Inu Etc's Blog, page 26

How To Track Enhanced eCommerce in Restricted Content Pro and GiveWP

MonsterInsights has always worked to bring you the best Google Analytics plugin ever made for WordPress.

Today, I am pleased to announce an improved MonsterInsights eCommerce addon and Project Delight.

MonsterInsights latest release includes new eCommerce integrations. GiveWP and Restricted Content Pro plugins make eCommerce tracking super simple.

More specifically, they’ve improved the user experience in MonsterInsights. Let’s get to the details…

New Integrations for eCommerce Tracking

You must fully understand your audience if you want to grow your eCommerce store. MonsterInsights helps to provide insights about the shopping behaviors of your customers so that you can optimize your store to maximize revenue.

Now, MonsterInsights works seamlessly with GiveWP and Restricted Content Pro.

With GiveWP, you can collect donations, manage your donors, and write donation forms in WordPress.

On the other hand, Restricted Content Pro is a powerful membership plugin for WordPress that allows you to make exclusive content available to members, manage them from the dashboard, and determine member levels of access.

Now that you can see your online store performing, it’s easier than ever to determine which strategies are working and perhaps tweak your approach.

You can track the performance of your GiveWP donation website or Restricted Content Pro membership site using the MonsterInsights addon. No need to edit code or hire a developer.

Introducing Project Delight Improvements

It is the aim of Project Delight to make sure that each time you use MonsterInsights the whole experience is a delight.

Moreover, They’ve improved the reporting accuracy, the dashboard design, and compatibility to ensure that you get the best possible experience. This way, you can easily find the most important data about your visitors and make informed decisions for growing your business.

In the Contextual Insights feature, for instance, you can locate reports more easily. It now takes you straight to the feature mentioned.

Therefore, you can save time by not clicking on different reports and settings options to get to what you need. The plugin will scroll and highlight the settings and reports for you.

In addition to that, They’ve improved the styles of the Popular Posts feature, so they look awesome on any website. We’ve also improved the rotation of the posts in the widget.

As a result, your best content gets better exposure and you see an increase in user engagement, as well as a greater number of visitors, as well as the opportunity to link internally to your top blog posts.

And that’s it for today!

This is a sponsored post by Monsterinsights. I received compensation but this post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsor.

The post How To Track Enhanced eCommerce in Restricted Content Pro and GiveWP appeared first on Inuidea.

Trinka – A New Grammar Checker Tool is Disrupting the Academic Writing Industry

Since its launch in early 2020, I heard a lot about how Trinka is the next big thing. It was touted as the world’s most advanced AI writing assistant designed for academic, scientific, technical, and business writing. After resisting for months, I finally decided to give it a shot in October 2020. Now that I’ve been using Trinka for over 4 months, I believe this is the perfect time to write a detailed review of my experience with Trinka. Let’s begin with the basics.

What does Trinka do?

Along with the basic grammar checks, it corrects complex language errors in elements such as sentence structure, word choice, and technical spellings that no other technical & academic writing checkers do. Trinka recognizes the differences in writing styles among subjects and provides corrections specific to the subject of the paper. Moreover, Trinka works in real-time to understand each word typed in the context of the writing and the subject.

Trinka is Completely Free!

Every premium writing assistant gives only the basic features free of cost & charges (at times, too much) for the best features. Trinka provides all the amazing features free of cost. This sets Trinka apart from the competition.

Who all can benefit most from Trinka?ResearchersProfessors and academicians Students Schools & UniversitiesBloggersContent marketers and copywritersAuthorsPrepress housesPublishersAnyone who writes in English oftenPeople with English as a second languageWhat makes Trinka Better than other Leading Writing Assistants?Most Accurate Grammar Corrections For Technical & Academic Writing

Trinka achieves a 92% accuracy (the highest ever by an AI writing assistant / AI proofreading tools in this field of writing) in correcting grammar errors typical in academic & technical writing.

Advanced Language Error Corrections – Exclusive Trinka Feature

No other academic & technical writing checker comes close to Trinka in correcting difficult language errors such as technical spellings, word choice, sentence structure & plenty more.

Subject-Specific Corrections – Exclusive Trinka Feature

Trinka’s AI has been trained with the best manuscripts across all subjects. It understands the differences in writing styles among subjects and provides subject-specific corrections.

Word Count Reduction – Exclusive Trinka Feature

Trinka is the only writing assistant that identifies lengthy phrasing and offers concise & relevant alternatives.

Enhancements for Objective Language – Exclusive Trinka Feature

Trinka identifies biased language and offers corrections with suggestions to make the writing impartial, as preferred by journals.

Enhancements for Specific Language – Exclusive Trinka Feature

Trinka recognizes vague phrasing and corrects the writing for specificity, helping in elevating the writing quality to global publication standards.

What are Trinka’s Top Features?

Auto File Edit

It saves you time and enhances your writing’s language quality. Simply upload your paper & let Trinka auto-edit it in minutes; you can then download the edited file with track changes. You also get a language quality score, customized grammar, and word choice corrections in compliance with popular academic style guides.

Consistency Check

It detects and corrects all inconsistencies and lets you revise them with one click to ensure your document meets the journal’s style guide. Its ability to quickly correct inconsistencies even in large documents lets you save a significant amount of time.

Publication Readiness Check

To assess your manuscript’s fitness for journal submission, it conducts 20+ checks, ranging from Journal Selection to Ethical Compliance. Moreover, to help you decide the right journal for your research, Trinka recommends journals that best match your research ideas to maximize your publication chances.

What all Checks does Trinka Cover?Advanced Grammar Checker: Corrects 3000+ complex grammar errors that other tools don’t.Sentence Structure: Structures your sentences correctly considering your subject, making your writing easy to understand.Word Choice: Fixes incorrect use of words & makes your message crystal clear.Usage and Style: Corrects phrasing and gives your writing a formal tone.US/UK Style: Lets you choose the US or UK English to make your writing fit for your audience and journal style. Advanced Spelling: Contextual spell check helps you pick the right word for your subject. Say goodbye to awkward spelling errors.Style Guide Preferences: Suggests phrasing preferred by style guides such as AMA and APA.Word Count Reduction: Makes redundant and wordy phrases concise so you can meet journal guidelines easily.Unbiased Language: Corrects biased and insensitive language.Vague Language: Helps you make your writing specific & direct to enable effective communication.Technical Phrasing: Suggests the right words to use for your subject area to make your content relatable to your readers. Academic Tone: Gives your writing a professional tone so you can impress your readers. How and where can you use Trinka?
Trinka Cloud: You can use simply sign-up and use Trinka for free directly on the website. Browser Plug-in: You can easily download the plug-in for your browser, & it will correct your writing in real-time as you write across multiple websites. The browser plug-in is available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.MS Word Plug-in: If you prefer to write content in your familiar MS Word documents, then download their MS Word plug-in.Trinka for Enterprise: Trinka Enterprise gives unlimited access to multiple user accounts of your organization or university – no matter the size.Is the Sign-up Process Simple?

Yes, it is.

All you have to do is go to the Trinka website, click the “Sign up for Free” tab near the top right corner, fill in your Name, Email ID, & Password, and hit “Register.” That’s all. You can immediately start enjoying all of Trinka’s range of features for free. 

Trinka Review – The Verdict – 4.5  

Frankly, I was a bit skeptical when I first started using Trinka. But the more I used Trinka, the more convinced I got about its unique capabilities & highly beneficial exclusive features. 

The first aspect that stood out to me was its user-friendliness – it showed that Trinka’s multi-faceted team excels in cutting-edge technology, design aesthetics & user experience. There on, Trinka moves from strength to strength given the range of dynamic corrections it provides; the learning tips not only correct your paper but also give a precise explanation of the changes made; it also offers relevant suggestions to make your writing better. The best part is, every time I use Trinka, it also makes me a better writer.

Now, I use Trinka for all my writing needs – it works great & keeps evolving with timely updates. You can give Trinka a shot too. It will surely be worth it.

This is a sponsored post by Trinka. I received compensation but this post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsor.

The post Trinka – A New Grammar Checker Tool is Disrupting the Academic Writing Industry appeared first on Inuidea.

How to Create the Perfect Instagram Content for Business

Instagram has the fastest-growing user base amongst all other social media applications. Almost 98% of fashion brands and 100% of automobile brands are now on Instagram. That being said, there are over 25 million business accounts on Instagram. Yes, competition is intense.

The visual aesthetic is crucial for the platform. Brands plan the content at least a month in advance. This gives room to create and schedule posts.

I will tell you how to organically increase your brand’s Instagram visibility and reach, there’s always paid promotions to help otherwise.

Advance planning

On an average business post 28 times per month, this means one post per day. To start with your plan, figure out your brand tone and its visual aesthetic. Although this seems like a lot of work, a good content plan will attract your target audience.

There are various tools/apps available to schedule posts. This way you can be on top of things without the pressure of posting every day. Whichever tool you choose to work with, be sure that it follows Instagram guidelines. Make a monthly content calendar, which should include all content ideas. Diverse content is vital; no one prefers to see repetitive posts.

Aesthetic

Once you are sure of all that you want to post, we come to the visual and most important aspect of Instagram, your feed’s aesthetic.

While deciding an aesthetic for your feed, you can play with,

Colors – This is very important, you have to choose a set of colors you want people to associate your brand with. This doesn’t have to limit your color options, you can choose from a palette and then play around with its tones. Brands like Canva use a rich intense color palette and post similar colors on their feed. It’s important to choose a tone of color for your feed. This makes your feed pleasing to the eye and makes people spend more time on it. More time spent on the feed = more exposure for the brand.
The frame of your picture – What is in your frame and how appealing does it look on the feed, you have to make sure that all the frames in a row are with a similar aesthetic and not clashing with each other. You can look up Lacoste’s Instagram page and see a clear similarity of the frame of their images.  You will have to pick a style for your feed, like minimalism, pop, etc, and incorporate elements from them perpetually.
Text – If your brand chooses to post content images of text, make sure they are in the brand’s colour/s and on a light background. Reading texts on darker backgrounds strains the eye and people don’t prefer it.
Filters – Instagram, back in the day was most famous for its filters. Filters help with the overall look and feel of an image and help with making the feed look cohesive.Relatable/Share-Worthy Content

Instagram’s new algorithm is as messy as it can be, the only thing that can help you get out of this mess is posting content that people either share, save or interact with. The more interaction a post has the more visibility it gets.

Reels

The newest addition to the Instagram family is “reels”. Reels can be either 15 seconds or 30 seconds long. Posting reels with music that is trending on the app helps the reel attract a large audience. Keep in mind to make high-quality videos, to compete with established brands and influencers.

Instagram announced in Feb 2021 that it will not promote reels if it has the Tik Tok logo on it. Though a complete rip-off of Tik Tok you will have to make fresh content for reels if you don’t want your reach stalled by Instagram’s bots.

If you don’t want to ruin the aesthetic of your by posting reels on it, don’t fret, Reels don’t have to be displayed on the main feed page. There is a separate tab for reels where you can display them. This doesn’t affect the visibility of your content whatsoever.

Instagram also made a few changes while introducing Reels. They created a whole new page dedicated only to Reels, which makes Reels an important tool for visibility on Instagram.

