To use OpenAI’s GPT-3 fine-tuning API, you will need to do the following steps:

1. Sign up for an OpenAI API key: You will need to create an OpenAI account and apply for an API key to access the GPT-3 fine-tuning API.
   1. Go to the OpenAI website: Visit the OpenAI website (https://openai.com/) and click on the “API” button in the top menu.
   2. Create an account: Click on the “Sign up” button and create a new account by providing your email address and password.
   3. Verify your email address: Once you have created an account, you will need to verify your email address by clicking on the link in the verification email that was sent to you.
   4. Apply for an API key: After verifying your email address, log in to your account and click on the “API” button again. On the API page, click on the “Apply for an API key” button.
   5. Fill out the application form: Fill out the application form with information about your project, including the name of your project, a brief description of what you plan to do with the API, and the estimated number of API requests you plan to make.
   6. Wait for approval: Once you have submitted the application form, you will need to wait for OpenAI to review and approve your application. You will receive an email with your API key once your application has been approved.
   7. Keep in mind that OpenAI might take some time to approve your application and also they may require more information about your project.
2. Prepare your training data: Collect a dataset of text that is representative of the language and style of your business’ existing text. This dataset will be used to fine-tune the GPT-3 model.
3. Use the OpenAI API to fine-tune the model: Once you have an API key and your training data, you can use the OpenAI API to fine-tune the GPT-3 model on your dataset. You will need to send a POST request to the API endpoint with your API key, training data and other parameters. View the article about how to set up Python and send a POST request here.
4. Use the fine-tuned model: Once the fine-tuning process is complete, you will be able to use the fine-tuned model to generate new text that is similar to the language and style of your business’ existing text.
5. Keep in mind that the openai’s GPT-3 fine-tuning API is a paid service and you’ll need to subscribe to their pricing plans to access the API.
6. Also, you may want to use a tool like Hugging Face’s transformers library to fine-tune GPT-3. This library provides a simple and efficient way to fine-tune GPT-3 models and has a lot of pre-built models and example code. Check out their website here.

To download, install, and set up Python, you will need to do the following:

1. Download Python: Go to the official Python website (https://www.python.org/) and download the latest version of Python for your operating system. Make sure to download the correct version for your system (32-bit or 64-bit).
2. Install Python: Once the download is complete, run the installer and follow the instructions to install Python. Make sure to check the option to “Add Python to PATH” during the installation process.
3. Verify the installation: Open a command prompt or terminal and type python to verify that Python is installed and running correctly. If the installation was successful, you should see the Python prompt >>>.
4. Install a package manager: Python comes with its package manager pip, which you can use to install additional libraries. To check if pip is already installed, run pip -V in your command prompt or terminal. If not, you can download the get-pip.py script from the pip website, then run it using python
5. Check the version of python and pip by running python -V and pip -V respectively.
6. You are now ready to use Python for your project.
7. Keep in mind that you may want to use a virtual environment to isolate your python packages from your system’s packages. You can use virtualenv or conda to set up a virtual environment.

Setting up a virtual environment in Python

A virtual environment is a tool used to isolate specific Python environments on a single machine, which allows you to work on multiple projects with different dependencies and versions of Python libraries without conflicts.

To set up a virtual environment in Python, you will need to do the following:

1. Install the virtualenv package: If you don’t have it installed yet, you can install it by running pip install virtualenv in your command prompt or terminal.
2. Create a new virtual environment: Navigate to the directory where you want to create your virtual environment, and run the following command:

virtualenv envname

Where envname is the name of your virtual environment.

3. Activate the virtual environment: Depending on the OS you are using, you can use the following command to activate the environment:

source envname/bin/activate

On Windows:

envname\Scripts\activate

4. Install packages: Once the virtual environment is activated, you can use pip to install packages as usual. They will be installed in the virtual environment instead of globally on your machine.
5. Deactivate the virtual environment: Once you are done working on your project and you want to return to the global environment, you can use the following command:

deactivate

By creating a virtual environment for each of your projects, you can ensure that each project’s dependencies and packages are isolated from one another, which can prevent conflicts and make it easier to manage your projects. Additionally, it allows you to work on multiple projects with different requirements and dependencies without having to worry about version conflicts or compatibility issues.

