Saturday, August 1, 2020

7 Ways To Use Instagram Stories To Outsmart The Instagram Algorithm

August 01, 2020

Ways To Use Instagram Stories To Outsmart The Instagram Algorithm

As the Instagram algorithm continues to take a toll on people’s engagement, it’s no surprise that more and more users are switching their focus on Instagram Stories.

Just look at the numbers: According to TechCrunch, Instagram Stories have over 300 million daily active users, which is almost double that of Snapchat.

But Instagram Stories is more than just a great way to connect with your followers. Posting to Stories consistently can also impact how your posts perform in the Instagram algorithm. The algorithm takes into account all the interactions you receive on your Instagram Stories — this means, the more that a user interacts with your Instagram Stories, the more likely your posts will show up in their feed.

In the following post, we cover 7 ways you can use Instagram Stories to outsmart the Instagram algorithm, grow your reach, and spend more time on your audience’s screens.

How the Instagram algorithm has changed


While Instagram revealed that posts are soon going to be returning to the more chronological order in people’s feeds, this doesn’t necessarily mean that chronological feed is back. Instagram is essentially adjusting the algorithm so that the time that you post is more important than before.

In other words, the feed is still algorithmic, however, the weight of the factors that impact the Instagram algorithm has shifted slightly.

ALSO READ: HOW TO BRAND YOURSELF ON SOCIAL MEDIA

In light of all these changes, Instagram users will have to find new ways to grow their engagement and reach their audiences. Queue, Instagram Stories. In fact, Instagram Stories is quickly becoming one of the best channels to drive engagement, build brand awareness, drive traffic, and even make ecommerce sales!

Here are 7 features and tools you can use within Instagram Stories to outsmart the Instagram algorithm:


1. Use all of Instagram stories’ features
The Instagram algorithm uses the amount of time spent viewing your content as a factor in determining its popularity.

So how do you stop your followers from scrolling past your Instagram Stories? The good news is that Instagram seems to roll out new features for Instagram Stories every few months (or even weeks!), giving users fun new ways to connect with their audiences.

You can access most of these features by clicking the sticker icon in the top-right corner when adding to your story. Once you click the icon, all the feature options will appear:

Try adding GIFs, stickers, locations, and hashtags as often as possible (without over-using them, of course). By using all these features, you’ll have a better chance of keeping your audience engaged and will give them a reason to spend more time viewing your Instagram Stories.

This year, Instagram also introduced “Type” mode, which a new way for users to share what’s on their mind with creative text styles and backgrounds.

To switch to Type mode, all you have to do is open your camera and tap the Type button at the bottom of your screen.

You’ll find  it next to “Live,” along with your other camera options under the record button:

Type Mode
Whether you use Type mode to post your favorite song lyrics, ask your followers a question, or just let people know what’s on your mind, the feature is a great way to add personality your Instagram Stories and keep people engaged!

ALSO READ: HOW TO CONVERT YOUR INSTAGRAM TO BUSINESS ACCOUNT

2. Encourage audience interactions
The Instagram algorithm also takes into account the interactions you receive on your Instagram Stories, such as replies or when someone DMs your story to another user.

And the more that a user interacts with your Instagram Stories, the more likely your posts will show up in their feed.

A great hack to outsmart the algorithm is to take advantage of Instagram Stories’ engagement opportunities, including the new polling feature. Interactive poll stickers let you ask questions and see results from your followers as they vote:

Instagram Polling Feature
There are so many different ways you can use poll stickers to interact with your audience.

For example, you can use polls to gather feedback on your products, crowdsource ideas, or simply entertain your followers.

Encouraging these kinds of interactions will not only help you build a deeper connection with your audience, but it can also help you grow your reach too.

One trick that influencers use to drive up the engagement on their accounts are to ask their followers to “DM me for a direct link to this product!” It’s a great way to drive people to your inbox, build relationships with your followers, and ultimately increase the chance of your posts showing up in their feed.

The Instagram Stories that appear on the top of your feed are affected by the Instagram algorithm as well!

Typically, the Instagram Stories that appear closest to the beginning of the row are from accounts that you engage with the most, whether that maybe through the users' posts or Stories!

ALSO READ: HOW I MADE MY FIRST MILLION

3. Maintain a cohesive brand aesthetic
Your brand’s Instagram aesthetic isn’t only important on your feed, but should be carried over to your Stories as well!

When a follower watches your Stories, they should know it’s yours without having to see your name in the corner of their screen.

Luckily, there are a ton of different ways to brand your Instagram Stories within the app, including different fonts, brush options, and stickers. Using these features in a consistent way can add a ton of personality to your Stories and help you build a uniform brand aesthetic.

There’s also a lot of flexibility within these features themselves.

For example, you can customize the color of their text or brush strokes by selecting a new color from the bottom of the screen. Just hold your finger down on any of the color options to pull up a larger spectrum of colors to pick from:

Instagram Eye Dropper Tool
You can also use the eyedropper tool on the left of your color palette to select a color directly from your story. This will help you keep your story elements branded and cohesive.

Creating templates for your Instagram Stories is another great way to help you quickly put together a cohesive story that aligns with your brand. Tools like Canva and A Design Kit offer a ton of different templates that you can use to build a consistent (and gorgeous!) aesthetic.

The fact is that your followers are much more likely to convert into brand advocates when they know they can expect consistently, high-quality Stories from your account.

ALSO READ: HOW TO GET BUSINESS CLIENT ON LINKEDIN

4. Add links to your Instagram stories
Last year, Instagram rolled out the ability to add links to Instagram Stories, and it’s a pretty big deal. In fact, it’s the first time ever that users can add links to Instagram that aren’t the link in their bio!

It’s currently available to users on an Instagram Business profile with 10K+ followers. If you meet these requirements, you should be able to include a “Swipe Up” option in your Stories and drive traffic to your web campaigns, product pages, blog posts, and more.

Add Links To Instagram Stories
Adding links to your Stories will not only help you drive more traffic to your website, but it’s another feature that the algorithm will reward you for including in your strategy.

5. Add hashtags & location stickers to your Instagram stories
Recently, Instagram expanded the Explore & Search page to include hashtag and location Stories! Now when you add a  hashtag or location sticker to a story, other users will be able to find it if they search that hashtag or location.

In other words, you have the opportunity to reach a whole swaths of new and undiscovered audiences.  And if they like what they see, they might even give you a follow!

To add a location, simply click on the location sticker and type the location of your story. Your story will then appear at the top of the search results for that location:

Instagram Locations
Adding a hashtag to your story is just as easy. You can either just type in the hashtag, or you can use the hashtag sticker to add-in the hashtag of your choice.

When people search for a hashtag on Instagram, if it’s popular enough, they’ll be able to see all the active, recently shared Instagram Stories for that hashtag at the top of the Search page.

Instagram Hashtags
When your story is added to the search results for a location, you should receive a notification from Instagram. And when someone views your story from a hashtag or location page, when you view your Instagram Insights, you’ll see the name of that page when looking at who watched your story.

6. Start creating Instagram stories ads
The recently rolled out Instagram Stories ads appear between regular Stories at the top of your feed. As more and more users spend time scrolling through their Stories, Instagram Stories ads can help increase your visibility to new audiences.

