According to Email Marketing Reports, there are 1.4 billion online users today, and “according to research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, E-mail marketing was expected to generate an ROI of $42.08 for every dollar spent on it in 2010. As such, it outperforms all the other direct marketing channels examined, such as print catalogs.” If this is appealing to you, it’s time to begin this money-making process known as E-mail marketing. A large part of email marketing is finding the right software. If you know what different softwares have to offer in terms of features and installment, then you will be able to make the right decision for your company. There are three types of software you can choose from: Hosted software: The company you purchase the software from will host the software for you. In other words, all you have to do is login on their website and manage your email lists from there. Self-hosted software: You are – Read the full article
Blogs are here to stay. (Call them “online magazines” if you’re not used to the portmanteau.) But gone are the days when you just signed up, went for the simplest blog theme or layout, added some cute Dear Diary posts, and suddenly had everyone finding you. These days, you’ve got to stand out. And standing out takes more than signing up for an account in your favorite blogging platform. (Our favorite, of course, is WordPress.) Go for something that will differentiate you – and which will also reflect your identity well. That’s why we came up with this list: to help you find the appropriate look of your WordPress blog, whether it’s a simple company news blog, a photo blog, an online magazine, a video blog, a friendly community for your fans and followers, a social media hub, or a tumblog. If you like this list of online magazine / blog-friendly WordPress themes, share the love by tweeting it, posting – Read the full article
In mid-March, Google launched a social sharing tool called “+1.” Similar to the Facebook “Like”, +1 was added to search results to improve social relevance for users. It was noted last week that +1 will make its way across the Web in addition to (simply) search, with a widget that allows Web pages to allow +1 sharing. This will link Google profiles to content and websites, and the +1 now aims to put Google in a space where they have strived to be in for the past 5 years: social. Now, what exactly is +1? And why does it even matter? Essentially the +1 button is Google’s version of the “Like.” With hopes to capture a bit of Facebook market share, Google looks to take the world’s information and make it publicly available (according to their mission statement). So what does this mean for you? Well, besides the fact that it’s another way to draw traffic to your blog, the – Read the full article
Facebook is all about building relationships – and so is your blog. So are they a match made in heaven? Should you shell out some of your hard-earned cash to buy advertising for your blog on Facebook? It could be a smart move. Statistics show that Facebook advertising is more effective at relationship marketing than it is at direct selling. Besides, compared to many other forms of advertising, Facebook is low-cost, but any money you spend needs to be cost-effective. That means creating ads that stand out from the crowd, that reaches your target audience, and that drives traffic to your blog. Sound like a big order? When you’re creating your Facebook ad, remember these 3 tips and you’ll increase your chances of success. Know Who You Want to Reach One key to successful online marketing is getting your message to the right people and Facebook lets you choose your target audience. Even before creating your Facebook ad, decide who – Read the full article
Don’t think that scrapbooks will cut it. Not in today’s world. If you’re a photographer serious about marketing yourself and showcasing your talent to the world, you’ll have to establish your own online presence – with which you can create your portfolio, show your best shots, tell stories through images, and maximize every opportunity to render your professional services. That’s where WordPress comes in. It’s one of our favorite content management platforms here at Lakeshore Branding. It should be yours, too. We’ve already created the ultimate list of awesome small business WordPress themes for the biz owners; now it’s time to show some love to the photographers. In this post we have compiled 49 of today’s most stunning, flexible, and user-friendly photography WordPress themes that are out there right now. If you’re a designer, graphic artist, or illustrator, don’t hesitate to check the themes out, too. These WordPress themes are actually pretty versatile. Feel free to share, tweet, post on – Read the full article
The Internet and smart phones are two modern inventions that most people cannot now live without, especially since the increased processing power of phones is being used to browse the mobile Web. Statistics reveal that more and more people are using their mobile phones to access the Internet. According to Bango, a mobile payments and analytics specialist, the number increased from 10.8 million in January 2008 to 22.4 in January 2009. These figures are hard to ignore and there are suggestions that these growth rates are set to continue for the foreseeable future. If you’re a business owner, a blogger, marketer, or brand manager, then check out your traffic stats and see for yourself the increase in the number of your mobile searchers. Unfortunately, not a lot of webmasters have begun to recognize the importance of optimizing their sites for mobile. After all, what works well on desktops won’t necessarily work – or look good – on a smart phone. – Read the full article
Google, under fire these last several weeks for allowing webmasters, marketers, and spammers manipulate its search engine, recently made changes to the way it ranks search results. The move, announced and detailed in a blog post Thursday at the official Google blog, signified an effort by the company to push down low-quality websites and pages that appear on its search engine results pages (SERPs), while rewarding sites with original, high-quality content and information as well as “in-depth reports” and “thoughtful” analyses. “In the last day or so we launched a pretty big algorithmic improvement to our ranking—a change that noticeably impacts 11.8% of our queries—and we wanted to let people know what’s going on,” wrote Amit Singhal, Google Fellow, and Matt Cutts, Principal Engineer. “This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites, or sites that are just not very useful.” The change in ranking algorithms also supports – Read the full article
Happy February LSB readers! Well now it’s February and hopefully, you haven’t abandoned your 2011 resolutions. For us entrepreneurs, goals are important as ever on our road to global domination. Two of my goals: Be consistent in the gym, and grow the business. When I was in the gym last week, it occurred to me that most exercising tips directly relate to growing your business. Confused? Read on to see how these muscle growing or slenderizing (for you ladies) tips can strengthen your business. 1) Don’t Overexert Yourself What’s going to happen if you lift too much weight? Injury. This rule is the same for your business. Rack up too much debt, take on too many clients, you’re going to hurt your business. A rule in exercising is to ensure you master the lower weight before you move up. Be real with your company’s capabilities and realistically conduct your business. 2) Don’t Follow the Other Guys Just because the people at – Read the full article
