Tips

9 Local Lead Generation Tips Every Entrepreneur Needs

Are you located in a city with tons of viable consumers, yet barely any of them have purchased from you?

Sounds like you need to develop your local lead generation. Local marketing strategies online and in person can make a world of difference in building your local leads and sales.

Luckily, it doesn’t take a genius to implement marketing strategies for local businesses. It’s relatively simple to learn and seriously impacts your business.

Ready to get started? Keep reading to find out the 9 best local lead generation tips you need to know.

1. Updated Information Online

Google My Business is an incredibly useful tool you should be taking advantage of. Create your business’s page and ensure all the info is up to date.

Include your current address, phone number, store hours, photos of your store space, and a link to your website.

When customers do “near me” searches, they are almost always looking for a local business. Having a completed and updated Google My Business page will enable you to show up in near-me search results.

2. Collect Reviews

In addition to creating your business page on Google, you need to start encouraging customers to leave positive reviews.

When potential customers find your business in the search results, seeing lots of positive reviews and testimonies from past clients will make them feel safer with you. Positive reviews make your business seem reliable, trustworthy, and welcoming.

To encourage customers to leave a 5-star review, you could offer a 10% off discount to each customer who leaves one. That incentivizes them to leave a review and to become a return customer.

3. Local Website Content

Your website needs to have a blog section when you can utilize city-specific keywords in your content.

Use the Google Keyword Planner to see what people are searching for in your niche and in your city. Then, incorporate those keywords into your blog posts, page titles, URLs, and meta-descriptions.

It’s smart to use phrases that people specifically in your city use. For example, rather than calling Toronto by its name, occasionally call it the GTA or the 6ix in your content because that’s what local Torontonians call their city.

Add a promotional video to your content as well. Video marketing is quickly becoming more popular with consumers because of its entertainment value and lack of effort required from the viewer.

4. Mobile Optimization

Did you know that nearly 60% of searches are done from a mobile phone?

If your website isn’t optimized to be viewed from a mobile phone then you are going to miss out on a lot of potential customers.

Consider using a responsive configuration on your website so that regardless of what device it’s being looked at from, it will automatically adjust to the viewer’s screen.

Also, check that your mobile page load time is fast enough. People searching on their phone are not going to wait more than a couple seconds for your website to load before going back to the results and choosing your competitor.

5. Voice Optimization

With the creation of Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa, more and more households are using these devices for local searches.

Busy parents who don’t have time to hop on the computer might ask Alexa, “What is the best kid-friendly restaurant in Cincinnati?”. If you have a kid-friendly restaurant in Cincinnati, you better be optimizing your website to show up in those voice results.

Since people use full question queries in their voice searches, include full answers on your website. An FAQ page is a great place to answer these common voice search questions.

6. Referrals from Other Local Websites

Getting exposure on other local websites is an excellent way to build awareness and tap into that website’s followers.

Consider advertising in the local newspaper or joining local organizations and the chamber of commerce. You should also join local Facebook groups in your niche to capture interest online.

7. Social Media

You should have a page for your business on all the main social media platforms. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ are the main ones to consider.

Ensure your information on each page is accurate and a link to your website is given. Then, create posts that provide value to your local customers.

You could even offer a promo code or discount for subscribers and followers only, providing an incentive for them to follow you and shop with you.

When using hashtags, always include 1-2 city-specific ones that people in your city might use. For example, if you run a bar downtown use the hashtag “#ManhattanBarHopping” to attract people that will want to try out your bar in your area.

If you’re a newbie to social media marketing, this website can help you get started.

8. Run Facebook Ads

One great reason to pay for Facebook ads is that you can not only target your specific location, but you can narrow it down further to only include locals in a specific demographic and with interests that align with your business.

It’s an awesome way to attract your ideal customers from the pool.

Facebook ads are one of the lead generation tools that can also increase your website’s traffic if the ad links back to your site. You could use this link to take customers to a promotions page.

9. Local Influencers

Seek out local bloggers, YouTubers, and social media influencers that are in your industry or can benefit from your products/services.

To garner their audience’s interest, consider paying the influencer for a review of your products/services, or offer them an affiliate link. You could also give them a promo code that gives their followers a discount at your store.

If you can build a relationship with relevant influencers, you could potentially advertise and be endorsed by all their followers.

Interested in Learning More About Local Lead Generation?

Marketing to your local customer base is an integral part of growing your business. Leaving local lead generation out of your marketing strategy is a mistake.

If you’re interested in learning more about digital marketing, check out our online business blog section.

