develop strategies, that is, a Pr 360 Business Crisis Management Plan.

In this first stage, Pr360 should follow the following steps:

Evaluation And Identification

It is recommended to audit possible known risks. An activity or production process can perform risk analysis by conversion-based PR Agency. It is also feasible to conduct drills and exercises with different scenarios.

Meet crises head on

Crisis Committee

After identifying the risks, you need to assemble a committee chaired by the top executives of the organization and composed of those responsible for the areas involved. The makeup of the committee signals that you are serious about addressing the problems and ensures that the committee has the authority to develop policies to handle them.

Prepare the Business Crisis Management Plan

After completing the previous steps, a strategic plan is drawn up. This must contain a description of all the processes and the risks identified, and instructions and procedures to follow to address each emergency.

Apply The Plan

After the pre-crisis stage, and once the corresponding plan has been developed, you will have a tool with defined strategies to deal with any emergency, with specific specifications for each moment of its development.

Measure plan effectiveness

Measure The Effectiveness Of Your Business Crisis Plan

Crises are seldom solitary events. To be better prepared for the future, your plan should contain mechanisms to measure the effectiveness of your actions. If you properly manage the crisis, you will be in better shape to identify and respond to future disruptions that are a part of running a business.

Top Tips For Handling A PR Crisis

It’s a worst-case scenario that can befall even the most prestigious organization: a public relations crisis. From a string of bad reviews to a serious financial scandal, a negative incident can have a powerful impact on a company’s reputation — no matter how small or diplomatic it is. That’s why it’s critical for every business to have a reaction plan in place. Here are some do’s and don’ts when navigating a PR crisis.

In today’s digital age, news can go viral almost instantly. The implementation of a swift and effective crisis management plan is essential. An organization should address the issue head-on, whether it’s with an apology, an explanation or an announcement. If an immediate, informative response is not possible, the business should at least communicate that it’s looking into the issue and give a reason as to why there will be a delay. Above all else, it’s important to take responsibility for what happened.

Before sending representatives to address the media, make sure they fully understand the response strategy and are given enough information to answer questions. If time allows, set up a practice session to ensure they are prepared. Emphasize that the company’s message must be consistent across multiple channels.

Refrain from saying “no comment,” as these are two of the most damaging words in PR. Shutting down communication leaves a gap for others to fill, and what they say may be worse than the truth. If an organization is waiting for more information, it should let the public know that it is working on a response or a reaction to the situation.

For more tips on how to handle a PR crisis, see the accompanying infographic.

News Exposure provides a variety of media monitoring services, including TV broadcast monitoring.
Personal Branding

Need an additional source of income? The best Home-Based Business Opportunity

on August 11, 2019

The best home-based business opportunity, through Big Ear Inc., means that you become a provider for Big Ear, a company that offers ear protection. This home-based business opportunity will add an additional source of income while you try to make ends meet, or if you want to have disposable income. The provider for this home-based business opportunity is the ideal position if you like to socialize and sell important products.

Big Ear Inc sells two main types of ear plugs: Solid Ear Plugs, and Custom-Fit Earplugs. They are called Big Ears, and, as a provider, you will play a role in the selling of each.

Provider

Your best home-based business opportunity starts with becoming a provider, which sells Big Ear hearing protection products. The provider will also be active in the community, enjoy socializing, and with produce Big Ear Solid Earplugs. During your time as a provider, you will:

  • Take impressions of ears. The process is simple. You will take a cast of a customer’s ear, collect their money, and then mail the impression to Big Ear Inc. Your client will have their earplugs within 21 business days. More importantly, you’ll get paid for your role in the process. You will also not be involved in any part of guaranteeing the warranty, which will make your role easier.
  • MakeSolid Ear Plugs. This process is quick. In 45 minutes, you can make your client a pair of Sold Ear Plugs. You can also make multiple sets at once.
  • Spreadthe word of the importance of hearing protection. This is how providers give back to the community. By spreading the word, many clients, neighbors, and friends will be spared from having tinnitus and other hearing damage. As a provider, you will make your community healthier.
  • Have a local presence. Network, network, network! Without having a solid network of clientele locally, you will not make a lot of money. Having a local presence is key to building up the number of clients that you cater to in a given week, month, or year.

Extra Income

If Big Ear accepts you as a provider, you are well on your way to making money. As a provider, you are given franchise rights to sell Big Ear products. In this part of the best home-based business opportunity around, you can earn extra money from:

  • Taking impressions of ears for filtered ear plugs. Simply take a cast of your client’s ears, collect their money, and mail the impression to Big Ear Inc. The company will take care of the rest, and your client will have a set of ear plugs within 21 days.
  • Producing Big Ear Solid Ear Plugs. The process takes only 45 minutes. Since multiple sets can be created at once, the more sets you make, the more money you make as a provider.

