Social Media for Food Biz Meetup at the Wix Lounge. Photo by Galo Delgado

1. Define Your Goals

Whether you are just starting an online food-zine, or run a well-established restaurant, each business has different social media needs. For Alex Vallis, Digital features editor of FoodandWine.com, a top priority is using social media to drive more traffic to their already popular site (the more hits, the more advertising space is worth) as well as expand to new demographics. In contrast, Dhruv Singe, Founder of !Savory, turned to Social Media when he was just starting out to develop brand awareness and forge relationships with customers. Similarly, Joe DiStefano, founder of Chopsticks + Marrow, is a one-man shop and manages his own social media. His focus is on creating buzz to build an audience. When his blog posts are referred to by other publications like the NYTimes, he shares it on his Social networks and sees a spike in site traffic.

The dish: Build your social network activity around your goals, and don’t forget that everybody starts with just one follower!

2. Align Your Social Media with Your Audience

Consider your target audience when choosing your social media platforms. If it is customer engagement you’re after, Facebook and Twitter are wonderful tools. To reach your business contacts, use LinkedIn. A great way to explore ways to use the different platforms is to browse through profiles of businesses similar to yours.

The dish: Tailor your use of each social media platform to the audience you wish to engage.

3. Be Explicit

In the food business, don’t underestimate the power of great images. For example, Food and Wine’s Fantastic Pasta board has over 25,000 followers, which translates to more site traffic. When it comes to food, presentation is (almost) everything, and that’s why Food-related businesses lend themselves so well to visual platforms like Pinterest, Instagram and increasingly Facebook.

The dish: Use images to create a great impression and drive traffic to your site

4. Keep an Eye on Current Events

While it can be difficult to measure the ROI (Return on Investment) of your social media activities, they can certainly impact your bottom line. Sometimes it’s all about timing. After Hurricane Sandy, many restaurants were struggling from damage and loss of product.  In response, a group of New Yorkers in the restaurant industry created an online campaign called Dine Out NYC (#DineOutNYC on Twitter) to encourage people to dine at restaurants throughout New York. The campaign had a combined 4 million impressions.

The Dish: Stay up-to-date current events

5. Learn from It, and Have Fun

For Dhruv, the use of social media was an organic process that helped define his brand. Through his engagement with his growing consumer base, he learned what worked and what didn’t, and used it to tailor his branding efforts. What he discovered? An irreverent, playful and daring tone worked best for !Savory.

The final dish: Be familiar with the relevant platforms & devote at least a small part of the marketing efforts to social media

This post is based on an event organized by Gotham Media Strategies that took place at the Wix Lounge NY.

The post Excellent Social Media Tips for Your Food Biz appeared first on The Official Wix Blog | Wix.com.

If you fit into one or more of the following categories, you should get in touch with a Wix Pro right away:

• You need a website and you like the Wix style but don’t have the time to create one yourself
• You’re looking for tailor-made web design at an affordable price
• You want a designer to help with your entire branding and online presence
• You need an expert to translate your ideas into the look & feel of your website

This is how to get started:

• Visit our Pro Designer Directory and browse through portfolios
• Get a no-commitment quote
• Hire a Pro who fits your style and budget

Here are some awesome examples of websites created by Wix Pros along with some design wisdom:

kitchensinkcreations

“Make a great first impression. Captivating images can instantly stimulate the visitors’ feelings; which in turns makes it ten-times more likely they will invest in finding out what you are all about”.

Dipped and Dyed – Designed by Kitchensinkcreations

lisaericksondesign

“Keep the bells and whistles simple. Do you need animation AND sound? Does your design focus on your main message or distract from it? Have some friends visit and ask them what they notice first”.

Alliance of women directors – Designed by Lisaerickson Design

tracycostopoulos

“Build a wireframe  and have a clear vision on your site’s navigational road map. It will help you with your linking later on and it provides a good structure for your site to be built on”.

Ruby’s Red Wash – Designed by Tracycostopoulos

magstar71

“When you are designing your website from scratch make sure you have all your social media icons underneath your mini page so they show up on every single page!”.

