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.

One of the most effective ways to attract potential customers to your website is using SEO correctly. By ranking on the top page of the SERP (Search Engine Results Pages) you generate organic traffic.

You want to increase your online visibility. If you have a strong internet presence, it helps consumers find and learn about you and ultimately purchase from you. As you search for online marketing tips, you’ll find advice about blogging for SEO, creating landing pages, and more. The bottom line is “there’s one vital part to digital marketing that can make or break these tactics and strategies: keywords.”

Keywords relate heavily to digital marketing because that’s how potential customers do searches like on Google, by typing in a particular word or phrase.

Keywords need to be something users will search for, relevant to your brand, and terms that can be seamlessly integrated into all your online content.

Once you know which keywords to focus on… Continue here


Your Web Hosting Essentials

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.

Copywriting requires you to be skillful at crafting headlines. If you have a great headline there’s a better chance of getting what you’ve written read by more busy consumers. But, keeping your audiences engaged is easier said than done.

Below are 15 copywriting tips to capture the interest of busy consumers.


1. Important Information Is Bold Or Bulleted

People don’t really read. They just skim, reading only the headline and bolded or bulleted information.


2. Make Your Copy Professional And Persuasive

Don’t be too basic or mainstream. Be original and fun and give your reader a reason to engage.


3. Help Consumers Connect With Their Emotions

Make your audience feel something about themselves, not you. Their own emotions will induce them to take action.


4. Use A Short Introduction

Get straight to the point, because your readers want to learn something new that’s relevant to them.


5. Use Simplicity

Take a simple approach. Skip the banter and get to the point. Busy consumers want solutions to their problems, so give it to them and quickly offer a CTA.


6. Cover Your Point(s) Quickly

Grab people’s attention and quickly get to the point. Your audience is busy, so get your message to stand out and get to the point then deliver your CTA.


7. Delay Details

Start with the main topic and deliver details later. Busy people are not going to read a boring introduction. If the juicy part of your information is intriguing, they will read more.


8. Skip The Clever Buildup

Don’t waste a lot of time on a clever buildup. If you do, your reader may just move on before getting to the most important takeaway.


9. Know Your Audience

You must know your audience so that you can craft a message, that is immediately relevant.


10. State Exactly What You Want The Reader To Know

Start at the end and then build to support your value proposition by unpacking details a few seconds at a time, thus earning the attention of your audience.


11. Use Multiple Headlines Throughout Your Content

This makes your content skimmable and indicates what’s coming next. Limit detailed information by using links to detailed articles on the subject.


12. Ask Questions

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Asking questions, taking strong notes, and recording responses will help yield the best results in the shortest amount of time. Don’t try to be perfect. Get a draft out quickly and write with confidence.


13. Keep Your Message Short

You only have a few seconds to convince people to read what you have to say. So, keep your message as concise as possible.


14. Refine Your Core Message

For copywriting, start by using paragraph form, then cut that down to a statement of one or two sentences. Then whittle your core message down to a phrase.


15. Strike A Happy Medium

When dealing with busy consumers, you need to capture your audience’s attention while keeping the message straight and to the point.

By using these 15 copywriting tips to capture the interest of busy consumers, you can stay focused on your intent and better deliver your message to your audiences.

Source: Forbes.com



Your Autoresponder and More

by Rahimah Sultan

Content is your sales pitch, billboard, brochure, and portfolio all combined into one.

To have success at Internet marketing, you must have planned content.

As a blogger, social media strategist, or professional marketer you need well-organized content.

You have to master the engineering and architectural sides of good content development.

Your content needs to be well written, shareable, educational, and it should confirm your reputation as an authority.

You can read more here.

Get Your Business System With Autoresponder Here

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 part 1 of Beginner Blogger Mistakes to Avoid, we discussed 6 mistakes.

Following are the remaining mistakes to avoid:


7. Not tying specific posts into the larger picture.

Specific posts should relate to the broader picture and to your readers’ concerns.


Solution: Identify the problems and concerns they’re facing.

What will be the benefit for readers taking action?

What do they think are the consequences of not taking action?


8. Using stream-of-consciousness writing style.

You don’t want your writing to be a brain dump. People usually scan a blog post. So, it needs to be well organized.


Solution: Use a template, outline, and section headers.

Write an outline before you begin your post.

Make a list of the top things you want readers to get from your post. Then, pare those into larger section headers. Putting in a section header every few paragraphs. This makes your blog post more enjoyable and easier to read.


9. Relying on the conceptual rather than concrete.

Don’t rely on conceptional and vague ideas. Include actual, actionable steps to be taken for success.


