Using Digital Marketing 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.
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.
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Reprise: 5 Tips for Starting a One-Person 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.
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…
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Increase Creativity in Your 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.
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.
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10 Common Grammar Mistakes to Avoid in Your 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.
While you’re using great copywriting skills to convince your readers to take a particular action, make sure your content is grammatically correct.
Be careful when using autocorrect while typing. It won’t catch grammar mistakes, because a word may be spelled right and be grammatically incorrect. For example:
Your my favorite dancer.
You’re my favorite dancer.
Both words are correctly spelled.
Here are some common writing mistakes that can weaken the sparkle and credibility of your message.
1. Incorrect subject verb-agreement
If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular.
Example: There is so many great ones.
Correct: There are so many great ones.
Example: Everyone was willing to participate. (This is correct.)
2. Missing commas
How you use commas in a list depends on the specific writing style you follow.
An Oxford, or serial, comma is the last comma in a list. It goes before the word “and.”
Example 1: When you go shopping, be sure to get eggs, milk, bread and peanut butter.
When you go shopping, be sure to get eggs, milk, bread, and peanut butter.
Although there are different schools of thought regarding the use of the Oxford comma, when you want to write a good sentence, it’s proper punctuation to always use commas to separate the multiple items you reference in a list.
Technically, it’s grammatically optional in American English.
Example 2: If the shop is closed when we get there we’ll have to wait until next week.
If the shop is closed when we get there, we’ll have to wait until next week.
3. Apostrophes
Apostrophes are generally used in two instances:
For contractions (I’m planning to go tomorrow, if it’s not raining)
To show possession (Susan’s computer means the computer belongs to Susan)
They’re also used to indicate missing numbers in a year, ’89 for 1989 and ’07 for 2007.
4. Hyphens
Example:
Wrong: my 90 year old grandmother
Right: my 90-year-old grandmother
5. Loose or lose
Loose means not firmly or tightly in place.
Example:
Your shoelace is loose.
He might lose the money.
6. Could of, would of, should of
These are incorrect uses of contractions for I could have, I would have, or I should have.
Correct Example:
I should have gone to the reception, and could have, if Tom had been on time.
Slurring in speech results in the common grammar mistake of substituting of for have.
7. Affect and effect
Affect and effect are often confused, although one is a verb and the other a noun.
Affect is a verb that describes something that causes or influences change. Effect is what happens as a result of the change.
“Here’s a mnemonic: A is for action. Verbs are about action. Affect starts with an A, so it’s a verb.”
Correct Examples:
Not getting enough sleep will adversely affect your health.
The effect of not getting enough sleep is bad health.
8. There, their, they’re
There is a location, their shows possession by more than one person, and they’re is a contraction for they are.
Examples:
We live here not there.
They work there but it’s not their shop.
They’re happy to be home.
9. Your and you’re
Wrong: Your my inspiration.
Correct: You’re my inspiration.
Your is the possessive of you.
You’re is the contraction for you are.
10. Then and than
Use then when referring to time.
Than is used when comparing things.
Example:
I’m going to the library then to the store.
That is better than this one.
You can use Grammarly.com (no compensation received here) to check your writing.
Of course, there are some exceptions, to these rules, that are not discussed here.
Always check and recheck your writing for mistakes.
This article only covers 10 common grammar mistakes to avoid in your writing.
Remember that autocorrected writing must be checked for correct grammar usage.
Effective Copywriting for Your 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.
What Is Copywriting?
Copywriting is the skill of convincing your readers to take a particular action. That could be making a purchase, subscribing to your email list, or calling you for more information.
The most important copywriting skill in your content marketing is crafting headlines. If you have a great headline, the better the chance of getting what you’ve written read by a larger percentage of individuals.
Writing a great headline alone doesn’t guarantee success of your copy. What you offer in the headline still needs to be appropriately satisfied with your content or your offer.
