What Is Local SEO? How to Use Social Media To Target Local Customers?

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The internet is the most powerful tool in the world. It’s changed our lives and made connecting with people from all over the planet more accessible. But what about when you want to talk to people who live right in your backyard? Suppose you’re running a local business or trying to reach out to your local community. In that case, local SEO is an essential part of how your business can stand out from the crowd—and get discovered by potential customers.

What Is Local SEO?
Local Search Engine Optimization, or Local SEO, is finding your business online through people in your local area. It can accomplish through organic listings on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo and other online directories such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google Maps.
It’s about ensuring you’re showing up in the results of Google searches and other search engines – but it also means optimizing your website so that people find what they need locally. You should also ensure that you have accurate information about opening times on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter so that users can see whether or not they can pop into one of your stores before heading home after work.

How to Use Social Media to Target Local Customers?

Optimize your page for local visibility
You have now taken the first step in local SEO. Now it’s time to optimize your site for local visibility. To do this, you must ensure that your business information is accurate on Google and other search engines. Like adding a local phone number, your mailing address, and business hours of operation, to name a few.

Google My Business
Google My Business helps you gain more visibility in your local community by making it easy for customers to find and connect with your business on Google. How does it work?
After you’ve claimed your business, you can get found when people search on Google Maps and Google search, as well as through ads. In organic results, you’ll also see a snippet of basic information like your address and phone number. It’s important to note that only verified businesses are eligible for this feature.

Facebook Places
Facebook Places allows you to create a page similar to Google My Business.
Your information here will aid people in finding your product or services on Facebook but not on Google. It will help boost the organic reach of your Facebook posts, as they will appear in search results if someone searches for them specifically.
The description should match what you have on other platforms, and use the exact keywords when possible; also, include photos from your website or other social media profiles.

Foursquare
What is Foursquare? Foursquare is a location-based social networking site for mobile devices that gives your business a mobile footprint. With more people using portable devices to search for companies, a presence on Foursquare is a popular social media platform for local businesses. Create a Foursquare Page and connect it with your Twitter account. When you create your page, make sure you complete your Page Profile. Now you want to add your listing to Four square’s searchable database. Just click on “The List My Business” tab, and follow the instructions. If you don’t have a business listing, you can create it at https://foursquare.com/login?continue=%2Fadd_venue. The business listing will ask for your phone number, your website’s URL links to your Twitter and Facebook profiles, hours of operation, and a description of your business. Make sure you include all the information.
Once your business listing is there on Foursquare, claim it. When you claim your location, you are telling Foursquare you are the manager of that venue. You can claim multiple locations of Foursquare; all you need to do is to provide verifiable contact information. Once you have listed and claimed your site on Foursquare, you can begin adding specials, checking your analytics, and much more. But the most important way to use Foursquare is to take the time to build a network of just local followers and interact with them.

Business Information
Make sure your business info is correct in all places. You can use the same name and address on all your marketing materials, website, and social media accounts.
If you’re a new business, set these things up immediately so you can start local search engine optimization as soon as possible. If you already have a website, make sure of all changes across all pages.

Keywords and Hashtags
A helpful tip is to use geo-specific keywords and hashtags. Local SEO is more than just ranking highly in Google. It’s also about targeting customers searching for a specific product or service in their area, so they can easily find you when they’re ready to buy.
You must ensure that your website is suitable for local search and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for any videos and Instagram. Use geo-specific keywords and hashtags on these sites so that people looking for local businesses can find yours.

Conclusion
Local SEO is a great way to grow your business and reach more customers. It’s essential to take steps now so that when you open up your new branch or expand, you will be okay with Google and Facebook. The key takeaway is that local SEO can be compelling if done correctly.

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How Can College Students Benefit From Social Media?

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Well, it’s back-to-school time! And for many high school graduates, it’s off to college. By now most youths are pretty savvy when it comes to the use of social media. So how can they now benefit from using social media?

