Category Archives: One Minute Tips

5 Tips To Save Time On Your Web Marketing

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If you are a business owner and you’re strapped for time but you know you still need to be web marketing, keep reading.

Web MarketingWe are going to cover 5 ways that you can increase your effectiveness and decrease the time you spend web marketing yourself.

Tip #1 Be Strategic

You don’t necessarily need to be engaging in all the web marketing activities out there.
What you do need to be doing is engaging the ones that are most effective. Historically, the most effective web marketing tactics are

  1. Email Marketing
  2. Video Marketing
  3. Blogging

So just focus on what works and what will attract your target audience to your website or to your web property. Work smart, not hard and save yourself some time.

Tip #2 Multi-task

Your smart phone has the power of a large computer so why not use it?
When you’re on the road, stuck in traffic, you can actually get your phone to type your blog posts for you. Use the voice mode tool and get those audio files transcribed or you can write an email to yourself and with the microphone icon, when you speak it will actually transcribe and write those blog posts for you. Talk about a handy tip.

See above- the microphone icon on the bottom left will type as you speak - (iphone 6s)

See above- the microphone icon on the bottom left will type as you speak – (iphone 6s)

Tip #3 Automate Where Possible

Take advantage of automating tools especially when it comes to social media.
One of my favorite tools is Buffer for a couple of reasons. It helps me by suggesting content that I can then post to my network. As well it lets me schedule my post in advance. So it helps me both curate content and plan my posts in advance.

Tip #4 Delegate

And don’t be afraid to delegate. You don’t necessarily need to be doing all of your web marketing activities yourself. If you take a little bit of time and create a to-do-list with detailed instructions, you can then delegate that to an assistant, a part-time worker, an admin assistant or a an agency that specializes in offering done-for-you marketing management . Investing the time up front will allow your future self to have a little more time to do what you’re best at.

Tip #5 Repurpose Your Content

Make your content work hard! If you’re creating videos or blog posts, you can literally repurpose one piece of content into up to 10 pieces. That translates to more content for less effort, more clicks to your website and more sharing on social media.

How do I repurpose my content?
Summarize a blog post into a video or transcribe a video into a blog post.
Save your video as an audio file and upload as a podcast. Create an image with a quote or an infographic highlighting key points of your blogpost . And you can repurpose that content and get a lot more bang from your bucket than just using at once.

That’s your One Minute Tip. If you found this valuable, please consider sharing with your network and don’t ever miss a tip if you subscribe to my YouTube channel. Thanks so much for watching.

5 Proven Ways To Increase Blog Post Engagement

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blog post engagement

1. Evaluate your blog post’s headline.

Is it catchy enough?

If you’re struggling with catchy headlines or coming up with something that rolls off the tongue or piques your viewers’ interest, go to BuzzFeed.com and check out some of the headlines there for inspiration.

Is it Catchy Enough?

(above- Buzzfeed.com encourages readers to spend hours on their site, clicking headings that pique our curiosity)

You want to pique reader interest so ensure your headlines play on our curiosity.

Pay a lot of attention to your headlines. About 50% of the effort you’re putting into your post, you should be putting into your headlines.

2. Pay attention to your formatting.

Make sure that your posts are easy to scan, not necessarily read.

  1. Use short sentences.
  2. Use lots of white space
  3. Summarize key points in bold headings
  4. Bold key points
  5. Italicize sparingly
  6. Use bullets and numbering
  7. Provide at least 3 links to resources you mention in the post

Pay attention to your formatting

(this post from LinkedIn has all the right ingredients to encourage me to keep reading)

3. Use images and multimedia.

Historically, posts that are shared the most are the ones that have up to 15 images.

So at least use one image. If you can include a video as well, absolutely go for it.

People want to see photos and they want to see videos more than they want to read a big wall of text.

The most successful posts used images to show someone exactly how to do what they’re describing in the post, not just what to do.

Tips on using images:

  1. Take pictures using your smartphone or screenshots
  2. Pay for stock images
  3. Use free images found on the internet – search Creative Commons licence on Flikr.com for example.

