Shotcallers #14 - September 2020

10 Proven Traffic Generation Strategies for Your Website Stuck at Home? Try Implementing These 7 Business Mindset Hacks

Sharpen Up Your Business Image with These Five Tips

8 Design Elements for a High-Converting E-Commerce Store

Tips on How to Use Pinterest to Grow Your Business 13 Common Content Marketing Mistakes

Infographic: Top Social Media Platforms 2020

Virtual Business, Mentorship and Mindset With Andy Audate MotivationandSuccess.com September 2020 FREE

INSIDE THIS MONTH’S ISSUE Marketing Calendar- pg. 3 Sharpen Up Your Business Image with These Five Tips- pg. 4 Virtual Business, Mentorship and Mindset With Andy Audate - pg. 6 10 Proven Traffic Generation Strategies for Your Website- pg. 11 8 Design Elements for a High-Converting E-Commerce Store - pg. 15 13 Common Content Marketing Mistakes pg. 17 Tips on How to Use Pinterest to Grow Your Business - pg. 20 Stuck at Home? Try Implementing These 7 Business Mindset Hacks - pg. 23 Fun Facts - pg. 25 Infographic - Top Social Media Platforms 2020 - pg. 40

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Marketing Calendar Plan your marketing messages around these upcoming holidays and proclamations.

September National Guide Dog Month Hispanic Heritage Month Baby Safety Month Self Improvement Month Shameless Promotion Month Sep 7 - Labor Day (U.S.) Sep 11 - Patriot Day (U.S.) 4th - Wildlife Day 4th - Stand Up To Cancer Day 5th - Cheese Pizza Day 5th - Bacon Day 5th - World Beard Day 9th - Teddy Bear Day 11th - Hug Your Boss Day 12th - Video Games Day 12th - Chocolate Milkshake Day 13th - Grandparent’s Day 13th - Scooby-Doo Day

14th - Eat a Hoagie Day 17th - Citizenship Day 18th - Cheeseburger Day 19th - Talk Like A Pirate Day 19th - Puppy Mill Awareness Day 19th - Thank a Police Officer Day 20th - Wife Appreciation Day 21st - Batman Day 21st - World’s Alzheimer’s Day 22nd - Autumnal Equinox 22nd - Ice Cream Cone Day 25th - Comic Book Day 25th - One Hit Wonder Day 26th - Pancake Day 27th - Chocolate Milk Day 27th - Google’s Birthday 28th - Family Day 28th - Drink Beer Day 28th - Good Neighbor Day 29th - Coffee Day 29th - VFW Day

October Adopt A Dog Month Breast Cancer Awareness Month Bullying Prevention Month Car Care Month Dental Hygiene Month Domestic Violence Awareness Month Emotional Wellness Month National Pizza Month Oct 14 - Columbus Day (U.S.) Oct 31 - Halloween 1st - Homemade Cookies Day 1st - Willy Wonka Day 2nd - Peanuts Day (Snoopy) 3rd - Techies Day 4th - Taco Day 4th - Vodka Day 4th - World Pet’s Day 5th - Stop Bullying Day 3

5th - Do Something Nice Day 6th - Noodle Day 9th - Beer & Pizza Day 11th - Father-Daughter Day 13th - Train Your Brain Day 14th - Dessert Day 14th - Spider-Man Day 15th - Grouch Day 16th - Boss’s Day 17th - Pasta Day 17th - Get to Know Your Customers Day 18th - Chocolate Cupcake Day 18th - Newspaper Comic Strip Appreciation Day 24th - Make A Difference Day 25th - Mother-in-Law Day 28th - Chocolate Day 29th - Cat Day 30th - Candy Corn Day 30th - Frankenstein Day 31st - Knock-Knock Jokes Day

Sharpen Up Your Business Image with These Five Tips

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Every business needs a good public image to succeed, so if you are an entrepreneur, keep this in mind at all times. A company’s image is a guide to the quality and character of its products and plays an important part in people’s shopping choices. Consciously or subconsciously, your customers will be seeking signs that your company is reliable and reputable and a specialist in its field. They will want to know you care about your products, and about your customers, too, so build up your image accordingly with these five tips.