Influencers make the most money out of Reels, anywhere from $75 to $100 per reel.

Hashtags

You can use tools or just Google which hashtags get the most likes or interactions for your category of business. Though hashtags don’t seem important, they still are one of the most important aspects of Instagram. Hashtags make it easy to find content on Instagram, that’s why many big brands choose to make their own hashtags on all their posts. Don’t be in a hurry while picking out your hashtags, think of them as keywords you select for your website. Research about which hashtags are most used for your business. Try incorporating them in your posts.  

Time

Time is crucial, no this isn’t life advice, it’s just Instagram advice. Instagram gives you insights into when most of your followers are online. Use this information to schedule posts at the same time. Posting on time gives your post maximum visibility. You can use the audience tab in your insights section to see the best time. Time varies for different businesses and geographies.

Stories

Reshare your posts on your stories because the Instagram algorithm doesn’t show posts in chronological order anymore. This means you have to make sure that the post is everywhere so that people don’t miss it.

Stories are temporary and you can be more flexible in terms of color and theme for it. There are various things you can post on your story like

Behind the scenesFunny video contentAnnouncementsRepost your feedQuick updates

Stories are viewed by over 400 million people every day. It makes your business feel more approachable and fun. Stories that you would like to showcase even after 24 hours can be put up in your highlights section.  Stories can also be linked to your website, though only accounts with over 10,000 followers are allowed to use this feature.

To sum it up, take time to find out a visual tone and theme for your brand. Always plan ahead, and keep in mind relevant content. Make a list of competitors and assess their work to understand what content fairs well.  Research your ideas well to create content that will help your brand reach its maximum potential.

This is a guest post written by Semil Shah, Chief Marketer at Shrushti Digital Marketing

According to his team, Semil Shah can take any digital marketing profile to the next level. With over 15 years of experience in the SEO world, he is a certified SEO specialist, who mainly focuses on growing businesses. He is the Chief Marketer at Shrushti Digital Marketing. In his free time, you will catch him either listening to podcasts or trekking in the jungle clicking some really cool pictures.

If you want to submit guest posts to Inuidea, check out the guest post guidelines for Inuidea.

The post How to Create the Perfect Instagram Content for Business appeared first on Inuidea.

What is Lead Quality And How To Measure It in Google Analytics

Do you want to know the secret of generating more revenue from email marketing?

There are many marketers and they assume that driving more leads can help them generate more sales and revenue. Increasing the size of your email list should be a top priority,  your leads are worthless unless they’re qualified enough to make a purchase.

Driving more qualified leads is the secret to generating more revenue from email marketing

In this article, I’ll show you everything you need to know about lead quality and how to measure it.

What is Lead Quality?

It is a factor that allows you to identify how likely your prospects are to become your paying customers. Your customer will likely become your clients if the quality of your leads is high.

Accurate measurement of lead quality may vary depending upon your lead generation strategy and the product you sell. There are few methods to determine whether a prospect is right for your business.

Some of them are:

People download your lead magnet that is part of your marketing or sales funnel.Visitors contact your sales team to ask pre-sale questions.Leads browse through various product pages or pricing page, meaning they could be thinking of doing business with youHow to Measure Lead Quality?1. Download Tracking

With the help of Monsterinsights, tracking download on your website is easy for you. You only need to download and activate the Monsterinsights plugin.

Monsterinsights tracking download on your website became easy. All you have to do is just install and activate the Monsterinsights plugin. File download tracking works out of the box without any further configuration.

To find how many times visitors download your lead magnet. Simply look at your events report in Google Analytics.

You might also need tag or segment your qualified leads in your email marketing tool to measure your lead quality in Google Analytics.

Identifying the quality of your leads is an essential step in lead nurturing. This way you can send emails that are more likely to be opened and engaged.

2. Pre-sale Query Form Submission

If you’re using WPForms, you can even automatically add your users to your email list by including a checkbox to your contact form. Just install and activate the Monsterinsights Forms addon to track presale query form submission.

3. Important Pages Visit 

You can track whether your visitors are browsing through important pages on your site by Setting up Google Analytics goals. By visiting important pages on your site, your visitors are showing an interest in your offer, which makes them qualified.

You can target them onsite and offsite to show personalized marketing messages, by once identifying a lead as qualified.

That’s it!

I hope you love this article and it also gives you some insights into tracking the quality of your leads.

The post What is Lead Quality And How To Measure It in Google Analytics appeared first on Inuidea.

Growth Marketing: The Beginner’s Guide

Growth marketing is a customer-focused strategy for growing and sustaining companies. It uses constant testing, analysis, and marketing techniques to deliver results. 

It developed out of the entrepreneurs’ need to extract more from their business tactics and marketing strategies to outdo the competition. Traditional marketing approaches are unsustainable for many small-sized businesses, as they often lack the resources required for optimal results. 

New business owners learn early on that they have to conserve their cash flow. Their budgets are no match for already established companies. Yet, they still have to fund both their operations and branding efforts. 

In a way, business owners are comparable to drill sergeants or successful coaches, continually pushing their recruits or players to achieve more. They always aim for the extra mile.

That’s the essence of growth marketing: changing, experimenting, customizing, and implementing various tactics to attract and retain customers.

Differences Between Traditional Marketing and Growth Marketing

Since 2015, companies have spent more money on digital marketing than on traditional channels. That’s not to say that traditional marketing doesn’t work, because it remains useful.

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Here is a breakdown of the two approaches and their connection to growth marketing:

Traditional Marketing

Traditional marketing refers to non-digital methods that have been in use since the emergence of advertising. It entails methods like:

print ads, billboards, brochures and flyers,direct mailbroadcast advertisingtelemarketingevent marketing.

It aims to create exposure through word-of-mouth, with the expectation that increased engagement will start conversations and turn listeners into customers. Also, public ads help build the company’s brand.

Going the traditional route poses many challenges to startups. For instance:

it’s expensive and difficult to replace after the campaign starts;the only way to measure its effectiveness is through leads and sales;there’s not enough engagement;you have very few options for receiving feedback.

That’s why startups tend to opt for growth marketing strategies.

Growth Marketing

Growth marketing emerged among startup and bootstrapping companies. Instead of focusing on the company, which doesn’t have an established brand yet, it concentrates on the customer. 

It comprises methods like SEO, website development, and social media marketing, using affiliates, online ads, and email marketing campaigns. Marketers test, enhance, and apply their digital marketing techniques to their target customers.

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SEO and content marketing are powerful strategies for attracting customers at every stage of their buying journey. They are inexpensive and generate many sales leads for new companies while convincing existing customers to stay loyal to the brand.

The table below will summarize the differences between traditional and growth marketing:

Traditional Marketing

Growth Marketing

focus on company and brandfocus on consumer and their connection to company and brandstarts when the product is readystarts from the company’s inception and continues through product developmentexpensivemakes the most out of limited budgetslittle engagement and feedbackrelies on public engagement and feedback in order to improvelittle opportunity to test and review customer actions and returns on investmentmodifies the approach to customers based on extensive testing and data analysismay be limited to a small area or countryfacilitates attracting customers worldwideThe Benefits of Growth Marketing

Growth marketing delivers many benefits to your company. For one, you’ll achieve great results on a constrained budget. 

Secondly, it grows your user base in a short period. Large numbers of followers mean a higher potential for sales, engagement, and product promotion. In turn, your customer base ensures a continuous stream of income for your company, despite it being a startup.

Finally, it allows you to test, research, and analyze your approach to become more effective. A streamlined process reduces money wastage and guarantees results.

Growth Marketing Vs. Growth Hacking and Inbound Marketing

Here are some most important differences between growth marketing, growth hacking and inbound marketing.

Growth Hacking

Sean Ellis created the concept of growth hacking in 2010, using what he calls “cross-functional experimentation” to achieve business growth. He added massive user bases to several companies, including his own, leading to billion-dollar valuations.

People tend to use the terms’ growth marketing’ and ‘growth hacking’ interchangeably. However, there’s a minimal difference. Growth marketing is a longer process that ensures long-term stability, whereas growth hacking is a short-term attempt at boosting growth through faster implementation of tactics.

Startups have four growth strategies—product development and penetration, segmenting, and diversifying into new markets.

Challenges to Growth Hacking

As growth hacking became mainstream, the assumption was that it would give startups a better chance of survival. Fast growth was supposed to guarantee more time to stabilize down the line. 

Unfortunately, several challenges persist. These are:

developing and scaling the products;adding new employees that fit with the core team;finding experienced growth hackers;poor testing strategies;aligning different marketing actions to achieve specific goals.

All of these should be taken into account when adopting the growth hacking approach.

Inbound Marketing 

The term ‘inbound marketing’ refers to actions you take to attract and engage customers. It entails content marketing and advertising. Growth marketers test several methods to find those that will magnify their results.

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Content marketing involves creating videos, blogging, and using SEO. It builds brand loyalty by providing helpful and personalized content. 

Advertising, on the other hand, refers to paying to position your ads on different platforms. When people click on the ads, they get redirected to your website, where you can attempt to sell to them.

Tips for Building a Growth Marketing Strategy

Growth marketing begins long before the first stage of the sales funnel. The stages entail product awareness and research, company reviews, and product purchases. Enjoying the product and planning to buy from the brand is the final stage.

To get the customer through these stages successfully, you must have an effective growth marketing strategy. The following steps will show you how to build one:

#1 Identify the Right Customers 

Gain customers by tailoring the product to their needs. A growth marketer teams up with the product development team to uncover the customers’ pain points. That process will make marketing effective by clarifying buyer characteristics.

#2 Understand Product Value 

Describe how the product fits the customer. Use content marketing to show product value and entice potential buyers. Promote the content on social media and connect with interested shoppers.

#3 Analyze your Platforms and Channels 

Choose platforms and channels that will work well for your product. Some social media channels may work better than others, while some website platforms may be unsuitable for your product.

Look for weaknesses in these options during testing. For example, check whether your website takes too long to load. These delays may push away new customers.

Automate your business activities where possible. A successful growth marketing strategy is only possible if you can manage customer contact, interactions, and experience. 

As a beginner, look for free automation software, such as website chatbots, customer recruitment, and contact management.

#4 Test Your Assumptions 

Once you are clear about your customers, products, and platforms, test your assumptions to learn how to improve customer experiences at every point of their sales journey. 

For instance, you can offer a reward in exchange for specific actions. If people respond positively, refine your tests, and optimize your results. A simple tweak could make a difference.

Factors to Consider When Conducting Tests

Constant and rapid testing is at the core of growth hacking. Split and A/B tests measure which strategies perform better. Split tests compare more substantial differences, whereas A/B tests focus on smaller changes.

For example, you can investigate which color suits your webpage better or test individual website designs. Whatever it is, experimenting will give you observable results.

During testing, consider the following:

keep it simple, have a focus area and a hypothesis;research the potential outcomes and their impact on your business;make subtle changes and contrast the old and new versions with A/B tests;prevent hasty conclusions by having a timeframe for analyzing results;compare your results to your hypothesis.

Remember, the goal is to enhance user experience and influence customer behavior.

#5 Execute the Changes and Measure their Effectiveness 

Use the data you’ve collected to make the necessary changes. Measure the effectiveness of those changes over a short period, then start testing other ideas. 

