In today’s digital age, email marketing remains a proven technique to generate leads and maintain audiences. Though, it is also no secret that some of the campaigns still seem to be spammy which is why it’s imperative to be able to come up with the right approach. Successful campaigns require much preparation and time investment.

You must be content with starting small, slowly improving your current results as you genuinely connect with your readers to promote your brand. There are several ways to do this, especially when there is an email marketing guide for real estate, retail, insurance, and almost any other industry which could also help you increase your sales.

Despite the increasing popularity of other messaging platforms, email continues to be the main channel of communication with potential and existing clients. You get to lead them through the whole marketing funnel, encouraging them to subscribe or buy what you have to offer while being efficient in retaining them. To effectively utilize email marketing, here are some tips to remember when devising a successful email campaign.

Plan ahead and set a goal. This is the most crucial step as you’re basically operationalizing the big idea of email marketing. You should first answer the important questions such as what your goals are, target audiences and their benefits, and reasonable ROIs to expect. Identifying these will allow you to determine the kind of email campaigns that you need to send out.

You should take into account the number and frequency of your emails before loading them into an autoresponder. This would allow you to sustain the delivery of your email even for the new subscribers as it is already a planned series. Meanwhile, if you intend to do an email blast, it will be sent at the same time to everyone regardless of how long they’ve been subscribed. Doing this is especially useful when promoting a sale. There are basically two main considerations when creating email campaigns. This includes your email recipients and the templates you will be using.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let us zoom into defining a goal for your email campaigns. They could either be content-oriented or conversion-oriented which are both handy in improving your online presence. You only need to remember that a content-oriented email should be able to drive your reader to the desired action which is achievable through a compelling execution. On the other hand, a conversion-oriented one is more focused on attaining a certain ROI which should be strategically planned upon gathering useful consumer insights. After defining your audiences and goals, you should also be able to clearly communicate where potential customers can sign up before deciding how to do your content and scheduling them.

Establish a solid email list. It has been mentioned that you can either do an email series or an email blast when communicating with your subscribers. What you should do next is to ensure that you’re sending them out to the right audiences by segmenting your email list based on their customer journey or demographic location. You will be assured that your customers will only receive emails that are relevant to them which can improve overall campaign performance.

You can simply create a signup form on your website and even drive your audiences to it through social media to build your email list. It’s a pretty straightforward process so the way you present it must be enticing. You can also consider some marketing resources to help get your name out there, leading people to sign up.

Make your email look good. The way you phrase your subject line can make or break your email campaign. It is crucial to make an intriguing subject line in order to achieve the first goal which is for your email to be opened. You will then need to make sure that the rest of your content is balanced with the design. Do not overdo either of them.

Personalize your templates based on the kind of campaign you will be sending out. It’s important that your email structure is comprehensive and not overwhelming. You can be more creative with the main email body which is embedded in the template you’ve chosen. It’s alright to use various text formatting, photos, and GIFs among other things. Though, most importantly, do not forget a call to action which is the bottom line of all that you’ve come up with. While you use your brand voice in crafting your email content, always consider what would be relevant to your audience in the most engaging way.

As for the design, keep it direct so you can emphasize your message. Consider making a hierarchy of all the elements to be included with the most vital information on top. You can also code your own template if you want to have more control over your design. Lastly, make sure that your email is optimized for viewing on every device, especially when people are mostly on their mobile phones.

Test and analyze. It is a given to do A/B testing when executing an email campaign to ensure that you will be delivering only the most preferred content to your subscribers. This is part of your due diligence as a marketer as you analyze your metrics and audit your email to improve future campaign performances. You can also send your test email to your friends to get some feedback before testing in different email clients. It might be a lot of work to come up with a couple of versions of your emails but it will be worth it with the insights you can gather.

These are only some of the tips you should employ when running an email campaign. Research which software can help you and your company best before anything else. A good email marketing app will certainly be a good investment as long as you are properly prepared with a clear understanding of how it works and a well-defined goal. Don’t be afraid to run experiments and improve your results!

