What is Social Media Marketing and SEO?

What Is Social Media Marketing and SEO?

Social media marketing refers to 

the process of gaining traffic or 

attention through social media 

sites.

SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” search results on search engines.

How Are SEO & Social Media Marketing

 Related?

Why would a search marketer or a site about search 

engines care about social media? The two are very 

closely related. Social media itself is a catch all term 

for sites that may provide radically different social 

actions. For instance, Twitter is a social site designed to 

let people share short messages or “updates” with 

others. Facebook, in contrast is a full-blown 

social networking site that allows for sharing updates, 

photos, joining events and a variety of other 

activities. Social media often feeds into the discovery of 

new content such as news stories, and “discovery” is a 

search activity. Social media can also help build links that 

in turn support into SEO efforts. Many people also 

perform searches at social media sites to find social 

media content. Social connections may also impact 

the relevancy of some search results, either within a 

social media network or at a mainstream’ search engine.

All major search engines such as Google, Bing, 

and Yahoo have primary search results, where web 

pages and other content such as videos or local listings 

are shown and ranked based on what the search engine 

considers most relevant to users. Payment isn’t 

involved, as it is with paid search ads.

12 Effective Tips to Protect Your Website from Hackers

Making your website live is like unlocking the door to your premises with your office and safe open: Most of the people who visit your physical building will never even know that all of your data is there to discover just by walking in. Occasionally you will find someone with malicious intent who will walk in and steal your data. That is why you have locks on doors and safes.

Your website is just the same, except that you will never see anyone come in unless you have protection systems in place. Electronic thieves are invisible and fast., searching for your website for details of customers’ accounts, especially for their credit card information. You have a legal obligation to protect this data from theft and to report security breaches that occur.

Theft is not the only thing on the mind of a hacker: Sheer destruction is a major motivator. Hackers may want to destroy all your records, put a sick message on your customers’ screens or just destroy your reputation.

You can never undo the damage done by a hacker, you can take steps to prevent it. Even the most basic protection will discourage many hackers enough to make them go looking for easier pickings elsewhere. Thieves are likelier to steal from people who leave their doors unlocked.

1. Stay updated.

You need to stay up to date with hacking threats. If you have at least a basic knowledge of what is possible then you can protect your website against it. Follow updates at a tech site such as The Hacker News. Use the information you gain to put fresh precautions in place when necessary.

2. Toughen up access control.

The admin level of your website is an easy way into everything you do not want a hacker to see. Enforce user names and passwords that can not be guessed. Change the default database prefix to something random and harder to guess. Limit the number of login attempts within a certain time, even with password resets, because email accounts can be hacked as well. Never send login details by email, in case an unauthorized user has gained access to the account.

3. Update everything.

Updates cost software companies money. They only do it when necessary, yet many people who use the software do not install updates immediately. If the reason behind the update is a security vulnerability, delaying an update exposes you to attack in the interim period. Hackers can scan thousands of websites an hour looking for vulnerabilities that will allow them to break in. They network like crazy, so if one hacker knows how to get into a program then hundreds of hackers will know as well.

4. Tighten network security.

Computer users in your office may be inadvertently providing an easy access route to your website servers. Ensure that:

• Logins expire after a short period of inactivity.
• Passwords are changed frequently.
• Passwords are strong and NEVER written down.
• All devices plugged into the network are scanned for malware each time they are attached.

Ever since I founded CarlDewayneJr, we've had to watch our network security on a minute-by-minute basis not to be hacked. 

5. Install a web application firewall.

A web application firewall (WAF) can be software or hardware based. It sets between your website server and the data connection and reads every bit of data passing through it.

Most of the modern WAFs are cloud based and provided as a plug-and-play service, for a modest monthly subscription fee. Basically, the cloud service is deployed in front of your server, where it serves as a gateway for all incoming traffic. Once installed, web application firewall provides complete peace of mind, by blocking all hacking attempts and also filtering out other types of unwanted traffic, like spammers and malicious bots. 