HOT TIP on images:

See the eyeball heatmap image below. For any of you unfamiliar with a eyeball heat map, it tracks the amount of time people spend looking at various parts of a webpage. The longest times are red, followed by orange, yellow and then green.

According to KISS metrics, having an image of either a baby or a lady looking at the text you want someone to focus on, will encourage them to do so.

Hot tips on images

4. Longer blog posts are actually better

Recent studies show that posts over a thousand words are getting shared more and more often because they provide more value.

Instead of just skimming the surface of your topic, dive a little deeper. Provide a little bit more information and details to your audience and you will get rewarded.

5. Ask for what you want.

The very last thing a lot of folks forget to do is ask for interaction.

Ask for people to share your post with their network. Ask for comments and you will receive!

That’s your One Minute Tip. If you found this valuable, please consider sharing with your network. And if you don’t ever want to miss a tip, subscribe to my YouTube channel for weekly tips in your inbox. Thanks so much for watching.


Video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l9RXALzJyY

Improve your website with these 3 things every customer wants

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Hey folks! Welcome to your one-minute tip! Today I wanted to be inspired by the Port of San Francisco, which is where I am. You can see the beautiful Bay Bridge behind me to talk to you about really easy updates that you can make to your website to get better customer satisfaction.

1. Make it easy to contact you:

So the very first thing is to add your phone number or a large Contact Us button to the very top of your website on every single page so customers don’t have to hunt and search to contact you.

For an intermediate step, you can also add a live chat on your website which you can sync to your smartphone to connect with your website visitors in real time.

website marketing

2. Post your hours of operation:

Especially important for brick and mortar businesses,  add your hours of operation either to the very top of your website or at least to your contact page. A lot of people are searching for your hours of operation and you don’t want to leave them frustrated.

3. Help people find you with a map

For those of you with a local business or store front, be sure to add a Google map so people can get directions and find out exactly where your business is located.

That’s your One Minute Tip. Thanks for watching. And if you found this valuable, please consider sharing with your network and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and never miss a tip. Thank you.

How to market your business – using only your smart phone

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Today’s question comes from Joy who is wondering,

How do I market my business online just using my smart phone? I don’t have a laptop yet.

 

Joy, that’s a great question. I know you run a jewelry business – congratulations on that!

So what you want to do is change your thinking: You’re not at a disadvantage not having a laptop. In fact, your smart phone has more power than laptops from 10 years ago.

Step One for Mobile Marketing: Create as much content as you can

Start creating multimedia using your phone; think photos and videos. Some ideas for creating content could be:

  • You can take pictures before, during and after your jewelry making process.
  • You can take photos of people wearing your jewelry.
  • Small videos on how to repair jewelry.
  • Videos or images of how to wear jewelry- with what clothes, shoes etc.

One of the biggest obstacle people face typically with web marketing is creating visual content and you’ve got all that power in the palm of your hands.

Step Two for Mobile Marketing: Be present where your customers are

The second thing is setting up accounts where people are going to see your wonderful content.

Instagram, Pinterest & Facebook are three really great accounts to get for your business.

Download those apps and start uploading your content there all the time.

Instagram is rolling out a “Buy Now” button. Facebook already has one and Pinterest also has that coming out in the States and hopefully soon will be in Canada as well.

Takeaway: You can start selling your products directly on these social media networks.

It’s very important, once you’ve got those profiles set up on both those accounts, to “optimize” them so to generate sales for you.

Some ways to optimize your profiles could be:

  • Indicate in your profile how people can actually purchase your product.
  • How they can contact you
  • Your shipping and return policies.

smartphone marketing

Step three for mobile marketing: Create your community.

And my last tip is, go out and engage with people strategically.

So perhaps fashion boutiques or people who do make up. Or anybody that has the same customer base that you would want for yourself.

And also use hashtags.