1. Show your credentials If you have any relevant qualifications, awards, achievements or experiences, share them with the public at every opportunity. List them on your paperwork and online documentation, and on any company vehicles or equipment you may have. If feasible, display them on your product packaging, too.

Present them on your social media pages and mention them in any speeches or media input you make. Naturally, you will want to avoid boasting about them, but even a brief mention in passing will enhance your reputation.

message to shoppers.

Whether you present yourself, your logo some other representation of your business, such as a particular image or slogan, its regular appearance will become reassuringly familiar to people, and 3. Show you are up to the so will your company, by association. mark through sustained quality of products. Show your passion for the whole subject area by expressing your views on relevant issues and getting involved in associated events.

You may keep tabs on all the latest trends in your product area, but does the world know this? Show you’re on the ball and up to the mark by adapting your business to the latest styles and approaches, or if you choose not to, make it clear that it’s your positive choice not to follow the crowd. Keep your website and profile pages up to date, and comment on any relevant 2. Show you care events or issues that crop Be sure to convey your up. Introduce innovations respect for your customers, in your business wherever and your concern for their you spot an opportunity. product requirements.

Let it be seen that your You can do this not only business is alive and in person, but through ticking. online posts, messages and comments on your 4. Show you are strong website and social media and steady pages. A feedback facility Provide a regular presence, will also be appreciated; show you are listening by online and anywhere else relevant to your business. responding to negative comments in constructive Your steady, habitual input will indicate ongoing ways. Your commitment can also be demonstrated success, sending a positive 5

5. Capture the imagination Now that you have worked on these key elements of your image, add something new and exciting to set browsers dreaming. Look at similar products on the market and consider ways of making yours stand out. The smallest of adjustments can make a vital difference, and it does not have to be in the product itself. It could be a tweak in your adverts or a slight change to your packaging, for instance. A touch of humor, a catchy tune or a punchy slogan can also work their magic.

The choice is yours.

Running a business is no easy matter, and you are sure to have lots to think about. But however busy you are, remember to keep an eye on your image, day by day - it will be worth it.

Virtual Business, Mentorship and Mindset With Andy Audate

Today we’re excited to have author, motivational speaker and serial entrepreneur Andy Audate. Andy is very well recognized for helping entrepreneurs start and scale their businesses. I’ve had the pleasure of watching Andy’s business go from zero to 60 in the shortest amount of time I’ve seen, and I’m excited to have him share his insights with us.

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Dennis Postema: Tell me about business growth and the people you’ve talked to during the pandemic.

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just me and then grew to five people, then 10 people, 20 people, then 40 people. It’s because each person has a role in a growing system. If Andy Audate: The you want to scale your pandemic has been business and grow from challenging for many being a solopreneur to people’s health. However, having five or 10 people for business growth online, virtually, the biggest thing this is a prime opportunity is to put a process in place because more people for every single procedure are home, spending or task and document it time on their phones, using task management giving entrepreneurs an software. opportunity to get direct access to our potential So when someone needs consumers. to do a cold call or make an Instagram video, they This is the prime have clear instructions opportunity to get things there from the CEO. Then done, but also to grow and the task management scale a business, utilizing software allows us to the support of a virtual change the name of who’s team. I just read yesterday responsible for different that Pinterest spent $89.5 tasks, allowing you to grow million to break the lease and scale your business as on one of their offices in people come and go and San Francisco because leave your company or they’re transitioning to they go to different roles being remote. So I believe in your company. that’s the direction we’re going in, in the next 15 Dennis: What kind of years. changes have you made, going all virtual?

Dennis: What advice can you give to entrepreneurs Andy: Prior to the as far as building a pandemic, I was operating remote team and doing it out of an office. I had an properly? executive assistant and three sales guys on the Andy: I think it comes phones. Now, I operate down to systems. My with two virtual assistants organization started with based outside the United

States, which costs less and allows me to grow and scale the business much faster.

Right now, I think more people are at home and looking for work. So the entrepreneurs that are able to shift are going to find top talent in this day and age virtually rather than trying to get people who are willing and able to come to an office. And you hire virtual employees the same way you would do it in person, but you do it on Zoom.

Dennis: How would you teach other entrepreneurs to get what’s in their head onto paper?

Andy: Mentorship. Man, mentorship is the key.