6. Install security applications.

While not as effective as a full blown WAF, there are some free and paid for security applications that you can install that will make life a bit more difficult for hackers. In fact, even some free plugins such as can provide an additional level of protection. By doing so this tool makes you more resilient against automated hacking tools that scout the web.

7. Hide admin pages.

You do not want your admin pages to be indexed by search engines, so you should use the robots_txt file to discourage search engines from listing them. If they are not indexed then they are harder for hackers to find. This tutorial from SEObook.com is all the help you will need.

8. Limit file uploads.

File uploads are a major concern. No matter how thoroughly the system checks them out, bugs can still get through and allow a hacker unlimited access to your site’s data. The best solution is to prevent direct access to any uploaded files. Store them outside the root directory and use a script to access them when necessary. Your web host will probably help you to set this up.

9. Use SSL.

Use an encrypted SSL protocol to transfer users’ personal information between the website and your database. This will prevent the information being read in transit and accesses without the proper authority.

10. Remove form auto-fill.

When you leave auto-fill enabled for forms on your website, you leave it vulnerable to attack from any user’s computer or phone that has been stolen. You should never expose your website to attacks that utilize the laziness of a legitimate user.

11. Back-up frequently.

Just in case the worst happens anyway, keep everything backed-up. Back up on-site, back up off-site, back up everything multiple times a day. Every time a user saves a file it should automatically back up in multiple locations. Backing up once a day means that you lose that day’s data when your hard drive fails. Remember every hard drive will fail.

12. You can't hide your code.

You can buy software that says it will hide the code on your webpages. It doesn’t work. Browsers need access to your code in order to render your website pages, so there are simple ways to get around web-page “encryption.”

Disabling “right-click” as a way to view your website code is annoying to users because it also disables every other “right-click” function, and there are simple workarounds that every hacker knows anyway.

Why Is Context Queen?

Why Is Context Queen?

You know that content is king and with every king comes a supporting queen. So, who is that queen? Context, and as the Queen she protects that throne very well. Context is used when you speak in the voice that attracts who you are writing to. Without context, your content might not be as relevant. Let’s recap on the Content King. Content is the message your inbound marketing strategy delivers. The right content specifies one goal per page. If you are making a page about your company’s services, then the content should only be about services. You know what content to write based on your target personas and what solutions they are looking for. This also applies to context. Why is Context Queen? It is important to know the demographic of your target personas so you know how to talk to your audience and get their attention. If you are targeting people who stay at home and take care of their kids, speak on a level that applies to them. If you are targeting people in businesses, you want to speak in a voice where you sound clear and professional. Know the needs and wants of your target audience so you can deliver them the right content with the right context.

What Makes Context Queen

There are a number of reasons as to why context heirs the throne as queen. Context, along with content, is what is needed to distribute the right information at the right time. Sending the right context and content at the right time is an important factor. The objective is to publish content at a time that benefits your target persona. So, if you are targeting personas who work during the day, you have to know when they go on the certain websites that you are publishing on. Usually, working people go on Facebook in the morning, during lunch time and in the late afternoon. By scheduling posts at those times, will increase the chances of your target persona seeing the post and paying attention to it. Timing would not mean anything if you aren’t distributing your content right. You could have the best content written with remarkable context that appeals to your target audience, but if it’s not distributed properly, how will they see it? One of the characteristics you must know about your target personas is what sites will they look to find information on. Do they respond well to blogs? Which social media platforms do they use? You need to distribute your content to the right sites so your target audience sees them. Context also applies to the different stages of the buyer’s journey. Writing in a voice that targets your audience and personalizes it to the correct stage of the buyer’s journey will help close leads into customers. For example, if you are trying to reach out to someone in the consideration stage, then your context and content should relate only to the consideration stage. This person has identified a problem or opportunity and is considering your company to be that solution to the problem or opportunity. So addressing them with the right context will best convince them that your company is the solution. The Content King cannot run his royal marketing kingdom without the Context Queen. Know how to speak to your target audience that benefits them instead of selling your product or service. Why is context queen? Context practices help you distribute and connect with your target audience at the right time.