Use “#YYJ” for the local Victoria hashtag. #jewelry, #fashion, #style, etc. Experiment with hashtags to see which ones draw the most likes and comments on your photos.

That’s your One Minute Tip.

If you found this valuable, please consider sharing with your network. And if you never want to miss a tip, subscribe to my YouTube channel and you’ll get a tip a week in your inbox.

Thanks so much for watching!

How to run a blog that makes money (Case Study)

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Did you know there are entrepreneurs who are making money and getting free stuff from their blogs?

Learn exactly what these successful bloggers are doing to generate revenue & get free stuff. Check out the interview below.

BLOG THAT MAKES MONEY

CTV news reports on how to run a successful fashion blog, interviewing 2 successful bloggers and CEO of The New Media Group, Laurel Lindsay.

Check out the video clip & transcript below.

 

Transcription below:
Joe: Look who’s back tonight. Lisa Perry back from Greece with Luis Hart. Trip was good?
Lisa: It was fantastic. I highly recommend Greece.
Joe: Our style has fallen apart in the last couple of weeks. We’re going to get that back on track tonight with a couple of local fashion bloggers.
Lisa: That’s right. I’m back with blogging. Joe, according to the business development bank of Canada, over 70% of Canadians online trust consumer reviews. That means there’s business to be had in personal style blogging. Take a look.
Narrator: Laura Mitbrodt has just been blogging for over a year.
Laura: I have 12,000 followers on Instagram but I work up to 60 hours a week.
Narrator: She blogs Monday through Friday and links through multiple social media platforms, sharing tidbits from her life always connecting them to an outfit of the day.
Laura: I kind of look at the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s for inspiration.
Narrator: Her efforts are paying off. In fact, she has never approached a sponsor—only they have approached her.
Laura: I have a company based in San Francisco that works with me. They get companies going to them and if they find brands or products that suit me, they will send them my way and I photograph them, kind of talk about them and review them.
Narrator: While blogging is Laura’s full-time job, it’s more of a hobby for Kai Mundigler.
Kai: A lot of the time, too, it’s for trade. Like I get my nails done in town and I just do some posts.
Narrator: Her blog was voted one of Victoria’s best through Best of the City 2013. She posts once or twice a week about local fashion finds.
Kai: I have quite a few people emailing me, “Where could I find such a type of dress or sandal?”
Narrator: Laura’s audience is wider.
Laura: Most of my followers are from the States. I have followers in Europe, Australia and South America.
Narrator: But she still maintains that connection.
Laura: I’m replying to their comments on the feed. And if they have a blog, I go back and comment on their blog.
Narrator: Web marketer Laurel Lindsay says that’s rule number 1 in successful blogging.
Laurel:

You have to give to get. That invokes the law of reciprocity where folks start to pay attention to you.

Narrator: She also says video is huge.
Laura: And then I got this really cute sunglass case from Michael.
Laurel: It’s the number 1 activity in mobile devices right now so if you can summarize some of your blog points in a video, that ups the points for share-ability.
Narrator: And lastly, consistency is key.
Laurel: People want to trust the websites that they’re going back to frequently—so consistency in tone and the amount of blog posts that you post per day, per week or per month.
Narrator: Laura follows these rules to a tee.
Laura: Actually going into it, I didn’t realize how much work it is to actually sustain something and create an audience.
Narrator: While the amount of effort going into their blogs differs, both Laura and Kai say you have to love it to do it.
Kai: I just like being out and about—being out there and I definitely learn new things along the way.
Laura: I just love that I am independent and it’s for me, not anyone else.
Lisa: Web Marketer, Laurel Lindsay says blogs with 1000 to 2000 words and about 15 images typically get shared the most, which then attracts the sponsors.
Joe: A lot of people blogging these days. Travelling. People love to blog travelling. So there you go. Some tips that could probably transferred over.

How to get Facebook to Show Your Posts to More People

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Today we are going to answer a question from Anne Kelly, who posted on Facebook.

