Category Archives for "Work Life Balance"

Email Marketing vs Social Media – Campaign Monitor

In this article we take a look at both email marketing campaigns and social media campaigns to determine which provides the best return on investment.

Read the full article at: www.campaignmonitor.com

Are you investing in the wrong area? Take a look at this side by side comparison: It’s not email marketing vs. social media – they both most certainly have their place and BOTH are vital to the success of 90% of online business strategies.

If your business is generating leads online, I suggest you start your conversations on email, but always lead prospects back to your website. Websites are where most ‘conversions’ take place. Conversions are where your prospective customers buy your product / service or sign up to your email list.

Again, it’s not one vs. the other, what the article stresses, is the importance of ensuring we invest time and energy in building our email list, and not spending a dis-proportionate amount of time on social media. 

How to Find Your Optimal Work Environment and Boost Productivity – The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work – Zapier

There’s no shortage of productivity articles to read or techniques to try, but I’ve realized lately that optimal productivity comes in different states for everyone. Not only are some of us morning larks and others night owls, some of us need to move around a lot, others find a standing desk works best, and some of us work to music while others need silence.

The most important thing I’ve recently come to understand about productivity is that embracing what works for me (once I know what that is) is the best way to get more done. If you’re struggling to improve your own workflows, here are three areas to start experimenting with.

Read the full article at: zapier.com

Many of us work best in the morning, some work better late at night, Some like their office hot, and others like their office cool…

The concept of a workplace is evolving from the industrial 9-5 routine, and increasingly, employees or business owners work more away from the office.

Whether you are in an open-office, or you work from a home office, it’s important to find your own rhythm and establish what works for you in order to be productive.

Another factor to consider, is that it’s not just about working set hours – increasingly, it’s about using your time productively.

If possible, make moves to create a work space and your working hours fit your personality. You will see better productivity and results.

The Periodic Table Of SEO Success Factors

“Search engine optimisation — SEO — may seem like alchemy to the uninitiated. But there is a science to it. Search engines reward pages with the right combination of ranking factors or “signals.” SEO is about ensuring your content generates the right type of signals.

Our chart above summarises the major factors to focus on for search engine ranking success (and thanks to Column Five Media, for the infographic design).”

Read the full article at: searchengineland.com

If you’re new to online marketing, this chart might not mean much to you. If, like myself, you work with businesses that want to acquire new customers online, then this infographic about SEO factors is gold (I’m going to stick it on my wall)!

It’s great to see elements such as Social Shares, Trust and User Location are included in this image.

For those of you that understand this, make the most of this resource! Those of you who don’t get it, don’t worry – I will be making more entry level resources available to grow your business online. 

Summary: How to Win Friends & Influence People

Looking for a comprehensive, easy-to-read summary of the best-selling book, How to Win Friends and Influence People? This guide (or PDF) summarizes it all.

Read the full article at: www.getsidekick.com

I read this book at 19 years old on a Singapore Airlines flight when I left NZ to travel to the Netherlands. I can say with confidence that it changed my life.

Now you can read a summary of the book right here in one PDF (got to love the internet for that)!

Here are some key points from the book:

“Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes them strive to justify themselves.”

“The world is full of people who are grabbing and self-seeking. So the rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous advantage. He has little competition.”

“[Socrates] kept on asking questions until finally, almost without realising it, his opponents found themselves embracing a conclusion they would have bitterly denied a few minutes previously.“
“Beginning with praise is like the dentist who begins his work with Novocain. The patient still gets a drilling, but the Novocain kills the pain.”

I hope you find this post as useful as I did. Maybe pass it on to a person starting out in business, or someone younger than you. I’d love to hear how this book affected you.

Don’t Ignore Your Header Images [Social Media Tip]

Almost every social media network now provides header or cover image options. Header images are like billboards on your profiles, so don’t ignore this prime real estate.

Read the full article at: www.dharilo.com

Here’s an important tip from #Dharilo: Header images are prime real estate. They are the first thing your audience sees, so use them wisely! A beautiful, or informative image captivates your audience and lets them know about your brand.

My favourite tips for header banners:

– Highlight a new product: For example, if you are offering  new product or special offer, make sure your header banner highlights this

– Change it: Every time you change your banner that news is placed on your audiences news feed. This makes it a great way to promote your business.

– Make sure your header banners are consistent across social media channels (and your website).

My tip: If you want to quickly and easily design a new header banner, check out www.canva.com It’s a free online design tool, and Canva provides templates for header banners.

What’s the best header banner you’ve seen?

 

7 Email Hacks That’ll Turn You Into an Insanely Productive Entrepreneur [Infographic]

In this exclusive infographic from serial entrepreneur and bestselling author, Chris Ducker, you’ll pick up email hacks that’ll catapult your productivity!

Read the full article at: www.chrisducker.com

Q: Who gets fed up with email? A: Most busy and productive people! I’ve used a number of these techniques to help me deal with ‘Inbox Overwhelm’. 

My favourites:

One

Unsubscribe from email lists you don’t read. You’re not doing yourself or the other business a favour by not reading those emails (it fills your inbox and lowers their open rate)!

Five (and Seven)

Use a Project Management System – don’t use your inbox as a to-do list. I personally recommend Asana. It’s free and it’s easy to use. I literally forward tasks from my inbox to Asana, and tick them off as they’re done. I even pay invoices this way.

With these tips in mind, you should find more time in your day to get on with business!

If you like the post, please share and help other people to become remarkable!

Mentors Are The Secret Weapons Of Successful Startups

Written by Rhett Morris (@rhettmorris)

Editor’s note: Rhett Morris is the director of Endeavor Insight, the research arm of Endeavor, a nonprofit that supports high-impact entrepreneurs across the world.

“I’ve probably revised this investor pitch deck 200 times,” a founder told me

Read the full article at: www.theicehouse.co.nz

Interesting to note from this study, the difference effective business mentors can make to your business.

I’m about to enter a business mentoring programme myself, partly assisted by NZ Trade & Enterprise Capability Fund. Obviously mentoring is proven as a vital part of growing the capabilities of NZ businesses.


“Entrepreneurs often spend hundreds of hours raising funds from angel and venture capital investors. While these activities are clearly important, analysis of new data on startups suggests that founders should also dedicate significant time to something that many people overlook: recruiting great mentors. This simple strategy can increase a company’s odds of success more than almost anything else.”

Integrate SEO and Social Media with Content Marketing – 5 simple hacks

“In today’s age of ubiquitous connectivity, many small businesses have implemented a variety of online marketing efforts to attract new customers and increase overall sales. Unfortunately, results can vary significantly because tools are only as good as the expertise of the person using them.

The lure of the “next big thing” can create online marketing inefficiencies when small business owners try to be a marketing “jack of all trades and master to none”.

Content marketing growth statistics:

  • Google sites handle about 100 billion searches each month (SEL)
  • YouTube hosts nearly 14 billion videos (comScore)
  • Facebook is now over 1 billion users (Mark Zuckerberg)
  • Google+ has over 500 million users (Google)
  • Twitter has over 550 million accounts (Statistics Brain)
  • LinkedIn is at 225 million users (LinkedIn)
  • Pinterest grew 4,377% in 2012 and continues to expand with 25 million users (TechCrunch)

Small business owners, employees and their customers use various social networking sites personally so in many cases the platforms are familiar. As a result, more small business marketers are starting to use Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to attract new customers and engage those customers they already have.

Read the full article at: www.linkedin.com

Sound advice: Use your blog as a hub  for your social media posts. I especially appreciate Karol’s insight that social media may be more popular than email marketing, but email is far from dead!