If I wanted to go into the insurance business and I wanted to scale an insurance business, I’d call you! So find a mentor who knows the business and then find a way to repay them for that mentorship using the five currencies.

A lot of people don’t know about these currencies.

The first is money, which is the most common currency. But people don’t really want money. They

know, like, and trust, and essentially spend money, spend time, spend energy, spend relationships, spend a barter, spend something.

Get in front of that person, spend something in exchange for the knowledge that they have and that can elevate you.

Dennis: Talk to me a little about how you not only find a mentor but how much that impacts what you’ve done.

want what money can get them. They don’t want a hundred-dollar bill—they want the food the $100 can buy.

The number two currency is knowledge. You can use your knowledge to repay someone for their knowledge. Like if I know social media, I can teach it to you, and you can teach me about insurance.

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The third currency is relationships. This is all about introducing a

mentor to people you know who can help them in some way.

The fourth currency is energy. You can volunteer to work for the mentor, in exchange for mentorship.

The last currency is barter, a system of trading a product for a product or a service for a service or a service for a product.

Andy: Persistence always wins. Even the wind, if it goes long enough, it’ll break down the biggest tower. So I would find someone in the direction that I want to take my life and I would say, “I would like to work for you. I would like to learn from you.” They’re probably going to say they’re busy, but if you continually go to them time and time again, asking for the opportunity, at some point, it’s going to be easier for your wouldbe mentor to say yes than to have you coming back over and over again.

And also when you’re going back, offer more value than you did the last time. Bring them coffee, Using these five currencies, wine, customers—keep get a mentor, get in front going and then eventually of someone that you the mentor is going to

switch and say, “You know what, man? I’ll make it happen because it seems like you really want this.”

Mentors really, truly want to give. But they don’t want to give to people who are not going to value what they’re giving.

Dennis: Tell me about what products you offer for cultivating a mindset.

Andy: Progression Conferences is one stream of what we really offer.

It’s a one-day business event for people who are looking to start and scale their business. I started this conference because when I made my first million dollars, I stopped there. I was 19, living in an impoverished area, and I thought the number one goal was to make a million dollars.

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money, then I closed everything down because I thought that a million dollars was a jackpot. Then I just never looked at the bank account. I thought it was unlimited money. Fast forward a year, I looked in the account and it was almost at zero. So I had to rebuild myself within six months.

What this taught me is that the solution wasn’t to take a big stride from point A to point B. The solution was to get to the position to progress on a daily basis, just get better every day. And eventually, you’ll turn around and see the progression that you created.

I also have the brand marketing system. I’ve used it to grow my brand and my business in the last 700 days, and I’ve been able to accumulate But now I realize that a about 600,000 leads or million is just a thousand contacts and turn those dollars a thousand times— leads and contacts into and you can easily make paying clients who are on a thousand mistakes a subscription program or if you are big-headed, on a high-ticket program right? I was big-headed or working with me as a and I made more than partner. a thousand mistakes.

I’ve lived in luxurious I’ve seen people go from apartments, got maids, making $2000 a month bought cars and the to generating $12,500 whole nine yards. And I to $20,000 a month after went downhill. I made learning lessons from

the Brand Marketing Summit. Now, because of COVID-19, I have the Virtual Brand Marketing Summit.

At the summit, what I teach is that if you get 100 people to know you, a percentage will do business with you.

So, out of 100, let’s say 10% are purchasing your product, that’s 10 people.

If you grow that number from 100 to 1000, 100 people will buy. If you grow that 1000 to 10,000, 1000 people will buy. If you grow that to 100,000 people that know you through my marketing, then 10,000 people will purchase your product. So if you scale the amount of people that know you, you’ll get more people to buy your product, and the way that we scale the business is utilizing the support of virtual assistants who can run the business completely autonomously without you needing to be there.

I teach every single person that at the Brand Marketing Summit.

Dennis: How important are programs and constant improvement for entrepreneurs?

Andy: It’s about investing

in yourself, something I’m always doing—but constant improvement is also about making decisions. About five years ago, I made a decision to become a speaker.

Right after I decided to become a speaker, I went on Facebook and searched for ways to become a motivational speaker. I typed in my information on a Les Brown website, the motivational speaker, and I got a call from someone and he’s like, “Hey, would you like to join Les Brown’s program?