The Difference Between Content Marketing and Traditional Advertising

Content marketing is quite different from traditional advertising, and the same rules don’t apply.

Content marketing has been a buzzword in media for a while now. But that doesn’t mean that everyone knows what it is, how it works, or how it differs from traditional marketing. Much like social media, many marketers have attempted to use content as another vehicle for one-way blasting of marketing messages.

Content marketing, however, is quite different from traditional advertising, and the same rules don’t apply.

Saying vs. Showing

One-Night Stand vs. Relationship 

Mass Market vs. Individualized

Not the End of Traditional Ads

There are tons of brands claiming to be “The Most Trusted Name” or “America’s Favorite.” Advertising is all about talking the talk. Content marketing is about walking the walk. Advertising is all about making claims. United’s tagline, “Fly the Friendly Skies,” sounds nice, but the skies don’t sound as friendly when you know that United has the industry’s lowest satisfaction ratings from customers.

Subway backs up their “Eat Fresh” tagline with content that supports the brand’s healthy image. Brands like Lowe’s and Colgate provide useful, relevant content that shows their expertise. This content is relevant to their customers (DIYers/contractors and people with teeth respectively) and is more about helping than selling. The content is authentic and pertinent to the brands.

When content is not authentic, it’s easy to tell. However, that hasn’t stopped marketers from trying to hijack the content train. McDonald’s Moms Quality Correspondents content reads like it was written by the company's PR department. I question whether these moms are real people, because I’ve never heard anyone talk like this.

I groaned to myself when I read one “mom’s” assertion that “the family dining concept where the time spent eating with the family is deemed to be an important part of the experience. The PlayPlace and the toy are all designed to help to enrich that experience.” I’ve had a lot of family dinner experiences, and none of them were enhanced by me playing with a plastic Batman toy.

McDonald’s is attempting to apply the old advertising tricks to content marketing. They think, “If we say we are great, they will believe it.” Unfortunately for them, this is not the case.

Advertising is about the quick sale. That's why so many traditional advertisers have trouble adjusting to social media and attempt to apply the same broadcast/quick sale model.

Social media and content marketing are intertwined, because both are about building relationships. While advertising is front-loaded, brands can use content to address the customer’s concerns  at every stage of their purchase journey. While an ad can help inspire a purchase, content can keep the customer in touch with the brand before, during and after the purchase.

Advertising is expensive. When buying a TV or radio ad, it has to appeal to as general an audience as possible. It’s the reason why so many Budweiser commercials feature pretty girls and cute dogs—it’s all aimed at the lowest common denominator. 

With content, you can craft pieces to reach the needs of all of the different segments of your audience. This can be in both tone and medium. The lower cost of content when compared to traditional advertising can allow you to create a piece of content in multiple forms—infographics, video, press releases. By distributing this content to social sites, such as YouTube and Facebook, you can let users consume your content where and how they want, rather than hoping they are watching TV when your ad runs.

Because it can be tailored to specific customer groups, another great feature of content is that it is sharable. When you create useful, non-advertorial content it is much more likely to be shared by bloggers or on social media. Think about it this way: lots of people send you funny or interesting articles to read (think Buzzfeed), but very few people send you a commercial to watch.

There is still a place for traditional advertising. Companies will still need to launch new products, announce special offers, and drive general awareness. However, content marketing has allowed brands to be more useful to customers when they aren’t looking to buy; to become a useful part of their lives at every stage.

It’s more than marketing, it’s building relationships. It requires a bit of restraint and patience, but the rewards can be much greater in the end.

