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The Ultimate Fundraising Course

2016-09-15T10:58:00.001-07:00

The Ultimate Fundraising Course

Keep Pushin’ | A Divine Catharsis

2016-07-19T03:34:00.001-07:00

Keep Pushin’ | A Divine Catharsis

Udemy Sale!

2016-07-11T15:28:00.001-07:00

Affiliate Summit is a Must for Bloggers and Affiliates to Attend

2016-07-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

Affiliate Summit East 2016 (#ASE16) is taking place July 31-August 2 at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York City. The conference and tradeshow offers attendees: three tradeshow areas packed with affiliates, merchants, vendors, networks, technology providers, digital agencies, traffic sources; multiple tracks of relevant educational sessions delivered by industry experts; a variety of networking events; and online tools to help you connect with other attendees before, during and after the event. Expected Attendance: 5,500+

Just in Time for President Trump, Canada Introduces a Bill That Would Make It Easy to Move There | GQ

2016-02-27T06:06:00.001-08:00

Just in Time for President Trump, Canada Introduces a Bill That Would Make It Easy to Move There | GQ

Start Up Business Loans Today

2016-01-10T03:15:00.001-08:00

Start Up Business Loans Today

10 Best Crowdfunding WordPress Themes

2015-09-26T18:18:00.001-07:00

10 Best Crowdfunding WordPress Themes

Rivetz secures your app with built-in hardware security.

2015-09-21T07:29:00.001-07:00

Rivetz secures your app with built-in hardware security.

Click here to support In loving memory of Alvin Davis Jr. by alvin davis

2015-09-12T10:48:00.001-07:00

Click here to support In loving memory of Alvin Davis Jr. by alvin davis

Is real estate crowdfunding a good investment? | Fox News Video

2015-09-07T09:01:00.001-07:00

Is real estate crowdfunding a good investment? | Fox News Video

Marketing Genius of Berkshire Hathaway

2014-05-16T02:29:00.000-07:00

Anyone notice how Berkshire Hathaway has been marketing their new residential real estate brokerage as if they've been doing it all along? Using their established brand image to market their new division? They bought out Prudential just recently but the image they portray is as if they've been doing it for decades if not generations! Quite effectively too in my opinion.

Startup UCLA Fireside Chat with Eric Ries

2014-05-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

Startup Calendar from CrunchBase

2014-05-07T06:34:00.003-07:00

News for May 6, 2014

CrunchBase API v2.0 Beta Period Begins

This weekend we launched the CrunchBase API v2.0 providing real-time access to the CrunchBase Dataset. Although the API is in a mostly-final form, we are releasing it as a Beta to provide the opportunity for developers and partners to share feedback and comments. Continue reading...

After Years, Michigan's Startup Scene Blossoms

Five years ago, Michigan had seven early-stage companies raise money from venture capital investors in the first quarter. This year that number climbed to 31. The story behind this growth was more than a decade in the making, as state and local leaders crafted a policy to make investments more robust and lay the foundation for a startup ecosystem that is finally coming to fruition. Continue reading...

Cleantech Leads Khosla Ventures' Investments

Despite the lean times and bad press that the cleantech industry has faced, Khosla Ventures has remained consistent in its investment thesis around the promise of renewable energy and energy-efficiency technologies. It is by far the sector that has raised the most money in the Khosla portfolio, according to data from CrunchBase. Continue reading...

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Startup Calendar for May 6, 2014

Startup Grind

May 06, 2014 — Multiple Cities

Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. They host monthly events in more than 70 cities and 25 countries featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share personal stories and lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Check out this month's speakers hosted in San Francisco on May 6th, Dubai, Manila, Hong Kong, and Warsaw on May 7th, Bangkok on May 8th, Miami on May 13th, Philadelphia on May 14th, Vancouver on May 15th, Silicon Valley on May 19th, Baltimore on May 20th, Washington DC and New York on May 21st, London onMay 27th, Seattle and Sacramento on May 28th, and many more!

