How to Promote Your Event through Social Media?

Want to reach out to your business customers? Or looking to convert your target audience? Planning an event is one of the best things possible. There you can interact with people, which is likely to add value to your business. However, organizing an event makes no sense if no one is attending it. So, you need to spread the word about the event among your target audience. And this is where you will need marketing.

Is there any specific way that you can use to let people know about your event?

Of course there’s no rule for it. But no matter what you do, you can't ignore the internet these days when it comes to marketing. And if you are marketing your event on the internet, including social media is a must. It's impossible to ignore it in any manner.

But how are you going to use social media for marketing an event?

There are quite a few ways that you can use to promote it.

Here is a sneak peek at some of those methods.

Use Multiple Channels

Do you have a clear idea about your event? Do you know:

• who will be coming to there?
• what will it contain?

It is important that you know the right answers to these questions much before you start using social media to spread the word about it. And you should also use as many channels as available. This is one of the best ways to reach out to maximum people and across a large cross section. Some of the channels that you might use can be:

• Email marketing
• Sponsored ads
• Website
• Podcast
• Webinars
• Social networking

And all these together are going to help you achieve the desired results from your endeavor.

Start a Countdown

When is your event scheduled?

Make the potential audience wait with baited breath for it. Create a buzz around it by creating a countdown clock. You can add such a clock to a Facebook page or even to an event on any social media platform. Share an image, Instagram video, a live digital calendar tool, or an infographic on a regular basis for people who want to follow. A link to the countdown can act as an amazing reminder tool. It can also help to generate excitement around the event, which can lead to its eventual success.

Remember — Being Creative Pays

Are you being creative enough?

The answer to this question is likely to play a major role in ensuring whether people are being attracted towards your marketing process. So, show your creative side as much as possible. Use relevant images for your marketing purpose. Convey more through less, as images speak a thousand words. If you use them, don't forget to add some attraction captions for each of them. Even using infographic about the event can be of great help in the process of reaching out to more audience through social media.

Design Videos that can Go Viral

Just as a picture helps to convey more through less, so does a video. In fact, in a more effective manner. Videos on Facebook have a reach that's 10 times more viral than YouTube videos. So, using videos can help to make more people aware about the event. Besides, as videos can convey a lot of message within a short time, it will be able to reach more people. Moreover, if you can create videos that people will love to share, then they might even go viral on the social media platforms. Just give a tweak to the video to ensure that it meets the requirement of the event. It surely will help a lot in video marketing.

Create a Unique Hashtag for the Event

Gone are the days when hashtags used to be found only on Twitter. Just look around and you will find them almost everywhere - on every social media platform - and for everything as well! So, choose a perfect hashtag for your event. Remember, the hashtag needs to be unique and simple, so that people can remember it easily. Check out on Twitter to ensure that it has not been used already.

After you have created the hashtag, start promoting it everywhere - on your website, social media platforms, banners, and on all places where you can. Soon you will see the impact. People will start using the hashtag when they refer to your event. So, you can use the hashtag to check what people are saying about your event across the internet.

Utilize Testimonials You’ve Received

Have you ever received any testimonial from your customers?

They can be turned into a great marketing tool, which can help you to promote your event. And if these testimonials are for a similar kind of event that you are holding now, then they are likely to be more effective.

But you need to use these testimonials prudently.

• Find the best testimonials that are relevant.
• Put them together.
• Design an attractive video with them.
• Share the video on various social media platforms.

Do you have any video or audio testimonial from any of your clients?

You can share them right away on social media networks. Such video or audio testimonials can play a major role in increasing trust about your business and event among your target audience.

Organize Social Media Contests

Want to make the event more popular using social media? Start organizing contests on social media. It will play a major role in attracting the attention of a lot of people. As awards to the winners, give away free tickets of the event. The incentives will drive them to share the event, which will help to bring more number of audiences. Write about the competition on your company’s blog and share it across social media. It will make more people aware of it and also do the publicity for your event.

Use Social Sharing Buttons

Your website is a platform that's already known to people. So, you can use it to promote your event. But that's not going to be enough at all. You will have to give it a touch of social media as well. You must have shared the news of the event on your website. Add social sharing buttons near those platforms. They will result in spontaneous shares, thus driving the number of attendees up.

Increase Interaction with Platforms Like Instagram and Twitter

Social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, can help a lot to make your events interactive. With these, you can find out what people are saying about your event. This will also let you make necessary changes to make the event more effective and successful.

The advent of social media has transformed the world of marketing to a certain extent. It is a perfect platform to reach out to maximum number of people with minimal effort. And it remains relevant for your event as well.  You can use the social media platforms to maximum effect to make the event successful.

How to Use Social Sharing Buttons for Your Business Website

Want to spread the word about your business? You need to go online. Want to know why?

There are over 3,092,639,500 internet users in the world. So, you can reach out to at least a part of these users. And for that, having a website is just the basic thing.

Just creating a website, however, isn't enough. You need to complement it with an excellent marketing strategy as well. And if you are planning to embrace online marketing, you just can’t leave out social media.

How will it be if you need to exclude social media from your marketing strategy? Of course not great! Your marketing is sure to fall flat on its face then. It is extremely important to create an excellent social media presence for your business. You have to select the social media platforms prudently and establish your presence there. And that’s not all. Ensure that you have the links of those platforms on your website as well. So that you can redirect the website visitors to your social media platforms.

