Archive for the ‘Marketing Success’ Category
Reasons Why Link Building is Important for SEO
by Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
In the pre-Google days of the internet, search engines like Yahoo and Alta Vista were dominant players and their search results were 100% based on the content on a webpage.
Then came Google.
Google’s now-famous algorithm changed the game. Google looked at how many people linked to that page instead of simply analyzing the content of the page.
Almost 20 years later, links remain the best way to establish the quality of a webpage. Therefore, backlinks remain Google’s go-to ranking indicator.
Because of updates like Google Penguin, Google now focuses on link quality (not just link quantity).
If the page linking to you is a PageRank powerhouse, that link will have a BIG effect on your rankings.
That’s because links from authoritative pages pass more authority (also known as PageRank) to your site.
Now, let’s continue with the reasons why link building is important for SEO.
What is the importance of backlinks?
Link building is the system of building one-way hyperlinks (also called backlinks) to a website with the purpose of improving search engine visibility. Some common link-building strategies include content marketing, email outreach, building useful tools, broken link building, and public relations.
Content marketing played a substantial role in the development of backlink building. Webmasters started creating high-quality content that naturally drew links from other websites, instead of only focusing on acquiring backlinks.
Website owners could increase their chances of earning organic backlinks by producing informative, valuable, and shareable content.
This shift in strategy supported Google’s emphasis on user experience and the importance of providing important content to online audiences.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
1. What is backlink building; Why it’s important for building authority
The process of getting links from other websites to your own is backlink building.
These links act as a vote of confidence, demonstrating to search engines that your website is authoritative and trustworthy.
Backlink building is essential for building authority. It drives organic traffic and helps improve your website’s visibility in search engine results.
2. How has backlink building evolved?
Backlink building is now more focused on quality rather than quantity. As search engines have become smarter at detecting spammy and low-quality links, it’s essential to focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from reputable websites. And, the importance of relevance and context has increased, with search engines giving more weight to backlinks that come from websites in the same industry or niche.
3. What are some effective strategies for backlink building?
Important strategies for backlink building include influencer outreach, guest blogging, and creating valuable content that naturally invites backlinks. Guest blogging involves writing high-quality articles for other websites in exchange for a backlink to your site. Influencer outreach involves building relationships with influential people or brands in your industry and getting them to mention your website or link to it. Creating valuable content that naturally attracts backlinks involves producing engaging, informative, and shareable content that other websites will desire to link to.
4. Are there risks or pitfalls to avoid?
When building backlinks, there are risks and pitfalls to avoid. One common one to avoid is engaging in black hat SEO techniques, like buying or exchanging links. This can lead to penalties from search engines. It’s very important to avoid spammy link building practices, such as bulk directory submissions or comment spamming. You should focus on building natural and high-quality backlinks that add value to both your website and those websites linking to you.
5. How can I assess the quality of a potential backlink?
You can consider several factors to assess the quality of a backlink. You can first check the website’s domain authority and page authority using tools like Moz’s Domain Authority or Ahrefs’ Domain Rating. Look for websites with a higher domain authority as they are more likely to pass on effective link juice. And, consider the relevance of the website to your niche and the setting in which the link will be placed. A backlink from a highly reputable and relevant website will have a greater effect on your authority.
6. Is it better to have a few quality backlinks or lots of low-quality backlinks?
Now, it’s better to have a few high-quality backlinks than many low-quality backlinks. Search engines have become more high-tech in evaluating the quality of backlinks, and they prioritize authority and relevance. A few high-quality backlinks from reputable websites in your industry will have a more significant impact on your authority and search engine rankings than many low-quality backlinks.
7. Does it take long to see the results of backlink building?
The time can vary for seeing the results of backlink building. It depends on factors like the competitiveness of your industry, the quality of the backlinks you acquire, and the frequency of search engine crawls. Generally, it can take several weeks to months before you start seeing the impact of your backlink-building efforts. Patience and consistency are key when it comes to building authority through backlinks.
8. Can I remove or disavow bad backlinks?
You can remove or disavow bad backlinks. If you have acquired low-quality or spammy backlinks that could harm your website’s authority, it’s recommended to try removing them by contacting the website owners and requesting removal. If that fails, you can use the Google Disavow Tool to tell search engines to ignore those backlinks when evaluating your website’s authority. However, it’s important to exercise caution and only disavow links that are actually harmful.
9. Are there alternatives to backlink building for authority?
Although backlink building is a highly effective strategy for building authority, there are other methods you can consider. You can focus on creating high-quality content that attracts organic traffic and engagement. If you consistently produce valuable content and optimize it for search engines, you can build authority over time. Another way is to leverage social media platforms and engage with your audience to establish yourself as an authority in your industry.
10. Should you hire a professional for backlink building?
It can be beneficial to hire a professional for backlink building, especially if you are short on time, expertise, or resources to execute an effective backlink-building strategy. Professionals can help you identify high-quality backlink opportunities, navigate the complexities, and develop outreach strategies. However, you must choose a reputable and experienced professional or agency to ensure ethical and effective practices are followed.
Building backlinks is an ongoing process that requires a well-thought-out strategy, time, and effort.
Some important effective strategies for link building are:
1. Creating High-Quality Content
Creating high-quality content is the foundation of a successful backlink building strategy. You should focus on creating well-researched unique and valuable content that provides value to your target audience. When you do this, other websites are more likely to link to it.