Instagram Stories Ads
When creating an Instagram Stories ad, you have the option to share a photo or video. Whichever you choose, make sure you have an eye-catching intro to stop users who “speed-tap” through their Stories.

7. Track your success with Instagram stories analytics
When you switch to an Instagram Business Profile, you can also view the analytics for your Instagram Stories — which is extremely helpful!

Taking on your Instagram Stories strategy with a better understanding of what’s working (and what isn’t) will help you come up with a fine-tuned strategy, saving you time and effort.

To see the Insights for your Instagram Stories, head to your profile, and select the Insights icon in the top right corner. Next, scroll down and tap “Get Started” in the Stories section.

Now, you’ll have access to impressions, reach, and other metrics related to your Stories:

Track Your Stories Analytics
Instagram Stories Analytics gives you a clear view of who is sticking around or swiping away, and can ultimately help you optimize your Instagram Stories content strategy.

In addition, there are tools such as Socialinsider that can provide deeper analytics for your Instagram Stories.

ALSO READ: HOW TO SET UP GOOGLE BUSINESS PAGE

Conclusion
This year, take the Instagram algorithm changes as an opportunity to creating deeper connections, produce high-quality content, and optimize your Instagram Stories strategy.

Testing out all the latest features within Instagram Stories will not only help you “beat” the Instagram algorithm but can keep you one step ahead of your competition!

Tags # How to Add Instagram Page on Blogger # Instagram # Social Media Continue Reading
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Sunday, July 19, 2020

6 Effective Ways To Brand Yourself On Social Media

July 19, 2020

Brand Yourself On Social Media

What you are with your family is probably a little different from who you are with your significant other — and both are different from who you are alone.


But you're just your brand with a career in blogging: when you're writing when you're designing your site, and especially when you're on social media.

Social media is important for every blogger 's success. Just as the world's great rivers gather their power from a bunch of streams and streams, so your social media activity is a set of your individual outlets that create a larger whole.

And how can you get the best out of the branding of social media? How are you going to draw new readers to get the best foot forward? How are you going to feed those little streams into a mighty river?


Below we've listed six fantastic ways you can make a name for yourself on social media. Take them to heart, and you'll see more fans, more popularity, more dedication, and higher quality posts.


1. The same brand on every channel

Consistency in online marketing is crucial. If all your online profiles "behave" differently, they will be picked up by strangers, often even unintentionally. And if they see you fresh, followers don't want to find out who you are.


When we say consistency, we mean any and every aspect of your online personality, such as:
* In your writing, speaking tone
* Subject matter, subjects and areas of expertise
* Color-branding
* Slogan, word pick, sign ... etc. etc.
* Logos and/or photo profiles
* Typography and typography
* Visual style (black and white, floral, etc.)
* Name or handle of the user
* Immediate recognition inspires strong branding.

Long before you see a logo or a brand name, have you ever seen a commercial and know who it's for? It takes years for big brands to build this kind of reputation, but smaller brands like small businesses and bloggers need to start somewhere.
Although you don't want to overwhelm followers with the same content, it's important to repeat key assets like a profile picture to easily monitor brand loyalty and enhance how people view your brand.

ALSO READ: HOW TO CONVERT TO A BUSINESS PAGE ON INSTAGRAM


2. A picture is worth 1000 words

When you're looking for a quick and easy guide on how to boost your social media success, use your photos.

It's really that simple: photo comments get 2.3x more Facebook interaction and 1.5x more Twitter retweets, BuzzSumo said.
Of course, you can optimize these results with the right pictures. Echoing our first point, you want to choose a theme that suits your brand personality for your imagery. When you run a floral blog post flower photos. If you're running a gaming blog, don't post flower photos.

Different audiences often prefer different styles, but finding yours can take a while.
Don't get discouraged; it's just a matter of trial-and-error at first. Experiment with different visual styles — creative images, selfies, videos, motivational quotes, and so on — and see which ones your target audience likes the most.
Keep in mind, especially for blogging, which photos are used when sharing posts. No matter how good the writing is, the image is largely what determines whether or not new readers are clicking. Keep social networking in mind when choosing a picture on a post.
Food bloggers usually understand the value of a picture.


3. Put the “social” in social media

Collaborative elements of social media may seem a little alien to bloggers.

Blogs are a lot like lectures — you say your piece, and only occasionally do people comment on their response. Yet social media is more like a party chat with a lot of back-and-forth people and a lot of participants.
You want to tap into interactivity — this is the biggest benefit of social media.
You will build a more intimate relationship by talking directly to your followers. Even if your blog reveals your innermost thoughts, a two-way conversation is something that brings people together like no other.
Yet socializing in social media has a distinct tag of its own. Here are a number of tried-and-tested ways to enhance your interaction with social media:

  • They often respond to comments, though only to say "thank you.
  • A lot of people in your group are commenting on the posts.
  • Follow the hashtags that are common in your community to understand the posts that your audience likes the most.
  • Repost and share with other members of the community.
  • To get to know more like-minded people, engage in relevant events and competitions.
  • Real-life meetings are taking place to strengthen ties.


Social media marketing has a gift-and-take, and only post-promotion accounts have never developed a stable follow-up.
True, social media is a great marketing tool — but it's not just a marketing platform, and if you're just using it for marketing purposes, it's going to backfire. Social media users anticipate communication from people, especially when they are talking to an integrated company account.
What do we mean by "interaction between people" Okay, for one thing, the story you 're telling begins ...

ALSO READ: HOW TO CREATE A GOOGLE BUSINESS PAGE

4. What’s your Brand story?

What do you mean by talking about "Whole Foods?" Generic Supermarket doubts that.

And if you don't shop there much, you know from the vast marketing campaigns of Whole Foods that they emphasize balanced and organic products and that they are more socially aware than other food-related brands.
What do you know about that? And they're telling the tale of a good organization.
"brand story" or "brand tale" is yet another technique to show off the human side of the brand, but it's an effective technique.

Brand storytelling goes hand in hand with social media, partly because of the extra personal relationship we've mentioned above.
The types of things you post about are going to shape your story about your brand. Over time, people continue to link you to these topics. To suit the example of Whole Foods above, they also post tips on healthy eating.
Yet social media also lets you share true stories.
You can share personal accounts from your actual life, especially for bloggers who often post themselves on their social media accounts. Nothing reveals the human side as much as the relatable, piece-of-life stories that people love so much on social media.
When you're a professional storyteller, you can also use more imaginative tactics to keep readers coming back and "mine" new fans, like spreading a single story over multiple threads.


5. Quality gets the share

Yes, adding photos to your posts will make them more efficient, but at the end of the day, it is the quality of the content that decides whether people share or ignore it.

The thumb rule for internet marketing is "content is king," but it's our life for bloggers as well.

A blogger is just as good as its content, so if you want to convince people that your posts are worth reading, you'll need to demonstrate your skills through social media participation.
The good news is that you don't need to create your social media sites with the original content of your blog.
When you need to post something, you can also share posts from someone else (which is also a way to relate more to your community, as we're talking about below). You want to keep in mind, however, that your reposts are "on brand"—just because the post isn't yours doesn't mean you can break your credibility.
Using videos that are not as common as static images and text posts is a single shortcut to show quality content.
That said, there's a reason why video marketing is growing exponentially, and why social networking platforms are paying more and more attention to this form of content (which we'll get to in a little bit).