But why should you do that?

Because in the social media platforms, you can drive interaction, converse with your customers and know what they want. This will help you to understand what your target audience want and tweak the offerings accordingly to win them over.

But to do this, you will need social sharing buttons on your business website.

So, you want to add social media buttons on your website?

Here’s a quick look at how you can do that to make them more effective.

Not on All Social Media Platforms

Go through the web. You will find hundreds of social media platforms there.

Is there a necessity to be present on all of them? And do you have to add the buttons of all those social media platforms on the website as well?

No, you don’t. You will have to select some of the social media platforms where you need to be present. And it is important to have a robust presence on the places where you are. But to select the platforms, you have to check out the platforms, which are frequented most by your target audience. And when you are designing the website for your business, ensure that the buttons of those social media platforms are added.

Social Media Button or Widget?

You can either add a social media button or a social media widget. But how to decide which one you want to use?

A social media button will redirect the website user to your web page. However, a social media widget will help the visitors to the website to follow the social media pages right from there. So, they don’t even need to go to the social media page from your business website, but can still follow it. And if you want, you can also include like and share buttons on each of the content that are present on your website’s blog.

Find the Sweet Spot on the Web Page

Where are you placing the social media buttons on your web page? It is important to decide the space prudently, because your web page is quite vast. If you want, you can place them just anywhere. But it won’t work that way. It is a fact that different parts of a web page does not receive equal amount of clicks. So, you need to place the social media buttons in the places that are active maximum number of times. These include:

·         Top right hand corner of the page

·         Left and right sides of the content

·         Bottom of the web page

These spots help to generate a high number of shares and likes, as they engage maximum interaction. Ensure that the social media buttons are above the fold of the web page to increase interaction.

Customized Social Media Buttons

Heard of custom social media buttons? This is one of the best options that you have while designing the social media button for your website. It's one of the best trends as well. The standard buttons are usually a part of the logo. But if you want to go a bit customized, that can be done too. You will need to employ a web designer to create one. These customized social media buttons are known to attract maximum shares. But at times, they are not up to the mark, and hence, are not able to generate results. So, no matter what kind of social media button you are using, make sure they are properly visible and are attractive too.

Social Feeds

How about displaying the social feed on your website? It's true that no one follows it on a regular basis. Yet, it can be a great idea. That's because your website visitors will always be aware of what's the update about your company. This will surely make them interested more about your business. Thus, it can be an easy way to increase your social media fan following. And may be many of them will be visiting your website on a regular basis as well.

If you want to perform well on social media, it's important to have social buttons on your website. They are sure to play an important role to increase business interaction. So, design them properly to make the most out of them.

Top 7 Things That You Must Not Do on Facebook

Let’s admit it, Facebook has become an integral part of our lives. Hardly a day goes by when we do not use it or is not affected by it. In fact, it has been observed that Facebook posts have immense effect on human emotions. People are impacted emotionally by the posts they read or come across on Facebook. In fact, emotions of our friends are said to affect our own emotions.

So, as soon as you are sharing some emotion on Facebook, it’s not remaining confined only to you anymore. Even if you are located at a distance, it is going to affect the emotions of the people who are on your friend list as well. This surely brings upon us a bit of responsibility, which needs to be kept in mind when we are using Facebook.

You surely have a list of friends whose conducts irate you. Surely you don’t want to act in the same way on the social network as they do. Besides, you should also be prudent about using Facebook, so that you don’t use it the wrong way.

What are the most common things that you share on Facebook? Do the types of status that you share seals your place among the most irritating types of Facebook users? You need to be a little wary while drafting your Facebook status update.

So, here’s a list of things that you should never do on Facebook.

DON’T Share Everything

That's the first thing a lot of people needs to understand. There are so many people on Facebook. At least a few hundred of them must be present on your friend list. Each of them must be posting at least something on a regular basis. And you may feel lured to share the same thing with your friends as well. But make sure you select only those things, which might be relevant for everyone. And, of course, refrain from tagging everyone in every post.

DON’T Add and Forget Friends

Facebook is one of the best places to connect with old and forgotten buddies. And to remain in touch with them on a regular basis. You will find a lot of your old friends on Facebook – those whom you had lost touch with. You can add them to your friends list on Facebook. But in most of the cases it is observed that people forget to remain in touch with their friends even after adding them to their Facebook friend lists. So, you should try to strike a conversation with them every now and then. This will help you remain in touch with the friends, even years after you have added them on your Facebook friends list.

DON’T Share Your Routine

Nobody wants to know how you spent every second of your day. Or, something that has happened to you, which is not at all important to anyone else. So, you should never go about updating your status like what you did that afternoon or what your plans are for the night – not until they are also going to be a part of it. So, it’s better not to post every detail of how you spent your day or your plans on Facebook.

DON’T Show Your Quarrelsome Side

Don’t use Facebook as a war platform. You might not like a person. You might have a deep hatred for him. But that does not mean that you will be bringing the swords out on his Facebook wall. At least not if you don’t want the world to know about this combating side of yours.

DON’T Have Personal Conversations on Facebook

If you want no misunderstanding with your friend or partner, then this is a strict no-no. Chats on Facebook, just like the text messages, are the perfect things to create confusions. You might see your logic often misinterpreted, as it is not communicated in the best way while doing it on Facebook. Hence, it is important that you carry out such important conversations in person, rather than relying on Facebook.

