Branding Q&A: What Every Small Business Owner Should Know

Branding can feel overwhelming when you’re just starting out—but it doesn’t have to be. In this Q&A, we break down the biggest questions small business owners have about branding, names, logos, and more.

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1. What’s the difference between a logo and a brand?

A logo is just one small piece of a much bigger picture. Your brand is the overall feeling people get when they think about your company—what you stand for, how you make them feel, what they remember about you.

Your logo is a visual cue, but your brand includes your messaging, tagline, goals, target audience, and emotional impact. In short:
👉 A logo is graphic.
👉 A brand is emotional.

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2. Do I really need a brand if I’m just starting out?

Absolutely. Branding isn’t something you do later—it starts the moment your business begins. If you're opening a coffee shop, your brand is what will help you stand out from the big chains and other local cafés.

From day one, your goal should be brand building. It’s how people will remember you and why they’ll choose you over someone else.

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3. What makes a good business name?

A good business name is one that’s easy to remember and makes sense in context. It should help people mentally file away what you do. If your name is confusing or too vague, people won’t remember what you offer—even if they like you.

That said, a name doesn’t have to be perfect. What matters more is how well you build a brand around it. Consistency and clarity help fill in the gaps.

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4. Is it okay to design my logo in Canva?

Yes! If Canva is the tool you know how to use, go for it—especially when you're just starting out. Your logo can be updated later as your brand evolves.

If you’re investing in things like expensive signage or long-term materials, then consider hiring a professional. But don’t let logo perfection stop you from moving forward. Focus more on what your brand stands for than how polished your first logo looks.

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5. What’s the biggest branding mistake small businesses make?

Getting too focused on the logo. Some businesses pour everything into making a beautiful logo—but if that logo doesn’t align with the business, or the name confuses people, it won’t help.

Your brand should be clear, aligned, and memorable. A logo is important, but not that important. Don’t let it distract you from the bigger picture.

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6. Does personal branding matter if I’m not an influencer?

Yes—everyone influences. You don’t need to be a full-time content creator to make an impact.

If you’re a small business owner, you’re already influencing people by how you show up—online and offline. Whether you’re making sales or just building connections, you’re shaping how people perceive you and whether they refer you. That’s personal branding, and it matters.

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Final Thought:
Don’t overcomplicate branding. Start with what you stand for, who you want to serve, and how you want people to feel. Build from there—logos and names will follow.

How Memes Can Boost Your Brand Engagement

Introduction

In the ever growing world of digital media, memes have become a powerful tool for capturing attention and fostering engagement online. Memes, with their humorous and relatable content, have the potential to go viral quickly, reaching a wider audience in a short period. For brands, leveraging memes can be a strategic way to connect with a broader audience, particularly the Gen Z that dominates platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. By incorporating memes into your social media strategy, you can create content that is not only entertaining but also shareable, enhancing your brand's visibility and reach.

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Why Memes Are Important

Memes perform well based on relatability and humor, two elements that can significantly boost your audience interaction. When a brand shares a meme that resonates with its followers, it can lead to increased likes, comments, and shares, driving higher engagement and traffic rates. Memes can also humanize a brand, making it more approachable and relatable to users. This is particularly effective in breaking down the barriers between a company and its customers, fostering a sense of community and loyalty. A well-timed and cleverly crafted meme can spark conversations, encouraging users to interact not only with the post but also with the brand itself.

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Things to Keep In Mind

It is crucial for brands to use memes thoughtfully. Understanding the nuances of meme culture and ensuring that the content aligns with your brand's mission and values is essential. Missteps can lead to unintentional offensiveness or backlash, which can harm your brand’s reputation, or get you “canceled”. Therefore, brands should stay current with trending memes and cultural references while making sure that their content is appropriate and respectful for all audiences. When executed properly, memes can be a fun and effective way to boost engagement, enhance brand awareness, and build a stronger connection with your audience on social media.

Social Media Lingo Throughout The Years

Introduction

“Lollll…just do it for the plot.” That sound familiar to you? If so, you’re probably a part of Gen Z, or know a Gen Z’er who talks like this online. From terms like “lock-in” to “that’s tuff”, the way we speak on social media has evolved since its prevalence back in the early 2000s. Let’s dive into the different social media lingo that has transformed over the past few decades.

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Early 2000s

For most Gen Z teens during the early 2000s, we were tiny babies or active toddlers. Our form of social media slang would not come about for a good decade or so. What symbolized social media language from the 2000s was the casual, lighthearted nature of its words. Terms like “chillax dude” or “That’s so sketch” just roll off the tongue so easily. Kids of the early 2000s coined iconic text lingo like “LOL” and “BRB”, which have evolved in later years. While us Gen Z’ers were lying in our cribs and singing along to nursery rhymes, the teens of the early 2000s were clicking their Blackberries away with these popular terms.

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The 2010s

The transformation of social media language from the early 2000s into the 2010s is like day and night. Social media was becoming an integral part of teen’s lives, and the way we communicated online influenced how we spoke in-person. What influenced so much of the slang we used in the 2010s were hit songs that trended on social media platforms like Musical.ly and Dubsmash. These apps had a pull on the teens of the 2010s, as dance trends and lip-syncing defined what it meant to be cool at the time. 

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Terms like “lit” and “on-fleek” were commonly used at the time. If you were on social media, then you know the 2010s used slang to describe how people felt more than anything else. Phrases like “I’m dead or I’m weak” were used to describe how funny someone thought something was, rather than their literal meaning. Emojis did the same thing; if you wanted someone to know you were amused, you’d send a skeleton or crying emoji instead of the laughing emoji (and we still do this today)!

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Today, the 2020s

The slang of today is a great extension of common terms used in the 2010s. People still refer to lying as “capping” and something fun as “lit” today. What differentiates the slang we use today from those of the earlier years are the intensity of the words used and how it translates to others. We now use words with a particular meaning and alter them into powerful descriptions, compliments, and clever insults. Newer terms like “tuff” and “this eats” are extremely flattering. Being accused of being a “bop” or “hollywood” is not that flattering though…

Day in the Life of a Marketing Intern at a North Carolina Marketing Agency

Introduction

Landing an internship is a huge deal, whether you’re working for a well renowned corporation, or a really cool north carolina marketing agency in your hometown (wink..wink). Everyone goes into their first internship with different expectations of how they must present themselves and the types of things that’ll be asked of them once on-site. 

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Before I started my very first internship, I envisioned that I would be running around town grabbing my boss a coffee or quietly taking notes in a corner during a highly important business meeting like the movies. Boy was I wrong! That’s not to say these kinds of things don’t happen in real life. For me though, there was so much in store for my time working as a digital marketing intern. I now share with you, my day in the life as a Digital Marketing Intern at Bear City Impact.

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Getting Ready

I start my mornings off just about how anyone else would. I brush my teeth, do my skincare, and eat a hearty breakfast to fuel me throughout the day. My work outfits are planned out the night before, so I’m never in a scramble to find something to wear. The Bear City Impact isn’t too picky on dress codes, so I have full reigns of what I’m allowed to wear (but bonus points if its company merch). My go-to fit is a nice mom jean with a crew neck tee or sweater (because the office can get very chilly)! Once I’m done getting ready, I grab my laptop and keys, and I’m out the door. 

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Traveling

Work travel time doesn’t exist for me, as my hours lay right when most people are already at work. I cruise through the roads with my highway playlist titled “Vroom Vroom” and jam out to my favorite songs as I’m headed downtown. When I make it to the workplace parking lot, I do a last minute check-up to make sure I have everything I need, and head into the office.

I feel a great sense of belonging when I tag along with my team and get to hear such great perspectives

Daily Adventures

What I love so much about interning at the Bear City Impact is that no work day is the same. One day I may be assisting the operations manager by generating creative content ideas, while other days I’m vlogging trips my boss takes for photoshoots. My personal favorite is sitting in on meetings with clients about their marketing needs. I feel a great sense of belonging when I tag along with my team and get to hear such great perspectives. Sharing my suggestions is always a plus!

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Lunchtime

When lunchtime rolls around, I simply get my lunchbox and eat my food at my desk. Some days I may be so invested in what I’m doing that I forget I packed a lunch, but eventually I get to it! Sometimes my boss will bring back food from a photoshoot or buy the team donuts (which we always appreciate :) 

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Wrapping Up The Day

The Bear City Impact has such a comfortable and warming work environment, that I lose track of time and then… it’s time for me to go home. I make sure to wrap up the last task I was working on before I head out of the office, but not before saying goodbye to everyone inside. Once that’s done, I’m headed home until I work again. Nothing beats a great day of interning at the Bear City Impact. 