If you have great body content with a bad or even marginal headline it’s probably not going to be read.
The late copywriter Clayton Makepeace said you should ask yourself the following six questions before you start to write your headline:
1. Does your headline offer the reader a reward for reading?
2. What specifics could you add to make your headline more intriguing and believable?
3. Does your headline trigger a strong, actionable emotion the reader already has about the subject at hand?
4. Does your headline present a proposition that will instantly get your prospect nodding his or her head?
5. Could your headline benefit from the inclusion of a proposed transaction?
6. Could you add an element of intrigue to drive the prospect into your opening copy?
These six questions, combined with the framework of the following four “U”s, provide an excellent foundation for writing outstanding headlines:
Your headlines, sub-headlines, and bullets should be USEFUL to the reader,
provide a sense of URGENCY,
convey the idea the main benefit is somehow UNIQUE, and
perform all the above in an ULTRA- SPECIFIC way.
Use your own voice in copywriting. You can be absolutely professional while being warm and likable.
Always check your writing for common grammar mistakes that damage your credibility.
What Else Do You Need To Consider In Your Content Marketing Copy?
Among the things you should consider in your copywriting are the types of copy:
1. Plain copy
It’s a straight forward clear-cut presentation of the facts and benefits of your offer. It’s the most basic approach and introduces your product without gimmick or flair.
You’ll give a prospect the needed information to make an informed decision about the product.
2. Storytelling copy
People love a good story.
We like hearing about interesting people who have overcome challenges that we can relate to.
You can use this storytelling technique in an email series, on a landing page, or in a short video. Whatever the format you’ll include four basic traits:
Opening – Show how the character of the story had a normal life until something happened to destroy that.
Conflict – Show how his/her life was threatened if they didn’t respond to the problem. What did the journey look like as they undertook the challenge?
Dialogue – Introduce a conversation about the journey.
3. Conversational copy – In this style of copy you write as if you’re having a conversation with a prospect.
The language is like that of a salesman sitting down with a customer for lunch. Something that begins with I know how you feel or I can relate to a, b and c.
4. Imaginative copy — You can ask your target audience to imagine life a certain way, what it would feel like to be a successful travel writer, or to pretend what it would be like to live the life of their dream.
Then you present them with a picture of themselves achieving that ideal life by way of a certain product.
5. Long copy – The premise behind long copy is “The more you tell, the more you sell.” These ads convert well.
Since you’re not in front of the person, you have one chance to convert the reader. You should use bullet points to help ensure your most important details stand out.
When you’re following the basic rules of content marketing, remember that you don’t have to present all of the facts and benefits upfront.
You can use your email autoresponder to turn long copy into short easily-digestible snippets and reveal the presentation over a period of weeks.
6. Killer-Poet copy – Your objective is not to convince your audience how smart you are. The goal is to educate and sell with your copy, and to do it with style.
Killer-poet copy sees writing as a means to an end (making a sale), and the ad as an end in itself (beautiful design and moving story). The killer poet combines style with selling. Creativity with marketing. Story with a solution.
7. Third-party endorsement copy
Third-party endorsements can help you sell your products.
It’s really effective to position your sales argument as direct communication between the company founder and his or her customer.
With this down-to-earth approach, the playing field is leveled. It signals to the customer that the CEO is not just some remote figurehead who’s only interested in profit, but is someone who cares.
8. Frank copy – Sometimes copy will point out the negatives of a product and lets you know some work will be required before the benefits show.
This builds trust. When your readers trust you, they will be much more likely to believe you when you point out the good qualities of your product.
9. Superlative copy – Sometimes you can make unusual claims like a revolutionary material making investors rich.
You must be able to provide evidence of what you say. Your proof can be in the form of statistics, testimonials, or research. It’s best to use all three.
Usually, it’s best to avoid all hype.
10. Rejection copy — tries to stop people from being interested in your product.
This copy challenges the reader with the idea that only a select set of people are invited to use the product which could be a particular credit card or a particular group of people.
