Sunday, 26 January 2014

4 Tips on How to Promote Your Blog Using Social Media | Get ...

4 Tips on How to Promote Your Blog Using Social Media | Get ...

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 11:08 PM PST

There are so many things you can do to promote your business with social media, however, if you try to do too much, your efforts will be diluted. That is why.*

Matthew Rousu's Economics Blog: Orazem on how to promote ...

Posted: 25 Jan 2014 05:14 AM PST

My Alma mater is now hosting an "ask an economist" series. One of my dissertation advisers (and all around great person) Peter Orazem was asked about how to promote economic growth in rural areas.

Link here

Excerpt:

Research we have done here at Iowa State has shown that job growth in one county leads to population growth in a two county radius. We also found that even in rural areas, agglomeration economies are important for new firm entry. That means that some local labor centers such as Carroll, IA can attract firms and the small towns in a two county radius rely on Carroll for jobs.

Thursday, 23 January 2014

Blitzmetrics » Blog Archive » How to promote a band for the cost of ...

Blitzmetrics » Blog Archive » How to promote a band for the cost of ...

Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:30 AM PST

I try to help my friend's bands as much as possible here in Greenville, South Carolina. One of these bands is A Moment Electric (AME). They only started really focusing on their social presence in late December during their album release show.

After a few days, their singer Justin had asked what Facebook ads they should run. I suggested he create an ad at $5 a day targeting locally within a 50 mile radius in the genres he felt they best fit in with and experiment until they found the engagement they were looking for. They fell for what many who are new to Facebook ads do: They went with boosting their post.

What happened proved a real life example of why not to use Facebook's Boost function for promoting a post.

From the above example, you can see the band promoted this post using "Boost Post". From the 24.7k people reached only 10 people chose to like the post and 1 person shared it. Only 30 users even chose to click through the post.

Sure, you get a lot of impressions, at the cost of relevancy- This does you no good in the long run. Because of the lack of targeting options that boost provides more people from NYC and LA were served this post than locally in the bands home town where they promote their shows.

After a few days of realizing no real gain in their ad spend they went with using the "Get More Page Likes" function and going with what I had suggested originally for the ads.

Within a week their page likes went from less than 200 to over 480 and still climbing today.

AME6

There was a spike between the 29^th and January 1^st from paid likes. The ad stopped running on January 2nd and we see an influx of organic activity from shares and comments from user activity on the page.

At peak, the ad was seen by 15.7k people right as the new year rung in. This soon resulted in more people at shows and more interest on the bands bandcamp. Previously AME had an average of 30 concert goers but on January 10^th they had a reported turnout of 100 people.

There's a large correlation between the dates that the Facebook ad ran and the increased views and listens on their Bandcamp account.

The band also saw a small increase in album download sales (which was virtually nonexistent before).

The lesson to be learned here is that for less the cost of two twelve packs of beer ($25), you can increase your presence locally and make an impact to drive more views to your material. Doing so will gain more real life supporters of your band, attracting more fans to buy your music and come to your shows.

Comments

comments

How to Strategically Promote SlideShare Presentations on Your Blog

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:00 AM PDT

Let's go on a little trip. Open up a new tab in your browser and search "how to use SlideShare." Wow -- over 50 million hits! They must have some valuable information. You click on a couple of the results, and after 15 minutes or so of reading, you know how to create the most perfectly optimized SlideShare. You know where to find engaging visuals, how to craft your story, and even how to make your SlideShare links clickable.

Unfortunately, the posts you read are often missing one crucial tip: You've got to strategically distribute your content.

Most of the advice around distributing your presentations sounds like this: "Embed your SlideShare to your blog and you're good to go. Oh, and don't forget to tweet about it, too." And while that is all correct (seriously, you should do all of that), that advice isn't entirely helpful -- it's basically saying to slap any ol' SlideShare on your blog and people will naturally notice.

It simply doesn't work that way.

Just like any other promotional plan, you need to create SlideShares with their distribution in mind. So, if you're looking to promote your SlideShare on your blog, take a step back for a second and think about how you want to use SlideShare to tell a story on your blog -- and maybe even generate some leads.

To help jumpstart your next SlideShare blog post promotion strategy, we'll walk you through four different scenarios in which you'd use a SlideShare in a blog post. Note: Some of these scenarios may overlap, but for the purposes of this blog post, we'll assume each situation exists purely on its own.

So let's get to it!

Strategy 1: Let the SlideShare Tell the Story for You

The first distribution strategy you can do is probably the least intensive: you let the SlideShare tell the entire story for you. This means you're really not doing much in the blog post -- probably a quick intro, embed the SlideShare, add a call-to-action, and voila ... it's ready to be published!

And, if you want to go the extra mile, try excerpting some content from the SlideShare below it -- something like quotes or stats. We often will do this on the blog: Let the SlideShare bear the burden of storytelling while the intro and conclusion are there primarily to help bring in more readers.

For example, a few months ago, we wrote a blog post featuring a SlideShare of our favorite Steve Jobs quotes. While the meat of the story was in the SlideShare, we pulled out each quote and used a text call-to-action to get people to tweet the quote:

steve_jobs_quotes_slideshare

Note: If you're using this strategy, be sure that your SlideShare visuals are the most gorgeous they could ever be -- these 10 free tools can help.

Strategy 2: Tee Up the Rest of Your Post

This strategy is a riff off the first: You let the SlideShare tell an engaging story on its own, and then you use that engaging story as a jumping off point for the rest of your post. This means you aren't duplicating content from your SlideShare into the body copy of your post, but rather using the SlideShare as a storytelling medium and then finishing the post in a text format.

In a recent guest post, Doug Kessler, co-founder and creative director of Velocity, used this storytelling strategy. In the first part of 8 Ways You're Killing Your Content, he showcased his SlideShare 'The Other C Word,' then followed up with eight takeaways that had been inspired by the SlideShare. The result? A richer story than just plopping a SlideShare in post:

c_word_storytelling

This is a great way to repurpose existing SlideShares you've already featured on your blog in another post. The hard part (meaning the design part) is already over, so you can focus on writing an engaging blog post to support the SlideShare.