7 Effective Tips to Show You How to Manage Money Better

Do you ever feel like you are living check to check and you just need to know how to manage money better?  Do you feel like you are just working to pay bills?  No worries!  You are not alone. Knowing how to manage money wisely is a skill and it doesn’t come naturally to everyone. There are certain aspects from how to pay your bills to how you save your money, which are necessary and should be given careful consideration.  Optimizing the potential of each dollar means better results for your financial life. Better results for your financial life rely solely upon your willingness to learn these skills.  The good thing is, it’s not really that hard and the rewards for being a good money manager are great.  It takes stress out of your life worrying about finances is really bad for you and makes you feel more in control and independent.  Anyway, to help you on your way, here are 7 simple tips that will help you on your way to managing your money better.

1) Create a budget

First and foremost, write down all of your bills and expenses (including gas, grocery and entertainment). Be honest because you need to know how much you spend each month. Once you write down your bills, compare it to your monthly income. This will give you an idea of how much money you have going out and coming in. It’s important that you know how to manage money wisely and this is the first step. Create a spreadsheet that will also allow you to track all of this information. Update it every month to create a habit of tracking your monthly expenses.

2) Bill pay helps to manage money wisely

Instead of sending out individual checks for each bill, use bill pay with your bank. This will allow you to pay all of your bills from one source that automatically tracks it for you. You can see monthly how much you are paying out in bills and it will keep you organized and help you to continue to stay within your budget.

 3) Delegate at least 10% of your income to your Savings Account

Whether you get paid every week or bi-weekly, you should have 10% of your check automatically drafted to a savings account. This is money that you will only use for emergencies. Have you ever had an unexpected car expense to come up and you just did not know how you were going to pay for it? You don’t have to worry about that anymore, because now that you are building your savings account, you will always have money that will allow you to handle any unexpected situation.

4) Invest in Retirement Plans (401 K or Roth IRA)

If your job offers a matching 401K, then you should definitely opt in. Talk to your employer about employer matching for their 401K retirement insurance plan. This is a retirement insurance benefit to you that will become very valuable. It works very much like a savings account, however, your employer doubles whatever you put into it. If you automatically draft $500 a month to your 401K, then your employer also contributes $500. You just made $1000 for that month. If your employer does not match your contribution to your 401K, then another valuable option is to talk to your banking institution or a financial advisor about opening a Roth IRA. Roth IRA’s are investments in mutual funds, stocks and bonds, and more. Talk to a financial advisor about the benefits. 401K and Roth IRA retirement plans are smart investments.

5) Manage money better by living below your means.

If your monthly income is $3000 after taxes, do not create expenses for yourself that equal up to your monthly income. This is a financial recipe for stress and disaster. Your expenses should only total up to 50% of your monthly income. For example, your rent should be no more than $900 a month with a monthly income of $3000. That leaves you with $600 for bills and expenses. The other $1500 should be used towards managing your money wisely by investing in retirement plans, savings accounts and assets.

6) Save your change

Do you ever just have spare change in your car, around the house, or on your dresser? Take that change and create a bonus account. A bonus account is where you put aside money for special items, events, or a pair of shoes that you just have to have. Find an old container in your house and label it the bonus account. At the end of each week, find all of your spare change, including one dollar bills and put it in your bonus account. Keep this in the house and watch over time all of the money add up and before you know it, you would’ve saved money for those shoes or a date night that you have been eager to go on.

7) Pay off debts smallest to largest

When debt begins to pile up it can be overwhelming. It can sometimes feel like you owe everybody all at once. The best way to manage money better in this situation is to pay off all small debts first, and then slowly build toward paying off larger debts. If you owe $50 to one creditor, $200 to another creditor, and $2000 to another creditor, pay off the $50 first.  This may mean that you will need to send in two separate payments of $25. If that’s the case, do what works best for you.  Do not extend yourself and add any stress or worry.  Be in control and pay it off in several payments. Once you have paid off the $50, then contact the next creditor and pay off your $200 debt. Continue this cycle until you have it all paid off.