DON’T Engage in Stalking

A study has revealed some statistics about cyber stalking. It shows that in the online world, stalkers mostly haunt:

• Facebook – 16%
• Twitter – 3%
• YouTube – 1.5%

So, if you like someone, there’s always a chance that you are following that person on Facebook. Even if you have added her as a friend, refrain from checking out every detail about the person on the social media profile. It’s not difficult to find someone on Facebook if you look for him or her. But that does not mean that you should use this platform to stalk that person.

DON’T Spy on Your Partner

Now, that’s getting too personal. If you have trust issues with your partner in your relationship, Facebook can be one of the best places where you can keep an eye on her activities. Or even, you might not be having any such issue at all. Yet, you may feel jealous or go through your partner’s profile for no specific reason at all. But that's absolutely not what you should do. Facebook's not the place to do that.

DON’T Upload Your Drunk Picture

Believe me, no one wants to see it. You might have had a blast last night. You might have gone to the disco and had been drinking all night. But that does not mean that you will have to upload a drunk picture or a selfie the next morning. It looks really awkward. So, better chuck this idea of sharing your drunk image.

Facebook is one of the best platforms to connect with people. Moreover, it can be a great place for marketing your business as well. However, you need to refrain from doing these things to have a positive result from your Facebook endeavors.

Use of Images on Social Media: An Overview

Have a list of the social media platforms that have photos as their primary content streams?

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Twitter
• Snapchat

Here’s only a few of them. There are several others as well. These websites use the millions of photos that are posted on social media platforms on a regular basis. In fact, visual content is all set to dominate online marketing in 2015.

So, why do so many of the images appear extremely horrible?

The truth is people don’t care what kind of images they are posting on social media. And if you are looking for reasons behind this, there are, of course, quite a few as well.

They will be forgotten soon!

That’s exactly what people think about the images they post on the social media. So, they do not feel any special urge to post something amazing.

Not the Best Devices or Conditions

Most of the images shared on the social media websites are taken on smartphones. And naturally, the cameras of these smartphones are, of course, not as good as the DSLR-clicked images. Besides, the selfies or the photos clicked in a drunk or improper condition are usually far from attractive.

Every One is Not a Photographer

And now the most common problem with social media images – they aren’t click in the best possible manner. Because everyone is not capable of clicking pictures like an efficient photographer. Even if you possess a DSLR, it does not mean that you will be able to click like a pro.

So, lots of low quality images are shared on social media platforms on a regular basis.

But images play an extremely important role in social media marketing. Hence, it is quite important to use the right kinds of images to get maximum results.

Which images perform best on social media?

That’s what you need to know if you are planning your images to perform well on these platforms. And for that, you might even need to put on your photographer’s hat for some moment, as it might help you decide the types of images that are going to perform well on social media.

Different social media platforms require images of different sizes. Here’s a quick look at some of the techniques that you need to know while clicking or using images for your social media platform.

Centering isn’t Perfect Framing

Having OCD tendencies? Try to get out of it. Images don’t need to be placed right in the middle to be perfect. In fact, centered images are not able to attract the attention of the viewers as well as the off-centre ones do. So, it is better you try out different corners and other spaces of the frame as well.

Using Lights for the Images

Lighting is one of the most important aspects of photography. And if you want to make the picture perfect, then the use of lights needs to outstanding. It’s not always easy to move around with your complete light kit. But you have to keep in mind that the natural light can also be used in an excellent manner to create an image.

Background Needs to Selected Prudently

If the object is dark or colorful, white backgrounds work best. This is extremely true. Hence, try to get a white background for the images you are planning to click for social media. However, backgrounds of different other color also perform well when you are displaying light colored objects in front of it. Creating the right contrast between the object and the background is likely to help you significantly.

Try Out the Most Unusual Angles

Are you a professional photographer? You will then understand the importance of the use of various camera angles. And even if you aren’t, you surely like to view the images that are clicked using different types of angles. Remember, the most unusual angles of the images help to click the most interesting clicks. And with it, you will be more successful in attracting the attention of the viewers within a short time. Try out the most difficult angles for the photographs, if necessary. And then find the most amazing results that are going to make the marketing procedure easier for you.

Images play an extremely important role in social media marketing. However, they need to be used in the proper manner to make them effective enough.

Top 5 LinkedIn Mistakes to Avoid to Land Your Dream Job

Planning to change your job soon? You should then start looking for a new one for sure. There might be many ways to do that. And among them, the online world is surely one of the best ways to do it. There are so many websites that might help you find the right kind of job. But you can also go for some social media site for this as well. There are multiple social media websites that can help you find the right kind of job. For example, in addition to using it for connecting at personal levels, you can also depend on Facebook to look for jobs. However, when it comes to connecting professionally, LinkedIn surely rules the roost.

With as many as 347 million members on it, LinkedIn has all the potential that’s necessary to be a perfect job search platform. It can be used to connect with the people who can help you find your dream job. However, there are also a few mistakes that people commit while using LinkedIn for job search. Here’s a quick look at some of them.

Not Uploading Any Image on Profile

It’s your picture that has the ability to make the first impression on your potential employer. And it is the first thing that you should include in your LinkedIn profile when you are planning to use the platform for job search. LinkedIn expert Nicole Williams says, “You’re seven times more likely to have your profile viewed if you have one. Like a house that’s on sale, the assumption is that if there’s no photo, something’s wrong.” So, if you are eager to impress your potential employer immediately, the best thing that you can do is upload a picture in your LinkedIn profile. It’s sort of essential to use this image in the LinkedIn profile.