A Comprehensive Guide to SEO-Friendly Web Design

In today's digital landscape, having an online presence is no longer optional for businesses - it's an imperative. However, more than simply having a website is required. To drive traffic, leads and sales, that website needs to be discoverable and visible on search engines.

This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes into play. SEO encompasses the strategies and techniques needed to improve a website's rankings on search engines like Google. A strong SEO strategy leads to increased organic traffic, greater brand awareness, and higher conversion rates.

For most small business owners, SEO seems complex and out of reach. However, the reality is that the foundations of SEO-friendly design are quite intuitive. By incorporating core optimization principles into the website design process, businesses can build a solid SEO base that will fuel sustainable growth for years to come.

This comprehensive guide covers the key areas that web designers need to address to create SEO-friendly websites that capture attention and climb to the top of the SERPs (search engine results pages).

Navigating the SEO-Design Interplay

SEO is often treated as an afterthought—something to be retrofitted onto an existing website. However, SEO needs to be an integral part of the website design process from day one to harness the true power of optimization.

The interplay between design and SEO may seem complicated at first glance. But in essence, it boils down to a few core principles:

Putting the user first: An SEO-friendly site provides a seamless, engaging user experience while catering to search engines' indexing needs.

Content-focused architecture: The information architecture and overall structure should revolve around organizing content to match user intent.

Code optimization: Lean, clean code enhances site speed and search engine crawlability.

Responsive design: Creating a seamless experience across devices is non-negotiable.

By keeping these principles in mind from the outset, web designers can craft websites that balance aesthetics, functionality and optimization.

Crafting Compelling Meta Descriptions: Capturing Attention and Driving Traffic

Meta descriptions, those concise summaries of a web page's content displayed in search engine results, play a crucial role in attracting organic traffic. They provide a glimpse into the page's content, enticing potential visitors to click through.

In just a few short lines, meta descriptions must communicate what users can expect to find on that page. Use these five strategies to formulate captivating meta-descriptions:

1. Clarity and Relevance: Accurately convey the page's essence and emphasize its key selling points. Summarize the content clearly and highlight the most relevant information.

2. Keyword Integration: Incorporate targeted keywords naturally, ensuring they seamlessly blend into the description's flow. Avoid awkward placements - keywords should fit into the context.

3. Search Intent Alignment: Tailor the description to match the user's search intent, ensuring it aligns with their expectations. Address the searcher's most pressing questions.

4. Engaging Language: Use captivating language that sparks interest and encourages users to explore further. Ask clever questions or highlight unique value propositions.

5. Call to Action: Close out with a call to action that redirects visitors to the site. For example, "See our flooring application guide" or "Browse kitchen cabinet options."

Remember, the goal is to provide users with a preview that compels them to click. Craft meta descriptions that deliver an irresistible invitation to learn more.

Embracing Schema Markup: Enhancing Search Engine Visibility

Schema markup is a semantic vocabulary that provides search engines with additional context about a website's content. Typically embedded in HTML code, this structured data enhances a website's visibility in search results and improves its click-through rate.

By helping search engines better comprehend the underlying meaning behind website content, schema markup transforms a site from a simple collection of words and images into rich, machine-readable data.

Here are some key benefits of implementing schema markup:

Featured Snippets: Schema can help pages earn the coveted featured snippet position, where key content is displayed prominently at the top of search results.

Enriched Search Results: Markup enables search engines to showcase additional information like images, reviews, or ratings directly in results.

Improved CTRs: The added context drives more specific targeting, increasing click-through rates.

Speaks to Voice Search: Voice assistants like Siri and Alexa rely on schema markup to improve responses.

Overall, schema markup enhances websites' visibility and discoverability. For SEO-focused sites, implementation should be optional.

Mastering URL Structure for Search Engine Crawlability

URL structure is the foundation of a website's navigation and search engine crawling. Well-structured URLs make indexing and understanding a website's content easier for search engines.

Meanwhile, more than confusing, overly complex URLs can undermine all other optimization efforts. Follow these six tips for creating clean, crawler-friendly URLs:

1. Meaningful Names: Use descriptive, relevant page names that accurately reflect the content - for example, "services/kitchen-remodeling."

2. Avoid Excessive Symbols: Keep URLs simple, minimizing using symbols and special characters. Lengthy, complex URLs are hard to decipher.

3. Parameter Management: Use parameters sparingly and only when essential to convey additional information. Excess parameters create unnecessary complexity.

4. Consistent Structure: Maintain a consistent URL structure across site sections to support intuitive navigation.

5. Responsive Design: Ensure URLs adapt responsively across devices without breaking.

6. Case Sensitivity: Use only lowercase letters in URLs to avoid duplicate content issues.

By optimizing page URLs during the website design process, businesses give their sites the best chance of ranking well in searches.

Leverage Internal Linking: Guiding Users and Search Engines

Internal linking is linking one page on a website to another. It creates a network of interconnected pages that enhances navigation, improves user experience, and strengthens a website's authority for search engines.

Here are five tips for balancing internal linking with natural site navigation:

1. Strategic Placement: Strategically place internal links throughout the website, ensuring they are relevant to the user's context.

2. Natural Links: Integrate internal links naturally within the page's content, avoiding forced or unnatural placements.

3. Link Vocabulary: Use anchor text and labels that accurately reflect linked content while incorporating target keywords.

4. Outbound Link Balance: Offset internal links with reputable external links to trusted sources where relevant. Keep users from being confined within the site.

5. Avoid Overlinking: Don't overdo internal linking; excessive links can appear spammy and disrupt the user experience.

Used judiciously, internal links guide users to useful information while mapping site architecture for search engine crawlers. Keep internal linking helpful, not disruptive.

Optimizing Page Speed: The Key to Smooth Browsing and Higher Rankings

Page speed is a critical SEO factor impacting user experience and search engine rankings. A slow-loading website frustrates users and signals to search engines that the website needs to be better-maintained.

Follow these seven-speed optimization techniques:

1. Image Optimization: Compress and optimize images to reduce their file size without compromising quality.

2. Minification: Minify CSS and JavaScript files to reduce their size and improve loading speed.

3. Code Optimization: Eliminate unnecessary code and optimize the website's code structure for efficiency.

4. Caching: Use caching technologies to store commonly accessed components, avoiding repeat resource loads.

5. Content Delivery Networks: Use a CDN to distribute content globally and serve it to users from nearby servers.

6. Lazy Loading: Only load visible content first, then asynchronously load the rest to accelerate the initial page load.

7. Performance Monitoring: Continuously monitor page speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and address bottlenecks.

Fast page speeds lead to lower bounce rates, better conversions, and happier search engines. Make page speed optimization a standard operating procedure.

Embracing Responsive Design: Adapting to Every Screen Size

In today's multi-device world, responsive design is required to deliver a consistent, frictionless user experience. It ensures that websites dynamically adapt to optimize layout, content, images, and navigation for every screen size.

Follow these five tips for creating seamless mobile experiences:

1. Mobile-First Approach: Design websites with mobile devices as the primary focus, ensuring they are optimized for touch-based interactions.

2. Responsive Layout - Use flexible layouts, images, grids, menus, and buttons that automatically resize without horizontal scrolling or disturbances in visual flow.

3. Accessible Navigation: Keep navigation friendly for touch devices with ample touch areas, avoiding nested sub-menus.

4. Mobile-Friendly Elements: Utilize responsive images, fonts, forms, and buttons that scale appropriately for smaller screens.

5. Performance Testing: Thoroughly test site performance on both desktop and mobile to address speed bottlenecks.

With Google now indexing mobile-first, embracing responsive design is business-critical. Ensure that mobile users never feel like an afterthought - prioritize their experience.

Conclusion

Designing an SEO-friendly website is an investment that pays off exponentially in the long run. Businesses give their content the maximum possible exposure by incorporating these best practices around metadata, internal linking, site speed, and responsiveness.

While staying abreast of constant search algorithm changes may seem overwhelming, focusing on the core technical and design principles outlined here provides a stable SEO foundation. Use this guide as a roadmap, and ensure that onsite optimization informs each stage of the web design process.

With the right SEO-focused design strategies, businesses can transform their websites from static brochures into adaptable digital storefronts that engage customers while organically attracting qualified traffic 24/7. Commit to continual evolution and refinement, and your website will serve as an invaluable partner in driving sustainable growth for years.