Knowing how to manage money better takes time, effort, discipline and consistency, but it can be done. Just use these tips and you will have a great start to being in control of your finances and building a better financial future for yourself.

Great Deals On Bestselling Ebooks

Random House decided to give away Dan Brown’s bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code, for free for one week. But millions of readers, including avid Brown fans, were not aware of the week-long giveaway.

Many of the readers who did take advantage of the promotion were using BookBub. BookBub is a daily email service that alerts readers to limited time promotions of free or deeply discounted ebooks across a variety of platforms. BookBub notified nearly 1 million readers of the free Da Vinci Code deal last spring.


“It’s the Groupon of books,” Dominique Raccah, the publisher of Sourcebooks, told The New York Times about deal sites like BookBub. “For the consumer, it’s new, it’s interesting. It’s a deal and there isn’t much risk. And it works.”

Why did Random House give away a national bestselling ebook that usually retails for $9.99? The promotion was very deliberate, with the goal of hooking new readers on Brown’s thrillers and drumming up interest in his new book, Inferno. In fact, the ebook included the prologue and first chapter of Inferno.

Publishers and authors also run free or discounted ebooks to hook readers on a series, or build a following for a new author.

“It makes it almost irresistible,” Liz Perl, Simon & Schuster’s senior vice president explained to the The New York Times. “We’re lowering the bar for you to sample somebody new.”

In order to get the word out on these promotions, publishers and authors feature their deals on sites like BookBub. BookBub is unique in that it does not list every single free ebook on the market. Instead, BookBub’s expert editorial team selectively curates only the best ebooks to be featured in their email and on their website.

In most cases, the deals can be purchased for any ereading device, including Kindle, iPad, Nook, Kobo and Android. Additionally, BookBub allows readers to select which genres they would like to receive, so each email is matched to subscriber preferences. With millions of readers already using BookBub’s service, this type of promotional concept seems to be resonating with both publishers and readers alike.

Check out BookBub ebook deals

7 Health Benefits of Laughter

Here are 7 Health Benefits of Laughter get ready to get your giggle on!

 

1. Laughing lowers blood pressure

People who lower their blood pressure, even those who start at normal levels, will reduce their risk of strokes and heart attacks. So grab the Sunday paper, flip to the funny pages and enjoy your laughter medicine.

2. Reduces stress hormone levels

You benefit from reducing the level of stress hormones your body produces because hormone-level reduction simultaneously cuts the anxiety and stress impacting your body. Additionally, the reduction of stress hormones in your body may result in higher immune system performance. Just think: Laughing along as a co-worker tells a funny joke can relieve some of the day's stress and help you reap the health benefits of laughter.

3. Fun ab workout

One of the benefits of laughter is that it can help you tone your abs. When you are laughing, the muscles in your stomach expand and contract, similar to when you intentionally exercise your abs. Meanwhile, the muscles you are not using to laugh are getting an opportunity to relax. Add laughter to your ab routine and make getting a toned tummy more enjoyable.

4. Improves cardiac health

Laughter is a great cardio workout, especially for those who are incapable of doing other physical activity due to injury or illness. It gets your heart pumping and burns a similar amount of calories per hour as walking at a slow to moderate pace. So, laugh your heart into health.

5. Boosts T cells

T cells are specialized immune system cells just waiting in your body for activation. When you laugh, you activate T cells that immediately begin to help you fight off sickness. Next time you feel a cold coming on, add chuckling to your illness prevention plan.

6. Triggers the release of endorphins

Endorphins are the body’s natural pain killers. By laughing, you can release endorphins, which can help ease chronic pain and make you feel good all over.

7. Produces a general sense of well-being

Laughter can increase your overall sense of well-being. Doctors have found that people who have a positive outlook on life tend to fight diseases better than people who tend to be more negative. So smile, laugh and live longer!

Stay Focus Using 5 Tactics that Cultivate Creativity

I’m going to share with you five tactics that will not only get you focused, but help you stay focused.

