influence

4 Ways Twitter Can Build Your Brand

/ nancyrubin

Twitter is the second most popular social media site in the world. It allows us to speak our mind to a ton of strangers, stalk celebrities and make connections with people all over the world at once.

But how can twitter be beneficial to your Marketing Strategy? Twitter is actually an excellent tool which can help you to build up your brand, make a good reputation for yourself and gain loyal followers who will support you throughout. If you haven’t harnessed the full power of Twitter for your business yet, here is how you can do it.

1.Follow your industry

The beauty of Twitter is that it acts as a hub of information for anyone to make the most of and exploit. For you and your brand, Twitter gives you the opportunity to follow the leaders of your industry as well as follow your competitors. This will allow you to stay in the loop with new developments which you can use for your own gain, and it allows you to see what kind of things your competitors are doing.

  1. Contact influencers

Social media influencers are the new celebrity. They are incredibly powerful beings who reside on all corners of the web and share their opinions on life, services and products. Influencers are called so because they can influence their followers to try new products and services. If you can contact a prominent influencer and get them to review your product, you will likely see a huge influx of new customers who come from their audience.

  1. Interact with people

The whole point of social media is to be social and make the most of getting to know your customer base better. Sure, you will want to give off an air of professionalism when you are on social media. But this doesn’t mean you can’t have a laugh with your customers at the same time. Take the time to ask your audience what they like, talk about current events and even create a poll to get an idea of the things you could create for them. Your audience are the people who you are trying to sell to, so it is worth getting to know them. You may have seen viral tweets from brands who are funny, relatable and real- and this is what you want to become for your audience.

  1. Stick to a niche

Even though you can branch out and talk about current events such as commenting on a royal wedding or looking forward to a sporting event: you need to do it in a way that fits you brand. If you are a restaurant for example and you want to comment on the Super Bowl, you could create a video which shows you making some football snacks for the big game. This shows that you are a real person, you are in the loop and you will show off your cooking skill. This will get you a lot of new followers and much more engagement than if you simply tweeted about how excited you are for the match.

What Professionals Working Remotely Need to Know About Marketing

/ nancyrubin

Self-employed workers and freelancers have long enjoyed the affordability and convenience of remote work. To begin with, they reclaim the hours that they would otherwise daily spend commuting to and from a corporate office. As a result, they have more time to spend with their family and friends and enjoy a healthy work-life balance. Now, professionals who work for companies or corporations increasingly also can work from home and enjoy a healthier work-life balance.

Meanwhile, clients and employers increasingly embrace remote workers as a way to cut costs. For example, companies that utilize remote workers require less office space and, therefore, can reduce their rent, insurance and energy expenses. Additionally, clients and employers can access talent from practically anywhere in the world. Furthermore, home-based workers offer high levels of productivity and efficiency.

As a professional, your opportunity for working from home has no limits. Thanks to technology, you can collaborate and communicate with people and work with teams regardless of their location. You must, however, have a productive office environment to work in as well along with a well-defined and promoted personal brand. Here, you will learn about the important considerations you must make and activities you should engage in to build a successful career as a home-based professional.

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1) Build A Landing Page

Like any business, you can use the internet to promote yourself so that the companies and clients that need your services can find you. By creating and publishing a simple, easy-to-navigate landing page, you can showcase your experience and talents. In many ways, your landing page should function as a business card and as a place where clients can schedule and pay online for your services.

Important elements of your landing page include the title, primary tagline and description. You should also carefully choose your keywords and tags. Of course, the main content of your page should concisely introduce you and explain why businesses should choose to use your services.

2) Pick Your Apps and Online Services

Place a high priority on choosing the applications and services that best support your business. As you search the internet, you will find myriad options that seem attractive, but you should resist the temptation to try to use too many applications and tools because they can become a distraction. Use customer reviews and free trial periods to narrow your selection and only choose the ones that contribute to your productivity and efficiency.

Tools and services for task management, web page creation and SEO, project management and accounting are categories of apps and services that almost every home-based professional will need. Additionally, you might need to look for tools and services that support the creation of documentation as well as those that facilitate copyrights and trademarks.

3) Be Serious About Your Social Media Game.

Social networks continue to attract millions of users, making it the perfect place to promote your professional services. Furthermore, you can use social media to connect with other professionals, influencers and vendors who can contribute to your business. Still, social media can become a liability if you fail to properly manage it. For example, if you never engage users, you might damage your reputation just as severely as you would if you communicated with the wrong vocabulary or attitude.

Although you might feel tempted to open accounts on every popular social network, you should focus your efforts on only one or two of them so you can minimize the drain on your time and avoid management complications. Also, place social media tools on your landing page so that your website visitors can easily follow you as well as “like” and share your content. Additionally, you should always respond to comments and questions left for you on social media and consider using social media to post articles and display your work.