Repeat the process, making minor adjustments each time. Those constant alterations help to innovate valuable ways of growing your user base. 

#6 Hang on to Customers and Keep them Engaged

Testing in the latter stages of the buyer’s journey gives you insights into how to retain them. Determine how customers are using your website through analytics and create content to guide them on product features and handling. 

Turn your customers into brand champions by talking to them on social media. Their increased loyalty will lead to more sales, and they may feel inspired to generate content, attracting even more buyers to your company.

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If you have an e-commerce website, measure the impact of retargeting activities. Re-targeting converts reluctant visitors into customers, so A/B tests your retargeting methods to unearth the most efficient tactics. 

Examples of Growth Marketing Campaigns

Dropbox, a cloud-based storage software, is one of the famous examples of growth marketing. The startup used an incentivized referral approach to grow its user numbers by 60%. 

They conducted surveys, split tests, and optimized sign-ups to get more customers, using the reward of extra storage space as an incentive.

They offered this deal to their social media followers and those who brought referrals. Combined with a great product, these tactics led to millions of users in just a few months.

The website builder, Squarespace, is another company that grew rapidly. Founder Anthony Casalena focused on creating a website platform that was both functional and beautiful, which attracted many users, who spread the message about the company.

Anthony hired experts to run essential departments like customer service. By listening to customers, the company crafts compelling messages and improves its software. 

Squarespace has also invested in Superbowl ads, which drew a lot of attention. Though expensive, advertising during the Superbowl allowed the company to reach a broader audience.

Helpful Tools in Growth Marketing

There are many growth marketing tools available to a beginner. The ones below are simple to use and don’t need a lot of technical expertise. Taking the time to learn how to use them is a good idea.

We’ve split the tools into several categories:

Analytics Tools

These tools help you track user activity, count the number of visitors, and analyze customer behavior. The most common ones include Google and Twitter Analytics, Facebook Insights, WordPress Metrics, and KISSmetrics.

Testing Tools

Testing tools enable you to A/B test various hypotheses and determine the effectiveness of one idea over another.

Common examples include Unbounce and OptinMonster. Unbounce allows you to create landing pages and measure their impact. OptinMonster provides A/B testing tools and conversion analytics. 

SEO and Content Marketing Tools

Beginners must find reliable content management systems (CMS) and marketing tools. WordPress is the most popular CMS, useful for blogging, website design, and analytics, while SemRush is a brilliant tool for keyword research, site audits, and marketing.

Design Tools

When you start out, you’ll need quality designs for your graphics and your social media sites. Choose a quality design option such as Adobe Photoshop, or try free alternatives like Canva.

Business Automation Tools

Business automation is vital for growth marketing. As new users show up, you need a way to manage all of them. HubSpot provides free Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and sales management tools. Nimble is another tool that also manages your contacts.

MailChimp is great for email marketing since it provides templates and thousands of emails free. Zapier integrates various business and marketing apps and automates tasks. 

Social Media Tools

Social media platforms are for sharing your content and interacting with potential customers. Choose the ones with the most users, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Make video content and share it on YouTube or Periscope. Also, use social media management tools like HootSuite, Mention, and Buffer.

Final Thoughts

Growth marketing is about implementing data-driven changes to your marketing approach to improve your results, boost your user numbers, and increase sales. It doesn’t have to be a complex undertaking. 

Make sure your efforts begin before your product development. Identify where people need solutions and tailor your products to those needs. Immerse your growth marketing tactics in every stage of the buyer’s journey.

With this all-around approach, you’ll find the company is growing faster and keeping more customers. There’ll be greater innovation to meet the desires and expectations of the consumers. Rest assured that growth marketing will strengthen your brand.

This is a guest post written by Lisa Michaels. Feel free to connect with her on Twitter @LisaBMichaels.

If you want to submit guest posts to Inuidea, check out the guest post guidelines for Inuidea.

The post Growth Marketing: The Beginner’s Guide appeared first on Inuidea.

31+ Proven Online Business Ideas – Money Making Ideas That Work in 2021

Hey, are you a struggling hustler looking for some proven online business ideas?

Now more people want to start an online business. Because online business has some advantages. You can start an online business and work from home using the internet. Also, you can make money while traveling and sometimes sleeping.

In this post, I’m going to tell you about all the genuine online business ideas you can start and convert into a profitable business.

In fact:

I tried some of these online business ideas to make a decent amount of money online. I used to do some job as a freelance graphic designer, now I do blogging and I’m an online business coach and consultant.

No matter what you are.

If you want to start a successful online business in 2021 then this in-depth blog post is only crafted for you.

Keep in mind that you can’t build a money-making online business overnight.

It takes time, skills, hard work, smart work, lots of sleepless nights, and sometimes money to build a profitable online business.

Let’s dive right in.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

1. Your Own Online Business Ideas

Do you have an online business idea that you are passionate about?

I don’t know what it is but it can be one of the finest online business idea.

Don’t underestimate your ideas and your potential. Write down your business plan and think of the ways to monetize that business. (Or contact me on Instagram @InuEtc ) If that business can make money then go for it.

If you have some basic knowledge, start now!

Related Post: 17 Genuine Ways to Make Passive Income While You Sleep

2. Blogging

Sounds familiar?

Well, you are reading a blog and you want to start an online business, So, It’s obvious that you know about blogging.

Blogging is one of the oldest ways to make money online and it’s the best way to make money online till now.

What is a blog?

A blog is an informational website where people write regularly about the topics that interest them. – Google Dictionary

What to do in blogging?

Blogging is the act of maintaining and writing a blog.

Blogging is like writing a diary. But it’s not your diary. You don’t have to write about your daily life.

Instead, you have to write about a specific niche that you are passionate about.

How to start a blog?

You can start a free blog using Blogger, WordPress.com, Medium, Tumblr, Wix, etc.

But if you want to start a money-making blog, I suggest you use a professional blogging platform like WordPress.org

To start a professional WordPress blog you need a domain, hosting and a good looking WordPress theme.

I suggest you to use Bluehost to buy your hosting. They offer a free .com domain with an affordable hosting price. Also, they offer a one-click WordPress installation.

How to monetize a blog?

You can monetize your blog content by placing Adsense ads, Selling your own products, Affiliate marketing, selling ad space and sponsorship.

Blogging can be a highly profitable online business.

For example:

Harsh Agarwal from ShoutMeloud generated $40,055 in February 2018. Check out his February 2018 income report.

ShoutMeLoud Income Report – February 2018

Keep in mind that your blogging income depends on how many targeted traffic your blog gets.

Don’t know how to start?

Do you know how to write a blog post?

Do you have some basic graphic design skills?

Do you have some basic digital marketing skills?

If yes, then blogging is the best business you can start now.

Related Post: The Ultimate Guide on How to Start a Money Making Blog

#Blogging is one of the oldest ways to #makemoneyonline and it’s the best way to make money online till now.
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3. Affiliate Marketing

Blog like SmartPassiveIncome, ShoutMeLoud, WpBeginner, etc, search engine DuckDuckGo and the big brand Trivago use Affiliate marketing as their primary ways to make money.

They are making a huge amount of money using affiliate marketing.

What is affiliate marketing?

Source – BigCommerce

Here’s the perfect definition of affiliate marketing by Pat Flynn:

“Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by promoting other people’s (or company’s) products. You find a product you like, promote it to others and earn a piece of the profit for each sale that you make.”

That means you have to promote someone else’s products to earn a commission.

To get affiliate products you can join affiliate programs like ShareASale, CJ, etc. Also like Amazon, every e-commerce website has its own affiliate program. You can join them too.

To promote affiliate products you need to have an audience.

You can build your audience using a blog, Podcast or a YouTube channel. After that, you can use those platforms to promote affiliate products.

Also, You can use your email list to promote affiliate products.

Don’t promote something for the sake of making money. Promote products that are valuable and helpful to your audience.

Check out this awesome affiliate marketing guide by Neil Patel to learn more about affiliate marketing.

Related post: Top 29 Affiliate Programs You Must Join to Monetize Your Audience in 2021

Blogs like SmartPassiveIncome (@PatFlynn), @ShoutMeLoud, @WpBeginner, etc, search engine @DuckDuckGo and the big brand @Trivago use #AffiliateMarketing as their primary ways to make money.
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4. Start Freelancing

The success of your freelance career depends on your customer satisfaction and your marketing skills, like how you show off your skills.

It’s one of the best ways to make some active money as a beginner. If you have any demandable professional skill you can make huge money by selling your service online.

I suggest you start your freelance career on Fiverr. Because it’s user-friendly and beginner-friendly.

If you want to earn more use more ways to market your skills. Use Instagram to market your graphic design, illustration or photography skills. Use other social media and also use other freelance marketplaces like Upwork, Freelancer, Guru.com, 99designs, etc.

To make more money doing freelance jobs, start a blog, create a portfolio, And use your blog as a freelance marketplace.

For example.

Angela Marry Vas uses her blog and Instagram page to market her illustration skills. And she is making more money than lots of other illustrators.

I know you have some skills!

What are you waiting for?

Start now. It’s the best time man!

Here’s is a blog post by SmartPassiveIncome that can help you get started: How to Start Freelancing (And Get Your FIRST Client!)

5. Start a Consulting Business

Are you an expert in a specific field?

Do you have a highly demandable professional skill?

Hey, you can be a highly paid online consultant.

As a consultant, you have to help your clients by solving their problems using your knowledge, skills, and experience.

Like freelancing, you have to market your consulting business to attract companies and individuals to get hired.

For further reading, check out this post by Consulting.com: How to start a consulting business.

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6. Become a YouTuber

Do you have a dream of becoming a star?

Do you want to share your knowledge with millions of people?

Do you love creating videos?

If your answer is yes, then YouTube is eagerly waiting for you.

Now video content gets more eyeballs than other content. That’s why YouTube gets 1.8 billion users every month. Now Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter also priorities videos. Because video marketing is the future of content marketing.

YouTube is like blogging. In YouTube Instead of publishing articles, you have to produce videos for your audience.

Popular YouTubers are making huge amounts of money from brand Sponsorship, clothing line, Adsense ads, etc.

Look at PewDiePie aka Felix Kjellberg, his 2018 earning is $15.5 Million

The best part is, you don’t need an expensive camera to shoot YouTube videos.

If you have a smartphone with a quality camera lens, you can start filming your first YouTube video right now.

Check out this post written by Adam LoDolce, to learn more about YouTubing.

Also, check this Backlinko guide to learn everything about YouTubing.

Related post: 9 Websites to Download Free and Copyright-Free Music for YouTube Videos

7. Start a PodcastWhat is a podcast?

A podcast is a series of downloadable and streamable recorded audio content.

People listen to their favorite podcasts using various podcast streaming sites.

If you want to build a personal brand by sharing your knowledge just using your voice, then you should start a podcast.

You should start a podcast to promote yourself and to build a deeper connection with your audience.

You can monetize your podcast by selling your own services and products or using sponsorship.

If your podcast gets a huge amount of targeted listener you can make money using sponsorship. You can build a brand or you can market your other online business.

For example:

In August 2016, Pat Flynn generated $19,144.18 through podcast sponsorship.