Writing Income Down This Month? Try These 5 Tips to Make More Money Online

Writing is a labor of love.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always pay the bills. Even the earnings of professional authors sometimes fall below minimum wage.

If you’re struggling to make enough money through writing alone, there are other ways to top your income and make more money online. In this post, we’ll give you 5 of the best ones.

How to Make More Money Online

Use these resources to fill any gaps in your online income.

1. Sell Items Online

eBay has always been an excellent platform for selling products online.

You can use it to sell unwanted items you have laying around the house, or even start your own eBay business.

If you have any designer clothes that you no longer wear, use Joli Closet to sell them at a high price.

Creative types can make items to sell on Etsy, too. The website generates around 440 million dollars every year. Create an account and get a slice of that revenue for yourself.

2. Use Fiverr and Upwork

If you’re not getting enough work from your current clients, Fiverr and Upwork are excellent places to find new ones.

On these sites, you can pick up jobs quickly, packing your paycheck just in time for payday.

You only have to create a profile and pitch your services at a reasonable price. Competition is high, so make your profile as unique as possible.

3. Teach English

Teaching English as a second language isn’t just for backpackers and graduate students. You can do it online from home, too.

You don’t have to be a qualified teacher. Most online teaching companies only require you to complete a TEFL course, which you can do in just three weeks.

There’s minimal preparation involved; the teaching company provides all the materials for you. All you need to do is connect to your students via Skype (or a similar platform), and guide them through the lesson.

4. Complete Surveys

Plenty of marketing companies offer money to complete surveys.

It’s quick and easy, and all you have to do is answer questions. You have to make sure you do it honestly, though. These companies value quality feedback. If you only click through surveys without thinking, you could be banned.

5. Use Mechanical Turk

Mechanical Turk is a ‘market for human intelligence,’ created by Amazon.

Both businesses and individuals can pay you to perform simple tasks. The idea is that humans can carry out these tasks more quickly and efficiently than computers can.

These tasks can involve research, data entry, finding images for blogs, translation, and more. Take a look at what Mechanical Turk has to offer and find something for you.

Increase Your Productivity

When you’re a writer, productivity is everything.

It’s the key to your income. Any time you spend procrastinating or waiting around will eventually become a drain on your wallet.

By increasing your productivity, you can not only make more money online but also free up more time to do the things you enjoy. To find out how to do that, read our post on productivity hacks for writers.

10 Website Promotion Tips For Your Online Dispensary

If you’re selling cannabis online, you need the right website promotion tips to be competitive.

Even if you sell out of a brick-and-mortar store, website promotion is the key to getting new customers to come through the door. And if you sell only online, you’ll need a way to get those customers to buy from you and not your competitors.

These 10 website promotion tips will get you sell on your way to running a thriving online dispensary. Read on to learn what you need to know.

1. Do Your Research

Before you can implement a winning website promotion strategy, you’ll need to spend some time on research.

You already know what your market is – cannabis. However, within that market, you need to know what your niche is. Who exactly are you selling to, and what exactly are you selling them?

The more you can set your business apart and target a specific audience, the more successful your online promotion will be. For example, you might be selling cannabis for medical purposes or recreational purposes. You might be selling to an educated, older audience, or a younger audience who is less interested in research.

The more research you do, the more you can target your promotion efforts for success.

2. Have a Great Logo

The more your logo will stand out, the more recognizable your company becomes online.

Even if you already have a logo, sometimes a redesign is best to stay competitive. Many dispensary logos can start to look the same – how many different versions of the weed leaf have you seen in logos?

Check out this website – their logo uses a weed leaf in a creative, abstract way that stands out.

Find ways to make your logo stand out from the crowd. You might try an unexpected color, or a clever double-entendre symbol. Think about your target audience, and decide on the best way to catch their eye.

3. Post Videos

Videos are a great way to promote your online dispensary. This is one of the best ways to reach modern audiences and tell the stories that they care about.

You can post videos directly on your website, and you should also share them on your social media pages to draw people to your site. From short videos that tell your story to longer, live updates, high-quality video is a great way to capture the attention you want.

4. Get Social

In addition to posting videos on social media, you should maintain an active, well-rounded social media campaign.

Many people find out about new businesses on social media. Being active on the social sites your customers use is a great way to get them onto your site. You can also use social media to interact with your customers, giving a sense of your brand’s “personality.”

5. Simplify Your Site

It’s important for websites to be attractive and easy to navigate. After all, if a customer has been enjoying your products and wants to come back for more, you don’t want using your site to become an obstacle for them.