Erin Hassan – Designed by Magstar71

The post How Wix Professional Designers Can Help Boost Your Website appeared first on The Official Wix Blog | Wix.com.

On the Wix App Market, you can find several apps that will help you set up a simple and effective mailing list. These apps allow website visitors to actively register for your newsletter. That way you know that the people receiving it are really interested in the news and updates that you share. To try them out, go over to the App Market and search for V.I.Plus, Target Hero, MPZMail, Alicanto or Cake Mail.

But setting up a subscription widget on your site is not the only step in creating and maintaining a successful newsletter. Have a look at these tips as you come up with a killer newsletter strategy:

Start Out Small and Powerful

Successful newsletters don’t require 12 pages of in-depth reporting. What they do need (at least in the beginning) is 3 or 4 short pieces of valuable information with room to grow from there.

Play on your audience’s need to know. Announce an event, offer entry into a contest, discount on a product or service, share news about new products or features. Whatever you do, make sure your news is specific and has a substantial enough affect on your readers so that they will click and participate. For example, readers are more likely to click on “5 Food You Shouldn’t Be Giving Your Baby” than on “The History of Baby Food”. You need to spark their interest with something that is relevant to them.

Create powerful call to actions that make people click

Call to Action

When you write the content for each email round you need to have a clear order of the “call to actions” in mind. Basically, you need to write the content in a way that will encourage the readers to act. The email’s subject line should encourage them to click and open the email. Once they’re in, your goal may be to get them to revisit your website, so your call to action should direct them to that. Or you may want them to join a live event that you are organizing, in which case the call to action will lead them to RSVP or to purchase tickets.

A good call to action is clear, concise and enticing. You need to give readers a feeling that by following your call to action they are gaining something valuable. Here’s more info on how to create a good call to action.

Know Your Target Audience

You need to know what attracts the people you’re trying to reach. If the content of your newsletter does not appeal to their taste and interests, they simply will not read it. This will involve a bit of trial and error in the beginning, but in time you will know what works for them and what goes straight to trash.

Knowing your target audience well will allow you to generate original content that is entertaining/ informative/ educating or inspiring. You need to stay up-to-date with the type of news that is relevant to your audience. That way, when they read your newsletter they immediately see that you know what you’re saying.

Set up a regular newsletter schedule

Keep It Regular

Send out newsletters at regular intervals. This conveys a message to your customers that you are active as well as reliable. The frequency of your emails depends very much on how much information you have to share or how much time you can spare to prepare the newsletter. It’s highly important that you don’t flood your subscribers with too many emails (more than once a week is considered too much). That will only annoy them and they’ll open your emails just to look for the unsubscribe button.

Also, if you can’t think of anything valuable to write in your newsletter, it’s probably best to wait until you do have something worthwhile to share. However, coming up with topics for a newsletter should not be difficult task. In your daily work routine, try to see how you could turn ordinary issues into an interesting piece of content.

The post Create an Effective Newsletter to Build Customer Relationships appeared first on The Official Wix Blog | Wix.com.

When geeks wed, it’s a wonderful opportunity for celebrating their mutual love, and their love of all things geek. In a world where big fat wedding events can sometimes seem like a hot mess of overpriced and corny cliches, two people who decide to walk down the aisle with a healthy does of humor is a blessed thing. And say what you will about geeks, but they sure know how to have a laugh at their own expense and do it with style.

If you like weddings that are out of the ordinary, and if you’re a geek-fan yourself, you’re going to enjoy these awesome moments from super geeky yet super fun weddings. You might end up finding good ideas for your own geek events!

Save the date >>

Or save the world >>

Back to the wedding >>

Mr. and Mrs. Potter >>

The little mermaid and her prince >>

8 bit flower arrangement >>

Do you take this Lego to be your wife? >>

In Xbox and in health >>

Love in low resolution >>

POW! she said yes! >>

Iron man wedding cake >>

She is a bridezilla!!!  >>

Untill death do us part >>

Minecraft wedding decoration >>

Take your seat Mr. Men and Little Miss >>

The post Amazing Geek Weddings appeared first on The Official Wix Blog | Wix.com.

