3 Reasons Every Business Owner Should Be Blogging (VIDEO)

You know there are a lot of things you should be doing.

As a business owner, manager or entrepreneur it can be challenging to identify the actions that will generate the best results. When it comes to digital marketing, there is so much information it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

However, there are 3 very good reasons you should be blogging regularly.

Watch the video to learn more.

5 ways to convert your website traffic into qualified leads

photo (6)Your website could be the hardest working salesperson on your team.

Are you using it to it’s best ability?

Here are 5 simple, yet effective changes you can make to your website design to increase the quality & quantity of the leads it generates.

1. Make sure each page has at least ONE call to action. 

A call to action is quite simply the action you are requesting your visitor takes.

That request could be to call you, to sign up for the newsletter, to engage in live chat etc.

Typically you want to make the most important call to action the most prominent, and ideally, only have one per page.

You need to make it crystal clear what you want your visitor to do.

Clarity & focus can be generated by using bright colors, big font, eye catching graphics and even multimedia, like videos.

2. Show social proof, in spades. 

Be sure to showcase case studies, testimonials or even just how many people are part of your mailing list.

This type of social proof acts as an unofficial endorsement of your abilities and trustworthiness.

Trust is hard to build online, so do your best to reassure your website visitors with reviews, formal or otherwise, from others.

3. Make it easy for people to contact you

Give your website visitors several ways to get in touch with you, so they can adopt the way they’re most comfortable with.

Offer live chat, texting, social media channels, a map to your location, hours of operation and any other information people would need in order to get in touch with you.

4. Update your site often.

Or at least, remove any outdated dates. Nothing destroys credibility faster than a website that appears to have been abandoned.

For best results, add a blog to your website and contribute to it at least monthly.

5. Clearly demonstrate the problem you solve

Make sure you are clearly communicating the benefits of what you offer, what makes you different than your competitors and what problem you solve.

If you communicate your benefits clearly, your target market will respond.

Are there any other elements you feel add to your website’s ability to sell for you?

Please share in the comments below!

 

 

 

Could your Site & Social use a little Spring Cleaning?

 

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Attribution: Barret Anspach

“I get more cleaning done in the ten minutes before someone comes over than I do in a week.” ~ Anonymous

How many of you can relate to this quote?

It’s true that tidying up around the house isn’t a real priority for most until a visitor is expected. But what if that house was the Internet? Your website, your social profiles, your SEO activities?

Your presence on the web is available to anyone and everyone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is no notice that people will be there. They just show up.

That is why you need to ensure that AT LEAST once a year you take time out to check in on and update your website and social media profiles. Call it spring cleaning for the web.

Refresh your website

When it comes to web design trends a lot can happen in a year. Here are three trends for 2014 that you will want to consider when reviewing your website:

  • Responsive Design – More and more consumers are viewing the Internet from their mobile phone or tablet. This means that your website needs to be simple and “responsive” to these viewing platforms.
  • Tell a Story – Your website can no longer be only about the sell, it needs to be about the story. Your customers need to know who you are and what your product is about beyond the standard feature sheet. This makes having a blog that much more important, because original content posted consistently is what will continue to drive traffic to your website.
  • Less Text, More Images – One of the biggest trends we have seen over the past year is the transition from text to visual stories. People don’t have time to read long articles anymore. They want short text, videos, or visual representations of data (aka Infographics).

Refresh your Social Profiles

Most people think that once they set up their Social Media Profile for Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn they are done.

However, a lot of things can change in a year, and your social profiles should keep up. Here are three updates you can make, no matter what social platform you are on:

  • Update your profile picture – Have you changed your hairstyle in the past year? Have you changed your fashion style? Would people recognize you if they met you at a networking event? These are all things to consider when reviewing your profile picture. Keeping your profile picture up to date allows people to see how you look today. Also, make sure to keep it consistent across all of your social platforms. This helps to create a consistent brand.
  • Update your ‘About Me’ or ‘Company Description’ – Evolution is a natural occurrence throughout a year. Not only for yourself, but for your company as well. That is why you should take the time to review what you’ve previously written about yourself on your social profiles and see if things have changed. Most likely they have, and taking the time to update this information will keep your followers up to date.
  • Sync your site, search, and social – This is by far the most important point. Make sure to link everything together! Your website should contain links to your social media profiles, and your social media profiles should contain links back to your website. This allows people to find you and connect with you much easier. Do a quick audit to ensure all of these links are present and working.

Want to update your Site, Search, or Social but don’t have the time or resources? Book a consultation with The New Media Group today. Limited spots are available for March, so act fast. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Three Questions to Ask Yourself To Hit the Content Jackpot

http://clubpenguin.wikia.com/wiki/File:Treasure_Chest_Costume_icon.pngContent development and inbound marketing have taken the lead as business development strategies.

But when it comes to figuring out the best way to reel people in, where does one start?

Many companies are beginning to lean towards blogs or other forms of content marketing in order to showcase their expertise, ideas, and experiences.

Developing a content strategy can seem like a daunting task; content marketing isn’t as easy as simply writing a post and pushing it live. How do you know what content your potential customers or clients want to hear? How much should you write? How do you cure writer’s block?

Here are some questions you should ask yourself when trying to take the first step in Content Marketing:

1. What do people (my future customers) want?

When it comes to developing content, I’ve always found this question to be the best place to start: what do people want?

If you can create content that shows people how they can get from where they are now to where they want to be, you’re a million miles ahead of your competitors. Maybe they want to be lying on a beach in the Bahamas, maybe they want to be building their dream house, maybe they want a kick butt new website for their new company.

As the content creator, you need to learn how to show your potential clients and customers all the possibilities that lie ahead of them.

2. What challenges do my customers face?

People don’t realize how many obstacles they overcome everyday. We defeat cold weather with warm clothing, we defeat long commutes with good music or novels, and we defeat exhaustion with coffee and energy drinks.

We’ve faced and defeated these challenges so often that we forget to see them as problems. Content that shows us how to overcome our challenges, whether it means a service or a product will help you show off your expertise and build a more loyal and trusted following.

3. How did I get to where I am now?

A percentage of your content should be about communicating what you know and what you’ve experienced.

By sharing your milestones, whether it’s actively or through remembering fond memories, you are helping your readers learn a little bit about you; showing a person as the face of your business instead of a company logo. You can choose to create content about anything from quick things you learned in a course, or maybe some motivational quotes that have helped you through the hard days.

When you show people that your company is built up of people who are human and have daily tasks and struggles and motivations, you will build stronger customer relationships.

Building a blog is the same as building a community. Your content needs to show people how you can solve their problems, help them reach their goals, and connect with them.

The answers to those three questions will help you create content that will serve you as a tool for customer acquisition, engagement and retention.

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