2. Reaching out to influencers and industry experts
Ask influencers and industry experts in your niche to share your content or to collaborate on a project. When they link to your website, it can substantially boost your credibility and authority.
Building relationships and using personalized outreach emails with influencers can go a long way in acquiring valuable backlinks.
3. Guest Posting
Guest posting entails writing articles for other websites in your industry or niche. This lets you showcase your expertise and offer value to a new audience. Then, you can include a link back to your website within the guest post. Focus on high domain authority and relevance to your industry when choosing websites for guest posting.
Always remember that building backlinks takes patience and time. Focus on quality as opposed to quantity and always prioritize creating valuable content that people want to link to. Here, we’ve covered some of the reasons why link building is important for SEO.
7 of the Most Common Types of Content Marketing and Some Future Trends
by Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
With the surge of AI where everybody can publish generic blog posts, remember the foundation of high-quality content is sharing authentic, first-hand experiences.
In its latest search engine updates, Google says content should be helpful and come from human experience.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is the publishing of written and visual material online to attract more leads to your business. These materials can include e-books, infographics, blog posts, videos, web pages, and more.
It isn’t just publishing a shallow piece of content that offers little value. The focus is on making valuable content that your audience can discover themselves while browsing.
Content marketing is the planning, creating, distribution, sharing, and publishing of content through channels like social media, blogs, websites, podcasts, press releases, apps, print publications, and more. The goal of content marketing is to reach your target audience and increase brand awareness, engagement, sales, and loyalty.
Some of the most common types of content marketing are:
1. Online Content Marketing
Online content marketing is any material you publish online, but specifically, it applies to your web pages.
With a strong online content marketing strategy you’ll be able to rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs) and get in front of the right people at the right time and immediately engage visitors with specific content about your products or services.
2. Social Media Content Marketing
There are billions of social media users worldwide so it’s easy to see why many businesses invest in social media marketing.
There are several platforms to work with including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and Snapchat. Each one offers various ways to create and share content, like photos, pre-recorded videos, pre-recorded videos, live videos, and stories.
3. Infographic Content Marketing
Infographics display content, information, and data in an easy-to-understand graphic format that includes a mix of simple wording, short statements, and clear images. These are a great way to effectively communicate your content. They work well if you’re trying to simplify an educational or a complex topic so all audience members can understand it.
4. Blog Content Marketing
A blog is a great source of inbound content that allows you to be creative in your choice of topic and writing. You can use your blog to promote related content using links and social share buttons as well as incorporate product information.
5. Video Content Marketing
According to research, 91% of businesses video as a marketing tool.
You can use video marketing to help build a strong bond with your audience, boost conversions, and improve ROI. You can also choose to share your video content on landing pages, social media platforms, or on a co-marketer’s website.
6. Podcast Content Marketing
Experts predict that in the future over 71 million people will listen to podcasts. That’s 10 million more than the current listeners across the Spotify and Apple Podcast platforms. This is the reason many businesses and media outlets create and share their own podcasts.
Since podcasts can be about any topic, you have plenty of room for a lot of creativity.
You decide the pace of episodes, guests, where you advertise the podcast, and the length of each episode.
7. Paid Ad Content Marketing
You can reach a broad audience with paid ads and position yourself in all the places you want to be seen. Pairing paid ads and inbound marketing is especially beneficial.
Paid ads can be shared on landing pages, social media, banners, and in sponsored content.
What are some content marketing trends?
Google says content should be helpful and come from human experience. This is one of numerous ways to increase your traffic.
Here are some ways content marketing is moving forward and how to use them to your advantage.
1. Use of AI
The role of AI is to scale and improve, not to come up with the original insight that hasn’t been shared before.
AI writing tools base output on information already somewhere on the internet – other blogs.
For your content to work for you, it has to stand out. The best way to make that happen is by sharing expert insights. AI can’t give you unique, experience-based ideas.
Producing content requires much more than just pumping out text. For it to be valuable for readers, it needs a proper strategy, in-depth research, first-hand knowledge of the industry, and a person to put it all together in a way that’s relatable to readers.
It’s best to use AI to generate top-level outlines, like a skeleton to set a flexible foundation that can be modified later. Then using your expertise, you can elaborate on the details and add insights and depth that only a human can present.
2. First-Hand Experience
Prioritize sharing first-hand experience. The public loves other people’s stories. If you don’t have expertise in a particular area, you can interview people who do and base your article on their insights.
3. Source Content
One of the top-ranking factors for content marketing is backlinks, so publish “Be the Source” content to get more traffic, links, and shares from your content marketing.
4. Authority
Participate in establishing authority in your area of expertise.
Google prefers content created by knowledgeable and reputable people. Setting up yourself as an authority in your area of expertise improves the credibility of your content.
This is really important now when there’s a lot of AI-generated content on the internet.
You want your content to have a face and a story. This will boost your content’s relevance and trustworthiness in the eyes of users and in search engines. Search engines like Google must decide between high- and low-quality content.
5. Leverage
Use community contributions to boost the credibility and depth of your content by tapping into the collective expertise and experiences of a diverse group.
You can do this by:
a) Collaborating with industry experts in your field to create content and inviting them to share insights.
b) Organizing Q&A sessions with experts or influential people in your industry through live streams, webinars, or interviews.
c) Develop collaborative projects where several contributors can add their expertise. This could be a blog post, a webinar, a research paper, or an industry-related guide.
d) Leverage UGC (User-Generated Content). Urge your audience to contribute their ideas or experiences. This can be through comments, social media interactions, or guest posts.