This is startling to readers as they don’t expect to be turned down.
This approach taps into our sense of wanting to belong. It touches our sense of pride and produces curiosity. We think, “They don’t dare… Watch me.”
Often several of these techniques are combined into one ad.
Whether you’re a company CEO, a copywriter, or a tailor, there’s a copy form for you.
For effective copywriting for your content marketing, consider using some of these tips in your next ad.
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MLM Is A Legitimate Business Model
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.
MLM (multi-level marketing) IS a legitimate business model. MLM is a marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for the sales they generate but also for the sales of the other salespeople that they recruit. This recruited sales force is referred to as the participant’s “downline”, and can provide multiple levels of compensation.
MLMs have been around for over a century, are legitimate, and they work for some people.
In multi-level marketing, companies basically promise a chance to leave your 9-5 job, be your own boss, make lots of money, and make new friends in the process.
There is an ongoing debate as to whether these companies and programs are legitimate business opportunities or not.
The reason for most of the confusion is that multi-level marketing companies follow a concept similar to a pyramid scheme, except for two significant differences:
One being members at any level of a multi-level marketing model can theoretically make income through the company’s products and/or services without signing up any new members.
The second difference is that members of any level in a multi-level marketing plan can earn more than the people who signed them up.
Multi-level marketing companies are legal although structured almost exactly like a pyramid scheme.
A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business that involves the exchange of money, usually in the form of a sign-up fee, and usually has no product or service.
Following are some major indicators of a pyramid scheme.
* Programs that focus more on recruitment of new people rather than the sale of a product or service to an end-user consumer.
* Plans that claim you will make money through continued growth of your “downline” rather than through your own sales of products.
* Programs that ask distributors to purchase expensive inventory. There are horror stories of people with a basement or garage full of merchandise that no one will buy.
* Plans that ask you to sign a contract or pay money to participate in a multi-level marketing program, or any business opportunity, without taking your time and reading all of the paperwork.
Talk the opportunity over with a spouse, knowledgeable friend, accountant, or lawyer. If you feel that you are being subjected to high-pressure sales tactics or are not being given enough time to review the details, go elsewhere.
* Products or services are simply vehicles for recruitment. The products may be gimmicks and/or overpriced, but even high-quality products may serve as a cover for recruitment activities.
According to the FTC, a pyramid scheme is defined as a company that specifically pays members for recruiting purposes only.
Check the FTC’s website.
To be super-successful in network marketing, you have to recruit new members.
It doesn’t matter how good your product or service is — the real money is in the flow of new recruits.
There’s the age-old debate that standard companies are set up like a pyramid, with a CEO at the top, some more officials under them, managers at the next lower level, and the team under the managers.
MLMs are completely different from standard companies.
Most companies don’t require their new employees to pay a sign-up fee to join, or have the majority of their product sales coming from their own employees, nor do most companies allow workers to personally recruit other employees into the business. HR does that.
Once you have found a legitimate multi-level marketing company that you want to be a part of, you must put in the work to make it profitable. If you want to succeed be disciplined and treat it like a business and be willing to follow advice from others who have made it.
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How Do You Set Up A Blog?
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 my last article we covered what to do before you start blogging.
Now, you need to actually set up your blog.
How do you go about setting up a blog?
1. The first step to setting up a blog is picking the right topic.
For a personal blog you’re only concerned about enjoying the topic and having fun.
But, if you want to create income you need a winning blog topic.
Don’t try to be unique or clever. Pick a topic that has an existing audience and popular blogs already competing for the audience attention.
Who will link to you if there is no competition? Where will you get your audience? How will anyone find you?
2. The correct blogging platform is vital. To test the water you can start with a free blog at Medium.com and check ideas for viability. (A suggestion only. No compensation for me.)
When you’re ready to build an audience and make money online, use self-hosted WordPress.