1. Clear Your Mind
   You must enter the creative process with a clear mind.  We often walk into the conference room with a million thoughts running through our mind.  These thoughts include tasks, meetings and to-dos that are hammering down on us.  In order to find what I call the “creative zone” you are going to need to clear your mind.   This is easier than it sounds.  It can be as simple as taking a walk around the building to get in the right frame of mind, or even just taking 3 minutes to participate in a deep breathing exercise.  I’ve also seen people be so overwhelmed with items that they need to do that they just can’t focus so take a few minutes and write all those thoughts down on paper.  You’ll be surprised at how these few exercises can help to clear the mind.


2. Clarification of Objectives and Goals
   You’ve cleared our mind and are ready to dive into your creative project, but are you clear about the objectives and goals that you are trying to achieve.  This is extremely important when working with a team.  In your creative meeting write down the objectives and goals on a whiteboard so that everyone is clear on what you are trying to achieve and have accomplished before leaving that room.


3. Eliminate Distractions
   Let’s face it we are a society that is bombarded by distractions especially distractions that involve technology.  For example, since writing this article I have received two telephone calls, four text messages and 15 emails that require my attention.  Distractions are everywhere, so it’s of major importance to eliminate distractions.  If you are meeting with a team, go old school and put pen to paper, close your laptops and put your cell phones face done on the table in silent mode.  You’ll be surprised at how eliminating these distractions can help in keeping everyone focused.If you are working alone, use the same tactics.  If you need to use a program on your computer, close down the browser, turn off your email and don’t try to multi-task.  Stay focused.  You could even set a timer, forcing yourself to focus for a specific amount of time.


4. List 100 Ideas Using a Time Block Strategy
   This is one of my favorite tactics and works great within a group setting.  Set a timer for 15 minutes and come up with as many ideas as you can.  Don’t critique, don’t evaluate, and don’t censor just come up with a multitude of ideas.  Your goal is 100 ideas in 15 minutes.  After your 15 minutes are up, go through the list of ideas and see if there are any that are that “creative” idea.


5. Write, Write, Write
   Like the step above I find this tactic to also be very effective, especially if you are working through the creative process solo.  Free writing tends to help us get out of our own way and capture thoughts that can be otherwise difficult to capture.   This is because our inner critique can and often does block our originality.   Go ahead, try it – set the timer for 15 minutes, write as quickly and as honestly as you can.  Don’t get caught up in spelling and grammar, just write.

Working in marketing and advertising, I often tasked with coming up with creative ideas in a short amount of time and it can be difficult with everything going on around me, so next time you have to tap into your creative genius try the steps above.  My hope is they will help you to create the next memorable campaign that will stick in the minds of your consumers.

You can do anything if you try but do your best and make your dreams become reality - CarlDewayneJr

5 Effective Social Media Marketing Tips

Even though social media sites are a tremendous way for small business owners to promote themselves, most small business owners don’t utilize these powerful platforms effectively. They vacillate between feeling completely overwhelmed and feeling that the sites are a huge waste of time.

Social Media is one of my favorite ways of generating interest around my own small business.  But, there are some basic principles to keep in mind in order to make your marketing more effective and efficient.

Here are five important tips that will enhance your overall social media marketing experiences:

1) Create a landing page. 

A landing page is a one-page website that offers your visitors a quick peek at you and your small business before they are “overwhelmed” by your business website. In addition, successful landing pages offer visitors a valuable free offer in exchange for their name and email address.

Landing pages are crucial to business success because they allow prospects to connect with you on a more personal level, quickly highlight the benefits of doing business with you and give your prospects a small taste of what your small business is all about.

2) Set up complete profiles on your social networks. 

If you want your marketing efforts to work, make sure that your social media profiles are complete. If prospects land on your profile page and it doesn’t have a picture and contains sparse information, they aren’t likely to feel any connection with you. You should provide as much information about yourself as possible. Remember, people want to get to know you, so give them what they’re looking for.