Author: Kat Sarmiento

Regardless of the type or size of a business, marketing is important. It helps to get your name out there, increase your brand awareness and ultimately, increase revenue. More often than not, this means combining traditional resources with some innovative technologies.

Fortunately, marketers nowadays have a seemingly endless supply of marketing tools available, so the only question remains which of these are the best to use. Here are some of the most effective marketing resources from which every marketer can benefit.

1. Email Subscriptions

While some might consider them old-fashioned, emails still continue to be one of the most effective tools to give and receive information related to customer engagement.

A customized email subscription list is an excellent way to interact with potential customers and provide them with regular updates on your sales, promotions, and so on.

Whether the messages are generated on the company’s website or through an online email marketing platform, they should be designed to be used on all types of devices.

2. Social Media Platforms

Even if you have your own website perfectly optimized for customer engagement, social media can make content distribution much easier. As a marketer, you want to make sure you are reaching as many potential clients as possible.

Through social media platforms, users can react quickly, and you can track their responses in real-time. This can help gauge the effectiveness of your campaign and make any improvements in it if needed.

While creating a Facebook page is an obvious starting point, it’s best to focus your energies on the 2 to 4 social media outlets that are most relevant to your business.

3. Traditional Resources

Even though online marketing has become a necessary component of any marketing strategy, traditional marketing channels still are helpful for many businesses. Radio stations, newspapers, and other media channels can also be employed successfully for these purposes, even if used in innovative ways.

Similarly, the use of business cards is greatly appreciated as well, and they can be easily made here. These have the convenience of having a tangible form of promotional material, yet they also appeal to the younger generations.

We may be living in a modern age but people still like marketing materials such as posters, leaflets and business cards that they can touch and feel.

4. Project Management System

The best project management systems allow a marketer to delegate tasks to other members of the marketing team. With this method, they can track all the steps that need to be taken a lot more effectively. With the latest project management software, such as Monday.com, this task has become more streamlined than ever.

A unified marketing system that provides more control makes it possible for everyone on the marketing team to be aware of the overall goals. It also helps prevent any mishaps that can occur during the planning stages of a marketing strategy.

5. Marketing KPIs

The effectiveness of a marketing strategy is measured through its key performance indicators (KPIs). A marketer needs to establish a couple of predetermined metrics and measure the campaign’s performance against those.

These metrics can include all the data from occasionally recurring revenues sources, monthly sales records, and even the number of contact form submissions. These ready-made indicators are designed to work on a wide variety of businesses and still provide a truthful picture of the marketing strategy they have in place.

Conclusion

A proper marketing tool used at the right moment can take any advertising strategy to a whole new level. When developing your marketing strategy, it’s important to look at which marketing tools can help you to achieve your goals.

Author: David Fletcher

Setting up a promotion plan for a new small business can be tricky. You are low on money, having spent any budget on your product, stock, or web design. You probably had no idea how much promotion would be needed to get yourself out there. Plus, you’ve spent a little on tentatively targeted ads and they got you absolutely nowhere. If this sounds familiar, don’t worry -we’ve got this! Here is how you can promote your new small business for free.

Brand, Brand, Brand

Branding your business is something that can cost no money and boost your following dramatically. It should be at the forefront of your mind before anything else. Take your business idea and write a brand plan that is designed to appeal directly to your target audience.

Create a business name that stands out, but that states clearly what you offer. Do not overcomplicate it and ensure that the name is not used by another business. Check social media to ensure your name is free to use, so that all your social handles match. Remember to also check the availability of your chosen domain name. You can check this for free at Google Domains.

Design a logo for free online. Keep it clean-cut and ensure it shows off your business. Be selective over the colours and style you use for your logo, as this design will be incorporated into all your future branding.

Create a branded business card online for free at BusinessCards.co and print them at home to save money on extortionate printing costs. Distribute your cards to local businesses, friends, family and colleagues.

Promote Your Brand

Using your brand to promote your business is rule number one in free promotions. When you use a logo on all your content, it enables your audience to start to recognize that the content they are enjoying is brought to them by your business. They might read a few of your articles or watch a few videos before they click on your link. This is normal. By adding your logo and handle, you are letting consumers know who you are and where to find you.

