Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Featured Report: The pros and cons of balancing family and work in a home-based business

Marketing Land

Mobile Traffic To News Sites Dropped 8.5% During Facebook Outage

Aug,05,2014

by: Martin Beck

Facebook’s brief outage Friday was annoying to many, including apparently the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, but it was useful for people interested in the social network’s impact on web traffic.

Chartbeat, which provides real-time analytics for web publishers, found that overall traffic on news sites fell 3% during the outage, which started at about noon Eastern time and lasted less than an hour. Entrances to news sites from mobile devices fell 8.5% during the downtime, according to Chartbeat, re-confirming Facebook’s major role in driving mobile traffic to online publishers. Read More

Deseret News National Edition

Stay-at-home CEOs: The pros and cons of balancing family and work in a home-based business

Aug,04,2014

by: Michael De Groote,

Sometimes businesses at trade shows would snub Renae Christine when they found out her company was run out of her home. "They were only interested in brick and mortar businesses," she says.

But that was in 2006, pre-recession, and with the recovering economy she has seen a shift in attitudes. So many people have since been interested in how she built a six-figure-income business in her home that she began to teach people how to set up a home business. She did it first in the blog RichMomBusiness.com in 2012, and now it has expanded into her primary at-home business. Read More

Small Business Newz

How the World Sees You Should Govern Your Social Media Style

Aug,05,2014

by:Jay Baer

A few weeks ago, we gave Convince & Convert readers the chance to take a free assessment ($37 value) to determine how the world sees them – and more than 600 people participated. The assessment and the methodology were created by Sally Hogshead , a consultant, hall of fame speaker, and New York Times best-selling author . I recently chatted with Sally about her new book How the World Sees You (upon which the assessment is based) and the interesting commonalities among Convince & Convert readers. Video below, partial transcript below that.

Jay Baer: I think a lot of people watching this video who are frequent visitors to the Convince & Convert blog are somewhat familiar with the book and the premise because we had hundreds and hundreds of blog readers and social media contacts of mine take the pre-assessment. We’ll talk about that in a little bit but for anybody who’s not familiar with the book or the premise of How The World Sees You , maybe you can set that up for them. Read More

Social Media Examiner

How to Infuse Your Personality Into Your Social Media Marketing

Aug,05,2014

by: DJ Thistle

Do your readers see you as a logo instead of a real person?

Are you sharing the real you in your social marketing?

It’s tough to walk the fine line between being professional and being yourself. With social media those two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

In this article you’ll discover four ways you can infuse your personality into your online marketing efforts. Read More

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Monday, August 4, 2014

Featured Report: Mobile Sales Sites Grab More Moola than Apps

TechCrunch

Facebook Forces Users Worldwide To Download Messenger For Mobile Chat

July,28,2014
by: Josh Constine

Over the next few days, Facebook will stop allowing messaging in its main iPhone and Android apps, and force all their users around the world to download its standalone Messenger app. Facebook first started requiring users in Europe to use Messenger back in April, but after seeing “positive results” in terms of engagement, its rolling out the plan to the everyone. Facebook tells me people on Messenger reply about 20% faster, and not supporting multiple version of mobile chat will help it make both its main apps and Messenger better.

Mobile web, iPad, feature phone, Windows Phone, Paper, and desktop users can still message in their main Facebook apps or sites like before, and will be spared from this forced migration for now. Read Now

WebProNews

Can Amazon Dominate Local Services Too?

Aug,01,2014

by:Chris Crum

In June, we learned that Amazon was readying a local services marketplace, which would simultaneously compete with local review sites like Yelp and services from stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot. The news was originally reported by Reuters, which suggested Amazon users would be able to order babysitters and handymen with the service.

Reuters now has a clearer picture of just what Amazon is working on, which it says it is testing in Seattle, New York, and Los Angeles. It also points to a Help & Customer service page on Amazon’s website, which gives further details.

