Marketing Resources

8 Powerful Content Marketing Strategies to Increase Brand Visibility

In this day and age, it’s more important than ever to have a strong online presence. If you want to stay competitive, it’s crucial that you utilize content marketing strategies to boost your brand’s visibility and help it stand out from the crowd. There are many different ways to go about this, but in this post, we’ll cover 8 essential tactics that will help your brand reach new heights.

1. Be Consistent & Go Beyond

You can’t expect to grow your brand visibility if you don’t consistently create and promote content. It also doesn’t matter how great your content is if nobody sees it, so make sure that every piece of content you produce has a clear call-to-action (CTA) for how people should engage with it.

Content marketing isn’t just about creating good pieces; it’s also about getting the right people to see them. To do this, you must have a clear understanding of who your target audience is and understand their interests and needs so that you can tailor your messaging accordingly.

2. Blog Like a Boss

Blogging is a great way to create relevant content and build trust with your audience. It’s also a highly effective way to get more links, traffic, and exposure for your site.

If you’re looking for a way to stand out from the crowd in today’s competitive online landscape, blogging may be just what you need!

To learn how to blog like a boss, check out these tips below:1. Start with an editorial calendar

2. Create engaging titles

3. Don’t be afraid of social media

4. Be consistent

5. Use hashtags sparingly

6. Make sure your blog posts have a clear call-to-action (CTA) at the end of them

7. Share your blog posts on social media when they’re published so people can see them in their newsfeeds instead of just having them buried somewhere in the depths of an online search engine like Google or Bing

3. Leverage Social Media

Social media is a great way to keep your brand front and center with your audience. Not only do you have the opportunity to build relationships with your customers, but social media can also help you stay highly visible on search engines.

Social media marketing is also one of the best ways to get feedback from people in your industry. You can see what they like and don’t like about your company and products, as well as what they’d like to see more of in the future. You can use this information to create more content that will resonate with them!

Social media has become an essential part of any successful content marketing strategy because it provides so many opportunities for engagement between brands and consumers–and if you use these strategies correctly, it will help improve visibility by increasing traffic from both organic search results AND paid advertising campaigns too!

4. Invest in Video Content

Video content is a powerful tool for your brand. It can be used in several ways, including social media, email marketing, and on your website.

Video content is an excellent way to build trust with potential customers by demonstrating the quality of your product or service in action.

Video content helps you stand out from the crowd because it’s more engaging than traditional text-based content like blog articles or blog posts.

5. Optimize for Search Engines

Search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t just about having a website. It’s also a process of making sure that the website itself is optimized to be found by search engines and their users. To do this, you’ll want to make sure that your site has relevant content and descriptive titles, descriptions, and meta tags; use keywords throughout; include a sitemap; add internal links wherever possible, and create as much content as possible with unique titles. These SEO tactics can help increase visibility in Google searches and result in more traffic to your site!

6. Improve Your Email Marketing Game

Email marketing is a great way to reach your audience and stay top of mind. It’s also one of the most personalized ways to connect with customers, which means it can be used for everything from lead generation and building relationships with potential customers to customer retention and boosting sales.

However, to make email marketing work for you, it’s essential that you segment your email lists into different groups: customers who have purchased from you before; those who haven’t but may be interested in buying now; people who have been interested in purchases but haven’t acted yet; etc. This will help ensure that each group receives relevant content so that they keep coming back for more—and eventually decide to buy from you!

Creating an effective email campaign isn’t easy. It takes time and effort. But if done right, it can lead directly back through links straight into your website where visitors will convert into sales leads or loyal customers (which means repeat business).

7. Build Your Online Community

Building an online community is imperative to the success of your brand. An online community is a place where consumers can come together and interact with one another, while simultaneously interacting with you.

Your audience will be able to chat about content they love, share their thoughts on how to improve things or provide feedback on products/services they’re interested in purchasing. They will also be able to engage in conversations around industry trends and best practices so that you can keep them informed about what’s going on in the world of digital marketing as well as other relevant topics related to your niche audience.

When building an online community, it’s important that you create an environment where participants feel comfortable sharing their opinions without fear of judgment from others within the group. This means creating guidelines for posting etiquette before opening up access to everyone who joins your group (following those rules yourself).

8. Repurpose Your Content for Greater Visibility

The more you repurpose your content, the more people will see it. Repurposing is all about making an existing piece of content work harder for you. It enables you to reach a broader audience with less effort and time spent, making it a great way to expand your reach without having to create new original content again and again.

Here are some ways you can repurpose your marketing efforts:

  • Make your existing content more effective by adding actionable tips or links within the body of the article that direct readers toward other relevant resources (like another blog post) that may interest them. This will increase engagement with readers and make them feel like they’re getting something valuable from reading what they’ve been offered so far—which they should! They just have no idea yet…
  • Make sure each piece of evergreen content has a strong call-to-action at the end so that readers know exactly what steps they should take next after reading something useful on one subject matter area versus another—and what might happen if those actions aren’t completed right away (e.g., “Watch this video now!”). This gives people who’ve already consumed yours or someone else’s valuable information somewhere else online another reason why they should stay engaged with whatever brand owns this particular piece of writing as well–because it could lead down several rabbit holes worth exploring instead!

You need to constantly work at creating content that is of value to your audience.

  • Keep creating content that is of value to your audience.
  • Creators need to keep creating content that is of value to their audiences, constantly working at it in order to get better and better at it over time.

While there are many different ways to create brand visibility, it all comes down to one thing: consistency. If you want people to pay attention to what you have to say and trust your brand, you need to do the work. You can’t expect them to come running just because they see a few tweets here and there. No, it takes consistent effort over time (and maybe even some luck) for people really take notice of what you do as well as who you are as a company or individual.

 

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

How to Create an Effective Press Release that Gets Results

Do you want the media to cover your company or event? You’ll need to write an effective press release. Press releases are a great way to get publicity for your business and tell customers about new products and services. They’re also easy to create with this step-by-step guide!

Get the reader’s attention.

The first thing you should do when drafting a press release is make sure it is attention-grabbing.