Lighting Made Easy with the Halumin H18 Open Cylindrical Modifier

Are you tired of spending endless hours setting up lighting systems for your product photography? Look no further! The Halumin H18 open cylindrical modified is here to save the day. In this article, we will explore the features and benefits of this innovative lighting solution, as well as share some tips and tricks for getting the most out of it.

Introducing the Halumin H18: A Game-Changer in Lighting Modification

The Halumin H18 is part of a new category called Open Cylindrical Lighting (OCL). Designed by Jeremy McGraw, a seasoned product photographer, this modified was born out of a desire for a quicker and more efficient way to set up lighting systems. With the H18, you can achieve professional results in minutes, thanks to its unique design and functionality.

How Does It Work?

The H18 features a 360-degree open ring with an 18-inch staging area. Simply place your product inside the circle, and you're ready to start shooting. The modifier can accommodate one or two speed lights, which you can attach using the openings and strap provided. If you prefer, you can also use a studio light adapter with a standard Bowens mount to connect a studio strobe or COB video light.

Endless Possibilities and Versatility

One of the standout features of the Halumin H18 is its versatility. Depending on where you position your subject within the ring, you can achieve different lighting effects. Placing your subject near the back of the ring creates a traditional lighting setup. In the middle, you'll get a soft but defined edge effect, while positioning it at the front produces a backlit look. This flexibility allows for creative experimentation and ensures you can capture the perfect shot for your specific needs.

Convenience and Quick Set-Up

With the H18, efficiency is key. Setting up the modified may initially seem intimidating, but fear not! Halumin provides tutorial videos on their YouTube page to guide you through the process. Additionally, the modified can be easily collapsed and stored, making it a breeze to transport and set up at any location. Say goodbye to time-consuming setups and hello to hassle-free shooting!

Additional Accessories for Added Convenience

To further enhance your shooting experience, consider adding the leg adapters to your H18 setup. These little helpers allow hands-free shooting and give you the freedom to explore various angles and compositions. The leg adapters can be purchased separately or as part of a package with the studio light adapter.

A Word About Lens Rentals

If you're in need of equipment rentals, look no further than lensrentals.com. With their unique rental shipping option, you can enjoy unlimited free shipping on all orders. This convenient service ensures your gear arrives when you need it, allowing you to focus on capturing the perfect shot. Plus, lensrentals.com offers an extensive range of equipment, including drones, for all your photography needs.

Get $25 off your first rental by signing up at bearcityimpact.com/lensrentals

Final Thoughts

The Halumin H18 open cylindrical modified is a game-changer in the world of product photography. Its innovative design, quick set-up, and versatility make it a must-have for any photographer looking to streamline their workflow and achieve stunning results. So why wait? Grab yourself a H18 and take your product photography to the next level!

Ready to shine a light on your products? Visit haluminphoto.com to learn more about the Halumin H18 and lensrentals.com for all your equipment rental needs. Happy shooting!

***Disclaimer: This blog post is not meant to endorse or promote any particular brand or product. The information provided is based on the speaker's personal experience and opinions. Always do your own research and choose products and services that best suit your needs.

Creating Service Pages that Rank and Convert: A Step-by-Step Guide

Before your website can convert visitors into customers, it needs to attract those visitors. Creating service pages that rank on Google is a critical step to getting that done.

Creating high-converting service pages is actually a lot simpler than you might think. You just need to do it step-by-step. Think of it like a construction checklist. You wouldn’t build a house by just randomly doing construction tasks out or order and whenever you felt like it.

I’m going to take you through a 4 step process to creating service pages that both rank – and convert

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Step 1: Define Your Target Audience

First off, you need to know your target audience. For instance, if you’re reading this article – you probably are: A small business owner that has a website but is looking to increase your rank on Google so you can land more jobs. Am I close? Of course I am! That’s the intended audience for this article. Literally everything I’m typing is FOR YOU, Mr. Contractor.

First you need to create a buyer persona. There’s plenty of in-depth articles available all over on creating buyer personas, try this one from HubSpot – so we won’t cover it in detail here. What you need to know is that people buy for different reasons.

Say you’re a landscaper. You can have two people who both spend $20,000 on a new landscape but for two different reasons. Customer A is spending the money because he wants to one-up his neighbor who just installed the koi pond in the front yard. Whereas, Customer B just has disposable retirement income and wants to lower his tax bracket before the end of the year.

You can gather that speaking to these two groups will require a different pitch if you will.

You’ll need to first identify your target audience, and then write your service page copy for that audience.

One caveat: Let’s say you want to appeal to both the younger professional dad and the retirement grandpa - you’re better off writing content blogs for each of them and then directing them to your service page.

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Step 2: Conduct Keyword Research

This cannot be stressed enough. You have to research the keywords you’re going after. Here’s the thing - not all keywords are ranked equally.

For instance – ”Landscape design” will be MUCH harder to rank for than “Landscape architect in New Bern”.

While the second keyword is easier to rank for, it probably will have far fewer monthly searches than the first. It’s a balancing act of:

Keyword volume vs. Keyword strength

Well how do you do all this research? How do you know which keywords to rank for?

Here’s a few primers on how we do this in our Search Engine Optimization for our clients:

1. Identify existing keyword searches that you are coming up for, but not being clicked on in Search Console.

2. Find other keywords that are related using a keyword tool such as AHREFS or SEMRUSH

3. Place all those keywords in one of their tools, and it will tell you the monthly search volume and keyword strength

4. Find other service pages that already rank high for the top keywords

If you’re going to target the highest strength keywords, be sure to create service pages that offer a unique perspective than the competing service pages that already rank

Remember, the higher the search volume – the more precise your service page will need to be.

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Step 3: Optimize Service Page Structure

Keep all of your service pages with the same 5 part structure I’ll explain below. Bonus, if you’re using a CMS platform such as Webflow, all you need to do is create ONE service page template, and all of your services will follow the same structure! This is exactly how we build all of our custom website designs.

Here are the 5 parts to a great service page structure:

1. Long form, focused on the benefits (not the features)

2. Proof in the form of testimonials or reviews

3. Images and/or Illustrations

4. Hierarchy of typography - don’t make everything a big paragraph. Break it up.

5. CALL TO ACTION - this cannot be overstated. You’ll want to guide them to the next step

• Discuss the importance of writing compelling service descriptions

• Provide tips for writing effective service descriptions

• Provide examples of effective service descriptions

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Step 4: Write SEO-Friendly Landing Pages

It should be noted that the term service page, webpage, and landing page are used synonymously. For this purpose though, we’re calling them landing pages - because ideally your individual service page is where they should have landed on from Google.

To make your landing page SEO friendly, you’ll want to make sure it has the following components:

1. Optimized Title

2. Optimized meta description

3. Open graph image

4. Proper H1, H2, H3 heading structure

5. Use of bullet points, numbered lists, and pull quotes if you can

The title and meta description are the blue link and summary that will show up on a Google search result page.

So now what?

Well, by now you should know how to create service pages that rank and convert. If you missed some of it though, here’s the steps laid out in order:

1. Define your target audience

2. Conduct keyword research

3. Optimize service page structure

4. Write SEO friendly landing pages

It’s truly simpler than it seems. Of course, in 2023, there are tons of AI writing assistants to help you out. NOTE that I said ASSISTANT. Google has been clear about not using an AI tool to just spit out a full blog. It’s not original content, and it’s generally not very helpful - it’s too bland.

I’ve found that using AI as an assistant works best. I used two different tools to help me write this article.

Copy.AI to help create the outline.

• It gave me 6 steps, I narrowed it to 4.

• Then I took each step and had it write a bullet point for each step.

• From there, I wrote the entire article

• It’s sort of like a journal prompt but for long form content

Then I used StoryChief.io to write the article.

• There was no AI used from StoryChief (though they do have that now)

• StoryChief is a blog editor, it helps you keep the structure of the article SEO friendly

• Plus it offers several other tools for readability, and other optimization tips.

Another option you can do is just outsource the copywriting to someone else.

Copywriters are dime a dozen though. You can literally find a copywriter for $5 on sites like fiverr.com - but you WILL get what you pay for.

In other cases, I’ve seen articles written for as much as $300-400 per article.

We’ve worked with many different copywriters over the years, and have a good list we use. If you need help managing your SEO, give us a shout.

How To Create A Social Media Content Plan

As a business owner or marketer, you know the importance of having a strong presence on social media. But with so many platforms and so much content to create and share, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. That's where a social media content plan comes in.