It’s nine online courses, and you get calls once a week. It’s five grand.” I told the guy $5,000 is a lot of money for just videos.

I could go on YouTube and watch videos. But what I learned is that the relationship is key.

So there’s going to be a group or a community that are all paying five grand. It’s a no-brainer to be in this community.

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So I paid the five grand, and I never watched a video. Next thing you know, I’m in this community and I rise to the top. I think that the reason I rise to the top in any area is because I show up, and what I mean by show up is, I show up physically but I also show

up powerfully, which means I am seen and I am heard. So if I’m in a room of 150 people, and I’m like, “What’s up, Les?” I am seen and I am heard and my presence dominates.

After finishing the course, I made a decision, from that point forward, I’m a motivational speaker.

Right after that, my friend invited me to a bar in downtown LA, I mean, in Hollywood. I go to the bar, and a woman turns to me and she’s like, “Hey, so what do you do?” That morning, I had decided to be a motivational speaker, so I looked her right in the eye and said, “I’m a motivational speaker.”

And she said, “Oh my gosh, that’s great because I’m a teacher and I have students, and I need them to be motivated. Can I get your number?” My first speaking engagement was just some kids. And I saw the formula that took place and started doing that in the business world.

Everything changed.

To find out more about Andy and his progression system, visit: https://online. andyaudate.com/.

How Andy learned to appreciate lowcost products: Prior to COVID, all we had were high-ticket products and sales, ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. One day, one of my team members came to me and said, “I’m talking to so many people who are just not at the $5,000 range. They want to get started, but they’re not at the $5,000 range.”

She advised me to have lower-cost products, and I was so reluctant, man, because of the negative hearsay about low-cost products. I was very reluctant, but once I made the switch, COVID-19 happened and, bam, our business still grew because we had the low-cost products that she had us set up based on what she’d learned from a sales course she had taken.

10 Proven Traffic Generation Strategies for Your Website You can have a professionally built, visually appealing, fully responsive website. You can own a brand that features the very best products or services in your niche.

However, if your site has little-to-no traffic, none of that will matter. Your target audience won’t know you exist, you will not have any sales, and your brand won’t grow.

Every brand owner needs to attract a high volume of targeted traffic to their site if they expect to thrive - or even just survive. Here are 11

several proven strategies that will increase traffic to your website.

1. Search Engine Optimization Search engine optimization (SEO) should be your first strategy to drive more targeted traffic to your website.

SEO refers to techniques that are used to optimize your website to generate free (organic) traffic on search engines like Google and Bing. There is no way to cover everything

you need to know about optimizing your site for higher search rankings in this article. Therefore, you should consult Google’s SEO best practices to find in-depth explanations on everything you should do. Here are a few quick highlights: • Your website must be user-friendly and mobile-friendly.

• Your site should load quickly.

• Optimize your title tags, headings, and image tags for good SEO.

• Your site’s content must include relevant keywords that your target audience uses in Google search queries.

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3. Content Marketing

Content marketing is about creating and distributing content just for your target audience, • Attract high-quality on various digital backlinks to your site. platforms. For example, you can publish your You can learn more about content on a blog, email these and other SEO newsletters, social media techniques in greater posts, and in videos. detail online. Above all, However, your content your website must create must be high-quality, value for your visitors if valuable to your audience, you want it to generate a engaging, and enjoyable lot of search engine traffic. to read if you want it to successfully drive traffic 2. Search Engine to your site. Here are a Marketing few benefits of content marketing: While search engine optimization refers to • You provide free value website techniques to your audience. that can generate free traffic - search engine • You get to present marketing (SEM) refers to yourself as an expert in paid advertising that will your niche. drive traffic to your site.

The most popular form of • You can engage and SEM is Google Ads. Google grow your audience Ads are pay-per-click (PPC) while increasing brand ads that you only pay awareness. for when a visitor clicks on them. Furthermore, • Your audience will see the amount you pay is you as an authority in based on how much you your niche and want to are willing to pay for the visit your website. keywords in your ads, and the competition for those 4. Social Media Marketing keywords. Bing and Yahoo offer similar PPC ads too.

Many brand owners use SEM is one of the fastest social media marketing ways to drive targeted as an effective traffic traffic to your site. generation strategy. You

can use one or both of the following ways to do that as well. The first technique is free. You simply create a profile page for your business on the social media networks that your target audience uses.