Solution: Include actionable steps to achieve success.

Content creation should be useful. Your audience should be given something. It could be a “how-to” recommendation for a particular strategy or simply a suggestion for a tool or tactic to make a process easier.


10. Not using data as evidence.

When you make claims in your post, use data and research to back them up.


Solution: Use data to support your statements.

If you say that people prefer one social media platform over another, you need to show proof of your argument.

Some places to find great data include:

Hubspot Research

Pew Research Center

Marketing Sherpa

HubSpot’s State of Inbound Report


11. Not adding enough context.

Not using examples to back up that what you say is important.


Solution: Use visual aids and additional content to illustrate your ideas.

Saying that one product is a better bargain than another is fine. Don’t just make the statement and move on. Add more content to show why by actually comparing the two and showing the additional benefits of the one over the other. Write for the person who’s just learning about your topic.

For more specificity, you can hyperlink to other posts that relate to your current topic.


12. Borderline Plagiarizing

Don’t copy and paste content to your blog. Your post must be in your own words and in your style of writing.


Solution: Give proper credit.

If you quote someone’s content, you must cite the source.


13. Not Editing.

You’re not done when you finish writing the post.


Solution: You must take time to edit your writing.

Proofread your post. Check for typos, sentence structure, there/their type mistakes, format, and flow.


14. Trying to be perfect.

Don’t try to be perfect. It won’t work. You’ll always find one more thing to correct.


Solution: Publish. You can update later.

After you’ve put in about thirty minutes editing, just publish the post. You can always update it at a later time.


15. Not being consistent.

It’s important to be consistent for your sake and so your subscribers learn to know what to expect.


Solution: Use a calendar.

Before you start blogging, set up a planning strategy that includes how often to post, dates to post, when to do related duties to prepare for each post such as research, the actual writing, etc.

You can use Google Calendar, excel spreadsheets, other sources or just make your own when first starting to blog.


16. Concentrating on fast traffic.

Your focus should be on long-term traffic.


Solution: The ROI of your blog is the accumulation of organic traffic over time.

Publish content that has durable relevance on a consistent basis, to help drive traffic. This is known as “evergreen” content. It’s great quality and is relevant year after year with minimal attention required.


17. Not growing your subscription list.

To get traffic, leads, and eventual customers you need to get subscribers. You can add a call to action (CTA) to your blog to grow subscribers.


Solution: Set up a subscription CTA and email newsletter.

Use your email marketing tool to set up a welcome email for new subscribers and place a simple sign-up form at the top of your blog. You can also use PPC advertising, email, and dedicated landing pages for subscribers that direct people through channels like social media and other pages on your website.

Some other things you can do include offering incentives for signups, promoting on your “About Us” page, adding footers that act like CTAs to blog articles, and using SEO (search engine optimization) for each article you post.

These are beginner blogger mistakes to avoid.

Not making these mistakes and using the suggested solutions to avoid them should set you well on your way to productive blogging.


Your Autoresponder and More

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.

When you tell people that you blog for a living, they think it’s easy, that you just sit at home all day on the internet writing. They say anyone can do that!

But, when they actually try it, they realize it’s much harder than they thought. At first, they make many mistakes like any beginner.

The challenges are pretty easy to avoid if you know they’re coming.

Below are some common mistakes most beginners make and some tips for avoiding them.


What is a blog?

A blog is short for weblog, a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page. — Wikipedia

Blogs can help you establish authority in your industry, drive traffic to your website, convert traffic into leads, and grow your business.


What are the most common blog post mistakes?

1. You think of ideas that only interest you.

No matter how great you think your post is, you’re writing for other people.


Solution: Blog posts should reflect your company’s or your site’s larger goals.

You’re blogging to offer solutions to your audience’s problems and to grow your business. All of your blog posts should be written with these goals in mind and have a natural tie-in to issues in your industry while addressing specific questions and concerns of your prospects.


2. You forget about your persona.

If you want your blog content to generate traffic, leads, and sales, it must resonate with your audience and make them take action. You have to have an idea of the person you’re trying to reach – age group, interests, male, female, income range, etc.


Solution: Understand your persona’s problems and frustrations and solve them.

You can bridge the gap with your content by defining your buyer persona and the things that are important to them.


3. Your writing is too rigid.


You should write like you talk, in a style that is effortless to read.


Solution: Write blogs that are personable.

So, relax your style of writing and be more conversational. Use contractions. Throw in a pun or two.


4. You think people care about you as a writer.

People care more about what you can teach them than they do about you and your experiences.