Strategy 3: Give Small Teasers of the Rest of the Post

Sometimes, what works best for your SlideShare audience might be different than what works for your blog audience. They might both like similar topics, but SlideShare users may like short-form, clickable content while your blog readers lap up long-form, textual content. In that case, you can use the SlideShare slides as teasers of the points you expand on in the rest of your post.

For example, we put together a SlideShare and blog post about 10 of the World's Best Storytellers. Take a look at the SlideShare slide and accompanying bullet point below. The SlideShare basically tees up what's in the blog post, but the post takes the concepts a step further with the call-out lesson and enhanced descriptions of Walt Disney.

storytelling_slideshare

Strategy 4: Generate Sweet, Sweet Leads

And the one you've all been waiting for: the lead generation SlideShare and blog post combo. Lots of times, marketers have a really strict lead generation goal to hit ... so how can you justify spending time on a SlideShare? Well, by optimizing the slides and blog post for lead gen!

Though there are lots of ways you can generate leads with SlideShare, one blog post and SlideShare combo that works really well for us is when the SlideShare features a template that you need to download on our own landing page and then people can follow along with some helpful instructions in an accompanying blog post. Sound kinda complex? Let me explain.

Last week, we wanted to promote the launch of a revamped monthly marketing reporting template in a SlideShare and blog post. So, we decided to do this post: a SlideShare that featured the template and explained how you would use it, followed by specific steps that show you how to customize it for your own marketing in the accompanying blog post:

leads_slideshare

The result? More exposure of our template to SlideShare's audience and brand new leads in our funnel -- something my team was very excited to see!

Depending on your content's goals, these strategies will change. One thing that won't? Having a strategy with every piece of content you create -- so make sure you're thinking big picture even while you're sourcing little ones for your SlideShares.

These are just a few ways we've used SlideShare on our blog that have worked. How have you promoted a SlideShare presentation on your blog? Share your tips with us in the comments.

Image credit: Let Me Google That For You

Wednesday, 22 January 2014

14 Ways to Promote Your Blog Posts After You Publish | BlogHer

14 Ways to Promote Your Blog Posts After You Publish | BlogHer

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 11:24 AM PST

When you are working on a blog post and your hard work is finished, you click on "publish" and let your masterpiece go live, BUT you are not done yet! There are many steps you need to take to promote that post! All of the traffic coming to your blog will arrive by what you are doing to that post afterwards. The more you promote it, the more traffic and views you will get. Here are some steps you should be doing to every blog post to get maximum exposure!

My blog is powered by Blogger, so once I publish my post, it will automatically show up in the Blogger news feed to anyone who is subscribed to my posts. I am not familiar with WordPress yet, but will add tips for that platform in the future!

1. Facebook. If you don't already have a fan page for your blog, I highly recommend it. Every time you publish a new blog post, share the link on your page. You can also share it on your personal page if you wish. There are a few easy ways to have Facebook post it automatically for you as well.

2. Twitter. Sharing your post is pretty easy on Twitter. After I hit publish, I go to my actual post and at the bottom you will see all of the share options, including Twitter. You can easily tweet it out from there. Don't forget to include hashtags in your tweet to help that tweet get more eyes on it!

3. Pinterest. You should have at least one pin-able picture in every blog post and always pin it to Pinterest! I honestly probably get 80% of my traffic from Pinterest. It is becoming such a huge social media site that it can help your blog posts SO MUCH!

4. StumbleUpon. This is pretty easy to use. I submit every single one of my blog posts to StumbleUpon. Quick and easy way to get a few more views!

5. Digg. This is pretty much the same as StumbleUpon. Just share your link to your blog post and wait for some more traffic.

6. Add it to your newsletter. If you have a weekly or monthly newsletter for your blog, don't forget to share a snippit from your posts as well as the links to the posts! I don't offer a newsletter yet for my blog, but it is a really great idea!

7. Google +. Google+ is also becoming huge, and you can easily share your post the same way you would tweet out your blog post. Just go to the bottom of your post and you can find the share option for Google +.

8. Bloglovin. I highly recommend joining and using Bloglovin. It is basically just another way to follow your favorite blogs, but if you add a "follow me" button on your sidebar, you will be one of those favorite blogs that someone else is following. It's really easy to add a button, and I love the layout of Bloglovin. Once you connect your blog, it will automatically publish your blog post to the Bloglovin feed, so whoever is following you will see your new post without you having to share any links! Easy!

9. Ask other bloggers to share it. Don't be afraid to ask for help from your blogger friends. At the bottom of your blog post add in something like "Share this post if your found it interesting!" or, "If you liked this post, please share it with your friends!" You will be surprised how many people will help you out if you just ask for it.

10. Think of ways to link to that post in the future. If you have a blog post you are thinking about doing in the future that is on the same topic, link to it in the future. At the end of the post, share the link along with "See how we made a different version of this last year..." I also use LinkWithin, which is a really handy gadget to put at the bottom of your blog posts. It will automatically share three or four posts along the same topic on your blog so people can easily cruise through all of your posts without searching.

11. Comment on other blogs close to that topic and nicely leave your post link. That does NOT mean go to a random blog, skip reading the post to go directly to their comment section, leave your link and say "check out this post." Just no! You have to make sure it is on the same topic as your blog post or in the same niche. Thoroughly read their post, comment about something you liked or agreed with in their post and then you can share your link with something like "I wrote a post a week ago that is very closely along the same lines as yours! I think you would like to read mine for a different view, let me know what you think about it as well. I would love your opinion!"