Then, you can publish engaging content that promotes your brand to your followers. Your content should include links that your followers can click on to visit your website. The second technique involves buying social media ads to promote your brand directly to your target audience. For example, you can buy Facebook and Twitter ads that will be displayed to users based on their demographics.

Therefore, social media ads are a good way to get your message to exactly who you want to see it. You can research social networking sites to learn more about their paid advertising options.

5. Good Branding Creating a memorable brand will make you stand out to your audience and generate a lot of traffic for your site. Memorable brands have more than just a cool logo. For example, good branding requires creating a mission

statement that clearly explains your purpose:

could create a YouTube channel to promote your brand and website. Your • The products or videos do not need to be services that you sell. funny or silly to be popular.

Instead, you just need to • What makes you focus on providing your unique. audience with information that they find valuable • Why you created your about your niche, as brand. well as your products or Think about brands that services. For example, if you find memorable. What you sell a product that makes them stand out to is relatively unknown, you? How can you apply you might create a video those same techniques tutorial that demonstrates to create a strong brand how to use it. that stands out to your audience? If you need help 7. Forum Marketing with branding, consider hiring a digital marketing Internet marketing forums firm. are a great way to drive traffic to your website as 6. YouTube Videos long as they are related to your niche. However, Many online users really before you start posting enjoy watching video links to your site all over content. Therefore, you a forum, you need to

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make sure that you are respecting their rules and users. For example, some forums require that you be a member for a certain length of time before you are allowed to post links.

Furthermore, the forum’s users will not take you seriously if they think you are just trying to “spam” them. Therefore, you need to contribute valuable content to discussions.

Only include a link to your website if it is relevant to the discussion.

8. Podcasts If you have a lot of valuable knowledge about your niche that you enjoy discussing with others, you might consider creating your own podcast. Then, you could use your podcast to raise your

brand’s awareness, as well as drive traffic to your site. Think of it like your own little internet radio infomercial. You can learn more about how to create a podcast online.

search. Then, you can edit your infographics to include a link to your website - and post them on social sharing sites like SlideShare.

you become an expert in your niche.

In short, when it comes to driving traffic to your website, the most important thing to 10. Online Courses remember is to have 9. Infographics a site that your visitors Finally, many brand will find valuable. If you Most consumers respond owners are creating their cannot give your audience well to visual images own online courses to a reason for visiting especially when they educate their audience your site, then they will contain data and attractive about their niche. Not only not. Therefore, none of graphics. Don’t worry if are eCourses a good traffic these traffic generation you do not have advanced generation strategy, they strategies will work unless graphic design skills. You can also earn you some you focus on creating the can buy high-quality, extra money if you can best user experience for affordable infographics convince people to pay your visitors. from a number of creative to take your online class. design marketplaces However, you should only online. Just do a Google create an eCourse after

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8 Design Elements for a High-Converting E-Commerce Store

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The design of an e-commerce store plays a crucial role in the overall conversion rate. If visitors get a negative impression after arriving on your site, they will probably leave quickly. The design of a store involves both the major elements that are immediately visible and the subtler details that are less obvious at first glance.

When you can focus on all the important design features, you can increase the conversion rate and get more sales. So, what design elements should you be thinking about?

Minimal Design

White Space

Most e-commerce stores have a lot of products and information they want to convey. It is crucial, however, that you do not ruin the user experience through cluttered design.

Visitors should be able to see the information they require without confusing layouts and an excess of information. Minimal designs are the go-to options for modern stores, focusing on their products ahead of flashy design elements.

White space helps to simplify the design of a store, offering a pleasing experience for visitors.

Without white space, it is difficult for the eye to distinguish the important elements on a page. By separating elements and products using white space, though, visitors can immediately identify what they are searching for. Various studies have shown the improvement in readability when you carefully include white space on a page.

Simple Navigation Simple navigation is essential as your store starts to grow. Users can struggle to find individual products or categories if you do not develop userfriendly hierarchies that are intuitive to people.

Think about the types of products you sell, developing categories and sub-categories that make the most logical sense. You could also help people by placing your most popular pages in a prominent position in the navigation bar.

