Social Media With Rita

As any small business owner will know, if you’re not online, it’s not going to work. Anyone who can remember a time before the internet (as crazy as that might sound to some younger people!) will know that before the World Wide Web, all forms of business transactions had to be done in the real world. Usually, this involved an actual handover of money in return for a product, service or trade. These days, however, not only is our money stored on a little plastic card, but it is traded and exchanged online instead. The industry term for this practice is ‘e-commerce’ – primarily the business of selling something over the internet. Whether your business revolves around an actual physical product that your customers buy or a service that you provide, engaging in e-commerce is an absolute must-do for the success of your company. Despite this, it is an area that many startups and new business alike trip up on. If you are having trouble selling your wares or services online, here are a few things you might be doing wrong.

Your marketing isn’t working

Okay, so you’ve got your website all set up with a transparent payment system – and you’ve checked it works. But still, the orders just aren’t coming in. The first thing you need to do is to step back and take a look at your online presence overall. Is your website easy to find, and is it making good use of SEO? If your site is buried deep within the depths of the internet, it’s unlikely that any customer is going to choose you over a rival, more easy-to-find site. Get on board with social media and shout about your business as loud as you can. Additionally, is it clear that you are an ecommerce website and that you have something to sell? Remember that the customer’s attention span is very short, so you have to do everything in your power to make it clear to them what you can offer them from the very beginning. It may be worth speaking to some ecommerce experts who will be able to tell if your site is encouraging people to buy from you. Even simple things, such as adding a better call to action, can make a huge difference to your success rate.

Your website is not primed for mobile devices

A shockingly huge number of people now view websites not through their desktop computer, but via their cell phone. The majority of people these days have a smartphone or a tablet on their person at all times, so you need to make sure they have access to your business wherever they are.  If your website works well on a desktop but is all skewed up when you view it through a phone, you could be missing a trick here. Most website hosting platforms (such as Wix or Squarespace) offer you the option to optimize your site for mobile devices, so make the most of that feature! If you hired an independent designer to create your website for you, see if they would be willing to make it functional for mobile too.

Your checkout system is too complicated

When they are buying from you, the last thing you want to do is to frustrate or confuse your customer. When they are already at your online checkout, you’re halfway there, as they have made the decision to put the item in their basket and attempt to pay for it. But if your checkout system is too long and laborious, they are simply going to look for the same product somewhere else. Try and make it so the whole thing only takes a couple of minutes. Offer a ‘guest checkout’ option and don’t hassle them with creating too many security barriers – speak to an online security expert about the ones you need (any that are deemed unnecessary don’t bother with). Make sure you accept all major credit and debit cards, and you may even want to consider using PayPal on your website. It can also be worth incorporating a feature where your customer’s checkout details are saved, as this will encourage them to return and make a swift, easy purchase in the future. Finally, always thank your customer for ordering from your business – even something simple like a thank you message and regular order updates will make them feel as though they are dealing with true e-commerce professionals.

If you only have a brief meeting with which to impress a target client, how do you make sure you leave a lasting impression? It’s not an easy question to answer, but there are some rules that you will have to follow. If you get your approach right, a small amount of time is all you’ll need to secure a client and seal the deal. So, read on to learn more now.

Be Human, Not Robotic

First of all, you need to remember to act like a human being. This might sound like something that’s obvious, but it’s something that many business people get wrong. Instead, they deliver their pitch in a robotic and inauthentic kind of way. Don’t fall into that trap because it never ends well. Your target clients will glaze over and stop listening to what you’re saying. So, you should try to make a human and natural connection with the client you want to win over. It’s much better to do that than to bore the client and have them cut the meeting short and get away quickly.

Ask Questions and Take a Real Interest

If a client is going to use your services, they will want to know that you are generally interested in them and what they need from you. That’s why you need to ask questions and take a real interest in their particular needs. Remember, no two businesses or clients are the same. And you need to find out as much as possible with regards to what they need before you can actually help them. So, the questions you ask should aim to uncover more about the client. And when you get the answers, use them as a way to pitch your business to them. Offer solutions to their problems. You can head to https://blog.hubspot.com/agency/questions-ask-client if you want to learn which questions to ask.

