Business

  • Creating Shareable Content That Sells

    Ever wonder what makes some social media posts, videos, or blogs “go viral,” while yours are lucky to have 3 shares and two comments (if it’s a good day). While it might seem like some well-kept secret that only the gurus know. The truth is it’s easy enough to create shareable content, if you put some thought and creativity into your efforts. But keep in mind your marketing should always have purpose and circle back to what you offer in your business. It needs to match your business products and services. So, don’t get caught up in the bright shiny objects that seem cool but aren’t in alignment with your goals.

    Visual Content Is on the Rise

    Videos, images, graphs, charts, infographics, etc. are some of the ways that we can best reach our ideal audiences and are a must have in order to compete in tomorrow’s marketplace. According to this infographic on Social Media Today. From 2019 to 2020 46% of businesses will rely heavily on visuals as part of their marketing strategy.

    So what kind of visuals have been used most frequently in businesses recently?

    Stock Images 40%

    Original Graphics (E.g. Infographics) 37%

    Charts and Data Visualization 12%

    Videos and Presentations 7%

    Gifs and Memes 4%

    But there’s more…

    Even though the above were used more often we need to know what got the most engagement?

    Original Graphics 40%

    Videos and Presentations 23%

    Charts and Data Visualization 20%

    Stock Images 12%

    Gifs and Memes 5%

    So, as you can tell this data can help you with the question

    “What do I do next in my marketing”.

    Are your creative juices going crazy right now with these stats or are you already freaking out because you see video and presentations are at 23% (some sources have this even higher) and you hate seeing yourself on camera? Trust me you are not alone. The “Fear of Public Speaking” is real and it has a name Glossophobia and is said to affect over 75% of the population.

    Even though it’s a scary step it can be overcome with practice, patience and the power of positive thinking that you can do it. I know for some that’s easier said than done so it might take some professional training to help you get more comfortable. I get that.

    But keep in mind, we are trying to grow your business and if you are a small business or entrepreneur than more than likely you are your brand. So, if growth and profits are tied to our bottom line then we must think more like this quote.

    “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”

    It’s about growing and stepping into a bigger version of yourself. What do you need to do that you haven’t already tried?

    So maybe you’d prefer to go the other route for now and do something more like Original Graphics?

    Everyone Loves Infographics

    Whether you want to know more about how coffee is grown, or you’re looking for ways to boost your blog traffic, you’ll find a variety of infographics to fill you in.

    These colorful, easy-to-read graphics share vast amounts of data while still entertaining an audience. By condensing numbers and stats down to easily digestible bite-sized pieces, you can make valuable information highly understandable for any audience. Even better, your market will be happy to share (and share and share).

    If you’re not artistic, or don’t have the skills required to create your own, you can hire designers or use a tool such as Piktochart to quickly make infographics your audience will love.

    **Pro tip: create an embeddable link for your infographic and encourage other blog owners to share it on their sites. You’ll automatically drive traffic from every site that posts your content.

    Create Some Eye Candy

    So, let’s look at what are the biggest trends for 2019 for your other graphic options.

    Futuristic patterns, vivid color palette’s and bold fonts are what’s happening today! Bold fonts that make them easy to read on mobile and stand out. Mobile marketing is super important, and we need to make sure that whatever we do looks good on those smartphones that are attached to everyone’s body these days.

    Bold typefaces and fonts are all the rage for brands. Deep your toes into it and experiment. Check out companies that we use to help us create graphics. I recommend Stencil and PicMonkey because they have templates that you can use and make your own without starting from scratch.

    Color, color and more color make a brand pop and grab attention. So be intense, colorful and bright in your marketing. Don’t be afraid to be BOLD. You can still minimalism but use color verses the old muted tones. That’s so old school.

    Next let’s talk shapes. It’s like fashion we need to look at using geometric shapes and abstract patterns. Have fun and get creative. Even if you use stock images look for the ones that look more natural and place some fun elements into them.

    Need more ideas look at the big brands out there and see what they are using in their marketing to fuel your ideas.

    Here’s an example of a graphic that pops with color and utilizes shapes.

    Don’t Forget About Blogging It’s Still Relevant

    Writing a blog post? Well it’s got to be longer these days. Don’t just skim the surface of a topic. Dig deep. Provide as much information as you can on the topic and bring along these amazing visual elements we have been looking at. Keep in mind, we all still go to Google to find stuff to feed our minds. Why not be one of those resources?