12. Instagram. Instagram is fairly new but becoming huge, quickly. I love Instagram for my personal pictures, but sharing your blog post pictures on Instagram can help you tons! Some of your followers might only be following you on one social media platform such as Instagram, so share everything just in case!

13. Delicious. Delicious is in a way like StumbleUpon and Digg. I'm new to Delicious but it was pretty easy to join and add my links. I think it will be another great promoter.

14. Follow up. Don't forget about your posts once you publish and share them. Every once in awhile, it is completely okay to randomly share a previous post on any social media platform. Just add in something like "I loved this recipe so much I want to share it again with you all!" It is important to do this because think of all the new followers you get everyday. They might not see things from the past on your blog, but if you do a random share, they will!

*Important tip!* On any social media platform you are using, don't forget to use HASHTAGS! They are such an important factor to get more people to see your posts. When you use a hashtag, for example, #stayathomemom, everyone who comes across that hashtag will see it. Even if they are not your actual "follower," it will still show up because of the hashtag. Hashtags are also a great way for search engines to find you easier. Trust me, use hashtags!

Hey, P.S.: If you have found this post helpful or interesting, please share, tweet or pin!

PS Vita PLAY: 4 New Vita Games, PS Plus ... - PlayStation.Blog

Posted: 20 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST

Each week for the next four weeks on PS Store, a new PS Vita game will be released as part of the PS Vita PLAY promotion. If you are a PlayStation Plus member, you will receive a 20% discount on each PS Vita PLAY game ...

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

7 Ways to Promote FAFSA Completion at Your School | ED.gov Blog

7 Ways to Promote FAFSA Completion at Your School | ED.gov Blog

Posted: 16 Jan 2014 05:32 AM PST

It's FAFSA season! If you'd like to help us spread the word about the importance of completing the FAFSA, we have some great plug and play resources available at FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov. Here are some ways you can use those resources to promote FAFSA completion at your high school or on your college campus:

Host a FAFSA Night

Even though the FAFSA is simpler and faster to complete than ever, many students just prefer that someone walk them through it. To ease their anxiety, consider hosting a FAFSA completion night at your school. Contact local college financial aid offices, your state's higher education department, TRIO programs, or local college access organizations to see if they have staff willing to volunteer and help out. When it comes time to start planning your event, we have lots of resources available to help you host a FAFSA Completion Workshop.

Classroom Visits

Contact teachers and professors to see if you can do a quick FAFSA presentation at the beginning or end of class to remind students that it is time to fill out their FAFSAs. We even have videos and handouts that you can bring along with you!

Write Articles and Emails

Do you have access to a list of student emails? How about writing an editorial for the school newspaper? If you don't have the time or knowledge to write informational content about financial aid, we can help. We have provided sample articles and e-mails as well as some FAFSA related blog posts that you can use! Simply copy and paste; we're giving you permission!

Signage

Whether you're working with a corkboard or digital monitors, we have some great visual content for you to use. How about printing some of our infographics and posting them around your school? Or displaying one of our YouTube videos on the monitors around campus? You could also change the desktop wallpapers on school computers to remind students to complete their FAFSAs. These are just a few ideas. Find all of our resources here.

Use Social Media

Does your school have a presence on social media? We've put together a list of social media resources you can use to promote FAFSA completion. It includes 25 Tweets and 25 Facebook posts, as well as a list of FAFSA related videos, infographics, and blog posts. If you're looking for even more content, feel free to use or repost anything Federal Student Aid has posted on our social media accounts. That's what the content is there for, so don't be shy.

Reach Out to Influencers

One of the most trustworthy forms of promotion is word of mouth. Who are the people that the students at your school trust and listen to most? Teachers, professors, student leaders, coaches, parents, and peers are just some examples. One of the most powerful things you can do to promote FAFSA completion is to reach out to these influencers and give them the knowledge and resources they need to help you spread the word about FAFSA completion.

Be Creative

FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov has a number of resources available to help you promote FAFSA completion, but how can you take it to the next level? We've seen some awesome examples where schools have customized our videos, infographics and social media content to be specific to their school's requirements and policies. We've also seen schools create some awesome visual resources of their own. When promoting FAFSA completion, we challenge you to think outside of the box. Just don't forget to share your successes with us! We'd love to "borrow" your ideas.

Nicole Callahan is a new media analyst at the Department of Education's office of Federal Student Aid.

How To Promote Your Music - The Ultimate Guide - Music Think Tank

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 04:00 AM PST

Hello again, my Music Think Tankers. Today I'm going to look at 6 HUGE things you can do to better promote your music.

Now before you roll your eyes and think I'm going to tell you to "create a Facebook account and promote through social media" or to "get your music in as many places as possible," listen up. This guide is going to be full of actionable content and advice that won't be found in every post on the subject that simply rehashes information the writer has heard and not tried out themselves.

By the end of this post I want you to walk away with at least a few things you may not have thought about before, and can start implementing in your music career. So with that in mind, read on, take notes, and share this guide if you find it useful. And be sure to check out my free music marketing ebook afterward to get extra advice and tips for getting your music out there.

Top ways to promote your music from @musicthinktank and @imusicadvice!! - Tweet This

1. Climb the Ladder with Your Collaboration Efforts

OK, so the first thing you can do to promote your music better isn't actually something many musicians associate with actually being a form of promotion. Collaborating with other musicians can actually be a great way to get out there. Making songs with a well known act can actually mean you can get in front of their fans. It may also mean that you gain a higher perceived value for working with that act, and it can be a good note on your CV when looking for other music related work and opportunities.

The thing is though, it's very unlikely you'll get collaborations with big names in your genre (unless you already know them). You see, their time is precious, and they're not just going to collaborate with every up and coming act out there. The solution? Using the 'ladder' method.

What you want to do is categorize any talented musicians in your genre into different levels based on how big they are. Usually, while the biggest acts won't be willing to work with you at this stage, some of the lower level acts will be - with enough incentive. So what you do is approach those acts which are slightly bigger then you, and do collaborations with a few of them. Not only does this get you in front of their audiences, but it also gets you associated with being at their level.