Solution: Show your personality without obscuring the subject.

You can introduce parts of your personality in your writing to make people feel at ease. Some people crack jokes, some reference pop culture, and others use vivid descriptions in their writing.

The choice is yours. Make your tone personal and engaging, as if you’re in a face-to-face conversation.


5. You digress

Although you’re encouraged to let your personality shine through when you’re writing, don’t abuse the privilege. Don’t bring up too many personal experiences that bury the point you’re trying to make.

Don’t digress into these personal anecdotes and analogies too much — your readers aren’t sitting in front of you, which means you can’t guarantee that you have their undivided attention. They may lose patience and bounce from your article.


Solution: Assert your argument repeatedly.

Restate your point in every section of the article, to prevent your writing from losing its audience. Commit to an overarching message and deliver it gradually, repeating it several times throughout the post.

State your main point upfront. Don’t spend several paragraphs telling a story of how you came to do a certain thing before getting to the main focus of your post.


6. Not narrowing your topic.

Don’t use topics like:

“Internet Marketing”

“How to do Social Media Marketing”

“Digital Marketing”

These topics are too broad. To get the most short-term and long-term benefits of your blogging, you need to be very specific.


Solution: Start with a clear, concise idea.

A working title isn’t final — it’s just a solid perspective to keep your writing on track. Once you get this stage right it’s much easier to write your posts.

This is a link to some sources to get ideas. (I get no commission)

https://coursemethod.com/blog-topic-generator-tool.html



Your Autoresponder and More

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.

What is burnout?

Burnout is the accumulation of work-related stress coupled with continued pressure to perform at an increased level over time without sufficient breaks and downtime.

What are the signs of stress?

1. Fight response

People who have a fight response to stress may have increased irritability and anger. They may have an urge to lash out, raise their voice, be accusatory toward others or the situation. This response can also show in their physical demeanor such as tightening of parts of the body and muscles, and high blood pressure.

2. Freeze response

The freeze response is manifested in an inability to concentrate, the mind freezing or locking up, brain fog, and forgetfulness. Those suffering this response may be avoiding certain situations and distancing themselves from others, and are becoming demotivated at work and in other parts of life.

3. Flight response

The flight response can cause people to become restless, fidgety, and unable to sleep. People suffering this response to stress may be having anxiety-like symptoms, such as a tight chest, affected breathing, stomach pains and excess sweating.




How do you manage stress?

If you notice any of these symptoms, it’s important to manage them as quickly as possible in order to avoid burnout and to keep your brain and body functioning in a healthy way.

Following are some things you can do to avoid burnout.

Sleep

Establish a consistent bedtime routine, so your body and brain know when to start winding down. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.

Do not exercise, use caffeine, nicotine or alcohol for a half hour before going to bed, and limit blue light exposure from mobile devices. This will improve sleep and good quality rest.

Exercise and movement

Aerobic exercise will pump endorphins through the body, reducing stress. And, physical activity leads to positive physical effects, such as improving cardiovascular, digestive and immune health and can protect the body.

Do not over-exercise. Exercising too much and too hard without adequate recovery can add to the burden on the nervous system. Those who like to do intense exercise might want to do less to give their nervous system more recovery time. Choosing other types of exercise like walking, yoga, and pilates instead of some of the more strenuous workouts during the week, can be beneficial.

Along with exercise, daily pick-me-ups such as spending 10 minutes in a park or the garden can be beneficial in minimizing stress. Fresh air and greenery are instant mood boosters that do not require putting time aside like a long, strenuous workout. These also provide the necessary regular breaks from work and help avoid burnout.

Journaling

Reflecting through writing is an effective way to manage stress, since it encourages you to explore the cause of your stress. It’s a good way to gain a deeper understanding of stress by putting it into words and then working to improve the root causes of negative stressors.

Reflecting will also provide the tools to mindfully treat stress triggers, rather than simply managing the symptoms of the stress. This will reduce overall stress as problems are solved and removed, leading to greater long-term confidence and avoiding burnout.

Take a break from technology

While on a morning walk before starting work or while attempting to wind down after dinner, we can be tempted to check messages and emails. Thus, the home office space becomes blended into the living space. This constant exposure to work-related technology can have psychological consequences and lead to an inability to switch off.

Social media can lead to distraction and prevent you from getting tasks done, and this can lead to work backlog, and ultimately contribute to burnout. Set clear parameters for work time.

Be conscious of how much time you spend on social media and look for ways to reduce this.

Maintaining Social Connections

Control what you can. Feeling like you have no control over your situation is another common burnout contributor.

