Erik Qualman's Blog, page 522

5 Key Blogging Concepts to Advance Your Content Marketing Strategy

I’m sure you’ve noticed the extraordinary rise of blogging.

In fact, did you know that every minute of the day there are an average of 347 new WordPress blog posts that are published!

The reality of content marketing, as surprising as it may seem, is the challenge that awaits you after you’ve completed the writing and content creation:

How do you stand out from the crowd?

How will people find your content?

After all, the greatest piece of content is worthless if no one can find it.

As challenging as it may seem, there are plenty of straightforward steps that you can follow to make the most out of your blog content.

To get you started, here are 5 critical concepts for you to learn building your blog’s reach.

1. Blog Content Should Be Made For Sharing

An important concept to understand is that your content must be shareable if you expect it to generate buzz.

Before you finish your final draft of the post, think to yourself:

Is there a good reason for the reader to share this?

If there isn’t, find a way to change the tone to make it more likely that the reader will share it across their online communities in the future.

  2. Know Where to Share

In addition to hosting the blog post on your website’s domain, you should be considering all social media platforms you can use to promote the content as well.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterst, StumbleUpon, and others are great sites where you can promote content and expect others to share it.

Make sure that you tailor the post to the audience of each specific site, and think of other relevant ways to promote it where you may enjoy higher engagement (within LinkedIn Groups or in email newsletters, for example).

3. Build Relationships with Influencers

Getting bloggers and influencers to link or mention your content is not easy, but it can be done over time by building genuine peer relationships online.

Think specifically about who in your industry or community would like to promote your content and why. You can also use tools like Topsy and Buzzstream in order to help you find emerging influencers and niche experts.

Engage with these folks on LinkedIn, Twitter, or other social media channels; in addition, make sure you’re a right fit for their audience.

Once you’ve made it that far, it will be straightforward and professional to cross-promote content with these influencers.

4. Keep Your Content Strategy Ongoing

To continue to benefit from older content and continue to earn additional, ongoing shares and links, it’s important to find clever ways to repurpose your content over time.

Repurposing content is the art of re-introducing previous content into another form or format—for instance taking an older blog post and transforming it into an infographic.

You should also keep up to date with industry news and current events and re-introduce content from new angles to frequently remind readers of its relevancy.

5. Obtain Links from Relevant Websites

Links on relevant websites that point to your blog posts are an excellent sidekick to your content marketing strategy, and can serve as an invaluable method of promoting your content. So after you create content you should begin asking relevant websites for links.

The reason for this is twofold:

The audience of the relevant website will be able to easily follow the link, sending highly targeted referral traffic to your post. The link opens a completely new channel to expand your audience.
Links are also one of the strongest factors in Google’s ranking algorithm, so the link will help this piece of content to rank highly in the SERPs, thus increasing your organic traffic.

Conclusion

The dynamic nature of the Internet and the search engine giants means that your content marketing strategies will always be moving targets, but the upside to this is that once you have an established strategy in place that maximizes all content in an ongoing way, you will be rewarded by progress and success rolling in with a snowball effect.

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Today’s Biz and Buzz – Caitlyn Jenner Halloween Costume Ignites Twitter

THE STORY Caitlyn Jenner Halloween Costume Ignites Twitter

Ah, the annual Halloween saga of someone thinking a costume is a great idea when it’s actually terrible in an offensive sort of way. It was only a matter of time before this year’s seriously what were you thinking moment happened. Social media users went all out on Monday when it was discovered that many Halloween retailers were selling a Caitlyn Jenner costume resembling her Vanity Fair cover (Source: CNN). Activists and critics are fighting out saying that the costume mocks the transgender community and promotes transphobia.

We want change!

As many upset people wanted to do something, a Change.org petition titled “Stop Exploiting Caitlyn Jenner With A Transphobic Costume” was launched. The petition targets popular Halloween retailer, Spirit Halloween.  The petition already has 7,487 signs towards their goal of 7,500. Many signers have acknowledged the reasons why this costume is not ok but Spirit Halloween just doesn’t seem to understand.