A vast majority of parents got used to considering that social media is evil for their children, which makes them get addicted to smartphones and constantly online scrolling on Facebook or Instagram newsfeeds. When they notice only the bad side of using social media, they try to protect their children from its harmful influence without realizing that it also can bring some benefits.

Improving The Art of Communication
The modern digital world is built on stable connections and communication between people, so students from college and even starting from school should know how to communicate with their peers properly. It’s vital to have strong networking skills nowadays to get in touch with different people easily and find common ground with them. Thus, social media is a perfect option to accomplish that.

Creating Facebook or Instagram profiles won’t threaten a student’s online activity and won’t negatively influence their discipline. On the contrary, it’ll promote their communication skills and set up new contacts via social media.

How Social Media Can Help Students Succeed in Everyday Life
Today there’s no surprise that children who are under 12 already have their profiles on social media where they share and demonstrate their talents to the audience. They consider social media platforms to be a good chance to show their hobbies and find friends who will also share their interests.

Alongside this, social media is a great source of information that can be useful for students to execute diverse tasks. It’s easy to subscribe to any newsfeed to stay updated about the latest trends or follow famous personalities you’re interested in. What’s more, using such social media platforms as Pinterest or Tumblr can bring you inspiration if you should craft a project.

Social media can’t be underestimated because it’s an endless educational source that helps students to get prepared for lessons, have some practice, improve knowledge in particular subjects, and, moreover, gain their studying goals without hassle.

Open up New Opportunities for Personal Developments
Besides the fact that social media facilitates students’ art of conversation by setting up new connections, it also involves parents in the studying process as well. They stay updated about the ongoing events at their respective colleges and learn about their children’s activities and educational performance. There’s no need to explain the comfort and simplicity of its usability: parents can be in touch with tutors via messengers by creating a common network to discuss children’s academic progress. Thus the students are benefitted.

Another great advantage of using social media is an opportunity for distance studying at any classes or colleges in the world you’d like to join. It became possible due to the option of online learning with the help of various online tools and platforms like social media, educational programs, hubs, study centers, etc. For instance, via Facebook, you can join any meeting or lecture you find interesting and follow the updates about conditions for admission and studying plans.

Conclusion
Social media provides numerous opportunities for remote studying, enabling voice and video connections between students worldwide. They can share documents, personal projects, know the studying curriculum, and extra classes to join via Skype or Zoom platform. So, every student can improve and expand their knowledge in any field they’re interested in, and, what’s more, get a certificate or diploma that confirms their progress.

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How to Choose a Powerful Business Name

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Are you planning on starting your own business? Congratulations- what will you name it if you don’t know for sure? Remember, a business’s name is the first thing consumers or investors will see. You only have one chance to make an excellent first impression. The way you pick to brand your business will have a significant impact on its success. Therefore business owners worry about coming up with the right name for their business. This article will show how to create a memorable name that will set you apart from your competitors and build brand recognition.

1. Select a scalable and future-proof name
If your business’s name becomes too particular, you can end up with a false name when you broaden your services. Choose a scalable name that will allow for growth and development in the future. It should evolve alongside the business, remain relevant, and be adaptable for different products and brand expansions.

2. Select a name that is descriptive, simple to remember, and spell
Use words that are easily associated with your product or service, the goal of your business, and what customers can anticipate from your company. Avoid using difficult-to-remember acronyms and stick to essential, memorable words. Select a name that is not too long or difficult. It must also be simple to say and remember. It can otherwise be disastrous for your business.

3. Use A Name Generator
Use an online tool to research a memorable name for your company. Utilizing a business name generator like Namify or Businessnamemaker.com will guide you in creating a name that will help brand your business.Namify’s technology searches for meaningful words and gives you options that will appeal to your target audience. Regardless of your product and service, these tools have name generators for each industry category, whether you are a brick-and-mortar or an e-commerce business.

4. Ensure that you can use the name in your logo, slogans, and taglines
Brand consistency is essential for success, and it all begins with the name of your business. The title should complement the rest of your branding elements, such as logos, taglines, and slogans. You should be able to translate/communicate your name using design elements such as icons, logos, and colors.