August 2016 Podcast Income Report – SmartPassiveIncome

Neil Patel is growing his consulting business using his podcast Marketing School and Gary Vaynerchuk is growing his personal brand using his podcast The GaryVee Audio Experience.

Now you can start and distribute your podcast for free using Anchor.

Related post: How to Start a Podcast for Free in 2021 (Complete Guide)

8. Sell WordPress Themes and Plugins

Do you know how to design WordPress themes and plugins?

WordPress is a popular and most used CMS platform for blogs and websites.

So, premade WordPress themes and useful plugins have a demand. Because lots of people use pre-made themes and useful plugins to create their blog or website.

If you don’t know how to design WordPress themes or plugins, you can learn using free resources.

You can sell your themes and plugins on your own website or you can use WordPress themes and plugins selling marketplaces like Themeforest and such other websites.

Related Post: 7 Best WordPress Themes for Blogs (2021)

9. Start Business Coaching and Consulting

Hey, do you have some problems solving skills for the businesses out there?

Small business owners are struggling to make more money, they are struggling to sell more products, they want to market their products but they don’t know how to do those things.

Can you help them grow their business?

A business consultant works with clients on strategy, problem-solving, and helps them develop business skills and knowledge.

On the other hand, a business coach helps clients on personal development, time management, finding clarity, decision making and getting into action.

So if you want to be a business coach and consultant, at first you have to gain some knowledge, skills, and experience.

Well, I’m an Online business coach and consultant. I help young hustler build their own online business.

Need help?

Ask on Instagram @InuEtc.

For further reading, check out this article on business coaching by WikiHow.

10. Build Apps and Games

Smartphones are everywhere. People are using countless apps every day for entertainment purposes and to make their lives easier.

The app market is rising more than ever before and that’s why some apps get huge popularity.

If you have required coding skills and some creativity you can design an app without spending a single penny.

The app market is huge. You can easily distribute your app to your targeted user base using the Google Play Store and the iPhone’s App Store.

You can monetize your App using Advertisement, Sponsorship, partnership, In-app purchases, etc. Also, you can sell your app directly to your targeted user base.

Look at TikTok:

Tiktok revenue – October 2018

TikTok surpassed Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat & YouTube in downloads and in October 2018, TikTok earns more than $3.5 Million worldwide.

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11. Becomes a Web Developer

A web developer is someone who knows how to build a complete website.

If you want to be a web developer you need to learn to code. It takes time and hard work. But if you are passionate about coding, you can earn a lot of money.

Now many business owners prefer a WordPress website for their business. Because it’s easy to customize and it’s good for SEO.

You can easily learn WordPress using free tutorials. I mean WordPress is easy to learn than coding. But to be an expert WordPress developer you need to learn a little bit of coding.

You can get your client using the freelance marketplace or your own website.

Read this beginner guide of becoming a web developer to learn more about web development.

12. Start a Listicle Blog

Hey, you are reading a listicle!

List + Article = Listicle

People like listicles, because listicles are straightforward and organized.

You can start a listicle blog the same way you start a blog. Just start writing listicles on your blog.

Lots of people make mistakes when it comes to writing a headline for listicles. They use the same number for all their listicles headline.

People want to read something different. It’s boring to see the same number all over the internet.

You can monetize your listicle blog by placing Adsense ads and affiliate links. You can use other ways to monetize your blog too.

Want to start a listicle blog in 2021?

Check out this post to write better listicles.

13. Build Niche Sites

Looking to start an online business?

I recommend creating a niche site, a website targeted toward a specific audience.

Niche sites are built on a specific niche, that’s why they easily rank on Google.

Want to start a niche site?

The process is simple.

Find out a niche and build a siteWrite some SEO optimized content.Rank on Google and get trafficStrategically place Affiliate links and Adsense ads.Make money.

Adsense ads are the best ways to monetize a niche site to make more money.

If you are a beginner, start a niche site in 2021. Because it’s one of the best ways to make money as a beginner.

Check out this ultimate guide to building a niche site by Pat Flynn.

Related Post: The Ultimate Guide on How to Start a Money Making Blog

14. Instagram Sponsorship

Do you have a dream of building up a great Instagram following?

No matter what you do. If people like what you do they will follow you.

To grow your Instagram following you need to post engaging and valuable content consistently.

As you grow your following, you can get sponsorship opportunities

For example:

If you grow your Instagram account in the photography niche, you can promote camera equipment. Sony or Nikon and other brands can sponsor you to reach more potential photographers.

Look at this.

He is Siddhartha Joshi, my favorite Indian travel photographer who is promoting Intel India.

If you have more followers and a better engagement rate, you can earn huge money per post on Instagram.

Brands love to market their products using Instagram influencer because it helps them to influence their potential customer and it’s a great way to do word-of mouth-advertising.

To learn more about Instagram sponsorship read this post written by Caroline Forsey from HubSpot.

Read more: How To Become a Digital Nomad and Travel The World

15. Create SaaS (Software as a Service)

Google, Adobe, Shopify, Dropbox, LastPass are the well known and the fastest growing SaaS companies and products.

According to Google dictionary

“SaaS is a method of software delivery and licensing in which software is accessed online via a subscription, rather than bought and installed on individual computers.”

Do you have an idea of creating a SaaS product?

If you don’t know how to design a SaaS product, hire a designer, Invest some money and convert your ideas into reality.

Check out this ultimate guide to SaaS by HubSpot and learn more about SaaS by reading this post written by Neil Patel.

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16. Become a WordPress Expert

WordPress is the fastest growing and most used CMS out there. WordPress market share is 60.7% and it’s growing.

Because of its popularity, the demand for WordPress themes, plugins and developers is also increasing day by day.

For example,

People want to make their site unique by customizing their theme, so they want a WordPress expert.

Sometimes a non-technical website owner wants a WordPress expert to solve some issues he is facing on his site.

So if you are a WordPress expert you can help them using your knowledge.

You can offer your services on your own site or you can use freelance marketplaces.

You can make money by sharing your knowledge too.

Start a blog or a YouTube channel and create content using your knowledge. This way you can market your WordPress skills to get more clients.

Here is a guide that can help you to be a rockstar WordPress expert by Simple Programmer.

17. Become a Graphic Designer

A graphic designer designs web pages, themes, logos and lots of other graphics for the online and offline world.

To be a great graphic designer, you don’t need a fucking college degree, you don’t need to be great at drawing. But you need to be a visual thinker and you must need an awesome portfolio.

You can work as a freelance graphic designer. We talked about selling WordPress themes. Yeah, you can make money by selling pre-made templates too.

You can sell your graphics on Designhill, Etsy and other such sites.

Here are the 10 ways to earn money online as a graphic designer by Naldz Graphics.

Read more: 17 Amazing Free Websites to Download Copyright Free Stock Images

18. Become an SEO ExpertWhat is SEO?

According to SearchEngineLand:

“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.”

Every business wants to rank higher on a search engine like Google.

Because when a website ranks higher, it gets more targeted organic traffic and you know that targeted traffic equals more revenue.

SEO skill is one of the highly valued skills in the digital marketing world.

It can be difficult to learn SEO because Google and other search engines are always changing their algorithm. You have to think like a search engine. You have to keep learning and testing new strategies.

If you master SEO, you can help big companies and they will pay you high. Also, you can teach your students to master SEO.

For example:

Backlinko founder Brian Dean is selling an SEO training course SEO That Works and Moz also selling many SEO courses on their website.

Want to learn SEO for free?

I suggest you read Backlinko Blog, Neil Patel Blog, and watch their YouTube videos. Also, start a blog and keep tasting new SEO strategies.

Related Post: 7 Best Blogs to Learn SEO, Marketing and Copywriting.

Here’s a beginners guide to SEO by Moz.

Check out this post: How to Become an SEO Expert (in 2019) By GotchSEO.

19. Self-Publish a Book on Amazon

Do you want to prove your authority while making some passive income?

Well for this you need to be a writer and you have to publish a book.

Don’t know how?

Well, it’s pretty easy. With Amazon, you can self-publish your book easily, and make money from it.

How to write a book for Amazon?

Validate your book idea, get to know your targeted audience, follow Amazon’s book writing guide and start writing your first book.

Promotion is the most important part of publishing a book on Amazon.

If you can sell a few hundred copies the first week of launching your book, Amazon will take over and start promoting it for you. This way you can make some passive income from it.

Get more sells following these strategies:Set the price at 99 cents for the first week.Run a Buck Books promotion.Post book excerpts and run ads on social media.Blast your email list if you have one.Write guest posts on relevant blogs.

Here’s a guide that can help you self-publish your book on Amazon to earn more money.

20. Create Online Courses

An online course is a class taught through the internet and an online course is a passive and independent income source for niche experts and teachers.

Creating a course is similar to writing a book. You are monetizing your knowledge and expertise by teaching it to others.

People love it when they saw something organized and straightforward.

Sometimes, it’s not easy to find a perfect and organized solution from a single Google search.

Online courses are organized, straightforward and actionable. That’s why people love courses.

The demand for online courses is growing rapidly. If you are an expert or a teacher, you can create courses and you can easily make some passive income by selling your courses online.

How to create an online course?

Here’s how you can create an online course:

Choose a profitable topic.Research the subject.Outline your course.Write goals and objectives.Create your course content.Get your course online.

You can host your online course on your WordPress website using LearnDash.

Here’s a guide that can help you create a course using LearnDash.

If you don’t have any experience in building an online course, you can try Teachable.

Also, you can try Udemy to build and publish your online course with their existing audience of course buyer.

Here’s is a step by step guide on creating and selling your online course.

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21. Become a Custom Illustrator

One of my favorite blogger and illustrator, Angela Mary Vaz. She’s making $2000 to $4000 each month by doing illustration works online.

She uses her blog Stray Curls to promote and sell her illustration service.

To learn illustration you can take a course from Udemy or SkillShare. If you don’t want to spend any money, try to learn using YouTube and Google.

Adobe Illustrator is premium software that you can use to design illustrations. Also, you can use Inkscape. Which is a free but professional software for illustrator.

You can use freelance marketplaces or your own website and social media to promote and sell your illustration service.

Here’s a detailed guide that can help you monetize your illustration works.

For further reading,

Check out this post: How to Kick Start Your Career as an Illustrator.

22. Start Online Coaching

Do you want to help people by selling your advice? Then online coaching business may be a good option for you.

If you love fitness and you have knowledge about fitness, you can be a fitness coach.

Like this, You can be a life coach, business coach, spiritual coach, wellness coach, etc.

It’s much easier to market your coaching service when you have a blog on your coaching topic. Your blog acts as your portfolio and it shows that you are a genuine expert.

You can sell your coaching service using Skype, Clarity.fm or other online teaching marketplaces.

Here’s is a guide on starting a home-based coaching business.

23. Sell Your Photography Service and Photos Online

Do you enjoy snapping pictures of the world around you?

If you are a photographer with an amazing photography skills, you can sell your photography service online to make a living.

You can grow a big business using your photography skills. If you rightly market your photography skill, you can work with clients all over the world as a freelance photographer.

You can market your photography skills using Instagram and your blog.

How to make money by selling photos online?

You can use your website to sell your photos.

We already talked about Instagram sponsorship. Yes, if you grow your Instagram account, you can make huge money using Instagram sponsorship.