A social media content plan is essentially a roadmap for your social media activity. It helps you define your goals, determine your target audience, and create a consistent strategy for creating and sharing content. By taking the time to plan out your social media content in advance, you can save time and effort in the long run, and effectively reach and engage with your audience.

So how do you create a social media content plan? Here are the steps to follow:

1. Define your goals

Before you start creating content, it's important to know what you want to achieve with your social media activity. Do you want to drive traffic to your website, increase brand awareness, or boost sales? Whatever your goals may be, make sure they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

For example, a SMART goal for a fashion retailer might be: "Increase website traffic from social media by 25% over the next three months by sharing product links and fashion inspiration on Instagram and Pinterest."

2. Identify your target audience

Who are you trying to reach with your social media content? It's important to have a clear understanding of your target audience so you can create content that resonates with them and meets their needs.

Consider factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and behaviors when defining your target audience. You can also use social media analytics tools to gain insights into the demographics and interests of your current followers.

3. Determine your brand voice and style

Your social media content should be aligned with your brand's overall messaging and aesthetic. Take some time to think about how you want to come across on social media – are you professional, fun, informative, or something else?

Your brand voice should be reflected in the language you use and the tone of your posts. You should also consider the visual style of your content, including the colors, fonts, and images you use.

4. Decide on your content mix

Now it's time to think about the types of content you'll be sharing on social media. This will depend on your goals and audience, as well as the platform you're using.

Some common types of social media content include:

• Blog posts and articles

• Product updates and promotions

• Industry news and trends

• Behind-the-scenes glimpses

• User-generated content (such as customer reviews or photos)

• Inspirational or motivational quotes

• Interactive content (such as polls or quizzes)

Consider what will be most valuable and engaging for your target audience, and try to mix up your content so you're not always promoting your own products or services.

5. Plan out your posting schedule

To keep your social media activity consistent and avoid overwhelming your followers, it's a good idea to plan out your posting schedule in advance.

Think about how often you want to post, and what the best times are for your audience. You can use social media analytics tools to see when your followers are most active, and schedule your posts accordingly.

It's also a good idea to use a content calendar to organize your posts and ensure you have a mix of content planned for each day or week. You can use a spreadsheet, a project management tool

6. Create a posting strategy

Your posting strategy should outline the specific actions you'll take to create and share your content. This could include tasks such as:

• Researching and writing blog posts

• Curating industry news and trends

• Scheduling and drafting social media posts

• Engaging with followers and responding to comments and messages

Consider assigning specific tasks to team members or outsourcing certain elements of your content creation to free up time for other tasks.

7. Analyze and adjust your plan

Your social media content plan is not set in stone – it's important to regularly analyze the results of your activity and make adjustments as needed.

Use social media analytics tools to track key metrics such as website traffic, engagement rates, and conversions. Look for patterns and trends, and use this information to fine-tune your content mix and posting schedule.

Remember, a social media content plan is a living document that should be revisited and updated regularly. By staying up-to-date and responsive to your audience's needs and preferences, you can effectively reach and engage with them through social media.

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in 2023

Takeaways:

• SEO is an important marketing strategy for any business

• SEO has evolved into quality content over quantity

• Voice search optimization is rising

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a term that some people are familiar with.

It is important to understand the basics of SEO in order to be successful in the search engine results pages (SERPs). This post will walk through what SEO is and what it isn't, why it's still important for your business to take advantage of SEO and how you can become successful at it. By the end of this article, we'll show you how to implement these best practices into your marketing strategy so that you can bring more traffic to your website!

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your website's visibility in search engines. This can be achieved through a variety of techniques such as:

• Increasing the number of pages on your site

• Improving the quality and relevancy of content found on your site

• Making sure each page has an accurate title tag, meta description, and keywords

Is SEO dead?

So, is SEO dead?

It's definitely not dead. But it has been revitalized and changed by Google in recent years, requiring marketers to adapt their strategies accordingly. As a result of these changes and the ever-present threat of algorithm updates, SEO can no longer be considered a set-it-and-forget strategy. It's now more important than ever for marketers to keep up with the latest developments in SEO if they want their sites to rank well on search engines like Google.

What are some of the latest trends in SEO?

The world of SEO is constantly changing. It's important to stay up-to-date on any new trends in the industry. To help you do that, we've compiled a list of some of the latest and greatest developments in the field:

• Voice search is extremely popular among younger people who want information from their phone instead of having to type it in.

• Quality content is still king for search engine optimization, so don't skimp! That said, there are some other things you can do to set yourself apart from your competitors—like using long-tail keywords or writing blog posts about topics related but not directly covered by your site's main keywords.

• Mobile-first design allows content creators and site owners alike to maximize their reach by optimizing their pages for mobile devices first and then scaling back down as needed based on screen size (rather than vice versa).

Why is it useful for your business to take advantage of SEO and how does it benefit your customers?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your website so that it ranks higher in search engines. To use a technical term, it’s the art and science of getting your website to rank higher than everyone else's on Google.

Most people don't know what SEO is and they're confused by all the jargon, but they do know that you can't find what you want on Google if it isn't there! For example: "I want to buy a car" OR "I need to find a mechanic." If you don't get the results for either search query above then there's something wrong with your website or how much time you're spending optimizing it for search engines like Google.

How can one be successful at SEO?

Search engine optimization is a long-term commitment. If you're looking for quick results, then you should probably be looking at another article. The best way to approach it is by making sure that your website is optimized for mobile and has a good user experience. This will help people easily find the information they're looking for when they visit the page, and not waste time having to scroll through endless pages of content just to find what they need.

You'll also need high quality content with unique keywords in order for Google's algorithms (the software used by search engines) to index your site properly. Think about how people are going to navigate from one page on your website to another: if there's nothing useful or interesting about what's on each other page of yours, why would anyone want follow links? For example: let's say I'm searching "how do dogs bark" on Google because my neighbor keeps waking me up every morning between 5am-6am due my neighbor dog barking uncontrollably outside their house - which happens quite often - but lately it seems like it has gotten worse than usual...

The future of SEO includes voice search, quality content and mobile-first design.

In the future, there will be a lot more voice search. Voice search is more natural and easier to use than typing, which means it can be used on both mobile devices and smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home. It's also not just for your phone: People are already using their smart speakers to control connected home appliances like thermostats or lighting systems.

Voice search isn't new, but it has been growing steadily since its inception in 1996 (and yes—that was long before Siri). The technology behind voice recognition has improved tremendously over time thanks to major advancements in computing power and machine learning algorithms. In fact, many people think of Alexa as "the future" of technology because she's so convenient!

Conclusion

SEO is an important part of any business looking to grow, but it’s not something that should be taken lightly. If you are serious about your business and want it to succeed, then you need to take advantage of the latest SEO trends and techniques so that you can be successful.

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How to Use Video to Tell Your Brand's Story

Are you tired of feeling like your brand is just a small fish in a big sea? Are you ready to stand out and make a splash? One way to do just that is by using video to tell your brand's story.

Video is a powerful medium that allows you to showcase your brand's personality, values, and unique selling points in a way that text and images simply can't. When done right, it can be an incredibly effective marketing tool that helps you connect with your audience and differentiate yourself from the competition.

So, how do you use video to tell your brand's story effectively? Let's dive in.

Crafting Your Message

Before you even think about picking up a camera, it's important to have a clear idea of what you want to say. This means taking some time to think about your brand's message and how you want to communicate it to your audience.

Here are a few things to consider:

• Who is your target audience? What do they care about?

• What makes your brand unique? What sets you apart from the competition?

• What are your brand's values and mission?

• What do you want your audience to feel, think, or do after watching your video?

Once you have a handle on these things, you can start thinking about the specific story you want to tell. Some ideas to get you started:

• A "day in the life" style video that gives a behind-the-scenes look at your business

• A customer testimonial video highlighting the positive impact your product or service has had on someone's life

• A "how-to" video that educates your audience on a specific topic related to your business

• An animated explainer video that breaks down a complex concept in a simple and visual way

Need help creating a video script? Use our free video script template. Just fill in the blanks!

Finding the Right Style

Now that you have a rough idea of what you want to say, it's time to think about how you want to say it. The style of your video should be in line with your brand's personality and aesthetic, as well as your target audience.

Some things to consider when choosing the style of your video:

• Do you want to use live action footage or animation?

• What kind of tone do you want to strike? Serious, funny, informative, etc.

• How long do you want your video to be? Short and snappy, or longer and more in-depth?