Promote their work on your platforms as part of the collaboration.
Be sure to give proper credit when you use other people’s content, whether it’s from experts or UGC.
6. User-Generated Content
A bit more about UGC.
Users or customers create and share content about your brand or product which may include images, reviews, social media posts, or videos, which you can then use in your marketing endeavors.
Instead of using traditional search engines like Google for information, many young people turn to platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Especially when they’re looking for how-to guides or local restaurant recommendations.
There are two main benefits of using UGC:
They prioritize content that comes from other customers, such as unboxing, reviews, and lifestyle videos featuring your product and now that users are creating content for you, you get to:
1. Accelerate the content generation process
2. And you get authentic content that your audience can relate to
7. Repurpose Content
A great way to scale up your content marketing, without starting over each time you want to create a post for a new format, is repurposing your content on different platforms. Content repurposing is now a hot content marketing trend.
But, over the last few years, people’s standards for content have risen a lot. You can no longer just copy and paste a section a section from your blog post and publish it on social media nor can you just read an article into a microphone and call it quits.
But you can match the content to each format.
For example, repurposing a blog post for a YouTube video requires you to add elements at the beginning like a relatable story, use strategies that work well for the video, and rewrite portions to make sense in the new format.
Another example is reusing steps and tips, as you don’t have to repurpose a total piece of content. As an alternative, take the best sections from a current piece of content and reuse them elsewhere. Using this approach allows you to highlight specific, valuable parts of your content on platforms or in different formats.
8. Emerging Topics
Another way for your content to stand out is jumping on developing trends BEFORE they take off.
Use Google Trends to confirm that a keyword is growing or shrinking. And check out the “Related queries” section for your chosen topic.
First, check out a keyword you think might be trending up.
Then, go to the bottom of the page and check out the “Related queries” list.
Although Google-related queries are helpful, a check for exploding topics is better.
9. Improve Content Design
Improve your content design and user experience to suit Google’s algorithms for site speed, navigation ease, and user interaction when ranking websites. When your site loads fast, answers users’ queries, and is easy to navigate, people will stay on your site and interact with it, and they’re more likely to visit other pages of your site.
To improve UX (user experience), you need to:
a) Improving site speed
b) Being thoughtful about pop-up use
c) Design an easy-to-navigate page layout
d) Make call-to-actions and monetization contextually relevant
e) Link only to genuinely helpful content
f) Answer user intent early in your content and not hide important information at the bottom
10. Explainer Visuals
Custom explainer visuals like videos and graphics like screenshots and custom diagrams, are essential in explaining complex concepts.
Focus on creating content that is informative, engaging, and visually appealing.
Design graphics that visually represent data or explain steps needed to do something complex. Establish a YouTube presence. It’s a great place to distribute your content, and Google features YouTube videos on the first page of SERP.
Embedding YouTube videos in your article makes it more engaging and it’s an even greater way to distribute your YouTube videos. If you have a blog and a YouTube channel, embed your videos in your articles to help readers understand the topic even deeper and to increase your video views.
11. Distribute Your Content via Email
Continue distributing content by “personalized” email which involves providing value, encouraging interactions, and building trust. Email is still an important marketing trend.
12. Streamline Content Operations
Streamlined content operations refer to the structured and efficient management of content creation and distribution processes that include:
Setting clear content objectives
Having clear roles and responsibilities
Mapping your content creation process
Organizing tasks and projects
Incorporating effective tools for content planning, writing, and SEO optimization
Continuing to optimize and repurpose your content
Here you have 7 of the most common types of content marketing and future trends. Now you can put a strategy together and work on creating content that will offer real value to your audience and significantly increase your website traffic.
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12 Top Converting Lead Magnet Ideas for Your Business
by Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
If you need a reminder, a lead magnet is a motivation for people to give you their contact information. This incentive is important because the last thing anybody wants is more emails.
However, they do want solutions to problems.
Therefore, when you offer an impressive lead magnet that solves your target audience’s problem, they’ll be much more inclined to give you their email addresses.
When you have their contact information, you can stay in touch, build a relationship with them, and make more offers that grow your business.
We’ll cover 12 top converting lead magnet ideas for your business.
There’s no reason creating a lead magnet should be complicated.
How do you create a great lead magnet?
There are 4 keys to creating a powerful lead magnet:
1. One Problem
In order not to confuse your target audience, focus only on one problem. When people are confused, they won’t take any action.
2. An Easy Win
Provide an easy win. Your target audience wants to see quick results and the best content to help solve a problem.
Don’t confuse the value of a win with the amount of content you include. A 6-hour video course sounds valuable but it’s too much of a time commitment for a lead magnet. Do something that can be acted on immediately.
3. Specificity
Your lead magnet should solve a specific problem.
Give your reader a step-by-step guide. Concentrate on one problem with a quick win, and enter enough information so the person can understand how to get that win.
Never leave someone hanging with a lead magnet that offers no value or one that leaves them confused.
4. A Great Design
Invest in a great design that pleases your users and demonstrates you’re a professional.
Great designs don’t have to be expensive. For a minimal investment, you can use tools like Canva produced by real designers to create a great-looking lead magnet.
What are some lead magnet ideas?
We’ll be covering 12 top converting lead magnet ideas for your business.
1. Discount
Although some businesses offer a one-time discount of as much as 50% to people who sign up for their email list, a small one of 10-15% will do.