How to send a POST Request to the OpenAI API using Python

To send a POST request to the OpenAI API endpoint with your API key, training data, and other parameters, you will need to use a programming language that can make HTTP requests, such as Python, Java, or JavaScript. The following is an example of how to make a POST request in Python using the requests library:

1. Import the requests library:

import requests

1. Define the endpoint URL and your API key

api_key = "your_api_key"
endpoint = "https://api.openai.com/v1/engines/davinci-codex/completions"

1. Create the data payload for the request, including your API key, the prompt to be completed, the temperature and other parameters you want to use.

data = {
    "prompt": "What is the meaning of life?",
    "engine": "davinci-codex",
    "temperature": 0.7,
    "max_tokens":2048,
}

1. Add the data payload and API key to the headers of the request

headers = {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}"
}

1. Make the POST request and capture the response

response = requests.post(endpoint, json=data, headers=headers)

1. Extract the response data from the response object

response_data = response.json()

1. Extract the generated text from the response

generated_text = response_data["choices"][0]["text"]

1. Keep in mind that the returned text is in json format and you may want to parse it to extract the text that you want.

This is a simple example of how to use the OpenAI API to fine-tune a GPT-3 model. You may need to adjust the code to fit the specific requirements of your project.

Next Steps

After sending a POST request to the OpenAI API using Python, you can do the following:

1. Check the response status code: The first thing you should do is check the status code of the response to make sure that the request was successful. A status code of 200 indicates a successful response. If the status code is not 200, you may need to check the error message to troubleshoot the issue.
2. Extract the response data: Once you have verified that the request was successful, you can extract the data from the response. The data will be in JSON format and you can use the json() method of the response object to parse it.
3. Extract the generated text: Once you have extracted the response data, you can extract the generated text. The generated text will be in the format returned by the API, which you can use to further process the text or extract specific information.
4. Use the data: You can use the data returned by the API in a variety of ways, depending on your application. For example, you could use it to generate a response to a customer’s query, train another model, or generate content.
5. Keep in mind that depending on your use case, you may want to implement some error handling and retry mechanism in case of failure and also you may want to store the response in a database or a file for future reference.
6. Also, you may want to consider other parameters that the API offers such as stop, log_level, model, num_responses, completions_request_weight and many others, you can check the API documentation for more details.

ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language generation model developed by OpenAI that can help marketers automate certain tasks, analyze data, and generate high-quality content. It can be used in a wide range of areas in marketing, from content generation and social media management to customer service automation. However, implementing ChatGPT in a marketing context can be a complex and challenging process, especially for those who are new to the technology. In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide for marketers on how to use ChatGPT to improve their marketing efforts and drive growth for their companies.

A. Explanation of ChatGPT and its capabilities

ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language generation model that uses deep learning techniques to generate text. It is based on a transformer architecture and can be fine-tuned for specific tasks and applications. Some of the most common use cases for ChatGPT in marketing include:

• Generating high-quality written content such as email responses, social media posts, and blog articles.
• Automating certain aspects of customer service and support, such as answering frequently asked questions or providing product recommendations.
• Analyzing large sets of data from customer feedback, sales data, or social media sentiment to extract insights and inform strategic decisions.
• Generating new ideas and concepts for product development, advertising campaigns, or research projects.

B. Importance of using ChatGPT in today’s marketing environment

As the marketing world becomes increasingly digital, companies are facing new challenges and opportunities. ChatGPT can help companies to stay competitive by automating certain tasks, analyzing data, and generating high-quality content. Additionally, it can help companies to save time and resources, make more informed decisions, and streamline internal processes. With the ability to generate high-quality content at scale, ChatGPT can also help companies to improve their online presence and reach more customers.

C. Purpose of the article: to provide a step-by-step guide for marketers on how to use ChatGPT

The purpose of this article is to provide a step-by-step guide for marketers on how to use ChatGPT to improve their marketing efforts and drive growth for their companies. We will cover everything from understanding the basics of the model to implementing it in a marketing context and measuring its impact on your business. By following this guide, marketers can successfully use ChatGPT to drive growth and improve their marketing strategies.

II. Understanding the basics of ChatGPT for marketers

A. Explanation of the underlying technology and architecture of ChatGPT

ChatGPT is based on a transformer architecture, which is a type of neural network that is designed to handle sequential data such as text. The model is trained on a large corpus of text and is able to generate text that is similar to the input it has seen during training.

B. Differences between ChatGPT and other language models

ChatGPT is one of several state-of-the-art language models, such as BERT and GPT-2. However, ChatGPT is unique in its ability to generate text and its fine-tuning capabilities. It is also unique in its focus on the generation of text, whereas BERT focuses on understanding text.