It's also a good idea to look at examples of other brand videos that you admire and see what elements you can borrow and make your own.

Visual Storytelling

Visual storytelling is an integral part of creating an effective brand video. After all, people are much more likely to remember what they see than what they hear.

Here are a few tips for using visual elements to tell your brand's story:

• Use strong, striking imagery to grab your audience's attention

• Use shots and angles that add emotion and depth to your story

• Use graphics and animations to illustrate complex concepts and ideas

• Use music and sound design to set the mood and enhance the emotional impact of your video

Putting It All Together

Now that you have your message, style, and visual elements figured out, it's time to bring it all together and create your video.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you start production:

• Work with a video production company that understands your vision and can bring it to life

• Keep your target audience in mind and make sure the video speaks to them

• Don't be afraid to get creative and try new things

• Stay true to your brand's personality and values

• Keep it concise and to the point. Most people have short attention spans, so it's important to get your message across quickly and effectively

• Use call-to-actions to encourage your audience to take the next step, whether that's visiting your website, signing up for your newsletter, or making a purchase

Promoting Your Video

Creating a killer brand video is just the first step. In order to truly make an impact, you need to get it in front of the right people. Here are a few ways to promote your video:

• Share it on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

• Embed it on your website and blog

• Include it in your email marketing campaigns

• Share it with industry publications and websites

• Collaborate with influencers and have them share your video with their followers

Measuring Success

The final step in using video to effectively tell your brand's story is to track and measure the results. This will help you see what's working and what's not, and make any necessary adjustments for future videos.

Here are a few metrics to keep an eye on:

• View count: How many people have watched your video?

• Engagement: How many people have liked, commented, or shared your video?

• Conversion rate: How many people have taken a desired action (such as visiting your website or making a purchase) after watching your video?

• Audience retention: How long are people watching your video for? Are they dropping off after a certain point?

By regularly tracking and analyzing these metrics, you can get a better understanding of what resonates with your audience and how to create even more effective brand videos in the future.

Using video to tell your brand's story can be an incredibly effective way to connect with your audience, showcase your unique selling points, and differentiate yourself from the competition. By crafting a clear message, finding the right style, using visual storytelling techniques, and promoting your video effectively, you can create a video that helps you stand out and make a lasting impression.

5 Marketing Strategies for Local Service Providers

Every local business owner has the same concern – how do I get customers?

It is a common problem because with no customers you have no income.

Revenue = barbeque on the patio. Less revenue = less barbeque. You know where this is going...

Below I want to highlight 5 marketing strategies that local service providers should consider implementing.

1. Provide a service people need.

via GIPHY

The first step to success is making sure your product or service is a necessity. When someone needs something, they will be more likely to pay for it.

If you provide a service that people can't live without and have no other way of obtaining, then you'll have a better chance at building a successful business.

In addition to providing a useful service, it's also important that the service be valuable in some way. People need many different things throughout their lives: from laundry services and pest control solutions to plumbing repairs or real estate consultation services.

There are plenty of opportunities out there if you're willing to put in some hard work and creativity!

2. Establish a target market

via GIPHY

Before you can start marketing, you need to know who your target market is. This will help shape the types of marketing strategies you use as well as how much effort and money is spent on each strategy.

Start by determining who your customers are. Are they single mothers in their 20s? People between the ages of 35-45? Business owners? Seniors? Once you know this, consider what services they need and how often they need those services (for example: once a month or every six months). That’s when it gets tricky: You have to figure out who your competitors are!

Competitors include other local businesses providing similar products and services, but also people within the same community offering complementary products/services or even other industries that might cross over into yours (such as restaurants serving food). Don’t forget about online options too—your competition could come from anywhere!

3. Create a professional website and online identity.

It's not enough to be on the web. Your website design needs to be professional, and it should reflect your brand.

In a few steps, you can turn your website into an online identity that will help customers find you easily and build trust in your company:

• Use a professional email address – like name@companywebsite.com.

• Use a professional phone number.

• This could be your business line or a dedicated cell phone number for marketing purposes only. Make sure this is listed on the site so that customers can call if they have questions or concerns about service before they schedule an appointment.

• Make sure there is consistent messaging across all of your channels.

It should be clear what they can expect when they interact with you online or in person through communications like social media posts, blog articles or newsletters.

4. Build a reputation.

via GIPHY

The next step to building a thriving business is to establish your reputation. Your customers need to know they can trust you, and that's why it's important to give them reasons why they should both love you and keep coming back. There are many ways you can do this:

• Quality: Make sure your work is always done right the first time around.

• If there are any problems with a job, fix them immediately so that no customer will have cause for complaint.

• Reliability: If someone needs something taken care of by a certain date or time, make sure it gets done on schedule

• And if there are any delays along the way (e.g., weather or other factors), let your client know immediately rather than leaving him hanging in suspense while waiting around for his lawn service guy who might never show up at all!

This helps build credibility by proving how reliable and trustworthy you truly are as an individual or business owner/operator—which in turn will attract more potential clients over time (and probably make current ones happier too!).

5. Get involved in the community and local organizations.

via GIPHY

In order to be successful in any local business, you have to be a part of the community. Just like a person cannot run for public office without first establishing their credibility within their district and earning the trust of voters, a service provider must also establish themselves as being committed to helping out in some way before they can expect people to consider buying from or referring them.

The best way for local service providers to do this is by getting involved in events that have nothing whatsoever with marketing or sales.

A great place for this would be volunteering at local schools; many teachers are short-staffed and could use help on field trips or at school functions outside of class time.

Another option would be joining one of your city's business associations, such as a chamber of commerce.

This gives you the opportunity meet other professionals who work in similar industries and learn about upcoming opportunities such as grant programs or tax breaks that may benefit your business (but which won't usually come up during general conversations).

These marketing strategies can help bring new customers to your local business

When you're starting out, it can be hard to find new customers. The good news is that there are a few things you can do to help bring them in.

• Identify your target market. You need to understand who will be interested in what you provide, and why they'd want it. If you're selling hot dogs on a street corner for $0.50 each, then everyone should have hot dogs! But if you're selling luxury cars for thousands of dollars each, then maybe only wealthy people will buy from you.

• Provide a service that people need (or think they need). If no one needs your product or service enough for them to pay for it, then no matter how many ads or marketing campaigns or promotional events (like parties) you throw at them—they won't care about coming over!

• Create a website that is professional and has a clear message

• Build your reputation, be known for quality work and being reliable

• Get involved in your community

Conclusion

When it comes to marketing your local service business, the key is to be flexible and creative. You’ll need a solid marketing strategy in place before you can implement any specific tactics.

If you want to find new customers, then it's important that your company finds ways to connect with them by partnering with the right marketing agency.

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9 Mistakes Your Company is Making on Social Media

Introduction

Social media has changed the way we interact with the world. But you’re probably overusing it, or not using it effectively at all. The following are some mistakes that your company is probably making on social media.

1. Being complacent

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We've all been there: you've been working so hard on your social media strategy and it's really paying off. You have a good following, you're getting engagement, and people are liking what you're doing. It's really starting to feel like the investment in time and energy is worth it—so much so that you start to feel complacent about maintaining the status quo.

Too much comfort can be dangerous in any area of life, but especially when it comes to social media. Don't get stuck in a rut or get comfortable with where things are going!

Spend some time evaluating how well your strategy is actually working for your company, and if there are ways it could be improved.

Instead of finding yourself thinking "we've got this" or "I know what we need to do," spend some time evaluating how well your strategy is actually working for your company (and if there are ways it could be improved). Don't let your guard down—sometimes even seemingly harmless habits like posting once per day can go wrong quickly if they aren't nuanced enough for specific audiences

2. Inconsistent posting

The best time to post on social media is when your audience is online. This is the golden rule of scheduling posts and it’s not always possible, especially if you run a business that operates in a different time zone or runs 24/7.

If things are going well and there’s nothing new to say, don't push yourself out of your comfort zone just because everyone else is posting at the same time every day. Your content should be relevant to what's happening in your business or industry—so don't feel pressured into posting if it doesn't make sense for your company right now! If there's nothing new to say, wait until there is something worth sharing with fans online before going live again on Twitter or Facebook!

3. Talking at your audience, instead of with them

via GIPHY

If you want to get your customers’ attention and show them that you care about their experience, then don’t be afraid to talk with them.

There are all kinds of ways you can use social media to engage with your audience, such as:

• Responding to negative comments

• Engaging in conversations on Twitter and Facebook

• Posting content that is relevant to your audience

• Responding to questions and comments on your blog

Keeping your audience engaged is important because it will help you build a loyal following. When people feel like the brand cares about them, they’re more likely to stick around.