Is your website cluttered and confusing, or is it clean and easy to navigate? How quickly will they be able to find what they’re looking for?

No matter who your target audience is, a clean website that’s pleasant to look at will go a long way. Use limited colors and plenty of blank space to draw the eye to the places you want.

6. Optimize for Mobile

It’s not enough to have a site that looks good on laptops and desktops. Your site also needs to be optimized for mobile phones, tablets, and anything else that customers might use to search.

Mobile-optimized sites will change to fit the screen no matter what device someone uses. They’ll be easy to navigate by changing to fit any form, so users on a phone or another device won’t run into obstacles when they visit your site.

7. Offer Promotions

A great way to get visitors to your site is to offer a promotion.

Use marketing materials to alert them to special deals, such as a discount for first-time customers. You might even offer free swag with a purchase – many marijuana customers love a well-design t-shirt or lighter.

After a few successful promotions, you may actually want to branch out and build an online store to sell merch. This can bring in a new stream of revenue and provides a new way to attract site visitors.

8. Ask for Customer Feedback

One of the best ways to find out if your website promotion is working is to hear from the customers yourself.

Add an easy-to-use contact form to your site. Ask them to review their experience after making a purchase. Interact with customers on social media to get a feel for what they think of the site.

Interacting with your customers and making changes based on what they say also shows them that you care about providing them with the best experience, which is likely to turn them into loyal customers.

9. Use SEO

Search engine optimization is crucial for all businesses, including online dispensaries. If you don’t optimize for search, potential customers won’t even be able to find your site in the first place.

SEO uses formatting, keywords, and other strategies to help customers find your site based on what they type into a search engine. With SEO, your site will be more likely to show up at the top of the search.

10. Use Animated Ads

Online ads are a great way to share the word about your online business. Animated, moving ads are an even better choice.

People spend so much time online that they get desensitized to online images. A moving image, however, is much more likely to get attention.

How Will You Use Website Promotion for Your Business?

With these 10 strategies, you’ll be well on your way to successful website promotion for your online dispensary.

How do you plan to use website promotion to grow your cannabis business? Leave a comment and let us know which strategies you’re going to try!

5 Tips to Help Choose Your Travel Clothing Wisely

As the world changes, the urge to hit the road or take to the skies keeps increases, and for good reason.

With the influx of negative news stories and social media posts, it is easy to feel like you don’t have anything in common with people who are different from you. Travel changes that perspective, and gives you an opportunity to see a place and a culture you couldn’t have experienced otherwise.

Of course, before you can go anywhere new, you have to face one of the most difficult aspects of traveling: packing!

Packing the right travel clothing can be difficult. You don’t want to bring too much and weigh your suitcase down, but you also don’t want to bring too little and appear unprepared.

Below, we’re sharing five packing tips that will help you ensure you carry the right travel clothing to your new destination.  Read on to learn more!

1. Consider the Weather

Fashion might be important to you in your everyday life, but when you’re thinking about travel clothing, comfort is key.

You’re going to be walking around exploring a new place, so you want to pack clothes that will be right for the elements. Do some research beforehand on what the weather is going to be like during your trip.

One item to bring no matter what the forecast says? A lightweight rain jacket, just in case.

2. Bring Sturdy Clothes

The last thing you want on a long trip is a delicate item that you can only wear once before having to take it to the dry cleaners. Expensive items and fancier materials are better left at home.

Instead, opt for articles of clothing that you know you can wear several times without washing, and that will be easy to clean when you get home.

3. Do a Wardrobe Refresh

One of the best ways to get excited about an upcoming trip is to buy new clothes and accessories that you’ll debut once you reach your destination.

Set a reasonable shopping budget, and start looking for new items that will fit in well with your vacation location. A site like https://www.kledingafterpay.nl/ is a good place to look, because they have everything from laptop bags to blazers to necklaces, all for a reasonable price.

4. Consider the Culture

If you’re traveling somewhere to explore a new culture, you want to make sure that you’re being respectful of the local customs. Styles and dress codes are not the same everywhere in the world, and that’s something you should be aware of.

There are a lot of resources online for finding out the appropriate dress for different locations, so do some research beforehand.

5. Pick a Color Scheme

If you’re worried about fitting everything into a carry-on bag, it can be helpful to pick a color scheme. White and black, for example, is always classic. Or you may want to be a little bolder, and pack neon colors.

Whatever you choose, matching all your clothes and accessories to that color scheme can help you save space.

Read to Start Prepping Travel Clothing?

