Monday 31 August 2015

Online work from home -Is making money from home REALLY a dream?

Making money from home is what most people would call a dream.  Working from home would be the ideal solution to the routine dead end rat race jobs of 9-5.

If you are an entrepreneur minded individual and are seeking inspiration to take that first step to having your own business, then this is for you!

Now imagine being able to work from ANYWHERE in the world!!! That is the beauty of an online business.

Whether you are a student, a person with a normal day to day job or at any stage in life, this is for you. If you are looking for inspiration, you will find it here. 

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Monday 24 August 2015

5 Lessons Learned Analyzing My Most Popular Instagram Updates

5 Lessons Learned Analyzing My Most Popular Instagram Updates

Recently, I was honored to be featured by my fellow Entrepreneur contributor, Thomas Smale, on his list of “8 Inspiring Instagram Accounts You Should Follow.” Being recognized on this list meant a lot to me, because everything I do on Instagram (and in the rest of my life) is dedicated to one thing: inspiring my students to succeed.

But being called out as having an “extremely popular Instagram account” got me thinking. What is it that’s made my account so successful so far? To get some answers, I decided to run a free Instagram activity report from Simply Measured to determine which of my posts have received the most engagement so far and why.

Without further ado, here’s the list.


1. Run a giveaway.




According to Simply Measured, this post racked up 9,515 Instagram likes, 4,505 Instagram comments and 22 Twitter engagements, for a total of 14,042 engagements. Frankly, I think it’s easy to see why, since responding to the post entered followers into my $20,000 cash giveaway!

I’d read about how engaging social media giveaway contests can be before, but this post in particular really gave me proof. Even if you aren’t working with $20,000 cash, giving away something on your Instagram account could be the secret that helps you drive massive engagement.


2. Inspire with visual content.




Most of my Instagram updates involve posting pictures of the amazing places I’ve traveled to inspire my students to achieve the same kind of lifestyle. This works, because Instagram is a visually-oriented network, more so than any other social platform.

But I have to say, although I post a lot of pictures, this one is one of my favorites. It’s absolutely stunning, and it’s no surprise to me that it’s earned a total of 12,609 engagements across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If your own engagement is lacking, you can’t go wrong posting beautiful pictures (just be sure to give credit where credit is due!).


3. Use hashtags wisely.


The update below (which captured 11,978 total engagements), succeeds, in part, because it takes advantage of the “beautiful picture” principle I described above:



But there’s more to it here. I also attribute some of the success of this update to the hashtags I used. Tags like #FinancialFreedom, #DailyMotivation, #DreamLife and #DailyInspiration help expand the reach of my posts, while simultaneously inspiring my followers to prioritize these principles in their lives.

If you aren’t currently taking advantage of Instagram’s hashtags, start today. Tag using both popular hashtags and conversational or inspiring phrases for maximum impact.


4. Ask for engagement.


If you’re building a presence on any social networking site, engagement is at least part of your goal. But unfortunately, people don’t just engage automatically. Often, you have to ask them to engage in the ways you want.



That’s part of what made my fourth most successful post, which wound up with 10,069 engagements, so popular. Right there, in the text, I ask “Who wants to come?” Combine that with the giveaway mentioned, the use of an inspiring image and a collection of great hashtags, and you’ve the perfect recipe for engagement.

Best of all, this tip is easy to implement. Want more engagement on your Instagram posts? Simply ask followers to do whatever it is you want them to do.


5. Use leading questions.


This is kind of a continuation from the tip above, but one of the most effective ways to encourage your audience to engage with your profile is to ask them leading questions.



In this case, the question I asked was “Can you guess which island?” Essentially, I turned my post into a game for my followers and I wound up getting a great response in return. To date, the update has received 9,489 Instagram likes, along with 224 comments, four Twitter engagements and six Facebook engagements.

That’s the power of leading questions!