Collaborate

A great free way to promote yourself is to collaborate with other businesses. Be creative and bold about this. The best way is to direct message the business you are interested in and let them know what you want and what you can offer.

Many new business owners are hesitant to do this. But having the confidence to go for what you want is a major factor in entrepreneurial success.

Collaborations do not have to involve money. Think of it as a bartering system. If you share three of their posts in a month, they share three of yours. Or if they add your website link to their bio for a week, you do the same for them. If you both have the same target audience but offer different services, it can be a fantastic win-win all-around.

Talk Loudly

Go out and tell people what you are doing. Let them know how much you love your business. If you go to a family barbeque, tell them all you’d love a follow on social media for support. Or if you take your children swimming, wear your branded t-shirt and spark some conversations.

Speak about your business online too. Join all the Facebook groups and forums related to your business and tell people what you are doing. Many of these groups do not allow advertising. Be casual about it; drop it into conversation or in a comment under another person’s post. You don’t have to add a link to your business. Just let them know what you offer and use the keywords that are related to your business in what you write.

Get blogging and write about your business. This costs nothing but time and can be a great way to promote yourself. Ensure that you learn a little about SEO before setting out and optimize what you write for best results.

Promoting your small business for free is all about letting people know you exist. Get your audience involved in your business and create a positive space where every day is like an event.

Author: Harvey Dunn

If you thought you worked in a fast-paced environment, social media runs even faster than the busiest workplaces, with more being added to it every second of every day.

It can be easy to get lost in people’s timelines, get discouraged at the lack of likes or comments to a particular post that you spent a lot of time and effort crafting to entice new customers to come into your store or browse your website.

However, it is not impossible to make the process easier for you and your staff to navigate and optimize your efforts and make the most out of every single post!

Below, we’re looking at some tried and true methods for streamlining your social media presence.

Know Your Tone

Even if you’re speaking the same language as your customers on the surface, there may still be some aspects of your business that might not translate as well.

For example, if you’re trying to post about how your product can benefit the customer. But you’re using lots of scientific jargon that most people won’t understand; it can be an issue.

Try to be as relatable as you can with your audience. If needed, try to adopt some colloquial slang to help you connect with your target audience and industry.

Consistency is vital! So don’t just put all of your newfound efforts into one social media post and be done with it.

Keeping a consistent tone throughout all of your social posts and campaigns will earn you credibility.

At the same time, you’ll want to make sure the logos and imagery you use on your social feeds are consistent. You can create a brand new logo for free using Logo Creator!

Use A Notifications Hub

If you’re managing multiple different social media accounts for your business, it can be not easy keeping track of all of the activity on each platform all at once.

For this reason, consider using a cross-platform tool, such as Hootsuite or Sprout Social.

These help keep track of all relevant notifications, messages and analytics on each of your social media accounts.

In turn, these tools can prevent you from spending unnecessary hours trying to catch up on one platform before moving on to the next one.

Having all of your notifications neatly arranged in one place will help you gain a clearer picture of how well your content is performing and give you more insight into how your followers are engaging with your posts and accounts.

Recycling Posts For Maximum Viewership

Since new posts are added to timelines by the second, social media posts (particularly those on Twitter) have a very short lifespan.

This means that only so many people will view a post in a given time frame before it gets buried under new content and people stop engaging with it.

There’s no harm in recycling posts that you want more people to engage with, such as promotions, events, collaborations, etc.

You shouldn’t constantly hit the retweet button every few minutes so that one post dominates your followers’ timelines. But a friendly reminder to any important dates or special discounts is never a bad idea.

It’s not guaranteed that every single follower will see each post that you put out there.

So by recycling important content, you will increase your chances of having more people see it even when you first posted it a few weeks ago.

Planning And Scheduling Social Media Content

As a small business owner, it’s practically impossible to oversee all of your business’s daily operations and remain active and engaged on social media.

That’s why it’s crucial to create a social media calendar ahead of time and to stick with it over time.

Having a calendar in place ensures that you’ll always know what to post and when.