Tumml Urban Accelerator Exhibition Day

May 06, 2014 — San Francisco, CA

On May 6th Tumml will host its Exhibition Day! There will be a fireside chat with California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and investor Jason Calacanis on the future of urban impact entrepreneurship, presentations by Tumml's Winter 2014 Cohort of urban impact entrepreneurs, mingling and drinks. Register now!

SVForum

May 08, 2014 — Palo Alto, CA

Join SVForum on May 8 at the "Crowdfunding of Startup" Quarterly Venture Breakfast and hear practical advice on crowdfunding for founders and investors. Founders and investors will learn about the requirements and pros and cons each option. The JOBS Act's effect on crowdfunding will be discussed, and a panel of experts will share their recommendations for founders and investors considering crowdfunding.

Seattle Tech Meetup

May 13, 2014 — Seattle, WA

Seattle Tech Meetup, Seattle's largest ongoing monthly event, happens on the 3rd Tuesday of every month. This event is for the community, by the community, done in partnership with local community resources Startup Weekend, GeekWire, WTIA, StartupSeattle, House of Genius and more.

TechStartupJobs Fair Berlin

May 14, 2014 — Berlin, Germany

TechStartupJobs runs a successful job board for startups within Techmeetups' global tech communities crossing 17000+ active members. TechStartupJobs Fair has been set up to help Startups find the talent they are looking for and for talent to find their way to the hottest startups around.

ProtoHack

May 17, 2014 — San Francisco, CA

Protohack is the only hackathon for designers and business people in which no coding is required. We empower folks who don't know how to code to use the industry leading mockup, design and prototyping tools to present their ideas visually. Use code "crunchbaselove" for 20% off tickets.

SwitchPitch LA

May 22, 2014 — Los Angeles, CA

SwitchPitch is a role-reversal pitching event that invites startups to hear proposals from large, established companies for projects they need completed and are looking for outside help. The lineup for this year's LA event include heavy hitters; Boeing, Disney, Experian, HP, IMAX Labs and Warner Brothers among others, all looking to actively work with startups and make deals. Use promo code *CRUNCHBASE* for 50% off startup registration!

SF Startup Job Fair

May 28, 2014 — San Francisco, CA

SF Startup Job Fair aims to connect talented job seekers with the best SF/SV-based startups. Past attendees include Twilio, StumbleUpon, Pivotal Labs, Coffee Meets Bagel, LiveRamp and many more. Sign up now!

MongoDB World

June 23, 2014 — New York, NY

Hear how leaders in the MongoDB ecosystem are building the next generation of applications with MongoDB with over 80 talks from MongoDB engineers and users including Amazon, Cisco, Stripe and more! MongoDB World is the largest gathering of technology leaders in the MongoDB community.

Accelerator News for May 6, 2014

Healthbox

Boston, Salt Lake City, Tampa, Nashville, Chicago, and London

The Healthbox accelerator offers serious entrepreneurs the candid, unparalleled healthcare industry access and insight they need to succeed in a complex marketplace. Healthbox has opened applications for its four-month programs in Boston, Salt Lake City, Tampa, Nashville, Chicago, and London, launching in Summer and Fall 2014. Admissions are rolling until deadlines are finalized. Apply now!

TURN8 Seed Accelerator

Dubai — Applications close May 31, 2014

TURN8 seed accelerator program is designed to encourage innovative entrepreneurship worldwide, starting with Dubai. TURN8 holds two rounds a year, selecting start-up teams with marketable ideas and supporting them with funding of $30,000, mentoring and training in exchange for a stake in any resulting business. For those who graduate, follow-on support is offered to help them find additional investors. Apply now before the end of the month!