Travel

Since a provider will need to travel in connection with their job, that means that all travel can be written off on taxes, making it the best home-based business opportunity around. Providers will take road trips to places such as trade shows, sporting venues, boating shows, and any other venue where hearing protection may be needed. The best part is, it’s all deductible on taxes, which will put even more money in your pocket.  A provider will travel to some of these locations:

  • Trade Show Events. Trade shows deal with a variety of topics. Whether it’s technology, the latest sporting gear, or any other event, Big Ears are relevant in almost all of these trade shows. And, you’ll get a tax deduction just for selling your products! The Solid Earplugs are the best sellers at trade shows.
  • Sporting Venues. Do you like seeing your favorite team play? How about selling Big Ears? How would you like to do both AND get a tax deduction? This is what Big Ear offers.
  • Boating Shows.  Do you like boats? Do you like making money? How about selling Big Ears while enjoying boating? How about it all being tax-deductible? This is why this home-based business opportunity is a must.

Helping the Community

As a provider, you have the opportunity to make this the best home-based business opportunity around as it will allow you to give back to the community. By spreading the word of how important hearing protection is, you will help many community members preserve their hearing. You will also help them prevent hearing loss or damage, such as tinnitus or partial deafness.

A Full Inventory

Nothing is more embarrassing than trying to sell an earplug, only to find out that you don’t have it in stock. Big Ear Inc. will make sure that you are not shorthanded when it comes to earplugs. You will have a wholesale list of products, from mixed martial arts (MMA) earplugs to college marching band earplugs, all at your disposal. These earplugs are also high-margin earplugs, meaning they are the most requested and relevant, so you won’t have to try in vain to sell them, making the best home-based business opportunity even better.

Your inventory will include earplugs from the hottest markets, including:

  • Industrial earplugs
  • Motorcycling earplugs
  • Aviation earplugs
  • Sports earplugs
  • Swimming Earplugs
  • Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) earplugs
  • Biking Earplugs
  • Marching Band Earplugs

Exclusive Rights

Finally, the provider will have exclusive territorial rights in which to sell. This means that no other person can become a provider who also lives in your area. This will apply both to your production of Solid Ear Plugs, and the taking of impressions for Big Ear Custom Fit Products.  Thus, you will have no competition with someone locally, and be able to maximize your profit.

With all of these benefits, this is a must. You can protect the hearing of those you love, go on road trips, and manufacture hearing protection, all from the comfort of your home and community. It is certainly worth a look!

Your clients will love your products. You will love your additional income. This will be your best home-based business opportunity yet!

Legal BrandingLocal Branding

5 Inexpensive Ways to Market Your Business

on August 11, 2019

Every business owner is always looking for two things: growing their business and saving money. It would be great if everyone simply came in and gave volunteer hours or 100 million people suddenly decided that they needed to buy your products.

Marketers are always trying to make sure they are at the top of their game and looking for new ways to improve their brand. Tactics are changing constantly and what may work one month isn’t going to work the next.

While you may never receive Shark Tank like exposure either, there are surefire ways where you can successfully grow and market your business without breaking the bank.

Social Media

Social media is king these days. People get their news from social media, communicate with one another and use their profiles to promote businesses and products.

The good news for you is that creating a social media page is 100% free. There’s no subscription service, up-front payment or money you have to commit. Making your business’ social media page is quite easy.

Now, you can do paid promotions for your business which are much cheaper than traditional advertising. With social media, you’ll want to make sure you’re consistently updating your page. That could be with photos, news on sales or links to your company’s website.

Just remember to keep it updated and fresh, so people won’t be trying to figure out if you’re still in business or not.

Networking

It’s a tale as old as time, but word of mouth and old-fashioned networking can do wonders for your business. You never know if that person at the convention, your neighbor or your friend’s cousin can help you or vice versa.

You don’t have to be that person who is whipping out their business card at every single minute, passing it around and making sure everyone knows who you are. You can be the kind and the cordial person who isn’t afraid to talk about themselves, up to a certain point.

Cross-Promotions

There are plenty of businesses out there who are direct competitors and others who can simply go together. Don’t you think the CEOs of Peanut Butter and Jelly love working together?

In all seriousness, cross-promotions are a great way to promote your business while helping others. If you run a tour business, you can put your information in local restaurants while you let them print their information in your tour packet.

Look for other business and workplaces that can offer you a symbiotic relationship. It also helps to have plenty of referrals out there as well!