Then, you can pair this tactic up with a social media scheduling app like Buffer, and then, you’ll be able to see back and focus on your business while your social followers still get their daily dose of content from your brand!

Author: Corey Obrien

Call-to-Actions (or CTAs) reel in and turn readers into customers. However, simply inserting a square with “Click Here” text is not going to cut it.

What is even more surprising is that, according to a 2013 Small Business Trends survey, 70% out of the 200 smalls businesses (with 100 employees or less) polled did not have a CTA on their homepage.

Find out why you need to incorporate CTAs in your marketing strategy, plus small adjustments you can make to boost your CTA creation strategy.

But First, What Is a Call-to-Action (CTA)?

In a nutshell, a CTA is a button on a webpage that incentivizes readers to do something. Think of it as a non-monetary business transaction—a give and take, so to speak, between the reader and company.

This could be subscribing to a company newsletter to get the latest information in the industry or a free PDF or product in exchange for the reader’s email address. In other words, it is a win-win.

Where Should CTAs Be?

If you only decide on placing a CTA on one page, do it on your homepage. That way, you instruct the reader what to do. If not, you risk readers pulling a “skim and leave”—which can affect bounce rates.

Ideally, you should have a CTA on every page. However not every CTA has to be the same; it comes down to what you want the reader to get from the page.

For instance, on the service page, do you want the reader to demo the service? Or would you rather have the reader contact you for a quote? Or what about going to the pricing page to learn more about the different packages your company offers?

Photo by Benjamin Dada on Unsplash

CTAs and Pop-Up Ads

According to a Search Engine Land article, the new Google Chrome browser will block all pop-up ads in the upcoming year.

The reason being, Search Engine Land states, is that Google wants to provide users the best customer experience possible, with a Hubspot survey indicating that right now this is not the case; 73% of users polled admitted to disliking pop-up ads.

What this means is that CTAs on pop-up ads (annoyingly?) inciting readers to subscribe or purchase said product or service may be a thing of the past. If anything, thanks to Google’s changes, you can expect to see less of them.

But does this mean you should insert pop-up ads (with CTAs) on your company website? As the survey and the future change in Google Chrome’s browser show, maybe not.

Nonetheless, a study (by marketing automation company, Sumo) analyzed roughly 1.75 million pop-up ads, with the top 10 pop-up ads bringing in a 9.28% conversion rate.

2 Ways to Increase Your CTA Creation Strategy

Pop-Up ads or no pop-up ads, CTAs will continue to be an important part of your marketing strategy. To make your CTAS more attractive to your readers, find out easy adjustments you can make, suggested by a web-design expert Lilo:

1. Color Matters… When You Consider Who Your Target Audience Is

There is a common misconception that each color gives a specific impression. For instance, red is passionate, blue is calming, and green is neutral…

Still, color is important… but it is not as “black and white” (pun intended). According to Expresstext, the “right color” pinpoints the consumer’s reaction and how they perceive it in relation to the company’s brand.

Take brown, for example, which would not work with a women’s clothing company. But, as Entrepreneur points out, would be appropriate for a camping company, as brown (in this case) denotes ruggedness.

Photo by Anna Jiménez Calaf on Unsplash

Cultural Differences on Color

Then again, you have to consider your target audience: What is their culture? What are their experiences? Are they men, women, or both?

For instance, in the US pink would not be appropriate for a professional men’s football team. The reason being comes down to American’s impression that pink is more feminine and should be for girls, while blue is more masculine, and should then be for boys (while ironically in the past, it was the opposite).

According to The Japan Times, Japan is obsessed with the color pink, connecting it to the cherry blossom—Japan’s unofficial flower.

Unlike the US, in Japan, it is perfectly appropriate for a professional men’s football team to wear pink jerseys. In fact, Cerezo Osaka, a professional Japanese men’s team, does.

Gender Differences in Color

And then there’s gender. Entrepreneur goes so far to state that, while men and women both like blue the best, in general, women like colors that have shades of white in them. Men, on the other hand, like colors with shades of black.

How Does Culture and Gender Relate to Your CTA Creation Strategy?