According to that page, Amazon Local Services allows users to purchase professional services for assembly, set-up, installation, and repair works. It doesn’t say anything about babysitting, but that would certainly appear to cover the handyman part. Other verticals could surely come later, if the initiative proves successful. Read More

Mobile Marketing Watch

Retail Reality: Mobile Sales Sites Grab More Moola than Apps

July,28,2014

by: Michael Essany

Apps may be where people spend most of their time, but retail sales sites are where it’s happening.

That’s the conclusion of recenteMarketer data, which projects that 19.0 percent of U.S. retail ecommerce sales will stem from mobile devices this year.

By 2016, the share is expected to rise to 25.0 percent.

Traditional retailers, ecommerce players and mobile-only businesses are all vying for the money consumers are increasingly spending through their smartphones and tablets, according to a new eMarketer report, “Mobile Commerce Deep Dive: The Products, Channels and Tactics Fueling Growth.” Read More

MarketingSherpa Blog

Social Media: Leveraging visual marketing on Instagram and Pinterest
Aug,01,2014
by: Regina Love

At this year’s Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, Daniel Burstein, Director of Editorial Content, MECLABS, sat down to discuss the growth and value of visual social media with Jason Miles, Co-founder, Liberty Jane Clothing, and Aime Schwartz, Digital Marketing Manager, King Arthur Flour.

Aime shared the importance of identifying what makes Instagram different from your Facebook and Twitter efforts. The goal is to showcase your value to multiple audiences through images, and think about reasons why people should engage with you and your brand.

Showcasing your value means being transparent, and with images, you can convey trust much better than just with words. Read More

KaratBars International

Friday, August 1, 2014

Featured Report: Marketing Techniques Every Small Business Should Use

e-Marketer

How Consumers Search for Products on Desktop, Tablet and on Smartphones
Aug,01,2014
by: Staff

Local Corporation is a local advertising technology company that connects consumers and businesses through products and services such as Local.com and Krillion, a local shopping platform aggregating data from 120,000 stores. Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel spoke with eMarketer’s Yory Wurmser about mobile search and the evolution of retailing.

eMarketer: What is your sense of how consumers are using smartphones vs. desktop computers for search?

Fred Thiel: Consumers are definitely conditioned to use Google or another search engine for search on desktop—excluding travel searches. For travel, we see more mobile usage, and in that case, they’re usually using an app which is specific to whatever travel site used such as KAYAK or TripAdvisor. That category is pretty much the first to be “appified,” as some have termed it. Read More

HubSpot

How to Consistently Keep Up With the Latest Social Media Trends

July,31,2014

by: Rachel Sprung

There's so much going on with social media it's hard to keep up. There are always new features being added to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest -- and with all of the other responsibilities on your plate, staying up-to-date with the latest and greatest can feel like you're running on a really fast on a tredmill while attempting to juggle. It's hard.

That being said, being on the forefront of social media changes isn't impossible either. There are many things you can do to keep on top of the latest trends. So here are a few suggestions on ways you can do just that -- even by using social media itself! Read More

Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing Techniques Every Small Business Should Use

July, 31, 2014
by: Staff

Having the best, most innovative product on the market is not enough to drive traffic to your office or store. It takes a carefully-planned strategy to effectively promote your products or services.

Marketing is a critical component for any business, but can be done effectively without having to shell out thousands of dollars. Small business owners may feel intimidated competing with their larger, more established competitors, but these ideas will help increase brand awareness, drive more traffic to your website, and gain new customers. Read More

Socialmediopolis

5 Best Facebook Marketing Strategies

July,31,2014

by: Mohamed Elsherif

My friends who worked as Facebook managers were literally panicked. This resulted from the last update on Facebook, which determines organic content reach to 6% or less. This update pushed Facebook managers to paid advertising like crazy leading to 2.27 billion dollars profit in the first quarter of 2014 for Facebook. This represented an increase of 82% from the profit of Facebook in 2013.

