Featured, Internet Marketing, Social Media Marketing

Achieving success with Social Media Marketing

Using Social Media to do online marketing is being done on a large scale. You may not even be aware of it, but your are part of the target market for someone and therefore you are being subject to some sort of Social Media Marketing every time you use a Social Network.

The trick is being subtle and using a lot of finesse. Try out these simple tips and see the results for yourself.

1. Hit the right target audience. If you don’t know who your target audience is, then your marketing efforts simply boil down to shooting in the dark. Very few products appeal to every age group. Even in that situation, your marketing efforts should be tailored to suit those age groups. For example if you sell high performance mountain bikes, your target audience is generally between 14-35 years in age. Even this can be broken down in to a 14-19, 20-35 demographic and targeted differently.

2. Add value. Communicate with this target group. Figure out their likes and dislikes of the product, what they want, what they need, etc. Then try to figure out how you can give them what they want. This is what will make you unique when you eventually start selling. In the meantime give them as much information as you can in helpful videos, articles, advice etc. Basically you have to appear as a Guru in the making.

3. Get personal. Have one to one discussions with people from the target group. While this maybe time consuming, the bond you form will help you get a sure sale when the time comes. Once they do become your customers, this bond will prompt them to promote the product for you as well.

If you need professional help, we recommend iClimber. iClimber provides social media marketing services, as well as content writing.

Web Design

3 Ways to Generate Web Traffic Using Your Design Skills

Having good design skills can come in handy if you want to generate web traffic. There are a number of ways by which you can do this in creating specific types of website content.

So, with that said, here are 3 ways to generate web traffic using your design skills:

#1: Infographics

The most obvious reason why infographics are so popular on the internet is because they are able to convey complex and large amounts of information quickly – a benefit that suits most internet users.

To give you an idea as to how popular this form of web content is, a study reveal that people searching for infographics since 2010 has increase by 800%.

#2: Freebies

An excellent example to describe this is that of Orman Clark who has sold almost $1 million worth of WordPress themes on a website called ThemeForest. One of his most important strategies to do this is to offer freebies in the form of free WordPress themes at his website, Premium Pixels. It’s a very good reason why he remains a WordPress theme top-seller.

#3: Desktop or Mobile Wallpapers

Without a doubt, a well-designed wallpaper can attract a number of visitors to your website.

But where do you attract visitors from?

Wallpaper galleries such as InterfaceLIFT and Wallbase.cc are just two examples of places where you can upload your design and attract visitors, especially if your wallpaper is good enough to get featured. This works for both desktop as well as mobile wallpapers as well.

Social Media Marketing

The Dos and Don’ts of Social Media for Makeup Artists

Guest post is submitted by Cosmix Inc., a Fort Lauderdale makeup academy.  Check out their website for more information.

Schools of makeup artistry cover many of the important elements of being a makeup artist from application techniques to marketing.  However, in today’s world, it’s crucial to use social media to promote your makeup business.  Social media is utilized by millions of people every day which means it can be used to promote and take your business to a new level.

While nearly every makeup artist school stresses the importance of word of mouth referrals, the reality is that social media might just be changing that.  Never before in history has there been such an easy way to network and reach millions of people at the click of a mouse.

Social media should be used in a very specific way in marketing.  Here are the major dos and don’ts of social media for makeup artists:

Do utilize all of the social media venues: There is such a variety of social media websites today including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram.  These websites can help you increase the visibility of your business, network with other makeup artists, and have regular interaction with existing and potential clients.

Don’t use your profiles for personal means: Nearly everyone today uses social media which means both potential employers and clients will look up your Facebook and other social networks.  Therefore, it’s critical maintain a professional appearance and to be conscious of the types of comments and posts that you leave.

Do show your personality: You can use everything from YouTube videos, a personal blog, and your other social media profiles to showcase your fun personality.  Show people why they would want to work with you!

Don’t privatize your profiles: Many employers look down upon private profiles.  If they can’t see your profile, they may just choose an applicant who isn’t hiding anything from the public eye.

Business Services

Pay Online, All the Time!

Online credit card processing is an essential part of the online businessman’s arsenal to ensure that he can maximize profit and productivity, minimize losses, errors, and ultimately returns brought about by payment inconsistencies, errors, and mishandling. Getting your own payment gateway is as simple as approaching a credit card processing company and outlining your needs and requirements for your own online business.

Features of this system not only include increased payment security coupled with near-instant processing, but also increased convenience for you and your staff. You are able to monitor, in live view, the transactions being made on-the-fly, and their individual status updates. This online payment gateway allows for a safer and more convenient management of your online credit accounts, allowing you to better serve your clients. With online credit card processing your orders are shipped out faster, with real time crediting and payment confirmation, giving you less turnaround time, even for large orders. You not only see the payments as they are made, but you also get to monitor each paying individual. With an advanced payment gateway client history is easier to make and compile and tracking the accounts on your most important clients are made easier than ever.

Make the switch now and see your productivity improve, your clients become happier, and your payments come seamlessly, effortlessly, and securely. With a fully featured payment gateway all of these conveniences can be integrated quickly and seamlessly with your web store, at little to no extra cost to you!

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Article submitted by Charge.com Payment Solutions, Inc., We offer solutions for merchant accounts for big and small businesses alike.

Marketing

Makeup Artistry Marketing

Guest post is submitted by Cosmix Inc., a leading makeup artistry school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Cosmix offers makeup courses in special effects and airbrushing, as well as many other techniques.  Browse their website for more information.

Makeup artist schools today emphasize how critical marketing is in makeup artistry.  While it’s true that word of mouth referrals are incredibly important in the makeup industry, there is also a lot of potential to grow one’s business through the right marketing.