Just like the tip above, you can apply this to your account easily, no matter how many followers you have. In addition to asking for specific types of engagement, ask your followers a question and encourage them to leave a comment. If you can make it fun, they’ll respond - and, after all, that’s what social media is all about.

I’ve grown my stock market education business through social media and these are just my best guesses about what’s made these posts more successful than some of my others. But if you have any other tips or insights you’d like to add to this list, I’m all ears. Leave me a comment below describing the Instagram techniques that have made the biggest difference in your engagement levels.

Friday 12 June 2015

Twitter to Lift 140 Character Limit on DMs

Twitter announced Thursday that beginning in July (no specific date has yet been given), they will be lifting the 140-character limit on direct messages, giving users 10,000 characters with which to express themselves and mimicking more of an instant messenger feel.

In many of the chats I participate in, the common theme of “do online conversations fuel offline conversations” often comes up. Is this an effort on the part of Twitter to attempt to curtail this? Keeping you on their site longer, as opposed to taking conversations from DMs to email, so you can write more, talk longer?

New messaging apps are launched every day, competing for our share of mobile minutes and attention. I find this to be a smart move by Twitter, and one that I welcome. I am already on Twitter, and now I can get more out of it without the frustration of trying to follow along with a DM stream that I often picture as a trail – and if laid out could circle the globe 5 times over.

The Pros


I think it will help when it comes to customer service. I find that most people (myself included) are much more likely to reach out to a company on Twitter for a quick response if I have a complaint or need help, then I am to email them. Brands will now be able to respond to customers right then and there, rather than having to say “email me.”

When I use DMs, I use them to for longer info, engagements and conversations that I can take part in a quick tweet. Having to constantly send these DMs mid-sentence has been a bit of an annoyance, breaking up thoughts and the natural flow of conversation. To avoid this, I will generally take these conversations to Facebook or another messaging app. As Twitter is my favorite social networking platform, this is a great move to compete with other messaging apps, keeping me on Twitter, rather than sending me to another platform.

If this allows me to use Twitter the same way I would use a text message, I could cut down on any additional fees I may incur on my mobile bill, if I go over my text message allotments, or whatever package I’m subscribed to, which keeps me within a certain (much too small) range of what I can send to friends. I also will save memory on my cell phone, not having to download another app that will allow me to converse in long form with friends. Facebook recognized the need for ease of messaging long ago – through their messaging platform as well as their acquisition of WhatsApp.

The Cons


At first glance, the only con I saw was that since removing the “only people you follow can send you DMs” anyone could send me an extra-long DM, selling to me without me looking to them for information on their product or services. However, you can uncheck the “Receive Direct Messages from anyone” box in the security and privacy section in Twitter’s settings to stop this from happening. Twitter is allowing you to stop people you do not follow from sending you these new, longer DMs.

I’m interested in your thoughts on this new development. For now, I find it will allow conversations to be more fluid and natural, and I’m looking forward to it.

Tuesday 9 June 2015

Why We Click: The Simple Psychology Behind Calls to Action



Modern marketers have certain overarching goals in common: Connect with the audience and move its members to take meaningful action. In the digital world, meaningful action usually means a click of the mouse (or tap on the screen), which leads to a conversion.

But often overlooked is the thing that everyone’s actually clicking on: the call-to-action (CTA) button.

For example, did you know that some buttons appear to our brains to be more clickable than others? For years, smart marketers have used basic brain science to develop campaigns that grab our attention -- and CTA buttons are no different. Below are four tips from our Why We Click guide on how the right button color, copy, shape and placement can help skyrocket your click rates.


1. Compelling color


Color matters, probably more than you realize: 85 percent of people say color is the main reason they buy a product. There’s no magic color that converts best, so pick a button color that contrasts with your design to make it stand out (think: orange on blue). Or, use a color that promotes a certain feeling.

For example, orange encourages immediate action. Consider orange for asking people to sign up, buy or join right away. It’s also the color most associated with cheap or inexpensive things. And, we all know green means "go," which is pretty handy when it comes to CTAs. It’s also the easiest color for the eyes to process, so it’s often used to relax the mind and promote growth.