ALSO READ: TIME MANAGEMENT LESSON YOU MUST LEARN

6. Stand out with video

This advice is what you need to provide you with the information you need to turn a mediocre social media page into something positive. But what if you want to turn a decent social media presence into something great? You 're going to have to do something different, like the original video material.


Videos earn 1,200 percent more views on social media than combined text and picture messages. The type of videos you upload and share will again rely on the style of your brand and your objectives.

Introductory brand videos are great for brand awareness and draw new followers to explain who you are and what your blog is all about. If you already have good social media monitoring, more important posts, such as how-to guides or serialized episodes, will help you more.

If you're coming from a background of blogging, the video may sound like an alien concept.
The use of a camera requires a fair amount of preparation at all, let alone the creation of convincing material in a new medium. Learn how to make a video on social media and know all the choices you have.




In short, that's branding on social media, but don't forget one of the most relevant rules: be true to yourself.
It's one thing to emulate branding patterns, but if you're using strategies that don't match your own style, social media users will consider inauthenticity. Social media is about the culture at the end of the day-don't just use it as an advertising platform.
Tags # Branding # Social Media # Social Media Branding Continue Reading
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Friday, July 10, 2020

11 Time Management Lessons Every Blogger Should Learn

July 10, 2020


Time Management Lessons Every Blogger Should Learn

Do you ever feel like you've been fighting a losing war against time? Desperately wanting to make meaningful progress with the growth of your blog-just to run out of time constantly? I will share some harsh truths you need to hear in this article, and some important lessons that will allow you to make the most of your time.

Lesson 1-Your friend is time (never your enemy)
If you still think you don't have enough time – there's never going to be enough time. Why? For what? Because thoughts transform into objects. Of course not actual objects but how we think about something can have an impact on how we feel about it. And in terms of time this is extremely true. The deal: Time is a constant. It is neither bad nor good. It's what it is-an unchanging force. And if you stop trying to fight a time-losing battle, you'll be far more successful.

What's the alternative, then?
Stop saying "I don't have enough time" or "I'm too busy"-take time for what it is. This will sound a little 'out there' but it does work. I once raced around like a lunatic and repeatedly screamed the words 'I don't have enough time' – generally preceded or followed by 'aaaaaah!! 'My productivity eventually deteriorated and my levels of stress went through the roof. I was still nervous because I couldn't recognize the constraints of my time.

There was something I had to offer so I took a step back and reframed the way I thought about time (and spoke). My stress levels gradually decreased and my productivity levels improved. I became less aggressive and calmer. As a result, I started seeing my company progress faster. When you stop portraying time as some kind of challenge in your mind – you'll feel calmer, less anxious and more normal progress will come.

Lesson 2 - Establish realistic expectations
Time is almost finite. And while I'm sharing some strategies to make the most of your time, it's important you're setting realistic expectations. Unless you're Dr. Strange, chances are that through sheer willpower you won't be able to warp space-time.

It's just so much you can achieve. So, when you set goals try to give yourself some breathing room. It takes time to build a blog, and make it successful. And, I know, it's easy to see some crazy, impressive income reports and think "well, I can do that for sure? "Then, when progress is slow, become discouraged.

But the reality is that these individuals have been grafting to grow their blog for years. Some of them have released thousands of blog posts, videos, and other content styles. And, of course, there are others who may show fairly rapid progress but often forget to mention their over 10 years of marketing experience. So keep pace. Give yourself enough time to grow your blog, and keep that motivation more likely. And as a result, you will have more chance of succeeding. Many people fail because they leave too early.

Lesson 3-Make your final goal clear
You need to know where you're going before you can develop your blogging strategy. You need to keep in mind a simple end goal. Something to push for. Most bloggers tend to aim for a monthly amount of the dollar that fits well because it's specific and measurable. This number can be as high as you want, but remember what I said earlier about your expectations – be rational. The important part is to be aspiring to have something unique.

If the goal is too loose and open ended, you 're never going to reach it, because you're never going to be 100 % sure what you're aiming for. If your goal is to earn your blog money just fill in a monthly dollar figure. Even if you're re-evaluating your goal in the future, it 's critical to have one anyway.

Lecture 4-Map the most effective way to achieve your goal
Having in mind your ultimate goal, you need to plan a strategy that will enable you to achieve that goal in the most efficient way possible. Other growth strategies will allow you to get there faster.

Of example, if you compare that to a blog monetizing with courses + affiliate links, monetizing a blog with AdSense would probably be rather slow. Especially since you can hire affiliates to sell you courses. With addition to the monetization techniques, you should also consider the efficacy of traffic strategies. And, for affiliate offers SEO will be a great traffic driver but this type of traffic will be less likely to click on advertising. So be sure to take that into account when preparing your strategy.

Lesson 5-Take less time to complete tasks
This relates to what I said earlier. While with your goals you need to be practical, you also need to avoid giving yourself so much time that you lack a sense of urgency. Job expands to fill in the amount of time we owe it. Give it less time, and get the work done faster.

Lesson 6 – Use time-batching to achieve more in less time
I know some bloggers every so often spend an hour or two on their blog. There's nothing wrong with that. You have to take what works for you. Personally I find that if I block 4-8 hours at a time to work on my blog, I can make more progress.

When I spend 30-60 minutes every couple of days, it takes me too long to get into what I'm doing (unless it's something simple like handling social media, etc.) Note: make sure to take a break every 30 minutes.

Lesson 7-Sort your working environment
Did you ever notice that the amount of clutter in your work environment increases your stress levels? Back in the days of my marketing agency, I thought I had to keep my foot down to the floor (so to speak) and go flat out 100% of the time. As rough as I could probably. As a consequence, I would be confused and disorganized in my work environment – which resulted in lower productivity returns.

Lesson 8 – Don't let tasks turn into gremlins
A few years ago, I began writing a blog post. My plan for the post got out of control. I ‘scope creeped 'myself and I hit a creative roadblock. The post became a bit of a problem for me and it turned into a bit of an article about gremlin.
 Looking back, it was entirely irrational to see it as something of a question. So I went back to the post 18 months later, rewrote it and finished it in an afternoon. So I wondered what the real hell I was missing. Here's the lesson: If you're ever feeling like putting off something – take on that job as soon as you can.

Lesson 9 - Step off the 'endless planning' hamster wheel
As bloggers, it's easy to get sucked into overwhelming information and get so distracted by all the strategies we could use, that we're making very little progress. To solve this issue the best way is to build a simple strategy and just go for it.

Don't consider yourself second. Avoid distractions, and act as quickly as possible. The more progress you make the less you'll feel overwhelmed.

Lesson 10-Maintain a healthy balance between work and life
If you've been looking at Instagram for a lot of time, you 're likely to have come across those accounts that promote grinding and hustling over any kind of work balance. Personally – I think over the long term this strategy can be dangerous. Why? For what? For far too long I did the grind and hustle. I 'd leave the house at 8 am during the week, open a team office, deal with customers, etc. Normally I would get back about 7 pm, cook my garbage food as I was exhausted and work on the Blogging Wizard.