The headline of your PR should be powerful and concise so that people will want to read more. It’s also important that the title matches the content of what follows.

A good way to get started with writing headlines is by using a quote from your company or client as a hook. If you don’t have any quotes, try interviewing someone in your organization who can provide interesting insight into their job responsibilities or how they think about their industry; this will make for an excellent starting point for creating a strong headline.

Also, make sure that you use all 5 W’s: who, what (and why), where, and when (or how). This helps readers understand what’s going on with every sentence in your story—it also makes it easier for them to share stories on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter!

Develop a compelling headline.

You’re a journalist. You want people to read your work, and you want them to share it with their friends. That means you need a good headline.

What makes a good headline?

  • It’s different from the body of the article: Headlines are meant to be short and sweet, so they don’t have time for details or nuance—they should give readers just enough information to get them interested in reading more.
  • It’s specific: A vague headline won’t bring readers in (and could even have the opposite effect). Make sure your title is clear and concise so that people know exactly what they’re getting into when they click through to read your article.

Use the 5 W’s and the H in the opening paragraph — Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.

The opening paragraph of your press release should include the 5 W’s and the H.

Who is the target audience? What is the problem? When did it happen? Where did it happen? Why does it matter? How does it affect me?

Include a quote.

Quotes are a great opportunity to add credibility, emotion, authority, and value to your press release. They’re an easy way to make your content more interesting and engaging for readers. Remember that the best quotes are always from people who have relevant expertise in the topic at hand.

For example: An expert on the topic of automobiles could say something like “This new feature is going to revolutionize how we drive our cars!” (credibility). Or maybe you want one of your employees to say something about how excited he or she is about this new product or service (emotion). Or maybe you want someone with a lot of experience talking about why this news matters (authority). When done right, quotes can help increase reader engagement with your content while also adding some much-needed spice!

Write your boilerplate copy.

A boilerplate copy is the information that appears at the top of a press release. You should include who, what, when, where, and why your business is releasing this information in your boilerplate copy.

The who section should be filled out with the name of your company (or organization).

The What section provides information about why you are releasing this press release. This might include any new products or services being released by your business or if there is an event happening that has generated interest from the media.

The Where section will help journalists know where they can find more information about your company and/or event taking place. It’s also important to let them know how much time they have left before it ends so they can plan accordingly for coverage on their end as well!

Each one of these elements will make sure journalists get everything they need from a single source rather than having to hunt down multiple sources across different platforms or locations – which saves both time AND money!

Make your content shareable by adding social media buttons to your press release and posting them on your social channels.

  • Make your content shareable by adding social media buttons to your press release and posting them on your social channels.
  • Share with the world! Once you’ve published it, don’t forget to share it with people who will find it interesting. You can do this by posting links on Facebook and Twitter or embedding newsfeeds from these sites into your site or blog via a plugin (e.g., Jetpack for WordPress).

Choose a press release distribution service that suits your needs and budget (and check out our list of affordable PR services).

Press releases are a great way to get your name out there and get some publicity, but they’re not always successful. Studies show that only about 20% of press releases ever receive any attention from the media! If you want your press release to be successful, you need to use the right distribution service and make sure it’s well-written.

To pick the right distribution service for your needs and budget, check out our list of affordable PR services.

The key to a successful press release is following best practices for press release writing, distribution, and promotion.

The key to a successful press release is following best practices for press release writing, distribution, and promotion.

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your efforts:

  • Include a compelling headline in the first paragraph that answers the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where, and why) or “H” (who/what/where/when/why). You can also use an acronym such as “WHO DID WHAT WHEN WHERE.”
  • Add a quote from an expert in your field at the end of your article. This could be someone from within your company or an industry expert who agrees with your message.
  • Make sure you include links back to social media accounts so readers can easily follow along with future content related to this press release without having to go through each site separately.

Many steps go into creating an effective press release, but if you follow the tips we’ve provided here, you can create one that will get your audience’s attention and generate results for your business or organization. If you have any questions about writing a press release or would like more information on how to distribute it properly, feel free to reach out – I’m happy to help!

 

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Why Grassroots PR is so Important for Small Businesses

If you are a small business owner, you know that marketing can be a challenge. You have to compete with larger companies and brands, which have access to more resources than you do. The good news is that there are ways for small businesses to stand out from the competition effectively without breaking the bank—one of these ways is grassroots PR. In this article, we’ll discuss grassroots PR and why it works so well for small businesses. Finally, we’ll show you how you can go about doing it on your own!

What is grassroots PR?

Grassroots PR, sometimes referred to as guerilla marketing, is a traditional & highly effective form of organic marketing geared toward generating interest in a brand, product, or service. In contrast to other types of PR, this strategy allows you to reach out directly to your target market rather than relying on mass media outlets.

While grassroots marketing involves using word-of-mouth communication to build brand awareness and increase sales, it doesn’t require any special skills from participants for them to carry out an effective campaign on behalf of your brand. However, grassroots publicity differs slightly in that it involves paid influencers or individuals who have already built strong audiences through their brands or social platforms like Instagram followers.

Why does grassroots PR work for small businesses?

Grassroots PR is cost-effective.

Most people think a traditional press release is the only way to get their story out there, but it’s very costly and time-consuming. Grassroots PR allows you to do the same things you would do with a press release, but at a fraction of the price and effort. You can post your information on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram without paying anything except for your time spent writing up an announcement or creating graphics for them (which might take longer than writing an entire press release).

Grassroots PR helps build relationships with customers.

A big part of any marketing strategy is building relationships — especially when it comes to small businesses! One thing that makes grassroots PR so effective for small businesses is that they can easily interact with customers directly through social media channels like Facebook and Twitter by replying directly from those platforms instead of having someone else reply on behalf of your company which takes away from the personal connection between customer and business owner/employee(s). The more active we are as humans online through our various social media accounts, such as these two mentioned above; the most likely we’ll feel close enough

Grassroots PR is an effective and affordable kind of marketing for small businesses.

While there are many different kinds of PR, we’re most interested in grassroots PR.