Knowing your target audience’s culture and gender will help determine what color(s) to make your CTAs.

Perhaps a company with a demographic base of Japanese men could consider dark pink CTAs? While a camping company that has a target audience of American women may go with light powdery brown?

At the same time, it is important to factor in the colors of the logo and on the website. The first company may not want dark pink CTAs if their logo and company website has several shades of pink. Which brings us to…

Contrast, Contrast, Contrast

No matter what color you choose, it needs to contrast against the rest of your website. You want it to stick out so your readers have an easy time seeing (and clicking) on it.

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

2. Make the CTA Specific and Reader-Friendly

How does the reader benefit by clicking on your CTA? What do you want the CTA to accomplish? In answering these questions, you can figure out what the CTA message should be.

Also, aim for a big font. (This goes for text in general). A 1929 study indicated that people had the easiest reading 12-point font. (Of course, this was for non-digital text). Nowadays, that number (especially when it comes to digital print) is bigger.

Final Thoughts

It is crucial to having CTAs on your company website; they help conversion rates and increase profits. Have any more CTA creation strategy tips? Leave a comment.  

When it comes to getting your brand out there in the know, nothing beats email marketing.

According to Toronto lead generation experts – An email list for your business is a very powerful asset in today’s online marketplace. Every effort must be attempted to ensure that you can create and maintain a healthy list of your own, and that people keep on opting-in, so your list grows over time.”

There is also one thing you need to expect with email marketing – and that is not everybody achieves spectacular growth. Email marketing can sometimes be perceived as spam, and if implemented incorrectly, it can destroy the business-customer relationship you have worked so hard to nurture.

Many experts such as youthnoise.com preach about the best and most acceptable practices like sending your email on time, writing a compelling email subject and using personalization to make the email more special to the recipient.

Aside from these techniques, there are also other concepts that you can adopt to get more people to opt-in to your list. Here are some of the best tips to entice more users and drive up your conversion rate.

Provide Social Proof

When you are trying to push and grow your email list, there are many strategies you can try. But one of the factors that can guarantee you a strong list is to provide social proof.

This type of content will move people to opt-in. Using client testimonials, customer reviews, case studies and other proofs about your service or product, you can show your visitors that subscribing to your site will be of tangible value for them.

Amazing Content Is Your Foundation

You hear the words “Content is King” everywhere. This also applies to your emails.

Strategize well and pay attention to every detail when crafting your email messages. Many experts stand by to the fact that teaching what the users want to know instead of selling a product immediately will build more trust. You must learn some storytelling skills for a perfect message that is tailored to fit your target audience.

Use Three (3) Opt-Ins

Naturally, opt-ins are found at the very end of your post. However, it has been recommended that you should have a total number of three to truly maximize your chance of success.

Do not just rely on your pop-ups, insert them in your content as well. Often time, after the visitors close your pop-ups, they later find your content pretty interesting. Shortly thereafter, they would subscribe to your newsletter if the opportunity was presented to them. To provide convenience, your visitors should find an alternative opt-in form to subscribe to.

Test The Best Placements

You get different users each time. But if you continue to study and investigate your site and study your visitors with a heat map for example, you will soon find the best placement for your opt-ins. It could be a popup email form, it could be underneath your blog posts, or it could also be at the sidebar, or even in the middle of some posts.

If you think there are other placements that would work, do not be afraid to experiment. Just remember, the point is not to bully your visitors with annoying opt-ins, it is to keep them hooked.

Adapt for Mobile Use

Though your website content and the message you convey are the most important factor in converting a new visitor to possibly a regular customer, you may also want to make sure that you provide them with the ideal opt-in and email reading experience.

Remember, many people access the internet using their mobile devices. If you do not optimize your website for mobile use, your visitors may not be too happy about what they see from their phone. To be fully effective, always test your opt-ins to ensure that email messages are usable on a smartphone device.

Keep Your Subscribers

Getting people to opt-in is actually half the battle. Making them stay in your list and turn them into valuable assets for the future is another obstacle to overcome. You have to take the necessary yet appropriate actions like sending fewer emails and customizing the content and making it more personal, with innovative and entertaining ideas.