I would split my time with a few friends between the Blogs at the weekends. There was no balance between work and life at all. I got one equipment: go. And, right up to the moment I wasn't, I felt I was winning. Don't ignore your personal and healthy life, take it from me.

Lesson 11 – Scale outsourcing
One of the best ways to release your time is to start externalization. Yeah, you usually can't do this when you just start off. But outsourcing is a great way to save time and make rapid progress as long as you can justify it.

These days, almost anything can be outsourced:
  • Content writing
  • Blog management
  • Blog creation
  • Proofreading
  • Graphic design
  • Content promotion
  • SEO...and so on.

I found it hard to outsource in the early days. My own things I enjoyed doing and I hated spending money. It didn't make much sense to spend so much time on what I did not like and wasn't healthy. I'm only writing a short for a few minutes – send this in an email and send back images the next day. Plain. Simple. But more than just the tasks you dislike, you can outsource.

For example, you will need other writers to support you if you want to turn your blog into a digital publication. So, how are these functions outsourced? You can take the route of hiring an agency, but by hiring freelancers you can get more for your money. See the freelance work pages for our post.

Conclusion
It's not easy to build a profitable blog, but it can be done with a smart, patient and dedicated approach. Take this course and use it to refine the time management strategy. The lessons have profoundly influenced me and I'm sure they are going to do the same for you.

Tags # Blogging # Entrepreneur # Time Management Continue Reading
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Thursday, July 2, 2020

How to raise yourself financially from zero to thousands

July 02, 2020
How to raise yourself financially from zero to thousands


In a Tie? Need some cash quick? We're talking about small capital bursts here, not millions of dollars — enough to fulfill your monthly obligations or get that nagging creditor to stop calling you out.
A lot of that is about attitude. When you are lacking money, the thought of scarcity sets in. The mindset of scarcity is negative and thinks there is never enough of anything to go around. If you think this way, do whatever you can to step towards an abundant mentality.

What are the best ways to make money right away? While a search online when you're in need of some quick cash will yield millions of results, not all will be legitimate. It's up to you to filter through the so-called noise. These strategies will help you put yourself in the black, even if it's in a very small way.

1. Cash strategy: Fly to Uber or Lyft
Companies like Uber and Lyft offer a great opportunity to make some quick cash. You'll need a clean driving record, a fairly new car, and permission to work wherever you live. If you have all of those things, you can work when it's feasible for you, whether it's during rush hours in the middle of the day, or at weekends in the wee hours of the night.

2. Currency strategy: Become a participant in market research
I engaged in tons of market research at college. It's pretty fast money for not a lot of effort. Companies looking for the views of customers on a range of goods and services put you in a room to get your opinion. That's it.
This also means writing or expressing your opinion, answering polls or surveys, or breaking up in a discussion group. It doesn't matter much about the details. The idea is you should rely on it from time to time.

3. Plan to make money: Sell old books and games on Amazon
Amazon makes it fairly easy to list and sell old books, games, and gadgets on its website. If you have precious college textbooks, you will make more than just a few bucks. Make sure the books are in good condition. If you try to sell defective books or unfinished games, you will get negative reviews.

4. Strategy to make money: sell or resell software used on Craigslist
The demand for used electronics is huge. You can use Craigslist to split ways with your old iPhone or MacBook. For these types of electronics, you can catch a premium. Some people also flip things by purchasing them and reselling them.

You could also use a company like Gazelle to sell your old phones, no matter what kind of phone you have. Companies like that have made a whole business model out of buying and refurbishing used phones. If you have these things lying around your home, you can expect to get a fair bit of money relatively quickly.

5. Money strategy: Perform tasks with TaskRabbit
TaskRabbit allows you to tap into an existing marketplace of locally seeking help with chores. The tasks aren't always small. This site (along with others) also provides bigger tasks, such as home renovation.
Amazon is joining the job market with Amazon Home Services. The listed services range from very small maintenance to larger and more complex activities, which would require considerably more time.

6. Strategy to make money: Flip real estate contracts
You can exchange real estate contracts without ever taking possession of the property. It's not a fixer-upper endeavor, just to obtain a contract and to sell it to an interested party, that's it.
In most cases, you can do this with just a few hundred dollars to open up escrow. Organizations are committed to teaching how to do this like REWW. It's nice to make some money, but it's also potentially something longer-term.

7. Strategy to make money: Sell on CafePress or Etsy
If you can design digital items, you can sell them on a site like CafePress for a share of the profits. You can do this with just a few design software, including custom logos, inspirational statements and other topical or trending designs that appeal to the masses.
You might be able to hire a designer to assist you with this, but you still need to come up with the ideas. This works best if you understand your own concept but need no overhead. Products are designed and distributed on-demand. You just get a share of the proceeds. Likewise, you could also sell items on Etsy.

8. Plan for making money: Take gigs at Fivver
Any type of service you have, you will probably offer it to Fivver. This is ideal for digital services like graphic design, web design, short audio or video clip production, editing services, writing, and so on.
Fivver has expanded beyond just the $5-per-gig model. The best talent on its platform is pooled by Fiverr Pro. Depending on your skills, you could do quite well here.

9. Plan to make money: Sell your pictures
Do you have an eye for photography? Of course, to earn any the money you need to be good at this, but you can sell photos on ShutterStock or iStockPhoto (along with many others) to generate a passive income from something you might be very passionate about.
For a quick way to earn by taking photos, ask people who are looking for photographers to cover their wedding, marriage, the birthday of the child or any other event in life. You'll need a good camera and some experience, but you can certainly earn the money that you need, no matter where you live.

10. Currency strategy: Become a personal training course
You might be a personal trainer if you appreciate fitness. People pay good money to personal trainers if only to have someone keep them on track with their goals. You can add value while also supporting yourself financially.
This could also break into a diet to help people with meal plans, and so on. You may be able to apply for clients at your local gym, but depending on where you live, you may need some qualifications to do this (not to mention the permission of the gym), as well as using a platform like FitnessTrainer to promote your services.

11. Plan to make money: Tutoring students
Parents are always eager to invest in the future of their children. If you have a lot of knowledge in subjects such as mathematics, science, or computers, you could be tutoring for cash.
Indeed.com and Care.com also offer opportunities to mentor local students. You can choose either of these sites or simply find your clients through your personal or social media network.

12. Money-making strategy: ads to car-wrapping firms
Platforms such as Carvertise link brands and driver companies. The process is simple — decide to turn your car into a roaming billboard for a price. When you apply, you will receive a set monthly advertising fee for your vehicle. You won't have to pay much to do this, but you'll need a clean driving record and a fairly new car.
You'll have to drive the car enough to be worth it for companies paying for your services. If you've got all that, maybe through this venture, you might make a bit of side-hustle income.

13. A plan to make money: Hold a webinar
Sure, it sounds overwhelming but webinars are one of the best ways to earn cash quickly. You're talking to a highly engaged audience. You can make loads of money in a very short time if you place yourself and the deal correctly.
GoToWebinar is by far the largest platform. Webinar Jam is one of the most feature-rich platforms out there. Wherever you go with it comes down to how well you can sell.