Also, you can make a decent amount of money by selling your photos on 123RF, ShutterStock, iStockPhoto, and such other stock photography sites.

24. Become a Digital Marketer

Here’s a perfect definition of digital marketing from Wikipedia.

“Digital marketing is the marketing of products or services using digital technologies, mainly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any other digital medium.”

Well, I’m a digital marketer and I love digital marketing.

Are you serious about learning digital marketing?

Take a digital marketing course or learn using free resources.

Start reading my favorite digital marketing blogs and learn digital marketing for free.

Hubspot – Learn Inbound MarketingMoz – Learn SEONeil Patel Blog – Learn everything about Digital MarketingBacklinko – Learn SEO and Content MarketingCopyblogger – Learn Content Marketing etc.

Also, watch YouTube videos and listen to marketing podcasts to learn more about digital marketing.

If you become a digital marketer, you can work and make money as a freelancer, digital marketing consultant, SEO consultant, Social Media Marketing Consultant, Content Marketer, Email Marketer, Video Marketer, etc.

You can start a digital marketing agency and start helping small businesses from all over the world.

Here’s a guide that can help you make more money as a digital marketing consultant.

25. Sell Your Art or Handmade Product

Are you a struggling artist?

You can make money by selling your paintings and other homemade products. Your income depends on your skills and how you market your skill and product.

Start marketing your skills on Social Media. Start a blog and tell people that you can create something special for them.

Also, teach people using your blog and YouTube channel. You can monetize your blog and YouTube channel too.

There are plenty of websites where you can sell your art and handmade products. Such as Etsy, Artfire, Amazon Handmade, etc.

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26. Become a Freelance Writer

Do you know how to write quality content?

If you have content marketing, SEO and Writing skill, you can be a highly paid freelance writer.

You can get paid to write for websites, magazines and all different types of writing gigs.

If you want to market your writing skill properly I suggest you start a blog first. Because it can be your best portfolio as a freelance writer. Also, start working with small clients on Fiverr and other freelancing sites.

You can make money by writing content for your blog or you can work for big companies. Keep checking their websites for hiring notices.

27. Flipping – Buy and Sell Virtual Real Estate

Virtual real estate is an online property, including websites, domain names, software, apps, and online services.

You can make money using virtual real estate also you can make money by selling them to others.

For example,

If you have a website you can monetize it using ads, affiliate marketing, etc. On the other hand, you can sell your website to others to make one-time money.

Also, you can buy an undeveloped virtual real estate and after improving it you can sell it at a higher price.

You can buy and sell virtual real estate on Flippa, Empire Flippers, Freemarket, etc.

Here’s a blog post that can help you learn more about website flipping and virtual real estate.

28. Start a Dropshipping BusinessWhat is Dropshipping?

“Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where a store doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, when a store sells a product, it purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer. As a result, the merchant never sees or handles the product.” – Shopify

The benefit of the Dropshipping business is you don’t have to worry about product manufacturing, stocking, and shipping. All you need to do is to choose a profitable niche and set up a Dropshipping E-Commerce site.

How to Start a Dropshipping Business?Learn DropshippingChoose a profitable nicheBuild a Dropshipping store using Shopify.Market your Dropshipping business.

AliExpress is a great marketplace to find out Dropshipping products.

You can use Amazon, eBay, Etsy to sell Dropshipping products. But I suggest you create your own website using Shopify. Because it gives you complete control over branding, design and lots of other benefits.

For further reading,

Check out this post: How to Start a Dropshipping Business in 2019.

29. Become a Virtual AssistantWhat is a virtual assistant?

“A virtual assistant (typically abbreviated to VA, also called a virtual office assistant) is generally self-employed and provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients remotely from a home office” – Wikipedia

If you want to work from home and if you have administrative, accounting, business, and some technical experience, a virtual assistant job may be right for you.

A virtual assistant provides multiple services such as customer support, typing, editing and proofreading, email management, web research, data entry, bookkeeping, social media management, etc.

To get started as a virtual assistant you need to decide which services you’ll offer your clients and you should start building an online presence.

And of course, you need a reliable internet connection to work as a virtual assistant.

Start working on a freelance site, because it’s easier to get clients on freelance marketplaces.

Also, make a list of potential clients and start pitching and networking with them by sending emails or using LinkedIn.

30. Become a CopywriterWhat is copywriting?

Copywriting is the act of writing texts for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. – Wikipedia

If you love writing you should try copywriting too.

Copywriters write the words for TV commercials, radio ads, magazines, websites, billboards, flyers, and lots of other platforms.

How to become a copywriter?

You can be a copywriter using self-learning resources such as blogs and books. Also, you can take a college degree in advertising, marketing, English or communication to start your journey as a copywriter.

I always suggest people go with self-learning to learn anything. Because I truly hate school education!

I recommend you to read Backlinko, Copyblogger, and such other blogs.

Also, I highly recommend you to read this copywriting handbook if you want to be a great copywriter without taking any course.

How to make money as a copywriter?

You can start making a decent amount of money by selling your copywriting service using freelance sites.

But I suggest you start your own copywriting business. Build a website and market your website by blogging, advertising, etc to get more high paying clients.

Here’s how you can work from home as a copywriter.

31. Become a Social Media Manager

Want to become a social media manager?

Social media manager helps businesses grow their online presence.

They help businesses on:

Writing and scheduling postsReplying to fansCreating graphicsRunning AdsMonitoring analytics etc.

You need some basic skills such as time management, great customer service and a good understanding of grammar.

Follow popular brands on social media and start learning from them. Work for free or start working on freelancing sites to get some experience. Build your own website and grow your personal brand using social media.

Here’s a detailed guide on how to become a social media manager from home.

32. Set Up an E-Commerce Site.

Now, there is an e-commerce site for everything.

From physical goods to digital goods, you can easily find your potential customers and sell anything using an e-commerce site.

How to start an e-commerce business?

At first, learn e-commerce business by reading some blogs and watching YouTube videos.

Then choose a profitable niche and start building your site.

You can easily set up an e-commerce store on your WordPress site using WooCommerce.

If you want the easiest and the fastest way to build an e-commerce store, Shopify is your best option.

Here’s a guide that can help you build a successful e-commerce site.

33. Start a Drop Servicing Business 

Drop servicing is an online business model where you sell freelance services. However, you are not the one who will do the service. You have to find people (freelancers) who will do it for you. Your job is to market these services, and earn a profit from the orders.

You will market these services at a higher price than what you are paying for them. The difference between the two price points is the profit that you make.

Want to learn more about drop servicing?

Read this awesome drop servicing guide by Sam Nelson to learn how to start a drop servicing business.

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Now It’s Your Turn!

I hope this post gives you some awesome online business ideas.

Feeling motivated?

Start now, it’s the best time to start your own online business.

Are you going to start a blog, a niche site, a YouTube channel, or something else?

Let me know in the comments section below.

Also, share this post with your friends and young hustler who wants some online business ideas.

31+ Proven Online Business Ideas That Work in 2021 (In-Depth Article + Free Consulting)
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Feeling confused?

Don’t worry. I’m always available to help you. Ask anything in the comment section or feel free to contact me on Instagram @InuEtc

You know that I’m your best friend. Now make Google and YouTube your best friend. Ask them anything and always keep learning.

Follow your passion and ability.

Keep hustling.

The post 31+ Proven Online Business Ideas – Money Making Ideas That Work in 2021 appeared first on Inuidea.

7 Best WordPress Themes for Blogs (2021)

Today I’m going to talk about some of the best WordPress themes for blogs that can help you start a professionally designed money making blog in less time.

The best part is,

All these WordPress themes are easy to customize, responsive, professional, elegant, beginner-friendly, SEO optimized and really, they are eye-catching!

Let’s dive right in.

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My 7 Favorite WordPress themes for blogging.

There are thousands of WordPress themes available for your blog on the market.

But, it’s not easy to find out the best WordPress themes for your baby blog when you are a beginner.

So, I’ve done my research and find out the 7 best WordPress themes for blogs in 2021.

This guide is enough to help you pick the best theme for your blog.

Related Post: The Ultimate Guide on How to Start a Money Making Blog in 2021.

This post contains affiliate links (I don’t recommend anything that I don’t believe in), meaning at no extra cost to you, I might receive a small commission for purchases made through these links.
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1. Divi

Divi is one of the most user-friendly, easy to understand, and powerful WordPress themes by Elegant Themes.

If you are a complete beginner and tired of finding the best theme for your blog then I suggest you go with Divi.

Divi offers detailed documentation and they offer awesome customer service to solve all your problems.

If you are just starting, you can use 129+ premade professional layout packs offered by Elegant Themes. Just install one of the layout packs and design your blog from scratch.

Also, if you start learning by following their documentation, you will be able to design an extremely unique blog using the Divi theme.

2. Avada

For Inuidea, I’m using Avada and I’m in love with this premium WordPress theme because it’s easy to customize, beginners friendly, SEO optimized and it comes with many more features and premium plugins.

It’s the #1 selling theme available on Themeforest, with over 530,426+ sales.

ThemeFusion team is the author of Avada. They offer easy to understand documentation for almost every setting of Avada.

Also, they offer an awesome support service to their customers.

And I’m here to help you for free! Let’s chat!

Avada comes with 49 ready to import pre-built websites. Import one of these pre-built sites to design and launch your blog fast.

Avada is a responsive and multipurpose WordPress theme that supports drag and drop page building. You can create a unique blog and any type of website using Avada.

Read more: 9 Proven Ways to Monetize Your Blog – Make Money Blogging in 2020

3. Soledad

Soledad is one of the best personal blog themes. But it’s a multipurpose theme too. You can use Soledad to design any type of blog.

Soledad is easy to customize, powerful and flexible WordPress theme for blogging.

This multipurpose blog theme comes with a 100+ installable demo, which helps you create a professional and unique blog from scratch.

Soledad professional customer support and detailed documentation are available to help design your blog.

If you are a female blogger looking for a minimal and a feminine blog theme, I recommend you Soledad.

Because, I have seen many beauty bloggers, fashion bloggers, travel bloggers, and female bloggers are using the Soledad theme for their WordPress blog.

4. Salient

Salient is one of the most popular and highly rated premium WordPress themes available on Themeforest, with over 94,000 sales. It’s created by an elite author ThemeNectar.

Salient is a highly customizable, responsive, multipurpose theme that comes with a large number of installable demos and lots of premium features.

ThemeNecter offers easy to understand video documentation to guide you while you design your new blog.

Also, the professional support team is available to solve your problems.

Salient has lots of settings to completely customize the look of your site. So, you can create a professional and completely unique blog using Salient.

Read more: 11 “Must Have” Free WordPress Plugins Every Blog Needs.

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5. Newspaper

Authors of the Newspaper theme aren’t good at naming an excellent multipurpose theme.

Because this WordPress theme isn’t built only for the news sites. Newspaper theme is an extremely versatile theme that lets you design any kind of blog and site.

It comes with a large number of pre-built pages, premium widgets, plugins and lots of amazing features.

TagDiv team is the author of the Newspaper theme. They offer easy to understand documentation and professional customer support to help you design any kind of blog.

6. CheerUp

CheerUp is another premium and versatile WordPress blogging theme.