Call to Action Buttons Call to action buttons may seem obvious, but poorly designed sites often make the process of buying products overly complicated. Use colorful checkout buttons that clearly identify what action a user should take. You can also use a call to action for an email subscription or wishlist feature on your store.

Visual Checkout Features A checkout area is a place where conversions can be damaged. Many consumers are debating whether to go ahead with a purchase, and a complicated checkout 16

structure is an excellent excuse to leave without buying. Visual checkout features make people feel at ease. You could use credit card logos to inspire trust along with a graphic bar that indicates how many steps left in the checkout process.

Pop-Ups Pop-ups can be useful ways of conveying important information or leading visitors down certain paths. Most commonly, pop-ups are used to promote an email list, helping to grow your subscriber base. You could use a pop-up to offer discounts to visitors who are leaving without making a purchase. A popup could also promote a holiday sale or other eyecatching offer.

to indicate that a product is popular and there are many happy customers.

Attractive Images and Video Product images are essential for a sales page, adding more than a simple feature list could offer. Low-quality images can have an adverse effect, though, so it is crucial that the product is showcased effectively. Videos can add an extra element, allowing people to see the product being used. Also, you could add user-generated images, allowing people to see how buyers are using the product.

Each of these elements might only contribute a small change to the conversion rate. When you add the improvements together, though, you User Ratings can see substantial improvements. Many User ratings help to visitors will not be increase conversions, conscious of each adding social proof to the element, but they will sales process. If a visitor have an initial reaction. sees little signs of activity Time is precious, and on a page, they may be people will not hesitate to reluctant to buy. Reviews move on to a competing are an important aspect option. Getting the right of increasing conversions, design features in place with a visual display of allows you to focus on user ratings making it clear the other aspects of when a visitor lands on a an e-commerce store, product page. A simple allowing your business to star rating can be enough grow exponentially.

13 Common Content Marketing Mistakes Content marketing is a crucial part of any successful digital marketing strategy, but many businesses are still making mistakes that are damaging their reputation.

Fortunately, any marketer can turn things around if they recognize where they’re going wrong. To strengthen your content marketing strategy, here are 13 common content marketing mistakes you should aim to avoid: 17

1. Carrying On Without a Plan

2. Rushing Content Creation

It may sound obvious, but in order to achieve more of your content marketing goals, you need a clearly defined plan. You should define your short and long-term goals, describe how you’ll achieve them, and establish a few key metrics to track. This will save time and resources and make it easier to assess where you’re going right and wrong.

With more and more content competing for attention, it is harder than ever before to get noticed online. To stand out, you need to deliver highquality content - content that is unique, valuable, and tailored to your specific target audience.

Anything less is likely to be ignored or forgotten.

Spend a little more time crafting good-looking, engaging content to boost

and click-throughs - you can tweak future content 5. Trying to Address Every to maximize results going Stage Of The Buyer’s 3. Not Harnessing Userforward.

Journey Generated Content 7. Too Little Promotion While it is important to Any content that your address different stages of All content needs time audience creates can be defined as user-generated the customer journey, you to find its audience and shouldn’t do it all at once. reach its full potential. content. Why wouldn’t This involves regular Each piece of content you want to amplify should have a clear goal - promotion - especially in it? It is a great way to whether it’s to build brand the early stages. Don’t just build customer trust. For promote content once example, encourage your awareness, nurture leads, and then forget about it. drive sales, or strengthen social media followers Email your subscribers customer loyalty. When to submit photos of to announce every new content specifically themselves using your piece of content. Link to products. Challenge your addresses one stage of content multiple times on audience to get creative in the buyer’s journey - the awareness, consideration, social media. And keep some way that relates to sharing it across different your products or services or decision stage - it channels for a number of and use a unique hashtag leads to greater content days. This repetition is key clarity. It also makes it to boost engagement. easier to measure content to maximizing content 4. Inconsistent Branding performance. impact.

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content engagement and your reputation.

voice.

Some businesses do not provide employees with clear content guidelines.

With a variety of people working on content, this can lead to inconsistencies in the look and style of content across different channels. It’s confusing for consumers and damaging to the brand. Make sure you have a universal set of content guidelines so that everyone on your team stays on brand, uses consistent visuals, and speaks with one clear

6. Not Tracking Content Marketing Performance

8. Forgetting to Add a Call-to-Action (CTA)

If you do not regularly analyze the performance metrics of content, there’s no way of knowing what’s working and what isn’t.