4. Automating everything

Automating everything is not the same as marketing. Many companies make the mistake of thinking that automation is the same as marketing, which it isn't. The two are completely different things—one automates repetitive tasks and one does not.

Using automation to create content

Scheduling posts for social media accounts can be done by hand or with an automated tool like Buffer or Hootsuite.

5. Not thinking long term before posting

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If you’re like most companies, your social media team is comprised of people who have a lot of experience with the platform; they know what works and what doesn’t. But it can be hard for them to see past their own biases. Asking an outsider to review your content will help ensure that you don’t make any mistakes by not looking at things from different perspectives.

Your brand image is very important on social media because it sets the tone for everything else that happens on these platforms—how people perceive and interact with your company depends largely on how they perceive and interact with its online persona. Therefore, before posting anything online that could potentially damage that image, ask yourself: do I really want this? Then think about how your post will look in six months or even years down the road—will it still align with our current values? If not, then don't post it!

6. Not using pictures and video to their full extent

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While the words you use are important, the images and videos you share are even more important. In fact, visuals are essential for social media marketing success.

Visual content is more engaging

It's a well-known fact that people don't read anymore—they scan. They scroll through their Facebook feed quickly, looking for things that catch their attention and hold it long enough to make them stop scrolling and click on a link or leave an in-depth comment on your post. Visual content has an advantage over plain text: it stands out as something worth reading! When you post a photo or video with your message, people will take notice of it because they're curious about what's going on in the photo or video (and what should they do next?).

7. Not tracking your posts

You can’t improve what you don’t track.

This might seem like a no-brainer, but tracking your posts is essential to making sure that your social media efforts are working and not just taking up space on the internet (although if they do, you should probably fix that). You need to know what content is resonating with your audience and which messages are falling flat so that you can refine them accordingly.

8. Not being timely

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There’s a reason why Twitter is such an effective marketing tool: its users want to know what’s happening right now. If your company is not quick to respond when something happens, you could lose out on thousands of potential customers who are looking for the latest news about that topic in the moment.

Example: A coffee shop was serving lattes as part of their new promotion at a sporting event. It wasn't long before Twitter started buzzing with people talking about how good those lattes were! The coffee shop responded with one simple post thanking everyone for their response and then linked directly back to their website where they could purchase more lattes.

9. Doing it all yourself without a strategy/plan

You've heard it before: "Social media is a team sport." If you're doing social media marketing alone, you're missing out on the benefits of having an entire team involved.

A strategy won't just help you decide what to post and when; it'll also keep track of the metrics that matter most to your business, like engagement rate or average reach per post. (You'll need these figures if you want to convince investors that their money is being well spent.)

A plan will keep everyone on the same page so there are no as-yet-unheard-of screwups in execution or messaging (which can happen when multiple people try writing tweets at once). And while there's no one right way to build a team around social media, having one will ensure that whatever mistakes are made aren't repeated again—and again—in future posts.

Let us help your social media

Make sure you're not missing the mark with your social media outreach.

If you've already decided to start posting, it's possible that you're making these mistakes.

• You're not being consistent.

• Your posts are no more than once a month (if that).

• The content is dull, and doesn't speak to the audience in any meaningful way.

• There's no plan behind what you post and when—you just wing it each time with whatever seems like a good idea at the time, which never really works out because social media is made up of trends and ideas that change quickly over time; if your company isn't on top of those trends, then don't expect anyone else to be either!

• You don't track your posts' performance or engagement rate; this will tell you if people actually want what you're offering them through social media products like Facebook Ads or Twitter Promoted Tweets so that when someone asks why something isn't working out (like how many sales did we make last week? Did we get any new customers from our latest campaign?), then we can show them exactly why things didn’t work out as well as expected before making changes later on down the line…

Conclusion

If you want to avoid these mistakes, take a look at your social media strategy and see what’s working and what’s not. Chances are there will be some areas of improvement that need addressing—and if that’s the case, don’t worry! We know that it can be difficult to identify such issues within your own company (even when you know what needs fixing), but by keeping an eye out for other people’s advice and suggestions from time to time, you should be able find some useful tips for improving your efforts.

What is the best email marketing service in 2022?

If you've spent any time on the internet, I'm sure you've seen ads for email marketing software. There are tons of companies that offer this service, but which one is right for your business? Well, first of all, let's look at some of the biggest players in the game:

There are many different email marketing services, but they all have pros and cons.

👍 Pros and 👎 Cons Overview

• MailChimp is great for beginners and small businesses—they have a free plan that allows you to send up to 12,000 emails per month. Their interface is easy to use and they have an intuitive drag-and-drop builder.

• Mailerlite is good for small businesses that want more customization options than what's available with Mailchimp. They also offer an unlimited free plan (you just can't send more than 10k emails per month).

• Constant Contact is best suited for large companies who are looking for robust reporting tools and automated marketing campaigns. Their pricing starts at $99/month, which includes unlimited emails sent each month up to 5,000 contacts total (including subscribers).

• ActiveCampaign offers flexible plans starting at $9/month, which include features like A/B testing, drip campaigns and integrations with Zapier or Google Analytics 360 Suite APIs

MailChimp

Mailchimp Email Marketing Platform

MailChimp is one of the most popular email marketing services, and it's no wonder why. They have a free plan that can be used by anyone without limitation, including sending up to 12,000 emails per month. The interface is easy to use and MailChimp offers a range of features that are useful for beginners and advanced users alike.

The main benefit of MailChimp is its simplicity: you can send emails easily through an intuitive interface or manage your accounts with drag-and-drop functionality. It’s great for beginners because there are no complicated settings or configurations required—just set up your email list in minutes!

(courtesy mailchimp)

MailChimp also makes it easy to create segments out of your subscribers based on their behaviors (what they clicked on) or demographics (where they live). This enables you to better tailor content based on what you know about each customer so that each piece reaches them at just the right moment—whether that’s when they just signed up for your newsletter or when they made their first purchase from one of your products.

Mailerlite

Mailerlite, an email marketing service that boasts over 1 million users, is a good choice for small businesses. Their service is super easy to use and has both free and paid plans. They also have a great customer support team and reporting system so you can keep track of your campaigns' success rate.

The pricing structure at Mailerlite is pretty straightforward— It's free for the first 1,000 subscribers, then it's $15/mo if you're going solo (with up to 2,500 subscribers).

Constant Contact

If you don’t know about Constant Contact, well, that makes sense because this is a service for small businesses (emphasis on small) and it's not one that gets much press outside of those circles.

For these reasons alone this might be why many people are surprised to learn that Constant Contact has more than 2 million users and over 25 years in the business. It also has a great reputation among its users and is considered one of the best email marketing services out there by many marketers. That's right: it has both accolades from critics as well as positive feedback from actual customers! In fact, according to our research only MailChimp has more 5-star reviews on Trustpilot than Constant Contact does at the time of writing this article (the numbers keep changing but we'll update them if they change).

Constant Contact Marketing Automation

While it may not have quite as many features or capabilities as other options out there like MailChimp or Mailerlite, what makes Constant Contact stand out is its lower price point ($9/month) when compared with other similar services like Aweber ($19/month), Infusionsoft ($29-$99/month depending on plan type), Ontraport ($99-$299/month depending on plan type), Hubspot CRM ($150-$300/month depending on plan type), etcetera...

Active Campaign

Active Campaign is a popular email marketing service that's cheap, easy to use and has great customer support. Active Campaign does have a lower limit on the number of emails you can send per month, but if you're just getting started with email marketing or aren't sending very many emails yet it should be fine.

Active Campaign Personalized Marketing

The free plan also has some nice features like form customization, autoresponders, landing pages and SEO tools. You can even import your existing contacts from MailChimp or Constant Contact into Active Campaign using this CSV import tool from their support center!

Email marketing software can help you grow your business.

Email marketing makes it easy for you to build relationships with customers. The best email marketing tools make it easier for you to create, send and track emails. You can use them to automate your email campaigns, so that you don't have to do all this by hand. Email marketing software helps you track the results of your campaign so that you know what worked (and what didn't).

Conclusion

Email marketing is a great way to reach your customers and grow your business. It’s also easy to get started with email marketing. There are many different email marketing services, but they all have pros and cons. If you want something simple that doesn’t require much learning, go with MailChimp or Mailerlite. If you need more advanced features like A/B testing, segmentation, etc., then choose one of the other options on this list!