CheerUp comes with 12 unique design and 1000+ layout variations. It lets you install pre-made demos with one click and a large number of layout variations help you design a completely unique blog.

In-depth documentation and dedicated support are available to understand every customization settings that helps you design an error-free professional blog in less time.

7. Astra

Astra is a fast, multipurpose, flexible and easy to use WordPress themes developed by Brainstorm Force.

Astra is made for speed. The size of the Astra theme is less than 50 KB! It is the most lightweight and fast loading WordPress theme available on the market.

It comes with hundreds of pre-built demo sites. You can reduce your website design time by importing a ready to use demo on your blog.

Brainstorm Force gives you professional support and easy to understand documentation to help you design your blog.

The best part is,

You can get started with Astra for free!

Read more: 17 Amazing Free Websites to Download Copyright Free Stock Images

Final Thoughts: 7 Best WordPress Themes for Blogs

All these themes are a good solution for a beginner or a pro blogger.

Because, all of these themes are beginners friendly, SEO optimized, multipurpose, retina-ready, elegant, professional, and lets you design a complete site without knowing how to code.

They are compatible with AMP, WooCommerce, all other major third-party plugins, tools, services.

Also, all of these are fast loading WordPress themes that increase your site page speed.

But, if you ask me to choose the best WordPress theme among them, I would like to choose Divi, Avada, and Salient. Sorry, I can’t choose only one of them, because really they are awesome and suitable for all kinds of blogs.

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Now It’s Your Turn!

Hey, you’ve read about the 7 best WordPress themes for blogs.

And now you know which WordPress theme is suitable for your new blog.

Are you going to use Divi?

Maybe you are going to install Avada!

Either way, leave a quick comment below.

Are you going to install a different theme?

Maybe you have a blog! What is your favorite WordPress theme?

Let me know in the comment section below.

Also, share this post with your friends and bloggers who are looking for the best WordPress theme for their blog.

7 best #WordPress Themes for Blogs (2021) #Blogging #BloggingTips
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If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. I’m always available to help young hustlers like you.

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The post 7 Best WordPress Themes for Blogs (2021) appeared first on Inuidea.

The Ultimate Guide on How to Start a Money Making Blog in 2021

Hey, looking for a simple and beginners friendly guide on how to start a money-making blog in 2021?

You’ve come to the right place!

Today I’m going to show you exactly how to start a profitable blog and make money blogging in 2021.

Let’s dive right in.

Related post: How Much Does It Cost to Start a Money Making Blog in 2021 (The Cheapest Way)

Before starting a blog:Decide what you want to blog about – Choose a niche you are passionate about

Consistency is the key to your blogging success.

If you are blogging just because of money and you aren’t interested in what you are writing, then seriously, blogging is not for you!

Before starting a blog, you should choose a niche you are passionate about.

When picking a niche for your blog, make a note on the business value and the future of that topic.

A niche helps you find your targeted audience.

For example:

My blog Inuidea is all about online business, blogging, marketing, finance, and entrepreneurship.

Look:

I have a bunch of niches, but they all are related to each other, and the best thing is that I love sharing my thoughts and knowledge about these topics.

And who are my targeted audience?

Yes! Inuidea is a blog for young hustlers, bloggers, and aspiring entrepreneurs.

And because of my crystal clear niches, I know for whom I write a blog post. This way, I can connect and build a strong bond with my readers.

This post contains affiliate links (I don’t recommend anything that I don’t believe in), meaning at no extra cost to you, I might receive a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Read more: 9 Proven Ways to Monetize Your Blog – Make Money Blogging in 2020

After choosing a niche:Choose a name and a domain name for your blog

A domain name is your website URL.

For example:

The domain name for Inuidea is www.inuidea.com (It can be .org .net .xyz .in, etc instead of .com)

The Google global domain name is www.google.com, but the Google India domain name is www.google.co.in

Clear?

The first step of creating a blog is to choose a domain name for your blog.

It’s essential to have a short, catchy, unique, and easy to pronounce domain name.

There are over 1.8 billion websites in the world, and maximum people choose a .com extension for their sites. That’s why it’s so hard to get a short and meaningful .com domain.

You can quickly check domain name availability here:

If your desirable creative domain name isn’t available, choose a different name or stick to your name.

A lot of successful bloggers are using their name as their domain name. The plus point of using your name as your domain is that it’s unique!

In fact,

I’m using my first name on my domain name.

Inu + Idea + .com = Inuidea.com

No matter what your domain name is, If your blog is full of great content, people will love your blog.

So, don’t waste your time choosing a great domain name. Just keep it simple, short, and unique.

Read more: 7 Best Blogs to Learn Blogging in 2020

Choose a good and reliable hosting

Hosting is like a home where your website is going to live.

Why free hosting sucks?

The reason why free hosting sucks is that they come with an unprofessional domain structure.

For example:

www.yourdomainname.blogspot.com

Look at this:

It’s a subdomain, it’s long, and It looks unprofessional.

Also, free hosting gives you limited options to customize your blogs or websites.

Best reliable and affordable hosting solution for a new blog

As an online entrepreneur and a blogger, I have used Bluehost, Siteground, BigRock, Dreamhost, and for Antelax (web design company), we have used HostGator, but now I’m using Hostinger, which is the cheapest and the best hosting available online.

Hostinger is one of the most reliable and recommended WordPress hosting companies out there.

It’s a secure and the most affordable web hosting services you can use to start your blogging journey today.

They have one of the best loading speeds and their support team is fast, effective, and friendly.

If you want a fast and reliable web hosting service with great customer support, then Hostinger is perfect for you. They have affordable hosting plans for every budget and each plan comes with tons of useful features.

All their hosting plans include a free domain name, a free SSL certificate, LightSpeed Cache, 1-click WordPress installer, and lots of other useful features.

When you purchased hosting and the free domain name from Hostinger, you can install WordPress from the hPanel.

After installing WordPress, now you are ready to open your WordPress dashboards to start customizing your blog.

Read more: 11 “Must Have” Free WordPress Plugins Every Blog Needs.

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Choose a good looking and customizable Theme

Enough back-end setup!

Now we are going to do some front-end setup for your blog.

Till now, your blog has a name, a home to stay, but your blog is naked! LOL.

A theme is like a dress for your blog.

You can choose a good looking theme, and you can make modifications. Also, you can change your blog theme, just like a dress.

Once you’re in your WordPress site dashboard, you can install a theme on your blog.

Plenty of free themes are available on the WordPress.org site or other third party websites.

But just like the free hosting sucks, free theme sucks too.

They aren’t fully customizable and secure. Free themes look unprofessional, and they also want attribution!

So what’s the solution?

Well, there are thousands of pre-built premium themes available on many WordPress theme selling marketplace.

By installing a pre-built, premium theme, you will be able to create a complete, good looking, and professional site without coding.

If you are a newbie blogger, I recommend Divi by Elegant Themes.

Divi is a responsive and multipurpose WordPress theme. It supports drag and drop site building. Elegant themes also have amazing customer support.

For Inuidea, I’m using Avada by Envato Market.

And I’m in love with this theme. It’s the #1 selling theme of all time.

Just like Divi, Avada too a responsive and multipurpose WordPress theme that supports drag and drop building. You can create a unique and any website using Avada.

Need free help with Avada or WordPress themes? Contact me.

Related Post: 7 Best WordPress Themes for Blogs (2021)

Essential Things to do After Installing WordPress – Configure Settings and Install Plugins.

WordPress installation comes with a sample post, a sample page, a sample comments, and some default settings. You should configure those default settings to improve your blog.

So, here is the first thing you should do after installing WordPress:

Delete defaults (Post, Page, and Comment)Set your timezone – Go to Settings > General and select your timezone. Click ‘Save Changes’.Set user registration – Allow or disallow people to register on your blog. The setting is available in the General section.Set WordPress discussion settings – Go to Settings > Discussion and follow this screenshot and configure discussion settings.Connect Google Analytics. Install the free MonsterInsights plugin and easily connect Google Analytics to your WordPress blog.Set up WordPress permalinks – Go to Settings > Permalinks and select ‘Post Name’. Click ‘Save Changes’.Install “must-have” free WordPress plugins for your blog. – Some plugins are essential to your blog. They can improve SEO, security, and performance of your blog.

That’s it, after changing default settings and installing some essential plugins, now you are ready for the next step.

Add essential pages on your blog1. Home page.

Your home page is all about your blog. It reflects your complete blog to your visitors. Make your homepage unique and extremely relevant to your blog.

2. About Page

Sometimes when your visitors are going through your blog or a high-quality blog post, they’re going to get curious and want to learn more about you.

By having an extraordinary about page, you can connect with your visitors; you can easily build a relationship with them and convert them into lifetime readers of your blog.

3. Contact Page

If you write great content on your blog, your readers are going to contact you to say thanks.

Sometimes they will contact you by asking for help from you. Also, your readers will give you suggestions to improve your blog.

Apart from that, brands and companies will want to contact for business inquiries.

4. Privacy Policy Page

Your blog isn’t just a blog, now blogging is a business, and business grows when your customers trust you.

Internet users are now concerned about their personal information. A privacy policy informs your blog visitors about how protected they are when they visit your blog. This way, you can gain some trust from your blog visitors.

A privacy policy is required by law if you collect personal information from users.

Also, it’s necessary if you use third-party services such as Google Analytics, Adsense, etc.

Read more: How to Start a Podcast for Free in 2021 (Complete Guide)

Publish Quality Content

Content is the king!

Maybe you’ve heard this evergreen sentence.

It’s true.

Content is the most crucial part of your blog.

You should write informative, engaging, and SEO friendly articles to get more visitors to your blog.

How to write an engaging blog post?

1. Add a personal touch –  When you are writing a blog post, always write using ‘You’ and ‘I’. Because there is a single person, who is reading your blog post. Just like you are reading this post alone.

Don’t just write for the search engine. Make sure you aren’t behaving like a robot. Keep in mind that you are a person writing a blog post for another person.

2. Write better headlines – Add power words, emotional words, and also add keywords to your blog post headline. Use Coschedule Headline Analyzer to analyze and improve your blog posts headlines.

3. Write detailed content – Always write in-depth and detailed content. Feel free to write (1000+ words) long content. Also, try to help your readers by solving their problems.

4. Add bucket brigades – You may be wondering what is a “bucket brigades”?

Bucket brigades are words and phrases that add conversational value to your content. Bucket brigades make your content more conversational and engaging.

Some examples of bucket brigades are – “Look at this”, “Sounds familiar?”, “Ready?” etc.

Look at my content. I’m using lots of bucket brigades to make my content more engaging.

5. Use visuals on your blog – Add screenshots, graphs, infographics, and stock images. Don’t copy images from Google. Use copyright free stock image sites to download images for free.

Read more: Grammarly Review 2020: Boost Your Confidence and Enhance Your Writing

Promote your blog and drive traffic to your blog

Content is the king, but promotion is the queen.

Your blog has no value if there is no one to read your blog.

So what to do?

Don’t worry.

There are so many amazing ways to market your blog for free.

1. Social media – Especially Pinterest!

Why Pinterest?

Pinterest is one of the most underrated social media platforms out there. Lots of new bloggers are not aware of the power of Pinterest.