Using Someone Else’s Image

Do you have an image for your profile on LinkedIn? Is it your original image? If it’s not, then you are surely making a major mistake. There are several profiles on LinkedIn, which do not have the original photos of their owners. And the image should also show you in your professional best. LinkedIn is one of the major professional profiles. Hence, it should not show you in your personal avatar at all. You need to appear professional there, so that you can attract the attention of your potential employers.

Ignoring the Past Experience Part

You are looking for a job through LinkedIn. But is it the first job that you are looking for? Are you a fresher? Or, do you have some kind of experience of working somewhere else? Even if the job you have done is not relevant to what you are currently searching for, you should still show the experience in your profile. And the space for experience in the LinkedIn profile should not be left blank. You should fill it up with relevant details. You can find several profiles on Twitter, which do not have these details. And this is a mistake that backfires, especially when you are looking to enhance your LinkedIn profile to find a new job.

Not Giving Enough Attention to the LinkedIn Summary

An old format of resume had a part called the summary, which used to put forth your career highlights. The LinkedIn profile is necessary to attract the attention of your potential employers. So, it is also important to create a great summary that’s going to act as a resume for you in a way. You need to fill it up. But it has been observed that many profiles don’t have that part completed. So, it’s better to fill up the LinkedIn summary to complete the profile in a proper way.

Not Using the Privacy Settings of LinkedIn

Are you aware of the privacy settings that LinkedIn offers? There are quite a few of them. And it’s essential for you to have a proper idea about each of them. You don’t want your current boss or colleagues from the present company to know that you are planning to change the job, do you? Of course not. Besides, while looking for a new job, you are sure to have conversations with different people. You should also not let your employers have a look at those. And for this, it is essential to have the privacy settings in such a way that it is blocked from people whom you don’t want to see this.

If you are planning to use your LinkedIn profile to search for a job, it is essential for the profile to have every characteristic to attract the attention of the potential employers. And if you are successful in that, you will surely have the chance of landing your dream job right from LinkedIn. But for that, it is essential to do away with the common LinkedIn mistakes to get the best results.

Content Marketing for Startups: A Strategic Overview

Establishing a business isn't an easy task. However, running it successfully is far more challenging and difficult. As a startup, your business is like a child that needs a lot more attention than the grownups. It is essential to measure every step of the content marketing endeavors for your business. And if you can do that prudently, you can surely expect an amazing return from it in terms of enhanced revenues.

When you are planning the strategies for your startup, it’s essential to plan your content marketing properly as well. Because content still rules the web world.

So, how can you plan content marketing for your startup?

Here’s a quick look at some of the most effective content marketing strategies that can help your startup grow:

• Try to engage the customers; don’t focus only on selling
• Offer some value to your potential customers
•  Focus on topic selection
• Create short and crisp content
• Bring diversity in the content planning
• Include breaks of different types

If you can plan your content creation and marketing properly, it can come in extremely handy for your business.

Engage Customers before Selling

For any profit for your business, you need to sell some of the products that you have. But that comes at a later stage. At the very beginning, you need to engage the customers. And only then you can expect them to convert them for better business deals. So, the first thing that you need to do with your content is to tell your story. But you should not do this only because it will act as a sort of publicity for your company. Instead, try to establish your brand through the tale. Make people understand the principles for which your startup stands, your long-term objectives. Let them know how your startup can add value to them. Tell them the challenges that you have faced and how you’ve overcome them. Remember, a story about “beating the odds” always attracts people.

Provide Value for the Customers

Add value to your potential customers. That’s one of the best ways possible to curve out a niche for your brand. A startup, of course, does not have any fan following at the beginning. That is, only until it starts offering some values to its potential customers. But once you put yourself in your customers’ shoes and start sharing effective solutions for the common challenges faced by them, they are sure to notice you. Know their pain points and offer answers for the same. And this can be a great way forward towards establishing your brand and making it a well-known name among your target audience.

Select a Topic Prudently

Selecting a topic is one of the most important things in process of the content marketing. Doing it correctly can be one of the best ways to get the content marketing of your startup rolling successfully. Remember a few things while selecting it:

• Write about something that’s in-vogue.
• Select a topic, which will perform well.

And for this, again you will have to put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Try to understand what they are looking for most and offer it through your content.

Make It Short and Crisp

When will people read the content for your startup? You surely don’t have a definite answer to this question. While they might sit at home and spend a long time reading the content, they might even go through it within a short time during a journey. And in this busy world, you can’t expect your target audience to invest hours together to complete reading a content. So, it’s better to create something that can be completed and comprehended within a short time. So, make the content short. Make it crisp and easy to understand to get your idea across within a short time.

Share Diverse Content

You are performing the content marketing for your startup. You are posting long blogs and articles on a regular basis. Yet, no difference is visible. There might be a simple reason for that. People these days don’t have time to go through long blocks of text. So, try to add some variety in the content that you post. You can use:

• Videos
• Images
• Infographics

Make all these an integral part of your content marketing strategy to keep the audience glued to the content you share. The more diverse content you share, the more you will be able to attract them.