No matter where in the world you’re going for your next vacation, you want to make sure you’re prepared with the right outfits and accessories.

These tips will help you remember to pack everything you need. For more helpful tips, please contact us at any time.

10 Tips on What Makes a Good Website Design

These days, an online presence is an essential part of running a successful business.

It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to sell products online or just want to make sure people can find you. Either way, you need to make sure your website has a good design and is easy to find.

If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to designing a website, keep reading.

Listed below are ten great tips to help you figure out what makes a good website design.

What Makes a Good Website Design?

It’s easier than ever to put together a website for business or personal use. But, in order for your website to really be effective, a good design is key.

These ten tips will help you answer the question “what makes a good website design?” once and for all.

1. Fast Load Times

Whether your business offers medical supplies or antique furniture reproductions, fast load times are essential.

If your website takes forever to load (in this case, forever means more than a couple seconds), people are going to go elsewhere.

Fast load times also improve your search engine ranking, which makes it easier for people to find your site.

2. Easy Navigation

Visitors don’t want to waste time figuring out how to navigate your website.

Make sure it has a clear, obvious layout with an easy-to-locate menu, obvious navigation categories, and a search bar.

3. Use an “F” Pattern

Another way to make your site easier to navigate is to arrange your content in an “F” shape.

Eye-tracking studies have found that people tend to scan a page in an “F” shape.

This means that they pay attention primarily to what’s shown in the top left portion of the screen. Information that’s located on the right side or bottom of the page often gets skipped.

Take advantage of people’s natural tendencies and make sure the most important information is located in the top left quadrant.

4. Keep it Simple

Clutter is unprofessional and uninviting. If you have a million images and icons on your site, it will be harder for visitors to find what they’re looking for. It also will decrease your site’s load times.

Before you add anything to your site, ask yourself what purpose it serves. If you’re not sure, leave it out.

5. Use the Right Font and Font Size

All the information on your site needs to be easily readable. Both the font and the font size that you use will help with this.

Look for fonts that are clear and easy-to-read.

Focus on simplicity and clarity; don’t look for anything fancy or overly stylized. Avoid using a variety of fonts, too. Stick to just one or two complimentary styles for a cohesive look.

You also should avoid using anything smaller than a 16-pixel font size. Sixteen is typically considered the bare minimum for text. Don’t make visitors squint to see what you have to say!

6. Make it Mobile-Friendly

Google recently announced its mobile-first index in response to the increase in the number of who are using their smartphone or tablet browser to visit websites.

This means that Google’s algorithms will start using the mobile version of a website’s content for rankings.

If your website isn’t set up to be viewed on mobile devices, you’re setting yourself up for failure in the SEO world.

A mobile-friendly device will adapt and rearrange itself so that it’s easy to view on a smaller screen. It will also be easy to use on any device, not just a desktop computer.

7. Make Your Contact Information Obvious

Don’t make visitors hunt for your contact information. Include your email address, phone number, and any other information you want people to have in an obvious location.

Ideally, this information should be available on every page of your website. And, you should have a separate contact page as well where people can email you directly.

8. Annotate Your Links

Don’t just use the words “click here” for your anchor text. It may seem like a smart move for getting people to click on your links. But, in reality, people need to know exactly what they’re clicking on.

Help your readers out. Start annotating your links so that people know where they’re going and what they’ll find when they get there.

This practice also helps visitors who are blind or have poor vision and may be using a screen reader. These devices allow them to skip from link to link to get an idea of what’s on the page. If your site is full of “click here” links, blind visitors will have a hard time figuring out what your site is all about.

9. Use the Right Colors

The colors you use when designing your website can make a huge difference to visitors’ experience.

When you’re trying to figure out what makes a good website design, you should think about the message you want to send with your color choices.

Visitors tend to associate certain colors with different emotions. For example, blue often signifies trust, while grey signifies professionalism.

In addition to choosing colors that send the right message to your visitors, you should also be sure to use colors in a way that makes your site easier to read.

Contrasting colors for the text and background make text easier to read. And, vibrant colors help draw attention to important elements (like a call-to-action button).

10. Use Images to Your Advantage

Pictures help you establish your brand and connect with your audience. But, they need to be high-quality, professional photos. Blurry snapshots won’t cut it.

If you don’t have any high-quality photos to use, you may want to consider investing in stock photos to give your site a professional feel.

Infographics and videos are also great for communicating complex ideas in a simple way.

Visitors often prefer these options to reading a large block of text, too.

Want to Learn More?