“Is there any way to get Facebook to show your posts to more people without paying them again? I already paid them for clicks—people who were interested in my page, they told me. And then they want me to pay again to let the same people see my posts.”

That’s a fantastic question Ann. And I’m so glad you asked!

So as many of you know, Facebook has changed their algorithm to reduce the amount of organic reach that pages can get. So there’s a couple of things that you can do.

The first is to pay attention to the types of posts you are posting on your Facebook page.

Definitely focus on multimedia, using photos at a bare minimum. They take up much more space in the newsfeed and get higher ranking.

Another thing you can do is upload videos to your Facebook page.

Screen Shot 2015-07-22 at 2.20.10 PM

That’s not the same as posting the YouTube link. Actually uploading to Facebook will get you more exposure to the folks, who like your page.

Engage your community.

Ask your friends to share your posts, comment on your posts, and like your posts.

Whether it’s just your friends and family, the more people and the more activity on each of your posts, again, increases the likelihood it will get shown on the newsfeed.

And the third thing is paying attention to what you’re doing in terms of networking.

Network.

By invoking the law of reciprocity, giving to get, you’ll get people to comment and share and like on your posts.

If you’re visiting like-minded pages, businesses, and other pages that have a similar target market, and commenting, posting, and sharing from their pages, what that does is create some notifications that you’re active on their page.

They’ll come and visit your page and start acting on your page as well. So that will get you, again, more sort of that viral feel.

The more activity, again, on each post, the better.

Also pay attention to what types of content you’re posting. Again, bear in mind the multimedia role.

Make sure that your posts are inspiring, engaging, and informative.

Also you can promote others and tag them in your posts to get them to look at your page.

Screen Shot 2015-07-22 at 2.22.16 PM

 

That’s your One Minute Marketing Tip. Thanks so much for asking the question, Anne. And I hope you have a great day!

If you like this, please consider sharing with your network. Never miss a tip! – subscribe to my channel and get a new tip each week!

Thank you!

Find your ideal customers on social media with these 3 tips

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social media marketingToday we are going to answer Jeff’s question, who writes, “What are three tips for finding the right customers on social media?”

That’s a great question. And if you are wondering that yourself, keep reading for the answer.

Identify your ideal customers:

If you know who your right customers are, you’re two steps ahead of many of your competitors.

The next step is to typify them in an archetype or in a demographic.
So for example, maybe your customers are typically affluent women in their thirties and forties.

Now you have concrete data you can use to research what social networks that particular demographic uses the most.

In this case of our example, that would be Pinterest. Doing a little bit of market research in the beginning will help you create the bare bones of a social media strategy and save you a lot of hassle and time making mistakes through trial and error.

Identify target location:

The second thing to do to find your ideal customers on social media, is narrowing your target down to a geographic area. Again, this provides you with a concrete benchmark, from which you can conduct more market research.

Specifically, there are hashtags that are used for each specific geographic area. Do a little bit of research and find out which are the most popular ones for both your geographic location, as well as the interests of your demographic so you can capitalize on their interests by getting involved in conversations about trending topics and more.

Pay for it:

Another thing you can do to get in front of your ideal networks is advertise.
The social media networks we participate in have amazing data collected on all of us. Thus, they’ve got very specific demographic information available for you to advertise and get in front of an audience that maybe isn’t part of your existing community.

Solicit Reviews:

The last thing that you can do is solicit referrals and recommendations on all your social media properties by having people endorse you. Endorsements not only provide new customers with a level of trust that you’re a reputable business, but this activity also provides exposure to your recommender’s network, who are much more likely to buy from you than a total stranger.

How have you found your ideal customers on social media? Share with me in the comments below.

And, if you found this valuable, please consider sharing with your network!

You can also watch this one minute tip as well as others on our Youtube page!

Your questions answered: Can social media actually drive sales?

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social media marketingToday’s question comes from Kevin who writes, “Can social media actually drive sales?”

That’s a great question, Kevin. If you’re looking for the answer for this, too, then keep on reading.