DA SKIM

Spirit Halloween was not so convinced with this petition however. Spokesperson Lisa Barr said, “At Spirit Halloween we create a wide range of costumes that are often based on celebrities, public figures, heroes and superheroes. Caitlyn Jenner is all of the above and our Caitlyn-inspired costume reflects just that” (Source: CNN). Hmmm this seems like Public Relations Trump style…

Quote of the Day: “Curt’s Tweet was completely unacceptable”

If only one day someone in the spotlight would realize what one tweet is capable of doing. Former MLB starter, Curt Schilling, got a timeout for what he tweeted yesterday. While in timeout it was suggested that Schilling read this book on Digital Reputation. Schilling thought that tweeting a graphic comparing Adolf Hitler and the Nazi’s to Muslims was a great idea. It took a while for Schilling to apologize but he did come around and say that it was wrong. ESPN jumped in and said “Curt’s tweet was completely unacceptable, and in no way represents our company’s perspective. We made that point very strongly to Curt and have removed him from his current Little League assignment pending further consideration” (Source: CNN). The tweet has since been deleted, but as we know nothing goes away once it’s been posted online.

 

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Rent More Tenants with Social Media

As a property manager, it’s your job to not only keep current tenants informed on their community, but also attract new tenants to your properties.

This is exactly where social media comes into play.

Here are just a few ways you can use social media to effectively manage your properties and keep tenants informed:

Increase Tenant Outreach

One of the best ways to increase outreach with both current and potential tenants in your community is by adopting a social media plan.

Whether you want to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, or all of the above, social media is a great way to stay connected to your tenants.

More and more property managers are creating Facebook business pages in order to stay connected to an ever-growing social audience.

Likewise, managers are also increasing their social presence by tweeting community information on Twitter and sharing property photos on Instagram.

In addition, in order to attract new tenants, property managers just like you are using the Google+ Hangouts feature to host online virtual tours of their properties. With social media, the tenant outreach possibilities are endless.

Post Updates and Upcoming Events

Social media is also an effective way to share news and upcoming events about your community with tenants.

You can use both Twitter and the instant messenger feature on Facebook to inform tenants about upcoming property improvements and maintenance work.

Likewise, you can create a Facebook event to inform tenants about upcoming holiday cookouts, garage sales, or community meetings.

As the following article looks at, with updates and event posts, you can relax with residents this Labor Day, thanks to social media.

In addition to Labor Day and other holiday events, you can also share holiday property management hours and maintenance schedules. No matter what kind of information you want to share, social media makes it easy to spread the word about your community.

Promote Your Community to Potential Tenants

One of the most important goals as a property manager is to keep a low vacancy rate by continuously bringing in new tenants. With social media, you can promote your property to a massive online audience.

For example, you can take advantage of local awareness ads on Facebook, which allow you to market your properties to social audiences in your area.

Likewise, you can encourage your current tenants to share your community Facebook page with their friends and family.

Because a picture says a thousand words, you can also share images of your immaculate property on Instargam.

By posting engaging, unique photos of your property on Instagram, you’ll increase your social presence and attract more tenants as a result.

Answer Questions and Monitor Comments

Managing a property, whether it’s an apartment complex or condos, can result in handling tons of questions from tenants. Fortunately, you can use Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and other social sites to receive and answer questions about the community you manage.

By paying attention to and answering social questions in a timely manner, you can treat your social accounts like real-time FAQ pages.

In addition, you can also monitor the comment sections of your social accounts to see what tenants are saying about your community. Just make sure you respond to all comments – especially if they’re negative.

If you’re ready to take your property management practices to new heights, then it’s time to take advantage of social media.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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3 Easy Ways To Use Snapchat In Your Business

Facebook is for grandparents, Twitter is awesome but nowhere near as widely used, and Instagram is nothing but pictures of food and attractive unusually toned people at the gym.

Which brings us to Snapchat which is the by far the “hottest” social media site especially in the coveted 18-25 demographic of tastemakers.

For those that don’t know Snapchat allows you to take pictures or videos and send them to one person or to your entire list of contacts. The videos or pictures will then self delete in 10 seconds or so. These pictures or videos can also be threaded together into a story which will remain visible for up to 24 hours.

So how can we use this fascinating and super popular technology for business?

Here’s 3 EASY ways.

1. Use Snapchat to keep in touch with clients and prospects. Snapchat allows you to import all of your contacts from your phone, and asks if they want to follow you back. If they do they will be able to see anything you post. Just last week I had a client who runs a small pet grooming business upload before and after photos of a few animals who came in for grooming. In just under an hour she received over 15 calls looking to make appointments and booked over $1000 in grooming services. You can use Snapchat to demonstrate products, show a new location or even just to do some good old fashioned personality based marketing. All of which is sent directly into your prospects phones.

2. Use Snapcash to make sales. SnapCash is a new joint venture between Snapchat and Paypal which allows you to send or receive money on Snapchat. Going back to the Dog grooming example, I had my client Miranda sign up for Snapcash and when she received Snap Messages back of owners with their dogs asking questions she was able to take deposits to confirm appointments without her new clients ever having to leave the app.