Hand Over a Business Card

Business cards are really useful because they will extend the period of time your company has to impress the target client. They will take your business card away with them, and then they might look at it later on in the day or maybe later in the week. It will remind the target client of your business and the services you have to offer. They might then visit the website displayed on the card or call up your office,where you should have good furniture to receive clients and for the people who works there, for example here is a list of the best desks for secretarys. Go to http://www.islandprinting.com.au/printing/business-cards-2/ if you want to get some business cards printed. They should look modern and visually appealing for the best results.

Get Your Body Language Right
Last of all, you should make sure that you get your body language right. When you interact with someone, your body language says just as much, if not more, than the words that come out of your mouth. Keep this in mind and ensure your body language is always open, welcoming and showing interest in the conversation you’re having with the target client. If you can get this right, you will be in a good position to win the client over.

Do you realize just how important using images online can be? Whether you’re a business or an individual who wants to build a personal brand and following, images can help you to do just that. Here are some things to remember when it comes to using images online:

Pinterest and Instagram Are Hugely Popular

You probably have a good idea of just how popular Pinterest and Instagram are. They’re used by millions of people every day to share attractive pictures, which people can like, share, and comment on. Many businesses are also using these platforms to share attractive pictures of their product, host competitions, and show people how their product could look in the home environment. It makes people far more likely to buy, and if your feed is pretty you’ll get more followers. You can also share customer snaps to increase engagement!

Images Can Give Important Information Quickly

Images can give important information quickly. Much faster than a huge paragraph of text. Think about it, would you rather read a block paragraph, or look at a pretty picture? This is why pictures are important whether you’re using social media, or you’re putting them on your website. Not only do images give people information quickly, they give the search engines information quickly with the likes of image optimization. If you’re wondering ‘what is image optimization?’, it isn’t too difficult to understand. There are tons of helpful guides out there to help you optimize your images perfectly. As SEO is all about creating a great user experience, image optimization is making sure you give a great caption while helping the search engines out too.

Social Media Posts With Images Get More Clicks

It’s been proven that social media posts with images get far more clicks than those without. In fact, posts with images get around 94% more total views than those without! You can’t afford not to post images with your posts with stats like that.

Posts Also Get More Engagement

Not only will your post get more views, it’ll get more engagement too. This means more likes, shares, and comments, and more exposure as a result! Your attractive pictures could go viral, getting shared all over the web. All the more reason to make sure you’re taking high quality images and using them correctly.

High Quality Images Will Make More Sales

It goes without saying that if you’re selling a product, high quality images are going to make or break a deal with a customer. It doesn’t matter how riveting your description is, your site, or how magical your product actually is. Without a fantastic image to complement all of that, it isn’t going to sell as much as you’d like.

Images are so important, they make your business and posts look better, not to mention the internet as a whole. If you’re going to start taking pictures of your products, or even for your blog, there are a few things you can do to make sure they pass muster:

• Use a high quality camera or a best 360 camera 2017 for panoramic. Your smartphone probably won’t cut it for this, unless you have other pieces of fancy equipment to help create a professional finish.
• Pose your pictures so that the product looks as if they are being used. For example, show how a piece of furniture will look in the home, and not just the item against a white background (although making the rest of the decorated room white will make the item stand out!).
• Know how to edit pictures so that the colors pop. Just remember the picture should be an accurate representation of whatever you’re selling.
• Get a professional in if you’re unsure. The investment will be totally worth it when you have product pictures to be proud of.
• If you want to create an amazing business Instagram feed, making sure you have a theme is crucial. Making sure all of your pictures complement one another will make your feed prettier, and you’ll get more followers. It’s also a good idea to make sure your captions are as helpful as possible. Don’t forget to apply to as many people as you can, either!

Now you see how important images are online, you can make sure you’re using them properly. Images are crucial for business, bloggers, and even those who simply want followers. Some people do manage to make a full time living by simply posting on Instagram, so that’s something to think about too! Is there anything you’d like to add? Leave a comment below.

The digital marketing landscape is like the weather – it is always changing. One year you focus on mobile marketing and the next it is email marketing and next year it will be something else. Amidst all the change it is easy to lose focus on one important point – some things stay the same. Yes there is a lot of change and you have to react to the changes, but some things are just too important to go away. That is why they are still in demand and why you should use the following in your strategy.