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Cryptocurrency - Reasons you Should Invest in Cryptocurrency

July 02, 2020

Reasons you Should Invest in Cryptocurrency

If a cryptocurrency has one thing to describe, it is that it is volatile. As the currency block 's newest boy, there is simply no background to decide what's normal or not in its price plunges and market behavior. Yet exactly what is cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to function just like real money, but it's completely online without any physical form. It was first implemented with the creation of Bitcoin in 2009. It is kept and maintained by cryptography, serving as its measure of security. Cryptocurrency developed an increasingly huge following over the years, but when it peaked at over $266 / coin, it wasn't until April 2013 that it attracted major investor and media attention.
Cryptocurrency, however, is without its infamy. It is highly volatile and unpredictable.

How exactly would you invest in cryptocurrencies, with all the unpredictability going around? Why trust a market where you can't figure out what the risks are and when the next price dip will happen?
Most people think they 're too late to invest in crypto, and the money's all already been made. We couldn't be more mistaken though. The cryptocurrency market is as competitive as ever, which is why so many youths are investing in that market. There is a lot of money to be made with the technologies of cryptocurrency and blockchain, so long as the investment is done correctly.
While you should know several things about crypto before investing, it shouldn't stop you from investing at all. 
There are definitely a lot of reasons why you should invest in crypto right now! Let's check 5

1. Blockchain remains here.
If the fact that blockchain is here to stay is not clear to you by now, then maybe investing in crypto isn't for you. Many of the projects we see today will disappear — as they don't offer a working product, or they offer a working product that doesn't have an application in real life. However, there are many existing blockchain projects that are very much here to stay today.
Financial institutions get interested as well — which is good news! Blockchain technology has so many real-world applications where it could be extremely beneficial; however, it is important to remember that not all projects will be popular because we are at the very beginning of the blockchain being recognized as a useful technology.

2. With any investment, it is necessary to buy low and sell high.
While buying low and selling high sounds obvious, many people let their emotions get in the way when investing in crypto. For those who entered the market at the end of 2017 in the "Crypto Rush," this simple piece of reasoning is still difficult for them to consider. The prices have fallen and risen, though, so it would be much easier to invest now than it was back then.
That's still a chance, of course, but much less of one. The prices that drop even more, but they won't drop by the same amount they already have during the year — at least not the serious ventures. Take a tip from the Wall Street boys, they 're not making money from buying high and selling low!

3. Crypto 's bright future: As you need to keep focused on the long-term sustainability of any investments. When you are obsessed with short-term microanalysis, you will fear that you made the wrong investment decision for any price change. This could lead you to sell panic at a lower price than you bought it because, in fact, holding up until the price recovered, and then moving even higher, would be the more sensible move. The crypto market is unpredictable, and price fluctuations Can occur, some of them more concern than others.
Bitcoin 's recent plunge toward the $6,000 mark has left even the toughest investors a little hot under the neck, but two weeks later it's bounced up to over $9,000 a coin with expectations of more price spikes in the coming weeks. Over the medium to longer-term, you should always look at crypto-investment, so 1, 5 and 10 years, as that is where the real gains are likely to be made.

4. The exchanges are more stable.
Crypto-currency exchanges have in the past had their issues. Those who remember the incident at Mt. Gox, one of history's worst crypto-currency scams, know exactly how bad it was. Mt. Gox was a Japanese exchange that handled about 70% of all BTC transactions when it was hacked — around 6% of the Bitcoins in circulation were stolen in 2014 and had a value of about $350 million.
Most people thought that would be the end of cryptography. Of course, it was not. We have a variety of exchanges these days, and we have an ever-increasing number of decentralized exchanges that can't be hacked. Hacks have been as recent as this year; however, the extreme exchanges have still reimbursed victims financially.

5. Low Risk of Inflation
Their Governments control conventional world currencies. As such, the currency suffers heavily when a particular government messes up with its policies or faces an economic crisis. This could lead to a significant value fluctuation and the need to print more money. Cryptocurrency doesn't face this issue.
Crypto-currency is a currency worldwide. Some of its investors believe it has a lower chance of dropping relative to conventional currencies. On top of that, it's not reliant on government policy so it's vulnerable to both hyperinflation and a total currency collapse.

Conclusion
Whether you're a millionaire or only have enough money to spend, now it's a smart idea to invest in cryptography.
This has the same feeling after the bubble exploded as the dot-com buzz did. There is a lot of uncertainty, people are nervous and the economy seems to be somewhat stagnating. Remember what happened after the dot-com bubble exploded at the companies that were around this time? Just think of Google, Amazon, and Yahoo in case you don't remember.
If you can afford to invest in crypto now, because blockchain could be the technology that will change the way we look at the world.

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Saturday, June 27, 2020

How To Convert Your Personal Instagram Profile Into A Business Profile

June 27, 2020

Convert Your Personal Instagram Profile Into A Business Profile
So, you’re ready to get serious with your Instagram account.
You know that Instagram now has more than 2 million monthly advertisers and 25 million business profiles and you’re ready for a piece of the action.
Good for you!
Converting your personal profile to a business the profile makes a lot of sense if you’re promoting a brand through Instagram. After all, 200 million Instagrammers visit at least one business profile per day. Additionally, 70% of shoppers head to Instagram for product discovery.
The question is, how does having a business profile make it easier for you to reach your target audience? What’s the difference between having a personal account and a business account? More importantly, how do you make the switch?
By the time you’re finished reading, you’ll have the answers to all of those questions, and more.

What’s the difference between personal and professional accounts?

On the surface, a business and personal account on Instagram seem pretty similar.
They’re both free to use, anyone can apply for them, and they’re great for sharing content online.
However, there are some big differences between personal and professional options that are worth noting. For instance, you need a business account if you want to access things like Instagram Insights (for marketing intel), Instagram Ads, and more.
A business account is the only way you can place contact details on your profile too.
Before Business profiles arrived on Instagram, brands had to try and pack a tiny Insta bio full of information to capture their target audience. Now, companies can access a beefed up version of the personal profile instead.
While technically you could run your Instagram account with a personal profile, why limit yourself to fewer features?

Business profiles vs creator profiles

If you’re tuned in to all things Instagram, then you’ll know that a Business profile isn’t your only option outside of a personal account anymore.
Recently, Instagram also introduced the creator profile. Creator accounts give you access to various exclusive features and more in-depth analytics. Unfortunately, if you want to automatically publish posts from a third-party social scheduling tool, you can’t do that with a Creator account. Only business accounts offer auto-publishing and scheduling.
With a creator account, you would need to set up a reminder system where you got an email or notification when it was time to publish instead.
On the plus side, you do get exclusive access to the Instagram creator studio, follow/unfollow metrics, and engagement stats. You can also filter your direct messages inbox, to make conversations with clients easier, and tag products directly from brands in your posts.
The benefits of having a professional account on Instagram
Some people can feel a little hesitant about switching from a personal profile to a business account on Instagram. Change is scary.
However, the benefits of upgrading are difficult to ignore.
With a business profile you can:

1. Access Instagram insights

Probably the main reason that people move from a personal account to a business account, is that business accounts offer more insight into your users. If you’re using a personal account, you don’t have any data on how well your Stories and Instagram posts are doing.
When you switch to a business profile, you get Instagram’s special selection of analytics tools. Creator profiles can even dive deeper into things like engagement and follow/unfollow numbers. The more you know about your audience, and which content they love, the easier it is to enhance your following on Instagram.