Create Breaks in between the Texts

You might share loads of information through the content you are sharing for your startup. But make sure they are not just chunks of text. Remember, you need to create an F-shaped pattern in the text you are creating to get the best response for the content from the readers. For this, you have to add breaks in between. Add images to convey what you want as much as you can. Besides, make maximum use of the white space on the web page to ensure that the text isn't creating a tiring experience.

While setting up a business, it’s essential to measure every step that you are taking. You might even take the help of social media to spread the content across and increase its viewership. It will help to enhance the brand name of your startup as well.

Top Tips to Start Your Own Blog Successfully

Blogging! Well, it seems this is the buzzword these days. Especially in the field of digital marketing, which itself is booming right now. And besides using it for the business marketing purpose, a lot of people are doing it out of sheer passion and interest, or even for some extra income. But is it really that easy to start a blog and get it running? Well, the truth is, it isn’t. You need to follow a few specific steps to get started on the journey of blogging. And even after you do that, there needs to be proper follow ups to ensure that your blog performs well and attracts readers on a regular basis.

Choose a Correct Niche

Blog Writing Tips

Well, no matter when and where you are writing, this has to be the first step when planning your blog. And you need to do this prudently enough as well. But how can you choose the topic for your blog? What is a ‘correct’ niche? Is there some specific subject, which you love? May be something in which you have a deep knowledge? These can really be a great way to find the topic for your blog. You need to find the right niche or topic, which usually has a high traffic. If you are writing on some topic, which no one searches for on the internet, well, it’s of no use at all.

Select the Name Prudently

The Bard might have said: “What’s in a name”, but it is better you don’t pay any heed to it while selecting the name of your blog. This is one of the most important things that you need to attend. The selection of the blog’s name needs to be prudent. You have to ensure that the name is attractive enough for the viewers. Besides, they should also be able to remember the name with ease.

Read Major Blogs in the Same Niche

Do you spend enough time reading blogs written by others? Especially the most popular ones in your niche? Well, if you don’t, start it immediately. Without reading them, it is difficult for you to have a clear idea about the topics, the market and the upcoming trends there. So, you need to select a few major blogs about the market that you are targeting and keep a tab on them. You should follow their updates on a regular basis. This is likely to give you an insight of the market and the things happening there.

Target the Most Searched for Keywords

You need to target the best keywords as well. Make full use of the different types of keyword suggestion tools, such as Google Adwords, SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool, and so on. But what’s the use of writing on keywords, which are not searched by anybody at all? So, make sure you choose those keywords, which are extremely popular in Google search. And when choosing them, keep in mind both long-tail and short-tail keywords. For example, if you are planning to write on a trip to an island in Malaysia, you can add both – ‘island trip’ or ‘island trip in Malaysia’. While the former is a short-tail keyword, the latter is its long-tail counterpart.

Try to be Different, Unique

Be Different

What is the niche you have chosen? Is it unique? Probably not. And you must be knowing that as well. There are zillions of blogs on the web and many of them might already be dealing with the topics that you are writing on. So, why should people be reading your blog? That’s why you need to be different. You have to offer them a new and unique perspective even on the age-old topics. This is surely going to be difficult. However, this can be the magic touch that your blog needs. Something, which will attract maximum traffic within the shortest possible time. So, try to be unique and different.

Use the Most Attractive Images

Images can do wonders to your blog. Yes, you read it right! Even if your blog has nothing to do with photography, you have to include excellent photos in it. Photographs, if they are good enough, are surely the most attractive component of a blog page. A blog with an enchanting photograph experiences much more share than one without an image or with a drab one. So, it is a great idea to include a relevant image in your blog, which will make it more attractive for the viewers. They will share it more than ever before. This, in turn, will help your blog to gain more popularity among the readers, which is expected to reflect through the positive impact on the balance sheet as well.

Maintain Regularity in Posting

How frequently are you going to post in your blog? There might be a number of people who may follow your blog on a regular basis. So, you need to provide them with new insights with every blog post. You can do it once or twice a week. If possible, you can also create a number of blogs on a daily basis. Whatever you decide, always stick to it. Try to be a frequent blogger and do not fail to post on the scheduled day. This is surely going to create a sense of anticipation among the regular readers for your blog post.

Start Building Email Marketing List from Day One

When you have posted in your blog, the most important thing you will look for is readers. You will try to reach out to as many readers as possible with your blog. And one of the best ways to do that is through email marketing. Create a specific email referring to the blog. Make sure that you can send as many emails to your target audience as possible. And for that, you will need an extensive list of email addresses. Try to start building your email marketing list from day one. It will turn out to be one of the most important steps for marketing your blog.

These few steps can come in extremely handy and help you establish a blog with great success within a short time.

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Easy Ways to Increase Your Social Media Fan Following

These days, it is essential for any business to have a significant online present. The moment anyone comes to know about your business, the first thing they will ask for is your website address. And beyond that, it is necessary to use social media in the best possible manner. In recent times, social media can be one of the most important platforms that can help you expand your business. For this, you have to reach out to maximum people. And the only way you can do that is by increasing the number of fans on your different social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and so on. Only then you can expect your posts and shares on these social media platforms to reach maximum number of people.

Ask Questions to Know the Answers

No matter how big your company is, the questions that you need to ask while performing social media marketing is just the same as anyone else:

* Who are your target customers and where can you find them?
* What are they looking for?
* How do you need to communicate with them?