1. Social SEO

First of all, social media absolutely does drive sales because a lot of social media sites—Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest & Linkedin— show up on Google search results.

In fact if you have social media profiles, you can search your company name on Google right now and see that not just your website, but almost all your social media properties display on that first page of Google.

In the same way, customers searching for what you sell can see your social media profiles on the first page of Google. The trick is search optimizing those social profiles properly; using keywords, hashtags and mentioning your local service area.
In this way, you get exposure to folks who are actual, qualified prospects to buy your products or services.

2. Social Proof or Implicit Endorsements

The second thing is a presence on social media, as well as building an active engaged community, acts as social proof.
Simply put, most people make their buying decisions based on what other people are doing.

By having people on your social platforms engaging with your business, you are receiving implicit endorsement from them. This behavior, along with a consistent look and feel and recently updated information shows that you’re a credible business that people can trust.

This helps buyers through the part of the sales funnel, or buyer’s journey where they’re evaluating companies to make their purchasing decision. They can then omit businesses that don’t display social proof.

3. Buy Buttons on Social

And lastly, a lot of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are now offering a “Buy Now!” button directly in the newsfeed.

You can sell products without having to make your customer leave the actual social media site. So in that way, social media definitely can drive sales. The buy now button is available through the advertising options from each platform.

Has social media helped you drive sales? Share with me in the comments below.

Sharing is caring!  If you found this valuable, please consider sharing it with your network.

3 Tips to Grow and Enrich Your LinkedIn Network

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building-your-linkedin-networkHaving a strong LinkedIn network is very beneficial to your professional career. It can help you land a job, learn new things and make new connections that you never thought would be possible. Although many professionals have a LinkedIn profile, many are still not taking full advantage of the social network. The following are three proven ways to grow and enrich your network on LinkedIn:

1. Go to Events & Take People for Coffee (Add people in the moment)

The most fundamental way to grow your LinkedIn network is also the most old school, but going to events gives you a chance to meet unique individuals with many different backgrounds. Instead of bombing out random add requests on LinkedIn, make real human connections first, before adding anyone. Once you’ve made the initial interaction, consider taking the new connection for coffee. Even if the individual doesn’t work in your field, bring a list of random questions as there is still likely something to be learned or another networking opportunity may present itself. An under-utilized strategy for events and coffee meetings is bringing out your smart phone and adding people with the LinkedIn app on the spot. That way you won’t forget, or have to remember cards or emails.

2. Engage with Your Network (comment, like, share, endorse or recommend)

Similar to all other social networks, you cannot expect anyone to engage with you if you aren’t engaging first. More active members of your network will likely share original composition posts which are great for commenting on with your thoughts, or sharing the post with your network. These posts will allow you to get your profile out to more people, in a shorter amount of time. Less active networks will share trending articles, memes, videos or inspirational messages and liking or commenting on these types of posts will show your support for the author but it can also open up the opportunity for other LinkedIn members to see your profile and connect. If you’ve worked directly with a connection for some time, consider endorsing one or a few of their skills and if you’d really like to show your support, write a personal recommendation. These are all ways to ensure your profile stays active and relevant.

3. Share Original Content

Once you feel comfortable with the size and engagement of your network, it’s time to start
sharing original content. The best way to share your ideas is with LinkedIn’s publisher feature. Don’t focus on the length so much as the content on the page. Write about topics you have first hand experience in and do your best to provide real world value that can be applied by anyone who has the drive. Adapt your content overtime as you may notice that some topics tend to be more popular than others. Interviewing a colleague or friend is a great place to start if you can’t come up with any unique ideas to write about. If you already have some writing experience, you can use these posts to showcase your knowledge, expertise or unique skills, all of which will show well to your network.

In a world where “who knows you” is often more important than “who you know” growing and enriching your LinkedIn network can take you a long way professionally. With a few simple steps, you’ll see your network grow exponentially and over time the engagement will increase and the possibilities for the future will be endless.

“There’ll always be serendipity involved in discovery.”
– Jeff Bezos