2. Clickable copy


A CTA's whole life's purpose is to move someone to take action right away, so try to write copy that’s irresistible to click. It should be specific: Think “Download the guide” rather than “Click here” -- and use active verbs like “start” and “get.” Passive words create lazy mouse-finger couch potatoes, so lead with an active, energetic verb to drive more clicks.

One recent study found a 90 percent better conversion rate using first-person language, e.g., “Start my free trial” vs. “Start your free trial.” Also, simply adding the word “now” to a CTA button can boost conversions by creating a bit of extra urgency.


3. Shape and size


Rounded, big, tappable and tested: These four adjectives should describe every CTA button. Ever. Rectangular buttons are by far the most popular, but since our brains are programmed to avoid pointy things, make sure to round off the corners. Buttons should also be big enough to be easily tapped on a mobile phone, just not so obnoxiously big that they ruin the overall design.


4. Prominent placement


CTA buttons shouldn’t be vying for attention. You should make clear at a glance what you want your audience to do. When you place buttons above the fold, your audience will see them even if they’re just scanning the email or page. Visitors spend almost 80 percent of their time above the fold, so you’ll catch those folks who are ready to act right away without forcing them to sift through content to get there.

Also, surrounding buttons with white space helps them stand out, so give CTAs plenty of room to pop, but not so much space that they don’t feel like part of the overall design. They should attract the eye, not look lost in the desert.

Every audience is different, so you’ll have to test colors, copy, shapes and placement to find the right combination of buttons that sends your conversion rates soaring. After all, A/B tests can improve conversion rates by as much as 49 percent!

Saturday 6 June 2015

Sunday 24 May 2015

Squeeze More Opens And Clicks From Your Broadcast Emails


Don't just send a huge email blast to your entire list, says columnist Daniel Faggella. Here are a few ways novices can dip their toes into segmentation without making a huge investment.


If you run an online business, odds are you utilize broadcast emails as a marketing tool. And, while just shooting out a one-size-fits-all email can be an effective weapon in your marketing arsenal (occasionally), it’s important that you also aim properly and use the right ammo to hit your target audience.

The simplest ways to get more engagement (opens and clicks) from your message is to segment your email list into different groups and tailor the emails you send specifically to those groups. Relevance wins.

Segmentation 101: Buyers Vs. Prospects


Although there are countless segmentation strategies that a business might adopt, most everyone can make the distinction on their email list between “buyers” and “prospects.” Though the distinction may seem arbitrary, it isn’t — and you can tailor your message to address these different groups and yield a higher ROI on your emails than you could if you just sent out one blanket message.

As an example, an email to previous buyers can acknowledge and thank them for their previous purchase, update them on new products, and sell them on the benefits of some of the other products you offer. For an email to prospects, simply remind them of the benefits of your product that generated their original opt-in, and perhaps offer some incentive to help convert them from “prospect” to “buyer.”

You might even send the same message to prospects and buyers, and merely make minor adjustments, like those you see below:



The small above “tweak” to the same email offer to the buyer and prospect segments of your list takes very little time or copywriting skill (as you can see above). Seems like too “lazy” of a change to really modify the response rate of your recipients, doesn’t it? Think again.

Often we’ll see that small segmentation changes with small “boosts” in response rate produce big results. Here’s an example of what might happen to your sales by sending out such a segmented message:



Would you prefer 48 sales or 82 sales? Now, it goes without saying that no email yield is guaranteed, but results of this kind are not uncommon in e-commerce. But most marketers decide to “blast” their list with the same message anyway.

I’ve written at length about startup companies tending to completely neglect this kind of back-end email marketing and segmentation — but needless to say, it has its payoffs. The results can multiply with our next strategy:

Strategic Segmentation


An even more effective method of email marketing is to segment your lead list further.