Startup Calendar from CrunchBase

2014-05-07T06:34:00.001-07:00

News for May 6, 2014

CrunchBase API v2.0 Beta Period Begins

After Years, Michigan's Startup Scene Blossoms

Cleantech Leads Khosla Ventures' Investments

SHARE WITH:

Startup Calendar for May 6, 2014

Startup Grind

May 06, 2014 — Multiple Cities

Tumml Urban Accelerator Exhibition Day

May 06, 2014 — San Francisco, CA

SVForum

May 08, 2014 — Palo Alto, CA

Seattle Tech Meetup

May 13, 2014 — Seattle, WA

TechStartupJobs Fair Berlin

May 14, 2014 — Berlin, Germany

ProtoHack

May 17, 2014 — San Francisco, CA

SwitchPitch LA

May 22, 2014 — Los Angeles, CA

SF Startup Job Fair

May 28, 2014 — San Francisco, CA

MongoDB World

June 23, 2014 — New York, NY

Accelerator News for May 6, 2014

Healthbox

Boston, Salt Lake City, Tampa, Nashville, Chicago, and London

TURN8 Seed Accelerator

Dubai — Applications close May 31, 2014

Startups shouldn’t waste time creating a market need

2014-05-06T04:34:00.001-07:00

Startups shouldn’t waste time creating a market need (via StartUp Beat)

When entrepreneurs are generating ideas, they often are in such a creative frame of mind that they feel the need to create not only a brand new product or service, but a new need within the market. They want to create something uniquely theirs, and…

2014 Business Intelligence Trends

2014-02-06T01:38:00.003-08:00

5 Big Business Intelligence Trends For 2014 (via InformationWeek)

Cindi Howson Visual data discovery, cloud computing, and mobile lead the BI trends to watch in 2014. Take a closer look. What's in store for business intelligence in 2014? In some respects, 2014 will echo themes heard in 2013, but the message is getting…

Bill Gross' Le Web 2011 Presentation - The Best Startup Advice I've Ever Seen!

2014-02-03T00:57:00.001-08:00

Narrowly Defined Geographics + Untethered Creativity = Magic

2014-01-31T02:20:00.001-08:00

Through my recent reunion with my early career mentor Scott Cohen of The Lifecube Project in Downtown Las Vegas I had the opportunity to spend some time in the Fremont East District which is home to the Downtown Project funded and spearheaded by Zappos.com's Tony Hsieh. The whole experience was very cool for me and I immediately felt "at home" in a way that's hard to describe but when you feel it, you know it without question. The last time I felt so in tune with a vibe of a community within a narrowly defined georgraphicphysical location was when I moved into the Urban Abode in the Roosevelt Row Arts District in Downtown Phoenix where my "tour guide" at that time was the inimitable Barry Schwartz

Here....watch this and see if this explains it better.

2013 SGB Media Group's Article Highlights

2014-01-12T04:59:00.000-08:00

Seeking Collaborators

2014-01-05T13:47:00.001-08:00

eMail Marketing Tips from MediaPost

2014-01-03T14:24:00.001-08:00

Lawsuit Accuses Facebook Of Scanning Private Messages

Cnet

Facebook is facing a class-action lawsuit from users who claim that the company is profiting off of data gleaned from private messages. “On Monday, Matthew Campbell and Michael Hurley filed suit against Facebook with the Northern District Court of California,” CNet reports. “The men accuse Facebook of scanning private messages with URLs in them ‘for purposes including but not limited to data mining and user profiling.’” ...Read the whole story

Calendars.com is Now Integrating Email, Search & Purchase Data

Direct Marketing News

Calendars.com has implemented eCommera's Big Data solution DynamicAction to help make its marketing more targeted. The retailer, who is still in the middle of its busiest period, is using the tool to gather, and analyze third-party search and email data, as well as its own first-party purchase data. For instance, the company is now able to look at which products had high conversion rates, but low page-entry rates in order to redirect consumers to landing pages with high conversion rates. ...Read the whole story

Security Experts Warn of Spam Campaign Pretending to be From Discover Card

SPAMFighter

Security experts are warning about a spam email campaign that appears to be coming from Discover. Discover card holders should beware emails that look like they are coming from the bank asking them to renew their account information. The emails are coming from addresses such as mailer@discover.com orsender@discover.com with the subject line "Please update your Discover Account". The links connect to phishing websites which are being used to steal customer data. ...Read the whole story