2. Run ads on Instagram

The potential reach of advertising on Instagram is 802 Million. While posting organically on Instagram can earn you a a lot of attention, if you know your target audience, you can accomplish much more with ads.
Creating promotions with Instagram’s ad platform will help you to reach the right customers inside of the platform so that you can ramp up your sales potential. Instagram can also create audiences for you, or you can select exactly who you want to reach.
When you need a little boost to get you in the right place on Instagram, ads are a great feature – however, they’re only available for business profile users.

3. Enhance your Instagram profile

Another massive benefit of using a business an account on Instagram, rather than just a personal account, is that you can make your profile stands out. You get a few extra features to play with on a business account, including contact buttons that offer instant access to your company.
The CTA buttons at the top of your business a profile will ensure that your customers can call, email, or even find directions to your business. Additionally, Creator accounts come with the option to filter through messages so that they can respond to the right leads as quickly as possible.

4. Add links to your Instagram stories

Instagram limits users to a single bio link and doesn’t allow clickable links within image descriptions.
However, if you have a business account and over 10,000 followers, you will be able to add links to your Instagram stories.

5. Stay compliant

As regulators continue to crack down on businesses that attempt to trick their target audiences, Instagram is making it easier for companies to avoid complexities. If you’re paying publishers or influencers to sponsor an ad, then you need to disclose this in every post.
Since 78% of influencers  use Instagram for brand collaboration, it’s likely that you will eventually use Instagram in this manner. Fortunately, you can use the branded content feature with your business account to ensure that you’re sticking with the rules of advertising online.
You can also use the branded content feature to get a deeper insight into the performance of promoted posts. This way, you don’t need to wait for your influencer to provide you with details from their side.

6. Potentially access new features early

While there’s no guarantee that you’ll be the first to unlock new features on Instagram if you have a business or creator account – there is a good chance. Instagram is constantly rolling out new functionality. Before the latest features go live, they’re often tested with a smaller group of expert users first.
Although you won’t always be first in the queue for new features, you should have a higher chance if you’re one of the companies that are constantly proving it’s a dedication to Instagram.
How to switch to an Instagram business profile
Now that you know how beneficial the right profile on Instagram can be, let’s explore how to switch to a business profile.
Make sure your profile is set to public before you begin the process. Private accounts cannot switch to Business profiles.
Start by heading to your Instagram settings or “Options”.
Scroll until you see “Switch to a business profile”:
Click on this option, and Instagram will ask you to connect to your Facebook page.
You’ll need Admin access to your Facebook page if you want to convert to a Business profile:
Choose the page you want to link to your Instagram account, and choose a category for your profile. Categories include things like Personal Blog, or Health/Beauty.
Set up your business profile by filling out your email address, physical address, and phone number:
Once you’ve reviewed your business contact details, double-check them, and tap the “Done” button.
That’s all there is to it!
How to switch back to a personal account
If for any reason, you change your mind and decide you no longer want a business account, you’re not stuck. You can simply log in to your Instagram account and:
·         Go to your Settings
·         Tap on Business Settings
·         Hit Switch back to a personal account
·         Confirm that you want to switch when Instagram prompts you

There’s nothing to stop you from flipping back and forth between business and personal accounts however you choose.
Ready to make the switch?
Most people start on Instagram with a personal profile.
However, as you begin to recognize how powerful Instagram can be for your marketing strategy, you might decide that it’s time to ramp up your posting game.
Changing to a business profile gives you more power on Instagram, so you can make sales and build brand loyalty like never before.
Is it time for you to make the switch?

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How To Get More Email List: 29 Strategies You Can Use

June 27, 2020

How To Get More Email List

You need to build your email list if you want to grow your blog. Don’t be the person that keeps making excuses for why they aren’t focusing on building their list. The truth is that email is far more effective at reaching your raving fans than any other tool.
In this detailed guide, you will find a step-by-step blueprint for rapid subscriber growth. You will learn what setup work to do, which tactics to use, and what you need to test to build your email list.
1. Make it insanely easy for people to sign up to your email list
Whichever tactics you use to build your list, you need to make things extremely simple. If you turn the process of signing up to your list into a long-winded process, people won’t subscribe.
2. Make your “opt-in bribe” highly relevant
However, you decide to entice people to subscribe to your email list, you need to keep your offer hyper-relevant to your target audience.
Consider their motivations, their desires, and what they want to learn from you for example.
Preparation work to make setup simple
Before we dive into getting setup, there is some prep work that needs to be done even before you start diving into your mailing list provider.
This will make things far easier for you later on.
1 – Identify what you want to achieve
It’s not enough to just build your list, you need to know what you want to accomplish at the end of it. Your end goal should guide the decisions you make and how to prioritize the tactics you implement. For example, if you just want to use your list to build a community and get more people to check out your new posts – that’s great.
Or you may want to set up a sales funnel to help you sell products on autopilot while you send out the odd broadcasts to share awesome content with your subscribers. Being clear about what you want to achieve will help you achieve it.
2 – Put together an opt-in bribe for your subscribers
When you give your readers an incentive, they will be more likely to sign up to your list. Perceived value is the key here – the higher the perceived value is the more likely people will be to subscribe. So the question is what do you create for an opt-in bribe?
Well, you don’t have to worry about creating a long-winded eBook (unless you want to). Creating a one page PDF checklist or list of tools can often be even more effective because people love things that make their life easier.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
·         Checklist
·         Template
·         Cheatsheet
·         Resource list
·         Workbook
·         E-course
·         Video course
·         EBook/guide/report