    Bigger is better and gets more attention because it’s hopefully offering the good stuff people are looking for. Google still loves fresh content! Today’s blogs however need more words. According to Hook Agency posts of at least 1,000 words are more likely to be shared than their shorter cousins and favored by Google. 1705 is the sweet spot for SEO. So, don’t worry about attention spans. Readers have proven they want good info and they don’t mind digging into a long post to find it.

    Let Your Personality Shine

    No one wants to read or share another “me too” post. Not you and not your audience.

    What they do want—and what they’ll happily share with their friends and fans—is personality-driven pieces that aren’t afraid to take a stand.

    Be a giver and educate your audience. Don’t hide the good stuff behind a pay gate. People want solutions and if you provide them with some, they will become your followers. I give FREE information all the time and I’ve grown a few successful businesses because of it. Don’t get me wrong we need to make money to survive but if you have a great sales funnel, strategy and plan that will all come.

    It’s easy to form a connection with someone when you feel like you know them personally. And what do you do with your friend’s content? You share it, of course!

    It doesn’t take much to be shareable. Just be yourself, be transparent, and be valuable. In short, just do what you’re already doing, only with a little bit more creativity, generousity and planning. Remember if it was easy everyone would be doing it.

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  • Fear of Losing Your Business Can Lead to Bad Decisions

    It’s not unusual for a business to go thru ebbs and peaks. I think if most business owners are honest we’ve all had this happen to us. Sometimes the economy takes a turn that effects our market, maybe the rules change in our industry or our market becomes too saturated. All these circumstances can make obtaining or retaining clients harder. Profits fall, and you wonder if you should go and get a J-O-B.

    I’m sure that even the titans of industry have experienced that sinking feeling of a business that’s trending downwards at one point but how it’s handled can mean the difference between success and becoming another statistic.

    Worrying about money eventually leads to poor decisions. Those decisions have a negative impact on our business finances and our personal attitude towards the business.

    This eventually leaks out to our daily touches that we make while networking and trying to obtain new clients. People will smell the fear and your desperation if you are not careful.  So, what can you do and what should you be careful not to do?

    Don’t Take on Clients that Aren’t a Good Fit

    When business is down, it can be tough to keep your ideal client in mind. Instead, you jump at the chance to work with anyone who comes along with a credit card. The trouble with this scenario is you can find yourself with a roster full of clients who:

    • Aren’t willing or able to do the work required
    • Spend all their time telling you why your ideas and advice won’t work
    • Drain your energy and make you dread your office
    • Make you chase them around to get paid

    Yikes! That’s no way to operate a business, but that’s just what a fear-based mindset can do to you. Better (much better) to hold out for that perfect client. And while you’re waiting, let’s look at some ideas to get you back on track.

    Don’t Stop Creating

    Create

    When profits are low you feel the need to pull back and who can blame you? You feel that you can’t afford to spend money creating new programs, buying new tools and getting coaching, right?

    Ok, I get it. You are nervous. This is your baby that you created from the ground up. But keep this in mind. A fearful brain can’t create. So, let’s turn that mindset around and take it one step at a time.

    If business is slow then take advantage of that extra time and get creative. What can you do in your business that can create some profit? Can you create packaged goods of your top selling services or products? Can you re-invent an old service or product to be new again? But please don’t just put old content into the market without changing it up.

    But you might be thinking that sounds too easy. I say why start from scratch especially if you have some evergreen products to offer? Think like a resale shop. Sometimes it’s all in the packaging. Have an eBook that people liked in the past? Can you put a new spin on it and make it into a 15-day challenge? Take that idea and rename, repackage and repurpose but do it with a positive intent and have fun!

    Don’t let that fearful brain take control. Instead connect with that creative brain that made you a business owner in the first place.

    Is Your Website Doing You Justice?

    While you have that creative hat on look at your site. What can you do that might help it get a facelift? Even though your skill set might not be in website development what can you do to create traffic to your site? Can you blog, add video or podcasts? How about changing out images that look a little dated? You get where I’m coming from.

    If you can’t be objective, ask someone who can be (no not your Mom she loves everything you do!) but make sure they have the right background to offer credible feedback. Don’t have someone like that? Reach out to me. For a very reasonable investment I’ve helped people just like you.

