by Nick Throlson | Jun 8, 2018 | Social Media
Is social media isn?t in your marketing arsenal until now? Well, you?re missing out one of the most powerful marketing tools available today.?As what many people say, social media has the power and the ability to change the world. Although it's a broad claim, but the proof is in the figures. With more and more people joining social media sites and using them regularly, it's unarguable that this communication platform is growing at warp speed.Social Media Buzz
If you believe that at this present time social media is booming like never, that's not all. Marketing analysts say that the social networking industry is bound to become bigger in the coming years. Yes, social media wave isn?t ending anytime soon. Which means, businesses have the huge opportunity to take advantage of it.While the social media trends are unstoppable, it will continue to evolve and surprise the digital community. It is what savvy marketers should keep an eye on. Today, the competition between businesses is getting stiffer. Wherever you look, there's always a competitor. What you need is the edge to outshine your corporate rival. And that is when social media comes into the scene.With the new marketing features, consumer preferences and changes in brand standards, as a business leader, you must have a general understanding of how social media can impact businesses in a powerfully positive way.BUILDING A Corporate Social Presence
The proliferation of different social networking sites has helped marketing enthusiasts to diversify their marketing efforts in more than one way. Hence, it has widened the space for the interaction of businesses to its target audience around the world. It is, therefore, crucial to making the big leap to social media marketing today. The longer you wait, the more you have to lose. So you have to do it now.Your social media presence is not just merely an option, it is necessary for brands nowadays. At this point in the game, not having an active social media presence is like pushing your company into a business pitfall. Whether you're a small or giant enterprise, you have to reach your customers for effective recognition. But where are they? Here's the reality! 'EVERYBODY IS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.'Here are the TOP 5 most popular social networking sites according to the number of active monthly users:
| Social Network | Monthly Active Users |
| Facebook | 2,200,000,000 |
| YouTube | 1,800,000,000 |
| Instagram | 800,000,000 |
| Qzone | 563,000,000 |
| Weibo | 376,000,000 |
We just showed you the current standing of the most popular social networking sites today. This will give you the hint where most of the people can be found. FYI, choosing the right social media platform for your business is important. Because not all social networks can be relevant to your niche. Moreover, it is not going to help your business by any means.Choosing a social platform can be more complicated than you'd think. There are thousands of social networks out there to choose from. So getting started can be difficult. But don't worry. You can narrow the list down to the most popular and most widely used platforms. See the list above.The Power Of Social Media
Advantages Of Social Media For Your Business
1. Increase brand awareness.
Brand awareness is the most important aspect of marketing campaigns. When it comes to business visibility, social media is proven to be one of the most effective digital marketing methods. By creating a social media profile, you can broadly interact with not only to your target audience but even with other businesses that can benefit your niche.Also, the share feature of the social media platforms is a fantastic way to introduce your business to a new network of individuals. When more people who know about your business, you have higher chances of getting leads that can eventually become potential customers.2. Provide your target audience with what they genuinely need.
Social media serves as a social listening tool. You can hear your audience voices. Through its real-time comment section and personal message features,? you can gain valuable insights from people. This will help you know what your target audience expects and want from you. Also, this includes knowing your customer pain points and analyze the competition.To track real-time customer feedback is crucial because it becomes a clear guide for you to know what you need to provide and focus more on improvement. Facebook Insights and Google Analytics tools are two great examples.3. Build stronger brand authority.
It's a way lot easier to make your business more authoritative using social media. Why? Because these social platforms are an all-in-one marketing method.?You can do almost everything. You can even collaborate it with your best video marketing strategy. Yes, you can post videos on social media. We all know that video is also a powerful marketing tool that can easily motivate and convince a potential customer.An explainer video telling the story of your business and how your goods and services can end the struggles of homeowners is allowed on your timeline. And when your video catches the attention of many, it can go viral as well. A Kickstarter video production on a social media platform is a fabulous marketing collaboration to consider. When consumers see your company posting these valuable things on social media, you'll appear more credible than your competitors.4. A very affordable marketing tool.
Come on! This is unarguable. People know that social networking sites are affordable and sometimes, can even be free marketing tools. How truly amazing is that! Social media is possibly the most cost-efficient part of an advertising strategy because signing up and creating a profile is free. You are given the option to decide whether to invest or not in a paid promotion.Social promotion is indeed a huge advantage because you get a greater return on investment while retaining a bigger budget for other marketing and business expenses. When it comes to the allocated budget, ads on social media will never become an issue.5. Get higher conversion rate.