Brands use Instagram to communicate with fans in a visual way. But if they were just posting pics of their latest products or the ads that can be seen elsewhere anyway it wouldn’t be much fun. Smart brands use Instagram to give their followers an “insider’s look” into what they do, creating the feeling that their account provides real added value to those who view it.

Some brands do it better than others, of course. Here are 10 brands that are doing amazing work at maintaining a fun, interesting or beautiful Instagram account. And as you follow them, be sure you follow Wix too (because our Instagram pics are earth-shattering stuff).

Boston Celtics>>

BMW>>

Burberry>>

Threadless>>

Mailchimp>>

Nike>>

Oreo>>

Sharpie>>

General Electric>>

The Today Show>>

For Some Extra Cool Stuff Follow Wix on Instagram:

The post 10 Brands You Should Follow on Instagram appeared first on The Official Wix Blog | Wix.com.

Before we get on to that, we just want to say thank you to everyone who participated and entered their video to the contest. We got tons of awesome submissions and the choice was excruciatingly hard. Our esteemed judges finally decided on the three following winners because their videos were creative and fun, and they did a great promotion job for their makers.

So without further ado, please welcome the winning entries:

Grand Prize Winner (MacBook Pro +CS6!) – Jackie Aldern and the Beautiful Dancing Cow

2nd Prize (Canon EOS 60D 18 MP Camera + Tripod!) – Maike Gevers, the Lego Dreamer

3rd Prize (Canon PowerShot SX50 HS Camera!) – Michael Loney, the Basketball Dude

BUT! Because we got so many wonderful videos, we just had to honor two more videos that really rocked our boat. These two will get a $250 gift card for ThinkGeek! Let’s give a hand to:

Shark Wrestler Josiah Clements:

And Mussman, the Zombie Entertainer:

Yet we’re not finished! As we said, we got A LOT of great entries. We can’t award all of them, but we still want to show our r.e.s.p.e.c.t to several entries that really stood out. All of these people will receive a free yearly premium package from Wix:

Sexy Moves by Kansas City SEO

Dedric, the Wild English Teacher

N. Gray’s Sing-along

Loai’s Balloons

Talk Show Star LaCora Stephens

If you want to view all the entries we got, visit our YouTube page and prepare buckets of popcorn.

Stay tuned for the next Wix contest! We’re planning something quite spectacular ;)

The post Wix Promote Yourself Video Winners Are Here! appeared first on The Official Wix Blog | Wix.com.

Before you start tagging, here are 15 images that will get your Instagram juices flowing.

And don’t forget to check our very own Instagram pics!

Photo by samtravel79

Photo by _lizjuice_

Photo by byevamaria

Photo by hazapots1

Photo by cute_rilakuma

Photo by kenoshima

Photo by lomasswag

Photo by Wix

Photo by orichayun

Photo by artguz624

Photo by your_cover_girl

Photo by trippi_boy

Photo by desiree2811

Photo by zahirinagugus

Follow Wix on Instagram and check out our photos!

The post Best 15 Instagram Photos of the Week appeared first on The Official Wix Blog | Wix.com.

This cutie lets everyone know that you are online. You can put it on your storefront, your counter, your desk, your laptop sleeve, your guitar case, your cooking apron, your business vehicle, – we can go on like this for ever! The bottom line is that the sticker tells the world that you have an awesome website.

Giovanni Casas of Geo Events (www.geoevents.com)

We want you to use the Wix Sticker to show off your site, and to give you an extra push we will promote you to all of our fans on our Facebook page!

Here’s how it work:

• Download the Wix Sticker HERE.
• Place it on where you think it fits best and take a photo.
• Use this form to submit your pic to get featured on Wix’s Facebook page:

To make things nicer, you get to choose the color of your Wix Sticker- we have purple, green and blue.