5. Select a name that has some meaning and offers a purpose
The business name should convey your brand identity, generate a positive image, and foster a good emotional connection. Determine what you want to accomplish before picking a business name. You’ll be able to identify the ones that fit the picture you want to build using a few characteristics of your business and brand.

6. Choose a name that has no registered trademark
You can begin your research by conducting a general web search for businesses with similar names. If another company has trademarked a name, violating that trademark can result in legal action against your business. You can also obtain a letter of authorization from the trademark owner to use it.

7. Select a name that is web and SEO friendly
Do your homework to see if you can secure a domain name and social media profiles that match your business name, as they can affect your online presence. Potential customers’ ability to be found is part of having an SEO-friendly name. Your business name will, therefore, have a higher rank on search engines.

8. For Example Coolhats.com
If you promote and sell strange and unusual hats, you can name your business coolhats.com. You are finding suppliers to support your business and brand- which would be an added adventure to your hard work and promotion.
Or perhaps a wine store with a logo of a bottle of wine being uncorked that can design appealing t-shirts to sell and create advertising, which you could name something like-truebrew.com.

Conclusion
No doubt, choosing a mighty name for your business can be challenging but truly rewarding. With the right approach and tools, you can select a full business name that will distinguish your business from all the rest!

By Reginald Jackson

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Leveraging Instagram to Promote Your Product or Brand

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Instagram is one of the most popular social networking sites on the internet; it is also a great place to have a virtual market stall! If you want to promote your products, services, and events, then you should invest some time and effort into promoting your brand. Instagram has been growing at a staggering rate in the past few years, taking over Facebook as the most popular social media site in the world. Stories in tools for Instagram are also trending. It’s also one of the most popular social media platforms with millions of users every day. Even if you have very little time to market your business, you can still create a compelling Instagram account to start your social media marketing journey.
For some time, Instagram was referred to as an ‘Instagram for the photo-only site. However, in 2017 it was reported that the feature has grown beyond the photo-sharing medium. Instagram now allows businesses to run live videos, while a few weeks ago, the feature was updated to allow the creation of video stickers. Instagram is an essential part of your social media marketing strategy. Posts creation is an essential part of using Instagram that without which Instagram is just an app and nothing else. Let’s review a few tips for creating better posts on Instagram:

Use the latest Instagram Analytics
If you are serious about social media marketing, you need to know which demographics are searching for your business regularly. This can be done by using the latest Instagram analytics tools. It gives you a better insight into your business and products and also gives you a better idea of creating relevant posts.
Tracking which geographical locations customers are searching for your business and how often they visit your website will give you a better insight into your customer base. While building a social media audience is critical for effective social media marketing, understanding your customer is also important.

Social Media Metrics
Not all social media networks use analytics, yet there is a lot of information available on each platform. While social media marketing is all about building an audience and converting your fans to fans, there is more to it than simply commenting on and replying to other users’ posts. For example, your competitors are creating amazing posts every single day and you need to follow them to stay up-to-date with the latest trends.
A great social media marketing tip is to add a poll to your social media posts. When people take part in a poll, they usually share the post and potentially make a few new followers. If you are feeling adventurous, try asking questions about your business and invite your followers to share their opinion.
This tip may be considered old-fashioned, but it can be effective!

Post at Predictable Times
Instagram operates a 24-hour news cycle, in that customers will often look at your Instagram account throughout the day. Therefore, you need to get your post out at a predictable time each day to get the most exposure from it.
Not all the content on your account will be worthy of a post, however, it’s all about producing content that resonates with your followers and that you can promote to your followers at any time.

Use Effective Visual Platforms
For the most effective Instagram marketing strategies don’t go overboard. Instagram is all about showing followers how you market your business. It’s about showing customers that you are a company that values the visual side of social media and that your brand will give your customers that extra bit of visual wow factor.
Visual images are the best way to connect with followers and show them what your company is all about. Don’t use Instagram to show followers how your company will solve their problems, this is the stuff that competitors can do better. Show them that your brand is beautiful, with a range of inspirational photos that they can admire and be inspired by.