2. Product Sample
Since people like to know what they’re getting before they buy, consider giving away a sample of the product, such as the first chapter of a book they can download.
3. Free Shipping
If you ship physical products, free shipping is an outstanding option as shipping charges may stop many people from making a purchase.
By removing the extra cost of shipping from a customer’s first order they’re more likely to buy. You can also include a discount with this.
4. Free Trial
Free trials help you boost your current and future sales. Free trials provide potential customers the opportunity to try before they buy to see if your product or service will work for them.
If it works, they’ll buy it and you’ve gained a customer. If it doesn’t, you’ll still have their email address so you can stay in touch with them and nurture the relationship to potentially convert them into a paying customer later.
5. Templates
Templates are among the most common lead magnet ideas because they offer an instant win.
Most people need some guidance to start a project, and templates offer that guidance.
Visme is an online platform that helps you design presentation materials and it has templates you can use like infographics or charts to build your business’ visual materials.
They have some free templates and the others are reserved to entice visitors to create a paid account.
6. How-to Guides
You can offer a step-by-step how-to guide to relieve the frustration of those needing to do something unfamiliar and complicated.
7. Cheat Sheet
You can offer your target audience lists of the essential points to remember during a process. For example, things to include when composing an email or some great headlines to use to improve the probability of your email being opened.
8. Audio Recording
If you’re more comfortable with audio content than written, recordings are a great lead magnet idea. Similarly, if your target audience likes to listen while on the go, audio recordings work well as a lead magnet.
9. Video
As video in content marketing is growing in popularity, it makes a great lead magnet idea for three reasons:
a) It’s a great way to access your target audience.
b) It helps them get to know you better.
c) It strengthens their trust in you.
Although you can use a series of videos, one that’s well done will work.
10. E-book
Use a short e-book to give your reader a quick win, as they’re a valuable resource. The operative word is short.
11. Email Course
An email course could be a perfect lead magnet for your business if you love email.
Just as with an e-book, don’t provide so much content that you overwhelm your prospect.
12. Free Consultation
If you’re a service provider working with clients, offer a free consultation to determine the kind of help they need.
Since your time is valuable, do keep time limits in mind. Don’t give away too much of it.
We’ve discussed how to create a great lead magnet and presented 12 top converting lead magnet ideas for your business.
As you look at these lead magnet ideas, remember your audience. Keep in mind the problems they face, and the best content to help them solve one of those problems.
Use one of these 12 top converting lead magnet ideas for your business to help solve a prospect’s problem.
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Current Email Marketing Changes
by Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
Whether you’re an experienced marketer or just getting started, these email marketing trends will help you create relevant, engaging, content for now and the future.
As we move forward, trends will redefine how we connect with our audience, measure success, and create our email marketing strategies.
We’re now venturing into the realms of heightened engagement, smarter analytics, and more intuitive user interactions.
Do the latest email marketing trends matter?
Yes. Here are some reasons why email marketing trends matter.
1. Consumer habits and preferences continually evolve with the changing digital landscape. What interested them in the past may not resonate this year.
2. The digital space constantly fluctuates with new technologies appearing quickly. Keeping up-to-date on the latest trends means using new tools and techniques (such as AI and interactive design) to substantially enhance the performance of your email campaigns.
3. Differentiation is key in a crowded digital market. If you adopt the latest trends, you can capture your subscribers’ attention and stand out in their inboxes, capture their attention, and stay ahead of competitors who might be slower to incorporate new methods.
4. The fundamental goal of any marketing plan is to effectively engage customers and drive a strong return on investment. The latest trends in email marketing often offer new ways to increase engagement, enhance personalization, and, ultimately, increase the ROI of your campaigns.
5. With directives like GDPR and changing email standards, staying updated with the latest trends also means ensuring compliance and adhering to best practices.
What are the hottest email marketing trends?
Moving forward, the email marketing landscape is in position for some groundbreaking shifts. These changes are about deep, impactful transformations that respond to the evolving digital environment.
There will be trends that will redefine how we craft our email marketing strategies, connect with our audience, and measure success. There’ll be an exploration of innovations that go beyond the traditional, venturing into areas of heightened engagement, smarter analytics, and more intuitive user interactions.
Email authentication is finally advancing from a best practice to a requirement, especially for high-volume senders. Enforcement is beginning now, signaling a significant shift in the industry’s approach to email authentication.
The following are the new requirements:
1. Authentication
1. Senders must set up SPF (Sender Policy Framework), a layer of protection in email infrastructure, and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), which allows the receiver to check that an email that claimed to have come from a specific domain was actually authorized by the owner of that domain. These protocols are essential for authenticating your emails and proving they’re sent from a legitimate source??.
2. Along with SPF and DKIM, a DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance policy is mandatory. It enables email senders to specify how to handle emails authenticated using SPF or DKIM. Then, these senders can opt to send those emails to the junk folder or block them altogether. This policy doesn’t need to be enforced at the beginning. However, achieving DMARC enforcement is still a best practice for safeguarding against domain spoofing and abuse??.
Only the main points are touched on here, due to the complicated nature of these protocols.
3. The domain in the sender’s “From” header must align with either the SPF or DKIM domain, ensuring uniformity and consistency in the sender’s identity??.
4. It’s essential to maintain valid forward and reverse DNS (Domain Name System) which are also known as PTR records. These records contribute to the legitimacy and traceability of the sending domains and IPs. Domain Name System (DNS) translates a domain name into an IP address to find the owner’s site.