    Network till the Cows Come Home

    Till the cows come home

    When you are feeling overwhelmed, negative and fearful it’s time to get out of the office and meet with people you know. Think about the business people in your lives that you’ve networked with that are great strategic partners and can refer your business. Call them up and get together. One-on-ones have created many opportunities for me that added to my profits and created even more opportunities.

    In my town, I could network almost everyday of the week and night because there are so many meetups, networking mixers and luncheons going on. Obviously, you must choose carefully and educate yourself on good networking practices. Your time has value so make the best of it. Select options that provide the best return.

    I hope that you found some of these ideas useful. Remember creating a positive mindset even during the rough patches is important in any business.

    Here’s to your business success!

    Wanda

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  • Who is Your Ideal Client?

    If you ever worked on creating a business you know one of the essential elements needed is to identify your ideal avatar, aka your one perfect customer.

    This vision of your ideal client guides everything you do. From pricing, to pain points and even the color of your logo.

    My business and yours may be alike but when we peel back that onion my clients may pay different price points for my services verses yours because our background, business model, geography and/or experience may constitute different rates.

    Peel back that onion

    You may work specifically with Mompreneurs that are just starting their own businesses where I may work with emerging businesses that are making over $100,000 a year.

    As you can see figuring out this part of your business is essential to moving forward on your business planning because you need to know who you’re marketing to.

    So, take some time to consider your ideal avatars by pondering:

    • Age group
    • Income
    • Family status
    • Education
    • Lifestyle goals
    • Location

    Maybe you could even come up with a story about your ideal client? You could give her a name, a couple of kids, a husband who just doesn’t get it, and a load of student loans and so forth.

    But you don’t want to stop there, you may be missing a huge piece of the puzzle—and losing out on the best clients because of it.

    Personality Matters

    Here’s something that’s rarely considered in the “ideal client” equation, and it’s arguably the most important part: personality.

    If you’re snarky, sarcastic, fun-loving and loud as a coach, then a quiet, shy, person who is easily insulted will probably not be a good fit for you. Sure, she might need your help, and she might love your products, but for one-on-one coaching, this match-up could turn up disastrous. Either she will be uncomfortable with your style, or you’ll be miserable trying to reign in your natural exuberance.

    Better to pass this personality type to a coach who is a better suited to her and can be more sensitive and patient.

    Success is a Collaborative Process

    This one can be difficult to calculate from the start, but once you recognize it (or the lack thereof) it’s worth paying attention to. The client without the drive to succeed will—more often than not—only end up frustrating you both.

    Better to end your relationship as soon as you see the signs of this than to waste your time going over the same material and exercises again and again with someone who simply won’t do the work.

    Coaching needs to be a collaborative process. Two people working together towards the same goal. Making your client successful!

    Women Shaing Hands

    If you look at your current and past clients, you’ll begin to see patterns. You can easily look back and see what made some clients a joy to work with, while others were a struggle. Think about what those differences are and add them to your ideal client profile. Then compare any new potential clients to this ideal profile, and you’ll never again sign on with a less-than-perfect client.

    If you are new and you don’t have that history to glean from then maybe adding an assessment tool or personality profile test to your intake process could be beneficial.

    Finding Your Ideal Avatar

    So once this information is compiled and you have a really good idea of who to market to we need to find out where they hang out.

    Let’s look at some potential places:

    • Social Media – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Don’t forget the groups on these platforms answering questions and showing your expertise might get you business.
    • Meetups – Hosting one of these yourself can be beneficial.
    • Conferences or Expo – Find out whose attending before you go and make sure to connect in-person once you arrive.
    • Radio Show or Podcasting – Being an expert or an expert guest can be another resource.
    • Networking Groups – Chambers, Clubs and Associations might be another goldmine for your business.
    • Your own webinars or Livestreams – Have a show or educate your potential clients.
    • Your own business events or presenting at someone else’s – When you’re on the stage you are the expert.

    In this post, we looked at how to define your ideal client, what to look for in an ideal client and places that they may be hanging out at. Hopefully, you can see why this process is necessary for you to grow your business and save yourself some time.

    If you’re still having challenges with this, please reach out to me. I offer coaching and consulting to help you to define your ideal audience and create a successful business.

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  • 6 Ways You’re Using Copywriting and You Might Not Realize It

    When you hear the word “copywriting” what comes to mind for you?

    Wikipedia describes it as “the act of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action.