C. Overview of the limitations and potential issues to be aware of

While ChatGPT is a powerful tool, it is not without limitations. One of the main limitations is that it can generate text that is similar to the input it has seen during training, which means it can produce biased or inaccurate results if the training data is not diverse or high-quality. Additionally, it is important to be aware of data privacy and security regulations when using ChatGPT, as it is trained on large amounts of data.

III. Identifying the right use cases for marketing

A. Overview of common use cases for ChatGPT in marketing

Some of the common use cases for ChatGPT in marketing include:

1. Content Generation: ChatGPT can be used to generate high-quality written content such as blog articles, social media posts, and email responses. This can help companies to improve their online presence, reach more customers, and save time and resources on content creation.
2. Social Media Management: ChatGPT can be used to automate certain aspects of social media management such as writing new posts, responding to comments, and analyzing social media sentiment. This can help companies to improve their online reputation, reach more customers, and save time and resources on social media management.
3. Customer Service Automation: ChatGPT can be used to automate certain aspects of customer service and support such as answering frequently asked questions, providing product recommendations, and handling customer complaints. This can help companies to improve customer satisfaction, save time and resources on customer service, and increase sales.
4. Data Analysis: ChatGPT can be used to analyze large sets of data from customer feedback, sales data, or social media sentiment to extract insights and inform strategic decisions. This can help companies to improve their products and services, reach more customers, and increase sales.
5. Concept Generation: ChatGPT can be used to generate new ideas and concepts for product development, advertising campaigns, or research projects. This can help companies to stay ahead of the competition, reach more customers, and increase sales.
6. Email Marketing: ChatGPT can be used to generate personalized email content, optimize subject lines and headlines, and personalize the email content with the recipient’s personal information.
7. Chatbots: ChatGPT can be used to train chatbots to have more human-like conversations, providing more accurate and personalized customer service.
8. Personalization: ChatGPT can be used to personalize marketing campaigns and customer interactions by generating content that is specific to the recipient. This can help to improve customer engagement and increase conversion rates.
9. SEO: ChatGPT can be used to generate high-quality SEO-optimized content that can help to improve search engine rankings, increase website traffic and drive more conversions.
10. Branding: ChatGPT can be used to generate brand-consistent content that aligns with the company’s messaging and tone of voice.
11. Language Translation: ChatGPT can be used to generate translations of written content, allowing companies to reach a wider audience and expand into new markets.
12. Voiceovers: ChatGPT can be used to generate voiceovers for videos and other visual content, allowing companies to create more engaging and interactive marketing materials.
13. Product Descriptions: ChatGPT can be used to generate product descriptions that are both informative and persuasive, helping to increase conversions and boost sales.
14. Landing Page Optimization: ChatGPT can be used to generate persuasive headlines, calls-to-action and other elements that can help to optimize landing page
15. Ad Copy: ChatGPT can be used to generate ad copy that is designed to drive more clicks, increase conversions, and boost sales.
16. Influencer Marketing: ChatGPT can be used to generate content that is designed to appeal to specific influencers and generate more buzz and exposure for a brand.
17. Event Marketing: ChatGPT can be used to generate content that is designed to promote events and generate more attendance.
18. Public Relations: ChatGPT can be used to generate press releases and other content that is designed to generate more media coverage for a brand.
19. Surveys: ChatGPT can be used to generate survey questions that are designed to generate valuable insights and feedback from customers.

B. Identifying the specific use cases that align with your marketing goals and objectives

Before getting started with ChatGPT, it’s important to identify the specific use cases that align with your marketing goals and objectives. This will depend on your specific needs and goals, and may include tasks such as generating written content, automating customer service, analyzing social media sentiment, or generating new ideas for advertising campaigns.

C. Gathering and preparing training data specific to your use cases

Once you have identified the specific use cases for ChatGPT in your marketing strategy, the next step is to gather and prepare training data and prompts specific to those use cases. This may include text from existing sources such as customer feedback, sales data, or social media sentiment. It’s important to ensure that the training data is diverse and high-quality to avoid bias and inaccurate results.

V. Implementing ChatGPT in your marketing strategy

A. Integrating the model into existing marketing systems and processes

Once the model is trained and customized for your specific use cases, the next step is to integrate it into your existing marketing systems and processes. This may include integrating it into customer service and support systems, or using it to generate content for your website or social media accounts. It’s important to ensure that the model is integrated in a way that is seamless and efficient for your marketing team to use.