Victor Kolensky of Victory Vision Center (www.victoryvisioncare.com/)

Tip: people react better to images that have faces in them. If you want your sticker pic to have a strong effect, pose with the sticker or get someone to be in the frame.

Art director Jackie Blaze (www.jackieblaze.com/)

The post Grab the Wix Sticker & Get Featured on Facebook! appeared first on The Official Wix Blog | Wix.com.

Despite the fact that society has outlined strict roles for each sex, Sandberg goes into great detail about how today’s “career loving” women can balance both career and family (though she claims that having it all is a myth), if they were to “Lean In”.

This means making proactive changes, as well as challenging the notions of traditional patterns of behavior of both men and women in the workforce and at home. Sandberg implores women to believe in their abilities and to stop hanging back and avoiding challenges.

So how can you  “Lean In”? Here are some of Sandberg’s practical (we didn’t say easy!) suggestions, for applying her “Lean In” philosophy to your life and join the initiative to advancement of women and attaining gender equality:

Create a Long-term goal and an 18 month plan: Your long term goal should be general and your 18 month plan more specific. This allows you to know the bigger picture that you are working towards in life, headed by smaller, more immediate steps you need to take to get there.

Learn How to Negotiate: Whether it’s for a salary or closing a multimillion dollar deal, women must learn the delicate art of negotiating by being “relentlessly pleasant”, taking a communal approach (always speak in “we”, not “I”) and focus on benefiting the team.

Embrace Risk: Playing it safe will serve nothing to advance you. Only when you seek “diverse experiences”, even if it means making several career changes, will you experience growth.

Learn New Skills And be a fast learner. Never be afraid to take on a new position because you fear that you might not have 100% of the skills or qualifications of other applicants. You should and can always learn on the job.

Join a formal Mentorship Program Or find a naturally occurring mentorship (or sponsor) in your workplace, be it a superior or a peer. Having someone to show you the ropes and to teach from their own experiences is invaluable.

Lean In Circle in the NYC Lounge

Communicate with others as authentically as you can: Don’t be afraid to solicit feedback from others at work. Be honest and use humor where appropriate to make things more personal. Don’t be afraid that showing emotion will make you less likeable.

Allow yourself to feel upset when harshly or publicly criticized, and then quickly move on. This happens to everyone at some point and it’s ok to feel anger, but the faster you put it behind you the better.

Choose a life partner who is a true partner: Establish a 50/50 (though it never is exact) relationship from the beginning. Don’t wait until after children are born because then it becomes even harder. Your life partner should be truly supportive of your career so pick a good one. Also encourage male partners take on a more nurturing role and “lean in” in the home.

Don’t strive for perfection: Sandberg writes about a quote on the wall in the Facebook offices that says “Done is better than perfection.” It’s not necessary to overwork to overcompensate and setting limits is ok.  Since you can never have control over everything, nor can you please everyone all the time, don’t set unattainable goals. Time is limited and life is often unpredictable, embrace that and enjoy the ride.

Sandberg’s book is creating waves amongst young and ambitious women all over the world. “Lean In” work groups are popping up in many cities, and we even had the opportunity to host one of them in the Wix Lounge in New York. If you want to get involved, search for local “Lean In” groups near you.

The post So How Do You Actually “Lean In”? appeared first on The Official Wix Blog | Wix.com.

Navigation menus can bring out the creative in you. If your overall website design invites a more playful and innovative approach, why not use the menu to show it off? As long as the basic function of the menu is not harmed in the process, we encourage Wix users to use it in a unique way that will leave a great impression with site visitors.

In fact, many Wix users are already being creative about their navigation menus. Here are 13 Wix sites with exceptionally cool menus.

Bake You Happy

The Future Pelses

Jazmin Kelly Six

Look and draw

Britannia Connections

Infuse Festival

Happy As I Am

Scratch Designs

Neko Graphics

Nikki Dixon

Chapa B

Teejay Music 

Jeff Conley Band

The post Marvellous Menus: Wix Websites with Creative Navigation appeared first on The Official Wix Blog | Wix.com.