3. Use Snapchat to tell stories, and build intrigue. You may have heard the story of Shahrazad the story teller’s daughter in the Arabian Nights mythos. The legend has it that a king had been betrayed by his Queen so he decided to kill every woman he slept with. Then he met Shahrazad who every night would tell the King a story so fascinating that he lets her live night after night to tell it. You can tap into the exact same fascination with your own intriguing to be continued style stories on Snapchat.

One of the things I’m working with Miranda on right now, is to create a full 3-4 minute story showing the entire grooming process. The great thing about the stories feature is that it allows you to send all of the videos or photos in real time. This is amazing, because it allows us to build anticipation and get the potential customer to keep checking back for the next installment to see what happens next. Not unlike the King with Shahrazad. Compelling stories and interesting content will turn into more buzz, social media metrics and ultimately sales!

To re-cap if you want to be on the cutting edge of social media right now, you need to be on Snapchat.

The 3 best ways to use Snapchat in your business are keeping connected with clients and prospects, use Snapcash to make sales on the app, and use the story feature to build intrigue and anticipation so that your contacts cannot wait to see what happens next!

If you use these 3 easy techniques you will start to see amazing results!

Best,

JL

 

 

 

 

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5 Vital Factors That Must Be Considered When Selecting a Release Management Tool

Release management tools are in no short supply in the market. The process of selecting one to use in a business is therefore a challenge most of the time. You will find yourself totally spoilt for choice when it comes to picking the perfect one for your business. Use of outdated IT solutions in a business can be detrimental to the growth of a business. As such, each business owner has to strive to make sure that the employees get the latest and finest developments that enable growth of the business. This is where the release management tools come in.

What exactly is release management?

Before choosing a tool, it is important to understand what the tools can or cannot do for your business. Generally, release management is a process of software engineering that focuses on the development, testing and the process of deployment of software releases. It also involves support of software releases. This practice of release management combines the technical knowhow of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) with the general business importance on project management. Experience in IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) practices also comes in handy in this process.

When selecting a tool…

Before outlining a few vital factors to consider in the selection of release management tools, it is important to understand that you cannot establish these processes alone. Release management processes intricately tie with the objectives, strategies, governance and change management aspects of the organization. Their formation has to be jointly with the Centre of Excellence as well as the steering committee in order to make certain that everyone is one the same page. Therefore, when you are selecting a release management take into consideration:

1.       Business objectives

A business without goals is like a journey without a destination. Just as it is not possible to drive around aimlessly, the business objectives are of great importance in making sure that your business performs at its best. When you do not achieve a goal, you will know that some business practices are wrong. The release management tool you get should facilitate the achievement of you businesses goals.

2.       Presence of another tool

Is there another tool in existence already perhaps the force.com migration toolkit?Before you invest in a new release management suite, you should make sure that your business does not have one that is already in use. This is particularly so in the case of large enterprises where there are independent departmental operations such that teams may not know whether or not the other departments in the organization are using the same tool. Internal communication helps a lot in this step.

3.       Training

How much training is necessary in order to use the tool? Some tools are just too complicated to use even after training. The tool you get should be user-friendly and at the same time managing to fulfill its tasks.

4.       Reporting method

Does the release management tool have a flexible reporting scheme that enables tracking of operations? This information will be important for future deployments or improvements.

5.       Costs

What are the costs involved in procurement and set up of the tool? Everyone will always want a tool that produces a good ROI for business.

 

 

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Take Advantage of the Beauty of Social Media

If you’re in search of helpful beauty tips to add to your daily routine, there’s no better place to look than social media.

That’s right, a growing number of beauty companies and celebrities are using social media to promote their products and provide their customers with tons of beauty secrets.

With social glamour in mind, here are a few ways you can use social media to gather beauty advice:

The Beauty of Social Networking

Staying ahead of the game with your beauty regimen can be a tricky process, which is why it’s important to have a go-to resource for beauty advice.

Beauty companies and celebs alike are using social media as a way to share their expert beauty tips and secrets.

Among those involved:

• MAC Cosmetics – MAC is spreading the word about beauty through its Facebook posts. As one of the largest beauty brands on social media, MAC posts cosmetic video tutorials and live chats with makeup artists on Facebook regularly.

• Illamasqua – By posting cosmetic photos on Instagram and how-to styling videos on Facebook, the international cosmetics brand Illamasqua is becoming a go-to resource for millions of beauty followers. Alongside helpful videos and styling suggestions, Illamasqua also offers social coupons and discounts on some of their most popular products.