How much engagement is each social media post getting? How many people shared your blog post? How much website traffic are you getting from that email campaign?

When you have the data such as page views, shares,

To improve overall content marketing results, each piece of content needs a clear purpose. This is especially important if you are constantly trying to generate leads.

What do you want your audience to do next?

Fill in a form? Subscribe to your newsletter?

Visit another page on your site? Whatever it is, ensure you include a CTA

that supports a specific marketing goal.

9. Focusing Too Much On Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Obviously, content should include keywordoptimized headings, subheadings, and alt tags. However, don’t ignore the core needs of your audience. Some businesses focus too much on SEO and the content quality suffers.

Consider how the viewer experiences your content.

The tone of language, readability, design, and structure of your content all play a part in how engaged users feel, and how much they trust your brand. Get these things right and your content automatically becomes more search-engine friendly.

10. Not Using a Variety of Content Formats Different audiences have different content preferences, so it is important to deliver a range of content formats to please different people.

Of course, some people like to read. But many people prefer to watch 19

videos, enjoy the clarity of infographics, or find it more convenient to listen to audio content.

Repurpose content into different formats to meet the needs and expectations of different people.

11. Not Revisiting Older Content Over time, content can become outdated and steadily lose its marketing power. This is why it’s important to regularly review old content and update it. By updating older content with new information and links, you can improve its search engine rankings and make it more visible online.

This also gives you an excuse to promote it again across your social media channels.

12. Taking Your Audience for Granted Don’t make the mistake of assuming what your audience wants. What if you are wrong? Instead of guessing, ask your audience - constantly.

What do they care about?

What types of content do they want to see? By asking your audience - via

social media and email - you can find out, and then deliver more relevant, valuable content.

13. Failing to Provide Sources Most people like to know they are receiving the correct information. To build trust, it’s important to show your audience the sources for any statistics or data you provide. Including links to trustworthy sources can also boost your search engine rankings.

The Bottom Line If your content marketing efforts are not bringing you the results you expect, it’s time to review your strategies. These 13 common mistakes are a good place to start, but to make the process easier, tackle one thing at a time.

Content marketing isn’t easy for any business, but if you keep in mind these most common mistakes, you can safeguard your reputation, rise above the competition, and benefit more from content marketing for years to come.

Tips on How to Use Pinterest to Grow Your Business Pinterest is one of the most popular social media websites on the internet today. Many people have used this site to grow their businesses with tremendous success. It has millions of daily active users, which means tons of potential for promoting your brand.

If you want to grow your business as effectively as 20

possible, it is important that you consider this option.

Creating a Business Account The first thing that you want to do is to set up a business account on Pinterest, as opposed to a regular personal account.

This type of account will let you view detailed

analytics to provide you access to Pinterest advertising. Those who already have a personal account can switch to a business account very easily.

Start Sharing Your Products One of the more obvious ways to use Pinterest to grow your business is to

share your products on it. It is important that you pin any new products that you come out with so people know about them right away. You might even want to pin them before they are released to generate some buzz and hype.

Make sure that you group these pins into relevant categories so that potential customers can find them easier. This can go a long way towards helping you expand your business to become more well-known and lucrative.

can still use Pinterest to your advantage. If you have your own consulting firm, consider posting photos that represent the goals of your services. You might also want to share photos of the clients you have helped in the past.

This will give people who see them confidence in your business as a whole.

Focus on SEO

Every business needs a strong online presence, and Pinterest is a perfect way to get started. You need to focus your SEO efforts by creating Post High-Quality Photos quality backlinks and using relevant keywords that don’t have a ton of It is imperative that you competition. This can only post high-quality photos of all your products really help you get noticed online so that people will to make them appear learn about your business as enticing as possible. and everything it has to You want people to get offer. a positive impression of everything you have to offer. You should focus on Engage with the Community every little detail when taking pictures of your There is nothing like the products to post on this personal touch when you site, including the angle are trying to win people and lighting. over on social media. You should make a point of Advertise Your Services interacting with other If you offer services instead users so you can establish a strong following for of physical products, you 21

your business. It’s always a good idea to welcome customer feedback, positive or negative.