5. Enabling a visible and accessible one-click unsubscribe option is essential for subscription-based messages. This practice augments user experience and aligns with Gmail’s requirements for sustaining low spam rates??.
6. Keep spam rates low, below 0.3%. This metric reflects the sender’s reputation and the effectiveness of their email practices??.
The industry is increasingly focused on security and authenticity. Compliance with these guidelines is crucial for ensuring high deliverability and preserving a good sender reputation. Although these new requirements are from major email service providers like Google and Yahoo, you can expect other inbox providers to announce similar regulations.
2. Generative AI
In the current email marketing changes, Expanded Generative AI is a major leap forward in email marketing technology. It allows marketers to create more effective, personalized email campaigns while saving time and resources. This enhanced AI technology goes beyond basic automation and enables the creation of highly personalized, dynamic content at scale.
AI can generate powerful email content personalized to individual preferences based on user data and past interactions.
Generative AI greatly reduces the time and effort needed to create varied and engaging email campaigns.
Although you might think that AI-generated content may not be very engaging, it has the potential to be the most engaging. As a marketer, you are limited in the personalization and segmentation of your marketing campaigns. The same restrictions don’t apply to Generative AI.
3. Interactive email experiences
With the current email marketing changes, you’ll see emails changing from static messages into dynamic, engaging experiences. There’ll be more embedded widgets and features incorporating elements like surveys, polls, and quizzes directly within the email.
Rich media integration using videos, gifs, and other things to make emails more visually appealing and engaging.
There’ll be real-time content updates based on user actions or external factors, like stock levels or weather conditions.
You’ll see game-like elements incorporated like spin-to-win features and scratch cards, plus, interactive CTA (call-to-action buttons) that animate, change color, or expand upon hover or click, providing immediate feedback to the user.
4. Minimalistic designs
Layouts will be cleaner, color schemes will be simplified, and minimal text with easy-to-read fonts will be used for succinctness and clarity. The focus will be on content and faster load times.
5. Mobile focus
With the current email marketing changes, designing emails with a mobile focus is a must, since the majority of emails being opened are on mobile devices. Although we know this, it still seems that mobile design is an afterthought. That might be because we’re often designing and planning email campaigns from a desktop.
6. BIMI adoption
Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) is an email authentication protocol that allows brands to display their logo next to their email in the inbox, thus, enhancing brand visibility and trust. Although it’s relatively new, you’ve probably seen a few well-known brands using this in the inbox.
7. New metrics focus
Marketers and senders will start looking at metrics beyond open rates, and businesses will use other key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge the value and performance of their email campaigns like:
Engagement over time
Email influence on the customer journey
Subscribe lifetime value
Conversion rate, and
List growth rate
These current email marketing changes emphasize the continuous advancement of email marketing.
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Should You Run a Business from Home?
by Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
This is a great time for you as an entrepreneur to consider starting your own home business.
Due to the rise of digital technology, there are many more opportunities than ever before to launch a successful business from your home. There are plenty of home businesses to choose from, whether you want to build a full-time career or are just looking for some extra income. Your choice ranges from online tutoring and freelance writing to selling products on Etsy and drop shipping. So, should you run a business from home? In this article, you’ll find answers to some questions you may have and information you need to get started.
CONSIDER THESE FACTORS BEFORE STARTING A HOME BUSINESS
1. Is there enough space?
Before launching your business, you have to know how much space you need to operate and flourish. You absolutely must maintain a separation between your business and your personal living space.
You can make your choice in one of two ways. First, check out your living space and see if there’s a place for boundaries to create a work area that is free of distractions.
Do you have a spare bedroom, study, or a quiet corner off your living room that you can use?
The second choice is to make a list of the materials and equipment you’ll need. If you can imagine putting new printers, monitors, cables, wires, mic stands, and boxes in this workspace, then go for it.
If not, you might want to consider renting a small workspace. That would be an added cost, however, a separation between business and personal living space is of utmost importance.
To avoid frustration, keep a buffer between your work area and where you rest. You don’t want your business activities to disrupt the flow of how you live and relax.
2. Is a special license required?
Before starting a home business, you should check with your attorney who can ask you important questions regarding how you’ll operate and the types of services or products you’ll offer.
If you need inventory or machinery, you might need special licenses or certificates.
Before you purchase any materials, inventory, or equipment, talk with your attorney and local government officials.
Although there will be a fee, it will be much less than the frustration and headaches of fixing mistakes after your business is moving along. It’s best to ask for advice first rather than start your business and have to shut it down later.
3. Is permission required?
You may need to get permission to operate your home business if you live in an apartment building or your home is part of a homeowner association. Read your lease or check with your landlord before altering your apartment to suit your business.
Check with your board president or the association’s attorney.
If you’ll have clients or customers visiting your business, there could be parking challenges, or if your business creates any excess noise or disturbance it will probably upset your neighbors.
4. Is there a need for special equipment?
If you start a home business in the pet care, catering, or retail area you may need special equipment.
You’ll need a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection. If you need machines, bulky items, or containers, be sure they’ll fit in your living space, your furniture is protected, and your family is safe.
Otherwise, consider renting an office or commercial space.
5. Do you have the right business strategy?
Create your business strategy before deciding to buy equipment, build a website, and market your brand.
Consider the following:
In which area will you participate?
What distinctive skills or abilities do you have to compete?
Which customers will need your solutions?
How will you set apart your business from your competition?
It’s vital you craft your strategy FIRST and your plan SECOND.