MailDeck iPad App Supports Multiple Users

CBS News

MailDeck is a new app that has entered the crowded iPad email client arena. The free app is designed specifically for multiple users, knowing that sometimes people share iPads. It supports multiple profiles and lets users passcode protect their accounts, so that only the intended user can access the email. The tool lets users view their inboxes in varying ways and lets users turn emails into tasks. It also helps users manage attachments. The app currently supports Gmail and IMAP, but not POP or Microsoft Exchange. ...Read the whole story

Spam Virus Going Around Tells Recipients They Are Due in Court

New York Daily News

There is a spam virus going around the country today that tells recipients that they are due in a local court. Court officials warned about the virus after getting more than 100 complaints from citizens around the country. The emails claim to be from a clerk, informing the recipient that they are required to appear in court and use the names of legitimate law firms to make them seem real. ...Read the whole story

Alternatives to GIving Out Your Email Address on Your Company Website

Mashable

Displaying your email address publicly is a surefire way to get yourself onto the email lists of unsolicited senders. To help address the problem, Mashable has created a list of tips for releasing your email address publicly without having to give out the actual address. The tech blog suggests using phone numbers, Twitter accounts and form submissions among other ideas to give out your contact on your company's website without risking your email address ending up on a spam list. ...Read the whole story

eLance & Odesk Merge!

2013-12-19T05:34:00.005-08:00

The “gig economy” is growing up. Elance and oDesk just merged to dominate it (via Pando Daily)

By Michael Carney On December 18, 2013The staffing world is getting a major shake up this morning thanks to the announcement of a merger between freelance labor marketplaces oDesk and Elance. The deal is poised to create a giant in the online workplace…

How To Be Successful In Content Marketing As a Modern Content Creator

2013-12-14T03:17:00.000-08:00

First let me ask you something, would you ride your horse into a new town-with your products, cds, your art, your books, blog posts, or programs stuffed into the backpack strapped to your shoulders-and solicit your content door to door?

No. You wouldn't...

It would be random, borderline inappropriate, and the 1 or 2% of people that might purchase your content-wares would likely do it out of sympathy.

Despite the fact that many of us are inadvertently executing a similar strategy, there IS good news.

Just because your content marketing campaigns have failed to convert-doesn't mean you have a bad product, a poor service, or a curse from the universe!

It most likely means that your marketing funnel has failed to forge the connection and relationship needed to make the sale, even if the product or service is impressive and valuable enough to your prospect to consider purchasing your solution.

Regardless of what your selling, in the modern world, the "know, like, and trust" factor is more relevant than ever.

Just because you've got a product or service nestled away on a 3rd tier page covered in mediocre copy and checkout button, doesn't mean you have a functional marketing and sales funnel.

This is where the Content Marketing Process comes in to lend a helping hand and play it's part in taking your audience from interested prospect to loyal customer.

Content Marketing is how brands build an audience in the modern world. It is a CORE skill for Modern Content Creators, and if you are selling content of any type or format, your content strategy and your content marketing better be solid if you want to compete in 2013 and beyond.

Understand that content marketing may sound like a new or faddish term. A trendy wave here today gone tomorrow...

Although it's a buzz word bandwagon as of late, it is NOT a new concept, but the Modern World has leveled the playing field by providing the access and resources to accomplish what wasn't ever humanly possible up until just recently, and it's taken a little while for everyone to catch up to the "content as currency" concept.

However, there is a big difference between the approaches that are successful and those that are not.

Two Approaches

There are only two direct approaches to selling your content online. (art, products, services, coaching, knowledge, advice, etc)

1) Send cold traffic directly to an offer... The end.

2) Send targeted traffic to valuable content and build an engaged audience through adding more value and nurturing a relationship, and then at some point transform them into a loyal customer.

Route two is the name of the game.

That is the role of content marketing.

The 3 Shortcuts To Successful Content Marketing

Rather than point out where everyone goes wrong, I'll instead outline the highest leverage solutions, or the biggest shortcuts that you can integrate into your projects, campaigns, and processes to make your efforts more successful.