Grassroots PR effectively gets your name out there and creates a community around your brand. It’s also an affordable way to market your business—you don’t need a huge budget or many connections to make it work.

Here are some other benefits of grassroots PR:

  • It helps people talk about your business online, leading to more sales and new customers.
  • Even if you’re starting with no connections or budget, you can use this technique.

Conclusion

If you’re a small business owner, you know how crucial it is to stand out in today’s crowded market. But with so many competing businesses, it can be challenging to get noticed without spending a fortune on advertising. If you want your business to succeed without breaking the bank, grassroots PR is an effective and affordable kind of marketing that anyone can do. We hope this article has helped shed some light on what grassroots PR is—and how it can help your business!

 

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Promoting Happy Hours with Video Marketing

Happy hours have been a staple of nightclubs and bars worldwide, allowing drinking establishments to boost their revenue streams during slow hours. 

However, they also attract new customers and ignite interest in a particular business. With our lives gradually returning to the pre-lockdown normal, nightlife establishments are looking to rekindle their business using happy hour promotions.

You can do the same for your establishment by using video marketing to advertise your happy hour offer.

Video Marketing Steps For Happy Hours

Now that you know how advantageous happy hours can be, you might wonder how you can successfully advertise them. You have to execute this flawlessly to ensure you attract customers non-stop. 

Video marketing is the best medium to put your promotion out there. It allows you to stand out from your competitors and directly reach consumers. Follow these steps to effectively market your business’s happy hour specials using video ads.

Step 1: Create Promotional Videos

First, create advertisements informing viewers about your business and details about your happy hour services (location, time, discount, etc.). You can supplement this video with additional ones that include customer testimonials and footage from your business.

Make sure this video marketing is attractive, aesthetically pleasing, and in sync with your brand and design trends. You can use professional video ad templates available online to take the guesswork out of design. 

You might also want to consider making multiple versions of the same video marketing, edited to play to the strengths of different social media platforms. For instance, edit your video to make it shorter and to the point for Twitter, coupling it with trendy hashtags. In contrast, you should adjust your video marketing for silent auto-play for Instagram or Facebook since consumers are likely to view it mid-scrolling.

Step 2: Upload Online

Once you have created a promotional video, it is time to upload it to a video marketing hosting platform. Make sure you have an eye-catching thumbnail ready, too, as videos lacking any seem unprofessional.

Naturally, the most popular choice is YouTube. The video marketing platform has millions of visitors, and with video SEO, you can attract a large chunk of them to your channel. 

Other options include Vimeo, known for its high-quality videos and ad-free services. Similarly, Vidyard allows you to upload and update your video advertisements on all your social media and video marketing platforms from its central location – making it perfect for businesses. Therefore, select a hosting platform wisely.

Step 3: Post On Social Media

Once your promotional video is on a platform, it is time to enhance its digital reach. Use your business’s social media handles to share it alongside an attractive caption to catch audiences’ interest. 

Once you’ve uploaded them as posts, stay engaged with your audiences, by replying to comments. This way, you can engage, retain, and encourage audiences to share your video.

What Types Of Videos Should You Create?

Make sure your videos are: 

  • Short but informative
  • Not too promotional
  • Exciting and full of narrative that leaves an impression 
  • Includes branding cues that are personal to your business and your business alone

We suggest you start with:

Social Videos 

Consider creating social media posts and videos showing off your bar, the different drinks you make, and perhaps even some bartending tricks—everyone loves those! 

The best part about social videos is that they can generate massive engagement. Thus, by uploading promotional videos on your social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, you’ll get your audience to share, like, and comment on these videos.

According to some statistics, Facebook experiences an average of 4 billion video views every day. Since social media platforms are excellent tools for boosting brand awareness, more people get to know about your happy hour and your bar in general. 

Explainer Videos

One thing that most marketers can agree on is this: connecting with an audience is tough! Thus, when you set out promoting your bar’s happy hour, it’s best to put out a video explaining the days and times your happy hour deals are available. 

Not only can you use these short video marketing to promote your happy hour, but also your business in general. Be sure to highlight the unique selling points (USPs) of the happy hour and why it’s the best. 

Wrapping Up

The restaurant, bar, and nightclub industry is highly competitive. Bars go stale or other, and trendier joints prop up all the time, making it a constant challenge for marketers to keep the footfall up and the booze flowing. 

To ensure that your bar or pub remains the hottest place to socialize after business hours or on the weekend,  amp up your video marketing efforts. This should help keep your place abuzz with locals and tourists alike.

If creating bar and restaurant marketing videos still feels daunting to you, start small. Take a look around you to find props and ideas to use in these promotional videos. Interview staff, explore menu items, and do all you can to capture the ambiance of your happy hour, enticing viewers to come in and experience it for themselves. 

You got this!

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

7 Benefits of Running a Business in Houston

Is the cost of living in your city becoming unsustainably high? If you’re trying to get a new business off the ground, high prices for everything from real estate to labor can set you back. Or perhaps you’re opening a small local business, but you’ve found that the lack of a thriving business community in your area is making the process harder. You’re thinking about moving for the sake of your company, but you want to make sure your family will be happy wherever you settle down.

If you’re trying to figure out where your entrepreneurial future lies, you might want to consider moving to Houston, Texas. In contrast to cities with higher costs of living, it’s a great place to build up your business without making major financial sacrifices. And with PR coaching from consultants like Keetria, you’ll see business growth in no time. Plus, it’s a fantastic city for families! Here are a few reasons entrepreneurs can thrive in Houston.

Reasonable Cost of Living

Houston is a major metropolitan area with a surprisingly low cost of living, and reasonable prices have drawn in entrepreneurs and their families. For instance, if you’re thinking about buying a home, Millionacres states that you can expect to spend about $263,000. Median rent prices are also quite realistic for families and young professionals at $1,464 for a rental unit. Furthermore, there are plenty of apartments available for rent in the city, with a healthy rental vacancy rate of 7.4%.

And the low cost of living won’t just benefit you when it comes to renting or buying – it also means that you won’t have to spend as much to entice top talent. With lower labor costs, you can relax, knowing that your business has a longer “runway.”