SEO is difficult, and it takes time to rank on Google. So, when you are just starting with a baby blog, you can’t get traffic from Google.

Also, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram don’t do well if you don’t have a huge fan following, and also on these platforms, only paid promotions works.

But Pinterest works well because it has a different algorithm than other social media platforms. After you saved a Pin on Pinterest, it gets impressions even after a few months.

Related Post: 11 Actionable Ways To Get Massive Traffic From Pinterest To Your Blog

Pinterest Group boards are gems for bloggers. They are very similar to the Facebook group. Multiple Pinterest users can save pins to a group board.

The popular Pinterest group board has a lot of followers. Meaning, more Pinterest users can see your pins at a time, they engage with your pins, and it goes viral.

You can join and contribute (Save your pins) to my Pinterest group board – Traffic Sphere.

If you want to see more blogging tips, online business tips on my Pinterest feed, then be sure to follow me on Pinterest.

Also, make sure that you are promoting your blog on other social media platforms too. It helps you with building your brand.

Look at my Instagram profile.

Instagram is not my primary traffic source. But I’m creating posts, especially for my Instagram feed.

So, feel free to promote your blog on every social media platform available on the internet.

2. Comment on other relevant blogs

Whenever you like a blog post on a related blog, don’t just leave.

Drop a valuable comment or ask a question.

Blog commenting helps you get traffic, build relationships, build your brand, and it also helps you with SEO, even though blog comments give you a nofollow backlink.

3. Join and help people in blogging communities.

Facebook groups and online forums are a great place to show off your authority and build your brand by helping fellow bloggers.

Quora is another great place to promote your blog. If you write a helpful answer on Quora and link out to your blog, hundreds of people will visit your blog.

Read more: 17 Amazing Free Websites to Download Copyright Free Stock Images

Grow Your Email List

The money is on the list. 

This line is so true!

Top bloggers, media companies, business websites, start-ups use an email list to market, monetize, and grow their business.

Email marketing is vital if you want to start a money making blog in 2021.

You should invest your time and money on an excellent email marketing service to grow your email list.

I’m using MailerLite, an alternative to MailChimp. 

MailChimp isn’t a branding friendly and beginner-friendly email marketing service. On the other hand, Mailerlite is beginner-friendly, and it lets you easily customize and create beautiful email forms that fit with your branding.

MailChimp free version lets you have up to 2000 subscribers, and Mailerlite free version allows you have up to 1000 subscribers.

But 1000 targeted subscribers is enough to market and monetize your blog as a starter blogger.

After that, you can use their service, or you can use other email marketing services such as Convertkit, Aweber, etc.

Monetize your blog

I suggest you wait at least 5-6 months to try different ways to monetize your blog.

In the beginning, Instead of thinking about monetizing your blog, you should focus on creating quality content, promoting and building your brand.

But you can use affiliate marketing to monetize your blog from day one.

Ways to monetize a blog.

Once you have at least 20 blog posts on your blog and your blog gets around 10,000 views, you can monetize your blog following these methods.

1. Ads – We all know about Adsense. It’s the best Ad network to monetize your blog traffic.

But in order to make some real money from ads, your blogs need a lot of traffic.

Related Post: How to Get Google Adsense Approval Fast With a New Blog.

2. Affiliate marketing – Affiliate marketing is a process of earning a commission by promoting and selling someone else’s products.

You can join affiliate programs like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, etc. to get a unique link to promote a product on your blog.

Related Post: Top 29 Affiliate Programs You Must Join to Monetize Your Audience in 2021

3. Services – If you have any professional skill, you can promote and sell your services on your own blog.

For example:

You can promote and sell your consulting service, design service, or other services on your blog.

4. Products – You can sell your own products too. From printables to e-book, you will be able to sell anything that is valuable and helpful to your visitors.

5. Sponsorship – As you grow your blog, you can collaborate with brands. They can contact you to write a sponsored post for their products.

Also, you can contact the brands you want to collaborate with. Tell them how you can help grow their brand. But keep in mind that It works when you have a popular blog.

Now it’s your turn!

Hey, you’ve read a blog post on How to start a money-making blog in 2021.

Are you feeling confused?

Feel free to contact me for free assistance on starting your first blog.

Finally, the question is:

Are you going to start a blog?

Or maybe you have a blog.

Tell me, What are you blogging about?

Leave a quick comment below.

Like this post? Don’t forget to share it with your friends and aspiring bloggers, who want to start a money-making blog in 2021.

The post The Ultimate Guide on How to Start a Money Making Blog in 2021 appeared first on Inuidea.

How to Set Up Your Business for Success From Day One

Did you know that half of all small businesses are started at home? What’s more, two-thirds are run solely by their founder. 

Unfortunately, about 20 percent of all startup companies will fail within the first year.

Why do so many startups fail when they’re barely out of the gate? According to a study reported by Investopedia, there are six possible reasons:

Insufficient market researchLack of a cohesive business planToo little fundingBad location or lack of online presenceNot being flexible or agile enoughScaling too fast with no plan for managing growth

You can be one of the success stories instead of a statistic by building a firm foundation for success.

Here’s how.

Our 7-Point Success Plan for New Businesses

Every successful business begins with a marketable product or service. Ideally, it should be something that you already know or can build passion and enthusiasm behind.

Whether you’re looking to turn your side hustle into a viable business, you have a product that you think is a game-changer, or you’re buying a franchise, find a niche that’s under-served and bankable. 

Next, conduct your market research to identify your ideal customer and gear your branding efforts toward reaching that target audience.

Take a look at this infographic to find out more about market research tools you can use.  

Conducting research means asking yourself these questions:

Who is my ideal audience?What are their pain points?How can I address these issues?What sets me apart from the competition?

Once you have that set and you’ve done your due diligence, you’re ready to create a blueprint for success and long-term, manageable growth.

Create a Viable Business Plan

A formal, written business plan is mandatory if you’re looking for investors or a business loan. 

Even if you don’t need funding, creating an actionable business plan is essential for success. It provides a solid framework and timeline for linear, forward motion.

acuvity.com

What are your financial goals and plans for expansion? Where do you see your company in six months, or a year, or five years from now, and how do you plan to get there? 

These are important considerations, and knowing the answers will keep you on track. This will be especially important when you get discouraged and feel like giving up.

Traditionally, business plans include:

Company mission and visionCompany descriptionMarket analysisCompany organization and managementServices or product lineCost and profit projectionsMarketing strategy

When you’re launching a business that’s relatively simple or you want to launch quickly, you could opt for what’s called a Lean Startup Plan. This involves outlining:

Key connections, such as suppliers, partners, and fundingKey activities, such as marketing, technology, and procurementKey resources, such as business assets, investors, and other financial considerationsValue propositionCustomer segments and marketing channelsCost structure and revenue streams

Above all, every step of your plan should be both actionable and measurable.

Whichever route you choose, just make sure to be thorough and realistic. 

If you need a little help putting your business plan together, Hubspot has a detailed step-by-step guide and a free template available.

Do Your Legal and Financial Research

Most businesses focus on finding investors or making sales, and rightly so. What else are you in business for if not to make a profit?

However, many are surprised by the amount of necessary expenses like permits, licensing, and taxes. 

Conduct your research about the best corporate structure for your type of business, because each could have different risks, taxes, and reporting obligations.

For example, it will cost a minimal filing fee to register as a sole proprietor, but there may be unexpected liabilities incurred. 

Depending on your location, corporations must meet certain guidelines before forming, such as creating a board and setting meeting dates and deadlines.

You may also need a business license in your city or state. Some businesses require professional licensing or certifications. 

However, online-only businesses have a little more flexibility in these matters.

However, all of these factors have tax consequences and fees attached. Make sure to do your research so that you can meet any legal and regulatory compliance. 

It’s also essential to speak to a business lawyer and an accountant before starting a business. Many will offer a free or low-cost initial consultation, while others charge a flat fee for their services.

This is an expense you can’t afford to skip, so put it in your budget!

Start Brand Building Before You Launch

Have you ever anticipated an event or new product and couldn’t wait for it to come out? This is the charm of building enthusiasm.

We see this most often in the sports and entertainment industries. Think about things like “Must-See TV” and the build-up to a major concert or championship game.

Here are some things you can do to create buzz.

Create a logo and color scheme that is memorable and easy to identify. Think of the Nike swoosh or Olympic Rings and how recognizable they are. was able to launch an effective marketing campaign using just a triangle and the color of their packaging.Start building interest in your brand well ahead of your launch through email campaigns, a landing page, or even fliers. Print business cards with your logo and pass them out to everyone. Talk up your launch at every opportunity. Enthusiasm is contagious.Reach out to your audience and engage them with targeted social media marketing. Consider paid ads on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram that will build interest and anticipation. Countdowns are effective, as are teasers.Never miss an opportunity to network. An old mentor of mine was the VP of sales for a rather large corporation. He once told me that every person you meet is a potential business contact. Always remember their names and faces, and get their information. This one hint has paid dividends for me on numerous occasions.

You may not have the budget of FIFA or Disney, but you can use some of their marketing concepts and approach to your benefit.

Determine Your Staffing Needs

This is a time when budgets are tight and you’re just building your brand, so you cannot afford to miscalculate the number of people you need in your company and the resources you have to pay them.

Consider whether you need a full staff during this time.

Perhaps you’re able to outsource core functions like accounting and web design to freelancers. 

backofficepro.com

Additionally, you can usually handle many office tasks yourself, such as answering phones and setting appointments. 

During the first year of their home improvement company, my friend’s husband and sons did the work and she was the sole member of their office staff. She was later able to parlay that experience into a freelancing career in web design, where she wears all the hats for now.

You could also opt for independent contractors to handle some duties. 

This will give you the advantage of working with experienced professionals while cutting expenses like workers compensation insurance, social security, and employee benefits until such a time when you have enough business to hire permanent help.

Establish Priorities for Equipment Purchases

It’s tempting to run out and buy the latest and best apps, phones, and computers, but is all that equipment really necessary? 

If it is, would it be more cost-effective for you to lease some items rather than purchasing them?

Establish priorities when acquiring tools, software, and equipment. Items like phone lines and computers are essential, but even these can be leased.

Make it a point to evaluate your short- and long-term needs and balance those against how often these items will be used and your available equipment budget versus projected revenues.

You should always have some cash on hand for small incidentals. 

However, you can stretch a tight budget through leasing office and other equipment rather than buying it outright. In that case, you won’t be responsible for repairs, serving, and depreciation.

You’re also more likely to get the most current products available, and you can trade up when you need to upgrade.

Because assets are important for company valuation, taxes, and obtaining loans, it’s essential to track them and keep them in good repair. 

Vehicles and some tech will depreciate over time, so tracking is necessary during tax time.

An asset management software will help you keep tabs on tools and equipment. 

As your business grows and more employees handle equipment, good tracking habits will show what pieces are in high demand while making maintenance and replacements easier.

Make Customer Satisfaction a Priority From the Start

If you’ve ever held a job, you’ve heard the saying “The customer is always right.” 

Although no one should allow anyone to abuse or take advantage of them, putting customer satisfaction as a priority is essential to fostering loyalty and keeping your customer retention rates high.

That translates to repeat business and an abundance of social proof.