1) Mindset- The first shortcut is to approach marketing your content with the right mindset.

The mentality you need to embrace is that of the Modern Content Creator, and all that inherently implies.

A. You are an Artist/Creator AND an Entrepreneur. You do the work that's meaningful, aligned with your purpose, and serves your loyal audience.

B. Everything from your mission and purpose, down to each project or campaign-begins with Clarity + Focus. This is always the starting point. Roles and responsibilities are defined so that you can clarify and focus on your highest value activities, and then maximize them with the highest leverage.

C. You are story-teller AND you are a publisher. As a Modern Content Creator you are both the expert/journalist, AND you are the publisher of the magazine.

D. Content marketing is best thought of as a process. An ongoing conversation with your audience based on the creation and delivery of content that adds value to their lives.

E. Think simple yet sophisticated. He who can control and discipline his attention, will find an audience that gives them theirs.

F. The tools are only as effective as your ability to use them. I think we can sort of take for granted sometimes just how awesome the power we have at our fingertips actually is...

I often hear a lot of talk about what the next NEW "thing" is going to be...

Some super technology or social network that instantly takes the world by storm.

While continuous advancements in science and technology and the a cure for cancer are all exciting, spending time thinking about flying cars is a fruitless exercise.

It's not MORE technology we need, it's the need to use the tools we have BETTER.

Think in terms of mastery.

2) Message to Market Match

Content is relative, and being relevant is increasingly more difficult across our very noisy digital channels.

With the right mindset, your message to market match is the next most important thing you CAN'T get wrong.

Unfortunately, for some people it will be easier to speak your audiences language than others. But the essence of what it means to be a ModernContent Creator is the evolved understanding of being both Creator/Artist, AND Entrepreneur.

This means that you are making, creating, providing things that are meaningful to you, but also valuable to others! A lot of the further leaning creative types I work with have to be reminded of the fact that their is an entire skillset and suite of entrepreneurial responsibilities that must be integrated and well managed if you want to find that beautiful balance of endless freedom and fulfillment doing what you love.

... You need to love what you do, and you ALSO need an audience who loves what you do for them!

The inherent CREATIVE faculties for Artist/Expert and Personal Brands can and should most DEFINITELY be applied in finding this balance, but understand that an "if you build it they will come attitude is dangerous."

Gotta provide value. Real value. Gotta know what that value is. This all requires understanding the most essential aspects of marketing, which is really just effective communication to a defined target audience or persona.

This phrase and every imaginable permutation is littered across the web. Perhaps because it is so very basic, and so often mentioned that many of us simply gloss over the inherent implications to making that statement actionable and quantified.

You've got to be thoroughly researched and involved in your market place. Period. You need to know who's who at the greatest level of depth to manage that tricky balance of listening to what your audience is saying, and understanding where you can add to the party, in a meaningful and well positioned way.

You need to know the positioning of those already active in your space so you can define YOUR Unique Value Positioning.

It's a balance, and it's the key to finding your voice, whether that's as an authority, or as a reporter or enthusiast...

If you haven't done in depth market research, if you don't know the top blogs, names, forums, brands, gaps, in your market; than it's going to be MUCH harder to carve your own space effectively.

Blind stabs in the dark can sometimes pan out if you avoid the sharks, know the right people, and want to leave your career up to luck. I know that expert trainers/product creators who would consider themselves savvy to this and unconsciously point their nose up at those "ignorant artist/musician types," while they themselves don't even really understand their market at the level i'm talking about.

You do NOT need to go this deep with your market to be successful. No. But when you do, there is literally MANY options and routes you could pursue because at that point you can see all the gaps, you KNOW the market and who's in it.

Now, if you're already an expert, as are most of my clients, then it's more a matter of dialing into the conversations and writing about the most valuable issues, concerns, solutions, that exist within your community.