Your business strategy needs to find and fix 1 BIG problem.
Once you have your strategy, you can then develop a plan to carry it out.
You can begin to work on your website, marketing message, pricing strategy and the tech part.
Decide on your social media strategy and decide which platforms will work best for your ideal customer profile; TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, or Instagram.
What are the benefits of starting a home business?
Starting a home business can be a very rewarding experience. If you have the right planning and dedication, you can have a steady source of income and a lot of flexibility.
The following are some benefits of starting a home business:
1. Low Start-Up Costs
Compared to traditional businesses, the start-up costs are minimal. Therefore, as an entrepreneur, it’s easier to get your business off the ground without having to invest a lot of money upfront.
2. Flexibility
When you work from home, you can set your own hours and work when it’s convenient. This can be especially beneficial if you have family commitments or other responsibilities that make it difficult to commit to a regular 9-5 job.
3. Tax Benefits
Your home business is eligible for certain tax deductions which can help reduce your overall tax burden.
4. Increased Productivity
When you work from home, there are fewer distractions and interruptions which can increase productivity. You can focus on the tasks at hand and get more done in less time.
5. Personal Satisfaction
Starting a business from home can give you a sense of personal satisfaction, a sense of pride, and accomplishment as you’ve created something from nothing.
What are the pros and cons of starting a home business?
Pros:
1. Low Overhead Costs
It’s easier for entrepreneurs to get their businesses started, as most of the equipment and supplies needed can be purchased or rented at low cost which saves you from having to invest large sums of money.
2. Flexible Hours
Working from home allows you to set your own hours and work at your convenience. This is especially beneficial if you have a family or other commitments that prevent you from working a traditional 9-5 job.
3. Tax Benefits
Your home business is eligible for certain tax benefits that can reduce your overall taxes.
Cons:
1. Limited Resources
Unlike larger companies, home businesses often lack marketing budgets, experienced employees, and access to capital.
2. Isolation
In a traditional office setting, there is lots of interaction with colleagues. As an entrepreneur working from home, you may not have this level of interaction.
3. Distractions
There are often more distractions than in a traditional office setting. It can be difficult to focus on tasks and complete projects on time.
How to Balance Work and Family Life While Running a Home Business
1. Set Boundaries
Set clear boundaries between work life and family life. Set specific hours for work and family time. Also, designate certain areas of your home for each activity.
2. Prioritize
Be sure to prioritize your family over the business. You need to take time off to spend with your family and be sure you are present during important events.
3. Schedule Breaks
To be sure you’re not overworking, schedule regular breaks throughout the day. This ensures you stay focused and productive and will also allow you to spend quality time with your family.
4. Utilize Technology
To make your life easier, take advantage of technology. You can use tools like online calendars, video conferencing, and task management software to simplify your workflow and increase efficiency.
5. Outsource
To free up more time for you to focus on your family and other parts of your life, consider outsourcing non-essential business tasks.
So, should you run a business from home?
Running a business from your home can be a great way to become your own boss and attain financial freedom. Nevertheless, it’s most important to carefully weigh the pros and cons before making the decision to start a business from your home.
With the right strategy and a plan in place, you can successfully balance your work and family life and achieve success.
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How to Avoid Grammar Mistakes While Writing
By Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
So, you’re using your great copywriting skills to create sales or marketing material to influence prospects toward making a purchase.
While so doing, be sure that your content is grammatically correct. Sometimes that autocorrect, you’re using while typing, won’t catch grammar mistakes.
For information on avoiding at least ten grammar mistakes, check out this article.
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Generate Brand Awareness With Content Marketing
By Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
You can generate brand awareness, persuade customers to take action, and drive revenue with an engaging content marketing strategy.
There are many types of platforms, channels, and media encompassed in content marketing. This is a review of what you need for content marketing success, moving forward, and some of the best content marketing tools.
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MLM Marketing Online
by Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
To build a business in this day and age, you need to use some form of MLM online for the duplication process.
The old form of MLM required people to attend meetings, and conferences, and to do in-person recruiting to build their teams and grow their businesses.
Now, everyone wants to be able to be on their phone or laptop and successfully recruit new distributors and build a money-making side business. Here are two strategies for doing MLM marketing online.
Strategy #1 – Social Media
Social media has taken over, and there are people who have never known a world where social media didn’t exist.
Every day people spend hours online. It’s how many socialize, get entertainment, news, and communicate and participate with others.
So anyone in MLM should be using social media to market their business. It’s not hard to do and is a simple way to meet people and prospect them for your business.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this. Most people fail because they forget to act like humans and just start spamming their business and product links on their personal profiles, on pages, in groups, and in private messages on messenger to perfect strangers.
This does not work.
When it comes to links for your MLM business or product, do NOT:
Post them on your personal page
Post them in groups
Post them on pages or as a reply to other peoples’ comments and
NEVER send a link to anyone in a message without first having their permission
For success in MLM, you only have to meet as many people as you can, get them to know, like, and trust you, and then ask them if they’re open to looking at your opportunity.
If you do this on a daily basis, you’ll be successful.
Let’s use Facebook as an example.
You should be adding friends daily, about 5 at a time and up to 20 a day. Don’t overdo it, as you will be shut down by FB.
You can join pages and groups that interest you, and start talking with these people and adding them as friends.
Facebook has a feature where they suggest friends to you. These are friends of friends you already have.
Add those people and send them a message that states something like:
Facebook suggested we become friends. I sent a friend request. I see we both know so and so. How are you?