Direct Emailing

Making a newsletter is a simple way to keep your customers involved in what is going on with any sales or promotions.

Just have customers give you their email address upon purchase or completion of services and voila! You’ve just found a surefire way to keep in contact with your customers for as long as you want.

Whether you may your newsletter weekly or monthly, make sure you’re consistent so you have constant feedback and outreach with existing customers and maybe even reach some new ones.

Giveaways

You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone that would turn down something that was being given to them for free. That’s why you can offer put on various promotions and giveaways with your business.

You can do it through social media or your storefront. Have people like, comment and share your latest announcement to enter into a drawing. You could be doing a buy one, get one free with your store.

Pass out items at trade shows or conventions to have your name and logo circulating out there as much as possible.

Local Media

If you’re local, one of the ways to easily promote yourself is through local media. That can be a radio, TV or the newspaper. Local news is always looking for a story, and you can all and ask them to talk about your business.

It’s an easy way to not only talk about yourself but to make sure your business is being put in front of hundreds of eyes or ears. You don’t have to go on a blazing media trail, but just having something out there will help people become aware of what you’re doing and how they can reach you.

Digital Branding

The Most Efficient Ways to Make Money on Instagram

on August 7, 2019

A lot of people are discovering the benefits of working on the internet. It would seem like being stuck in a dead-end job from 9 to 5 is not that appealing anymore. But you know what does sound attractive? Mastering Instagram and making it the sole source of income.

There are definitely more than one way on how to monetize Instagram, and if you are looking to get started yourself, this article is the perfect place to find some inspiration.

Start with Building an Audience

Before moving on to the methods, it is important to note one thing – your monetization will not come to fruition if you do not have enough followers and decent engagement. Instagram is all about those two.

Building account takes time, but that is not enough. You will also have to:

  • Optimize your profile by adding contact information in your bio. Consider including a couple of keywords and hashtags as well. It becomes much easier to find you on Instagram.
  • Keep to your schedule. If there are one or two days of no posts, that is not a big problem. Nevertheless, you should still try to post at least once or twice every day.
  • Quality images. Visuals play a very important part of Instagram. If your images are not looking great, you will lose credibility, especially in the long run. Get a camera if your smartphone is not good enough.

Your account will grow faster if you follow these tips. And once you have a hefty number of followers, you can move on to the monetization.

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Writing a Blog

Not a conventional method, but quite a few bloggers have moved on from a standard website blogging to Instagram. This behavior suggests that finding an audience here is easier. Even more so if you prefer to show off pictures instead of writing walls of text. 

Monetizing a blog is pretty easy as well. You can promote other people’s products by mentioning them in your posts, or redirect your readers to an online store.

Influencing

Top influencers make thousands of dollars by posting a simple picture with themselves and a product.

Becoming an influencer is a lot of work, but not out of your reach. If you have a decent strategy and are willing to work towards this goal, it should become a reality sooner or later.

Dropshipping

Similar to blogging, a lot of entrepreneurs are finding Instagram to be another great channel of increasing sales. Since the audience which comes from organic traffic and social media is different, it is not that surprising to see such a behavior.

It does not mean that you need to have a website to start dropshipping. Instagram by itself is more than enough. Just make sure to not run out of content to post.

Affiliate Marketing

Putting shortened links in your posts and bio can bring money if you can convince your followers to click the link and make a purchase.

Affiliate marketing is different from influencing because your goal is to make a sale rather than try and raise brand awareness. Therefore, the words you use in posts will also change. Read this guide on affiliate marketing to make the most out of it.

Grow and Sell Accounts 

After you get more experience with growing Instagram accounts, you can easily make a business out of it. A lot of people have no patience themselves and are looking to cut corners.

The internet is full of people who are willing to buy an account which already has thousands of followers. Try researching which niches are high in demand, and build a few accounts for sale.

Instagram Marketing

All those Instagram models in pictures are definitely not the ones who write the posts or edit videos. There is someone else behind it, and if you can learn Instagram marketing, that person could be you.

Showcase Your Products

There should be plenty of individuals who would be happy to purchase your products if you have a talent for creating something unique. A few of the most popular ideas would be:

  • High-quality pictures which could be used for promotional posters;
  • Handmade accessories or jewelry;
  • Custom-made phone cases, t-shirts, calendars.

Even a single post with something truly spectacular could create a snowball effect and give you more than enough customers for the future.

In summary, Instagram certainly creates more than enough opportunities for those who are willing to give it a try. Instead of hesitating, put these doubts aside and start. Even if you set extremely low expectations at first, you can build on from that to a point where making money becomes the easiest thing ever.