While this type of additional segmentation will be different for every business, know that how you segment your email list is an important, strategic decision, and it’s vitally important that you get it right. To do that, think about what your customers need and want and develop segments that will allow your business to make the most money from your leads.

This is where you might apply what I call a “front-end fork.” Just as you might use your dinner fork to keep your meat, potatoes, vegetable and salad separate on a plate, use a front-end fork to separate your leads into specific segments of your marketing plate.

To illustrate, let’s say I’m running an online business offering premium teas. Immediately, I can break my previous buyer’s segment down between those who buy assortments, sampler buyers, those who only buy a single blend, leaf buyers, bag buyers, those who’ve purchased gift sets for friends and family and even by lead source.

From there, you can segment within segments based on ordering frequency and history, organic tea buyers, organic and fair trade buyers, and many more.

While your product line may not be as diverse as my theoretical tea business, the key is to develop at least two to four segments that will allow you to tailor your email message more specifically to the needs of the customers in each segment.

This “core” strategic segmentation criterion will be one of your most important bits of knowledge when it comes to your email list. Here are a few examples:
A B2B software company might want to segment by company size (1-10 employees, 11-50 employees, 50 or more employees);
A martial arts academy might want to segment by program of interest (women’s kickboxing, kids martial arts, general adult martial arts);
A marketing consulting agency might segment its prospects by its main desired goal (more leads, more e-commerce sales, or more phone sales/in-person sales);
Etc.

Make sure the segments and sub-segments you develop will give you the best opportunity to sell to that prospect. Once you’re confident in those segments, whether you have two, three or even eight, craft messages that directly address their needs. Remember to ensure that your message resonates with what your customer cares about.

Using Different Promotional/Engagement Approaches For Different Segments


So, now that you have your aiming strategy down, let’s look at the ammunition you might need. That is, the methodology of your broadcast email.

First off, remember that different segments require different ammunition, and no matter how many segments you have, ultimately, the goal of any broadcast email is sales. Knowing that, your email message is effectively limited to straight sales or a combination of content with a sales offer somewhere. In my Entrepreneur on Fire interview about email marketing tactics, I bring up a few unique strategies that I’ve used in my own businesses, but here let’s explore some potential promotional changes you might make.

Straight sales emails are just that: emails with promotional codes, new products, or bundle offers. You don’t have to be a seller all the time, but you definitely want to always leave the door open to make a sale.

Hence, while the bulk of a pure content message can be a blog about new products or happenings in your industry, make sure to always include a sales offer somewhere in the email. That can take the form of a discount code on the side or bottom of the page or even a link within the copy. Your content message may not be a hard sell, but remember to give your customers the opportunity to buy.

Next up, think about the frequency of your email broadcasts. The key here is to develop a marketing schedule that will have you broadcasting at least twice a week. For my theoretical tea company, Tuesday and Thursday might be the preferred days to broadcast. Maybe I send out sales messages on Tuesday and a content message on Thursday. Or maybe my tea company emails to my buyer segments on Tuesday and my prospect segments on Thursday.

Remember to differentiate the message to recognize the segment. And, since your business is a completely different cup of tea, it’s important to develop a marketing schedule that’s best for your niche.

Once you develop that schedule, remember that it’s not etched in stone. Watch your response rates, and get a sense of how your customers respond to both your sales and content messages. If your sales messages significantly outperform your content emails, recalibrate your messages and your schedule.

Look for trends that you can leverage to make the most of each and every email broadcast. Once you see those trends, toggle your schedule and your messages as needed to maximize the effectiveness of every email broadcast. And as you toggle, remember, always find a way to segment!

Conclusion


Think of your email list as a bull’s-eye. A huge email blast to your entire list will likely hit some of that outer circle, but a segmented broadcast message will allow you to hit those rings closer to the center.

Look at your response rates; adjust your aim; find the right messages, broadcast days and frequency that are right for your online business. Then, once you hit the center of that bull’s-eye, keep firing!