Growing Population

Houston is a growing city, and this massive metro area is only gaining more residents. For business owners, this is a bonus: there is an ever-expanding talent pool in Houston, and every day, more professionals who are seeking new opportunities are choosing to settle down in the city. Right now, Houston is growing by 0.07% annually, and since 2010, the population has grown by 10.68%.

Diversity

Are you hoping to hire talent that can bring varied perspectives and creative solutions to your business? It’s time to start thinking outside the box and approach your recruiting and hiring process with diversity in mind. Houston has large African-American and Hispanic populations, and residents of the city speak more than 90 languages. The greater Houston area is definitely a cultural melting pot, and if you want to prioritize diversity within your business, it’s an ideal place to relocate your company.

Highly Educated Workforce

Houston doesn’t just have a large business network – it’s also a hub for higher education. Business owners can hire educated recent graduates from right in the city, and you can even bring on interns from local universities who want to gain valuable experience. These Houston colleges and universities graduate bright students who are more than ready for the professional world:

  • With multiple local campuses, the University of Houston offers unique programs in subjects like Space Architecture.
  • Rice University is consistently ranked as one of the best colleges in the United States.
  • Baylor College of Medicine is a top medical school for research students.

Entrepreneurial Community

No entrepreneur is ever on their own in Houston. You’ll be part of a community with loyal customers, helpful business owners, advisers, and local leaders. When you’re dealing with a problem, you’ll have the guidance you need to push forward, and you’ll feel inspired to take on bigger projects and challenge yourself. Bold Patents recommends these supportive organizations for entrepreneurs:

  • The Small Business Development Center provides free educational resources for business owners.
  • The Indus Entrepreneurs facilitates networking and mentorship opportunities for entrepreneurs.
  • LaunchEffect is a local incubator that offers lots of helpful services to entrepreneurs, as well as classes, hackathons, and more.

Fun Local Activities

Simply put, you’ll never be bored in Houston. On any given day, there are plenty of things to do, and no matter where your interests lie, you’ll be able to find an outlet in the city. From the eclectic restaurant scene to the gorgeous green spaces, you can enjoy a very high quality of life in Houston. And this benefits the local workforce – after all, happy employees are more productive and motivated! Here are a few places and events to check out in Houston:

  • Explore an extensive trail network and view stunning art installations at Buffalo Bayou Park.
  • Spend a day perusing the gardens, renting a pedal boat, and having a picnic at Hermann Park.
  • Let loose at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and revel in the city’s creative side at the Houston Art Car Parade!

Business Launch Resources

If you’re relocating to Houston from another state, it’s important to make a checklist of all the requirements you’ll need to fulfill in order to officially open and run a business in Texas. A few important tasks for business owners include:

  • Choose a unique business name that is not already on file with the Texas Secretary of State and file to register your business entity.
  • Apply for state licenses and permits, such as a sales tax permit from the Comptroller of Public Accounts, relevant regulatory permits, and necessary occupational licenses.
  • Take out a business insurance policy and open a business bank account.

And with so many transactions conducted remotely, you’ll need a strong internet connection to launch and grow your business. To find a fast and reliable internet service, check out local internet providers that cover your area and research their average maximum speeds. If you can get fiber optic internet service in your area, it’s worth the investment – it’s generally about ten times faster than DSL service.

With so many perks for entrepreneurs, it’s no wonder that business owners and hard-working professionals are flocking to Houston. For Houston’s entrepreneurs, the future is bright! The low cost of living, growing business community, and bountiful resources mean that success is well within your reach in Houston.

Ready to start building your business’s brand? Seek PR coaching from Keetria! Schedule a free consultation call through our website today.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

How To Build A Business with Little Money

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A Newbie Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating a Business from the Ground Up

INTRODUCTION – THE INTERNET AND DECREASED BUSINESS COSTS

Entrepreneurs today are lucky to be hopeful business owners during an era of resources. It used to be that business owners would work hard and only have a small hope that their business would take off in their area, but the Internet has now globalized the way we think about how to build a business.

The best part? It’s extremely inexpensive. Unlike marketing methods of the past that would cost entrepreneurs an arm and a leg, we’re now living in an age when social media, digital and content marketing strategies are inexpensive and easy to utilize, vastly increasing a business’ ROI potential.

Traditional physical business models are always going to be here to stay, but the age of the Internet is upon us. Entrepreneurs who want to save money while still creating and owning a business can now lease digital room at a rate that’s a fraction of the cost of a brick and mortar storefront.

The Internet is a Global Platform. It allows business owners to introduce themselves to a virtual audience while making real profits they can take to the bank.

Not only does the Internet give entrepreneurs a platform on which to reach their audience, it opens them up to audiences from around the world. Businesses that have a global potential can find success via the more than 3 BILLION users online as of August 2015. Since 1995, the Internet has grown at a staggering rate with 42% of the global population now having access to the Internet in some way.

This allows entrepreneurs to grow incredibly large businesses without investing that much capital. As businesses grow, of course, more money is needed to maintain the company — but profits grow with businesses online. Jeff Bezos created Amazon as an online bookstore and didn’t have a sale for a year. Now he owns the largest online retailer of any product imaginable.

When you use this ebook article as your guide to starting a business, you learn the benefits of the Internet as an online business platform, how to maintain costs and keep them low, as well as learn about incredible resources that can help your Internet storefront thrive.

I. BUSINESS MODELS THAT WILL KEEP COSTS LOW AND PROFITS HIGH

Let’s back up. At this point, you haven’t made a business yet, whether it’s a brick and mortar storefront or an online ecommerce hub. Before an entrepreneur ever launches any kind of business, crafting an executable strategy is the first step to success. 

First, entrepreneurs must test their marketplace. When you know your audience and what they need, you can better plan for your business launch.

The first step in marketplace testing should always be to examine market presence and competition. The easiest way to do this is to simply Google your potential business’ purpose online, like “haircare for kids” or “pet training kits.” What ads show up? How many relevant results are there? Perform your searches with quotation marks and examine how many results there are — any number under 50,000 is your sweet spot. This means competition will be minimal.