Once this is done, start looking to the next step of musicians who are that bit more popular then the last group you approached (and are now in yourself). Do the same; collaborate with them, get in front of their audience, and become thought of as being on their level.

Rinse and repeat, each time working with bigger acts and getting a bigger reputation yourself. The good thing is, once people start seeing you're working with lots of people in your genre, they will want to start working with you too. You'll be the hip new people on the block that everyone wants to be associated with.

2. Climb the Ladder with Media Outlets You Try to Get On

OK, this method of promotion is pretty similar to the last one, only with platforms to get yourself out there.

If you've ever tried to get covered by a big website, TV channel or radio station, chances are you didn't hear back from them, or got rejected. Again, these places aren't looking to work with just anyone; you need to prove you're noteworthy and worthwhile for them using one of their exposure slots. As you may have guessed, the above ladder method works here too.

Start out by getting on smaller platforms and websites, and build your way up. Get all of these previous places you've appeared on your music CV. Include their logos on your website. Make it clear people are talking about you.

Gradually build things up, networking with new people along the way. You will find more and bigger opportunities become available to you, as the music industry is full of people who don't care until you say you've worked with 'x' amount of their competitors. So keep climbing that ladder.

3. Master Your Gigging Game

So I could say to you, "Gig because it's good exposure and you can make money from it." I want to give you more, though. The thing is, anyone can gig. That said, what are you doing to set your gigs apart from 95% of other musicians in your genre?!

Practicing your lyrics is one thing, but mastering your show is something else altogether. Remember, as a musician you are an entertainer! It's your job to entertain. Yes, that might just be in the form of your voice in rare cases, but in the majority of cases your whole stage presence also factors into things.

When people leave your show, are they going to remember you as that person with good lyrics and a good voice? Or will they remember you as that person who stood out and outshone all the other performing acts that night? I hope you aim to achieve the second one.

So what can you do to achieve that? Well first of all, find out what works in terms of stage presence. Load up YouTube and search for the best live acts in your genre. See how they command the stage, see how they move, and see how they interact with the audience. Does it work? Is it something you can do and build on? Most of the time it will be, so be sure to build yourself as a overall great performer, rather then just someone who has good vocal ability.

4. How to Promote Your Music Online: Schedule Your Social Updates

All right, let's move on to how to promote your music online. While you all know you should be taking part in social networking, there's one thing you can do to make things a lot easier in that area: Scheduling your social updates! While this isn't possible when you're replying to people who interact with you (which you should be doing), you can schedule updates for your fans with new content and conversation starters.

For example, let's say you have a gig tonight. You may be very busy just before it, and you know you won't have any time to communicate with your fans on social sites around that time. In this case, what you could do is schedule two updates for Facebook and Twitter. The first could go something like this:

"Not long ago arrived at * venue name * and can't wait to perform. Any of you here? If so come and say hi and wish me luck!"

You can also schedule another update for later, such as:

"The show tonight went well, I can't wait to share the pictures with you. Give me time to go home and sleep & I'll get them up tomorrow ;)"

These kind of updates are of course based on things you know are going to happen, yet they will mean you can encourage communication with your fans at a time which is easier for you.

So how do you schedule your social updates? Well my favorite method is via the free tool Hootsuite. Have a look, if you ask me it's a must use tool for all musicians.

5. Take Advantage of Email Marketing

Email marketing is something I'm surprised I don't see more musicians taking advantage of. My guess is this is either due to the lack of understanding of how to use it, or because of the cost involved. Or both. That said, bear in mind it could end up being one of your most effective ways to communicate with fans, so once you start building up a fan base you should give it a go.

The advantage with email marketing over Facebook and Twitter is your message gets to more people then it would on alternative platforms. As you probably know, Facebook makes it so only a small percentage of your fans see any message you post. With Twitter, if your followers aren't online around the time you send your Tweets out, chances are they won't see them.

With email though, once it's sent, it sits there until your email subscribers see the message. It doesn't go anywhere, and it's not as time sensitive.

There are a lot of other reasons why emails are also effective, but I won't list them all here. Instead you can check out this guide on list building for musicians, and see for yourself why you need it. I also let you know how to get started with this form of promotion, so give it a try.

6. Don't Just Update on Twitter, Seek Conversations

My last music marketing tip for the day: Be proactive with your approach to Twitter marketing. I see people get this wrong all the time. They think that all they need to do to promote their music on Twitter is to add a load of random people, then keep Tweeting about things related to themselves. In reality, this is a huge waste of your time.

Real Twitter promotion is all about building connections. You want to seek out conversations relevant to you and get involved.

For example, let's say you make music and are similar to Coldplay. What you'll want to do is search for conversations based around Coldplay, and see the results. Be sure to click 'all' under the section 'Results for coldplay.' This will bring up all people recently talking about them. Next, literally start talking to these people. Let them know you're into Coldplay too, and for those that respond and seem interested, mention that you make similar music which they may want to check out. So people will end up doing that.

I don't advise you mention your music the first time around, because people usually put up barriers against you once they feel you're trying to promote to them on initial contact. But after swapping a Tweet or three, they'll be much more likely to give you a try if they think you're a cool person.

You will also want to give them a follow after their first reply, too, as this will increase the chances they'll follow you back and see your music related updates.

And That's THE BEGINNING of How to Promote Your Music

And that's it, six big (and often not talked about) tips for promoting your music. That said, this isn't everything you need to know in terms of getting your music out there. There are a lot more music marketing tips you can and should learn, and I aim to give you those here today. If you haven't already, you'll want to check out my free ebook on the subject (download it here). Inside I start to look at the finer details of music promotion, such as how much you should be doing it, when, and why. I also look at some additional things you need to think about to start getting your music marketing mentality right. Furthermore, you can check this guide for 6 additional music marketing tips.