I will not speak with you in this article about leaving Facebook and investing in Instagram or Twitter, but I will share with you 5 marketing plans that you can follow or train your staff to do to achieve a higher rate of organic reach. Read More

KaratBars International

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Featured Report: 5 Simple Acts to Take Right Now

Duct Tape Marketing

5 Simple Acts to Take Right Now
July,28,2014
by: JOHN JANTSCH
The months of July and August can be slower ones for many small businesses in the U.S. While we’ve got a thing or two to learn from some other cultures about taking a “real” holiday, many business owners and their clients take vacations and spend less time thinking about business during the summer months.

You may still feel just as busy doing busy kind of things, but the key to making this mini breather pay is to look at the summer months as a launching pad for growth and improvement into next year. Many times we keep our head down doing the work and can’t seem to find the right amount of time to dedicate to the needs of the business. Read More

SmallBizClub

Small Businesses That Operate Only on Social Media

July,23,2014

by: Megan Totka

You may be wondering, what kind of business can stay alive using only social media to advertise, market, and sell? The answer is, all different kinds. This business model is becoming more and more popular. Because of social media's huge reach and very low (or non-existent) operating costs, it's become a go-to sales and marketing platform for many small businesses.

Small businesses find social media to be a great platform for sales for a variety of reasons. A recent CNN Money article spotlighted a few different companies that have become immensely successful by launching on social media, a cotton candy company that does 75% of its business on Facebook, a female-centered snowboarding gear company, and a creative wine bottle stopper company. So how are these companies successful using only social media accounts? Here are some tips on how to make the most of small business marketing on social media. Read More

Light Span Digital

8 Social Media Questions You May Be Afraid to Ask, & The Answers

July,29,2014
by: Mana
In our work if we’re lucky we get tons of social media questions. If we’re unlucky we get demands. Either way, the online space causes a lot of uncertainty and confusion expressed via unique questions and requests. So we collected some of the more unusual social media questions and answers, here for your entertainment and education. Can we create a hashtag?

Yes you can. First you want to check if there’s already one in use, and how it’s being used. You can refer to WhatTheTrend.com and Tagboard.com to find hashtag trends and usage. And you can create your own hashtag tagboard. Read More

Business News Daily

When Customer Loyalty Isn't Enough, Turn to Word-of-Mouth

July,29,2014

by: Nicole Fallon

There's no question that customer loyalty matters. According to a recent survey by digital business solutions provider Huzzah Media, repeat customers and word-of-mouth referrals are the best sources of revenue for 80 percent of small businesses. But are you focusing enough on the latter to sustain business growth? you need to place just as much emphasis on capturing the customers you don't have yet, and these prospective customers are often obtained by word of mouth, experts say."In today's always-on world, consumers are constantly talking about their personal experiences with stores, brands or products, and they make a big impact on whether they will shop with you in the future," said Lance Brown, vice president of product development at. "Personal anecdotes are generally what resonate with new customers, since direct feedback is viewed as more reliable.Businesses that implement a referral program are encouraging their customers to 'share the love' and, therefore, can help drive more business Read More

KaratBars International

Monday, July 28, 2014

Featured Report: In Viral Videos, It’s OK To Be the Underdog

Wall Street Journal

In Viral Videos, It’s OK To Be the Underdog

July,18,2014

by: Beau Lewis

I started Seedwell, a company with my two best friends that made viral videos professionally. We wanted to create videos that made people laugh and share; the business was more of a side-effect. However, as it grew, it started to resemble an agency. We found that our work got worse as we compromised creative control in order to get approvals from larger clients. Then I joined my wife, Debbie Sterling, at her startup for girls toys: GoldieBlox, where we have the built-in advantage of doing all of our viral videos in-house while remaining a small business. Read More

Social Media Examiner

How to Use Twitter Analytics to Find Important Data

July,28,2014

by: Alex Bossenger

Do you use Twitter’s built-in analytics tool? Are you looking for new ways to measure success on Twitter? Twitter’s Analytics tool is the social network’s best-kept secret and gives you access to data that other third-party services can’t. In this article I’ll show you how to get access to Twitter Analytics and find the data you need to track your campaign success. Read More

Miami Herald Business Monday

Q&A with Dan Levy, Facebook’s global director of small business
July,27,2014
by:TASHA CUNNINGHAM
Facebook is serious about small businesses. And for Dan Levy, Facebook’s global director of small business, that means starting each day with a laser-like focus on how the social media giant can help small-business owners get the most out of using the platform to promote their products and services.