From here it’s easy to examine the competition that does exist and adjust business expectations accordingly. If a business idea has too much market competition, it may be time to rethink things.

Now we can examine the benefits of information marketing and media downloads. This is the sale of information online and media, respectively.

Information marketing is one of the most budget effective forms of business because it’s original, based on information a person already knows and only requires two things to be actionable: a website and a .PDF. Selling ebooks or online courses also help an entrepreneur grow their credibility. It’s one thing to sell a product, but the knowledge about that product is much more valuable. For instance, a dog training kit doesn’t present the same credibility as an ebook on simple dog training tips.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t a downside to information marketing. An ebook isn’t worth a lot of money in the long run, and entrepreneurs who marketing ebooks or online courses at exorbitant fees will find they don’t move a lot of volume.

In general, you make what you put into information marketing. A five or six-page ebook isn’t worth as much as an in-depth, professionally designed, four-week course package. The amount of money to be made will vary based on the quality, length and credibility of the product.

Media downloads are similar but include a different formatting. Instead of “print” media, media downloads include videos, podcasts and other forms of auditory or visual media. These, however, require more investment capital — it costs a lot less to write an ebook as compared to selling a successful podcast.

Do you have a talent or skill that can translate into online sales? Selling online services can be a great way to make money online with a personal brand as a business.

Whether you’re a writer, a graphic designer or video specialist, you can make money online without a fully-realized business to invest in. The goal may be to build up to a content marketing firm, but brand establishment is important when you’re starting out. Sites like Freelancer, Fiverr, and Upwork are great for advertising your services so you can work your way up.

There are obvious benefits and negatives here. The pros are that you get to make money without spending money and you’re performing a service you already know how to do. The negative is that you aren’t protected in the way you would be if you owned a business of your own.

On the other hand, you may already have a brick and mortar store or physical products. How do you translate a physical business into digital sales?

This can be a bit trickier when it comes to keeping things on a budget. This requires a true online business, though it doesn’t mean a lot of capital has to be invested. There are either different skills or objects needed to make this happen:

• Knowledge of ecommerce solutions

• Web design skills

• Graphic design skills

• Online-to-offline business integration

• Attention to detail

• Copywriting abilities

• Domain name & website hosting

• Customer service

With all of this work comes a lot of profit, however. The benefits of an online storefront include owning your own business, there are resources that make the process easier and easy access to scaling up a business.

This also applies to selling someone else’s physical goods as a reseller. If you want to create a business based on selling physical goods that haven’t yet been, understand that creating goods increases business startup costs by a large margin.

Sometimes it’s possible to make money in business without creating your own products or even selling your own services. Entrepreneurs can make money via other business owners via commission.

Affiliate marketing is a way to make money online without even creating a website. How is this possible? Essentially affiliate marketing is the art of sending traffic to someone else’s website or product. When that person makes a purchase, the company makes money AND so does the person that sent them there — A.K.A. you.

Owning a website and affiliate marketing for multiple companies is the best way to make money in this “business,” but it’s not something that’s required. If you already own a business, affiliate marketing isn’t something you can’t participate in. It’s all about promotion and being paid for this promotion.

The cons of this method of money making include being at the mercy of the business in question and being distanced from the product itself. On the other hand, it’s money that can be made easily with little to no time or capital investment. The company is the one dealing with products and customers — not you. In general, affiliate marketing is great for entrepreneurs that want to put their foot in the door while still making some cash at the same time.

There’s also CPA — cost per action marketing. The difference here is that there’s no selling of a product, but instead the money comes when you get someone to take some type of action. This can include something like a trial membership, newsletter subscription or another type of CTA (call to action). The purpose? Businesses know that getting in new customers or creating actionable leads is worth commission.

Finally, entrepreneurs must look at this variety of startup models and ask themselves a few questions that cement their identity as a business person.

Before deciding on a specific type of business model, these are three questions that you need to ask yourself:

• What is it that you’re good at?

• What do you enjoy doing, and can it be actionable as a means to make money?

• How much of your own business are you capable of handling yourself, whether because of your skillset or time management?

How you answer these questions may determine the business model you should choose. It’s important to know the answers to these questions in order to create a business that you’re comfortable fostering and continuing — it should be based around your wants, needs and capabilities for the sake of longevity.

II. ESTABLISHING A SENSIBLE BUSINESS BUDGET

You’ve asked yourself some hard questions and decided your business model. Now what? The next step is deciding what your budget is going to be. While the cost of your business model will vary greatly depending on the model you chose — for instance, creating a product and then establishing a website won’t be as inexpensive as an affiliate marketing site investment — it’s also worthy to note that there are always inexpensive options to choose, no matter the model you went with.

For your business start up, avoid spending money on all the business bells and whistles. Look for free tools and resources that will lower your costs.

For both startup investments and continuous operational costs, there are three different types of costs that factor into these different business areas.

The costs being discussed are:

• Fixed — These are one-time investments that you’ll only have to spend once or very rarely.

• Recurring — Costs that are cyclical and will be a constant concern, whether monthly, weekly or yearly.

• Invisible — Hidden investments that relate to a business but not specifically.

To keep things simple, let’s break down each type of cost and common expenses that fall into that category, as well as an estimated cost for that expense:

FIXED COSTS

• Software needed to run a business (can be free or up to $500)

• Web design (free to $2,000)

• Extra development (up to $500)

• Branding creation (free to $300)

• A computer for work ($350 to $1000, laptop preferred)

• Business cards and other startup marketing material ($20 to $50)

RECURRING COSTS

• Domain registration (varies depending on your host, but typically $10 to $15 a year)

• Web hosting (varies depending on host, $6 to $15 per month at startup)

• SSL certification ($70 to $300 per year, not totally necessary but recommended)

• Maintenance ($100 to $2000 depending on your experience level)

• Payment processing (usually 2.9% commission)

• Advertising (free to varied, like $5 per day via Facebook advertising)

• Email autoresponder ($20 or more per month depending on email volume)

• Shopping cart (free to $200 plus per month)

• Cloud storage (free to $10 per month)

• Site backup (free to $5 per month)

HIDDEN COSTS

• Time, in the context of wage and business cost

• Rent or mortgage of your own home, A.K.A. your business hub

• Bills for Internet, phone and electricity

• Education required to run said business

• Email management

It’s important to make a very obvious note here:

This is an example. It is used as a starting point for one type of business model. Some expenses may apply to your business model, some may not. Some may not be listed. Your own budget depends greatly on your business model, experience and the tools you need to get started.