It's not just about your own ideas, or simply writing about what you feel like writing about... Ideally you'd bridge both so you are writing something meaningful for you, but that is first and foremost speaking to the persona you are intending to reach, and does so in a relevant and engaging way...

That sounds like such generic advice, but it's the name of game. As Brian Clark from Copyblogger illustrated very elegantly in a recent interview I heard, it's more about listening to your audience, than talking at them.

3) Integrated Content Strategy: - Build an Intelligent Marketing Funnel

Just about every single one of my clients, upon initial intake, come to me with the following:

They've put up their information product, art, book, program, CD or service on an inner tier page (2-3-4) with some decent though mostly generic copy and pictures.

Their web traffic is marginal, not tracked, and has a strategy that's typically very leaky-if effectively defined or designed at all.

Now, I hope none of them take offense to this; I'm not saying it to rag on them, but to better illustrate my point for you. (they're going to be all JUST fine;)

But this is NOT an effective marketing funnel.

However, after answering the basic yet vital questions for determining what to say and who to say it to, identifying the best communication formats, selecting the right distribution channels, it's just test, measure, and refine...

I think it can be difficult to think in terms of a marketing sequence for many, and it takes a substantial amount of effort and energy for me to draw the sequences out in my head, transfer it onto paper and then implement it.

But the missing link for the majority that I can see-is a lack of integrated strategy for thinking through and mapping out your marketing funnel and crafting the best, most effective USER experience you can.

This kind of visitor, comes from this place, is taken to this place, then reads through this page, etc. etc.

As I mentioned earlier, but find it worth repeating; think simple yet sophisticated.

He who can control and discipline his attention, will find an audience that gives them theirs.

In Conclusion

The fact is, there are a LOT of reasons why content marketing efforts fail. Failure in one of the these three areas are the most common problems I continue to see.

From overwhelm, mis-prioritization, skepticism, conflicting information, fear, doubt, distraction... It goes on and on.

The line between high value content and general noise is glaringly obvious, but much harder to create, and requires more savvy in utilizing the tools more effectively.

When in doubt be sure to review these factors to ensure that your mindset, your message to market match, and your marketing funnel are focused to give yourself the highest probability for success with content marketing.

After a decade of successful Content Marketing as a DIY Artist and Content Creator, and 3 years of specialized coaching and consulting for Expert, Artist, and Personal Brands, (Modern Content Creators) Jamie Leger (http://www.jamieleger.com) continues to enjoy serving his clients and audience during the day, and creating music as well as insightful lessons and training at night.

The absolute BEST shortcut is to receive the most advanced training-built inside of a sophisticated yet simplified structure. Connect the dots guidance on how to truly use the tools of the Modern Content Creator/Marketer, and grow your brand with high value content that's leveraged to it's fullest potential.

To be apart of the next wave of thought leaders, bloggers, artists, experts, and high value content creators, I want to gift you with my $2,000 Content Masterclass, for free.

I want to remove all obstacles for you to receive the best training and support so that you can connect and contribute to us all in the way only you can.

I'd much rather give all the content away to the people who'll actually use it AND contribute real value to the global web, than the biz-opp seekers who'll pay for it, let it go to waste, and/or add to the noise.

It has taken me literally 13 months in actual production, a decade to acquire, and I'm proud to get to be able to contribute to the success of your brand in this small way.

Go to the Content Marketing Bootcamp for Modern Content Creators - http://increasetrafficgeneration.com/content-marketing-bootcamp/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jamie_Leger

Seth Godin on Social Tribes

2013-12-08T04:59:00.003-08:00

Using Social Media To Promote Start-Up Businesses

2013-11-24T13:55:00.001-08:00

If you are planning to launch a start- up business or have recently started one, you probably have encountered a wealth of information on using social media to promote a business. Though there are millions of social media users across the world, around 900 million of them, it is easy to get carried away by the numbers. Finding the right social sites to promote your business to maximise its potential is essential for business success, and this is where you should concentrate your efforts.