Customized for Your Social Media Audience
Regularly, people can have a look at their Facebook and Twitter feeds and see a variety of posts from a range of different people. On Instagram, however, there are only a small number of posts that are a perfect fit for each individual.
As such, you must create your Instagram account in a way that you can maximize the audience for your posts. An easy way to do this is to try posting several different photos and then select the ones that work best for your audience.

 

 

Getting The Most Out of Instagram
Instagram provides numerous incentives for your followers. Some of the most effective incentives are to promote a product or a series of products in exchange for a follow. Other incentives are to share a post with a specific number of followers, which will help to attract their attention. It’s important to try to inspire your followers to share with a specific number of followers.

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Content Marketing for Small Businesses. Expert Tips Just for You!

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For the past few years, content marketing has been a definite leader in the field of digital promotion. People are constantly looking for the right information on social networks, watching videos, and reading blog posts. They focus only on useful and high-quality content, so the only way to gain their trust and, eventually, close a sale, is to be the first and only one who’ll provide such content. And this is exactly what content marketing is for.

What Is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services. It focuses on creating and distributing content for a targeted audience online. Social media is an integral part of content marketing

Content marketing thus is promoted through content. In other words, you do not just create any text but write something that will increase sales growth, recognition, or attracts potential users.
Before we dive into some tips and specifics of content marketing for your business, let’s identify the technique itself. It’s all kinds of content that talk about what you do: texts, videos, pictures, animated images, information graphics, podcasts, etc. Basically, they are various types of materials that are used by Internet users visiting your site or reading about you on the web.
The Primary Benefits of Using Content Marketing for Your Business
Here you can see how content marketing can be useful for you:

1. You’ll get highly targeted organic traffic from search engines through the publication of helpful content on visited sites (media, thematic resources);
2. It’ll ensure comprehensive coverage of the audience of social networks and increased brand/product recognition through the targeted distribution of exciting content and its further “sharing” by users;
3. You’ll be able to influence the user’s decision to purchase at each stage of the sales funnel and get the corresponding increase in engagement;
4. Your SEO will boost as a result of an increased number of links to your business site from third-party resources, which will also improve behavioral factors.
As you can see, content marketing allows not only to convey information to the target audience, but also to establish an open dialogue with it, to find out the current opinion of customers, and to build brand loyalty.
According to a recent study, 90% of companies are actively using content marketing; 50% of published messages evoke a lively response and interest from the audience. And yet, only 5% of the posts lead to real actions: transitions to the site, registration, or other targeted efforts.
So let us provide you with some actionable expert tips that can help gradually improve your business.

Content Marketing Professional Tips
Focus on publishing relevant content. The first tip is easy to follow. When creating content, follow the rule of conformity with the professional field and subject. Post relevant content that is consistent and aligns with the overall goals of your site. Let’s say you sell coffee machines online. In addition to providing all the technical information about the product (photos, reviews, videos), you’d want to post articles related to coffee on the blog (preparation, use, recipes, etc.) d.), in other words, relevant content. Studies show that more than 50% of consumers are happy to read such materials on company websites.

Double-check your content formatting before you post it. Good content requires original, well-developed, and unbiased information on a specific topic. But even if it is just that – useful, unique, and expert – it can easily get lost on the Internet, among other publications if users struggle with reading it and following your train of thought. Proper presentation of any text implies improvement through breaking it into paragraphs, as well as through the use of bold and italic styles, headings, a suitable font size, etc.
Caring for content formatting is also good for SEO because it is a direct sign that you’re trying to create a high-quality website. If you decide to combine different types of content (text, images, video), this will improve the user’s impression of reading the material, which will undoubtedly lead to certain advantages.