    So, the fact is, copywriting is more than just sales messages. In fact, as an online business owner and marketer, most of the content you produce could be called copywriting at least in some sense. After all, if you’re creating content with the ultimate goal of selling something, that is by definition copywriting.

    Facebook

    Sure, we all like to hang out on Facebook and chat with friends and family, catch up on the latest funny videos, and enjoy a mindless “quiz” or two. But for businesses, Facebook is much more than that. It’s a place to connect with potential clients, and that means that when you’re sharing your latest blog post or program with your business friends, you have to keep good copywriting in mind.

    LinkedIn Profile

    What makes you stand out from the other businesses online or in your niche? Your LinkedIn profile is where you share what makes you the best person to solve your ideal client’s problems. It’s where you shout about your credentials and let your ego run the show. Think of your LinkedIn profile like a resume, and be sure to list your most impressive qualifications, achievements and personal quality.

    Your Website About Page

    Here’s your chance to have some fun while blowing your own horn. It’s important to know that the about page is often the most visited page on a website, so it’s a critical piece of your overall brand and message. The purpose of your about page is to entice people to want to learn more about your services, so be sure to include a call to action on the page.

    Blog Posts

    All blog posts have a job to do. Maybe they’re meant to lead your reader to a sales page. Perhaps you’re asking for readers to subscribe to your mailing list. Maybe your blog post is designed to start a conversation. Or maybe it’s just sharing great content and inviting readers to learn more by clicking on related posts. Whatever the job, it’s copywriting that entices your reader to take that next action.

    Twitter

    Two hundred and eighty characters is precious little space for creating compelling content (but at least it’s not 140 anymore), yet that’s exactly what you must do if you hope to use Twitter as part of your overall marketing strategy. Think of tweets like email subject lines, and craft them to convey as much information as possible while still enticing readers to take action.

    Email

    Whether you’re sending an email about a new product or service or simply letting readers know you have a new blog post up, your email definitely qualifies as copywriting. In fact, even the personal emails you send to prospective clients contain what we would call copywriting.

    The fact is, copywriting is everywhere in your business, from your sales pages to your invoices. Whenever you ask a reader to take some action, you’re writing copy, and the more comfortable with the idea of it, the better (and more natural) you’ll become.

    Copy writing after all is going to be the best way for you to persuasively make the most impact on your business by drawing the attention and interest of your ideal client and get them to take a desired action.

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  • Providing Solutions to Your Clients Biggest Pain Points

    In trying to understand who our ideal client is we must also figure out how we can best serve them and their needs. What are their biggest challenges and pain points that you can solve?

    Chances are you’ve developed at least a simple client avatar. You know their business, their age, their income and education levels. You know where they live and what their biggest dreams are.

    But do you really know what drives them?

    We’re not talking about just what they want (we all want more money and free time) but more importantly, you need to know what their biggest pain points are. What keeps them up at night? Figure this out, and you’ll not only be able to better create products and services to help them, but your sales copy will dramatically improve as well.

    sales copy
    Think about it—if you’re uncomfortable with technology but one day found yourself in a DIY mood which resulted in you accidently destroying your website during a simple update, then WordPress website management might become a huge pain point for you, right? Now imagine you find a marketing firm who not only works with WordPress, but who calmly shares examples of how they’ve rescued client websites after such disasters.

    They clearly addressed your biggest pain point, and you’re sold!

    The same is true for your potential clients. Show them you can help them avoid those pain points—or better yet, eliminate them completely—and you’ll forge an instant bond.

    Now you may already have a good idea what causes your clients pain, but if not, you have plenty of ways to find out.

    • Talk to them. What do they most often ask or complain about?
    • Listen in on forums, on social media, threads like Quora or Reddit and other places your audience hangs out. What are they struggling with?
    • Reader surveys. These can be a rich source of information in any market. Pay special attention to the words and phrases your readers use to describe their troubles.
    • Keep an eye on your competition. What pain points are they addressing?
    • Google, it and do research. Find out what your potential customers are reading?

    You might be thinking how can I find out what people are reading? Look at trade magazines, blogs and/or local newspapers. See what topics are being covered and you’ll probably be getting closer to the information you need.

    Once you’ve uncovered your ideal clients’ biggest challenges, you’ll have a powerful tool that you can use in your offerings. They will feel like you are speaking directly to them when they read your copy, see your ads or watch your videos.

    If you can help your clients overcome the most painful issues they face—whether it’s a lack of self-confidence or a fear of public speaking—you’ll instantly become a more valuable resource to them. This will result in sales conversions for your business and everyone wins.