The answers to these questions are the solutions to maximizing your social media fan following. Here’s a few tricks that you can try.

Content Remains the King!

Content is the King! No matter how many times you have heard this phrase, it holds true even to this day. Especially in the field of marketing. To help your social media profile perform well, add high quality content in it. Always remember that the awesome content makes it easier for you to connect with your target audience. Besides, it gives you something to share on the social media platforms that can be of interest to people.

You can create blogs or websites with high-quality content and share different topics from there on your social media page. Add interesting images to your blog and add contents on a regular basis. It will help you create an online persona and enhance the chances of getting more number of fans and followers.

Interaction. Interaction. And Interaction!

Want to increase your fan base on social media? Interaction needs to be your key. It is easier to convince people to like your fan page on a social media platform if they know you. For this, you need to build a strong relationship with them. The best way to do this is by interacting on the social media platforms. Reply to the queries they make on your posts. Besides, engage in regular conversations with people who show even a minimum interest in your products and services. Try to win over them to make them your fans on the social media platforms. No matter what happens, being social on social media is likely to play a key role in helping you engage people on social media and expand your fan base.

Originality Rules the Roost

When you are planning to build a fan base online, originality remains the key. Be it for content or for visuals, originality is something that defines a creation best. Even for videos and audios, visitors to your website or social media page prefer original one’s to the concept of curating content available online.
Here’s a look at the figures:

Add Social Sharing Plug-ins on the Page

Share your content and the news about your business on social media. The number and the popularity of different social media platforms are increasing at a fast pace with every passing day. Millions of users are joining these regularly. Hence, spreading the news about your business among these social media users can be a great step forward towards expanding your fan base. But for this, you need to make sure that the blog or the web page that you are sharing with the readers should be easily shareable. Adding social sharing plug-in on the pages can be a good way to ensure that the website will become readable to the social media users. Once they like it, they are also expected to become a fan of your organization or the products and services that you offer.

Use Videos in an SEO-friendly Manner on Social Platforms

Never ever think that the video sharing platforms will not help your website rank well. The videos can very well rank high in search engine results. However, for that, it is necessary to make the videos SEO friendly. In most cases, enough care is not taken care about this. It is essential to add some copy to the video, be it in the title or in the description. It can also be made keyword rich to ensure that it is ranks high in search engine results. Make sure that you include some of the most important videos on your web pages as well as one the social media page. If they are good enough, they can surely attract a good amount of fan following.

When you are taking about marketing, audience building is not an option, but imperative for your survival in the process. And thanks to the numerous members that the social media platforms have, they are just the perfect platform to do this on a large scale. Yet, you don’t need to spend a lot of time for this as well. All you need to do is make full use of the social media websites. You will have to focus on creating an extensive fan base on these platforms, and soon you can see your business flourish, almost in no time at all.

[Image courtesy: http://www.thesmartmkter.info/2014/05/content-is-king-101-ways-to-improve.html ]

Love in the Time of Social Media

It is inevitable: for people to fall in love. It has happened over the ages and will continue. What changes is the way of expression. From the earliest of times, people have expressed their love through letters. Then came the age of technology. Telephones and mobile phones burst into the scene. Along with phone calls came the short messages. These were the primary media through which people started professing their love for their partners. And now is the age of social media. Does it really have any impact on the world of the lovers? Has it been able to become the Cupid’s bow for the lovers these days?

Online Relationships Last Longer

Even in this present age, when marriages are falling apart every day, relationships that blossomed online are expected to last longer, says a report from The Telegraph, UK. The world of social media is taking this concept a bit further. It has transformed today’s dating scene and made it easier for people to find their partners.

Even the data speaks for it. According to Social Media Week:

• 10% of the Americans have tried online dating
• One third of all the married Americans met online

Towards a World of Only Social Media Relationships

Let’s look a bit further into the future. A few years from now, there might not be any new lover who would be able to remain oblivious of social media. In fact, this virtual world is likely to have a deep impact on the way love blossoms and transforms into a long lasting partnership. No matter where you are sitting, you can just log on to some of the popular social media websites and check out a guy or a girl’s profile. Thus, you can know his or her choices, likes, and dislikes. This gives you the chance to decide whether you want to meet that person or not.

Finding the Perfect Date

The concept of dating website is not new. But when you want to join a dating website, a new question pops up: why limit yourself to just one site with only a few members? It is true that there is no reason any more to be confined to the sites that have minimum members, especially when you can join one having billions. That’s where social media becomes relevant.The social media websites have numerous members with whom you can connect with ease.And on these platforms, you can find numerous groups for dating as well. 

 There are hundreds of such groups on different social media websites. You can find several likeminded people here and get a much larger option to choose from. As all these groups are meant for dating, you can choose the person you want to go out on a date with.

Love Prevails across Platforms

Be it Facebook, Instagram or any other social media platform, they have always been the perfect platform for love to blossom. There are numerous instances of people getting introduced to one another over the internet and then falling for each other. And of course, there’s the story of that girl who accepted an Instagram marriage proposal. So, with every such incident, social media has grown more and more popular among the young and aged alike to express the love for their partners.

Perfect for Long Relationships
 

Worried about the distance? There’s no reason to be tensed with social media around. It has been noticed that for relationships to thrive across distances, social media is one of the best tools. But for a new relationship, it is better to avoid social media, says online dating guru Julie Spira. According to her, social media ruins the mystery that is attached to a relationship in its first few days.