It’s very powerful to accept that you cannot control certain things, and work on what you can.

Try some relaxation techniques, from breathing to mindfulness, which engage the parasympathetic nervous system.

And you can always share your concerns and fears with your trusted social connections.

Prioritize and plan

Regularly step back and look at what needs to be done in order of priority, and direct your energy accordingly. Do not let the small, less-important tasks overly absorb your limited energy.

Look at the big picture and make a plan. Then break the plan down into smaller tasks that you can direct your energy toward on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis, until you feel like you’ve got things under control.

At the beginning of the day write a to-do list. At the end of the workday look at what you achieved to remind yourself of how much you do and recognize what you can let go of.

Remain focused and don’t be afraid to say ‘no’ to things that distract from your plan.

When you have the tools to recognize and manage stress and burnout, you can take control and manage many of the variables that can contribute to this. Stress and burnout are something that we all experience at various stages in our lives, but we have inner resources such as adaptation skills and resilience.

So, the first step in avoiding burnout while working from home is recognition and then taking the necessary steps to alleviate it.



Your Autoresponder and More

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.

There are several trends and technologies that have emerged over the last several months that point to what the future likely holds. There is increasing use of chatbots, a focus on voice-driven search optimization, and the use of artificial intelligence. Added to these top three are podcasts and video.

Due to an increasingly cluttered communication environment, marketers are seeking ways to better engage with their target audiences. Personalization is a trend they believe holds promise.

“Technology is having a real impact for marketers, improving efficiencies and boosting customer satisfaction. Here, experts weigh in on what marketers can expect going forward.”

Please read this article for more information on these developments.

Hosting and more

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.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is the act of selling products and services utilizing the internet through social media, SEO, email, and mobile apps. It’s basically any form of marketing involving electronic devices. It can be done online and offline.

For a well-rounded digital marketing strategy, both online and offline are important.


Why does digital marketing matter?

Digital marketing matters because that’s where the attention is. Google and Facebook control more eyeballs than any traditional media company.


There are four main categories of digital marketing:

1. Enhanced offline marketing

This type of marketing is entirely offline but is enhanced with electronic devices.

An example is restaurants using iPads for customers to create orders.

When you walk into an Apple Store these days you see people leaning over iPads, Macbooks, and iPhones.


2. Radio marketing

Radio marketing was introduced to the world by Guglielmo Marconi who transmitted the first wireless signals. While it took a few years for radio to reach the general public, people realized they could use it for selling.

This was the birth of digital marketing.

In recent years, radio moved to having hosts read a script you or they have written that promotes your product.

To set up a sponsorship find your local radio stations with a Google search. The stations should be able to provide data to help you select the right audience whose reflects your company’s target demographic.

For example, if you’re promoting infant car seats, you want to find a radio program whose average listener is female between the ages of 24 and 40.


3. Television marketing

Television marketing is the industry where the most money is spent each year. The average American 18 and older spend more than four hours a day watching TV. This includes shows that are streamed.

TV in the form we knew is dying out. If you plan on doing offline digital marketing, It’s best to “spend your time and money focusing on a marketing platform or channel of the future.”


4. Phone marketing

More Americans are using their phones to access the internet than desktop PC or laptop.

Every phone has two apps – calling and texting.

You can do cold calling (trying to sell people a product with no prior contact), although you can’t scale as on social media or with email.


Marketing via texting works better.

If you’re a restaurant, you can offer special deals, coupons, and discounts to get more customers and turn walk-ins into regulars.


Pharmacies use text reminders, as customer service, to alert customers when their prescription is ready to be picked up.


You can use QR codes for customers to access your webpage. There’s no special app needed, since all you need to do is scan the code with your smartphone to open the page.


The internet is not the only place for marketers to have success today, although every marketer will, eventually, have to master online marketing.


The offline and online marketing worlds are running into each other. Devices such as refrigerators, ovens, and even billboards are all being modernized to leverage digital media.


Using a few of these offline marketing tactics can help you avoid putting all your eggs into one basket and help diversify your lead generation beyond social media, content marketing, and such.



Your Autoresponder and More

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.

Are you the only person in your business or are you just starting a business?

You can run a small business on your own, although it requires planning and lots of patience.

You need to write your business plan, meet with a business advisor to discuss activating your plans, and have patience.

Your business plan needs to include the right business structure. You’ll need to prioritize tasks and set goals.


Following are 5 tips for starting a one-person business:


1) Start as a Side Business


Continue reading…


Your Autoresponder and More

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.