3) Participate; don’t push. 

When marketing on social media platforms, always keep in mind the 80/20 rule. You should spend 80% of your time sharing, answering questions and interacting with others and only 20% of your time promoting your small business. If you stick to this rule, you’ll be viewed as a true participant as opposed to a pushy sales-person.

4) Be consistent. 

Social media marketing is all about consistency. It’s extremely important that prospective clients see you on a regular basis. Exposure is the key to gaining your client’s trust and eventual business. So, get on those sites and interact on a daily basis.

5) Create a daily schedule. 

If you don’t have a schedule, it won’t take long before you’re sucked into the “social media black hole.” Determine how much time you have to devote to your social media marketing and stick to it. If you only have 30-minutes each day, then only utilize three social networking sites and generate a strong presence on them. I like to use a timer (honestly!) to keep myself on track; when it beeps, I’m off to the next site.

Social Media marketing is extremely effective as long as you understand how to tap into its power. If you implement these five tips into your marketing efforts, you should quickly generate impressive results for your small business.

4 Effective Ways to Build Your Brand on Social Media

Social media can seem overwhelming to businesses.  Where do you start? What do you say? How do you remain relevant?

All very valid questions.  Social media is not a quick fix, it takes effort and an investment of time.  The main thing to understand is that if you are only going to do it half-way, don't do it at all. It's better to not be present than it is to be half in and half out.

We know that social media is changing the way consumers purchase, the way they seek customer service and they way they just generally engage with others.

Just consider the following statistics from 2014:

• Pinterest is now more popular than Twitter among internet users.


• Facebook is aging and shifting. 45% of internet users age 65+ use Facebook.


• 71% of users access social media from a mobile device.

So, now that you understand the value of social media you may be wondering how you should get started.

Social media has become a vital aspect of online marketing, particularly because people (i.e. your future customers) spend a significant amount of time on social networking sites. So if you’re not active on social media, then you’re missing out on a massive amount of potential business.

Whether you’re running a mom and pop business, or a multimillion dollar corporation, it’s imperative that you leverage social media in order to increase your brand’s visibility. Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, we’ll guide you through the basics. Here are four ways you can use social media to build your brand.

1. Utilize Every Site Available

It’s important that you create a company profile on every major social media site such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, just to name a few. Many large companies, like Instant Checkmate, have even ventured into platforms like Pinterest and Slideshare to increase their social reach. The more profiles you maintain, the more people you’ll be able to reach on a daily basis.

2. Stay Active

If you neglect your social media profiles, your fans and followers will think that you’ve gotten lazy, or that your brand doesn’t have anything new to share with the world. So, you have to maintain your profiles, and make sure that you’re updating every single one every single day. It can be time-consuming and rather tedious, but the consequences of not staying active are much worse than taking an hour or two to maintain your social presence.

Being out of the office is no excuse either, because there are several great tools you can use to schedule your posts ahead of time. I personally like HootSuite because its simple and easy-to-navigate dashboard helps you plan out your social media activity (on all your pages) weeks or even months in advance.

3. Aim To Create Viral Posts

The ultimate goal of every post is to make it go viral, and the only way to achieve this goal is to share content that is both interesting and relevant to your brand. Posts that are timely and funny are also known to do very well on social media. The key here is to put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and ask yourself “Is this something I’d want to share?” If the answer is yes, then you’re good to go. If not, then you may want to revise your post in order to appeal to a larger group of people, which will increase the likelihood of your content being shared on a massive scale.

4. Craft (And Maintain) Your Brand Voice

When you’re posting content from a company profile, the last thing you want is to sound like a robot because this is the quickest way to delegitimize your brand in the eyes of your followers. To avoid this, you have to craft a unique voice for your brand, and you need to make sure that voice remains consistent in all of your posts.