You now know more about what makes a good website design. But, do you feel like there’s still more to learn?

Check out some of our other web design-related articles to improve your skills even more. With our help, you’ll be a web design expert before you know it!

4 Tips for an Effective Website Development Project Plan

Are you designing a website for an important client? Maybe you’ve got a great idea and you want to bring it to life.

Whatever the reason for creating an online site, it’s always going to be a process. It can be a slog, but it doesn’t have to be.

Benjamin Franklin, undoubtedly one of the wisest of the founding fathers, said: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”. Before you promise anything to your client or write your first line of code, you need a plan in place.

We’ve got four essential tips for the ultimate website development project plan. Follow along and you’ll have the tools you need to create a website with minimum problems!

1) Begin At The End, With The Finished Product

Before you start, make sure you understand what the end looks like. How can you deliver a product without knowing what the end result is supposed to look like?

Your website development project plan needs to include a detailed roadmap of everything that is expected of you and your team.

Don’t skimp on the details! Make sure everything is outlined and clearly stated.

2) Communication Is Key

Whether it’s between you and your client or your team, clear communication is a must. Communication ensures you’re on the same page and working towards the same goals.

Almost 50% of employees leave a meeting without knowing what their next step is. Does that sound like you and your crew?

Make sure roles are clearly defined, make your deadlines explicit, and make sure you keep your door open.

3) Take It For A Test Drive

You have your checklist of what’s needed. You’ve been working in harmony with your client and your crew every step of the way.

It’s time to take your site for a test drive. Go over what you’ve got so far and see if you’re still moving in the right direction.

Needs change, visions evolve, and promises might have to bend but not break. If push comes to shove, you can always bring in a third party, like Slickplan, to help put the finishing touches on your project.

4) The End – And Beyond

Think your job is done the moment you hand your site over to the client to fill with creative content? Nope!

Your website development project plan has to include a post-site rundown. Here’s a list of crucial questions to ask yourself as soon as your project is finished:

• What went right? What are your team’s strengths?
• What could have gone better? Find out what your weaknesses are and work on them
• How can you create a more efficient workflow from your findings?

As you can see, the end isn’t the end – it’s just the beginning of the next phase.

Implement Your Website Development Project Plan

With these four tips, you can’t fail. You’ll be able to craft the ultimate website development project plan and grow more efficient.

Once you and your team are running like a well-oiled machine, you’ll be able to expand your business and capabilities.

Want to read more must-know tips and tricks? Check our blog often – we update it with the latest information!

7 Tips for Marketing Your Travel Agency

What is the point of a travel agency?

This is the important question that you have to answer with your travel agency marketing.

Many people are surprised to find out that travel agencies still exist. After all, with the internet, many vacations, hotels, and flights are booked online. Where would anyone need a travel agency?

However, the truth is that there are many reasons why travel agencies continue to be an essential part of the travel and vacation industry.

How do you arrange a trip to South East Asia, with a tour guide, a driver, all-inclusive catering, accommodation and travel insurance without the help of an agency?

With these 7 travel agency marketing tips you can demonstrate to the media and vacation-goers the crucial role you have to play in making travel an incredible experience.

1. Establish Who is Your Customer

You can’t design a marketing strategy without establishing who your customers are. This needs to go beyond simply demographic information, such as; male, young and high-earning. You need to consider what motivates your customers when they’re searching and planning travel.

Once you’ve determined who’s your customer, you can start to design your overall travel agency marketing strategy around this type of customer. This means everything from the design of your website, to how you develop your marketing campaigns.

2. Re-think the Design of Your Website

Let’s talk some more about website design. Your website is likely to be the first impression customers have with your travel agency, so make it count. Make sure your website is user-friendly with an appropriate design that appeals to your target customer.

It’s important to make sure your website can be accessed by smartphones and tablets, as well as, laptops and computers. If a user is unable to browse your site with ease, they probably won’t give you another chance.

Track the visits to your site using Google Analytics. This way you can monitor visitors number and how users interact with your site. This information is valuable for your travel agency, and you should adapt your marketing strategy in response to the data.

The final tip when it comes to your company website is to always remember to keep your website information and news up to date. There’s nothing worse than finding a company website with out of date information.

3. Use Social Media Effectively

Social media is an inexpensive way for travel agency marketing. You need to consider which social media platforms you’re going to use, and also, establish a strategy for targeting your potential customers.

There are many social media platforms to choose from, such as; Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. However, the most effective is probably Facebook.