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Working The Nerve To Make A Video

This video that you're watching right now is what we call a talking head, because it's you see my head and it's talking.

This is called a talking head video. So when people are coming to me for help. They usually say something like: “I know I need to make more videos, but I'm really uncomfortable on video.”

The first thing I would say to that is if you're really uncomfortable, then just don't do it.

There are plenty of people that run great accounts and have great websites, great social media and don't make any talking head videos.

So don't do something that's going make you suffer. First of all, that's the first thing.

The second thing is if you are not sure if you're uncomfortable because you just really haven't given a good go.

Here's what I would do to create a talking head videos. I would just use Instagram Stories because the only last for twenty four hours,

I find that people will explore a little more of that because it just can last for twenty four hours or you can just delete it.

You have to kind of start there because it's just like a quick, a little 15 second talking head that you can kind of make and then just kind of work your way up from there.

The other reason you're doing that with stories is you're getting used to seeing yourself on camera and hearing yourself on camera is really weird.

When you hear yourself back after you've recorded yourself, your voice doesn't sound anything like it. And so it's kind of weird. It's always weird when I edit my own video because I'm listening to myself – but I don't really care.

And the reason why is: I don't do it for me, I do it for you, and so I do it to educate an audience, entertain an audience, and then they hopefully make a new customer.

But at the end of the day, I'm not doing it for me. I'm doing it for someone else. So that's what I would say.

So consider why you're doing it. You know, are you doing a talking head video because you see other people doing it and you think you have to do it or because you really believe, like, oh, I can get over a little bit of awkwardness and if I can just get over that little awkwardness, then I can maybe help someone with whatever specialty knowledge that I have.

So if that's the case, then I would say start with stories, work away from there and then just keep going.

Keep hustling.

Five Features Your Website Homepage Should Have

You may have noticed how many of the elements on your favorite websites' homepages look quite similar. Well, that is the drill! They are, by no means a mere coincidence but a deliberate choice. This is because a website homepage serves as the first impression and is the ultimate key to the site's success and visitor retention. Hence, it should contain all the essential elements. Your favorite site follows similar rules.

It is very important that your homepage, within a couple of seconds, delivers concise information about your product or service. Using this technique, you grab visitors’ attention.

If you are wondering what top features make a homepage effective, keep reading to find out.

Straightforward navigation

Besides the logo, the next element on your priority list should be to-the-point navigation. To put it simply, the site should always have a search tab if the website is highly content-driven. Considering that navigation serves as a guideline or road map, it should be easy and not a hassle to locate. In addition to this, try and have descriptive navigation as it proves to be beneficial when it comes to reducing bounce rates.

Headline

Ever since technology has taken over, attention spans have greatly reduced. Therefore, while designing your site's homepage, make sure it is able to leave an impact and tell what you offer within a couple of seconds.

This is where a headline comes handy! A headline, coupled with a sub-headline, should be able to describe your business and its offerings clearly. You should be able to wrap up everything in 2-3 powerful sentences.

Visuals

Nowadays, people care about visuals and aesthetics.

A photo that demonstrates how users can benefit from your product is always better than a stationary photo. Our brains are wired in a way that we automatically feel a connection when we see a human face. Moreover, visuals, as in photos, add credibility to a site and give it a unique appeal.

Call to Action or CTA

An effective homepage is one that instantly piques customers’ interests and compels them to dig deeper into the site. To make this possible, it is important to include a hooking call to action (CTA) as it can really draw visitors to the interior pages and initiate some sort of contact. Make sure these CTAs are easy to click so that visitors feel like investing their time and exploring your site.

Logo

Your main goal is to make sure your visitors leave with a sense of familiarity; you’re your product or service. Hence, it is important to give your logo placement a major thought. A logo is a direct representation of your brand, product, or service and core values. This is why you should always place it at the top where it is visible. This will allow you to form a bond with customers. Moreover, the logo on a website is often a direct link to the homepage. So, naturally, you should place it in the header for ease and convenience.

By the way, it is no mistake the logo was placed last in this list. As in, this is the least important part of your homepage. It should most certainly include a logo, but the focus should be on user experience (navigation) and conversion (headline, visuals and CTA).

What's On Your Homepage?

Would you like a free audit of your homepage? Get in touch below.

How to Hire a Web Designer

Many of us use the two terms web design and web development alternately, but these definitions really have two quite different meanings. If you are looking to hire a professional to build a website for you or for your company, you should really be aware of the major benefits it can bring to your business and what services you may need to ensure you have a bigger chance of success. 

The construction of your website site is one of the most important steps in a successful marketing campaign for any organization. Your website allows your potential customers to have the first impression of the products or services offered by your company. A well-designed website can do real sales miracles, as it is the most popular means by which a business can be promoted around the world. A website should be designed to present products or services with easy, user-friendly browsing. Optionally being able to set up ecommerce which is becoming even more important in today’s society. 

How can we help?

At Bear City Impact, we design and develop each website with an organized plan which is modified accordingly to suit the requirements and needs of your business. In addition to creating this bespoke website for your brand, we offer almost unlimited support for the life of their website at no extra cost. This means you can rest assured that any technical issues will be dealt with promptly and professionally - without any surprise invoices. Our team also follows all the developments on the internet as well as the trends that prevail in SEO. Thus, the configuration and construction of the website will be done in such a way as to achieve the best ranking in the search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing etc.). This is an excellent way to promote your business. 

What specifics do you offer?

Our goal is to help businesses thrive and in our ever changing world, technology has to match what is going on around us. Many businesses want to make the switch to ecommerce and we provide semi-custom websites using the Webflow platform or Shopify for ecommerce, which makes it a simple and easy to navigate website that is pleasing to the eye and holds all the relevant information for your prospective customers. Essentially, our goal is to design a website for your business that turns visitors into customers.

We love easy to navigate and simple layouts. The easier the structure of the site, the easier it is for users to navigate. Each section must tell a story. it needs a reason to exist and an end result for the user. The layout should help the content to highlight the most important parts of this story. In fact there should not be too many invitations to action on one page - everything should lead to this final "What can I do here?" This is how we can ensure that you are meeting your desired criteria for your website. 

We ensure that we communicate well with you every step of the way to ensure that we are hitting your goals and creating something that works for you. With mobile sites taking precedence, it is no wonder that mobile web design has become a trend. Mobile web design has fundamentally changed the way websites are designed. Once upon a time, the only sure thing was that a website would only be designed for desktops or laptops, and a mobile-friendly design could possibly be added. Now the exact opposite is happening, we start first by designing a mobile friendly site and later a version that will work for a desktop user. 

Again, this drive to design primarily for mobile is not based solely on ranking factors or SEO. The visual effect is something that will first of all enhance the user experience on your site and will satisfy the desires of mobile phone users, which will be a priority for a long time to come. With the help of our team, you can ensure that people can browse your sites, shop online with an easy method that works for everyone. 

Our mission

Speed ​​and minimalism are the trends that appear again and again when we talk about web design in 2020, which is an important reason why we like to ensure that everything is just right for you. We want your business to thrive and it all begins with a tailor made website that provides you with all the pages you need to create a professional looking website. This will not only instill trust into potential buyers but generate further interest and improve SEO.  

How To Market A Catering Company

How To MarketBelow is the original LIVE Video from Instagram, but you can scroll past for the written notes.

Instagram Authenticity Measures

• STOP using bots, automated crap, automated messages.

• Instagram and more importantly USERS hate that stuff

Instagram Launches Reels

• Consumed or Created?

• Par-baked version of TikTok

• Clunky to create

• I see more people just copying a TikTok video over to Reels

Podcast Stats for 2020

• Why start a podcast today?

• 1. Of the 1Mill podcasts on iTunes, only 250K have been updated in past 3 months!

• 2. Interview guests, and increase the exposure

• 3. Can create additional content from it

Lead Conversion Stats from Convince & Convert

• 41% say video is more effective at CONVERTING

• 36% webinars, 34% blog, 20% ebooks

• Dollars are shifting to social media and website improvement

• 54% social, 51% website, 44% email, 40% content A Catering Company

Best Wireless Mic System For Videos in 2020

BOOM !

Today I’m going to review the brand new Comica BoomX-D Wireless Microphone System.

Overall I think this is a fantastic microphone for making videos at any level.

My name is Brad Poirier, and I am a content strategist and my company Bear City Impact creates content for small businesses. If you’re looking to create content that converts, then consider subscribing so I can help you give your content a kick in the butt.