B. Managing and maintaining the model in a production environment

Managing and maintaining the model in a production environment is crucial to ensure that it continues to perform well and generate accurate results. This may include monitoring the model’s performance, updating the model with new data, and fixing any errors or bugs. It’s important to have a dedicated team in place to handle the ongoing management and maintenance of the model.

C. Measuring the impact and ROI of ChatGPT on your marketing efforts

To determine the impact and ROI of ChatGPT on your marketing efforts, it’s important to measure its performance and results. This may include tracking metrics such as customer satisfaction, conversion rates, or time saved on tasks. Additionally, you may want to conduct surveys or customer interviews to get feedback on how the model is impacting your marketing efforts.

D. Best practices for using ChatGPT in a marketing context, such as ensuring brand consistency and compliance with regulations

When using ChatGPT in a marketing context, it’s important to follow best practices to ensure brand consistency and compliance with regulations. This may include ensuring that the model generates text that is consistent with your brand voice and messaging, and that it complies with data privacy and security regulations. It’s also important to stay informed about the latest developments in the field and adapt your use of ChatGPT accordingly.

VI. Conclusion

ChatGPT is a powerful tool that can help marketers automate certain tasks, analyze data, and generate high-quality content. However, implementing ChatGPT in a marketing context can be a complex and challenging process. By following the steps outlined in this article, marketers can successfully use ChatGPT to improve their marketing efforts and drive growth for their companies. It’s important to understand the basics of the model, identify the right use cases, train and customize the model, and implement it in a way that is consistent with brand messaging and complies with regulations. The future potential for ChatGPT and other language models in marketing is vast, and it’s likely that new and innovative ways to use the technology will continue to be discovered. As a final recommendation, marketers should stay informed about the latest developments in the field and approach ChatGPT with the right expectations. With the right approach, ChatGPT can be a valuable asset for any marketer looking to stay ahead in today’s competitive marketing environment.

ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language generation model developed by OpenAI that can help businesses automate certain tasks, analyze data, and generate high-quality content. It can be used in a wide range of areas, from communication and data analysis to automation and content creation. However, implementing ChatGPT can be a complex and challenging process, especially for those who are new to the technology. In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide for getting started with ChatGPT, covering everything from understanding the basics of the model to implementing it in a production environment.

A. Explanation of ChatGPT and its capabilities

ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language generation model that uses deep learning techniques to generate text. It is based on a transformer architecture and can be fine-tuned for specific tasks and applications. Some of the most common use cases for ChatGPT include:

• Generating high-quality written content such as email responses, social media posts, and blog articles.
• Analyzing large sets of data and extracting insights that can inform strategic decisions.
• Automating certain aspects of business operations such as customer service and support.
• Generating new ideas and concepts for product development or research projects.

B. Importance of using ChatGPT in today’s business environment

As the business world becomes increasingly digital, companies are facing new challenges and opportunities. ChatGPT can help companies to stay competitive by automating certain tasks, analyzing data, and generating high-quality content. Additionally, it can help companies to save time and resources, make more informed decisions, and streamline internal processes.

C. Purpose of the article: to provide a step-by-step guide for getting started with ChatGPT

The purpose of this article is to provide a step-by-step guide for getting started with ChatGPT. We will cover everything from understanding the basics of the model to implementing it in a production environment. By following this guide, businesses can successfully use ChatGPT to drive growth and improve operations.

II. Understanding the basics of ChatGPT

A. Explanation of the underlying technology and architecture of ChatGPT

ChatGPT is based on a transformer architecture, which is a type of neural network that is designed to handle sequential data such as text. The model is trained on a large corpus of text and is able to generate text that is similar to the input it has seen during training.

B. Differences between ChatGPT and other language models

ChatGPT is one of several state-of-the-art language models, such as BERT and GPT-2. However, ChatGPT is unique in its ability to generate text and its fine-tuning capabilities. It’s also unique in its focus on the generation of text, whereas BERT focuses on understanding text.

C. Overview of the limitations and potential issues to be aware of

While ChatGPT is a powerful tool, it is not without limitations. One of the main limitations is that it can generate text that is similar to the input it has seen during training, which means it can produce biased or inaccurate results if the training data is not diverse or high-quality. Additionally, it is important to be aware of data privacy and security regulations when using ChatGPT, as it is trained on large amounts of data.