Search Engine Optimization

SEO is still alive and kicking regardless of what some people think. In fact it ranks as one of the most effective marketing techniques which makes it one of the most important. For some reason there was a myth that the importance of SEO was dwindling. Nothing could have been farther from the truth especially as Google is modifying their algorithm. To become an SEO expert is crucial as consumers continue to search the web and will do for a long time. The way they search is changing but that is a different argument.

Mobile Marketing

That brings us nicely to the next skill which is mobile marketing. Customers still use the internet to search but they don’t do it from desktops or laptops anymore. They do it from smartphones and tablets which both class as mobile devices. Mobile devices operate differently from desktop and laptops. Your business, therefore, should accommodate mobile searches if it wants to tap into the market. To do this you have to tweak your site so it runs smoothly on mobiles or create a mobile site and redirect your users. Apps are also an incredibly potent source of marketing for businesses.

Social Media

Social media is growing faster than the internet – that is how important it is to your business. The fascinating thing is that it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Sure, some outlets are showing a dip in profits but their recruitment is still higher than ever. With so many people using social media it is stupid not to incorporate it into your strategy. It is a great way to talk to customers directly as well as boosting your SEO strategy. Billions of people use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc, and you can’t afford to miss out on these numbers.

Analytics

Analytics will never die because you always need to analyse your strategy. Okay you might use a different piece of software than Google Analytics but you will still analyse it. Everything you need to boost your marketing strategy and succeed is in the numbers. It tells you where you are going wrong, how you are going wrong and how you can fix the damage,. That is info you can’t let slip through your fingers because your competitors won’t make the same mistake.

These skills are still in demand today and, more than likely, will be for the foreseeable future.

Like Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark, you are trying to unlock some secrets. But, your secrets don’t revolve around the Holy Grail; they revolve around something more important. SEO is without a doubt one of the biggest weapons at a company’s disposal. Not only is it effective but it is also cheap and helps a firm challenge the big boys. Before you can reap the rewards, however, you need to know the secrets that other businesses miss. It’s time to learn the secret passwords.

Originality

Every business will say they value originality but it is just a buzzword they like to use to show they mean business. In reality, lots of businesses just rehash the same stuff, and it is to their detriment. True originality is a key foundation of SEO thanks to search engine rankings. The rankings use factors such as fresh content to rank the sites. As a result, a flow of unique and refreshing content will see you surge up the rankings. Who knows, you might even make the top of the tree.

Relationships

On the outside, a relationship doesn’t seem like it can help your SEO strategy. On the inside, it is one of the features of the best SEO practices in the industry. Building good relationships relates to link building. Ah, that got your attention. Well, you know how important link building is, which is why you want friends in powerful places. A friend will link to your content or site as opposed to a stranger– it is a fact. They trust you and know that you provide a good service. Plus, they expect the same favour. It is a small price to pay for what you get in return.

Usability

The days of searching Google from a desktop are over. Today, searches come from mobile phones. In fact, research shows nearly half of Google’s US searches are conducted via smartphone. That statistic is astounding, and it isn’t hard to see more that more emphasis will go on mobile searches. What does that mean for you? It means your site needs to be mobile-friendly and load quickly among other things. The revolution is underway and you can get on it on the ground floor.

Placement

Are you still throwing keywords around like they are candy? If you are, you are miles behind the best SEO users in the industry. The best realise that it is about placement more than anything else. Placement invokes quality, which gets a better ranking from a search engine. So, instead of having them in the main body you should think about the titles and tags. Oh, and don’t forget the Meta tags, too. Just because they are small doesn’t mean they can’t have a big impact.

Overthink

SEO is new territory, so most people don’t know what they are doing and why. And, that is okay. Because it is ambiguous, you will never be sure it works until you see the rankings. So, you just have to put faith in your strategy and review it afterwards.

Keep these secrets close to your chest and your business will benefit greatly.

When it comes to making a website, nothing hits the audience as hard as original content. Whether you’re running a business that sells cakes or an online service that outsources audio production, original content is going to be what drives your Google ranking up a few notches and puts you ahead of the competition. However, you might be thinking to yourself “how exactly does content help my business?”, and you would be right to be sceptical.