Now there are few different versions of the BoomX-D. The model I’m reviewing today is the D2, that comes with two microphone and one receiver. Thank you to Comica for sending me this microphone by the way, but this is my genuine opinion of it.

They also make a model with just one microphone and one receiver, in addition the offer models where the receiver plugs directly into an iphone or android phone.

You can still use the D2 model that I have, you just might need an adapter if your phone does not have a headphone port.

I’ve left all of the model options in the description below, obviously. 

Just a quick note, this is a practical review of this product. Meaning, I’m not getting into any technical details. I think they’re boring and at least for the clients that I serve - most of them won’t tell the difference between a better frequency response or some other “spec”.

Let’s look quickly at what you receive in this box:

• Two microphones (transmitters)

• One receiver

• 3 audio cables for the receiver, based on what you’re plugging in to

• USB-C Charging cable

• Two lavalier mic

• Two fuzzy wind jammers

• Reset pin

• Plus a manual, which candidly you don’t even need because this is so simple to set up and use right out of the box!

One of my favorite features of this system is how small, compact, and lightweight it is. Plus the transmitters have an integrated microphone. So you can use it as a clip on mic, or plug in the included wired lav if you prefer.

Conveniently, the belt clips on all models double as camera mount. You can slide the belt clip right into your camera’s hot shoe.

Or if using your smartphone, you can just clip it to the phone itself. Perfect!

Both the receivers and transmitter have a built-in rechargeable battery, although I have not tested how long it lasts. It is rated for five hours though. I do appreciate not having to change out batteries though.

The receiver has two outputs. One for your camera or smartphone, and another if you want to monitor the audio through a pair of headphones.

This is especially useful for connecting to smartphones, so that you can make level adjustments.

You don’t want to just hit record and then find out later the volume was too low or too high.

Connecting the receiver and transmitter couldn’t be easier. Comica uses their own 2.4Ghz network, so you don’t have to worry about connecting via bluetooth or wifi etc.

You practically just turn them both on, click the pair button, and then it finds the receiver!

Once they are connected, you can adjust the input levels from the receiver.

So if you have a person that talks a bit louder (like me), you can reduce the amount of gain from 0db to 12db, 12db being the most amount of gain.

Another reason to raise the gain level is if you are using a Canon camera like I am. If you leave the canon’s mic level high, you’ll get a lot of fuzz noise in the background. I set the mic level at about 25% on my Canon DSLR, and then raise the gain level on the Comica microphone, which produces a much better, noticeable sound difference.

If I had to pick my favorite features for this microphone set, it would be:

• how easy it is to just take out of the box and start using it

• You can use the built in mic or plug in the wired lav

• Compact form factor

• Built in battery

• Clips on anywhere

Now this unit as reviewed currently sells for $233, but you can get the single mic option for $166.

In both cases, that’s a fantastic value for any wireless microphone, let alone one that packs so much in a small punch.

What are you currently using for a microphone to make videos? Are you using the built in mic from your phone or camera? Let me know in the comments.

Btw, did you find this review to be more helpful than techy? If so, consider subscribing - I speak human to human, or at least I try!

Cheers.

5 Ways to Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

Hey, is your website mobile-friendly? Just because you can pull it up on your phone doesn't mean that it's mobile-friendly.

Exactly five years ago today, April 21st, 2015, Google released one of the biggest search engine algorithm updates that ever impacted websites. It was commonly referred to as mobilegedden.

Basically what happened was Google no longer gave search priority to websites that did not have a mobile-friendly or mobile optimized website. If your website was not mobile-friendly, they’re no longer going to show your website in search results when people are searching from a mobile phone.

Now, that was five years ago in Google wanting to put an end to these non mobile-friendly websites, but they still exist today. We still have websites that are not mobile-friendly. Why isn't this even as such a big deal?

You know, mobile browsing is not for just teenagers that are on their phones, it's everyone. Everyone is primarily using their mobile phone to browse the web and interact online.

Now to clarify one thing here, web designers in the past from April of 2015 and on have been making websites that were for desktop – mobile-friendly. But all they were really doing was making it mobile compliant.

They weren't really designing with the mobile user experience in mind.

So this is what I'm really going to be talking about today is ways to look at your website and kind of do a mini audit of your website to see if it passes these mobile-friendly barriers, these mobile-friendly checks.

So I've got five ways that will just tell you whether or not your website is actually mobile-friendly or not.

You just follow along with me through my client's website for a restaurant here. So that way I can show you what components go into making a mobile-friendly website.

Optimize The Mobile Header

The first thing you'll notice is this, a kind of what we call the header. The header is basically the very top part of a website. It often stays there throughout your scrolling experience.

Sometimes it doesn't, but that's actually a sub little thing is, is making, especially on mobile, making sure that the mobile headers, what we call sticky, which basically means it sticks to the top of the page.

That way the menu easily accessible at any time. If you have perhaps a longer homepage or a longer menu page you don't want to have to have that person scroll all the way all the way back up to the top just to get to the menu basically.

But the other part of this header is that you want to make it smaller. I often see websites where the header kind of takes up like half the phone. Every time you go to a new page, you have to immediately scroll because that header is taking up most of the space on the phone. I think that's a big no-no.

It's subliminal, but I think it's enough to make people frustrated. It makes me frustrated anyways, and that's how I usually look at things. If it gets me frustrated, it probably gets someone else frustrated.

Easy Menu Navigation

The second thing is an easy navigation. So if you'll notice here, if I hit and tap on the menu here, this is super easy to navigate around. I don't have to go looking through a whole bunch of things, um, to kind of get what I want to.

Again, this is a restaurant site. I mainly deal with small business website design.

Another thing to consider is, if you'll notice in the top right here, there's a little phone icon that makes it easy for me to call the restaurant. If I tap that call button, it's basically gonna prompt me to open that phone up or phone number up in my dialpad without first having to copy the number down. Or remember the number

Legible Text on Mobile

The third thing to consider is easy text or that the text is legible. So one thing we don't want to do is place it on backgrounds that are very hard to read. So if you'll notice here where it says best sports bar, it's in larger bold types.

Even though there's an image there, it's easier to read. And there's also a bit of what we call an overlay on top of that image. So it kind of darkens the image up basically, so that it is a little bit easier to read that text.

No PDF’s For Your Menu

The fourth thing that is super irritating, this probably drives me more nuts than anything else, is not using PDFs or images to display content.

I'll give you an example here for a restaurant. If I go to their menu, you'll notice here this is super easy to read. I can close or collapse different sections of their menu. This is what I call an interactive menu.

But this could be a services list if you're a service based contractor, or if you're just like a brick and mortar place and you just have like a bunch of images of like your promotional signs and stuff like that.

To me, this is a huge no-no, because when you're viewing on a mobile phone, you often can't read that and you're thinking that everyone's viewing this from a desktop and they're not.

Now what happens is I have to now kind of pinch and zoom my way around that photo, especially if it's a menu. It is by far the most frustrating thing viewing a website is when you use PDFs or images to display your content.

Re-type it, do something, just get it into an interactive form like this menu here.

Use Call To Actions (CTA) That are Mobile Specific

And the last thing is using call-to-action buttons that are specific to the mobile experience. I touched on a little bit ago with the call with the phone call button that was at the top there.

You'll also notice here on the homepage, I have a couple of buttons. One of them is tap-for-GPS and the other is tap-to-call-us. Those buttons do not appear on a desktop.

Viewing this from a desktop, you will not see those buttons there. This only appears when they're viewing it from a mobile device because that's where you're going to be calling from.

Just consider the type of call to action that you want a customer to make device specific.

All in all, what I would just say, go through those five things I just mentioned to check your website out.

Ask: Is your website easy to get around from mobile device. And don't look at it yourself, perhaps have someone else look at it because you're too close to it, you know exactly where all this stuff is.

Give your website to someone that's never viewed it before, like a friend or a family member and just kind of say, Hey, is this easy to browse? Is this easy to get what you would be looking for if you are shopping for my service or product.

If it is then great and leave it alone. Don't fix what's already working.

But if it's broken a little bit, then considering evaluating the content that's on your website and the design and layout.

I offer content strategy services where we can go through your entire website line by line and really discover the broken pain points of it and the things that are working.

Should I post this right now?

If you're worried about wether you should post something because it might be offensive, or it might not resonate with your audience - you're already losing the content battle.

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine about something he wanted to post, just getting my advice on it.
A long time ago, I heard about how Gary Vaynerchuk just reads comments to gain perspective and the pulse of culture.