Smart business owners will look for ways to cut their costs and vet any only deals they think can lower their budget. For your own reference, copy this sheet to a document of your own and edit it accordingly. What does your own budget look like?

III. TOOLS ENTREPRENEURS CAN USE TO HELP STAY WITHIN THEIR BUDGET

You now have the business model you want to go with and the budget required to make it happen. Now the next step is to further estimate those costs via reliable and cheap service providers that can further decrease your budget.

It’s worth saying that just because a service is cheap, it isn’t worthless — many big name companies still use “tight budget” companies because there’s no use spending lots of money on a service when you could be saving all that cash for something else.

For each area, three different inexpensive service providers are listed. Choose one of these or do your own research on a cheap service alternative!

If your business requires one of these services, consider the recommendation:

DOMAIN REGISTRATION

GoDaddy.com

Domain.com

Name.com

WEB HOSTING PROVIDERS

Ehost.com

iPage.com

Bluehost.com

For more information on choosing a provider for your business, check out this best web hosting provider resource from Digital.com.

WEBSITE PLATFORMS

WordPress.com

DoodleKit.com

Moonfruit.com

ECOMMERCE SOLUTIONS

WooCommerce (Free plugin for WordPress, but expensive for additional features/extensions)

Shopify

1shoppingcart

FREE BUSINESS LISTINGS

Google My Business 

Bing Places for Business

Yahoo Local

We also suggest using a PASSWORD MANAGEMENT SYSTEM to protect your information. Check out this complete password management systems guide from PasswordManager.com

These are just a few types of resources and a few examples of each resource — this gives you a starting place for looking for your own inexpensive resources.

IV. YOU’VE STARTED A BUSINESS…NOW HOW DO YOU STAY ON A BUDGET?

Creating a business and setting up a budget are actually the easy steps within this ebook. Now we get to examine how to continue to stay on a budget as your business grows and resources necessary to keep things on track.

Maximizing business profitability is something a lot of experts talk about, but new entrepreneurs often don’t understand how to make it happen. Thus, they’re often lured into profitability scams — or resources that live by the old adage “you have to spend money to make money.” The sad thing is that entrepreneurs will spend money on these services, then find they aren’t making the money they were promised.

Starting a business doesn’t mean you have to spend lots of money to make it work. It’s essential to understand how to manage a business while simultaneously making money doing what you love.

First, don’t throw away your day job just because you got your first ecommerce sale. A startup company shouldn’t be what you sacrifice a living wage for, especially when you don’t know if your first attempt at business ownership will be successful or not.

Learn how to barter for goods and services. Being cash poor doesn’t mean you aren’t extremely wealthy due to your assets, skills, abilities and connections. If you can’t buy graphic design work, why not leverage your content writing abilities for a logo design?

Do you watch Shark Tank? You don’t have to go on national TV to find a great business investor. There are venture capitalists out there that would love to give you money to run your own business in order to see an expansive return.

Always look for ways to be thrifty. Don’t ever spend money without thinking first: “can I find a less expensive way to accomplish this task?” If you like looking for deals while grocery shopping, apply those same techniques here. Look for coupon codes, do your research and always be willing to haggle.

Finally, don’t spend big bucks on invoicing or accounting. Budget marketing tools like TurboCash or FreshBooks exist for a reason.

It’s also unnecessary to spend big bucks on marketing. Online marketing is cheap, easy to do and gives businesses an incredible ROI.

Online reviews are your friend. When a business is starting out, credibility is paramount. CTAs (calls to action) and requests for reviews can make all the difference in the world. Promote your business on sites like Yelp! or Google+ Local for an added incentive.

Blogging can be another way to make your business more credible while simultaneously creating marketable content. Blogs are easy to link to on social media, create SEO potential and establish yourself as an industry expert.

Speaking of social media, businesses that aren’t on social media are behind the times. Promoting products and deals on sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (depending on whether your business is B2B or not) can bring in new traffic, generate new leads and give businesses the ability to connect with consumers.

You should also consider joining industry groups. Whether they are forums or chat rooms, these are vehicles for building great industry relationships while also promoting SEO in search engines.

Sites like HelpAReporter.com, or HARO, will help to promote your business via press releases or news stories you provide them. This helps media channels to find verified information about your business.
Connect with other businesses via a tit-for-tat relationship. Promoting another business via testimonials or cross-promotion efforts can mean they’ll do the same for you.

CONCLUSION – CREATING AN ACTION PLAN THAT WORKS

It’s one thing to have all the information necessary to start a business, and yet quite another to actually make it happen. I’ve provided you with advice and resources — now it’s your turn to turn it all into an incredible business!

You now know:

• It’s possible to make money online and to lay the foundation for an Internet business without investing a lot of capital.

• The Internet can give any business global reach.

• How to create a budget and stick to that budget with easily actionable tips.

You can start and own a business for as much as $1,000 to as cheap as being completely free!

You don’t have to fully commit to all of these tasks yourself — outsourcing can be an incredible asset to new entrepreneurs.

It’s always important to consider what you’re capable of and what you can delegate to someone else. As your business grows, so will your need to ask others for help and to create new jobs for new employees. Every business starts with one person, but great business owners will soon realize their small startup has the potential to be something much bigger than they ever thought possible…

…and all of that is possible thanks to the Internet and low-cost business techniques.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

How to Draw Useful Tips from Notable Speakers, Coaches and Mentors

 

As an entrepreneur who is always interested in learning from experts and leaders in other industries, I am familiar with the vast amount of material available from well-known coaches and mentors. There is an overwhelming load of information and advice on a daily basis. So much, in fact, anyone seeking to hone their skills and need tips or advice on a particular subject can easily obtain this information online.