III. Preparing to use ChatGPT

A. Identifying the right use cases for your business

Before getting started with ChatGPT, it’s important to identify the right use cases for your business. This will depend on your specific needs and goals and may include tasks such as generating written content, analyzing data, automating customer service and support, or generating new ideas and concepts.

B. Gathering and preparing training data

Once you have identified the right use cases for your business, the next step is to gather and prepare training data. This may include text from existing sources such as customer feedback, sales data, or social media sentiment. It’s important to ensure that the training data is diverse and high-quality to avoid bias and inaccurate results.

C. Setting up the necessary infrastructure and resources

To implement ChatGPT, you will need to set up the necessary infrastructure and resources. This may include a computer or servers with powerful GPUs, software, and libraries to run the model, and a development team to implement and maintain the model.

D. Choosing the right development team and partners

It’s important to choose the right team and partners to help you implement and use ChatGPT. The team should include experts in the field of language generation, as well as individuals with business experience who can help identify the most relevant use cases and applications for your company.

IV. Implementing ChatGPT in your business

A. Integrating the model into existing systems and processes

Once you have trained and customized the model, the next step is to integrate it into your existing systems and processes. This may include integrating it into customer service and support systems, or using it to generate content for your website or social media accounts.

B. Managing and maintaining the model in a production environment

It’s important to manage and maintain the model in a production environment to ensure that it continues to perform well and generate accurate results. This may include monitoring the model’s performance, updating the model with new data, and fixing any errors or bugs.

C. Ensuring compliance with data privacy and security regulations

When using ChatGPT, it’s important to ensure compliance with data privacy and security regulations. This may include implementing measures to protect the data used to train the model, as well as ensuring that the model is not used to generate text that is illegal or unethical.

D. Measuring the impact and ROI of ChatGPT on your business

To determine the impact and ROI of ChatGPT on your business, it’s important to measure its performance and results. This may include tracking metrics such as customer satisfaction, conversion rates, or time saved on tasks.

V. Conclusion

ChatGPT is a powerful tool that can help businesses automate certain tasks, analyze data, and generate high-quality content. However, implementing ChatGPT can be a complex and challenging process. By following the steps outlined in this article, businesses can get a head start on using ChatGPT and realize its full potential. It’s important to understand the basics of the model, prepare for its implementation, and then implement it in your business while ensuring compliance with data privacy and security regulations and measuring the impact and ROI of ChatGPT on your business. Additionally, it’s important to continuously monitor and update the model to ensure it continues to perform well and generate accurate results.

As the business world continues to evolve and technology becomes more sophisticated, tools like ChatGPT will play an increasingly important role in the success of companies. By using ChatGPT, businesses can save time and resources while making more informed decisions. The future potential for ChatGPT and other language models is vast, and it’s likely that new and innovative ways to use the technology will continue to be discovered. As a final recommendation, businesses should approach ChatGPT with the right expectations, stay informed about the latest developments in the field, and have the right team in place to help them implement and use it. With the right approach, ChatGPT can be a valuable asset for any business looking to stay ahead in today’s competitive business environment.

As the business world becomes increasingly digital, CEOs are facing new challenges and opportunities. One tool that can help them navigate this landscape is ChatGPT, a state-of-the-art language generation model developed by OpenAI. In this article, we will explore some of the ways CEOs can use ChatGPT to improve their operations and drive growth for their companies.

First and foremost, ChatGPT can help CEOs with one of their most important responsibilities: communication. The model can be trained to generate high-quality written content, such as email responses, social media posts, and blog articles. This can save CEOs time and energy by allowing them to quickly produce professional-sounding content without having to spend hours writing it themselves. Additionally, ChatGPT can assist CEOs with crafting compelling narratives and messaging to help drive their company’s brand and reputation.

Another key area where ChatGPT can help CEOs is in data analysis and decision making. The model can be trained to analyze large sets of data and extract insights that can inform strategic decisions. For example, ChatGPT can be used to analyze customer feedback, sales data, or social media sentiment to identify trends and patterns that can inform marketing or product development efforts. This can help CEOs make more informed decisions and stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing business environment.

In addition to these use cases, ChatGPT also has the potential to assist CEOs in automating certain aspects of their business operations. For example, the model can be trained to generate automated responses to customer inquiries, freeing up time and resources for other tasks. Additionally, ChatGPT can be integrated into chatbots or virtual assistants to provide personalized customer service and support. This can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, while also helping to streamline internal processes and reduce costs.