People are receiving dozens of emails every day. Apart from personalizing your emails, sending too many can cause a nuisance and this will make them feel uncomfortable. As a natural reaction, they will unsubscribe. So think twice before you click the send button.

What makes email marketing so precious is that it can be used anytime. Whether your business has taken off, or you decided to close it down to create another one, you own the rights to your list and you can email these subscribers anytime you wish. Take these suggestions above and allow your list to grow for your online success.

If you have marketed online for long enough, you will remember the good old days when all you needed to write valid SEO content was to ensure you had a certain number of words and within them, a specific percentage of the keywords you wished to rank for linking to your pages. It was very simple and worked effectively at the time. However, these days have long gone and now writing good SEO content is much more complicated than the old simple formula.

In this post, Martin Reaves from The Search Equation gives us some tips on writing SEO. He says when writing for SEO It is important you see things from a customer’s point of view and write in a way that appeals to their perspective. So rather than telling the customer what you do, you need to get the point over how they will benefit from your services. In other words, it is about showing prospective clients what they will get from you.

Keywords

In the old days, keyword density was considered important. There was a lot of effort put into finding which keywords would be lucrative, and these would be placed a number of times on the page, with an exact anchor text link going to the site you wanted the keyword to rank for.

These things may still have some impact but they should not be your priority, as keywords do not mean the same thing these days. There is no longer clearly defined way of ranking for a specific word or phrase. However, having said that, you should still use your keyword or better a variation thereof in the title of your post, in the subject heading, and once or twice throughout the body of the copy.

The keyword you wish to rank for should be your guide as to the content of your post. So if you want to run for “tapas in Barcelona” for example make sure your post also talked about types of tapas, best areas for tapas in Barcelona, best restaurants et cetera. This is a far more effective way to write good SEO copy these days than simply including the term tapas in Barcelona in your titles and once a twice about the content.

Keep your readers on the page

The amount of time a visitor stays after landing on your page has an effect on how well the page will rank in the search engines so you need to keep them reading. This is not only for SEO purposes, but also because an interested reader is more likely to become a paying customer.

Use lists and bullet points to help break up the content, and also use lead in sentences or finish a paragraph with a question that entices a visitor to keep reading, remember to always check for grammar mistakes or ask someone to proofread it after you are finished. You have to be careful with lead ins, because you do not really want your post to sound like a commercial, so use sparingly.

Supplemental content

Supplemental content is a piece that is published to help visitors find other relevant parts of your website, for example, your blog, a downloadable item, or a product you sell. Supplemental content should be helpful and relevant offering the user a meaningful experience, rather than just a way to advertise your products.

Google’s own YouTube is a good example of a site that uses this type of content. When you have finished a video, you are lead to a similar video, which keeps you on YouTube, while at the same time offering you something you are likely to find useful. Again, be careful when using this type of content and do not implement it too much, as it can go from being useful to distracting.

Reading Levels

When writing SEO content you should write in a way that would appeal to a person of around 13 years old. Do not use long words when short ones will do. In fact, do not use any words that could be classed as redundant. Having said that, it is important to think of your audience. If you were writing for a medical journal for example, you would not want to write in such a simplistic style, so always consider the user along with the search engines.

Finally, do not think of SEO writing as a way to improve rankings.

While rising the ranks is obviously important, when writing for a website, the most important factor we should be thinking about is turning a visitor into a customer.

Making money online can be great for many people who are looking forward to some extra cash. Not everyone can step outside of their homes every day of the week just to work. A home job on your computer is a perfect example of making money online. Making money online doesn’t mean that you have to consider it a job. An individual may be an independent contractor or someone who sells products online. The routes in which one could take to make money online is many. Let’s explore some of the roads.

1. Selling Goods Online

If you have a very unique skill in arts and crafts, you could very well be selling your artwork for some extra cash. People will bend over backward just to have a painted portrait of themselves. However, not everyone possesses the talent to draw or paint.