However, as time passes and the relationship progresses, social media plays an important to role to keep the fire burning.

Social Media Even Beyond the Courtship

Even moving on after the months or years of courtship, it is easy to see how the impact of social media lingers. From the day the wedding is arranged to the moment of marriage, you will find several posts about it on the social media profiles of the love bugs. Besides, it is quite obvious that if you want any picture of the main and the associated events, all you need to do is visit the profile of the lovers. You will find numerous images of the bride and the groom at the event. All these are usually posted on social media by the lovers as well as their friends and families.

In this age of social media, almost nothing remain out of its radar. Not even the myriad human emotions. And love is a major one among them. Although it has remained over the years, yet the advent of social media has been able to give it a completely new dimension. It's really a great feeling to be able to change the relationship status on social media from single to committed. And with every passing day, more and more people are expected to use social media for relationships.

[Image courtesy
http://www.serenityinthestorm.com/
http://thelarrylowe.com/ ]

Top Social Media Marketing Strategies for Your Startup

Looking to take your startup a step forward? Want to reach out to more people and spread the word about your new business and its offerings? Look back a few decades and you will find that this task was, no doubt, extremely difficult for any startup. The times, however, have changed. With the arrival of social media, it has become much easier to reach out to people across the globe to spread the word about your business. However, being a startup, you need to use social media prudently. The social media strategies of your startup need to be completely different from those of an established brand.

Select the Right Platform Prudently

Want to plan the social media marketing for your startup? You have all the social media platforms at your disposal that any established brand can use. It is always difficult to decide, which social media websites to use. There are quite a few of them and many of these, such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and others are quite popular. In fact, the trick lies in selecting the right social media platforms for your startup. No matter which one you are using, try to get the most out of it. And to do this, it is important to coordinate the activities on all the social media sites. Keeping the activities as standalone on some of these sites will hardly be of any help.

Optimize the Website and Blog for Social Media

Don’t have any website or blog of your business yet? You need to develop one immediately. These days, you cannot spend even a day without a website for your business and yet think of marketing it among a large number of people. A blog is equally important for the prospects of your business. Make sure these are properly optimized for social media. The icons for different social media websites should be properly displayed in the pages of the blog. This is expected to increase the number of shares of these pages across social media and thus, extend the reach of your business.

Participate in Conversations and Answer Queries

When your business is new, you should take extra steps to let people know about it and answer their queries. Social media is the best platform to do this. Participate in different conversations about your business. Remaining active on social media is probably the best thing you can do. Reply to all the queries and comments, which are made on your posts on these platforms. However, it is important to take a balanced approach to your activities on social media and focus on the minute details. It can come in handy in the long run to help your business perform better. However, being a startup, you need to keep an eye on whatever you are saying. It is important to ensure that none of your comments have any negative impact on your business.

Make Full Use of Groups and Communities

Social media platforms usually have numerous groups and communities. In each of them, different types of topics are discussed. When you are planning to use social media for your startup, try to make full use of these groups. Join a relevant group with large number of members. Post about your business on these groups and communities to ensure that all the members can see your posts and come to know about your business. Engage in these communities to start a discussion about your business. You can also create a page of your business on social media and post information about your business there. This will ensure that people who are connected to your social media profile on that specific platform will be informed about your business.

Go for Visually Engaging Updates

Gone are the days of text-based updates on social media. Always remember the old adage: a picture speaks a thousand world. Use the latest social media platforms, such as Pinterest and others, which allows you to share pictures. They surely offer the shortest way to drive your idea home. Use bright and colorful images to attract the attention of the viewers. You can even create small videos and spread the word about your business, which is the in-thing now. No matter what you do, it is important to be visually engaging to fetch results. They can even go viral on social media, thus making your business familiar among a large number of people. This is likely to help increase the shares of your posts on these social media websites, thus helping you reach out to more number of people.

Social media appears to be the perfect marketing tool for today. It offers the opportunity to reach out to millions at one go. Hence, it can be used to spread the awareness about your startup and reach out to the maximum number of people within the shortest possible time.

[Image Courtesy:
http://ridiculouslyefficient.com/

http://www.thebrainchildgroup.com/blog/2013/07/startup-social-media-marketing/]

A Few Stories that You can Use for Marketing on Social Media

These days, social media is almost everywhere. No matter what you do, you need to be present on the social media platforms. And if you own a business, not having a social media presence can be the biggest blunder you can make. It is one of the most outstanding ways through which you can remain connected with your audiences. However, just remaining connected with them and communicating nothing is no good. You need to keep them engaged and ensure that they are enjoying your presence. The best way to do this is by telling stories. And in social media, you can tell a lot of stories to keep your target audience interested.

You Know Your Own Story Best

What is the first story you should tell the people with whom you are connecting on social media? What is the story that you know the best? It has to be your own story. And believe it or not, people on social media who are connected with you are eager to know about it. This is why using this story on social media can be a real good marketing ploy. They want to know several things about you:

• Who you are?
• What are your hobbies and interests?
• What you do off work?

They also want to know what you are passionate about, your values and so on. Share with them your future plans through the social media pages. Your story is likely to make them interested and keep them glued to your social media profile for a long time.