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  • Systemizing Your Business for Success

    When you look at a successful entrepreneur or business owner do you ever wonder how they manage to get it all done?

    The answer is they have systems in place.

    It’s true. The most productive people all have one thing in common: they don’t reinvent the wheel every day. Instead, they’ve figured out the best, most efficient way to do every task, and they create a system to do just that.

    No matter what business you’re in and what projects you find yourself tackling, a systemized approach will help you:

    • Work faster and produce more
    • Produce higher quality results with fewer mistakes
    • Easily outsource the tasks you don’t like to do

    The Magic of Templates

    How many times do you answer email from potential clients? What about responding to customer concerns?

    These tasks and become more effortless when you create fill-in-the-blank templates that can be re-purposed for specific cases/people. Templates can be as simple as a “canned response” in your email client or help desk, or you can use software such as Text Expander (for Mac) or Phrase Express (for Windows). You might even create a template document in Dropbox or Google Drive to house all your templates for easier access for you and your support staff.

    While templates will undoubtedly save you time, the real beauty is that once they’re created, you can easily outsource things like email and even sales. Simply instruct your assistant on the proper use of your templates, and you’ll be free to do other, more important things.

    Checklists Prevent Mistakes

    Planning

    It might seem counterintuitive, but when you perform the same tasks repeatedly, it’s easy to miss a critical step. You might think you paid your bills this month—you might even remember doing it—only to look back and see it was never completed.

    But when you implement checklists, it’s suddenly much more difficult to miss an important task.

    You can easily create checklists for all your common tasks and projects using nothing more than a text document. If you’re managing a team, checklists in your project management system allow you to see exactly what tasks are complete, and which are still outstanding.

    Templates and checklists turn smart business owners into productivity superstars, and it’s easy to get started. The next time you answer an email you’ve answered before, save your response. The next time you set up a new product in your shopping cart or create a new opt-in page, take the time to record the steps. These documents will make future projects easier and faster to complete, and best of all, you can hand them off to your assistant to do instead.

    And if you’re techie, make a video tutorial and show the steps with an over-the-shoulder training.

    Automated Follow-Ups Make the Next Step a

    No-Brainer for Systemizing

    As any smart business owner knows, the key to passive income is a well-established (and full) funnel.

    So of course, you’ve optimized your opt-in pages and monetized your download pages and have encouraged more buyers through well-placed upsells and down sells.

    But what about the follow-up? Do you contact customers about the products or services they didn’t buy? Do you encourage them to use the products they have purchased? Are you making sure they know about all your other wonderful programs?

    If not, you’re missing the boat. But the good news is, this can be easily managed with just a bit of simple automation, and when done right, it will smoothly lead your customers from one purchase to the next, at the exact right time for them to take advantage of your best offers.

    Segment Your Audience in Your Email

    to Save Time

    Many autoresponder services allow you to target emails based on reader action. Want to send a follow up email to those who clicked a specific link? Create a segment and mail away. Want to re-engage with those who haven’t opened your emails in a while? Easy to do, and you can potentially recover subscribers who have gone missing. Of course, you need a more sophisticated email service like Constant Contact.

    http://www.constantcontact.com/signup.jsp?pn=strategizeyoursuccess

    These tactics require that you know your audience and your products exceptionally well. Study your stats. Know your open and click rates. Pay attention to the promotions that work, as well as those that fall flat. With information in hand, you’ll be better able to effectively segment your lists and make the most of all the parts of your funnel. Knowing your audience takes the guess work and time out of mailing to those who have no interest in specific products, services or events.

    Segmenting your list in the long run will save you time and produce higher quality prospects for your business. The more hands-off you can make your systems the more time you will have to do the higher-level work that makes your business more money.

    Making small changes in your business can yield big returns. Systemizing as much as you can like other successful entrepreneurs will help you be more productive and make less mistakes.

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  • Ideas for Visual Marketing in 2018

    What Is Visual Marketing?

    To be successful at creative visual marketing it’s important to understand what it means, how it works, and the tools that you need to make it work. That’s why it’s called “creative” and in 2018 that’s what audiences are looking for.

    We know that most people are visually oriented. According to David Hyerle, the brain can absorb 36,000 images every minute and 80-90 percent of information received from the brain is through the eyes. Wow, if that isn’t mind blowing. Keep in mind that the brain is a visual organ. So, to me it just makes since that using visual marketing should be a key factor in our marketing mix.