This is the most important of all. Your goal! To increase sales. When your business has an increasing conversion rate, it simply means Growth. Getting found on social sites is one of the things you can do to higher your chances of improving your company's productivity. With increased visibility, your business gains more opportunities for conversion.People use social media platforms not only to stay connected to their friends, family, and communities. In this social media age, these social networking sites have become digital communities where people look for information and news about the products and services where they want to spend their hard-earned money.But Wait!? Your Post Matters!!!
Not all social media posts are effective. You know that. So before you post, ask yourself these questions. What makes people want to click? Is it compelling? Funny? Interesting? Every post on your business?s social media accounts is an opportunity. So don't waste it. A bad post can ruin your reputation. There are ways on how to choose or create the right content to post. Learn it.Conclusion:
Social media is the most powerful form of marketing and market research the world has ever seen. It provides a valuable venue for better understanding and learning from your target audiences. Fortunately, it is here to stay. So use it right and enjoy getting more customers, more traffic, and more conversions.
by Nick Throlson | Jun 6, 2018 | E-commerce, WordPress
If you are planning to open an online shop but you do not want the hassle of having to build a site from scratch, then coming up with a WordPress eCommerce Store using Shopify is the best option for you.
Why Use Shopify with WordPress?
Shopify has one goal: to help anybody who wishes to set up an online store (even those without the technical knowledge) do so. Coming up with your own online shop on WordPress can be a challenge as it requires a lot of technical skills. Shopify addresses this issue and helps you come up with an easy-to-setup and easy-to-maintain e-commerce site. Aside from helping aspiring but less tech-savvy online shop owners, Shopify also features a lot of benefits such as a secure shopping cart, 70 payment gateways, inventory management, and various shipping options. Shopify is also available in many different languages. Shopify can also help you manage a physical store with a POS app and a reader.If you have already had your own WordPress site, you can integrate it with Shopify so that you may enjoy its benefits while maintaining your own domain and this guide will help you do that. Otherwise, you may use Shopify?s hosting services.Shopify is definitely a handy eCommerce solution for those who would like to engage in the selling business.Integrating Shopify with WordPress
Get ready to make the best of Shopify and WordPress by following these steps to make these platforms work in your favor:Step 1: Create an Account with Shopify
The first step that you should take is to create a Shopify account. Simply go to the Shopify homepage and then click the ?Get Started? button that you can find on the upper right-hand side of the page.You are provided a free trial option so paying is not an issue now. You will be required to provide an email address, a password, and your store?s name. Give yourself some time to think of a great name for your store. Make it catchy but smart.If you are done, simply click the button for proceeding. Fill up the other requested information about the shop and yourself. Once done, just press the button to complete the process.Step 2: Integrate the Shopify eCommerce Plugin
Now that you have your Shopify account, it?s time to integrate it into your WordPress site. Go to WordPress? plugin directory, then install and activate the WordPress plugin for Shopify Ecommerce. It?s that easy.Step 3: Connect Shopify to WordPress
After having activated the Shopify WordPress plugin, a new menu item will be added to the backend of WordPress. Click on it to set up your account on Shopify. Simply input your shop?s address and then hit Connect. You can find your Shopify?s address on the browser bar while you are logged in on Shopify. Doing this will automatically connect your WordPress site to Shopify. You will then be taken to the eCommerce platform so you may confirm the page, then you will be taken to your site so you may set up various Shopify settings.Step 4: Add Products to your Store
Now that you have a store, you can now fill it up with your merchandise! Simply click on the add a product button so that a product page may open. Input a title for the product and provide a product description. Don?t forget to place the price, as well as images of the product. Do this for all the products you would like to sell on your shop.Step 5: Set up Payment and Shipping Options
As previously mentioned, there are many payment gateways that Shopify support. Some of these are Authorize.net, Paypal, and Stripe. Shopify will use your email to sign up with Paypal Express by default. You have the option to change this email address to something else. Should you wish to make use of other payment methods, simply select them to be connected. Afterward, you?ll need to set up your shipping options. Proceed to the Shopify settings page, then click on the ?Setup Shipping? button. On this page, you can easily set up shipping options that can be based on price and on weight. You would also be able to offer free shipping, then zones to be used for international shippingAlternative options
The internet is a giant melting pot of information and tools for anything and everything you can think of, making it possible for determined entrepreneurs to find effective ways to earn a living even without substantial business knowledge. If you think you have the knack to explore other e-commerce options and have the budget to play around with, you can also set-up your own e-commerce store by mastering your way through programming and creating your own platform. Building an ecommerce store is now easier, and there are tons of guides out there to help you out. Here are a few to get you started:First Steps in Managing Your E-commerce Store
Now that you?ve set-up an e-commerce store, what?s next? Just like any other business, setting it up is just the tip of the iceberg. Making it flourish and earn money is the real challenge.There are a number of techniques to spread the word about your e-commerce business and to attract customers into visiting your website. Shopify has a great guide on those looking for ROI in their first 30 days with their guide here. But if you have time and luxury to try out different marketing techniques, their 50-step guide on making your first sale can help you from social media to offline marketing.