Your title can be the key to success. What we’re talking about is the basics of SEO, which don’t get any less important. So, an extensive and bright title performs several functions at once:
● It helps search engines understand the content of your text;
● Gives social networks an understanding of the semantic direction of your materials;
● It attracts the attention of users and stimulates an increase in click-through rates to a specific page.
Do not underestimate the importance of the first impression of the text, so think a hundred times before clicking the “Publish” button.

Try to keep tabs with your competitors. There’s a chance that the number of players on your market is massive. And if you want your content to work effectively for your business, it should be better than that of competitors.
Before you start creating any material, check out related publications on Google, Facebook, Twitter (or another social network that is more suitable for your audience) and find out what type of content they like in the first place. Pay attention to such things as volume, quality, and format, and try to create content that will surpass the others in all respects.
Content that doesn’t outperform competitors’ content can’t cause the hype you need in search engines or social networks, so it’s preferable to spend some more time and work on improving your texts.

Create a perfect schedule for your content. In addition to the desire for relevance and accuracy of content, you should remember the need for its regular publication. If possible, post materials not only on specific days but also at particular times of the day. Having such a “calendar” will help you organize your workflow and create a group of loyal users.

Your content should be helping with conversions. Remember that the primary goal of creating content is to increase conversions. In other words, a conversion can be considered anything from increasing the number of your email subscribers and clicks on banner advertising, to growth in sales of goods.

Good Content and Social Media
Content marketing for small businesses can be very powerful. You can even consider adding a blog to your business website, or post content on social media platforms like Twitter, Linkedin, Foursquare, or a short video to Youtube. Remember people want information. And good content can provide information that your prospective customer is looking for. brand

 

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RTJ Online Social Media Consultation Receives Local 2019 Award

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Press Release: Dallas Award Program Honors the Achievement

DALLAS November 11, 2019 — Rtj Online Social Media Consultation has been selected for the 2019 Dallas Award in the Internet Marketing Service category by the Dallas Award Program.

Each year, the Dallas Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Dallas area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2019 Dallas Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Dallas Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Dallas Award Program

The Dallas Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Dallas area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Dallas Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

SOURCE: Dallas Award Program

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Use a Press-Release to Get Traffic to Your Site!

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Gaining traffic through creating quality content, sharing in social networking sites, and joining forum may not be enough. Although these approaches may come viable, it still need a boost. With press release, your traffic campaign can be more effective. Let us see how you can get more traffic to your site with this interesting strategy!

What Is A Press Release?
Even though you may associate a press release with a news paper or the media, a press release is an official statement reporting specific, but brief information about an event, particular matter, or other happening typically tied to a business, organization or your website.
For example, here is a press release for the launching of a website called mycathairmatting.net: “A new blog titled mycathairmatting.net has been launch to help cat owners solve their cat hair and fur matting problems. Pet owners around the world will be thrilled to discover a website design to help them with the latest information and tips on healthy cat hair-care!”

Essential Guidelines in Creating Press Release
Press release can provide valuable links to your website. The number of visitors it garners will depend on several factors. For instance, the topic your press release covers and the option of press-release submission. To ensure that you are on the right track, read this article!
• Newsworthy of the subject matter. The amount of visitor you will receive will depend on your subject. When press release is about celebrity, it usually gets a lot of traffic. Nevertheless, it should be noted that your press release should be related to your website or business that could grab the attention of your audience.
• Remember, it is not an advertisement. Press release is not the avenue to promote your products or services. According to Realty Blog Content, an actual press release should appear like it is written by a neutral third party. Hence, it only states the story and facts of the product.
• Quote. Your press release should not be dull as one reads through every line. Including some quotes relevant to your subject matter can take your press release a leap.
• Credibility and quality. Read and edit your press release once you are done with your draft. When you read it, read as if you have never laid your eyes on it and make the judgment. Edit your write-up once you are done.
• Submission. Selection of press release websites should also be considered. Nonetheless, always check for the credibility and charges..