I hope you found this guide useful and have some things you can start implementing ASAP. If so, please give it a share, and let your fellow musicians check it out too. I'm sure we'll speak again soon. :)

Shaun Letang,
Music Industry How To.
Music Think Tank.

How To Promote Your Music - The Ultimate Guide

Sunday, 19 January 2014

Top Marketing Blogs This Week: How To Promote Blog Images, Tips ...

Top Marketing Blogs This Week: How To Promote Blog Images, Tips ...

Top Marketing Blogs This Week: How To Promote Blog Images, Tips ...
How to Promote Your Event on Your Business Blog - BusyConf
Education Datapalooza: Promoting Innovation in Improving College ...
How to promote your music online | Mark Weber Music Blog
5 Effective Ways To Promote Your Content? - Blogging Tips
How to promote your blog - Black Hat World

Top Marketing Blogs This Week: How To Promote Blog Images, Tips ...

Posted: 17 Jan 2014 09:01 PM PST

In this week's roundup we share some posts that are bound to get your marketing on track. But you'd better bring your thinking cap because these posts will keep you busy. You'll be tweaking, fixing and testing based on some of the great information shared here. It may seem like a lot but the trick is to pick something to try and then try it. Don't worry about doing it all… just do something. Start here.

Are You Promoting Your Blog Images?

Written by David Leonhardt

This article is a nice twist on blog promotion. David reminds us that our posts do double duty – first as the written medium and then as the visual. If you've got photos on your posts then you've got double the promotional value! In this post you'll find out where you can promote your photos (with a few unusual places you might not have heard of), some tools you can use to make them interesting and a couple of tips that will help with the logistics. I bet you'll find at least one new idea here to try so go grab one and add it to your arsenal.

Read the article at OddBlogger.com and follow Leonhardt on Twitter @amabaie

11 SEO Changes That Will Give You Big Results

Written by Neil Patel

The neat thing about this post is that it has none of the usual advice about SEO. You're not going to hear about keywords or title tags here. Instead, Neil shares some fantastic ideas from his own experience – and when it comes to learning how to be the best, what's better than experience? I was hooked from his first tip, which is an overlooked (and probably even unknown) way to uses 404 pages to your advantage. You'll have to read more for your own ah-ha moment but I bet you'll have at least one and then you can go out there are try it yourself.

Read the article at QuickSprout.com and follow Neil on Twitter @NeilPatel

17 Tips To Optimize Page Load Times

Written by Brad Knutson

With Google saying explicitly that site speed affects ranking, there's no better time than right now to optimize your site speed. In this post Brad gives you a bunch of ways that you can make that happen. He also shares some great tools that you can use to help you accomplish some of these tasks. You'll be able to do some of them immediately, though a few are not for the faint of heart. But if you're serious about the success of your site then you might want to consider either picking up a little bit of technical knowledge or finding yourself a knowledgeable developer. If you employ even a few of these tips your site speed will definitely improve.

Read the article at Inbounderish.com and follow Brad on Twitter @BradSKnutson

Marketing Vs Sales: Yeah, There's A Difference

Written by Brooke Ballard

I found this post interesting because when we talk about business we often use sales, marketing and even advertising interchangeably. They are not, however, the same thing. And it pays to know the difference because it will affect how you think about your customers and your brand. In this post Brooke breaks down the conceptual differences between marketing and sales. Kind of like the difference between strategy and tactics, it's something that can affect your ideas, approach and outcomes. Read more to brush up on your entrepreneurial know-how and then get back to business!

Read the article at b2socialmedia.com and follow Brooke on Twitter @madSMscientist

7 Great Internet Marketing Tips For 2014

Written by Pam Ann Aungst

With two weeks of the new year behind us I bet many of us have already forgotten our good intentions. That's why Pam's post is so important – it's a reminder that when it comes to good marketing you can get on board now, tomorrow, next month or whenever you're ready to succeed. Some of these tips are timely – for example, her advice on Google (which as we know can change any day!) – and some of it is timeless (sales funnel? yes, please!) Read more to find out what you need to know and then pick one and make it happen right now.

Read the article at PamAnnMarketing.com and follow Pam on Twitter @PamAnnMarketing

Is there one tip your read about that you can try right now?

How to Promote Your Event on Your Business Blog - BusyConf

Posted: 16 Dec 2013 04:00 PM PST

Blog

When you're caught up in paying for advertising, handling your social network accounts, and setting up an event, some marketing channels get overlooked. Don't forget about the on-site marketing tools you have, such as your business blog. When an interested party finds out about your event and wants more information than a tweet or Facebook update provides, they head to your website. If you aren't sure how to effectively promote your event through your business blog, use a few of these pointers to get you on your way.

1. Provide frequent updates on your event. Write about topics such as the latest speakers you have lined up, the event venue, important registration dates and reminders, behind the scenes information, and related topics. Mix up the topics and space the posts out so you have a steady stream of content directly relating to your event. You don't want to post three updates at once, then go a few days without anything at all.

2. Invite your readers to commentand give their input on your event. Use a blogging script that makes it easy for readers to give you feedback. You may be surprised at how useful the comments are, especially in fixing problems you may have overlooked when you're in the middle of organizing your event.

3. Build authority for your event by posting about related industry news and developments. You want to give your readers a reason to trust that your event is worthwhile, so setting yourself up as an authority figure in the field is important. Talk about current events and the movers and shakers in your industry. This also gives you content not directly related to your event, so you build a long term following on your business blog.

4. Set your business blog up so it auto-posts to social networks with each blog post. This not only automates the process, but also gives you more content to work with on your social networking sites so you're killing two birds with one stone. If you're using a popular blogging script such as WordPress, you have several plugins available that take care of this need. You may need a third-party app or custom solution if you're using a different type of content management system.