by Nick Throlson | Jun 5, 2018 | Business, Off Topic, Social Media
Having high website traffic is the necessary condition of success for small businesses specializing in online-based services. Without a steadily-increasing stream of visitors, internet-based companies have little room for growth. However, drawing in new consumers is not a simple task in today's marketplace. There are over 1 billion websites registered in the world today, meaning there is a lot of competition to be had between online businesses.
Coming out on top is not easy, but there are steps each company can take to improve their chance at success. Specifically, companies need to utilize a wide variety of marketing tactics in order to reach out to more and more potential customers. Choosing the right approach can be difficult, in no small part due to the abundance of low-quality online articles which tend to promise wonders, but deliver only trifles. So instead of pretending to sell you marketing panacea, we will use the rest of this article to outline what are some of the most commonly used methods of increasing online traffic.
Magazine Ads
Despite what some naysayers have been telling you, traditional media hasn't quite gone the way of the dinosaur yet. They are dwindling, however, which means they are more likely to support themselves through advertising. This is where your website comes in. Advertising your website through newspaper and magazine ads has never been cheaper. Use this opportunity to introduce people to your company logo, tag-line, and website URL.
Stickers, Leaflets, Business Cards
Don't underestimate the advertising potential of small bits of paper with your logo and website address on them. Printing and distributing paper-based materials is an inexpensive way to infiltrate the pockets of your fellow city-dwellers. Make sure to include these materials in your official press-kits, as local media can be a powerful ally for getting your name heard.
Mobile Advertising
People are taught to pay attention to moving vehicles from an early age. And if you know where their eyes will be looking, why not put an ad there? A single line of text such as a web address can easily be put on a bike, a car, or on the side of a train, thus ensuring your brand is circulating on the streets.
Outdoor Panels
Placing a Display Melightbox with your company logo and a QR code pointing to your website at the entrance of your business office, combines online and offline marketing for maximum impact. Passersby who regularly move through your area will have many opportunities to check out your ad, and some might even scan the code out of curiosity. This will lead them to your website irrespective of how popular it might be online.
Search Engine Optimization
People are not going to visit your website if they can't find it. Your service might be excellent and your site might be a masterpiece of design, but if no one comes across it while browsing online, all your effort will go to waste. SEO works by making your site more visible on search engine result pages. Optimization is achieved through the tactical use of keywords and keyword phrases throughout your site's content. The better your site is optimized, the greater the likelihood of it appearing among top search results on Google or Bing, which makes it easier to find through while browsing the web.
Blogging
Incorporating a company blog in your website ensures that you have a means of expanding your content on a regular basis. Blog posts are very versatile when it comes to increasing traffic. First, they are ripe for SEO because they can incorporate trending keywords as they become popular. Second, they are a free source of content for your social media page. Finally, quality blog posts can be valuable sources of information for other blog writers, who will in turn link to them, further spreading your online presence.
Social media marketing
By creating a social media profile for your business, you are setting it up to become a part of the online conversation. If they like your social media content, your soon-to-be followers will check out your profile, which should contain a link to your website, which is where you want to lead them. The best part comes from the fact that your followers are likely to share your content with their friends, potentially creating new followers at no extra cost to you.
Celebrity Streamers
The popularity of video-based services like Twitch and YouTube in recent years has brought about the rise of a new kind of entrepreneur: the celebrity streamer. These individuals make living by creating video content for their massive audiences. Having your website featured in one of these videos is sure to give a boost to your traffic. While it can be difficult to get a hold of top-level streamers, there are plenty of young, eager celebrity-wannabes that would be willing to promote your content at a fair price.