Digital Branding

How to Maximize Your Instagram Ads Strategy To Boost Your ROI Fast

on August 6, 2019

Instagram is massive right now. Do you how huge is it these days?

Well, in 2019, IG’s ad revenue is set to hit a staggering 10.8 billion dollars. The platform generates that kind of revenue because they have over 2 million active advertisers.

Amazing, right?

So, what’s up with all the Instagram-mania? Instagram’s visually focused nature is a fantastic platform for brands who want to showcase their products and services. On the plus side, millions of Instagram users are actively seeking out brands that deliver the most visually stimulating experience.

So, how do you ensure that you maximize the platform? We’re breaking it up to five effective tactics on how you can maximize your ads strategy to boost your ROI, setting you off to the right direction in no time.

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Research your customer interests

One of the first things that you should add on your list when developing a strategy is your target audience research. For you to be able to maximize Instagram’s greatness to the full, you need to start by knowing your audience first. Gaining valuable insight into their interests, preferences, and other behaviors pave the way to creating a successful Instagram strategy.

Think of your buyer’s persona. What’s the typical profile of an average customer that you want you market your products to? Then, check your Instagram demographics. By knowing key statistics such as age, gender, and their location, you’ll get your content out to your target audience using that data.

Deliver the type of material that most of your audience can relate to. Doing so shows that you care about the same things and have the same interests as your followers.

Leverage user-generated content

User-generated content, also known as UGC, is any form of content that’s created by users or past customers about a specific product or brand. The authenticity it creates makes the user one of the brand’s advertisers as well.

In a survey, almost 76% of individuals say that they trust a content more if ‘average’ people share it compared to a traditional advertisement. There’s no doubt that a vast majority of people believe the recommendations of others more.

UGC generates more engagement on Instagram and is critical to the success of brands in the platform. As more and more users engage in your material, your posts will be prioritized. As a result, more people will stumble upon your content on the Explore tab.

Building relationships with customers

Social media is here to stay, and it’s incredibly crucial that you build and foster relationships online, as it is in real life. According to VoyMedia, “By building meaningful relationships with your customers, they’ll eventually turn into the most loyal followers, sharing your products and services to their circle and other communities.”

So, you need to identify what your customers value about your products and services, as well as in their life. Actively engage with your followers, so that people will feel that they have someone whom they can personally talk to, or have a connection with.

Unlock the power of Instagram carousel

Until much recently, Instagram allowed users to post multiple images in a single post. These are known as image ‘carousels.’ Ever since it was released, brands and businesses are thinking of creative ways to incorporate them in their ad marketing strategy.

 

So, if you’re launching a new product or service, it’s an excellent way to drive your audience’s interest, and ultimately, sales.

What’s more, you can also incorporate photos with videos on your Instagram carousel to promote various campaigns. As you know, videos can covey extensive information in just a short amount of time. Therefore, it’s a great way to share product photos without saturating your feed or being over promotional about it.

Use the right hashtags

Why are hashtags so important? Well, they make your content a lot more discoverable and puts you in front of new users. But the challenge is finding the right amount of balance when it comes to choosing specific hashtags in your account.

Knowing the right hashtags to implement is essential. Study your competitors and other top influencers in the platform to find the best hashtags that work out for you. Find the ones that are relevant and trending. Also, get familiar with Instagram’s lingo and scour for evergreen hashtags. Making all of these a habit is vital.

Understand your CTA

Call-to-Action also known as CTAs, play a crucial role in directing people what to do next. Through CTAs, you can ask people to buy your product, get in touch with you, or visit your site.

 

However, not all of them are created equal. The key here is to be as creative as possible to encourage people to take action. Tease your followers, make them understand why they need your product, and help persuade customers to take action by using active language.

Additionally, injecting a sense of urgency will make your customers feel like they’re missing out if they don’t make immediate action. CTAs like ‘for a limited time only’ or ‘available to the first 150 customers’ never fail to work its magic.

Measure what’s important

Now that you have a good idea of what type of content you’ll be creating, you have to deal with metrics to help you track things. Measure the performance of your posts, as you find the ones that drive the most engagement.

 

As your numbers grow on Instagram, it makes sense to start checking the numbers and watch how it progresses. Tracking your Instagram metrics will give you insight with what’s working for your business to help your business and brand grow.

To wrap it up

There are a lot of opportunities to make your business flourish in the world of Instagram marketing.  The good news is when it comes to boosting your ROI, you don’t need to have millions of followers. All you need to have is to develop a solid Instagram marketing strategy that helps connect your audience on a meaningful level as you meet their needs.

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