Get to know your new friends by commenting on their posts, messaging them, and having normal conversations.
You’re growing your network, so take your time and don’t rush. When the time is right in the relationship, you can ask them if they’re receptive to looking at your business.
With some friends, it could take 2 to 4 days, while others may take a month or longer.
It doesn’t matter, because you’re consistently adding people as friends and engaging with them.
Strategy #2 – Create Influence
Influence is a strong and powerful thing. Just about all of the top earners have it in some form. Unlike offline influence, which is hard and takes a long time, online influence is quite simple and straightforward.
You can do it by creating your personal Facebook profile (or any social media profile) and by using what is called Attraction Marketing.
You start by focusing on whom you want to recruit, and by picking a target audience. These are people who you do or can relate to; realtors, hikers, bikers, people interested in good health, etc.
Now that you’ve chosen your target market you need to set up your profile in a way that they’ll find attractive. You need a nice personal picture and a compelling cover photo. Your about me section should sound appealing.
Don’t mention or refer to your business or product in any way, shape, or form.
Now, start posting things that your target market will find interesting, informative, educational, and entertaining.
Let people get to know, like, and trust you by posting things about yourself and your life. Show them posts of you out and about enjoying life and having a good time with friends, family, etc.
Then you can post about your business or product but do it sparingly.
Only post about your MLM business or product about 10% of the time. When you do post about the business, just give hints. Don’t give everything away.
Instead, make people curious by giving them a little bit of information about what you’re doing but not everything, like a movie preview.
Don’t say the name of your business or product. Don’t post a link, and don’t make spammy posts like: “I’m looking for 4 people to help me make $1200 in the next month.”
Attraction Marketing uses marketing techniques such as blogging, Facebook advertising, video marketing, and email marketing to set you up as an authority in your chosen niche.
When you use these marketing methods, people get to know, like, and trust you as an expert in your niche. They’ll look up to you and will want to work with you and buy from you.
Using these 2 strategies for MLM marketing online should enable you to easily transfer skills from the old form of MLM business building to today’s online method.
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Marketing Trends and Strategies for 2023
by Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
New approaches are necessary as the success of marketing strategies becomes more dependent on real-time data and evolving technology.
As third-party research and data are becoming less relevant, getting to know your audience doesn’t look the same as before. New analytics tools are providing up-to-the-second details on which campaigns work and which ones should be done away with.
To make an emotional connection, you need marketing strategies that integrate branding and storytelling, not just promos and PR. Brand stories and values inspire audiences and also give them reasons, besides a rock-bottom price, to make purchases.
Storytelling, using someone who is well-liked and trusted, humanizes a brand and builds customer relationships. Satisfied clients and influencers can be effective sources of content for videos, blog posts, and general campaigns.
What are some top marketing trends?
1. Video marketers will use short content.
Getting to the point with short-form videos can actually be very effective. They not only take less bandwidth but this type of format aligns well with the short attention span of online audiences in a variety of demographics.
2. Social media will become a customer service tool.
This is relativity new and it’s no coincidence that this trend is emerging when many social media platforms are expanding their e-commerce capabilities thus making providing customer service on these platforms even more crucial.
3. More businesses will leverage SEO
We marketers must make sure our websites and content are as discoverable as possible, especially on Google, which can provide both long-term and short-term traffic returns. While SEO is not new, its strategies are becoming more and more ingrained within today’s marketing strategies.
As interest and need for SEO strategies grow, so do search optimization opportunities. With the evolving of Google algorithms, SEO has become about more than churning out basic posts that answer simple search inquiries.
4. Mobile optimization will be even more important.
As people are spending more and more time on mobile devices, especially millennials and Gen Z who continue to grow buying power, mobile-optimized digital experiences will be even more crucial to consider as a business owner who markets to these fast-paced, highly connected generations.
Mobile experiences aren’t just important on brand websites, they’re also important in other key marketing strategies such as delivering mobile email experiences to subscribers.
5. Inbound marketing will remain a best practice.
As outbound marketing tactics have become less effective in reaching prospects and leads, inbound marketing has become a valuable asset to create brand awareness and build trust, digitally, through refocusing strategy to drive customers to seek out your content.
Inbound marketing requires you to produce good quality, valuable content tailored toward your target audience and buyer personas and their needs.
6. More brands will test out native ads.
Native ads work. When you pay to feature your content on a third-party website, you’re investing in native advertising which is designed to blend in and promote your brand to a new audience that, otherwise, might not learn about you.
Native ads don’t feel like traditional ads so consumers are more likely to view them, especially over banner ads.
You can find examples of native ads on social media, content recommendation platforms (those links to various other content you can click at the bottom of the page to read more on or related to the topic), through search engine results, or in campaigns.
What are some strategies?
1. Cohesive customer experiences.
Although customers don’t interact with brands through a single method or channel, they expect a personalized, tailored experience that speaks directly to their needs.
Marketers need to understand specific interactions in the customer’s entire journey and focus on a complete experience, not a point-in-time campaign.
To better understand your user experience, you can create a customer journey map (you can do a Google search for “customer journey map”) which is a visual representation of how a customer acts, thinks, and feels through the buying process. It can be a valuable tool for creating a cohesive experience.
2. Improved user experience across devices.
User experience or UX refers to how a person feels when interacting with a system. A good UX design will provide a positive experience that fulfills users’ needs and keeps them loyal to your product or brand.