Another important area where ChatGPT can be used is in the field of content creation. As the world becomes increasingly digital, the demand for high-quality content is increasing. ChatGPT can be used to generate a wide variety of content, including blog posts, articles, and even books. This can help CEOs to build a strong online presence and establish their company as a thought leader in their industry.

Lastly, ChatGPT also has potential to help CEOs with their research and development efforts. The model can be trained to analyze scientific literature, patents, and other sources of information to identify new trends and technologies that could be relevant to their business. Additionally, ChatGPT can be used to generate new ideas and concepts, which could be used to inspire new product development or research projects.

Overall, ChatGPT is a powerful tool that can help CEOs in a wide range of areas, from communication and data analysis to automation and content creation. By leveraging the capabilities of this state-of-the-art language generation model, CEOs can save time, make more informed decisions, and drive growth for their companies.

It’s worth noting that while ChatGPT has a lot of potential, it’s still a language model and it’s important to approach it with the right expectations. It’s not a magic solution that solves all the problems, but it can be a powerful tool when used properly. It’s important to have a clear understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the model and to train it with high-quality data to achieve the best results.

In conclusion, ChatGPT is an exciting new tool that can help CEOs to navigate the digital landscape and drive growth for their companies. By using ChatGPT to automate certain tasks, analyze data, and generate high-quality content, CEOs can save time and resources while making more informed decisions. However, it’s important to approach it with the right expectations and to train it with high-quality data to achieve

the best results. As the business world continues to evolve and technology becomes more sophisticated, tools like ChatGPT will play an increasingly important role in the success of companies. Therefore, it’s essential for CEOs to stay informed about the latest developments in this field and to consider how they can leverage these tools to drive growth and improve their operations.

One way for CEOs to stay informed about the latest developments in the field of language generation is to attend relevant conferences, webinars and industry events. This can help them learn more about the capabilities and limitations of different models, as well as best practices for using them. Additionally, they can also stay informed by reading relevant industry publications and following thought leaders in the field on social media.

Another important step for CEOs is to find the right team to help them implement and use ChatGPT. This team should be made up of experts in the field of language generation, as well as individuals with business experience who can help to identify the most relevant use cases and applications for the company. Together, this team can work to train and customize the model to meet the specific needs of the company, and then implement and monitor its performance over time.

In summary, ChatGPT is a powerful tool that can help CEOs to navigate the digital landscape and drive growth for their companies. By using ChatGPT to automate certain tasks, analyze data, and generate high-quality content, CEOs can save time and resources while making more informed decisions. However, it’s important for CEOs to approach it with the right expectations, stay informed about the latest developments in the field, and have the right team in place to help them implement and use it. With the right approach, ChatGPT can be a valuable asset for any CEO looking to stay ahead in today’s competitive business environment.

In addition to integrating Google+ Events into the Google Calendar, users have the option of “themeing” events. For the guide on Google+ Events click here. Users can choose specific themes, or cinegraphs, that were custom-built by Google for events. That cinegraph translates to the invitation, event page, as well as the Google Calendar.

The event page will also let users post older photos/videos or post real-time “party mode” photos from your smart phone that posts to the event page. This allows the event page to act as a gallery for everyone who actually attended the event. All photos are shown in chronological order, offering a timeline of sorts as well as displaying photos categorized by photographer and popularity of them (+1’s). This could serve as a rolling slideshow for the party on a big screen or other display. Much like how conferences will have a Twitter ticker for events to live tweet the event’s conversation. For those invites that couldn’t make it they can view the event publicly in real-time as long as the event is “On Air”.

This new feature is a great way of integrating the popular Google Calendar with the mobile experience and making Google+ more useful for users. I particularly like the fact the themes will translate across the board to the event, calendar, and invitation to provide a better visual experience for the user.

And to add to the tug-of-war of innovations between Facebook and Google, you’ll notice Facebook just revamped their events page that finally includes a calendar view as well as chronological view. Here is an article detailing the changes. Facebook still lacks the cohesiveness of Google+ shared event with “party mode” and “on air” functions for users. For now Google+ wins this one.

Companies at events like trade shows will want to make use of this feature. Follow this blog to keep your marketing up to date!

The views & opinions expressed in this guest post are those of the guest author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions & views of Eric Wagner.

Did you know that a Google query for “New York Italian Restaurants” doesn’t display a single restaurant in the top 10 organic listings? The top 10 organic listings are links to popular local directories like Zagat, Yelp & Urbanspoon and no longer links to popular Italian restaurants like Carmine’s. At this point you might be asking yourself, “Where did the Italian restaurants go?” – The answer is that they’re now living in a happy place above the organic listings getting more visibility and receiving a higher CTR. What’s the catch? You’re only showing up there if your Italian restaurant is optimized for Google+ Local!