Here are 5 ways you can take advantage of your Internet connection to learn from leading professionals across multiple industries. Whether you’re just starting out or have been working in your line of business for several years, there lies a significant advantage in listening to other people’s perspectives on an assortment of topics, especially when it comes from someone who has the background and knowledge on the subject at hand.

Check out the tips below on how you can glean advice that will contribute to your overall worldview, increase your knowledge, or just learn something that you might not have known before.

Blogs & YouTube 

Many of the prominent and well-known speakers, personal development coaches and influencers have personal websites or Youtube channels where they regularly upload content. This material may consist of helpful blog posts or articles which will give you an idea about their perspective. If it’s a Youtube video, most of the time it’s a clip of them speaking at a conference, talk or seminar where they often provide their audiences with valuable information.

Either way, take the time to scour over your favorite speaker’s online content. If you’re unable to attend their events, checking out what they have available online for free is an excellent way to learn something new or to get their take on certain topics.

Newsletters

While some speakers and mentors post new content on their websites on a regular basis, others use newsletters that are mostly exclusive to those individuals who have signed up to receive their content. From experience, I’ve found the information provided in newsletters very helpful, and within my weekly newsletter, even though most of the content is not exclusive to my subscribers, I always include a recap of the recent articles on my blog.

One suggestion is to subscribe to a handful of newsletters of insiders or influencers within the industry you would like to learn more about. Subscribing to a variety of newsletters will not only give you a different perspective but also allow you to sift and sort through helpful tips and the information you need to get you further along. 

Teleseminars

Teleseminar is another great way to learn something. If you’ve subscribed to a newsletter, you might have already received an invite to join or participate. Similar to the newsletters, sometimes you have to be a subscriber to the speaker’s or mentor’s newsletter to receive the invite. Professionals on Facebook and Instagram also promote their teleseminars for free and use these as a vehicle to offer their paid services.

While some teleseminars cost a fee to join, there are plenty available each month with minimal to no sign-up fee. Whatever your industry, check to see if your speaker of choice is hosting a teleseminar anytime soon.

Blinkist

It’s been some time since I’ve read a book on Blinkist but as I write this, it instantly reminds me of how useful their service truly is. Services similar link Blinkist thrives because they allow us to consume the main gist and most valuable information in a minimal amount of time. Maybe you’re interested in a 300-page book but don’t have a chance to read it. Blinkist pulls the book’s main content and cuts it down to the minutes for reading or audio consumption.

With my present schedule, I’m unable to read as much as I’d like but I find having the option to scan for relevant info or to learn more about a topic without having to dedicate hours to thoroughly reading a book handy. When the time doesn’t permit you to soak up as much knowledge as you’d like to check out Blinkist’s library to see if they have books written by your favorite speaker or coach – you’d be surprised as to what you’ll find.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

How to Make Processes Which Maximize Your Productivity

Maintaining high productivity is a struggle we all face.

As I sit writing this now, I can’t help but see the city skyline bathed in sun through the windows which line the room. The warmth eeks through the open doors and windows and the urge to nip out for lunch swells inside me.

At the same time, the political scene recently has been a flurry of big moments and captivating narratives – the headlines call out to me.

But I have to write.

I have to focus.

How do I keep my focus when surrounded by distractions? The answer I’ve found which keeps me pinned to my chair and my fingers glued to my keyboard is the art of following a process.

I’ll explain to you why I’m such an advocate for processes, what processes I use, and how you can build the processes you need to drive you forward each day.

Why processes are vital to your productivity

Let’s start with a simple stat.

According to Kermit Pattison, writing for Fast Company, interruptions are costing you a lot of time. In fact, the average time wasted as a result of switching tasks is 23 minutes and 15 seconds.

If you’re trying to complete multiple tasks per day, you put yourself at risk of losing a considerable amount of working time. In short, your productivity could be taking a nosedive.

By following a process, you can keep your mind focused not just on the task at hand but clearly on what task you’re going to do next. Instead of finishing one item on your to do list and wondering about what to get cracking with next, you flow straight into the following item.

This fluidity and clarity in your workflow seems almost too simple to make any meaningful change. I mean, it’s only careful planning, right?

Well, yes. But planning is crucial to your success.

Most of the time we don’t recognize the weaknesses in our own workflows because we’re so engrossed in them. So, here’s a tip. Check out a tool like RescueTime which you can install on your computer so that it tracks everything you do. It will see what websites or programs you’ve been using and then generate a report for you to show you how you allocate your time.

Don’t build your work practices on what you think you’re doing, build them on what you’re actually doing. You’ll see your inefficiencies more clearly and be better equipped to tackle them.

The processes I use to write these articles

At Process Street, we have a rule that you must make a process for any task you expect to do more than twice.

Let’s look at two of these processes. One general and one task specific.

The general one is how I approach my working day. I use Trello for my task management and each day I start off by sorting through my tasks to see what I wish to accomplish that day. I then take each task which I want to complete and move them into my To Do column.

Anything in my To Do column gets done that day. Anything not in my To Do column does not.

This act of defining what I need to focus on helps me gain focus. I can then go into each task and think about what needs to be done to accomplish my goals. If it’s a research task then I will put a short checklist in my card outlining the steps I expect to take. If it is a common task like writing then I know I will use one of my premade processes to follow.

In each card I note the amount of time I expect the task to take and I order my cards to clearly show which I’ll do first through to which I’ll do last.

This initial planning starts my day off with a moment of considered thought and saves me probably an hour or more each day.

If I’m going to be writing an article that day for our blog, I’ll specify which of my custom built processes I intend to use. Our pre-publish checklist is one which we share across the team and have all contributed to building.

This checklist is engineered to make sure every article we publish adheres to the high standards we set ourselves. There are a lot of small steps involved in this quality control:

  • Check every link points to the right place
  • Make sure all capitalization adheres to our style guidelines
  • Run spell check in American English
  • Make sure all images are coded correctly with keyword optimized alt tags

There are 30+ steps in our pre-publish checklist. That’s a lot of steps to remember without a process. Time after time our process guides us in the right direction and makes sure we don’t miss simple mistakes.