What is creativity?

This is in the dictionary:  1: the quality of being creative   2: the ability to create

A Google check shows this: the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.

These are just for starters. Of course, you can find many more definitions and even come up with some of your own.

Anyone can be creative. Creativity is not something that is bestowed upon a few seemingly extraordinary people.

Research shows, that once you get beyond the average I.Q. of about 100, intelligence and creativity are not at all related.

You still have the potential for great creativity when writing copy.



Why Are Some People, Seemingly, More Creative Than Others?

Seemingly is the operative word here.

You may not be striving to write a book. But, when it comes to writing copy for your online business endeavors, you’re trying to get prospective clients’ attention and to get them to take a specific action for a particular purpose.

It’s a matter of immediacy, a sense of urgency. 

You want to come up with different ways to get prospects attention and to engage them. It may be time for another blog article and you need new ideas.

In these situations creative thinking is crucial.

You may have tried what someone else has advised that didn’t seem to work for you, or you may have some mental blocks.

Imani Campbell of The Sage Neuroscience Center states “A mental block is your brain reaching a barrier in accessing creativity, motivation, or productivity.”



So, What to Do?

This inability to clearly think or process information can be caused by many things.

If you really care about the outcome of something, you can become very anxious. For instance, that article you need to write looms like a giant question mark. What ifs begin to creep into your thoughts – what if it’s not good enough, long enough, clever enough, etc.

Whoops! Here we go with the blockage.

People learn bad habits that are mental blocks to creative thinking. These seven things may be holding you back:


1. Using different types of thinking simultaneously

Creating is generating new ideas, picturing, looking forward, considering possibilities.

Evaluating is analyzing, judging, picking apart ideas, and categorizing them as good and bad, helpful or not.

You need to separate the two. Set down your ideas first, then go back and evaluate their worth.


2. Following advice without question

There are many gurus who tell you their success secrets. It’s fine to listen, but following advice without question could lead to stifled creativity. Many have found success doing what others said wouldn’t work.


3. Fear of failure

No one likes making mistakes or failing. However, trying too hard to avoid failure sets you up for avoiding success.


4. Lack of confidence

There’s some level of uncertainty in every creative undertaking. A little self-doubt is natural.

Just have confidence that you can create and effectively carry through with solutions to challenges.

You’re on your way to becoming more confident and more creative when you understand that ideas often seem ridiculous at first, that failure is a learning experience, and nothing is impossible.


5. Discouragement from others

Most people will not see things as you do.

You may be all excited about some new venture you’re considering and they say you need to be sensible or they subtly imply that it won’t work.

Ignore them and once you’re successful, they’ll have to reckon with you.


6. Information overload

Over analyzing and cramming so much information into your brain before actually starting a project can cause you to lose the ability to act. You have to know when to stop collecting information, for that article, and start writing.


7. False limitations

Don’t become trapped by false limitations, self-imposed products of your experience. Be open to new things.

Step outside your comfort zone and explore something unrelated to what you do. Consider how people in those areas do what they do. You may find something that seems impossible today doable in the future.



How do You Regain Creativity?

Now that you know what may be holding you back, there are several things you can do to free your natural creative abilities:


1. Establish routines

Plan your necessary daily activities so you can have free time for creative ideas to show up and proper space to develop them.


2. Rest your mind

Block out the noise in your brain with scheduled time for daydreaming.


3. Move around

To create space for mental clarity you can walk, jog, run, etc. each day.


4. Complete mini projects

For practice in completing goals that require long-term commitment, perform a small task each day so that at the end of the week you’ve finished a project.


5. Take steps that help you achieve your long-term goal

Break down your long-term goal into a list of manageable tasks for each day, and check off one daily no matter how small. Don’t do more.

This is about sticking with a large project, rather than doing a lot of tasks fast and suffering burnout or losing interest.

You want to get into the habit of taking steps that help you achieve your ultimate creative goal.


6. Relax

Do something every day that you love. Spend 10 minutes daily doing just that and focusing on the good feeling you get.

You’re more likely to get new ideas when you feel relaxed.


7. Play around with your thoughts

Don’t always accept thoughts as truth. Think of the opposite as being true. If you’re worried that a situation may not go as planned, see the possibility of it going smoothly. Envision how you want it to go.

Playing around with your thoughts allows more creative solutions to arise.


Remember, creativity is not something that is bestowed upon only a few individuals. People learn bad habits that are mental blocks to creative thinking, and there are ways to regain your creativity.

These are just a few suggestions to increase creativity in your writing.



Your Autoresponder and More