Today we’re going to give you 4 simple tips that can bring your businesses Google+ Local page from no visibility to fully optimized with the potential to rank for competitive keywords that will bring your business new customers. These tips will take you no more than a few hours to implement and will immensely improve your presence on Google+ Local – let’s hop right into it!

1. Google+ Verification

Before doing any work we’ll want to make sure you’re signed into a Google account. After you’ve signed in, head to Google Maps and do a quick search for your business name or address. When you find your listing on the map, click on the location pin and select “More Info”. It’s now time to take “ownership” of your page which will allow you to make changes as well as get great analytics on your page. Click on the “Manage this page” button found on the right sidebar of your page. From here we’ll want to validate the listing by phone. This entire process should take no more than 5 minutes!

2. Google+ Local Optimization

Now it’s time to actually make some adjustments and optimizations to your G+ Local page. Here are a few things you’ll want to do:

– Ensure all of your information is correct (Hours, payment methods accepted, website, etc.)
– Provide 5 categories for your business. This is important! Make sure you utilize all 5 possible categories!
– Write a two sentence (200 characters max) description for your business. Include keywords – and mentions of your categories as well
– Upload 3-5 photos that represent your business. Pictures of your entrance, food, or people working are great for this!
– If you have a YouTube video, be sure to add it as well. This helps a lot!
– Ask one friend (who you’ve done business with) to leave you one G+ Local review

Congratulations, your Google+ Local page is now optimized! But we’re not done yet. It’s time to move onto website optimization! You do have a website, right?

3. Website Optimization

Just because we’re optimizing for Google+ Local doesn’t mean we get to ignore website optimization. It’s still extremely important to make sure that our G+ Local optimization and website optimization complement each other for an efficient local SEO campaign. Here are a few tips to bring your website up to par:

– Update your home page <title> tag in the following format: Location + Keyword – Name of Business. An example would be “Brooklyn, NY Italian Restaurant – Matt’s Bistro”
– Update your home page <h1> tag in the following format: Name of Business – Keyword in Location. Another example here would be “Matt’s Bistro – Italian Restaurant in Brooklyn, NY”
– Add your name, address & phone number as it appears on your G+ Local page to every page on your website. You can add this in the footer or sidebar

4. Local Directory Submission

A critical component of local SEO is your presence in top local directories like Yelp & City Search. If you want to get found on Google+ Local, you’ll need to have a significant presence on the smaller directories as well. This is the most time consuming step in optimizing your businesses local online presence. What we’ll want to do here is sign up for each of the local directories mentioned below & add your business using the same information we used on the Google+ Local profile. (name, address, phone number, website need to be identical!)

  Yelp – Citysearch – FourSquare – Local.com – MerchantCircle

Like we mentioned earlier, when signing up for these websites and submitting your business, we want to make sure the information is taken directly from Google+ Local. When adding your business, filling out videos, pictures, and social media links will greatly help your local SEO presence.

That’s all, folks! If you follow these 4 simple tips, you’ll be ahead of your local SEO competitors. Please feel free to ask any questions or for further clarification in the comments, I would love to help you out in any way possible.

Guest posts are a great way of generating traffic to your site while providing your audience with the content they crave. To develop a fully effective guest post strategy, it’s important to consider the following factors:

– What’s your message?
– Who is your target audience?
– How will this content reach them?

Craft a Specific Message

Before you start work on a guest post, it’s a good idea to plan out what you’re going to say. Your content is only as strong as the message it conveys. Ask yourself how much time you can realistically set aside to focus on writing powerful contributions to the publication you are guest posting with. If you sit around waiting for inspiration to strike, you’ll never get around to writing.

Once you’ve established a set goal for writing each month, think about what your message to the public will be. Are you trying to grow a product by enticing consumers? Have you appropriately researched your customer’s needs? Will this paint the company you’re writing for in a positive light? Answering these questions will give you a clear goal and will allow you to better take advantage of content marketing.

Research Your Target Demographic

Having a clear goal is a great first step, but it’s not the only one. Once you know what you want to say, you need to think about how it will be received by consumers. Each piece of content should not only refer back to other relevant posts you’ve written, but also entice a specific target demographic. By better understanding the type of traffic you want to attract, you’ll know how to craft guest posts that are informative and entertaining to them.

