Branding 101 for the Modern Day

When a business wants to make a profit, they need to understand that they have to go beyond simply buying and selling their specific product/service. Even if you believe that have created a niche product/service all you need to do is just go on the Internet and search for that same niche product/service and just see the sheer number of people other than you who are selling it.

Smart entrepreneurs understand that what you need to do in order to distinguish yourself from the rest of the sellers on the market by giving them something specific. For example, even within the purview of ‘workplace boots’, you will find that there are quite a few options you can go. Boots made by Timberland or Caterpillar are almost the same, but there are a few things which distinguish them from each other. Caterpillar usually has boots which are steel-toed, while Timberland uses the special Gore-Tex waterproofing material.

This distinguishing characteristic is one of the first elements of creating a unique brand.

Elements of a Brand

In addition to offering the customers with something which they don’t get from other brands, there are also a number of other reasons as to how you will be able to create a great brand, and many of these points are actually connected with the distinct voice that you have created for the brand.

Establishing a brand means that you have a competitive edge, and are willing to step up to the field and let the customers decide who they want to choose. This competitive streak is something that has won Apple accolades and eventually leads to them becoming the brand of choice for customers who are interested in electronic gadgets and products. Few remember them in the nineties when they were struggling with their Power Macs, but when they started to break into the mainstream in the early 2000s with their iPod MP3 players their popularity skyrocketed.

Why Social Media Matters in Building a Brand Image

Effective communication doesn’t just end with the sender communicating with the receiver, it ends when the receiver has sent their feedback to the sender, and in this day and age it has become very easy to communicate with a brand through the help of social media networks.

it has become very easy to communicate with a brand through the help of social media networks

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Many brands have their own pages on social media networks like Twitter and Facebook, and this makes it very easy to get in touch with them. Since many people have accounts on social media networks, all they have to do is to write something on the brand’s page.

These days, the success of a brand is directly impacted by the level of online interaction that they have with their customers. The more they interact with the customers, the more trustworthy they seem, thus helping to increase sales. Since a lot of commerce these days is driven by online customer reviews, brands which are open to discussing the faults with the product or service earn the respect of the customers, thus helping to build a loyal customer base. A brand is nothing if it doesn’t have the trust of the customers.

Daily interaction through posting interesting blogs and informative articles also affects the loyalty of a brand. Creating noise on platforms such as Google+, Tumblr, Facebook and LinkedIn helps to engage the customer base and increases their knowledge about the particular brand/service.

What do you feel constitutes brand success in the modern day? You can leave your comments below and let us know!

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Using Social Media Smartly to Create Brand Loyalty

When it comes to building brands, people need to make the best possible use of the medium that they have chosen to build their brands. It is the medium that people use the most that ends up becoming the most vital component of establishing the success of any brand. After all, the medium that most people use is the one which they depend on for information and knowledge.

Popular Mediums of Communication

In this era, virtually every single person who has access to the Internet, whether it be through their smartphones or even computers has an email account, and most of these people also have a social media network account. According to a survey done by the Pew Research Center, as of September 2014, 71% of adults who are active online have a Facebook account, and this number has grown even more in the past year.

On August 27th, 2015, one billion people used Facebook within a span of 24 hours. This means that in one day you could easily have one billion people being exposed to your brand using only one medium of communication.

in one day you could easily have one billion people being exposed to your brand using only one medium of communication.

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How Social Media Can Be Used Effectively

The first thing which you must know about using social media as a method to create brand loyalty is the fact that you shouldn’t focus on just promoting the product or service.

Since most people inherently use social media to communicate with friends and family, they can used to increase the value of the product by using content smartly.

Content which is substantial and informative and tells the audience about the product/service helps to spark the interest of interested buyers. Once the audience embraces the content, they create brand loyalty. Content need not be just be blogs and articles, it can be videos and photos as well. One of the more well-known cases of such success being created by social media is that of singer Justin Bieber, who went from uploading videos of himself on YouTube in 2007 to earning $55 million in 2013.

One of the most important things which budding entrepreneurs need to understand about creating brand loyalty is to understand the customer base on the Internet. Millennials or Gen Y, comprise of a huge number of the total number of users on the Internet, and they are more liable than the previous generation to use a brand once they are satisfied with their initial purchase.

Another important point that social media establishes is the fact that the brand is made by real people. Since many of the owners/employees of a brand are also members of social media networks, it helps the customer base to feel like as if they are getting their services from people just like them instead of a faceless corporation.

So as you can see, social media is a great way to establish brand loyalty. If used smartly, it can ensure great profits without needing expensive investments. If you too have some thoughts and ideas on how social can be used you can share them in the comments below!