The Free and Paid Press Release Websites
Now that you are up for submission, the question is which one will you opt to? Is it the free-press release submission or the paid press-release submission?
1. Free-press release submission. When you do not have enough budget, you can always turn to a free press release website. However, it has its boundaries. For instance, photos and videos cannot be included. The following are some of the free websites cited from subhub.
• Free-Press-Release.com (Page rank 5/ Alexa 3,547)
• PRLog.org (Page rank 5/ Alexa 16,551)
• OpenPR.com (Page rank 5/ Alexa 42,088)
• 1888PressRelease.com (Page rank 5/ Alexa 58,760)
• NewswireToday.com (Page rank 5/Alexa 51,449)
2. Paid press-release submissions. The premium websites for press release have its perks. Some of these are tagging and checking of grammar. They also have a list of where they can send your release. Here are the websites cited from subhub.
• PRNewsWire.com (Page rank 8/ Alexa 7,508) — annual subscription of $195.
• BusinessWire.com (Page rank 8/ Alexa 16,730) — prices on application.
• PRWeb.com (page rank 8/ Alexa 9,822) — $80 to $360 per press release.
• PRLeap.com (page rank 6/ Alexa 55,935) — $49, $99, and $149 per press release.

Makes Results
Press release can make a difference to your website and business. Nonetheless, every step and decision is critical as it can direct you to your destination-that is to increase awareness and get traffic!

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Has the Mobile Phone Killed the Art of Conversation?

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Has technology hurt the art of conversation?

 

What do you think? Just look around you in any direction. What do you see? Strangers opening up a friendly dialogue with one another? Or do you see nothing but “zombies” literally hypnotized by that little device  in their hands called a cell phone? But what is wrong with this picture?

A Personal Observation

No one can argue how the invention of the iPhone, the Android, the Blackberry, or the Smartphone, has made life a little easier in recent times. But this is my observation: Just recently I was talking to a workmate who was having a disagreement with a close personal friend of hers. I asked her did she tell her how she felt? She said I did in a text. I said you need to talk to her face-to-face. The problem was, she never did confront her. The art of conversation-where has it gone? Because of the mobile phone, not only are people not conversing but not even willing to talk face-to-face as in this case!
On another occasion at a public location a woman told a gentleman sitting next to her how she liked his  mobile phone-a simple gesture that should have triggered at the least some dialogue. The gentleman glued to his iPhone 5, didn’t even looked up or said a simple “thank you.” Not that it really mattered that much to me, but perhaps you have experienced something similar yourself.  Which leads to the  question:  Are mobile phones killing the art of conversation? Are people slowly losing the natural way of speaking to one another, giving at least the appearance of people being rude or ill-mannered in the process?

The Declining Art of Conversation

There was a time when carrying a conversation was truly an art. It was something people looked forward to and most people knew how to start and engage someone in a friendly conversation. It was interesting to find out simple things like where are you from?  What are your likes or dislikes?  And what do you do? People took a genuine interest in other people. But that was then and this is now! According to the PEW Research Center, 13% of cell owners [have] pretended to be using their phone in order to avoid interacting with the people around them. It’s true that no one can argue the tremendous benefits that we receive from cell phones usage-but does it come at some cost?

The Emergence of Social Media 

Just as mobile phones has capture the world, at the same time so has social media. With the emergence of social media on the internet, and the fact that organizations are learning how to use it to reach people, we are forced to go back to reinstate this simple and valuable art- the art of engagement and conversation. Yes, social media in some ways is taking us back to “school.”

Now as for the individual on the outset of this article-did she ever engage in a real conversation with the person she was having the disagreement with? She had a difficult time doing so. She still wanted to communicate only by texting. So don’t be like this workmate- don’t be a zombie glued to a device in your hand ConversationDrop the text messaging and talk to one another-just talk! Remember it’s people that makes the world go around not technology! So make good use of your mobile device, but don’t let it kill the one of the greatest gift we have as humans-the art of conversation!

I hoped liked this post on mobile phone use and the art of conversation. What do you think? What is your observation? Please leave your comments below.

