Pro Blogging Tips for Beginners This post brings you very useful information from pro-bloggers in the likes of Jeff Bullas. For some blogging may be a passion… For some blogging is a pastime… But lately… Blogging has become business… Blogging is the source of income for many… Follow these excellent tips from blogging and digital marketing experts that will guide you through all the hassles. I have tried to summarize the key points that will give you a fair idea about the blogging bascis. Here they come… A. Top 5 Tips That Can Make You a Successful Blogger 1. Get started with the right platform The very first challenge will be  choosing the right blogging platform. There are a lot of free blogging platforms  like Tumblr, WordPress, Blogger and Type Pad. All these offer free design themes that can be customized to suit your purpose. But it is always better to go for a self-hosted blog if you plan to convert your blog as a business in the long run. 2. Consider integration Getting your blog integrated with an existing website in order to build the content is good for SEO and also make the search engines fond of your content. SEO is all about keywords in your content  and concentrating on this aspect becomes inevitable. Long tail keywords attract lot of traffic since the competition will be less. 3. Finding a niche Your blog must talk about something spectacularly specific or offer solutions to specific problems to please both the readers as well as the search engines. 4. Write about something that you love When you write about something that you are passionate about, you will enjoy doing it and you will also be good at it. 5. Offer something of value The blogs you write must be of something that the readers will value. This means you must offer them something in return for spending time reading your blog. Your blog will never be a success if you aren’t providing something of value. Such is the power of information and when you do it right, you win. This excellent Infographic compiled by Twelveskip.com lists down 26 AWESOME BLOGGING TOOLS LOVED BY THE PROS Following is a detailed post about “It’s All About Data! Measuring the Effectiveness of Content Marketing” from Onlyonemike.com. A very resourceful post that gives info on how to monitor content performance metrics and determine how to boost and improve content marketing in the future. https://onlyonemike.com/its-all-about-data-measuring-the-effectiveness-of-content-marketing/   B. Are You Making These Twenty Mistakes on Your Blog? Writing a blog is both a joy and frustration as you try and work out the ways to let readers on the world wide web discover you and let them know you exist. You have only a few seconds to help the reader decide whether they want to read your post or not so a headline that compels and teases the visitor to your blog or who sees your headline on a Tweet is a must in driving readership. Try COSCHEDULE HEADLINE ANALYSER that gives you a clear insight whether your post title rocks or sucks.. List posts such as “10 Ways To..” or The 5 Top …” are always effective. These might seem redundant and overused but the fact remains they work. Some bloggers wonder why they have no one reading their articles. I sometimes wonder how some blogs are ever found in an ocean of over 200 million blogs. So the challenge is that the writing is just the beginning and promoting your posts is the next step in driving readership and building a loyal following in your industry or niche. This excellent Infographic compiled by Classycareergirl.com lists down 15 Major...

Make Instagram Your Brand Ambassador Watch this VIDEO to quickly double your Instagram followers by spending just 5 minutes per day. Instagram is the new wave in social media marketing niche and is growing by leaps and bounds. Since it is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing social networking service, user access is easy – is that not an added advantage for your business promotion? More than selling, making your brand reach the right target audience is more important. Instagram is one such mobile SNWS which facilitates easy brand promotion with little effort but huge exposure. A Few Excerpts from the Web on How to Use Instagram Effectively for Your Marketing What if we told you that Instagram is currently the world’s fastest-growing social media network and can boast of having 400 million active users? That’s 100 million more than Twitter. Can you afford to ignore such an opportunity? Since Facebook’s acquisition of the channel in 2012, Instagram growth has exploded, with 400 million active users, 30 billion photos shared, and an average of 70 million photos posted per day. With the adoption of a few best practices, Instagram can become a viable and engaging platform for many businesses to help build their brand and reputation and ultimately sell more. And while some businesses, particularly those with visual appeal (including those in the fashion, food, travel and entertainment industries), will find Instagram an instant fit, there remain a number of opportunities available to organizations in any vertical. Remember: Instagram will only drive success if it is operated as part of a cohesive marketing #strategy (nothing works in a vacuum). To this end, you should use Instagram (and any other social media channel) to keep your prospects and clients engaged with your brand. Social media will not replace the need for a well-designed website, a regularly updated blog and a targeted email marketing strategy (this will drive revenue). Put all four of these items together, and you’ll find, with the addition of hard work and planning, success comes more easily. Curated from Instagram for Business — Picture-Perfect Marketing Instagram Gives Amazing Results Through User Engagement People are engaging with Instagram posts on levels unparalleled by any other social network. According to Forrester research, Instagram user interactions with brands is 400% higher than on Facebook and Twitter, delivering 58 times more engagement per follower than Facebook and 120 times more engagement per follower than Twitter. Curated from 5 Killer Instagram Marketing Strategies You Need to Know | SocialTimes Effective Instagram Marketing Strategies 1. Formulate your creative strategy: Ask yourself what your business has to offer people who are on Instagram. Why should they follow you on Instagram, when they are already following you on Facebook and Twitter? The trick here is to give them exclusive access to things that have more to do with your business location and your community than the actual promotions itself. When you’re using Instagram, think of personal engagement and the genuine interest of your audience as opposed to making your posts all about sales and promotions. 2. Use relevant hashtags: Hashtags tend to get mixed reviews from people, primarily because a lot of users haven’t mastered the art of effectively using them. But the beauty of hashtags from a business perspective is that it allows your posts to be visible to people who search for certain hashtags. The rule of thumb is to stick to about 4 to 7 hashtags, and make sure you make use of popular trending hashtags. 3. Share often, but don’t over-saturate your followers’ feeds: The best way to go about this is to create a posting schedule when you think your followers are most...