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New Trends in Digital Marketing

In recent times there has been a huge change in the way people market their products and services. Previously a lot of time and money was poured into achieving visibility with the help of marketing methods such as cold-calling the customers and putting up advertisement in the newspaper, television, etc. However, these methods always posed many problems: it was hard to determine the return-on-investment (ROI), and the increased number of blocking techniques, such as call blocking features and spam filters, has made it difficult for the marketers to reach the customers.

These days, there are some new methods which are providing to be effective at avoiding all of these obstacles and helping marketers to reach their customers, and that is with the help of digital marketing techniques. However, with competition being so cutthroat these days, many businesses have jumped onto the bandwagon and are using these methods to market their products.

There are some new trends that you can follow to gain an edge over the rest of the competition.

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There are some new trends that you can follow to gain an edge over the rest of the competition:

  • Content marketing is a great way to increase the traffic which is going to your website as you are attracting the attention by giving your customers helpful information about your product/service. This can stimulate their interest and can lead to great word-of-mouth being generated for your product/service.
  • Mobile notifications through apps or SMS marketing have become huge recently, and this something that many businesses have understood and utilized. This helps businesses to provide customized services and messages for each customer which makes them feel like they are being given special attention.
  • A huge amount of attention is being placed upon video marketing these days. After all, many people are pressed for time and they are not able to sit back and read an article or blog post for five minutes. A video can say what an article wants to say and also encapsulates it into a thirty second video with eye-catching graphics to make it more appealing for the customers.

All of these and more go into doing digital marketing. What do you think about this? If you have some suggestions of your own you can sound off in the comments below and let us know where you stand on the matter and how you would go about doing a great digital marketing.

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How to Ensure Your WordPress Site Is Properly Secured

I would like to thank areuconnected.com for allowing this guest post on WordPress security. I’ve found to be an excellent source for information on web development, such as this article, Reasons Why WordPress Sites Are Better Than Traditional Sites.

WordPress is quickly taking over the internet as one of the most used and trusted content management systems (CMS). With so much versatility and freedom for users, it’s no surprise that it has been described as the most popular blogging platform on the web and is used by 23.3 percent of the top 10 million websites as of January 2015. But with so many of us relying on the software for commercial use, the online security threat to the platform is becoming an ever-growing, ever-changing risk.

However, by following a few basic steps, you can secure yourself from potential threats and continue blogging in peace.

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Secure Yourself

As with any online security risk, it’s always best to start from square one. By ensuring full protection on the workstation you administrate from, you can substantially reduce the risk to your blog. There are plenty of simple steps you can take to create a first line of defense. Firstly, staying up to date with the latest versions of your operating systems, web browsers, and any other software, minimizes the risk of any security holes they contain being exploited. Similarly, regularly scanning your computer for malware and ensuring your firewall is set up correctly, which can be done by installing good anti-virus software, you can ensure your CMS isn’t at threat from an internal attack. Finally, protecting your personal internet connection from hackers can massively enhance your blogs security; using a VPN, which encrypts all of your online data from potential prying eyes, can do this.

Use a Secure Host

No matter how secure your personal computer and CMS is, your site can still be at significant risk if you aren’t careful about the host that you use. In fact, the majority of cases of WordPress sites being hacked are due to vulnerabilities in the server system that has caused the problems to arise. However, this can be easily resolved. By avoiding going for the cheapest option and asking the right questions, you can ensure your host does not pose a significant security threat to your site. When considering web host providers, always ask about their security policy; whilst some hosts offer regular malware scans, traffic monitoring, and other protection, some leave the security aspects completely up to you. Similarly, by finding a host that offers a Secure Sockets Layer (HTTPS), you can further guarantee protection for your site.

Stay Updated

Much like your personal computer, keeping your WordPress updated at all times can give you substantial protection from online threats. Once vulnerabilities in the system have been exposed, hackers can exploit them to gain access to your site. They tend to target older versions of the software where there are more known holes and, therefore, a higher chance of successfully breaking through. By frequently updating the system, you can minimise the risk and stay ahead of the hackers before they’ve had time to exploit weaknesses. Luckily, WordPress notifies you when a new system update is available, so you can always ensure you’re up to date and protected from newly discovered threats.

Improve Password Security

Having lots of complicated and varied passwords can seem like a massive hassle, especially when you have so much to remember in our lives anyway. However, the fact remains that complex passwords are a vital part of keeping your site safe and secure. Just as we apply intricate locking systems to our houses, a complicated passcode can be a significant protection from threat. There are lots of different tips for creating secure passwords. Using a variety of characters, making it longer than 8 digits, and avoiding using personal numbers such as birth dates make it very simple to give your site a higher level of security. There are also several apps that can safely stored and encrypt passwords, so you no longer have to worry about remembering them all. It’s a very easy security step to take, and one that can be incredibly worthwhile in the long run.