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7 Social Media Platforms Effective for Business

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Congratulations! You have successfully started your business or at least launched your business website online! How will you market it? Paid advertisement is essential but expensive! Using social media is what many businesses are doing now because of its reach online, and because that’s where the people are!
So the question is: What effective social media platform can be use for most businesses? Or let’s say my business? What an appropriate question!
Nowadays, there are tons of social media platforms at your disposal. These are all effective social media platforms where you can create an amazing following. However, you don’t have to sign up for all new and popular social media sites on the planet. Trust us when we say you would rather be excellent with one or two platforms rather than be mediocre with four five or six!
A number of accounts in different social media sites don’t matter. Instead, pick one or two channels and focus your target marketing there. If you need some guidance on what is the best social media site/s for you, tips and information are available for you to determine the most effective social media channels out there. But for now here are seven of the most effective social media platforms that you can use for your business.

1. Facebook
What can we say? Over 1.11 billion people are into this famous social media site. Besides catching up with loved ones from overseas, Facebook did a wonderful job for many aspiring entrepreneurs out there. If you’re a start-up entrepreneur, we suggest you try the waters of Facebook first before jumping on any other platforms.
Facebook has established itself quite well and you can use that to your advantage. You will be easier seen on this social media site with an option to send you a private message, browse your products and even share your goods to a wider network. We firmly believe your target marketing strategies will not be wasted on this site. Indeed Facebook is an effective social media platform for you business. On facebook, you will be able to launch a seperate business page or “Fan Page” to promte your business and to also leverage the use of group pages as well.

2. Twitter
Twitter is an astonishing social media platform that can promote your business in 140 characters or fewer. This is a site that garners over 215 million active users or potential customers. This great site is generally made for communication so you know that customers can reach you 24/7. What’s more special about Twitter is that you can incorporate your own hashtag brand so you’ll be easier searched or be on the most popular page.
Word of the wise, this effective social media platform can get you viral in no time! Proven and effective way to increase your business’ popularity.

3. Instagram
Instagram is a good platform if you like photos. Just open an account and build your audience to engage and post any pictures relevant to your business, add a cute or useful tagline and then link them to your website.
If used properly, your followers may skyrocket more than what you’re expecting.

4. LinkedIn
This effective social media platform is made for business people to interact with others. Sometimes it is used by job seekers to find potential employers but most of the time it is used to increase your audience. Business owners realized the value of this site and the opportunities to build relationships and sales leads. An estimated 2.7 million business pages are on LinkedIn, each interacting with each other for partnership, proposal, quotations etc.
Just a quick heads up LinkedIn has a humongous number of professionals so expect important business dealing. It is not similar to Facebook or Twitter where any start-ups can be casual. On LinkedIn, you need to look professional so people can take your business seriously. Nevertheless, don’t be intimidated though as the users on this social media channel are really friendly. You’ll never be out of place here.

5. YouTube
1 billion unique visitors every month – that’s how huge this video-oriented site is. Not to mention that it’s the second largest search engine after Google! How’s that for target marketing and popularity boost? YouTube can literally take you to places with increasing your customers every second someone clicks on your video.
You can even sponsor a commercial where they can stream over millions of videos. Oh, did we also mention that YouTube is owned by Google? You don’t have to worry about search engine rankings at all with this platform.

6. Pinterest
Pinterest is another effective social media platform made for business-especially if your business involves products to promote. All you need are good photos of your products and post or “PIN” them on a board representing a certain category and then build your following to interact. The people on Pinterest are friendly and sometimes helpful to promote even your own products. It is worth signing up just to get a little familiar and start getting your business or brand out there to be seen on the internet!

7. Foursquare
While most social media platforms will connect to people all accross the web, Foursquare is design to target local follower at the exact location of your business. Over 50 million people use Foursquare whether for online or offline businesses. So for storefront owners, you would want to learn how to leverage this effective social media tool. Just simply go to Foursquare, sign up, follow the guides, and engage as you would with other social media platforms, but keep in mind these will be local followers as potential customers to you business.