What Social Media Engagement Achieves For Business

Social media in essence is about engagement through sharing, which for business means targeting your product range, your articles, or your services at engaging a potential customer or client base. Collectively, products, services and articles are known as content, and it is through offering quality content that success through your channels can be achieved. Social media has around 900 million users globally, and covers every topic range you can think of. As well as engaging a potential customer and client base or readership, social media is also relevant to search engine optimization. Social media is a unique format as it helps you promote your content directly to your audience, and in turn it generates traffic via people sharing your content with others, and through SEO. Perhaps more importantly than this, however, social media with its online reviews helps a business build trust, and nearly every brand you can think of uses social media for this reason. Consider this: you come across two companies offering the same services; one has 250 Facebook likes, the other 43 - which one would you opt for? So regardless of whether you're an online retailer, an affiliate marketer, offer a service such as tuition, or run a news site, social media can help you build your business online. Google estimates that by 2015, UK consumers will have purchased £40bn of products and services online.

Popular Social Media Sites And Their Uses

Getting to get grips with the nuances of social media's role in promoting your business can cause more than its fair share of headaches. Here is a list of the most popular social media sites and their uses:

Facebook is predominately for sharing. This can be products, articles, or services. In a nutshell, it's for sharing your content with as many people as possible.

Twitter is about sharing news on any subject. Don't let the word news make you feel it does not apply for products. New product launches, new stock ready to be sold - Twitter is good for all of this.

Google+ is in part a combination of the two and has become important for search engine optimization if nothing else.

Blogging is a great way to impart news and expertise to your readership, customer and client base, or followers. It offers a good way to attract visitors on your site via search engines.

YouTube is about showcasing videos to a wide audience. It is being utilised by businesses all the time to sell products and services. As YouTube is owned by Google, videos tend to feature prominently on search engine results. You can also utilise the YouTube ads to make a secondary income stream.

Pinterest and other bookmarking sites are very good at showcasing visual products. If your business is selling something online, albeit a product or service, ensure you are posting on Pinterest and as many bookmarking sites you can find.

Social Media And Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Good positioning on search engines is about unique quality content that is well shared and well linked to from other websites. By sharing your content on social sites, the more chance there is of people liking it on Facebook, retweeting on Twitter, or sharing the pin on Pinterest. Links are important for good SEO and posting your content on social sites provides a link from the social site to yours, and in every case this can be targeted to a specific web page. By web page I mean a specific product, service, or article. This also ensures Google indexes the web page. That is to say, it adds it to its database, ensuring it can be found on search engines.

Finding The Best Social Media Sites For Your Business

To find the best social sites suited to your business, think about what your business is trying to do. If your business sells products or services, then use social sites that showcase pictures and videos to sell the product. YouTube, Pinterest, Delicious and Instagram are all really good for showcasing products. If you're in the selling game, make videos of your products, take good professional photos and get them on these sites, and ensure you link the pictures and videos directly to the content on your site. If you sell on eBay or an affiliate seller, try to link directly to the product page where a potential customer can buy it. Also, put the products on your Facebook page, Google+ page, and Twitter. For service providers, a slightly different spin on social media promotion is needed as, more often than not, a service provider will sit in the middle of visual social media, and text-based social sites. This also applies to affiliate marketers. If you can, represent your services with a picture or icon, and publish the picture or icon on the visual sites. Use videos to showcase your services - if you can get testimonials from clients, well, that's gold dust. Publish regularly on your blog and tweet the articles, together with insights into the industry. This engagement will help build trust with your existing clients, showcase your skills, and help you to be found by people wishing to become new clients.

Social Media Advertising

If you have the budget for it, Facebook offers advertising on a click-through basis like Google AdSense, or it can be used to earn likes. It is often a case of experimentation. For affiliate marketing revenue streams, click-throughs will expose the user to your revenue stream, while a like will ensure every time an article or new product is published they'll be informed. It's trial and error and seems to work well for some businesses, but others have lost faith in it.

Saving Time

By now, you have probably guessed that updating social sites, especially if you publish a lot of daily content, is hard work. Larger businesses employ people to keep on top of it, something many start-up business don't have the budget or the time for. It is possible to automate your social accounts updating using automatic syndication sites.