Be an Anonymous Admin

Threats from hackers come from everywhere and can target all parts of your site, but if a hacker can get into your admin panel, then they can very easily cause severe damage. The best way to protect yourself from this is to make you account as indistinguishable from other users as you can. Up until recently, WordPress automatically assigned the username “admin” to all administration accounts. Although there is now an option to update your username, many users choose not to. Unfortunately, this has prompted cyberattacks in which hackers have targeted accounts by using the “admin” username with combinations of regularly-used passwords. By creating an ambiguous name to log in with, you can fade into the background traffic of the site and avoid being specifically targeted. However, as WordPress automatically displays your username in the URL of the author archive pages, you also need to ensure you resolve this. This can be done by accessing your WordPress database and changing your username.

Security Plugins

Finally, in addition to these steps, you can increase your online safety by using WordPress security plugins. There are many plugins available on the WordPress website that provide you with a wide variety of safety features, including scanning for malware, adding a firewall, and searching data for any potentially dubious code, as well as many which offer multiple security precautions. By using these alongside taking basic safety measures, you can protect your site from potential threats.

Administrating any website does not have to mean spending all your time worrying about security risks. WordPress is a highly regarded source that takes into account many elements of internet safety and allows users to focus on what really matters: producing and sharing great content. And by taking a few extra precautionary steps alongside this, you can rest assured that your site is protected and confidently create a website to be proud of.

This was contributed by Isa for Secure Thoughts, one of the best possible online sources for information regarding website security.

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Easy to Implement Social SEO Techniques For Your Online Business

Since the Google Penguin update of 2012, Social Media has taken a dramatic turn in becoming a major part of SEO in recent years, and continues to push forward in helping business awareness the Internet.

You Should be Focusing on Facebook

Every business should have a Facebook profile and if you haven’t, well, you are missing out and we are about to tell you why.

Facebook is used by millions of people worldwide and offers business the chance to showcase their products and services. Having a completed profile page, great graphics and a link pointing back to your site is a fundamental part of having a Facebook page.

It also helps you take your customer service to another level, offering customers the chance to contact you here and get instant responses. Think of Facebook as a hub for customers, engagement and promotion.

If you have budget behind you, you can’t go too wrong with Facebook Ads either which provides a backbone for you to reach out of your own audience into a granular level of demographics.

The more likes, the more engagement, the more chances of sales it’s as simple as that.

Don’t Forget Twitter

The second social platform that boasts millions of users is Twitter; the difference with Twitter is that it’s not behind a close privacy wall. Whatever you tweet can be accessed by millions of different people; the only catch is that you have a limited number of characters to get that message out.

If you decide to create a Twitter profile for your business which we would strongly advise, then look at the use of hashtags which can be a powerful addition to any Twitter campaign, especially trending hashtags that relate to your brand.

Again, Twitter comes with their own ad management centre where you can promote brand messages.

Other Social Profiles

In addition to those big profiles it’s also worth setting up Google+ profile pages, and if it applies to your business Instagram and Pinterest for graphically driven industries that can really make an impact with visuals.

With Google+ you can also tie your address up with Google Local which will allow people to locate you via Google Maps, leave reviews and generally engage with your brand through comments, +1’s and shares. You will also get some prominence in search results for your brand name on the right hand-side and under your main search result listing.

Content is Forever King

What we all must remember is that content is king, and it comes down to the kind if content you are creating. If you are rewriting articles that have been rewritten time and time again you aren’t adding any kind of value. Instead, think outside the box, think about creating unique infographics that are easy to share, or think about collecting your own stats from independent polls or sales result patterns. These kinds of ideas will offer a platform to write something that no one else has ever done.

Editors Note: Sunny Popali is an SEO Strategist by profession and an editor at Good Monster where he helps people boost their business/websites in digital world.

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How to Perfect Your Product Shots

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and this old adage certainly appears to be true — at least from a business perspective. In many ways, the right picture of your product or service in action can be just as valuable to your sales as a blog post, white paper, or similar type of content. If it captures the attention of your audience in just the right way, they might just share it far and wide, helping to spread the word about your business.

Capture, edit, and share the most social-worthy product shots possible. Here are a few tips to photo success.

Learn Your Settings

Just as buying an expensive hammer doesn’t make you a good carpenter, a pricey camera doesn’t mean that you’re a great photographer. Your camera can only take you so far in the world of high quality business photography.