That’s WordPress.org NOT WordPress.com
You can check out the difference here.
3. Now, decide on a domain name. Make a list of topics that interest you. These could be topics you think might be profitable, hobbies, or something random you’ve read about.
When your list is complete, check out these questions:
Do blogs on this topic have a Facebook page with more than 10k fans?
Do any blogs on this topic more than 50k followers on Twitter?
Does Amazon have any books with more than 30 reviews on this topic?
Are there any Google ads when you search for words and phrases related to this topic?
Do any words or phrases related to this topic have more than 100k searches in Google’s Keyword Planner tool?
If the answer to these questions is yes, you’re good to go.
Your domain name needs to represent your audience, a specific topic, and a benefit. For example:
Name the Audience. TheBlogStarter.com
Name the Specific Topic. TechRadar.com
Name the Benefit. MakeALivingWriting.com
Once you’ve made a decision on your domain name, you need to check its availability and purchase it through a domain registrar. Any one of the following would be a good choice, and the fee is about $8 to $10 per year for a .com extension.
http://www.godaddy.com
http://www.namecheap.com
http://www.networksolutions.com
http://www.onlydomains.com
4. Purchase a web hosting plan. You need a place for your website on the Internet. You can pay a small fee to keep your website on the Internet, handle all your visitors, back up your website, provide customer support, manage the security of your website, and so on.
There are loads of WordPress hosts, but I recommend HostThenProfit.com (affiliate link).
Do not purchase anything else when you buy a domain name. The registrars will try to get you to do so, but don’t take the bait, as you’ll be setting everything up under your web hosting plan.
You’re now ready to roll.
So, how do you set up a blog?
By following these steps you can create your blog, grow an audience, and start earning a real, tangible income.
Don’t wait days, weeks, or months to get started. Start a blog today — right now.
What to Do Before You Start Blogging
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’re just now thinking about setting up a blog, the first thing you need do is start building your list, on the first day.
Why Build a List First?
You need to start building your list ASAP! It’s absolutely necessary if you want to run successful email marketing campaigns and reach people who are truly interested in your business.
Despite the popularity of social media channels, email marketing remains one of the most used digital marketing techniques.
If you want a successful business, you need people to market to.
What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing as defined in Wikipedia, is the act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email… Email marketing strategies commonly seek to achieve one or more of three primary objectives, to build loyalty, trust, or brand awareness.
An email is often the first step in a customer’s journey with you, the initial communication.
What is the Connection Between an Email and Your Blog?
You can think of your blog as your main base of operation, the place where you send people for your products/services or any related information. It’s a marketing tool.
It is also the place you can acquire their information in order to begin a relationship with them so they can get acquainted with you, and begin to like and trust you.
These are the people who will receive your emails. This is a part of your list building. Once your blog is set up, you can strategically place opt-in forms on it asking visitors to fill in their information – full name and email address – so you can contact them. Stick to the basics, name and email. Nobody wants to fill out much more than that.
How Do You Get People to Give up Their information?
1. Pick an email marketing service. I use Host Then Profit (affiliate link).
If you’re just starting out and your budget is tight, you can use a free service. You’ll need to check around and compare the pros and cons so you can choose one that best suits your purpose.
2. Place opt-in forms on your blog.
3. Give visitors a reason to give you their email address. Offer them an ethical bribe (subscriber bribes, lead magnets, opt-in bribes, free offers, free gifts, and content upgrade).
Most people won’t give you their email address out of the goodness of their heart, even if they like you.
Freebies are proven lead magnets.
Give them a free worthwhile gift.
Your subscriber’s bribe should be simple.
Don’t fall into to the trap of trying to get too large and creative with your lead magnet, which could end up in you not creating one at all.
You can educate your visitors by giving away free downloads filled with actionable tips and helpful tools they can use.
Some things you can give away:
Free blog articles
Emails with coupons
Videos
Tutorials and courses
Templates
E-Books
You can start with a one-page simple short PDF checklist offering tips on a particular subject.