Don't let your business blog languish when you're preparing for an event. Give your readers the information they need about the event, and provide sticky and relevant industry content so they build trust in you and are likely to have multiple visits to your site.

published Dec 17, 2013 by Ryan McGeary

Planning a Conference?
BusyConf Makes it Easy

Education Datapalooza: Promoting Innovation in Improving College ...

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 07:30 AM PST

Cecilia Muñoz and Todd Park
January 15, 2014
10:30 AM EST

Higher education has never been more important to building a stronger middle class and yet tuition has gone up faster than family incomes for decades. Higher education should be affordable for everyone, not a luxury for the few.

Last August, President Obama outlined an ambitious plan to tackle rising college costs and make college affordable for American families. The President's plan will promote innovation and competition in the higher education marketplace by:

Publishing better information on how colleges are performing,
Catalyzing new approaches that can improve learning and reduce costs, and
Offering colleges regulatory flexibility so that they can innovate.

Harnessing innovative technologies is central to the plan, and the President has called on his Administration to support private-sector technology entrepreneurs and innovators working to make postsecondary education accessible, available, and attainable to all students.

Today, the White House, the U.S. Departments of Education and Treasury, and the General Services Administration are hosting an Education "Datapalooza" to highlight the role that private-sector apps, tools, and services can play in helping students get into and complete college. More than 500 of America's entrepreneurs, software developers and education experts are coming together to explore new apps and services advancing higher education, in areas such as: choosing and applying for college, online teaching and learning, and new pathways for acquiring 21st century skills.

Many of the companies, students, and non-profits at the Datapalooza are showcasing apps and other products that use freely available government data provided by the Department of Education and other Federal sources. One example is the Student Success Academy, where they have developed a comprehensive online program for students in the college search process. In another example, at the Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard, they are developing a tool that empowers faculty members to use active learning strategies to improve instruction.

As we work to support the creation and spread of new tools along these lines, the Administration is also focused on ensuring that individuals' sensitive information is safe—protecting privacy is one of our top priorities.

Get more details on the Education Datapalooza

Cecilia Muñoz is the Director of the Domestic Policy Council. Todd Park is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer.

How to promote your music online | Mark Weber Music Blog

Posted: 12 Jan 2014 01:16 PM PST

Here's how to promote your music online for less than $10!*

5 Effective Ways To Promote Your Content? - Blogging Tips

Posted: 19 Jan 2014 06:59 PM PST

As the internet continues to grow in popularity, online marketing strategies are slowly dominating business practices. More and more entrepreneurs are slowly shifting their focus towards online marketing and you should too. These are five of the most effective ways to promote your content online. 5 Effective Ways To Promote Content

Use Affiliate Marketing to Promote Your Content

One of the top ways to promote your online content is to have other people online advertise it for you. This method of hiring the service of other blog/website owners is called affiliate marketing. A lot of large corporations are shelling out thousands of dollars to online affiliates, it is gaining popularity, and you should also join with the trend. Affiliate marketing is the most used and cheapest way to promote you content.

Using Social Media Marketing to Promote Your Content

It is important to know that social networks are among the most dynamic in the web. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube users number more than a billion already and a hub of online activity. Business owners fill it logical to use the power of social media to create ways to promote one's brand online. Aside from the immense boost Facebook likes and Twitter followers can have for any online business, it is also a nice way to get original comments and reviews from customers.

Using Search Engine Optimization to Promote Your Content

Since the entrance of the internet in the business world, Search engines have been a major factor for the development of many online marketing strategies. One of these strategies that stemmed out of the importance of search engines is SEO or search engine optimization. This relies on using keywords commonly used by people and incorporated it into a business' write ups or any kind of content. It increases the chances of people directly funneled into a business' website through search engines. This is among the best ways to promote you content today as SEO techniques can be easily used.

Using Display Marketing to Promote Your Content

Display marketing is the use of links, banners and ads to funnel customers to the main business website of a particular company. When customers click these ads, it will lead them to a landing page where a business product is introduced and marketed. There are many names for this kind of marketing strategy but Pay-per-click is its most famous name. One of the major providers of this service is Google Adwords, and it can be one of the best ways to promote your content today.

Using Inbound and Outbound Marketing to Promote Your Content

Inbound and outbound marketing is one of the traditional ways to promote online content. It uses the abilities of actual salesperson to do online "sales talk" to convince people to have a look. Some of these use video presentations to attract leads while others use social networks and attract likes through interactive communication. By far it is the hardest form of marketing as you are personally promoting your content, but the reward for this is immense. More people are turned into customers through the use of professional inbound and outbound marketing agents. These are some of the best ways to promote you content today.

Please feel to leave a comment of the different ways you promote content!

How to promote your blog - Black Hat World

Posted: 12 Jan 2014 11:15 AM PST

Hello, here is my 7 steps to promote my new blog: 1. Link Exchange . Exchange of links and banners is a good way to attract new readers. Not necessarily the links are in a separate field in the side panel , for example .

Sunday, 12 January 2014

How To Promote Your Blog Through Networking | Diversified Finances

How To Promote Your Blog Through Networking | Diversified Finances

Posted: 08 Jan 2014 12:00 AM PST

A question that I am often asked is how a blogger should promote and network their blog. I'm definitely no expert in this area, but I do think that I know enough about it to write a blog post about it

Networking with your blog is a great thing. Without it, my blog would literally have zero readers.

Without networking through my blog, I never would have started a side job, I never would have quit my job to freelance full-time. And I never would have 1,000 other things. Networking is what has helped me and my blog grow.

Now, I will say that I do like to keep all of my blog work "natural." I have never forced anything upon my blog that I did not enjoy, and I do think that is why I still enjoy blogging on Making Sense of Cents (and the same now goes for Diversified Finances).

This may be to my downside, but I don't really do anything to promote my website that I don't actually enjoy doing. For example, I actually LOVE to post on forums and comment on other websites, because I am a super geek like that. I love reading what others have to say, and I could read articles all day long if I could. I like to know everything about everyone I can spew out random facts about pretty much anything.