• Social Celebs – Celebrities are beauty icons, which is why they’re turning to social sites like Twitter and Facebook to share their secrets. As the following article looks at, whether you want beauty tips from Blake Lively or advice for bigger, more beautiful eyes from Drew Barrymore, there are a number of celebs posting beauty advice on social media.

Now that you have a better idea of the beauty tips available on social media, here’s a few ways you can get social with your beauty routine:

Cosmetics Photos

Choosing the right shade of lipstick or blush can become a system of trial and error.

However, seeing certain cosmetics in use can make the choosing process much easier. This is where social beauty photos come into play.

By following beauty and cosmetic brands on social media, you can easily find photos of the latest look in makeup.

While perusing social beauty photos, you can see how certain shades of makeup look on different skin tones, which can help you, choose the right color for your skin type and complexion.

Beauty Blogs

In order to get the most up to date beauty advice and tips, you should consider following beauty industry blogs.

Beauty blogs are a great resource for finding reviews on certain cosmetic products and expert opinions on new looks. Most beauty blogs also let you leave comments and create an ongoing beauty discussion.

Application Tips

As mentioned before, a large number of beauty companies are featuring their brands on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by posting how-to videos on all-things beauty.

Whether it’s a video explaining how to layer a foundation or how best to accentuate cheekbones, social media is a great resource for helpful beauty videos.

If you’re ready to revamp your beauty routine, then it’s time to take advantage of social media.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

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Today’s Biz and Buzz

THE STORY

Sam Rader is a popular Christian YouTube vlogger best known for his viral video of singing Frozen in the car with his wife. Besides a little karaoke session, he vlogs his daily life with his family and talks heavily about his Christian faith. The perfect couple right? Well, perhaps not…

What Happens in Vegas Stays on Ashley Madison or…Not

Ashley Madison is Tinder for married people – aka cheaters. As you will recall Ashley Madison’s data base was hacked, revealing its users (womp). Appears our friend Sam had a Ashley Madison account (womp, womp) since 2013. Well this is bad PR for a man who just quit his job to spread his Christian values through his YouTube channel…(Source: Gawker).

DA SKIM

Sam and his wife Nia didn’t wait for this to simply blow over. With fans tweeting “fake Christians”, Sam and Nia made a YouTube video addressing what happened. In the video Sam explains how God has forgiven him and he knows he was wrong. Let’s just say we don’t think the drama from this leak is going to end anytime soon.

Hey peeps – privacy is dead, you need to read this book on Digital Reputation today.

Quote of the Day: Why are my pictures so blurry?

iPhone 6 Plus users may be trying to clean off their camera but this isn’t the problem. Apple has addressed that some phones purchased from September 2014 to January 2015 have a defective camera causing images to be blurry (Source: TIME). Have no fear as Apple will replace this for free! Apple has set up this site where users can request for a camera replacement. Now if your pictures are blurry it’s probably because of Uncle Frank’s shaky hand.

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Creating a Website That’s Built for Success

The world of online business can be daunting, even to those who believe themselves to be somewhat tech savvy. But it doesn’t have to be too intimidating; following a few simple guidelines and understanding the important considerations before making a website will ensure that the right features are designed into it from the start. Plus, the benefits of a well designed website means more leads, customers, sales, and overall business. Doing it right from the start is much easier than making big changes later, so it’s best to begin with the right ideas incorporated into the final design.

 

First, one of the most critical aspects of succeeding online is to incorporate a good search engine optimization technique. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of developing a website to rank highly in popular search engines for a select group of targeted keywords. For example, a business that sells comic book-themed clothing might want to rank for a phrase like “comic book characters clothing”, or other, similar phrases that are relevant to their products. Search engine optimization is important because it can serve as a large amount of traffic for a website that does it successfully, and good SEO can be accomplished in a number of ways. Some of the most important things to consider for good SEO are producing good, keyword relevant content on a consistent basis, keeping load times and bounce rates low, increasing the number of inbound and outbound links for the site, and making sure that HTML tags are optimized.

HTML tags are significant for a number of reasons, and they’re one of the simplest but most important elements of good SEO. To optimize HTML tags, ensure that the meta tags are filled out completely for the website description in less than 155 characters. Without this description, search engines like Google won’t be able to determine what the website is about, and the description in the search results that do show up won’t be pretty. It’s important to ensure that this information is well-filled out and accurate for the contents of the site. Finally, it’s also critical to ensure that the Robots meta tag is removed after launching the site, which could completely deindex a site when not removed. This tag is usually put in place by developers while the site is under development, but if it isn’t removed, the website won’t even show up through a search, meaning that all the efforts at good SEO would have been for nothing.