Taco Bell is a great example of a brand with a distinctive and identifiable voice, which you can see just by visiting any one of their social profiles. They’re posts are funny, sarcastic, and sometimes even a little risque, but it works because they own it and they make no apologies for their non-corporate tone on social media.

If you’re unsure about how you want to portray your brand’s voice on social media, it helps to take some time to research established companies who’ve become famous for their social strategy. A little research can go a long way, and you never know where you’ll find the inspiration you need. Just make sure that, whatever you choose, you keep it consistent.

Do you have any additional tips companies can use to build their brand on social media? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

How To Get More Effective Advertising From Your Media

Q: Where can I get reliable response rate statistics for different advertising media? A: I'm wagering you'd like to calculate your own, personal answer to the age-old question: "If I spend this much money on advertising, what can I expect to see as a result?" A few years ago, a team from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia set out to establish the definitive answer to that very question. Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Colgate-Palmolive and a host of other big companies collectively invested more than a million dollars so that Wharton might track the return-on-investment experienced by several dozen small businesses as a result of advertising. These businesses were scientifically monitored and measured for seven long years. The final report filled more than 2,500 pages. Only three conclusions were reached: 

1. There is no direct correlation between dollars invested and results gained. In other words, how much you spend and what you can expect to see in return are not directly linked by any kind of mathematical equation. 

2. Results are inextricably linked to the message. Two advertisers invest the same amount of money reaching the same target audience. One succeeds brilliantly and buys the mansion on the hilltop. The other fails miserably, receiving no response whatsoever. The difference between these two was in the message of their ads. Ads that speak to the heart of the customer and touch a nerve are the ones that turn little companies into big companies. But few people know how to write such an ad. Most business owners approach advertising with the goal of merely getting their name out. But there is no evidence to suggest this will help you in the slightest. The Wharton study indicates that everything hinges on the message you attach to your name. Is your message predictable and, consequently, boring? Is it believable? Is it relevant to the perceived need of the reader/listener/viewer? Tempt a dog with a bowl of rice, and he'll ignore you. Put a steak in the bowl, and you'll have his undivided attention. Your prospective customers are no different. What have you been putting in their bowls? 

3. Results increase with repetition. When you've identified a message that generates a positive response and you deliver that message consistently, business growth in year two will be approximately twice the growth of year one. Growth in year three will be approximately triple the growth of year one, with growth measured in dollars, not percentages. But following year three, anything can happen. Your business can explode exponentially, or it can flatten out as though hitting an invisible glass ceiling. I've seen clients grow to 70 times their original size, and I've seen clients slowly grow to only double or triple their original volume and then flatten out. The difference is in the clients, not in the ads. The follow-up question I'm sure you're dying to ask is, "OK, let's assume we've found a message that works. Now which medium is going to give me the most for my money?" Again there's no simple answer, but I'll try to give you a frame of reference. These are the major media, with some more expensive than others. The one that's right for you depends entirely on your business.

• Outdoor advertising/billboards: These reach more people for a dollar than any other media, but are limited to a picture and no more than eight words.


• Radio: Reaches the second most people for a dollar, but cannot be targeted geographically and can only be loosely demographically targeted. But if people will drive significant distances to buy your product, or if you're selling a "we come to you" service, this is likely your best bet.


• Cable television: Offers the impact of moving images as well as spoken words. Can easily be geographically targeted. But your ad will likely look homemade.


• Broadcast television: Big prestige. Big bucks. But able to target psychographic profiles. Buy specific shows; never buy a rotator.


• Newspapers: Reach customers who are in the market to buy today. Unfortunately, people not currently in the market for your product or service are less likely to notice your ad than if it had appeared in another media.


• Magazines: Expensive, but high-impact with tight targeting. Little waste. Weakness is infrequency of repetition.


• Direct mail: Highly targeted, all the way down to the level of the individual. But shockingly expensive to do right.


• Yellow Pages: Essentially a service directory for the customer who has not yet made up his or her mind. Very foolish for retail businesses.

It's All About Results

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