Causing a Traffic Jam Online
Increasing online traffic is often presented as something achievable only through esoteric means. The reality is that increasing website traffic is not as difficult as it seems. Understanding the basic principles behind online (and offline) advertising allows companies to expand their traffic quickly, conveniently, and at very little extra cost.
by Nick Throlson | Jun 4, 2018 | Web Design
You have an excellent logo and a strong brand, however, how well would you say you are utilising them?
Once your high-quality logo is designed and prepared to go, it ought to show up on all your branded material, including your WordPress site. Usually, there are three schools of thought as to where logos can go: in the upper left, top-centre, or top right corners of a page.
Here's our short list of logo placement best practices which will enable you to lift your brand and your business visibility.
Logo Placement Guidelines for the best Logo placement best practices
Attire
Placing logo in your staff uniform is one of the logo placement best practices, coats and other garments that features your brand hues as well as your logo. This strengthens your Best Brand Development and makes it simple for the audience to distinguish representatives. It's likewise shrewd to wear logo attire to occasions and exchange shows to expand your brand past your four dividers.
Logo Positioning in Business Cards
People still love to exchange business cards, so ensure you have some embellished with your logo, slogan and contact data. It's smarter to offer even a straightforward card than none by any stretch of the imagination.
Logo Placement in Business Forms
It sounds self-evident, however, ensure your logo shows up on business forms like invoices, packing slips, receipts, and many more.
Use Company Logo in Mugs, Water Bottles and Koozies
Everybody's centred around remaining hydrated nowadays, and espresso fills work environments. Get some additional promoting oomph with logoed items like mugs and water jugs to use as expressions of gratitude or as giveaways in your public expo or expo stall. What's more, bear in mind the koozies, as well!
Use Logo in Corporate Branding
Your signs and banners are presumably the most evident spots to put your logo. Ensure the picture is sufficiently massive to be discernable at separation, and that you pick textual styles and hues that can without much of a stretch be perused when cruising by. Bear in mind to hang signs and banners in noticeable sight lines.
Stationery and Mailing Labels
Letterhead, envelopes and mailing names are pure vehicles for passing on your brand. Past the logo, pick a paper stock that is by your brand esteems, as reused paper in case you're eco-cognizant. This shows you walk your discussion.
Logo Placement in Ads
If you go to public expos, you'll require a lot of promotional giveaways. Pick choices in light of what your customers and prospects can utilise or need, and how incredible your logo looks on the item.
Totes
There's no telling what number of shabby totes get left at scenes or in lodging rooms after occasions, yet a high-quality tote or protected pack dependably gets brought home since it confronts rehashed utilise. That makes it an announcement for your business.
Take Your Branding to the Next Level
Here are three more approaches to expand your brand
1. Themed Items: Jason Parks, proprietor of Columbus, OH-based digital promoting organisation The Media Captain, utilises branded amplifying glasses is counted as logo placement best practices. "Since we're a pursuit office, this strengthens our centre message. An amplifying glass is additionally a remarkable thing that not many individuals have any longer, so they'll be less disposed to hurl it."
2. Office D?cor: "If you have an open confronting business that is regularly visited by customers, it's an awesome plan to mirror the brand hues all through," clarifies Juily Gite, an outline specialist for Staples? Design Services. "Little touches ? like having the greater part of the espresso mugs in brand hues, or a complementing floor covering in the door ? demonstrate cohesion and polished methodology over the business are counted as logo placement best practices. At the point when a customer strolls through an office space and sees the brand hues rehash, they get a feeling that everything is in agreement. Try not to try too hard, however. A few businesses go somewhat insane and paint their office dividers in brilliant hues to mirror their logo, and it can overpower for guests and representatives alike."
3. Social Media Profiles: Don't neglect to brand your digital business. Utilize your logo as your social media symbol or company profile picture to guarantee that each customer presented to your social media page sees that logo. Furthermore, use the headers on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, which enable you to share pictures. "By utilising the space accommodated a bigger header picture, brands can join their hues as well as logo, a little advance that transforms their social profile into a branded channel," Gite clarifies.