What is content?

When people think about content they’re usually referring to things like blogs, YouTube videos or other forms of entertainment content. However, content by definition means information and material. It doesn’t necessarily have to be of a creative nature, it can be informative or scientific. As long as it is presented and consumed, it can be considered content.

So in the context of business advertising, original content would refer to your product details, your customer promise and in some cases, your own personal blog. The golden rule is that content doesn’t have to be purely for entertainment—it can be used to great effect in a business application too.

What is original?

Original would just refer to the content being made by you or a professional for your purpose. For example, if you are reselling products that other companies are also selling, you might copy and paste a generic product description of the item given by the manufacturer. After all, you’re selling the same item so there’s no need to stand out from the crowd, right? That’d be wrong.

A custom product description will not only rank higher on Google, making you more discoverable, it will also give your customers a different view of a product. Imagine searching through Google and finding the same product with the exact same description that lacks information and technical specifications, but then you come across a site with a personalised write-up and a short review of the product that includes all the technical specifications and several new images that you’ve taken with your own camera. Chances are you’re going to be pleased with the additional information and additional photos and you’ll buy from that company instead.

How to get original content

Original content usually stems from creative writers, but it can also be obtained from powerful SEO services packages. SEO just refers to search engine optimisation which typically uses original content. As mentioned before, custom created content ranks higher in Google’s search engine and more people are likely to click on your original content than typical descriptions and ideas that have been regurgitated by several other websites.
Original content can also come in the form of a business blog. For instance, if you run a computer repair store, then you can easily create blog posts detailing all the challenges you have faced during the day, the wildest repairs you’ve ever performed, and so on. Not only do you give people insight into your working process, you also entertain readers and they are more likely to use your services because they are fond of your original content.

You have a great product. You have a market in need of it. You have a business completely prepared to deliver the product and all the support that goes along with it. So why isn’t your business seeing the kind of success and recognition it deserves? The answer lies within your image and how you use it. Here, we’ll look at making sure you got the right image, delivered in the right ways, to the most people possible.

You lack definition

You might very well know the benefits of your product and the fact a good target market exists for it. It’s not enough to simply let the product speak for itself, however. You need to make sure that people get the right message about it. It’s all about finding your brand voice and message. Think about your ideal customer, what their needs are, and what the product does. But think beyond the immediate problems it helps to solve. What kind of lifestyle does it help them achieve? Is it about convenience? Is it about security? Is it about luxury? Boiling your product down to the abstract of what it provides can help you find the most emotionally impactful message for the brand.

You lack visibility

A great message doesn’t mean all that much if it’s not reaching anyone. If you’re relying on the online world, then you need to make sure your messaging doesn’t get lost amongst all the noise. For instance, in outbound marketing, you need to find where your audience is. Your market research should help you identify sites they’re likely to use and social media channels they’re likely to inhabit. Those are the places you build your own presence. But you also want to make it easier for them to stumble upon your business. Creating an attractive, informative site and using advisors like an SEO service to make it easier to find will create more natural connections with customers. It’s those natural connections that people are more likely to trust than any advertisement.

You lack punch

But if you want your advertising campaign to truly succeed, you should think even further than delivering a clear-cut message. Some of the best advertising examples are those cases where the advertisement garners as much attention or even more than the business it’s supposed to be advertising. Funny and clever use of social media to create memorable interactions with customers. Viral video marketing. Guerilla marketing in the real world. Create a method of delivering the message that the average person can’t ignore. The message will gain notoriety, making it a lot easier for the relevant parties to catch wind of it even peripherally. Of course, you need to have enough substance beneath the sizzle to keep their interest after.

It’s not enough to simply throw out your product and hope for the best with generic messaging. It takes real insight to define a message, real strategy to make it more visible, and real creativity to make it as engaging as it can be. Take your time and get your plans together.

If your business has decided to use the power of the internet to spread its wings and market its goods or services through an online platform, then you’ve already completed the first step towards mastering online marketing: understanding the importance of it. The reason most businesses go wrong is that they half-heartedly approach digital marketing, failing to realize that the tide has changed and the online world is now the most effective platform for growing and spreading word of a business; traditional forms of advertising are dying out.