Here are different things that you could do to promote your blog:

Guest post.

Guest posting is something that I hardly ever do, but I do think it's a great idea. I find many new blogs through guest posts, so it can be a great way to add new readers.

Join a niche group.

Depending on the niche that you are in, I am sure that there are many different groups that you could join. An example would be Yakezie for personal finance bloggers.

Belonging to a quality niche group can mean that you make friends with others in your community, and you can also all motivate each other to do better.

Find forums.

There are many forums that I browse and enjoy reading, such as the Mr. Money Mustache forum and Yakezie forum. You could post quality responses (or even create your own posting), and readers may find you this way. Posting on relevant forums can be a great way to add readers since everyone reading the forum probably has a similar hobby or goal.

Another thing similar to commenting on forums would be to comment on websites as well.

Social media.

When I first find a new website, one of the first things that I usually do is see if they have a Twitter. Make sure you have one!

There are so many different ways for you to connect with your readers, and social media can be an important way for you to further your reach. Different websites that you could join include: Facebook, Twitter Instagram and Pinterest.

How do you promote your blog?

75 Ways to Promote Your Blog > Ideas for the Public Vote | National ...

Posted: 06 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST

The Public Vote is well underway for the UK Blog Awards and the votes are flooding in! We wanted to share some ideas we have for how to promote your blog and hopefully gain even more traffic and votes as a result. We hope you find some of these tips useful and find something you are not doing already but would like to try! The public vote closes at midnight on 26th January – good luck!

1. Add your unique voting logo to your blog, email footer, website, newsletters, etc. The HTML coding for your logo can be found on your blog entry page. Add it in a prominent place and display it proudly! We would love to see a screenshot of the voting logo on your blog too!

2. Use the share buttons on your blog entry page to share/promote via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.

3. When characters are short use an url shortener such as http://goo.gl/ to shrink the web link to your entry rather than using the long link.

4. Make sure that followers of your blog (e.g. email subscribers and those that have liked and commented on your posts) know that you need their votes.

5. Let friends and family know about your blogging achievements and ask for their votes.

6. Do you have Christmas thank you letters to send out? Why not add a sentence about how they can vote for you into the thank you card!

7. If you have entered a company blog don't forget to promote your involvement and ask your clients and business contacts to vote for you.

8. Do you have any brands, PR companies or sponsors you work with/have links with? If so they may be able to help encourage votes. Likewise if you are currently developing these relationships it may be worth mentioning you have entered the UKBA14.

9. Write a press release about your involvement in the UK Blog Awards and submit it to local media. Newspapers and local publications are often interested in articles from local people. Don't forget to share your media successes with us too!

10. Contact your local radio station and see if they would like to interview you. Perhaps you can offer tips to those wanting to start a blog or tell the story of your blogging journey?

11. Post regularly. The more you blog the more traffic you will get.

12. Write a showcase post for new readers to your blog (the New Year is perhaps a great time for this anyway!). What are your must read posts, what is your blogging story, what can readers expect from your blog, what are 10 things people would be surprised to learn about you?

13. Twitter is often the preferred social media platform for bloggers. Continue to grow your followers by regularly posting interesting content and targeting relevant people who will hopefully follow you back and be motivated to read your blog and to vote!

14. On social media instead of simply asking for votes why not promote specific blog posts (ensuring that there is a clear call to action for people to vote if they enjoy reading the post!).

15. Don't forget that social media is about the conversations and listening. Ensure you use the 80/20 rule – a maximum of 2 Tweets/posts out of every 10 sent should be self-promotion otherwise you risk losing followers.

16. Follow the UKBA Twitter account: @UKBlogAwards and use the hashtag #UKBA14 when tweeting about the awards.

17. Let your Facebook friends on your personal account know that the public vote is open and share the link to make it easy for them to vote (ensure they don't just like the post – they must click through to vote).

18. Do you have a Facebook page too? If so don't forget to share details of how to vote for you and also your most recent blog posts and posts from the archives. If you can give a reason for people to like or share the content you will increase the visibility of the post.

19. Don't forget to like and interact with the UK Blog Awards page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/UKBlogAwards

20. LinkedIn can be a very valuable source of traffic and allows you to post a status update to let people know what you are up to, how they can vote for you or your most recent blog post.

21. There is also the option to mail key contacts via LinkedIn to let them know they can vote for you.

22. Do you know that you can also share your blog and website on LinkedIn? This can be done not only in the key links section and also in your professional portfolio on your profile, complete with image?

23. LinkedIn Groups are really useful and a great way to let relevant people in your niche know what you are working on and ask questions and give advice. A recent feature is the group contribution feature which shows how active and helpful you are in a group. When you comment in a group this also shows up in the news feed too for extra visibility. Be sure to always follow the specific group promotion guidelines though otherwise you face been ejected from the group.

24. If you are on LinkedIn make sure you join the UK Blog Awards Group: http://linkd.in/19vjZev There are specific feeds asking for you to introduce yourself and give details about your blog, etc.

25. Link your Google+ profile to the content you create (see https://plus.google.com/authorship).

26. Google+ is great for sharing blog posts as it allows pictures and long posts to be added, as well as the use of hashtags.

27. Search for Google+ communities for your areas of interest – there are plenty around blogging and also 'Hangouts' happening regularly.

28. If you are on Google+ circle us at: google.com/+BlogawardsukCoUk1

29. Pinterest can be used to create visual boards for a subject area. It is a great way to share a picture and short description linked directly back to a specific blog post. People can then like and repin the content. Make sure you include keywords.

30. Why not also pin to contributor boards on Pinterest for added exposure, particularly those with lots of followers.

31. Pinterest have also added location based boards, which may be particularly useful for Travel bloggers.

32. If you are on Pinterest follow us at: http://pinterest.com/ukblogawards

33. If you are on Instagram don't forget to add your blog address to your bio.

34. On Instagram you can also post an image from your blog post and then add the blog post link to the caption box if you wish to use it to promote your posts.