Facebook is a great network for promoting your travel agency because so many travelers use it to share photos and videos of their experiences. Tag travelers in your posts and comment on their photos to drive traffic to your site. You can also create events to get users interested in your company.

4. Make use of Email Marketing

One of the smartest things you can do as a company is to develop a database of emails from potential customers.

All you have to do is include a “signing up” subscription form on your website to get the emails flowing in. You can further tempt visitors by offering an opportunity to subscribe to an email newsletter, this way you can communicate directly with your target customer.

A great newsletter means thinking carefully about how often you send out the email, what content to include and what to leave out, as well as, the overall tone. If you produce a good newsletter, you’ll have users sharing it on their social media accounts. This generates more leads and drives traffic to your site.

5. Profit From Online Advertising

Have you tried out Google Adwords and Retargeting?

While banner advertisements and pay-per-click advertisements have significant disadvantages, there is much to be gained from online advertising.

In contrast to promoting content and products that have no relation to your visitors, you can promote products that your visitors are actually interested in. This includes products related to travel such as design a postcard.

The only downside is that Google Adwords is complicated, you may require professional assistance to carry it out successfully.

6. Create Engaging Video Content

While reading content about travel and vacations can get you excited for your upcoming break, there’s nothing as effective as a video to really get you hooked.

Inspire your customers to explore new destinations by creating videos. Creating travel videos is an inexpensive way to engage your visitors in what your travel agency has to offer.

All you have to do is set up a Youtube channel and start to video. You can include anything from how-to-guides, customer reviews and examples of tours.

Make sure you keep them short and sweet. Plus, include subtitles so that users can view them on their smartphone whenever they want.

7. Start a Blog

People love reading blogs about travel. If you can create a blog that offers visitors valuable and unique information communicated in an interesting and engaging manner you can drive further traffic to your site.

Your blog can include guest posts by customers who have recently experienced one of your once in a lifetime tours, or vacation reps who have expert knowledge about a particular destination or activity.

Your blog should become a key part of your travel agency marketing strategy. And always end with a “call to action” to get your readers to research, plan or book with you.

Tips for Travel Agency Marketing

With these 7 travel agency marketing tips you can take the first step towards building your company’s marketing strategy. The competition in the travel industry is fierce, but with a smart and effective marketing strategy, you can make sure you pull in customers.

To learn more about how to run a travel-related website, check out our blog on writing for a travel adventure blog.

Tips on Finding the Perfect Prom Dress

Finding the perfect dress for any special occasion can be a challenge. But, finding that one of a kind prom dress that fits like a glove and matches the night you’ve been dreaming of since the first day of high school can be an especially daunting task.

If you want to find a prom dress that lives up to your expectations, you’d better get started early.

There’s nothing like waiting until the last minute, ripping through what’s left at your local mall, and walking away with a disappointing prom pick. If you aren’t 100% satisfied with your ensemble, it’s going to show.

This is one night you want to feel confident and look great. And it will be here before you know it.

Will you be ready when your big day arrives?

Read on for tips on finding the prom dress that’s perfect for you!

5 Tips to Help You Find the Perfect Prom Dress

1. Shop for Styles that Flatter Your Figure

One of the biggest mistakes that girls make when shopping for a prom dress is choosing a style that doesn’t match their body type. A dress that looks beautiful on the rack, and great on your best friend, can still be a style disaster for you.

Know what looks best on your figure before you hit the racks. These shape-conscious pointers will keep you focused on the dresses that flatter you most so you won’t waste time on those that don’t:

If you’re blessed with a booty-full body type, with wider hips and not so much up top, avoid dresses that accentuate your bottom half.

What to steer clear of? Drop waist and straight dresses. The line at the waist will add inches and a straight design that fits your top might pull at the waist and hug hips too tightly.

Instead, try a two tone dress that’s top half is a blousy, silk material in a sherbet shade (think light peach, or pale blue) and a high waisted dark (a la pencil skirt) on your bottom half. Glam, sexy, and figure fabulous.

If you’ve spent years hiding your curves in baggy, dark oversized clothing, prom night is the time to shed your fears and the extra fabric and shine like the star you are.

Just because you don’t shop in the petite section doesn’t mean you should hide behind gobs of bulky fabric. Although, might we add, too much skin looks cheap and inappropriate on any figure.

A fitted waist, sweetheart neckline, and long satin gloves are a few ways to add some oomph to your prom look, without adding the appearance of extra inches. Also, look for fabrics sans spandex and avoid ruched fashions.

Strong gymnast body types can have a tendency to come off looking tomboyish in straight sheathed dresses that many magazines tout as a go to timeless style.