Having owned a small business himself for two years, Levy understands how difficult it can be to be successful.

“I get it,” said Levy. “I started Justarrive, a cloud-ticketing company for college and professional sports teams, while I was in college. It was a great experience to have the opportunity to build something, and it allowed me to understand the opportunities and challenges of being a small-business owner.” Read More

Convince and Convert

Why It Might Be Time to Completely Change Your Social Media Strategy

July,25,2014

by: Jay Baer

I recently delivered the closing keynote at the Social Fresh Conference in Orlando (the next Social Fresh – a conference I very much endorse – is in October in San Diego).

My presentation was called “Shotguns Trump Rifles: Why Social Success is Now a Volume Play” and was one of most controversial talks I’ve ever given about social media strategy.

I’ve embedded the slides and video below, and I do hope you’ll spend a few minutes now (or download for later) because this issue impacts every single person using social media strategy for business. Read More

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/27/4255501/qa-with-dan-levy-facebooks-global.html#storylink=cpy

KaratBars International

Friday, July 25, 2014

Featured Report: Study: Mobile Users Who Engage With Brands Use Facebook Most

Advertising Age

Study: Mobile Users Who Engage With Brands Use Facebook Most

July,23,2014
by: Grace Chung
A new report from Forrester Research slated to be released Wednesday shows consumers who access social-media sites through mobile are more likely to interact with brands than those accessing social media on personal computers. According to the study, while the number of American adults logging onto social-networking sites through PCs still exceed those who connect through mobile, consumer engagement (defined as reading, liking or sharing content) was higher among smartphone and tablet users. The study, which surveyed 37,000 respondents, revealed that 64% of U.S. online adults use desktops and laptops; 45% use smartphones; and 25% use tablets to access social-media sites at least once per week. Read More

Social Media Today

The Secret to Making Anything Go Viral

July,24,2014
by: Ekaterina Walter

Creating a ‘viral video’ is like setting out to produce 'an Oscar-winning film.'

You can look back at some of the most-shared videos, trying to fathom some sort of recipe for success, but if you try to replicate those vital ingredients your video will most likely feel flat and formulaic. If a movie producer tries too hard to re-create an award-winning film, putting together a big budget, an epic storyline, some top names, it can still be a flop. What movie-goers want is passion, great acting and a sense that everyone involved loved what they were doing: they want to feel something. Movies that make people feel something win awards. Videos too must speak to a brand’s followers if they are to be shared. Read More

Tech Target

Android, iOS, Windows mobile OS war a positive for customers

July,23,2014

by: Jake O'Donnell

In these terms, Apple's iOS is a sharply-dressed, dashing man-about-town, Google's Android is a punk rocker, while Microsoft's Windows Phone dresses in business casual attire, according to Michael Thomason, lead system architect at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta.

During a presentation here this week at BriForum 2014, Thomason explained the differences between the three mobile operating systems (OS) that make up most of the 2.4 billion smartphones and tablets -- 1.1 billion Android, 333 million Windows, 271 million iOS/Macintosh -- expected to ship worldwide this year, according to a Gartner report this month. Read More

Business News Daily

Internet of Things: How Businesses Can Prepare and Adapt

July,23,2014

by:Nicole Fallon

The Internet of Things (IoT) — Internet-connected devices that communicate with one another — has been highly discussed in recent years, especially as the capabilities of smart technologies continue to advance. Most tech-savvy consumers are aware of the way that the IoT will impact their home and work life, but what does this upcoming trend mean for the business world?

"The 'connected world' vision is no longer a buzzword — it's already happening," said Waqas Makhdum, vice president of marketing at cloud mobile app development platform . "Over the next few years, we see it becoming an integral part of our lives, whether it is through smart homes, smart cars or smart health care. It's clear that the IoT will disrupt most industries." Read More

KaratBars International

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