Your website and/or app is probably your most valuable marketing asset, and a great UX can make all the difference when convincing consumers to become customers.
When you design your site, keep the layout simple and include easy-to-use navigation. Don’t overwhelm users with too much information on the main landing pages.
Also, optimize your website for mobile, especially since more than half of users worldwide use their phones to browse the web.
3. Voice search tactics for SEO.
Marketers are beginning to leverage voice search as a search engine optimization (SEO) tool. These digital assistants are designed to answer short, informational queries such as “Who painted the Sistine Chapel and “What’s the weather in San Francisco?” but they’ve also started to process more customized searches, like “What coffee shops are open near me?” and, “Do they serve lattes?”
Businesses’ responses are how they frame information. To answer readers’ questions based on intent, creators are opting for more conversational question-and-answer formats so that when consumers use voice search, they’ll get high-quality, accurate responses more quickly.
4. Conversational marketing.
Conversational marketing uses targeted messaging and AI automation to engage with people when they’re on your website instead of directing people to lead capture forms and waiting for a response.
This digital marketing trend employs intelligent chatbots with machine learning and natural language processing (NLP), which allows customers to have a two-way conversation with a brand. Shifting from an asynchronous way of marketing to real-time conversations presents a major learning curve as conversational marketing grows in 2023.
5. Interactive content.
If you’ve used the internet within the past decade, you’ve likely come across interactive content without even realizing it.
Today’s audiences want content that demands attention. Marketers are developing dynamic, two-way experiences that encourage active engagement from their target audiences with content such as:
Quizzes
Interactive infographics
Calculators
Games
Assessments
Contests
Interactive videos
Interactive maps
Interactive content is a great trend to try if your content marketing goals include:
Enhanced audience engagement
Improved customer learning
More leads and conversions
Increased brand loyalty
Streamlining the customer experience
By keeping up with current marketing trends and strategies and shifting to real-time marketing and campaigns, you can design strategies that create profitable relationships instead of short-term results.
Marketing strategies are road maps that include tactics for converting audience interest into sales. But, plans are only as good as the data that updates them. Shifting to real-time market and campaign insights leads to messages that persuade and connect with the people behind the numbers. Brands that don’t lose sight of why audiences convert, can design strategies that create profitable relationships instead of short-term results.
With these marketing trends and strategies for 2023 tips, you have an overview of what the future holds.
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How Long Should Your Blog Articles Be?
by Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
You shouldn’t be overly concerned about word count when writing content. The quality is what really matters.
Due to recent algorithm updates, shorter articles are ranking better. But this is also related to changes in the way we consume content. The ideal length also changes significantly across industries.
Tech websites use fairly short articles that are commentaries on a product, technology development, or an event.
Fashion is another industry that uses short posts. These readers don’t care about the history of a trend or how garments are made. What you’re going to see are thousands of articles about which looks are hot and how to recreate them.
Job recruitment topics usually range from 900 – 1,000 words. Job hunters don’t have the time to read thousands of words. They want to find new employment quickly.
Food Bloggers can use around 1,200 words to cover an introduction and an in-depth recipe.
Finance, sales, and healthcare are some industries that still benefit from the comprehensiveness and depth of long-form content. As these industries cover fairly complex topics, it’s almost always necessary to go beyond 2,000 words in order to satisfy readers’ interest.
Retail, manufacturing, marketing, food, and travel use mid-length articles of 1,000 – 2,000 words to cover information. This remains the most common article length.
Keep your target audience in mind at all times, as you choose your blog topics and how much content to write for each. If you know their needs can be met with less than 1,000 words, don’t waste their time with fluff.
While doing research for this article, I came across this quote from Ryan Velez, freelance writer and editor:
Ideal blog length has always evolved over time. As a response to the wave of 750-word content, things expanded to be a lot more comprehensive, 2,500 words-plus. Now, with the wave of AI-generated content flooding the internet, word count doesn’t guarantee quality to the same degree. Combine that with the ‘TikTok Effect,’ and ideal content size is smaller now and quicker to get to the point. Think 1,500 to 2,000 words.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a long-term strategy used with the goal of building relationships with your target audience by methodically delivering high-quality, relevant content that educates and ultimately makes sales.
Long-Form Content vs. Short-Form
Web users are becoming smarter. Searches using long-tailed keywords increase daily. These users want specific answers to specific questions. So, your content strategy needs to match their increasing knowledge.
Creating content with a high word count allows the you to feel a sense of achievement you don’t get when writing 500-word articles. Marketers are feeling like they have to create long-form content to get a toehold in the SERPs.
But the times are changing. Users are falling in love with short-form content. It’s part of the reason U.S. adults spend up to an hour on TikTok.
Over 50 percent of business videos are less than two minutes long.
Combine these statistics with the fact that more and more adults believe attention spans are getting shorter, and it’s easy to see why consumers are placing greater emphasis and trust in concise articles that quickly answer their questions.
So, back to the question, how long should your blog articles be?
Two decades ago, the average article length was between 500-800 words. By the mid-2010s, articles were in excess of 2,000 words.
There are multiple reasons for this which include the way readers scan articles online and the psychology of equating length with quality.
Now, more concise articles are the trend. Although these aren’t quite as short as 800 words, they are short enough to quickly answer readers’ questions.
As you can see, longer is not necessarily better, neither is shorter. There is no one correct answer for blog article length. It’s dependent upon the industry. Your focus should be on quality not quantity or rankings.
Focus on top-quality content and promote it effectively rather than on how much to write.
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