How do you ensure customer satisfaction?

Nothing is foolproof, but these five tips will create a climate that lets customers know they’re important.

Collect customer feedback through email, surveys, and other formats. Make sure to request it at every opportunityAct on the feedback as soon as possible. That goes double for any negative reviews or comments on digital platforms. Address these immediately and publicly so that other potential customers can see that you put customer satisfaction first.Use the feedback that you receive to improve your product or services.Follow up with customers after each contact, visit, or sale. Make it a priority to let customers know when you’ve made improvement due to a suggestion from them.Offer incentives for customer loyalty, like discounts and premium services

You can find more tips for ensuring customer satisfaction in a nifty infographic here.

Keep in mind that happy employees are better able to serve customers, and treat your staff and associates like they’re people of value.

Be Prepared for Sustainable Growth

No one starts a business with an eye on stagnation. On the flip side, many people are unprepared when their product goes viral and they’re buried in business.

Your goal should be to ignite stable, sustainable growth and to put processes in place to manage any exponential, unexpected growth.

litslink.com

How to make sure a process is scalable?

Acquiring and deploying technology is one way. For example, inventory management systems and cloud storage can be scaled up or down quickly, as needed, and they are often billed by usage. 

Having enough space at your place of business for added employees or equipment is another.

It also helps to have a growth mindset, which will set the tone for your corporate culture.

What does a growth-minded culture look like? It means:

Taking responsibility for your mistakesNot focusing on “failures”, but perceiving them as learning opportunitiesSharing the credit when it’s dueBecoming an authority in your fieldFocusing on building your brand instead of worrying about money — if the company is solid, the money will comeExpressing gratitudeNever losing sight of your mission

With a growth mindset and all prerequisites for scaling in place, you will be able to enjoy your success without any missteps in your processes.

Final Thoughts

Success is not guaranteed. As a new business owner, you’re going to make some mistakes. 

Nevertheless, a solid plan and the right mindset will minimize your risks and increase your chances of beating the odds.

Our goal is to provide you with the blueprint for a successful launch. Short-term planning leads to the long-term viability and sustainable growth over time.

By following our guidelines, your business will be favorably situated to fulfill your mission and reach your goals.

What are some of the challenges and triumphs you’ve faced as a startup? Tell us more about it in the comments.

This is a guest post written by Heather Redding.

Heather Redding is a part-time assistant manager and writer based in Aurora, Illinois. She is also an avid reader and a tech enthusiast. When Heather is not working or writing, she enjoys her Kindle library with a hot cup of coffee. Reach out to her on Twitter. 

If you want to submit guest posts to Inuidea, check out the guest post guidelines for Inuidea.

The post How to Set Up Your Business for Success From Day One appeared first on Inuidea.

7 Sales Mistakes to Avoid as a Small Business

No matter your product, industry, or business model, sales are a considerable part of your focus. 

Are your revenues matching the effort and resources you’re putting out to gain and serve your customers?

The problem isn’t necessarily with your business. Your lead generation and outreach strategies may be to blame.

If your sales figures are less than stellar, it could be down to one or more of the following reasons. Avoiding these mistakes will be a game-changer.

Your Targeting System Is Missing the Mark

Traditionally, sales was about casting a wide net and hoping to catch a few fish. The premise was that you could get at least one “Yes” for every 100 people who say “No.”

This hit-and-miss approach might result in a one percent conversion rate while eating up time and money. It also diminishes employee morale and contributes to high staff turnover.

How to turn things around?

With a lead targeting strategy that reaches the customer where they live and connects with them on an emotional level. 

You can’t buy someone’s business or loyalty no matter how many sponsored ads you run. You have to earn it.

Rather than thinking of people in terms of numbers — sales figures and conversion rates — focus on learning about your ideal customer and demonstrating how you will meet their needs through targeted content and customer engagement.

A study conducted by HubSpot showed that 96 percent of B2B customers use content to inform buying decisions. That figure is likely higher for B2C prospects.

While everyone loves a deal or a discount, most people just want to know how a product will positively impact their lives.

It’s your job to convey that message.

First, do your marketing research. This will take some time, but it will mean less effort when it comes time to close. 

Use your research to identify the ideal customer persona. 

Then, create content that speaks to their pain points. Tell them exactly how your product or service will address them, and do so on the marketing platforms that serve your demographic.

Your Team Is Wasting Time on Unqualified Leads

Not every person on your prospect list is a solid lead, nor is every customer at the same point in their journey. 

Even the most gifted salesperson is wasting their time if they’re trying to convert a lead that’s unqualified or unready.

According to a study conducted by MarketingSherpa, only 27 percent of the leads sent by marketing departments over to their sales team are even qualified.

Part of the problem is that it’s difficult to determine a qualified lead. Too many marketing and sales associates are unsure of what actually makes a lead qualified.

Mere existence does not create a customer.

The buyer’s journey consists of three basic stages: 

AwarenessConsiderationDecision

Your marketing efforts bring awareness, but any interest at this point rarely converts to a sale. Prospects need to be nurtured to convert awareness to consideration.

In order to get a prospect to consider your solution, analyze your past successes and failures. Who are your customers, and at what point were they converted? 

More importantly, what disqualified the leads that got away? Was there a specific piece of content that got their attention, such as an ad or an email marketing campaign? 

Conversely, which referral resource led to the most successful conversions?

The answers to this will come from an insightful lead scoring system. 

This will take a lot of the mystery out of lead targeting and conversions by going below the surface of reaching out to leads that simply fit your demographic and analyzing the behavior that leads to successful closes.

Source: Marketo

Using data from social media outreach and other digital analytics, you can track the digital footprint of consumers to learn their behavior before, during, and after a sale. 

This will take a lot of the guesswork out of your marketing strategy, allowing you to better identify where buyers are in their journey and nudge them further along.

You Lack That Personal Touch

You’ve connected with a prospect and made your initial pitch. Now, what do you do? 

If you’re like too many sales associates, you’ll move on to the next prospect and hope for an immediate “Yes.”

The problem is, most people aren’t ready to buy right away. 

They want some time to think about making a commitment. Sometimes, they simply want to review their options or learn more about your company. 

In fact, it usually takes several follow-up contacts to close a sale.

Rather than waiting for them to get back to you, reach out to them with personalized follow-up. 

This could be in the form of a call during which you will thank them for their time and ask if they need further information, or an email making them a special offer. 

Try to sprinkle in details gleaned from the initial contact to make it more individualized.

Depending on how primed the prospect is and where they are in their journey, it could take several pleasant but persistent contacts to convert. 

The ideal amount of follow up contacts? According to Zoom Info, six is the magic number.

Automation Is Passing You By

Nearly all of the above suggestions could benefit from automation. 

By using the right apps to take care of core functions like email and analytics, you’ll have more time to focus on building customer relationships.

Much of this automation can be handled by choosing a solid customer relationship management system (CRM). 

These tools are an investment that will boost productivity and support a more granular, targeted marketing strategy. 

They do so by connecting all of your platforms and marketing silos, providing detailed analytics, and generally managing every aspect of your customer outreach.

Not only does it give you the data you need to make smart decisions, but it also helps you make sense of the data and put it to good use.

Your Offers Lack Value

Too many businesses focus on price points when marketing to customers. They either try to undercut the competition to lure business or offer incentives to try to sweeten the pot.

Although customers ultimately want to know the bottom line, what they’re really looking for is value. In fact, many people are willing to pay a little more if the value is there.

Therefore, avoid making price your only unique selling point.

Rather than focusing on how much it costs, instead highlight how your product will improve lives or solve a specific problem,

Point out how it will accomplish this better and faster than the competition.

You can accomplish this by really listening to your customer rather than constantly trying to sell them to your company. 

Use the information you gather to help them better understand their needs, and then talk about how your product or service will provide a solution.

You’re Not Being Proactive

Making passive income is okay, but you won’t gain any revenue by passively waiting for the customers to come to you. 

By not engaging in proactive sales techniques, you’re losing an opportunity to connect with customers on the level necessary to convert.

Many sales associates hate the idea of cold calling. However, if you’ve done the research and followed the above recommendations, your leads will be a little warmer.

Cold calling also provides a unique opportunity to do a little pre-sales reconnaissance so that you can personalize your approach during follow up calls. 

When done right, cold calling is an art that can be refined and perfected to yield amazing sales results.

You’re Coming off as Aggressive

On the flip side of passivity is the pushy sales rep that turns prospects off. 

Don’t be that guy. You know the one. He or she conducts follow-up on steroids in a way that borders on harassment. 

They seem hungry, a little too hungry so that it reeks of desperation.

There’s a fine line between persistent and pushy. 

You need to learn the art of active listening and respond rather than giving them the hard sell. 

If you adopt a customer-centric approach that focuses on the prospect’s needs, but also knows when to back down, you’ll leave a much better impression on them, which will help you nurture those relationships in the long run.

Tips for Productive Outreach

A customer-centric approach doesn’t mean passively listening while they ramble on about their Aunt Trudy. 

Actively listen and look for opportunities to steer the conversation back to their pain points and how you can help relieve them. Use the opportunity to connect with prospects on an emotional level.

Here are some tips for positive outreach.

Slow Down

This is a sale, not the lead in a hot news story. Even if you have a deadline or quota to meet, remember that sales is really about forming relationships and human interaction. 

Let your automation take care of the technical stuff while you focus on nurturing the client.

Remain Focused

Simply make your pitch, and then listen to what the lead is telling you. Look at their body language or take note of pauses and tone if you do not face to face. 

Do your best to avoid small talk.

Instead, use the information you gain to overcome objections and refine your approach.

Avoid Hard Deadlines 

Nothing feels less genuine to a prospect — or turns them off faster — than the “buy now or you’ll lose out” mentality. 

It’s okay to extend a limited-time offer if time is of the essence, but reassure them that it isn’t the end of your interaction. 

They can be further persuaded by telling them about trial periods, money-back guarantees, and other incentives that soften the offer and reduce their risk.

Talk Less, Listen More 

This tip may seem redundant at this point in the article, but in reality, it can’t be emphasized enough. 

People open up and feel more comfortable when they’re allowed to talk. 

The more comfortable they are, the more likely they are to say yes.

Avoid Yes-No Questions 

You can become a resource for understanding and information by avoiding yes or no questions and encouraging engagement through open-ended questions that lead them toward a “Yes”. 

Put the focus on the problem and how your product can solve it rather than on the product itself. 

Use our other points, such as proactivity, lead refinement, and follow up to gently, but firmly, nudge the lead further along in their journey.

Final Thoughts

Do you have a great product or business idea, but you can’t seem to make it pay off? 

As a small business owner, you have a lot on your plate. 

However, if you don’t step up your lead generation and follow up, it will affect more than just your bottom line. 

Customer loyalty and staff morale will suffer, too.

Our goal is to help small business leaders like you make the most of their limited resources by offering solutions that are easy to implement once you know how.

Isn’t it time to work smarter rather than harder?

This is a guest post written by Michelle Laurey.

Michelle Laurey works as a VA for small businesses. She loves talking about business, and productivity, and share her experience with others. Outside her keyboard, she spends time with her Kindle library or binge-watching Billions. Her superpower? Vinyasa flow! Talk to her on Twitter @michelle_laurey.

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