 

Social media is really simple to use and inexpensive! It’s all about one thing-engagement! Once you get a good feel at using social media-the more you will be effective in promoting your brand and they can become a powerful tool for your business. So whatever you choose from these effective social media channels, just remember to focus first on one or two at a time, so your marketing will be successful to a large degree.

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The Secret to Market Research-How to Find Your Killer Niche!

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thinkingThis is where it all starts! The idea, the thought of going into business of your own. What are you going to promote or sell? Well if you already have an idea, that’s good. But if not-that’s okay too. Because with market research or niche marketing, I’m going to show you the secret of finding a unique brand or niche-to promote online with enormous success. Here’s how it works:
What Is A Niche?
A niche is define as a situation in which a business’s products or services can succeed by being sold to a particular kind or group of people. In other words it zero’s in to a specific group, making them special or exclusive. Weight Loss is a broad category for example, tremendous competition to compete with others. But if you can narrow it down to a special group or situation maybe like weight loss for post-pregnant women or overweight children under 12, then that becomes a niche under that broad category. And that idea will be your keyword and part of your website URL.
A killer niche is something really unique, something nobody has thought of-but you!
Market Research
Market research, or niche marketing, is simply a process of collection and analysis of data to find what people are looking for. What do everyday people want? How to create a new market, something different.
Where Do I Start?
Start by asking yourself: What is something you know about well? Something that you are passionate about? This is where you are going to start searching for keywords.
Yes the one key is keywords. The other is the competition. You don’t want to have to compete with a million other websites of your niche, and you certainly don’t want to have to compete with the “big dogs” either! So what are you going to do? Here are 4 methods that will aid you in an effective market research, to where you can find that one unique niche.
Google Ad-words
It use to be that one way of doing market research was just starting an Google Ad-word campaign with pay-per-click(PPC), and you would be able to determine what keywords is getting you good traffic, providing of course that your campaign was a successful one. With Google Ad-word you’re having to pay every time someone clicks on your ad. But the Internet is always changing and things isn’t what it use to be years ago. Now there’s a way to perform market research that is free!
Keyword Search
Once you have an idea of what your potential niche is going to be, then just do a simple keyword search. One tool you can use is Google Keyword Tool, which is a free tool. Just sign-in enter a keyword and it will show you a list of other keywords you can use depending on two things: The number of search, and the competition. You want the search volume to be high, but the competition to be very low. Once you locate a keyword with more than 1,000 searches per month or more, and at the same time the competition is at its lowest-then you may have discovered what I call a “potential website keyword.” In other words, a potential niche that you center an entire website around! But more on that later.
Amazon Bestsellers
Another market research strategy is the use of Amazon.com. Amazon has emerge to one of the biggest places online where you can find what people are looking for when it comes to information. So just go to the books section in Amazon, select a category, then select at the top the word “Bestseller.” Now you have an idea of what people are interested in. Take notice of something that you can use as a niche to promote as a product, service, or information to sell online. Now your potential niche becomes a keyword to do a keyword search as described above.
Trends.
What are the current trends? What are people talking or asking questions about? Trends can be an effective market researching strategy as well, if you can get an idea on what’s the next hot thing that people are going to want to get their hands on. Just remember, the Xbox, the iPod, and the Mac-book, as an example, were all just a trend at one time. Once you get an idea, again, do your keyword search. The best way to keep up with trends are websites like http://blogpulse.com/trend or http://google.com/trends. At http://boardtracker.com you can follow what people are talking about and  http://technorati.com keeps up with the latest technology in electronics.

Building A Site
Before you launch your site though, it’s important that you make your keyword part of your domain name. In other words you are going to build your whole brand around that one “killer” keyword, due to good research marketing. You can use your site to either sell a product, services, or information? Whatever you decide, I would suggest that you create a blog with your site and off-the-bat, write 3-5 articles on your niche-using your main keyword and start driving traffic to your new site.

Even though market research takes time and effort, it is all well-spent, because sometimes you may be surprise as to what you will decide on a niche. So get busy and go find your “killer” niche now, and be sure to leave a comment below please!

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