Perhaps your own organization is at a bit of a crossroads. You understand the importance of the internet, and you’ve created a company website, along with a stream of social media profiles, but you have no idea what to do next. You have no idea why you are not bringing in a continuous, overwhelming stream of eager, loyal customers. Of course, that’s because finding and then appealing to your target market are two very different things.

You may know to whom you’re aiming your goods or services, and you’ve most likely acquired some clients, but reaching the full extent of your target market is a different matter. It requires an understanding of the online world, which is why I’m going to discuss some ways in which your business can truly flourish through internet marketing.

Responsive design and SEO.

Ah, SEO. Search engine optimization is a term we all hear a thousand times a day across different businesses, industries and the farthest reaches of the web. SEO has changed a lot over the years, partly in response to Google tightening up and altering algorithms, in order to ensure that people don’t abuse the search engine formulas, SEO is still a popular method for businesses in all manner of industries, because, quite simply, it works.

The thing to remember, and I will continue to reiterate this, is that SEO changes constantly. It’s about so much more than keywords in the present day, if you were wondering why all those catchy terms weren’t pushing your business’ website up the rankings on results pages. If you want to place yourself in front of a target market, you need to be focusing on responsive web design. This won’t only put you higher up the rankings, but it’ll impress potential customers when they do find their way to your site. This is how you truly target your market and captivate their interest, but you might want to get a free SEO website analysis from The SEO Whiz if you’re still unsure as to whether your website is up to scratch.

Follow trends.

Online marketing is tricky, but you have to stick at it until you get results. You need to consistently and regularly update content on your website and social media, because when the online landscape changes, you have the option of either adapting to it or being left behind in the dust. Trends are changing, and following one step behind is always going to leave your business unnoticed. People want new. In fact, you shouldn’t even be striving to “follow” trends, really, you should be paving the way at the forefront of the pack and shaping those trends.

Social media.

Social media can help your business target its optimal market online on so many levels. Connectivity and exposure through sharing is one thing, but advertising through platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn are the best ways to truly target potential clients. You want to be placed in front of an audience who would genuinely consider your services, and Facebook algorithms make that a reality for businesses.

Whether you are a business owner, work for a business, or are thinking of setting up your own business, it is important to know how the use of social media can benefit a company, make it advantageous and how it can earn a profit for a company. If you’re a business owner, the chances are that you have read up on the subject numerous times, watched videos and even attended talks and lectures on social media. If you work for a business, you will know how the company operates its different channels and the type of content that is put online; you may even come across sponsored posts from the company you work for on your own personal social media. If you’re thinking of setting up a business, then you will need to do research on what good social media use can bring to your company (if you haven’t already and are not tech savvy, that is).

If social media is used correctly, it can bring a lot more customers and profit to a business. Everyone (or nearly everyone) uses social media nowadays in some form, so it is important to enable a business to be seen by people who would not have come across it before. Social media is worldwide, and that is a massive plus for business. Before social media began to be used as a great medium to develop more business, a lot of companies simply relied on their regular customer base to generate income – or put ads in newspapers, advertising agencies and magazines. Now, it is possible for companies to make a profit just by creating social media accounts (which, for the most part, are free) and to upload their products/services for all to see.

However, it is important for social media to be used in the right way. If unsure of the best ways to grow social media, you could hire someone in-house or hire a freelancer to run your accounts for you. When used well, a company can grow quickly. For example, if a new restaurant decided to use social media and hired a professional, the launch night is more than likely to be targeted at the right people rather than just family and friends. A social media professional can develop plans for blogger outreach, analyse statistics and traffic engaging with the social media used, and generally improve people’s knowledge of what the a business offers, where it’s located, and what people think of it.
Whether you like it or not, it is essential that a business uses, develops, grows and invests in social media. It is an accessible, quick way of interacting with potential customers or clients, and running social media can be done from anywhere. However, it is important to ensure that the posts that are uploaded truly reflect the ethos and character of a business – people will be able to relate more to an account that is genuine and fun, rather than static, and with no alluring images or offers.