This isn’t the time to blend in. Stand out in feminine prints, gathered waists, flowy skirts, and those decadent detailed cut-out designs. They don’t look great on every body, but they look smashing on you.

You lucky girl, you.

You’ve got the body that models are made of. But, those sassy and sexy strapless numbers? Not so much.

We know it’s tempting, but avoid the straight strapless neckline if possible. These flatten the chest. If you must go strapless, match it with a ballerina cut, full skirted bottom half.

Or, skip strapless altogether and try a push-up wired bodice with skinny straps or a sequined dazzling top portion for a little extra boost up top. Or go for draped backless elegance or a mermaid shaped dress that no other body type can work quite like you.

2. Express Yourself in a Color-full Design

The color you wear can be worth more than words, so make sure the color you’re wearing sends the right message.

Look for unique, bold colors to really shine on prom night. Bold, dark hues are not as typical as black but just as shape-savvy.

3. Go Glam

This is the night that you can live out all of your dress up fantasies from childhood. And this year, glam is where it’s at.

Don’t be afraid of daring to wear red (it’s a shade that can look great on anyone). And, go all out with over the top glitz. After all, it’s not everyday that you can channel your inner Marilyn Monroe.

4. Be Different. But Be You.

Who wants to look unoriginal on prom night? No one. But, local department stores often carry styles so similar that you can easily fall into line with the looks everyone else is wearing.

Instead, go online and check out off the beaten path boutiques. Let your creative flag fly high on prom night.

Just don’t get so carried away being different that you forget to be try to you. Sure, no one else might be wearing fuschia florals, but that doesn’t mean you should, either.

Don’t know where to start?

Check out this year’s hottest prom dress trends and soak up plenty of dream dress inspiration here!

5. It’s Not All About the Dress

Your prom dress may be the main dish of the night, but without savory sides even the best dresses can fall flat.

Shoes should be beautiful, but comfortable enough that you can dance the night away if you choose. Go for hot, fashionable footwear that you can walk in without toppling over.

See through pumps are sexy even without a six inch heel. And strappy silver, gold, or sequin shoes are dazzling at any height.

Also, be sure to bring out your best with the right make up pallette. Choose one or two trends to play up your best features (smoky, smoldering eyes, a full, glossy pout, or dew-kissed rosy cheeks).

And, last but not least, use thoughtfully planned accessories to boost your style factor. Dangling shoulder dusting earrings, bangle bracelets, and a simple, satin clutch are just a few accessory trends that we love.

Get Shopping!

Get a jump start on shopping and avoid a last minute dash to find your perfect prom dress. Your much more likely to find a dress you love if you give yourself plenty of time to get something that looks great on you.

7 Amazing Healthcare Content Marketing Tips Professionals Use

80% of Internet users search for health information online. As a healthcare company generating and distributing useful health content should be a top priority.

But getting your content in front of potential customers to build this trust takes strategy.

Let’s explore what you need to know to build an effective one in healthcare content marketing the way professionals do.

1) Get a Written Plan

Studies show that nearly 40% of companies try to implement content marketing without any written plan.

They end up picking random topics. They don’t have clear objectives or goals. They think they’re just going to publish a blog or two a week and see them “take off”. They share them on FaceBook. They don’t consistently measure results.

Then they wonder why “content marketing doesn’t work”.

Get a plan and get ready to execute a healthcare content marketing strategy that gets results.

2) Follow the Plan

The great thing about a plan is that it has clear benchmarks, methods, who’s responsible for what, etc.

You can look back to see what’s working and where you need to make changes. You can identify if things are going as expected and if everyone’s on task.

Follow the plan that you have established for your healthcare content marketing.

Through this, you can answer the question: Is it the plan that needs to adapt? Or is the team simply not staying on task to execute your healthcare marketing strategy.

3) Be Clear on Your Target Audience

If you’re in private practice, you want more patients. We get it. But who are your ideal patients? Some healthcare companies market too broad. They don’t want to exclude anyone. This seems like the right and ethical thing to do.

But the success of any healthcare content marketing strategy is dependent on its ability to connect with people. You can’t connect if you don’t have a clear vision of who you’re trying to connect with.

In content marketing, you may have 5+ distinct targets. But each piece of content that you create and distribute should have a single target in mind.

4) Do a Competitive Analysis

On average, search results account for 51% of a website’s traffic. One of the goals of content marketing is to increase your ranking in searches so that you earn more of this organic traffic through SEO.

92% of traffic goes to page one results so this is where you need to be.

