Being a woman in the male-dominated business world does have its disadvantages, but a growing movement towards equality in all things is helping ladies in every professional niche to be both better and better-paid at what they do, and one of the fields most notable for this growth is blogging. Women are coming to dominate the blogosphere as visitors realize that they’re unique wit and wisdom offer a fantastic take on nearly any topic, making that sector one of the fastest growing for female entrepreneurs.
Meet women in your niche for the purpose of both friendship and professional development by checking out any of these four female blogging meetups for 2013: read more
There are a number of social media sites that have captured the hearts and attention span of the modern world. Internet users rely on social networking a great deal for any number of tasks, originally personal but not more along the lines of professional. In fact, using such sites for self promotion, business networking and marketing is becoming second nature to the site genre.
Some sites have been created specifically for this purpose, and one of the most well known is LinkedIn. Well established, full of people in every industry and very beneficial, you probably already have an account or have thought about getting one. It is recommended, as a quick means of making connections with others in relevant industries, or just maintaining and easily accessible online resume.
But beyond that, LinkedIn can provide a fantastic method of local marketing. This is a means of targeting a local audience to become a kind of celebrity of sorts to those in your immediate area. This is much more simple to achieve than gaining a mass notoriety within your industry. read more
Copywriter – the mere word springs to mind an image of an unsociable creature left scribbling away in the corner, a field of office-snacks littering the desk and people hurrying past should the said beast awaken and attempt a ‘conversation’. While verbal communication and social interaction is not something typically associated with a writer, there is an air of genius (often mistook for insanity) surrounding a copywriter, for they can manipulate the power of the written word; but how does this help a business? read more
What really is Search Engine Optimization? (Photo credit: Go Local Search)
More and more people all over the globe are taking the plunge and diving into the world of self-employment. Even though the economy is not what it used to be, it is relatively easy to find your place in the modern market and open a business of your own. Furthermore, when starting a small business, you are faced with a large number of problems which should rather be seen as challenges. These challenges are often difficult to overcome, but some of them such as the challenge of creating a strong online presence, is extremely important to overcome. Here, we will talk about SEO challenges that small business are faced with. read more
Cloud computing is truly the tech du jour among business enterprises, but this tech buzz word is no passing fad, its gearing up to be that floating behemoth of data that’s here to stay. You’d be surprise to know that you’ve been using cloud-based services for quite some time now with Gmail, Google Docs and Dropbox. And with that realization, do you now understand the convenience of the Cloud?
As more company data and materials go on the cloud and away from any physical server at the office,
you can count on productivity and customer service to get a boost, as data can be accessed on demand
and traded among shared groups and even further improved on through customization. Well, you can think of Cloud computing in terms of the way a busy airport operates and with it comes its very own 4Cs- Capacity, Continuity, Checkpoints and Chokepoints. read more
A business needs momentum to sustain itself. For momentum, growth is essential. There are many ways in which you can see growth in business. For instance, advertisements, marketing promotions, extending offers, freebies and discounts. Of course, it goes without saying that you need to ensure quality products for all this to work.
To give your business a real boost, you can use other avenues too, the internet being a prime example of taking your business forward. In fact the net has taken shopping and allied services to a totally different level. With a large number of online shopping sites, consumers can explore shopping options they would seldom have had access to. The net is also a boon for small businesses to spread the word of their existence. Your website will generate more footfalls when a larger number of people are aware of your products and services. And what better way to do it than the social media sites? The sheer reach of Twitter with its 100 million users, Facebook with 800 million devoted users and LinkedIn with 64 million in North America alone is nothing short of staggering. read more
For businesses big and small, Facebook offers a great opportunity to connect with customers and build awareness. Collecting Facebook fans through the use of the ‘Like’ button is a great way to promote all you have to offer and target potential customers with offers and news.
However studies have shown that many fans will often ‘unlike’ a brand soon after a particular promotion or offer has ended. Other reasons why people unsubscribe like this include loss of interest in a business or product, page postings are uninteresting and a lack of postings to a brand page. Getting the most from your social media marketing campaigns, be they on Facebook or another social network, will rely on you being able to keep fans and attract new ones.
Of course it can be difficult to predict the buying behaviour of individuals, marketing tends to rely on demographics to target certain markets and consumers. And whilst not all promotions or offers you run will interest everyone, keeping your fans interested enough to stay with you will rely on you doing a little homework first. read more
For a business owner, Social Media presents a unique proposition. It is unique in the sense that the opportunities offered by Social Media sites like Twitter and Facebook are like a bait to bigger brand awareness. However, at the same time the viral nature of the Social Media platforms implies that a business would need a solid strategy to tap these media for business and brand promotion because an ill-conceived campaign, backed by a flawed Social Media strategy could become a major bottleneck to the areas of brand promotion, brand awareness and brand positioning.
There can be no denying of the fact that Social Media is one of the fastest media that can be employed to spread a word around. This is so true when you look at how successfully political situations from across the world have been advertised with a special mention going out to the Egyptian crisis of the Tahrir Square. On a similar basis, the natural catastrophic incidents like the Japanese Tsunami have been covered by the people who were on the ground and this has eventually resulted in a better understanding of the ground reality from the perspective of extending timely help and aid to the affected people. read more
I strongly believe that every business should have a blog to keep the lines of communication between you and potential customers open. The target of this article is to reveal 7 effective ways a blog can help you grow your business.
1. Blogging Boosts Brand Awareness
Corporate blogs create a unique opportunity to share your thoughts, ideas and offerings with not only your readers, but their readers as well, which eventually brings in more prospects. Guest blogging is another great strategy to build up an audience. Plus, new employees and outsiders can get a better chance to know company’s product launch, innovation and strategy.
2. Blogging Personalizes Your Business
Blogging puts a human touch to your business and keeps your audience updated on new and exciting things happening in your company. Blogs are all about being personal, so let your personality flow with blogging. Write in your own name. Share your personal experiences about running your business and being part of your niche. Being personal builds trust, so write with a conversational tone so people can understand and relate. read more
If Europeans have all rights to mock Americans for their soccer skills and history, the World Cup has brought at least one thing to the USA but a gold plated trophy is not that thing. Nor are Vuvuzelas.
So what’s it?
Twitter launched promoted tweets just before the start of the USA- Ghana knock out game today.
For a long time people have wondered what Twitter’s business model was and promoted tweets, announced several months ago already now have made their appearance.
During the biggest sports event in the world, which broke the previous Tweets/second record, before the nation with the biggest number of Twitter users plays a knock-out game.
Twitter’s first partner: one of the biggest brands in the world, Nike and also sponsor of the national soccer team of the USA.
The promoted tweet ranks on top of the search for the trending tag #USA. Even when new results come in, the sponsored tweet stays on top of the search results. read more
There are a number of social media sites that have captured the hearts and attention span of the modern world. Internet users rely on social networking a great deal for any number of tasks, originally personal but not more along the lines of professional. In fact, using such sites for self promotion, business networking and marketing is becoming second nature to the site genre.
Copywriter – the mere word springs to mind an image of an unsociable creature left scribbling away in the corner, a field of office-snacks littering the desk and people hurrying past should the said beast awaken and attempt a ‘conversation’. While verbal communication and social interaction is not something typically associated with a writer, there is an air of genius (often mistook for insanity) surrounding a copywriter, for they can manipulate the power of the written word; but how does this help a business? 