This process gives us quality assurance.

How can you build processes which work for you?

Building processes is a long term strategy.

Not just because these processes help create consistent quality or garner small productivity gains every day which add up over time, but because processes exist to be improved.

Start off by noting down all the steps you can think of which contribute to the completion of a task. This is your base process.

If you work within a team, it’s a very good idea to collaborate on this process creation. You can compare approaches and priorities which can improve the overall performance of the team, while moving toward a standardized approach to establish consistency and improve the scalability of your team, in case you look to hire further members.

Begin following the documented process you have drafted and take note of a couple of key variables:

  • How long does this take me?
  • Are there any tasks which I’ve left out?
  • Have I included unnecessary tasks?
  • What does my team think of the process?

Each of those questions will tell you something different, and each will point you in a different direction for optimizing the process.

Once you’ve systemized your business through these processes, it is much easier to create performance metrics to target – ones which are realistic and don’t negatively impact on quality.

With better performance metrics you can more accurately predict output and, in turn, overall company performance.

Understanding your own productivity and knowing how to measure it is the first step to really understanding your own company and recognizing effective ways to improve performance.

Build processes, productivity, and your company

Don’t take my word for it.

I’ve given you the necessary tools to test your own performance for yourself. I’ve laid out the steps required to begin to implement processes and to track their performance.

Try it out for yourself and see what the results are.

The most successful companies in the world are ones with strong operating practices. That’s no coincidence.

Use your own productivity as a base from which to systemize your business, and start today!

Have you used process optimization in your business before? Let me know your success stories in the comments below!

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4 Big Questions to Ask About Your Business’ Brand Success

You have a business and you have a brand – how do you measure the success of either? When speaking about analytics, the numbers that prove we’re doing excellent or failing miserably in business matter a lot. They’re how we fix problems, adjust successes and plan our future.

But sometimes numbers aren’t enough. When it comes to branding, both absolute values and figurative ideas matter. This means asking questions that you can’t answer without hard thought. Much like your SATs, brand success strategies will have an essay portion.

The best way to figuratively assess your brand’s success is with this set of questions first brought up by Ignition Consulting Group founder Tim Williams:

1. What do we do?

Perhaps the most basic measure of branding success is asking the simple question of what you and/or your business do. This should be answered in a simple sentence; for instance “I’m Tamara Collins, event coordinator and speaker.” “Amteck Industries creates steel solutions.”

This simple answer should always be incorporated in your branding. Should your entire branding strategy be so simple? Not necessarily. But consider that the basis of any good brand strategy is to start with the basics and explain in some way your true business purpose.

2. Who do we do it for?

Next, consider your audience – who are they? Are they a general audience or more specific? Do you cater to men over women? Entrepreneurs over working class people? Who you’re marketing to will dictate the focus of your branding, and this also brings into question your success.

How accurately do you represent this audience within your brand? Based on your analytics, who most identifies with your brand? Does this answer match up with who you want to identify with your brand?

3. How do we do it?

Now assess your values, what makes you and/or your business unique and your methodologies. Sometimes how you perform a service is what identifies you as a brand.

Consider Subway – this is a sandwich chain where your food is made in front of you and served immediately when you pay, unlike artisan sandwich restaurants that don’t operate on such a fast-food style of serving. How the food is prepared separates Subway from other restaurants, and you have to find what it factor you have as a brand and utilize it.

When determining success, look at your current branding methods. How much do you focus on what sets you apart?

4. Why do we do it?

Finally, branding should always convey a mission statement – put simply, a sense of purpose. Do you aim to bring a better value to the table, or higher quality products? Did you simply bring your business to life to fill a hole in the market, or is it something you’re passionate about for personal reasons.

Why you do something is extremely important to a savvy consumer. A successful brand building strategy will always tackle this personal, edgy angle because it’s how you can easily connect with customers around the globe.

4 Great Online Resources for Brand Management

Brand management isn’t as easy as everyone says it is. It requires tons of effort, a watchful eye, an impressive understanding of marketing and hours’ worth of work every day. This can get tedious, and it’s very easy to get burnt out – at least, if you don’t have any help, that is.

Luckily thanks to the Internet age there are tons of blogs and sites dedicated to helping you stay on top of your brand management game. These are only four incredible resources you can use, so start with these and always be on the hunt for more.

The HubSpot Blog

Want brand management, marketing and sales best practices right at your fingertips? What about helpful hints and pieces of advice to help your business run better? The HubSpot blog contains tons of curated content from industry writers who know what they’re talking about when it comes to business betterment topics.

Every day HubSpot posts numerous pieces of quality content that pertain to any number of subjects – from how to create a better social media brand image, to the top five reasons you need to be on LinkedIn, they’ve covered it. This makes it an incredible resource for brand management best practices.

Google Alerts

Brand management means knowing who’s talking about you, where and why. When you go to Google your name or business, sites like your social media accounts and main site hub should be first, but do you know what else ranks along with your name?

Google Alerts are an excellent way to keep on top of this essential information. Anytime content ranks that mentions you, Google sends you a notification so you can keep tabs on your brand image. This is how brand management professions stay ahead of bad press and also celebrate good reviews and testimonials.

Canva

Brand management isn’t just about staying on top of a brand, but also elevating the brand through content and other forms of marketing. If you want to delve into content marketing for your own brand in order to help boost its image, Canva is a great place to start.

Canva is a free-to-use online platform that allows for innovative image editing, including creating banners, visual resumes and infographics that can be used for marketing purposes. The quality of these images is impeccable, and Canva comes with tons of preloaded templates to help make your life easier.

Wishpond

This easy-to-use marketing platform includes tools that can be added to a website to offer features like intelligent forms, popups, and automation. These also include native integrations that helps sales, marketing, management, and promotion through both email and social channels.

Essentially Wishpond is your one stop shop for brand management through innovation and lead generation. Anyone who wants to market a product, a brand, a business or a service can do incredible things with only a few of Wishpond’s add-ons, let alone their complete arsenal of branding tools. Wishpond has also worked with famed brands, like Vervegirl and Diamond Candles.