    Creative Visual Marketing

    Visual marketing allows us to use a variety of design elements, graphics, photographs and videos to tell the story of our brands. The visual cues we use to tell that story will help make our brand more memorable to everyone who views the information. No wonderful live streaming and broadcasting has become so popular and keeps growing.

    Pictures tell stories in ways that words cannot. Pictures combined with text will make your story come to life in a new way. Marketing is all about communicating a detailed message to a specific audience. And today’s online tools can help you create very effective images to help complete your marketing story and gain momentum online.

    There are free or low-cost options to help you integrate visual eye candy. There is Canva, PicMonkey or Stencil.

    https://getstencil.com


    Anytime you have the chance to include images in your marketing − whether it’s your social media profile, your website, your blog, or an advertisement, do so and give a lot of thought to every image that you put on your marketing material.

    Using visual prompts helps tell your story and will attract the people in your audience who are interested in the topic but who don’t want to read a long text-based story. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If this is the case, the graphic images you show will enable you to tell your audience a thousand words of information with just a simple glance from them. Keep in mind that a lot of people skim what they are reading these days.

    Plus, when you use graphics, photos, and/or video with your text information, blog posts, and sales pages, you make it easier and more likely that others will share the information via social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. In addition, it makes it easier for the search engines to locate the information due to the tags you place with the images. So be sure to use tags!

    Using all the visually creative marketing material that you can craft will help you get information out to more people, because they will be more likely to share something that is great to look at.

    Types of Visual Marketing

    There are many types of visual marketing that you can choose from such as:

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    • Banners
    • Blog posts
    • Books
    • Brochures
    • Business cards
    • Direct mail
    • Flyers
    • Games
    • Giveaways
    • Graphics
    • Infographics
    • Kiosks

    [/ez_two]
    [ez_two_last]

    • Letters
    • Live Streaming
    • Newsletters
    • Postcards
    • Premiums (tote bags, cups, shirts)
    • Presentations
    • Press releases
    • Social networking campaigns
    • Screen casting
    • Webinars
    • Widgets
    • YouTube videos

    [/ez_two_last]

    Creative Visual Marketing

    Depending on the marketing channel you’re using, you’ll use one or more of these visual marketing tactics. If you can figure out a way to add visual interest to every marketing campaign, you’ll experience more success and reach your goals faster than if you don’t.

    So, let’s look at how to stand out visually and best practices.

    Stand Out Visually

    Choosing the right images can make your content and marketing stand out better than plain textual content. You can use creative copy, gorgeous typography and graphical images that bring your content to life, and draw the eye through the copy quickly.

    • White Space – When you create anything graphical and textual it’s imperative to include plenty of white space by using bullets, spacing, and the right fonts. Choose images wisely and for a reason. Every word and every image should have a “why” for being in your marketing material.
    • Color – It might take a little research into your target audience to figure out which colors will get the most positive reaction. You may want to cause emotions to come forth in your audience that only color can elicit. But, every audience is different, so it’ll take some research, understanding and testing to pick the right colors.
    • Contrast – The more ways that you can make your call to action stand out from the rest of the copy and images, the better. By using contrast such as black/white, white/gray, or other colors that contrast but do not cause your audience’s retinas to burn, you can create the view you want to attract your audience’s eyes where you want them.
    • Surprise – Most people today are practically blind to advertisements, and anything that wants to sell them something. The way to overcome this ad blindness is to use visuals to surprise the viewer. Change the fonts; make the CTA stand out such that your audience cannot miss it.
    • Encapsulation – Use robust, vibrant shapes to highlight your call to action or anything you want to draw interest to. Put your call to action inside a highlighted, outlined box, or other form that will enclose it to draw attention to it.
    • Arrows – Using directional cues will also help draw the reader’s eye toward the information that you want them to see. Anytime you want your reader to imagine the future or some destination in the future, for example, you could show a picture of a road that will take them on a trip.

    We looked at what creative visual marketing is and its value for our future marketing efforts online.  The psychological factor and how the brain works in absorbing visual information. We also looked at how pictures tell stories and when combined with text attract readers attention. And we know that visually appealing images results in more social media shares.

    Also, we looked at the different types of visual marketing options and how we can engage the reader’s imagination with our marketing efforts through well-known visual cues that help your reader get to the mindset that you want. And over time, as you study your audience, you’ll come to know what types of visual cues will work best with them.