Can’t draw a stickman? If you are able to craft together something handy or different, people will appreciate the effort and labor you put into making your product. They will most definitely pay you for skilled craftsmanship. If you are ordering products to sell, make sure that you get special insurance for your products in case they get damaged during transit or you receive faulty stock. If you not a crafts person, maybe you could get into selling Dash Cam’s online.

2. Becoming a Freelance Writer

If you have the skill to write and research, then freelance writing is a good way to make more revenue. Moreover, it’s a good way of marketing yourself, your expertise and your clients. Freelance Writing jobs are posted on job boards either locally or internationally. This is a perfect full time or side job for anyone who doesn’t want to leave the house. It is also ideal for those who dislike working for employers and prefer to be self-employed. Writers can also choose to create their own blog, many of the biggest blogs started from humble beginnings. If you got a passion for writing and can generate traffic to your blog, there is a lot of potential to monetize your blog.

3. Web designing

Web design is a job for those who are detail oriented and enjoy tinkering around with web pages. Many people around the world today need web designers to make sure their website looks customer friendly. This can turn into a well-paying job if you are able to hold work consistently.

4. Posting YouTube videos online

Have an engaging personality you’d like to showcase to an audience? YouTube is a remarkable conduit for making money and building a fan base. It doesn’t matter if you’re interested in video gaming, cooking, or just screaming out load in every video. If the viewers like your content, YouTube will pay you for advertisements along with a number of views you accumulate.

It is important to know that acquiring a fan base may take some time. Money may have to be invested for high-quality videos before you can really think about getting paid. It just takes patience and consistency.

5. Becoming a teacher or tutor

Many people around the world would like to have someone help them learn a new language. You are only a few clicks away from connecting with someone and teaching them the basics. If you are a native speaker of a particular language, you should offer to teach someone in need of learning. This doesn’t ever have to be done outside of the house because of inconvenience.

Teaching someone how to read, write, or even do math is a way to make money. If the client feels like he/she is progressing by learning the concepts they did not know, they will continue to pay you and even refer you to someone else they know.

Teaching someone can extend beyond just teaching someone a new language. You can be a course tutor, creating and selling courses online is a fantastic source of income. Many course tutors go on to sell their courses via their website or platforms such as Udemy.

5 Mobile Marketing Tips That Drive Sales 

In many ways 2015 was the year of mobile marketing and the trend towards mobile-optimized content isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. With 6 billion mobile devices in use already and more being activated every day, mobile marketing has never been more important or more integral to a company’s future success. No matter where you are, this is a global trend, our web design partners in Cuba feel the same. Here are 5 smart mobile marketing tips that will help drive sales and convert casual surfers into loyal consumers:

1. Embrace the Power of SMS

Short Message Service, or SMS, is just a fancy term for texting. Businesses are finding success using SMS as a delivery system for information, particular when the messages are customer-oriented and include coupons, sale details, or other discounts. The advantage of SMS is in its immediacy. Not only can deals be sent out on a spur-of-the-moment basis, allowing marketing departments to advertise last-minute promotions, customers are also more likely to respond to text messages in a speedy fashion: while it takes consumers an average of 90 minutes to respond to an email, they respond to SMS messages in an average of just 90 seconds.

2. Make Your Social Media Mobile-Friendly

Everyone talks about the necessity of making your business website mobile-ready, but it’s equally important – if not more so – to ensure that your social media pages are compatible with a wide range of mobile devices. To do so:

• Resize your graphics. Pics should be no larger than 620w x 412h pixels.
• Pin important posts to the top of your Twitter or Facebook profile to make sure your key content is seen regardless of the smaller displays
• Incorporate visual content. Image-driven posts are twice as likely to garner a “like” than text-based updates.
• Review your links. Your own website may be mobile-friendly, but what about the sites you’re directing your readers to?

3. Optimize Your Apps

When asked whether they would rather give up drinking water or delete all their apps, 85 percent of consumers said they’d prefer being thirsty. People are serious about their apps, and businesses should be taking advantage. Make sure your app is responsive, meaning it automatically senses and adjusts to the size of the user’s screen, incorporate personalized features such as location-based marketing, and encourage subscribers to opt-in for deals customized to the preferences and personal details they provided.