Tell about Your Business and Company

The page you should set up in a social media platform is that of your company. Hence, while telling the stories, never miss out on your company’s stories. There are so many things to tell! And your stakeholders are always eager to know about the company. Start with the history and then move on with time. Share your present experiences and future plans. These are likely to help you keep the audience interested. Some of the most common questions that pop up about your business include:

• Why you had incorporated the company?
• Who had inspired you?
• How do you continue performing well day in and day out?
• Have you ever failed? If yes, what were the reasons?
• What have you accomplished over the years?

You can check out a few examples on different social media websites. Follow major brands and check out how they manage their social media platforms. You can try to follow their footsteps and this is likely to come in handy in the long run.

Customers are Important as Well

Customers should form the core of the business universe of a company. Only then you can expect outstanding results in the long run. But how can you let the customers know that you care about them? Share their stories on your social media page. You can point out the difference that the customer experienced before and after using the products and services offered by you. Include stories about different fans that your business have. How did your business help them? It will be really great if you can have some positive testimonials from the clients. You can display them on the social media profile to make it more interesting.

Share Your Vision for the Business

What are your vision about your business? Where do you want to reach after about 10 years? You need to understand what are the strengths and the weaknesses that your business exhibits. Decide the changes that you would like to make in your business. Keep thinking about the things of the business, which you would like to improve. Share the thought with the fans and stakeholders. Take their advice as well and check out whether it really helps.

Communicate with the fans and let them know how your business moves in line with their values. Share with them why you feel your business is special and unique, completely different from most of your competitors.

What Stories Inspire You Most?

Apart from telling your own story or those of your stakeholders, you can also share something else. If you know a few stories, which you feel are really inspiring and will have the same effect on the others as well, post them on your business page. They are surely going to be shared by most of the people who read them.

Stories are always the best way to communicate with your audience. They help to add a touch of interest in the otherwise mundane things. This is what makes them more popular than almost everything else. Including these stories on your social media platform can help to remain connected with your audience and hence, the business is expected to perform better than ever before.

[Image Courtesy:

http://blog.marketamerica.com/blog/social-media-monday-top-stories-from-around-the-web
http://mashable.com/2010/10/01/facebook-photos-street-view-social-network/ ]

DESIGNING A STARTUP WEBSITE: TOP 5 MISTAKES YOU SHOULD NOT COMMIT

These days, when you tell anyone that you own a business, what is the first thing they ask? It is surely this: “What is the website address of your business?” Well, the fact is: in recent times, if you have a business, you need to have a website. But it is not an easy task to set up the website while you are busy establishing your business. There are a few steps that need to be followed while designing the website of a start up business. You need to identify your target audience and cater to their needs. Besides, when you are planning to build a new website for a startup, it will be quite different from what you would have needed if you had wanted to redesign an already successful website. Want to fail miserably with your startup's website? Here are a few mistakes that you can commit.

Going for a Highly Complicated Website

Want to drive away visitors from your website? A complicated site can be of great help to you then. Well, to be frank, you will always want people to know about your business and spend some time surfing your website. For this, you need to have a simple website. The navigation needs to be planned properly. You should always try to ensure that people can move from one part of the website to another without any hassle. You can keep a stationary navigation tool bar, which is in vogue these days. It can add to the site’s simplicity and yet, make it easy for the visitors to use.

Not Concentrating Enough on Logo Creation

Include a logo for your company. While selecting it, look for multiple options. Choose a company color and include it in the logo. Make your logo unique. Think of something, which will help you stand out in the crowd. Ensure that it has a great brand recall value. Use the logo to build up the brand value of your business. It is the major component, which will build up the identification of your business. In short, the logo is going to be the ‘face’ of your business. It will also help to make your business appear unique in a crowd. Hence, you should focus properly on building the logo. Design it yourself if you have relevant experience, or else go for a professional service provider.

Creating a Non-responsive Version

Planning to create a website that has only a PC-compatible version? If you are eager to see your business website fail miserably, then go ahead! These days, you will find almost everyone roaming around with an internet-friendly mobile device in their hands. And when you are creating a website, most of them will use that device to view it. If you have only a PC-compatible version, the site will appear distorted. This will also come in handy to increase conversion and retention rate of your website.

Designing the Whole Thing Yourself

Have you ever been involved in any designing task? Do you have any experience of working on the designs of a website? If not, it is better not to take up the task yourself. Always go for a professional help for this purpose. You can appoint a design cofounder. Find someone who is as passionate about designing as you are about the business. Remember, many of the websites that became popular with time, such as Square, Pinterest and others started with design cofounders. However, even if you have a design cofounder, you need to keep an eye on how the appearance of the website is turning out to be.

Not Collaborating Even When You are Inexperienced

It is possible that you might not want to employ any design co-founder. The only option you will have then is to outsource the work. Appoint an individual designing freelancer or an agency for the purpose. You can find a large number of designers who are capable of creating innovative designs. You can collaborate with any of these freelancers to give a great look to your website. Always remember, collaboration is the key to achieve success.

While designing the website for your startup, keep a simple target in mind: do not end up being just another startup. Do not take ages on planning and end up never creating a website. Rather, it is better to jump into the project and find a direction while on the job. Make a visually attractive website with easy navigation to ensure that the visitors stay for a long time once they land there.

[Image Courtesy

http://www.theventureedge.com/2011/08/25/common-mistakes-startup-design/
http://www.alleywatch.com/ ]