For the best results, take the time to learn your camera’s settings and pair that knowledge with a good angle and the right lighting. A camera that has a 105mm lens will also be beneficial for close-up work like the kind needed for jewelry photography, for example.

Utilize a White Background

In the world of product photography, your goal should always be to showcase the quality of the product above all else. Make sure that the product remains the focus of the photo by eliminating elaborate backgrounds and minimizing props. Place the product front and center, and allow plenty of room all around for cropping when it’s time to edit. By utilizing a stark white background, you place the emphasis on the product, where it belongs. Remember: less is more!

Master Editing

When you start to edit the product shots you’ve just taken, don’t overdo it. Avoid going crazy with filters or color correction. Instead, focus on minimal editing like cropping to make sure that the emphasis remains on the product. Careful cropping and just the right amount of color correction can really bring out the detail in a product, even if it’s only a still image.

Make sure that every edit you make is well thought-out and showcases your product in the best light possible.

Know Your Social Network

Understand your target audience before posting your newly-edited photo on social media. Is a post about your product appropriate for your company Facebook page, or might it be better on one of your business’ Pinterest boards? Perhaps Instagram brings the most engagement with your posts as of late, or Twitter draws the most conversations around your brand.

Be thoughtful about each post that you make. Be intentional with what you say and share, rather than just throwing something up aimlessly and hoping it sticks.

To see this in action, pay attention to how other brands are utilizing social platforms like Twitter to spread the message about their products or services. The LifeLock Twitter page, for example, breaks up shorter text posts with multiple images that are relevant to their target audience. This allows for maximum effectiveness when those pictures are posted.

A carefully planned photo will be well worth the time you invest. Take care to find the best shot using the right equipment, be conservative with your editing work, and compile a social media post that will be meaningful and resonate with your audience.

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Top 5 best wordpress SMTP plugin for your website

Recently I was in need for SMTP plugin to configure on my sites as my server admin decided to off php mail() function and advice to use SMTP method instead. I found there are some good plugins to use. Here I am listing 5 top free SMTP mail plugins, so you can quit searching and use any one of this without any doubt. 🙂

1. Easy WP SMTP

Easy WP SMTP allows you to configure and send all outgoing emails via a SMTP server. This will prevent your emails from going into the junk/spam folder of the recipients.

easy wp smtp

2. Easy SMTP Mail

Easy SMTP Mail can help you to send emails via SMTP instead of the PHP mail() function. This plugin reconfigure’s the wp_mail() function to send SMTP Mails. The Practical use of this plugins comes when theme have a contact page, which on submit, shows you the successful message, but, still admin did not receive any email, here comes this smtp plugin which will makes your contact form workable.

There are many settings that are easy to implement within it. From the general settings, you can add a “from email address” and a “from name”. This sets the email address through which you send mails, and your name can be displayed as per your settings in the recipient’s inbox.

You can also select your SMTP host, SMTP port and set SMTP authentication, with a view to further strengthening your security by adding username and password.

easy smtp mail

3. SAR Friendly SMTP

With this plugin, you can send emails through SMTP instead of PHP mail() function. You can add the settings page to your dashboard in order to configure and modify your settings. This plugin is very easy to use and install, offering very simple configuration options used for security. You can activate it simply from the “Plugins” menu in WordPress admin panel after the successful downloading and installation.

You can set “from name” & “form email” field optionally. Note: if smtp server/hostname field is left blank, then your wp_mail() function cannot be reconfigured.

In one word, this is a very nice plugin that caters all your security needs with the utmost efficiency in a very simple way.

sar-friendly-smtp

4. WP SMTP

WP SMTP can help you to send emails via SMTP instead of the PHP mail() function. It adds a settings page in your dashboard where you can configure the email settings.

The examples given on the settings page are of great help, with which you can utilize them by clicking the corresponding icon to view. You can even set “from” field and SMTP host. However, if this field is left blank, then your wp_mail() function cannot be reconfigured.

wp smtp

5. WP Mail Bank

WP Mail Bank – PHPMailer & SMTP Mailer is a plugin that reconfigure the PHPMailer and has advanced smtp settings options and making more enhanced.

This WordPress plugin lets you customize the email details that appear on emails sent from WordPress. With this plugin you can configure your SMTP email to use instead php mail(). You can customize both (from email & from name) fields with this plugin so your users are not confused. You can also set return-path email field.

wp mail bank

In my opinion above 5 plugins are best for SMTP mail for wordpress. What is your opinion?

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Note: If you are selecting “Other”, please leave a comment with plugin name and why do you think this is the best.

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