The first key of marketing and branding oneself in makeup artistry is to realize that makeup artists are walking business cards.  Essentially, your appearance and conduct while both in and outside of the workplace, can either increase or decrease your success in makeup artistry.  While working a gig, it’s critical to maintain a professional appearance.

One important element of marketing is utilizing the proper materials.  It’s essential to have business cards that emphasize your level of makeup training and education as well as the amount of experience that you have.  Business cards are one of the most important tools for networking and can help you to book freelance work.  No makeup artist should leave their home without their business cards!

Business cards can make a lasting impression. Today you can easily buy reasonable business cards from websites such as www.zazzles or http://www.vistaprint.com.  It’s best to invest in higher quality cards than the “free” cards that you can easily get from these websites.     Your business card should be very simple and easy to read.  It should contain your name, title, phone number, email address, and your web address.

Business Services

What is Display Advertising?

By Ted Dhanik 

Display advertising is an extremely recent marketing development that is exposed on a relatively new source: the Internet. Display advertising consists of the advertisements that are viewed on a webpage, from the pop-up ads to the banner ads at the top of the website to an advertisement seen on the side bar of the webpage. They include anything from graphics to text-based ads.

This new form of marketing came about through the increased use of the Internet by consumers to gain information about businesses and products. Because a growing amount of the population have started using the web as either a replacement or as an addition to television, radio, and newspapers, these forms of media consumption have started to dwindle. For example, a lot of people use the web to view television shows and to catch up on the news, either through the website of the newspaper or podcasts. So, as a result of this change, advertising has begun to shift to the Internet.

Display advertising has been developed to effectively draw a consumer’s attention and direct them to a specific website. A lot of research, time, and effort go into developing an effective display advertisement. The reason behind this is that the marketing is much more specific, therefore the ads have to be more targeted to be beneficial and cost effective. The advertisement that is shown on a specific web page is there because a specific target client views that particular webpage. This is how a proper display ad is marketed.

Display advertising is just the beginning of the future of internet marketing. There are a lot more developments to come.

Ted Dhanik provided this guest post.  CEO of engage:BDR. Ted Dhanik is a provider of display advertising and high performance marketing solutions. Find out more about Ted Dhanik by visiting www.teddhanik.com.

Business Services

Web Banners: An Industry Standard – by Ted Dhanik

Word of mouth just isn’t enough to create demand. Though a company may produce a decent product or service, a means to share this with the public needs to be brought about to begin the process of making profits. An online marketing scheme must posses tools that can bring about the desired attention, while still enhancing the visitor’s experience. And there must be a means of getting this information to the desired customers.

Banner ads perform quite a few of these functions. They have the ability to not only display a company’s service or product, but to also do so in a manner that is catered to the individual viewing it by placing banner ads in sites that will coincide with the individual’s interests. If the public visits a sports page, they may find a banner ad promoting sporting events. Or say the public peruses a website catered to jazz aficionados, the banner ads may talk about some newly discovered jazz recordings or an online music store. No matter what a company does, there is a portion of the buying public out there that will have common interests. Banner ads have the means of connecting a company with the customers they need or want.

With the use of contextual advertising systems, banner ads are embedded into websites that have key words or phrases that coincide with the product or service being advertised. By using these systems, a business can be assured that their message will be seen by the buying public they wish to attract. For example, a boot maker or manufacturer of horse saddles probably wouldn’t want to advertise on a website devoted to restoring old automobiles. While we can be sure that many folks do like horses, including those that restore old cars, there probably aren’t that many individuals who are seeking a saddle when they’re really seeking engine parts. Through the use of these contextual advertising systems, a company that produces saddles can feel confident that their product is reaching equestrian enthusiasts rather than the car mechanics.

While this may seem like a simple business idea, the application of it can bring quite a few visitors to a company’s website and increase sales. Though it is a new marketing element in a new advertising medium, the potential for growth is there. Online advertising is rapidly beginning to replace the standard print media. To stay at the top of the wave, a business should consider elements, such as banner ads, to bring about their business goals.

This content has been graciously provided by Ted Dhanik, advertising consultant. For advertising solution in this competitive market, Ted Dhanik may be the person to give you the upper edge. Visit the website of Ted Dhanik and find out what he can offer your company today.

Business Services

Political Advertising: Traditional Versus New

By Ted Dhanik 

Traditional political advertisements reach out to a wide variety of consumers through various networks that reach a large amount of people. This includes television, radio, and newspapers. With the advent of the web, however, a very different version of marketing has come into play: display marketing.

With online marketing, the ads must be geared toward the people who are browsing the site that the business pays to be on. Therefore, it is a very specified type of persona that the ad is created toward. This alters everything about the marketing. It can now be geared toward specific issues, such as posting a politician’s position about animal rights on a pet store website. It can focus local elections and local issues to the people in the area. This is vastly different than traditional marketing, which is very broad and specified to what the politician wants to say, not what the voter is interested in listening to.

Display marketing also contains the ability to tip the scales in the political race  in a way that traditional marketing could not. For example, when a traditional ad is played or heard, if it is overplayed, the voter has an opportunity to navigate away from it. With display advertisements, there are a variety of them, so the perpetuation of the same message in different forms is continuously played out, without the voter becoming bored or annoyed.

Traditional versus new is a constant battle. New age advertising, however, shows more results due to its specified marketing plan and ability to really focus on individual groups and issues in an inexpensive way.

Guest post provided by Ted Dhanik, provider of display advertising and high performance marketing solutions. Ted Dhanik has his own marketing company called engage:BDR. Ted Dhanik devotes his free time to blogging and mentoring start-ups.