Digital Marketing Quotes 50 You call it Digital marketing, Content Marketing, Social-Media Marketing or Online Marketing; all boils down to “I want more traffic. I want to get noticed, I want more sales, I want more conversions.” Social media marketers and strategists are sure about two things. One is to focus on the emotional component of your target demographic, to understand their wanton and preferences and two to satisfy search engines through quality content and engagement. Can you strike a deal? The following digital marketing quotes have been compiled intending to give a clear picture about the current trends in digital marketing that may help newbies to understand the “What is What” of online marketing. Afterall quotes are sayings with experience and value attached to them. “As you go about creating new customer engagement programs and direct marketing packages for your brand, look for opportunities to give rather than to get. Whoever makes the first kind gesture, as studies show, tends to gain the most.” Jeanette McMurtry “Innovation needs to be part of your culture. Consumers are transforming faster than we are, and if we dont catch up, we’re in trouble.” Ian Schafer “We want to know what consumers are looking for, what their values are, and how can we meet their needs. It’s not just about Big Data; it’s about translating that into the truth.” Gayle Fuguitt “Dont say anything online that you wouldn’t want plastered on a billboard with your face (or logo) on it.” Erin Bury “To accompany the four Ps of classical marketing, marketers would do well to instil the digital four Cs, around conversation, collaboration, culture and compensation.” Zaid Al-Zaidy “Authenticity, honesty, and personal voice underlie much of what’s successful on the Web.” Rick Levine “It’s much easier to double your business by doubling your conversion rate than by doubling your traffic.” Jeff Eisenberg “Meaningful relationships are two-way, and that means constantly looking for ways to improve your customers lives.” Peter Friedman “Too often we tend to think of change in a very singular mindset, technology. But technology is not the real issue, not the root cause. It’s an effect, for sure… [but] the real driver of societal change is society itself, not your smartphone.” John Hayes, CMO at American Express, on how marketers interpret changes in what customers want “The data comes into the room from many sources, and you have to use that data like a modern-day orchestra leader, blending the inputs in real time in a combination that is as much an art as a science.” Louis Paskalis “On a broad scale, I see seo becoming a normalized marketing tactic, the same way TV, radio, and print are traditionally thought of as marketing tactics.” Duane Forrester, Senior Product Manager, Bing “The future of SEO is here: understanding and marketing to specific and defined audiences through search engines.”  Adam Audette, Chief Knowledge Officer, RKG “Social is the way our work gets discovered. Content that is truly exceptional, unique, and useful can earn tremendous awareness through social media, and that social amplification often leads to great links, which leads to great rankings.” Rand Fishkin, CEO/Co-Founder, Moz “We should be thinking about social and search as channels that need a unified approach, because the best content should appeal to both channels and the cross-over benefits/economies of scale are potentially huge.” Will Critchlow, Founder, Distilled, Inc. “Social media is about connecting with customers in a meaningful way – a way the customer determines is meaningful.” Duane Forrester, Senior Product Manager, Bing “Companies are rushing headlong into content today, and rightly so. It’s a battle to get noticed online amidst the noise and crowds.” Adam Audette, Chief Knowledge Officer, RKG “A company that builds a loyal social following has a built-in army...

Basic Trends in HRD – #Human Resource Development The basic motive of HRD would be to develop an enduring and healthy #work culture. It should also take into its fold the #training and developmental aspects of the workforce that forms the significant segment of the organization. It is a means to improve the overall organizational effectiveness but not an end in itself. HRD Philosophy: The philosophy of an organization is understood through #policies and operations and not merely through its programmes. HRD policies, #plans and action must commence from business #strategy. The key to the success of HRD is undoubtedly good industrial relations enhanced by effective #employee participation and existence of good #collective bargaining machinery. A Source of Motivation: Though #man power planning, training and #appraisal seem to be the core activities of HRD, it must also be used as an instrument for changing the work culture and motivating the workforce. This considerably improves the network of communication resulting in a sea change or turn around in terms of employee participation and #commitment. Concept of HRD: The #business environment is dynamic and so are the demands of the market. It is but important to review the organization structure to meet these demands of the changed environment. To establish and endure a #productive work culture to bring about improvements in organizational as well as technological disciplines. To train and develop employees in new skills for new #technology advanced operations and effective #performance. To bring about progress in the motivational #climate of the organization To bring the systems and procedures in line to deliver the expected results To reinforce participative culture and safety systems To maintain peaceful industrial relations in the production environment To revamp man power planning in order to match the individuals with jobs to #optimize utilization of available skills. Changing Environment: The process of HRD is directly linked to OD to facilitate the development of an organization in totality. To restructure organization in terms of #physical resource, #monetary resource and technology, one has to first understand the changes happening and challenges existing in the immediate external environment. Some of them would be #Competitor Pressure #Globalization of markets Rising aspirations of people at large Governmental policies etc., How has HR used #social media? A relatively late-adaptor, HR has largely used social media in recruitment…and indeed how!!! – In 2010 in US, only 6% of companies were using social media for recruitment, now that has exploded to 89% – 82 of the Fortune 100 companies uses the corporate hiring solutions of #LinkedIn – About 21% of working professionals are looking for a job – social media helps companies tap into the other 79% as well. Bullhorn’s 2012 Social Recruiting Activity Report says:“A #Twitter follower is almost 3 times more likely to apply to a job posting than a LinkedIn connection and 8 times more likely to apply than a #Facebook friend.” Human Resources professionals understand that social media ishere to stay…That’s the easy answer!!!The challenge is integrating use of a cohesive, relevant andeffective social media strategy aligned to the overall HR & business strategy of the organization. Information Courtesy – by National HRD...