35. Consider adding valuable content (including your own suitable blog posts) to Stumbleupon. Details of how to do this are here: www.stumbleupon.com/blog/how-to-add-a-page-to-stumbleupon/

36. Add your blog to Bloglovin' (www.bloglovin.com) and also use it to follow your favourite bloggers.

37. Explore other directories your blog should be listed in.

38. Consider using Tumblr to drive traffic back to your blog if you use a different blogging platform (see www.emediavitals.com/content/3-ways-use-tumblr-promote-content-and-grow-your-audience).

39. There are some great creative ways to promote your blog listed in this blog post: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-creative-ways-to-drive-more-traffic-to-your-blog-posts/ – including how to use Vine, Slideshare, Foursquare and Flickr.

40. Have you told your email contacts how to vote for you?

41. Why not create an email newsletter using http://mailchimp.com/ or similar tool (basic account is free).

42. Do you participate in any relevant forums and online communities? If so this could be a great way to spread the word.

43. Post (or schedule posts) at different times of the day and night to hopefully capture a different audience. Also consider posting 7 days a week – not just on weekends or weekdays.

44. Why not add your voting link to your social media profiles e.g. your Twitter bio for extra visibility.

45. Be inspired by the UK Blog Awards. Why not write a post about why it would mean so much to you to win the UK Blog Awards or 10 reasons why people should vote for you?

46. "A picture speaks a thousand words" – it is proven that pictures and videos attract a much higher click through rate on social media. Use a picture editor to add text and effects as well as general editing of your pictures. Basic tools are free on http://www.picmonkey.com/

47. Go retro – why not print some flyers or business cards with details about your blog and how to vote for you. You can often get free business cards (just pay the postage) and other offers via www.vistaprint.co.uk.

48. Let work colleagues know you are part of the UK Blog Awards – add a piece in any internal office communications, put up a poster in the staff room, see if it might be an interesting feature for the company blog, a news item for the website, something the company can share on social media, within the organisation newsletter, etc.

49. Write a guest blog for the UK Blog Awards site (see http://www.blogawardsuk.co.uk/blog/ for some of the posts that have already been published).

50. If you have any other forthcoming guest blogging opportunities you may even have the opportunity to mention your public voting link at the end of the article (depending on the guest blogging guidelines of the site you are writing for).

51. Experiment with different media. Why not do a video blog (vlog) introducing your blog and why people should vote for you? Or create a podcast?

52. If you generally write text based posts why not create a gallery of pictures or an infographic instead to vary your content?

53. Experiment with Storify, which creates a story by pulling in key words from multiple social media channels and allows you to choose the items that you keep.

54. Take part in #BlogHour on Twitter every Tuesday 9-10pm GMT.

55. Ensure your blog posts are published to all social media channels.

56. Be an active commenter on blogs in your niche (but only if you have something valuable to add!).

57. Blog about current issues and topical or controversial subject areas to gain attention.

58. Ensure each of your specific blog posts can be emailed and shared easily via all of the social media networks.

59. Ensure you have a sign up option so people can receive email updates. A RSS feed on your blog so people can stay up to date is also recommended.

60. Are you artistic? Why not create a drawing, painting, design or other work of art inspired by the #UKBA14? There are some great cartoonist bloggers out there!

61. Do you bake or have a food and drink blog? Why not bake a cake, create a special dish or a cocktail to signify your part in the UK Blog Awards?

62. Are you into arts and crafts? Can you use your skills to get creative and recreate the UKBA logo? Pictures of textiles or 3D works of art photograph really well and are a great way to attract attention as well as showing off your talent!

63. Let people know that if they vote for you they will automatically receive the free blogging eBook 'The Little Book of Blogging Inspiration: Interviews with UK Bloggers.'

64. Are you a fashion blogger? What outfit would you wear to the Awards Evening if you are shortlisted?

65. Encourage others to recommend your blog to their networks.

66. Ask for testimonials – reasons why people value and enjoy your blog.

67. Take part in Twitter chats relevant to your niche or local area. Contribute and be part of the conversation and let people know about your blog and how to vote for you if they wish.

68. How much does being shortlisted in the UK Blog Awards mean to you? We understand that one blogger (@MotorMistress) will beat box or breakdance at the Awards Evening if she is shortlisted! Definitely an incentive for people to vote to see this in action! What would it mean to you? What would you do?

69. Have your blogging friends entered the UK Blog Awards in different categories to yourself? If so why not vote for each other?

70. You can vote for 1 individual and 1 organisation blog in each category. Any further votes in the same category will be discounted.

71. Cast one vote for yourself (per category if you are entered in more than one category).

72. Share your achievements and coverage with us using the hashtag #UKBA14 on Twitter or email inspire@blogawardsuk.co.uk so we can share further for you.

73. Do you work in the Education industry? Why not ask your school and pupils to vote for your Blog!

74. Ask friends and colleagues to promote your Blog Award entry across their own social media channels – they might even create a blog post if you ask nicely!

75. Be creative with your social media statuses as this will help draw in readers and voters.
Don't forget to monitor hits and traffic to your blog when trying out any new ideas so you can see what is most effective for you to continue to use in the future.

One of the main aims of the UK Blog Awards is for everyone that has entered to have a positive experience and hopefully gain new readers and followers along the way. We hope you have enjoyed our list and have some new ideas to put into action. We would love to hear how you get on and any of your own ideas you would like to share! Feel free to add your comments below, submit details within a guest blog post to our site, share on Twitter using the hashtag #UKBA14 or email inspire@blogawardsuk.co.uk.

Votes close at midnight on 26th January 2014.

Good luck!

Ethical Blogwalking

Sunday, 26 January 2014