4) Create A Productive Home Office

As has been noted, your home office should rank near the top of your priorities. For the most part, alternative arrangements such as working on your bed or at the kitchen table will not allow you to achieve high levels of productivity. Instead, choose a little-used section of your home and remodel it as your office. Make sure that it has boundaries so family members can avoid encroaching on your space and vice versa.

Your office should have ample lighting and easy access to power outlets. It should also host essential equipment such as a printer, networking and video conferencing gear, a telephone and office supplies. You should also equip your office with an adequate amount of storage space and work surfaces. After all, clutter can lead to wasted time and confusion and destroy your creativity and enthusiasm. Also, you should make sure to do home maintenance tasks, just like you do with the rest of your home.

5) Give Without Asking Anything in Return

Offering value to people with no strings attached can effectively promote your business and build the authority of your brand. To demonstrate your communications skills, you should use social media to converse with users. Similarly, you should share content posted by other users to emphasize your commitment to the community. Furthermore, you can emphasize your expertise by publishing tutorials and holding question-and-answer events.

In many cases giving back to the online community can extend beyond simply sharing information and solving problems. For example, giving away useful freebies that include your contact information can promote your brand and demonstrate your generosity. Organizing contests with meaningful prizes give people an incentive to return to your profile and stay actively engaged. As you give, however, always ask for feedback regarding your ideas, designs and strategies. Such free guidance can become invaluable as you fine-tune your brand and messaging.

BONUS TIP: Use Influencer Outreach

After tending to the basics of building a home office, creating a presence on the web and social media, and interacting with your audience, start connecting with influencers. This group of people might include politicians, professors, celebrities and business icons as well as other popular people. Such people can influence the decisions people make, including choosing to use your professional services.

When you make contact with an influencer, try to make a deal where they give you exposure to their large audience in exchange for reaching yours. For instance, you can offer influencers guest-blogging opportunities on your website and ask them to endorse you as a professional. Every time you get an influential person to recommend you or associate with you, their audience takes note and will naturally turn to you when they need your talent and skills.

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Working at home as a professional helps you benefit from the modern trends in employment. Increasingly, people are working from home and therefore enjoying an improved balance between their work and personal life. By choosing the right apps and services, creating a productive work environment and building a landing page and social media presence, you lay a solid foundation that will help you provide high quality work to a steady stream of clients.

 

Jeff E. Brown Photo
Guest Author, Jeff Brown, is a freelance writer from Oregon with a knack for lifehacking and DIY projects. Based out of his home office where his two dogs keep him company while he types, Jeff loves writing about home improvement topics, teaching others all the tips and tricks he has learned since he moved out of an apartment and into a house. When he’s not writing, he loves organizing barbecue parties in his garden.

Knowledge is Power: How to Make Your Brand a Leading Authority in the Industry

/ nancyrubin / 3 Comments

When your business is able to project an image of itself as a fountain of knowledge, all kinds of positives follow. People will know that they can trust your company, and that means they’ll be more likely to buy from it. You can also then begin to grow your share of the market and become dominant. But how can you make your brand a leading authority in your industry? These steps will help you get there.

Offer Valuable Insights on Social Media and a Blog

If you want to become a leading voice and authority in your industry, you need to think about how you’ll get your voice heard. There are two key ways in which this can be achieved. First of all, you’ll need to provide insights on social media. It’s free and easy for people to follow your account on Twitter, so give people a reason to do so. If they feel like you’re offering something important, people will follow you and your reputation will grow. You should also start up a blog that people can read and track. Reseller link building can help your blog become more popular and get more traffic.

Write Guest Posts Too

As well as writing great content for your own blog, you should write guest posts for other websites and blogs. When you do this, your thoughts and ideas will be exposed to people who have never even visited your blog before. It’s all about exposing new people to your way of thinking. If they like what they read, they will head over to your blog and find out more about your ideas. So, if you are offered the chance to write guest posts, go for it. And if you’re not offered these opportunities, you should go looking for them.

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Don’t be Afraid to Say Controversial Things

Sometimes, the best way to grab people’s attention is to say things that they weren’t expecting. If you can do this, they will sit up and take notice. That’s exactly what you want and need. Your business will never become a leading authority within its industry if people aren’t listening. And people are always interested in hearing from people who think differently and come up with new ideas. So, don’t shy away from saying things that defy conventional thinking and logic. It’s a really good way to gain a foothold and get your name out there.

Speak at Events Whenever You Get the Chance To

Public speaking allows you to get up on the stage and have your voice heard. If you or someone else who works for your company can do this, your business will reap the rewards. There is no reason why you shouldn’t give it a try and see what happens. The more you can speak in front of people, the more people will see your business as a leading authority. So, whenever you are offered the opportunity to speak at an industry event or something similar, grab it with both hands. You can’t let those kinds of opportunities escape you when you are trying to become a leading voice.