Ever heard of Kickstarter? If not, well – you ought to try it out some time. Especially if you’re planning on raising funds for a cause, a project, a product, a service, or a business. Kickstarter, after all, is currently the world’s largest online crowdfunding platform. It has successfully raised funds for endeavors that include indie films, music albums, books, food-related projects, and even solar energy technology. Kickstarter was launched in 2008 and it facilitates crowdfunding based on a “provision point mechanism”. This means that a Kickstarter project owner (“creator”) either gets the funding he has set to raise – or he gets nothing at all. If he meets the target on or before the deadline, he’ll get paid. And those who pledged money will receive prizes, freebies, and goodies from the creator (whatever he offered to entice people to contribute or pledge). If the creator doesn’t meet the target – well, no money changes hands. That’s right: if the – Read the full article
We stand in a society incessantly connected to each other through virtual networks. One may wonder why virtual (Web-based) platforms are popular and the reason solely lies in the fact that they offer a variety of applications that help people share and connect with one another, which has always been the core needs of society. With greater technology, speed and living standards, the social networking sites help cater to newer demands and go beyond physical get-togethers. It is this platform that unites people and hence, has immense potential for online marketing and advertising. A brand is a brand because of the support – and recognition – it gets from people. Social Media Interaction and Competition One of the latest methods adopted by marketers is to engage audiences in contests and interactive competitions, giving away their commodities for free. Or, alternatively, these contests may engage people by giving away various other articles, trial offers, commodities, etc. These are becoming increasingly popular – Read the full article
Online Lead Generation It’s time to take the guesswork out of your marketing and sales cycles. Connect to your target audiences and your customers with Lakeshore Branding’s online lead generation solutions. Leveraging state-of-the-art lead generation tools – coupled with a rich, multi-industry customer acquiring network brought by our many years of experience in the business – we deliver the most qualified leads in order to help you grow. Our team works with you as we: Craft custom lead generation strategies Streamline your lead qualification process Build your customer acquisition network and database Introduce your products and services to people who have a genuine interest in them Improve your conversion rates (prospects are always prequalified before you receive the lead) Implement organic SEO and paid search results strategies Update your lead tracking forms Track your progress with our advanced reporting systems and easy-to-understand lead generation metrics Call us today at (312) 229-0038 and let us help you drive the right people – Read the full article
If you think E-commerce is just a fad – poised to flounder amidst economic crises – then think again. Thanks to the increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets, millions more people are shopping online and on-the-go. In fact, in a recent article by eMarketer, it was reported that mobile commerce (“M-commerce”) sales (including travel) in the US grew by 91.4% to reach $6.7 billion. And that’s just mobile. If one were also to consider the continued expansion of Wi-Fi availability across the US and all over the world, one will come to understand that E-commerce – regardless of the device driving it – is here to stay. WordPress E-commerce themes That’s why we created this fresh new list of WordPress e-commerce themes – to help you find the best possible look for your WordPress store. If you’re… giving your WordPress-powered site, blog, E-commerce site, or online store a makeover to herald the New Year, looking for ways to improve the – Read the full article
Marketing any product or service online can be a daunting task for a marketer, especially when the competition is cutthroat and the attention span of audiences has been reduced to just a click. So being at the right place at the right moment is as good as going on the right kind of diet regime – one that would bring in results! One strategy to building a business online – specifically, link building – is considered one of the best ways to connect to the audience. Businesses around the world today rely on the Internet to expand and optimize their visibility for their potential clients and more. It’s a given that Google has set nearly an unbeatable standard for linking only those sites that are trustworthy and pass their acid test. The Web is truly a place where marketers can lose track as linking to sites that basically have no status or ranking by the search engines usually results into – Read the full article
Raising funds online isn’t easy. Thank goodness there are useful social media marketing platforms like Kickstarter and Twitter. (Check out our tips for fundraising on Twitter and our coverage of some of the most successful social media fundraisers!) But if these tools aren’t flexible enough for your charity organization, political advocacy, or religious community – and if you think you’ll need a bigger Web presence, like a website or a blog – then you might as well create your own WordPress site. WordPress is Lakeshore Branding’s recommended content management system (CMS). Why? Because it’s focused on aesthetics. Because it’s built on evolving and upcoming Web standards. And because it’s so easy to use. To help rally your cause, we compiled this list of 15 WordPress themes sure to strike at the heart of your online audience. These WordPress themes are great for non-governmental institutions, public sector groups, charity organizations, environmental organizations, fundraising events and committees, advocacy groups, political aspirants, churches, – Read the full article
Every business shares a common goal – to survive, grow and prosper. In today’s fast-track competitive world, businesses large and small must turn to new measures in order to evolve, grow or simply stay afloat. Ecommerce website development can offer growth opportunities of enormous proportion for businesses from all sectors. This is mostly due to the advent of highly improved and user friendly web services (Ed’s note: services like our favorite, Magento) available across the web that have literally carved a place in the hearts of online users. As an online business owner, the employment of technological advances in e-Commerce website design can mean the difference between the success and failure of your business objectives. Accordingly, it is important to understand exactly what an ecommerce website is and how to get started with one. Basically, an ecommerce website is a virtual representation of your physical business. Interestingly, most business owners grow to learn that the biggest difference between an ecommerce – Read the full article
Last week we published a guide on how to monitor Google Places reviews, Web updates, and content changes. It was well-received by our readers, so we’d like to build on the post and share info this time on tools for online reviews monitoring and management. Hopefully, this list will help you track online reviews of your brand, product, establishment, service, or business – and enhance your reputation as more customers talk about you on Google Places, Yelp, online directories, local business listings, and social media sites. Or, if you’ve used any of the online reputation management tools below, do let us know by leaving a comment below and sharing with us your experience. ReviewPush Texas-based ReviewPush markets itself as an “online review management tool for small to large businesses”. It offers a dashboard for monitoring / tracking reviews, protecting your brand and reputation, engaging with customers, and enhancing product offerings and promotions (such as coupons). ReviewPush features include: Continuous social – Read the full article