Promote Social Awareness

You know what you want to write and who you’re writing for, but now the problem is awareness. The best guest post in the world doesn’t amount to much if no one is reading it. Promoting your work through social media is a great first step in this regard. If you control a blog or a company newsletter, don’t be afraid to include links to your articles within them to generate interest.

Following these steps may seem like a lot of work at first, but their results don’t lie. Crafting a truly unique and engaging guest post requires both time and effort, but once you’ve done the hard work you will be surprised at how quickly the goals you’ve outlined are achieved. With that in mind, it’s time to get out there and start writing.

Learn about new ways of generating targeted traffic to your site by visiting us soon again at Eric Wagner Marketing!

Now webmasters have the Data Highlighter, which is only available in English and for structured data about events. Events can be concerts, sporting events, conferences, or festivals. More languages and data types will soon follow in the coming months.

This is a point-and-click tool that authorized webmasters can use within your site in Google Webmaster Tools. This doesn’t change your HTML code, it just uses the mouse to highlight and “tag” each important piece of structured data on an event page of your website. Here is a video from Google displaying how it works.

Since many people list their events in different formats the Data Highlighter can “learn” the format you display events in. When you are applying tags the tool will suggest additional tags. If you have multiple pages of events for say a musician with tour dates. The Data Highlighter will walk you through a process of tagging through example pages so it can learn your format variations. Generally it takes 5 – 10 tagged pages for the algorithms to understand similar pages on your site within your format.

When done tagging you can review samples of the event data that the Data Highlighter now understands. When you’ve made changes and approve you can “Publish” them.

This allows Google to crawl your site and understand your latest event listings then make them available for enhanced search results. Periodically you can inspect the crawled data on the Structured Data Dashboard. If there are mistakes on the results you can “Unpublish” any of the event listings you aren’t happy with.

How does this show up in SERPs?

After you have used the Data Highlighter tool and “Published” your data to Google. Your results will show up under sitelinks as well as location based searches. Now obviously for larger cities or regions you will be competing for those search results based on your relevancy. For broad searches like “things to do in Dallas, Texas” you might not be found if your band is listing a small gig. You would have better luck being found in “live music in Dallas, Texas”.

As you can see below one URL displays their upcoming events in the sitelinks. This is exactly the search result that will give you an edge in the SERPs and help your CTR.

If your website goals are related to events and location you should quickly jump on this tool. As more data and languages are added to the Data Highlighter expect this tool help leverage your data in many other useful ways. Remember you are still competing versus other regions so including specific locales to the events will be important. Get out and start playing with this tool to get comfortable so you are able to recognize opportunities to get more data crawled by Google.  

Learn more about Google tools for your website visit us at Eric Wagner Marketing.

Thumb credits: Jeroen van Oostrom

Physical retail goods and services made on smartphones were $8 billion in the U.S. last year, accounting for 3% of online sales and less that 1% of total retail sales. Though those numbers were driven up by the outlier Amazon and eBay who both had sales in the billions. Most U.S. retailers mobile represents only 1.5% of online sales. Through the next five years total mobile sales are rise to 31 billion, making 33% growth annually. Making mcommerce 9% of online sales in 2017.

According to Forrester of the 132 million Americans with and Internet-connected smartphone, only one-fourth have made a purchase on their devices last year. This is kind of surprising considering how many people have used a smartphone to purchase an app, song, or other digital media. The crossover from purchasing a physical item hasn’t translated well on mobile apparently.

It may very well be the retailers fault for not catering to the mobile platform to checkout via mobile devices. Other if they do offer a purchasing app they don’t promote it very well to make it easy for customers to find where to purchase goods. Screen-sizes may play a factor where it’s very difficult to display a receipt or checkout window in an attractive way on a 3-5 inch device. And not to mention more check-outs will provide a photo with the transaction information so that could be more difficult to work around with web-design.

To invest in mcommerce or not?

According to Forrester they say yes. But only invest if the mcommerce experience is quick, simple, and the platform looks good. You can defer to quick checkout solutions like PayPal Express or Checkout by Amazon. It’s recommended that your mobile websites are responsively designed so that it is optimized for the wide variety of today and tomorrow’s devices. Also invest deeper into a great tablet experience because the most purchases are made more often from them rather than a smartphone.

Learn more about small business strategies for mobile platforms by visiting us at Eric Wagner Marketing

Image credits: emptyglass