A Social Media Strategy

Step 1: Create a Facebook Page, Twitter account and Google+ Page For Business

These have their uses regardless of the type of business, and all help considerably with SEO. Ensure you create business pages on Facebook and Google+. This keeps your personal details and indeed social media life hidden from your customers or clients, and it offers better options to promote a business.

Step 2: Identify Social Media Sites That Are The Most Important To Your Business

If your site sells products, make a list of all the online bookmarking and video sites you can find and create accounts. Ensure you use Pinterest and YouTube. If your business is for services, information, or is for an affiliate marketing revenue stream, you want to spread the word in as many ways as possible. Use blogging sites such as Tumblr, Blogger and WordPress.org to syndicate your blog posts and services, and try to create news content if you provide services to show your expertise in your field.

Step 3: Use Social Media Tools Such As 'If This Then That'

'If this then that' or ifttt.com automatically updates your social accounts. This is easy to establish and works by syndicating the information across a host of social sites automatically as soon as one site is updated. This, as you can imagine, saves a lot of time. Be cautions, however, and ensure social sites suited to the business, such as bookmarking sites for online retailers, appear just as you want them to be found. Automatic syndication has limitations and often links and pictures do not appear as you would like them to. Nonetheless, and especially for syndicating blog posts via an RSS feed, it is a very good time-saver for promoting your business via social media. Not all social media can be syndicated in this way, but the sites that ifttt.com syndicates to are well worth creating accounts on to promote your business. The more social media sites you post on, the better.

Step 4: Use #hashtags

Whenever you post your content, ensure you use accurate #hashtags. This will help users find your content when they search for it. So if I'm selling tyres on ebay, #tyres, #cartyres, #car, #tyres is good, and for sports news, #sportsnews, #football #cricket, and so on is good.

Step 5: Once It Starts

Once your content starts hitting the social media world, monitor your accounts for feedback. Concentrate on the sites you've identified as important to your business and respond to questions and comments. When responding, try to be helpful and non-abusive, even if the commentator is not pleasant. Professionalism goes along way.

Step 6: Participation

Twitter and Google+ show trending topics and these are popular subjects people are discussing. It is worth performing the odd Twitter search to see what people are talking about in relation to your business, and making a contribution to the discussion. This is a good way to make connections and hopefully achieve more success.

Step 7: Monitoring Success

Monitoring success has proven to be quite difficult for social media. Unlike SEO results, which can be measured on click-throughs and content engagement, it is not so simple on social sites for a variety of reasons. You may feel if you provide news that 10 comments on one story is a good sign of success, while 100 likes of a product video on YouTube with no obvious link to sales may not be immediately obvious as positive. It is worth remembering, however, that though people may not directly access your main site via social sites, it may prompt them to return later. Always keep in mind that social media is for sharing content, so any like, comment or retweet is positive.

Visit HomeforBusiness for more online marketing tips.

Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother of three, PR Consultant and Entrepreneur

Like many women on most days I seem to have to juggle all my roles. On other days just three or four. This is why I founded Homeforbusiness. I recognise what it takes to be a working Mum and how to set up an online business from home with all 'pulls' of everyday family life and work.

I have always been entrepreneurial and set up by first corporate communications company, EMA Productions, in my 30s working with big corporate clients such as Texaco, Rank and Boots. Whilst it was challenging and hard work, it was quickly successful. I could focus solely on winning contracts and meeting the clients needs without family distractions and with the support of a fantastic team and office.

I feel very passionate about HomeforBusiness as I believe that lots of people want to create a better work/life balance and work from home, either setting up a new business or working as a freelancer. There are hundreds of genuine opportunities for people but often people do not know how to start. I want HomeforBusiness to empower anyone who wants to work from home profitably. With a panel of guest experts I will share share genuine business opportunities, business ideas, advice on running a business, online marketing, and health and wellbeing tips. I have also put together my favourite free online resources.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elizabeth_W_Conley

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