If you offer a product/service, you could also try offering a discount or a free trial. This could be a great option to use. Also, consider how you will deliver the opt-in a bribe to your subscribers, I recommend hosting it on Google Docs because it is reliable and doesn’t impact the load times of my server.
Consider creating an unannounced bonus to grow your email list
Creating a single opt-in bribe is great, but if you give your subscribers something they weren’t expecting, you will really make them feel valued. You don’t have to do this, but it can have an incredible impact on subscriber loyalty.
3 – Prepare content for your emails
There will be some content that you will need to get ready for when you set up your email provider later on. This usually includes:
·         Welcome email - makes this as engaging as possible and let your subscribers know what to expect. If you’ve got an opt-in bribe for them, you can include it here.
·         Autoresponder sequence – consider your goals here; this can be a great opportunity to grow your passive income, but avoid the hard sell approach. Nobody likes to sign up for an email list only to be battered with promotional emails.
Email provider setup – getting it right
You need to get your email provider setup right to ensure you’re list building efforts get off to a great start. Let’s take a look at what you need to do.
4 – Choose an email provider
If you’re relying on something like Feedburner to deliver your emails you need to drop it and switch over to a serious email provider.
AWeber, MailChimp and GetResponse is also a solid option that is both very popular.
Mailerlite offers a fully featured free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers and Drip offers a free plan for up to 100 subscribers. Mailerlite is great for simplicity and Drip is best if you need advanced automation.
5 – Create your list
Now you’ve chosen an email provider, you need to set up your email list. It’s straight forward in all platforms and each email provider has documentation to help you.
For example, in MailChimp you would head to ‘Lists’ and click the ‘Create List’ button in the top right corner. Active Campaign has a ‘Create a List’ button the account overview – I quite like the step-by-step setup process they have, which makes setup straight forward.
6 – Setup your email address and sender name
Each email provider will require this to be set up, but I wanted to mention it here because how you setup these settings is important.
Sender email address – I’ve seen a a lot of people and brands send emails using a ‘no-reply’ email address, this can make engaging with your subscribers very difficult. Use an email address where replies are monitored, it will give you a great opportunity to engage your loyal subscribers and get feedback.
Use a recognizable sender name – If your subscribers don’t recognize who is sending the email, they might not open it. Use something that is easy to recognize, this may be your name or your brand name – whatever people are more likely to recognize. For example, I use “Adam @ Blogging Wizard.”
7 – Add your welcome email and autoresponder content
It’s time to get your welcome email loaded in with your autoresponder content. With most email marketing tools, a welcome email will be part of your autoresponder, but if you are using MailChimp, you could customize the ‘Final welcome email’ which is what subscribers are sent straight after they sign up. You can add this by going to Lists > Sign up forms > General forms > Click the drop-down and select ‘Final welcome email’.
I wanted to mention MailChimp specifically because the welcome email setup is different from most providers. Now it’s time to add your autoresponder content but be careful about the time frame in which you schedule these to go out – nobody likes to be bombarded too often.
Optimize your blog to grow your list
Your blog is one of the most powerful assets you will have to build your email list. I’ll show you how to optimize it below:
8 – Create a custom thank you page
Creating a custom thank you page is an important step to take because it is a perfect opportunity to ensure that your subscribers get instructions on what to do next.
There are several keys components here:
·         Let’s people know they have to confirm their email to get access.
·         Step by step process – makes this really simple.
·         Includes images so people know what to expect.
·         Mentions what to do if people can’t find the confirmation email.
·         Minimal distractions.
·         My free resources can’t be accessed from this page – otherwise, there would be no incentive for subscribers to confirm their email address.
Once your custom thanks you page you will need to add the URL to your email provider so that subscribers are directed to the page rather than being sent an email. Ultimately, this works better than just sending a thank you email because there’s no chance of it hitting anyone’s spam folder.
9 – Create a custom confirmation page
Your confirmation page is where your subscribers will be sent after they have clicked the link in your confirmation email. There are a few reasons why it’s good to set up your confirmation page:
·         It lets subscribers know the process is complete.
·         You can allow subscribers to download your opt-in bribe; this makes sure they will get what you promised.
·         The page can be used to set up goal tracking in Google Analytics (more on that in a moment).
You will be able to set your custom confirmation page URL in your email provider.
10 – Create a dedicated page to promote your newsletter
There are plenty of occasions where having a dedicated landing page for your newsletter will be useful. This should be a simple page with minimal distractions that focuses on the core benefits of what people will get out of signing up to your email list.
So for example, if you’re going to be educating your subscribers, think about what your training will help your subscribers achieve. Numbers work great here.
This page uses a 2 step opt-in process which has been proven to increase conversions. A button is displayed instead of a regular opt-in form, when you click on the button a popover is displayed instead. The idea behind this is that people see a button before a form and are therefore more likely to complete an action they have already started.
11 – Remove unnecessary distractions from your blog
You need to look at your blog critically and ask yourself – what really needs to be there? Think about your goals and then consider how each element you have on your blog contributes to that goal.
For example, you might want to consider removing the following:
·         Twitter and Facebook widgets – these are an easy way to send people away from your site and email is far more effective at reaching people than social. I display basic follow buttons in my footer so I can keep the focus on email subscribers.
·         Adverts – if you rely on these keep them but if you’re only getting a few cents/click consider removing them.
·         Blog directory links – these are usually a requirement for getting into blog directories, but if they aren’t sending you much traffic you should consider removing them.
·         Badges – you should only use badges if they convey social proof. They should help you appear more credible. So if you’re displaying a badge that anyone can use, it’s time to remove it.
Keep your blog as focused as possible and with a few different calls to action as possible.
The more options you give someone (e.g. click an ad, click a social link, click another ad, click a button), the more chance they will take no action at all.
12– Add a subscribe tick box to your blog comments
This list-building the tactic is much underutilized but since blog commenters are involved, it can yield high conversions. There are plugins on the market that allow you to place a tick box below your comments, giving the option for commenters to subscribe to your list.
There are a few options you can use here if you’re a WordPress user:
·         AWeber Web Form Plugin– this is a free plugin but it’s limited to supporting AWeber customers.
·         MC4WP – again, this is a free plugin but it’s limited to MailChimp.
13 – Set up a thank you page for blog commenters to build your list
If you’re using the native commenting system in WordPress, you can install a plugin like Comment Redirect that will redirect first-time commenters to the page of your choice.
You can use this page to thank your reader for commenting and invite them to join your email list. Although you may want to use a plugin like Thrive Comments instead – it’s a premium plugin and does replace WordPress native comments, but it’s designed to encourage engagement which can be great for social proof (more comments is better). 
14 – Add opt-in forms to key locations on your blog
You need to make it easy for people to subscribe to your email list. Adding opt-in forms to key locations on your blog is an important step that will help you here. These locations are generally where people have come to expect there to be an opt-in form, so when someone wants to subscribe to your newsletter, it’s usually these places that they first look at.
SidebarAfter post

There are more opt-in form types you can use:
  1. ·         Popover (yep, people hate them but they work)
  2. ·         Slide-in
  3. ·         Header notification bar
  4. ·         Footer notification bar
  5. ·         Shortcode placement


15 – Add in-line opt-in forms to key pages
There are key pages on your blog that you can optimize to get more subscribers. Pages like your about page, start page or resources pages are great opportunities to grow your email list.
All you need is to add an opt-in form within your content. This can be done by embedding a form from your email provider or you can use one of the plugins listed above which supports shortcode placement.
16 – Use your 404 pages to build your email list
When someone visits your blog and sees a page that doesn’t work, they will see a 404 page.
Most 404 pages include a message that lets the reader know something isn’t working right and usually some further information. You can use this as an opportunity to build your list. I haven’t found any other platforms that make it this easy to do this so an alternative would be to hire a developer to set this up for you.
17 – Display tailored opt-in forms for particular topics
Relevance is an important part of building your email list. The more relevant that your opt-in forms and opt-in bribes are, the better your conversions will be. The key here is to display an offer that is hyper-relevant to the topic that someone is reading on your site or provides the next logical step after the content they have read.
This is very easy when using a tool like Thrive Leads which allows category, page-level targeting and a lot more. An alternative would be to use a plugin like Dynamic widget, which would allow you to create different sidebar areas and choose which categories/posts they are displayed on.
18– Add social proof to your opt-in forms
Trust can be an important factor for your readers when deciding whether to subscribe or not. Adding a testimonial or displaying an ‘as featured on’ logo in your opt-in form can be a great way of building trust.
19 – Create targeted landing pages for your opt-in bribes
Having opt-in bribes or free stuff your readers can download is great but you need a dedicated landing page for each one that you’re giving away. Landing pages are great because they generally get VERY high conversions. Having a single page with a single goal really does work.
You can then drive traffic to these landing pages using calls to action on your blog paid traffic or even using your author bio in guest posts.
Below are 2 main tools that that you use in your business to create landing pages:
  • ·         LeadPages – This is a platform designed to help you create landing pages fast, it takes care of the hosting and integrates with WordPress while allowing you to download HTML to use with other systems.
  • ·         Thrive Architect – This is a WordPress plugin that allows you to create custom page/post layouts. It comes with plenty of landing pages templates and integrates with most popular email providers.