Conclusion
Following above logo placement best practices will help you to manufacture your brand more in public. Feel free to share your thoughts on the given below comment box.
by Nick Throlson | Jun 3, 2018 | Business
In today's digital world, it's unarguable that online businesses are flourishing like never before. And with the boom of the Internet and social media, this form of entrepreneurship is everywhere nowadays. Internet-based businesses are incredibly adaptable and can be advantageous for many reasons. So if you are planning on building your own online business, that's an ideal plan to pursue.Online Business Is A Solid Investment
Online businesses are very appealing to many marketing enthusiasts because they don?t have the traditional hurdles that entrepreneurs commonly experienced from a brick-and-mortar business. Selling online has no restrictions. Digital marketers have the ability to run the business 24/7 without boundaries and can even market to a worldwide audience. It is proven to be highly profitable. Which means the amount of money you put into it, versus what you get back, the profits are way exceeding whatever you're putting into it.The E-Commerce Challenge
Like any other type of business, there's no online business that is going to automatically morph into a huge success. It's not a lottery that you win and gets a million dollar the next day. Online business is also a business process. Although it's not as challenging as building a brick-and-mortar company, there are proper steps that you have to follow.As you are likely aware, in online business, there are a variety of options available. You might find it difficult looking at what kind of business model makes the most sense for you. But here's the trick. All you need is to make sure you?re in a profitable niche market. You have to simply figure out if there's a big demand for your niche ideas.Online Business Can Thrive
'You just have to start it right...'
There are so many business opportunities online. Which one is right for you??Getting involved in a bad business opportunity can be incredibly costly and discouraging. So it's always crucial to recognize and make a good investment. Here, we break down some of the best ideas to help you start a profitable online business.1. Set an achievable goal.
Every business must start with a goal. It is vital for startups. Hence, your goal will serve as your guide to where you are exactly heading. Carefully assess your online business objective. Scale the types of digital businesses that you consider to see if it is something that you like to do and you can do. Make sure that your chosen market will support your goal because it can boost your chances of success. With the digitalization of the world, remember that it is important to be realistic at all times.2. Create a strategic online business plan.
Although building an online business is a lot easier today, you still have to create a strategic plan. It must be a comprehensive outline of the business process that you will be going through. Your plan will convey the organizational structure of the digital business that you will be investing in. It's one effective way to ensure that your business will be on course with meeting your goals.3. Choose a specific niche.
When you start a business online you need to identify the right niche. You have to know who you are targeting to make sales. Be specific because it's going to be the foundation of a profitable and sustainable internet-based business. The niche is a market segment where you identify a specific product or service that you want to market. Finding the right niche is a crucial step in becoming a successful affiliate marketer.4. Build a high-quality website.
After identifying your niche, it's time to build and design a high-quality website. You will be digitally marketing. Your website will be your product or service's home. It is where you will introduce and tell your brand's story. Your website will also help you build a good online presence. There are literally hundreds of thousands of websites circulating on the web today. But that should not discourage you. There are a lot of ways to create your own amazing website. Just remember to keep it simple and easy to navigate. A user-friendly website will sell more.5. Use the power of videos.
Video is the new king when it comes to effective marketing. Don't' forget to incorporate it into your marketing strategy. Videos are perfect for online businesses. They are easy to share and they are cost-effective. A video production process is easy even for first-time entrepreneurs. By creating an animated marketing videoto promote your brand, it's easier to motivate and encourage people to choose you over your competitors.6. Use search engines.
To drive targeted buyers to your site, you must utilize the search engines. One good example is a pay-per-click advertising. It's an easy way to get traffic to your brand-new site. There are unlimited ways by which you can drive traffic to your site but search engines show better results. Remember that your goal is to get more people in your target audience to visit your site. Without the search engines, that task is going to be very difficult. There are many SEO tactics you can perform to increase your rank. Also, there are experts who can help.7. Establish good reputation.
Not everything that we find online is reliable. People are aware that there's a lot of fake information circulating over the web. Therefore, be sure to establish a good reputation online. You can do this by providing real and truthful information in your contents. It's easy to build trust among your target audience if you value transparency in your business. Spread right news everytime you tell your business story.Final Words...
Explore the world of digital marketing. You don?t need the gurus to start your own internet-based business. There's no technical experience is needed. And best of all, you don?t need a lot of startup capital. All you need is the perfect niche and determination to drive your business on top market rank.Online business is a business trend that is likely to continue in the coming decade. So don't restrict yourself to just one e-commerce opportunities. Chances of SUCCESS are high.
If you are planning to open an online shop but you do not want the hassle of having to build a site from scratch, then coming up with a WordPress eCommerce Store using 