People love buying from businesses that actually listen to what they have to say and consider their opinions.

Be Consistent One of the most important things that any business owner can do on Pinterest is to keep pinning on a regular basis.

You should try to post during the evenings and on weekends, which are statistically the best times for reaching the maximum number of people.

Embrace Save Buttons Putting save buttons on your site that link back to Pinterest can do your brand a world of good. These days lots of businesses are doing this, and it’s a great way to stay relevant. Consider using save buttons that only appear when the person’s mouse cursor hovers over a photo. This is a nonobnoxious way of offering your visitors this option.

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Stuck at Home? Try Implementing These 7 Business Mindset Hacks

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Completing focused work that moves you closer to your goals is a critical part of running a business. If, however, you are stuck at home and cannot work on the day-to-day operations, it is a good idea to think about improving your mindset. The way you approach work, from the big picture to the smaller details, can almost always be improved. The following mindset hacks can each make a small difference to your results, contributing to a much greater whole.

Incremental Improvements Entrepreneurs often put excessive pressure on themselves to reach new goals. When you fall short of the goal, though, you can feel deflated. It is usually more effective to aim for incremental improvements that build over time. Small improvements to the important elements of your business will add up, but you may not notice at the time. When you assess your improvements after a period of time, you should notice huge growth.

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acts as a mental rehearsal for the events you are reaching for. By dedicating time each day to focus deeply on your business and personal targets, you can maintain drive to hit these goals. Repeating the visualization process can also build your confidence, making lofty goals seem far more realistic.

rather than a dedication to reaching a high level.

Get used to implementing projects quickly, reducing the time you have to get ready for launch.

Planning An effective plan can provide a change in mindset as you start thinking over an extended period of time. Rather than getting Measure and Analyze up each morning and preGet into the habit of meas- paring your work for the uring the important eleday, your plan could covments in your business. It er a duration of months. is common for companies Set out the target goal for to focus on a few critical the short term, then work aspects of their business, backwards and plot how such as sales and profit you will get there. You will, Goal Setting figures. However, measof course, need to adapt to Setting goals is a crucial uring and analyzing can changing circumstances, part of building a business, be done on a smaller but the bulk of your plan but there needs to be a level. You could aim to set will be in place for each point to your goal setting. weekly and monthly tarday.

You need to be able to gets, taking a brief time to measure the goal after a check your performance.

Limit Your Focus set period, making it imThis approach helps you Entrepreneurs are used to portant to be specific. Also, remain clear about your brainstorming and startan effective goal should productivity and motivates ing multiple projects. You be optimistic but realistic, you to go further. probably have a host of ensuring you are driven to ideas to work on, but this hit the target. Taking the Implement Quickly will only serve as a distractime to set goals of this Quick implementation can tion. Instead, limiting your type increase the chances be the difference between focus ensures you stick to you will maintain your successful entrepreneurs a single enterprise until it focus. and those who struggle is a success or you need to to reach their goals. It is move on. When you work Visualization natural to want to study a on multiple projects, you Visualization involves topic before you get start- won’t know if the concept using the imagination to ed, but you can quickly is working as you won’t be create concepts and goals start to chase perfection. giving it your full commitin your mind. Visualizing Slow implementation can ment. what you want to achieve often be procrastination

The definition of a Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the fall equinox. The Harvest Moon was thus named because it rises within a half-hour of when the sunsets. In the early days, when farmers had no tractors, it was essential that they work by the light of the moon to bring in the harvest.

This moon is the fullest moon of the year. When you gaze at it, it looks very large and gives a lot of light throughout the entire night. No other lunar spectacle is as awesome as the Harvest Moon.

September Milestones: • Sept. 2nd, 1969- Chemical Bank installed the first United States ATM in the U.S. at its branch in Rockville Centre, New York • Sept 3rd, 1995 - eBay was founded.

• Sept 7th, 1998 - Google was founded by Stanford University students Larry Page and Sergey Brin • Sept 9th, 1956 - Elvis Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time • Sept 13th, 1969 – Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! premiered on TV • Sept 19th, 1928 - Mickey Mouse’s first screen appearance - Steamboat Willie at the Colony Theater NYC • Sept 30th, 1960- The Flintstones debuted on ABC during primetime

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