To build an email list from nothing you need:
1. To understand your audience
Decide who will be your audience — name, job title, work, demographics like age, gender, education, etc. In other words, create a persona.
You can find out a lot about people through social media channels.
2. A website
Your blog will, eventually, become your website.
In the meantime, you can use a landing page, a single-page website that contains your email opt-in form.
You can use any of the services below to create an opt-in form.
Some of them have free trial periods.
Landerapp.com
iContact.com
Hubspot.com
Leadpages.net
Wix.com
Note: Some advertising channels require that you have a multi-page website that includes pages such as Contact, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policies.
3. An email marketing service. I use Host Then Profit (affiliate link).
4. A great offer, a free worthwhile gift.
Now that you have some pointers on what to do before you start blogging, start building that list.
Use Blog Comments to Benefit Your Online Marketing and 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.
On the web most of the entries in an average comments section are spam. Akismet is a tool that filters out comment spam for you. Comment spam can have a negative impact on your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.
Do blog comments still matter or help in any way?
You might think that, with so many social media platforms available to discuss pieces of content, blog comments no longer matter. That depends on your goals.
Many businesses with a large following see no need for blog comments as social media allows them to interact with more people.
However, if you’re a small business just getting started online and only now taking steps to grow a social media following, having a comments section on your blog can prove to be beneficial to your business.
Top brands often benefit by commenting on blog topics. You may not realize this because you don’t see influencers’ names in the comment sections of popular industry blogs.
That’s because they outsource the task. They hire virtual assistants and other freelance writers to write useful comments on recent blog posts.
How do you write good comments that people will notice?
Blog comments are still powerful, if you write high-quality, genuinely-good comments worth noting. They can still get you noticed by popular bloggers and influencers.
Writing a good comment requires:
#1 Letting People See the real You
Don’t use an animal or a generic faceless silhouette. Show you and all your pearly whites with a smile.
If your message is flagged as spammy, a gravatar gives you an increased chance the blog owner will approve your new comment.
#2 Using Your Real Name
Don’t use a fake name or a nickname that your friends and family use or any other name. And don’t use a fake or inactive email address. That will break the communication avenue between the commenter and author.
#3 Not Embedding Links in Your Comments
WordPress, Disqus, and other commenting systems view these links as spam. They come across as sales pitches, a cheap attempt to sell something. The blogger will feel no inclination to view it.
#4 Reading the Post Before Commenting
Although it takes time, reading a post thoroughly before commenting is a must. You don’t want your response to be inappropriate or silly.
#5 Not Having a One-Sided Long Conversation
Long-winded blog comments are not better than short ones. They’re just boring.
#6 Not Being a Parrot
Do not repeat what you’ve just read. Your comments need to offer some insight.
More Pointers:
A) Include a friendly greeting using the author’s name, spelled correctly.
B) Offer a compliment about the post, something about why you chose to be on this blog. Be sincere.
C) Do something that makes you appear valuable to the blogger you’re aiming to entice— anything that establishes you as a person worth knowing and helps develop a personal relationship.
D) Let the blogger know you’re interested in a longer-term relationship. Make a promise at the end, like telling the author you’re going to share the post on your favorite social media platform.
Be sure to do what you promise. When you share the post on your favorite social media platform, be sure to tag the blogger — let them know you followed through.
Show some personality. You can craft your comments like you’re writing an email to a friend.
Good comments alone won’t launch you to world domination, although they’re effective and often overlooked, now that so many bloggers think they’re extinct.
Good comments can get influential bloggers’ attention.
So, you can still use blog comments to benefit your online marketing and SEO and get more traffic to your site when utilized properly. However, not every comment will drive traction and credibility for your site and brand.
You cannot use blog commenting to build backlinks.
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AI and Automation In Online Marketing
by Rahimah Sultan
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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.
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