23 – Add targeted notification bars to your content
You’ve probably seen these. A slim call to action stretching across the top (or the bottom) of the browser. These are sometimes called notification bars, or ribbons. And you can add them easily with opt-in form plugins like Thrive Leads. This provides an easy way to get traffic to your landing pages.
This also works well because you can target specific pages to make sure your calls to action are hyper-relevant. You can also split test them to boost your conversions further.
19 – The incredible ‘content upgrade’ technique
The idea behind a content upgrade is that you offer your readers a post-specific bonus that is completely tailored to your blog post. This works best when used with a 2 step opt-in process, where a link is clicked and then a popover is displayed on the page.
Ideas to create your own content upgrade
There are plenty of types of content you can use here:
·         Checklist based on your post.
·         PDF version of your post.
·         List of relevant resources/tools.
·         2 part blog post (2nd part downloadable after opt-in).

There are plenty more things you could do here, but the great thing is that you have a valuable opportunity to spend slightly longer on your blog posts and repurpose them into another content type or create something 100% exclusive.
If you don’t have a content upgrade ready, you could offer your readers the option to get the next post in a series which follows on from the one they are reading
Tools to help you setup content upgrades
Needless to say, content upgrades can be tricky to offer unless you have the right tools to help you. When you have the right tools you generally avoid the technical headache that would be involved in setting something like this up with your email provider.
You can use the LeadBoxes feature from LeadPages to handle the clickable popover and also deliver the content upgrade via email in the past. It’s easy to use and you don’t have to use WordPress.
20 – Give away products to build your list
Giving away products is a great way to build your email list. The problem is that securing a big ticket product which people would love to win can be a challenge and there are hoops to jump through. I’m not saying you should put up something crazy. Think about the products in your niche that people desperately want to get their hands-on and look at putting some budget aside.
Before trying this, you should consider whether this will be worthwhile for you – a tactic like this makes most sense when your email list is monetized.
21 – Use a quiz with a twist
There are some great tools that, offer the ability to run quizzes and build an email list, such as Thrive Quiz Builder but the opt-in form is usually presented after the quiz has been completed.
Which is a good thing because you’ll likely get higher conversions when the opt-in form is presented at the end of the quiz.
22 – Launch your own product
Many bloggers and entrepreneurs will tell you that the moment when they launch their own product is the moment when their list skyrockets. You will always get the best results when you create something that solves a core problem that your audience is facing.Creating an information product is the most straight forward way to get started and there are plenty of platforms that can help you sell information products online. For example:
  •         DPD
  •          Gumroad
  •          SendOwl


22 – Re-purpose your content upgrades as Slideshare presentations
You can make those content upgrades go further by re-purposing them into Slide Share Presentation and linking back to your original blog post.
Slideshare is a great way to tap into a new group of targeted readers and because the traffic you get will be highly targeted and already value what you have to say, they will be more likely to opt-in to download your content upgrade.
23 – Guest post to build your email list
Contributing to popular blogs within your niche is a great way to increase your authority and become visible. It can be a good way to get traffic if you contribute to the right sites.
The problem is that most people miss a trick when they start guest blogging. Instead of just linking to your home page, try linking to a relevant landing page within your author bio. Conversion rates are generally high because anyone clicking on your link wants more information from you.
24– Get more eye-balls on your landing pages with paid traffic
Paid traffic is one of the most sustainable ways to scale up your email list. I recommend that you have a way of monetizing your list in order for you to recoup the money spent on advertisements or turn it into a decent profit. There are plenty of platforms you can use for paid traffic which include:
  •         Google AdWords
  •          Bing Ads
  •         Facebook
  •         Twitter
  •          Reddit
  •          Linkedin


25 – Host a webinar to build your list
Most webinars are horrible pitch fests that offer no value. Don’t do that. Run a webinar that offers value and you will gain valuable email subscribers that will respect you more. These work well because they are time-sensitive so people are compelled to sign up because they don’t want to miss out on some valuable information.
In the past, you used to pay insane monthly subscriptions to services like GoToWebinar but thankfully you won’t have to do that anymore. This is all down to Google Hangout allows you to stream to unlimited participants. You will need another tool to help you integrate with your autoresponder and give you the regular webinar features, but they are far cheaper.
26 – Use Lead Generation Cards to grow your list with Twitter
One of the things that can sometimes stop people signing up is having to fill in their details when they sign up to your list. Using Twitter’s Lead Generation Cards, you will give the ability for people to sign up to your list with a single click.
You can attach these Twitter Cards to any of your Tweets, but the only downside is that you have to send your tweet from with the Twitter ads admin. You don’t have to spend money on ads, these are completely free and you can gain more visibility by pinning a tweet with your Twitter Card to your profile page.
27 – Use YouTube videos to build your list
If you’re into video, you can use YouTube to build your list. There are a few ways to do this, for example, Noah Kagan uses a link to a landing page in his video descriptions. The landing page is tailored specifically for people coming from YouTube. One of the best ways to get more email subscribers is to optimize your opt-in forms and landing pages.
You can also use your analytics to find which content types are performing best and which promotional channels are referring to the most subscribers. You can leverage this information to grow your list.
28 – Split test your opt-in forms
You need to split test your opt-in forms in order to figure out exactly what combination of design, copy and offer work best for your audience. Before you start split testing you should consider what you think could improve conversions and then test it out.
Often minor tweaks can result in decent conversion increases; I’ve found that just changing one the elements of the design like a button color can yield significant results. Ultimately it comes down to what you are offering your readers and how that offer is framed, the more relevant and the higher the perceived value the better.
29 – Split test your landing pages
We’ve talked a lot about landing pages. They work well because they are hyper-focused and generally speaking, most traffic generation methods result in highly targeted visitors.
They will convert well if the design, copy and offer is up to scratch but you can always optimize them further. Similar to what I mentioned for optimizing your opt-in forms, you will need to come up with an initial hypothesis of what you think could improve conversions.
Remember that best practice will give you a head start but different audiences can react in various ways to the exact same thing.
29 – Identify which traffic sources are delivering the most subscribers
In order to grow your email list (or improve your marketing in general) is to find what works and do more of it. A great way of doing this is finding which of your traffic sources are delivering the highest conversion rates.
How to do this: click on ‘acquisition’ and then click ‘channels’.
You will then be able to select your conversion goal on the right-hand side:
When you look at your referrals, you can find out exactly which sites are sending you traffic.
So, if you’ve written a guest post for a particular site and notice an influx of conversions, it’s safe to say that it’s worth contributing there again.
Similarly, you can identify which blogs aren’t sending you any traffic or subscribers – it’s a a good thing to know because you should always look to prioritize your efforts.

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