 

Next, the principles of responsive web design are becoming equally important today as more and more people start to use mobile devices as their primary means of surfing the web.

 

Responsive Web design implies creating websites that keep mobile devices in mind. Because the screens for phones and tablets are smaller than those of laptops and desktops, content and Web pages need to be altered in order to display correctly for mobile users. Without responsive design, Web pages configured for bigger screens will look awkward and won’t display correctly, ultimately driving users away.

 

One of the biggest responsive Web design advantages is that it keeps users more engaged in the content and site that they’re currently on while using a mobile device. This has numerous benefits in and of itself, including higher conversion rates and better SEO rankings. Responsive Web design is becoming even more important over time too, as trends show that web usage is increasing for mobile users and decreasing for desktop and laptop users, meaning that many of us are now spending our time browsing on the go instead of at home or at our desks.

 

All these considerations should be taken into account at the outset of creating a new website into order to achieve the best results possible.

 

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Today’s Biz and Buzz

THE STORY

An updated privacy policy from Spotify is causing users to run to CancellationVille… think black Friday thundering type of herds. The backlash on Twitter got so bad that Spotify CEO Daniel Ek posted an I’m Sorry Note on his blog (Source: Billboard).

But how will this affect the 562 playlists I’ve made?

It won’t. Earlier this week, the updated privacy policy said that it wanted to make a more personalized experience by looking through users phones at things such as photos, tracking location, and following Facebook activity…I believe the correct term is stalking or invasion of privacy…hence the cancellations. (Source: Mashable).

DA SKIM

The blog post published by CEO Ek said that the change “caused a lot of confusion about what kind of information we access and what we do with it. We apologize for that. We should have done a better job in communicating what these policies mean and how any information you choose to share will — and will not — be used.” It went on to explain why they would need users photos, location, voice, contacts and sharing information. Looks like they are trying to gain back those cancelled memberships and have told users to email their questions and concerns.

Quote of the Day: You Know You Want to Try It

Ah, the neverending debate of Samsung Galaxy versus iPhone. The newest material in this epic novel is that Samsung is telling iPhone users that for just $1 they can try out “the Ultimate Test Drive” of a Galaxy. iPhone users just have to go to this site and fill out their information. Samsung hopes that this campaign will boost their sales in the smartphone market. (Source: USA Today) TBD how this battle will end, but the customer always wins with two great competitors battling it out. YEAH Us!

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Social Networking Can Bank a Better Future

It can be difficult to live off of a limited income when you are retired.

Whether it’s the day to day things that are causing financial stress, like groceries, utilities and doctor bills, or you want more money for things like a vacation or home update, retirement advice can help you out.

Sometimes, though, it’s daunting to think about spending the money on a financial advisor. After all, you’re trying to save, right?

Luckily, the Internet is at your fingertips and provides a variety of excellent, thorough sources where you can get advice.

By going this route, you can find exactly what it is you’re looking for, and do it all at no cost.

Cash-in on Social Media

Many of the well-known money advice companies offer great advice through their blogs and websites. You can usually sign up for a newsletter to have delivered straight to your email’s inbox.

When you are searching online, check out some of these companies and their blogs:

• AARP – This one is a given. With information on retirement resources, financial calculators and articles with a wide range of topics, AARP provides a great library of information.

• Forbes – Another leading source on all things retirement and financial, Forbes offers information on investing, retirement communities and whatever else you need as a retiree looking to get the most out of your money.

• New Retirement – Offering advice and tools to retirees on how to retire securely. This site gives easy to attain and understand information to the average senior population, including those who don’t have the finances or other resources to work with a financial advisor on a regular basis. Delivering relevant information through articles like “5 ways to save for retirement on a limited income”, anyone can gain some great insight to any aspect of retirement savings here.

• Retirement Revised – Money Magazine named this the “best retirement-planning website” and with videos and downloads along with a holistic view on retirement, Retirement Revised covers it all. With articles like “When life events intervene in your retirement plan,” you’ll have great information at your fingertips.

Opening a New Chapter

Retirement is a new chapter.

With good financial knowledge and planning, you never know what new doors will be waiting to open for you.

Along with reading informative websites and blogs, don’t hesitate to utilize social media, from Twitter to YouTube to get even more current, relevant information to help in your planning.

Remember, too, you don’t have to wait until you retire to think about it. It’s never too early, but it’s also not too late.

Some of the information you find online may be just what you need to stretch your limited income.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of hin255 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

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