4. Reward Interaction

As consumers jump on the mobile bandwagon and interact with your business via their mobile device, reward them accordingly. Offer deals and discounts in exchange for reviews or check-ins, run contests with multiple entries based of sharing and liking posts, or run polls or surveys that award prizes based on participation. Giving your subscribers something they like in return for their attention, assistance, and patronage builds loyalty, and the more loyal your readers are the more likely they are to purchase something.

5. Integrate Your Channels

Mobile marketing is ridiculously powerful, but it’s still just one part in a large, multi-faceted puzzle. A successful marketing plan takes place across all your active channels – social media, SMS, email, mobile apps, QR codes, banner ads, etc. – by strategically designing print and digital collateral for each channel that fits in with the rest of the campaign without being repetitive or redundant. The proof is in the conversion rates: 43 percent of those polled were more likely to purchase a mobile deal that was part of a larger, multiple-channel campaign.

Author Biography

Sophorn Chhay

Sophorn is an inbound marketer specializing in attracting targeted visitors and generating sales qualified leads. Through Trumpia’s SMS marketing automation solution he helps businesses and organizations communicate effectively with their customers or members. Watch Trumpia’s 5-Minute Demo on how to execute an effective mobile marketing strategy.

What is HTTPS/SSL?

HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure is the communication between the browser and web server. HTTPS encrypts the communication between your browser and the webserver so that the data you transmit remains secure from external sources (ie your neighbour or the government). HTTPS indicates the websites authenticity and can be recognised by the green lock icon in the address bar.

HTTPS uses the protocol Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to achieve this. HTTPS and SSL have different meanings but most people in the SEO industry will use the words interchangeably as they effectively mean the same thing.

If you don’t have a domain name yet or thinking about changing your domain, please read this guide on how to choose a domain name.

Why use HTTPS?

Because Google says so! Google has officially declared that https is one of the 200+ ranking signals used for determining a site’s Search Engine Ranking Position. How much of a factor it is as a ranking signal is the big question. It certainly doesn’t weigh as much as quality backlinks or good on-site optimisation but every little helps, according to Moz.com search engine ranking factors for 2015, there is a correlation between higher website ranking and https.

Another important reason to use https aside from the SEO benefits is because it is due to be the industry standard in the future, and browsers are looking to display website address lacking https with a red X so that it appears broken and unsecure to users. This of course affects user experience, bounce rate and indirectly SEO.

HTTPS Setup and the Cost

I guess the biggest reason why people aren’t jumping at the chance of using https if it has additional benefits is because of cost and expertise required to set it up. The cost will typically set you back $100 a year and over $1000 for the more expensive certificates.

Setting up https/SSL does require some server and webmaster knowledge. Many hosting providers offer the service to set it up for free or with additional cost if you purchase the SSL certificate from them. I hear Hostingstep has some awesome coupon deals you could try out. If you are looking to set it up yourself, then make sure you do it correctly and have the following:

• Make sure the url is working – so https://via.vision works and the website can be viewed. This is obvious but many people set up their https whilst unable to visit their https address!
• Redirect all address to the canonical address which is the https version, for example http://graftene.co.uk should redirect to https://via.vision.
• Use 301 permanent redirect, not 302 temporary redirect.

The above tips will make sure you don’t lose any SEO points for attempting to use https on your website poorly.

Conclusion

The conclusion is that switching to HTTPS will have additional immediate benefits in the form of better security and hitting one of Googles ranking signals for SEO, as well as long term benefits as Google intends for all websites in the future to use https. So why not get in there sooner rather than later?

The obvious drawback is the cost and the sheer hassle of setting it up. You would first need to purchase a certificate from $0-$1000, and then configure your website and server to set it up. After that you would need SEO knowledge to make sure your new website address with the https does not affect your site ranking negatively. You can do this by following the best practices for setup mentioned above.

If you’ve recently switched to HTTPS or are thinking about it, let us know about your experience or if you have any questions post in the comments below.

If you’re still confused then our good friends at Blank are great technical seo consultants that may be able to help!