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  • Major Challenges with Live Video Streaming on Mobile

    Live stream broadcasting is exciting and people are jumping on it like wild fires. But there are some key challenges that people using the technology are going to run up against. Bandwidth and buffering being two that come to mind.

    MOBILE STREAMINGMobile Streaming

    Bandwidth has two issues. Video coupled with audio, uses a high amount of bandwidth. If you are one of those lucky enough to have a data plan on your smartphone with unlimited data usage, you probably have nothing to worry about. Although, talk to people that have reached a high amount of usage even on those plans. They will tell you their providers complain about fair use, etc.

    If you have a plan that is limited, you could end up paying some hefty overage fees if you go over the limit. This may not be a problem if you can monetize because of the broadcasts you are doing. But you will need to make more than the extra charges that your smart device is running up.

    Of course, if you are broadcasting from your home, you could easily set your phone up to use your Wi Fi connection. This will circumvent any usage on your data plan, if your Wi Fi usage is still unlimited. At this point, most home internet plans allow for unlimited use. It remains to be seen if that will last forever.

    Buffering can occur if you have a slow connection

    Video StreamingIf you plan on broadcasting, it is a good idea to stop any background processes from running during the broadcast. Also, you may want to shut down any file sharing and file uploads while the broadcast is running. Remember, you want to make the experience for your viewers as smooth as possible. Since broadcasting is live, any buffering will cause delays for your viewers. This will likely get them to move on from your broadcasts. The idea is to keep them coming back not to scare them off.

    It’s going to be interesting to see, now that live video streaming has exploded onto the scene, how that will affect data plan prices going forward. It could be just the thing needed to motivate the phone service providers into offering more robust plans. These plans may come at a higher price, at least initially. But that is certainly a better option than having to pay per minute overages any time you go over your limits. Besides, as more phone service providers scramble to get your business, the result will likely be lower prices across the board.

    Keep in mind,  there is always the alternative of just broadcasting from your desktop. Although not all platforms support that option. Whatever way you go always keep your followers in mind. Make a great experience for them and they will keep coming back.

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  • Connecting with Your Audience by Using Live Stream Marketing

    Live StreamingIn marketing, we are told repeatedly to connect with our followers. We email our lists of customers that have bought products from us before. However, they don’t always get to know us as they would if we had a brick and morter business. Also, unless we are constantly sending them emails and/or offers, they are more likely to forget about us. That is until you start to introduce live stream marketing into the mix.

    Don’t get me wrong, email marketing is still a fantastic way to connect with your followers but having multiple ways to stay connected to your audience is the way to go because relying on just one source is never the best practice for marketing your business.

    With live stream marketing, you have a way of speaking directly to your customer. You can give them tips and tricks about your products, or you can simply use the medium to keep in touch. You can even ask them if they have any questions or concerns about the products/services that you offer. It can also be used to let them know about your future events.

    Using a Personal Touch

    There’s not too much in the marketing world that gets as personal as live stream media. Unless you plan on contacting to every person on your list, one-on-one via phone, broadcasting via video is the next best thing. Customers will appreciate this kind of engagement because they see it is an actual person running the video. It turns a cold customer into a warm one and a warm customer into a hot one. This increases the trust factor of your customers by a wide margin. The hotter your customers are with respect to trust, the easier it is to get them to buy from you.

    Are You Afraid of the Camera?

    I find that doing a ton of practicing helps you get over it. So, practice, practice. If you have some family members or friends that you can rehearse with as a live audience, then that is very helpful. It also allows you to get comfortable with using whatever platform you stream from. Live Video

    If you are camera shy, you still have options when it comes to live stream. Work with a co-host, outsource the broadcast or bring on a team member or partner to do this part of your marketing.  The person you choose to do the streaming should be on board with what you are trying to accomplish. A complement to your goals. The best way around this is to find people that you have worked with on a long-term basis who are as comfortable with you as you are with them.

    If your monetizing this part of your marketing, you can offer them a percentage of the sales that come from the product you are selling or a flat fee.

    The field is wide open for live stream marketing and it’s going to be interesting to see which players come to the foreground and which don’t. One thing is certain; it’s going to be a great ride for marketers overall.

    If this area of your marketing is foreign to you and you don’t know how to get started reach out to us. We can help coach you through the process so that you can feel more comfortable with live streaming. 

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