Evaluate who’s appearing on page one in your local market for key phrases people would use to find your website.

Take a close look at their sites. What kind of content are they creating? Where are they focusing their social media efforts? What is their domain authority?

How many links do they have from other sites? You can invest in tools that will help you gain a clearer understanding of what the competition is doing to earn page one spots.

5) Generate Shareable Content Topics

An effective strategy needs two primary types of content topics — evergreen and trending. They serve different purposes and work together to help you achieve your goals.

Evergreen Topics

A portion of your topics should be evergreen. They should be timeless topics that people are always looking for. They may be the answers to common healthcare questions in your niche or other tips and tricks that your target finds helpful.

You can keep the ideas flowing by listening to your industry. Stay active on social media sites to keep your finger on the pulse of the industry.

Talk to your sales department and patient support services teams. Find out about commonly asked questions and concerns. Address them in evergreen content.

You can actually cut patient support costs by making these resources available online.

Mayo Clinic is an example of healthcare company that produces great evergreen content. They address everything health and are one of the top resources that people turn to when they have a health question.

Trending Topics

And some of your content should be on trending topics likes relevant news stories. Whenever you can find a way to integrate a trending topic into your specific healthcare content marketing niche do so.

Not only does this demonstrate that you’re current, it helps drive traffic because you have a topic that people are very actively looking for.

Get creative. The news doesn’t have to be exactly in your niche. In fact, the more you can bend the content to fit into your niche, the more original piece of content you’ll create.

Whether you’re creating content for addiction recovery or a power wheelchair company, you can find trending stories to fit into your niche.

6) Get a Personality

People don’t get behind a business. They get behind the people behind that brand. The more you can humanize your brand, the more easily you’ll connect with people.

You may have noticed the recent Gillette commercials where they’re doing just that. Founded over 120 years ago, this shaving company is having to adapt to changing consumer behavior.

Instead of commercials with flashy images and slogans, they’re placing their employees prominently in the commercials. It gives the company a human face.

A 2nd example, Saint Thomas Hospital Systems in Nashville, isn’t alone in its attempt to give its impersonal hospital brand a makeover. For the past several years, they’ve been creating content that tells the stories of their patients — with permission of course.

These heartfelt pieces connect with people going through similar health struggles. You can’t do that with a how-to video or 11 quick tips article.

7) Measure Everything

You can’t optimize your healthcare content marketing if you don’t know what’s working best for you. Use free tools like Google Analytics to evaluate how people are interacting with content.

How much traffic is it getting? Do people stay on the page?

Does it encourage people to click on another page to continue to browse the site? Schedule an appointment? Or buy something?

When you know what to measure and consistently measure it, you know where to go for more info when your strategies aren’t working.

Don’t be in the dark. Leverage this data to improve your strategies.

Healthcare Content Marketing

To get results with content, you need a written plan. Lay out how you will create, curate and distribute content.

Follow your plan. Create content that people are looking for and love.

Show your human side. Measure your results.

For more tips on leveraging content in your industry, follow our blog.

7 Tips To Promote Your Alcohol Recovery Blog

The road to alcohol recovery is a long and difficult one. It is a roller coaster of emotions and obstacles that sometimes make the temptation to go back overwhelming. Another reason why the road is so difficult to walk is because it never ends.

Reading about others’ roads to alcohol recovery helps, though. It lets others know they are not alone in their struggles. Additionally, building a successful alcohol recovery blog will let you know that you aren’t alone in your own struggles.

How To Promote Your Alcohol Recovery Blog

There are several marketing tactics that you can use to make your blog a success. The most important tactics, though, are as follows.

1. Create High-Quality Content

It goes without saying that if you want your blog to be a success, it has to contain high-quality content.

To produce such content, your blog needs to be unique. It needs to tell your story and what you’ve learned about your various struggles. Talk about how you took back control of your life.

Content like that is powerful stuff and allows your audience to connect with you on a personal level.

Something else you might consider including is statistics and quotes from experts. Facts speak volumes about your commitment to publishing reliable content. When it comes to alcohol addiction, they also stir powerful emotions in your readers.

Additionally, consider placing original images such as infographics and photos in your blogs. Humans are stimulated visually, so such inclusions grab your audience members who prefer viewing over reading.

2. Implement SEO

You could make a million great blog posts about self-improvement. But no one will read them if no one knows they’re there.

Search engine optimization (SEO) will help readers find your blog. SEO entails certain tried and true web tactics that enable consumers to easily find relevant content. Common tactics are as follows.

• keyword usage
• backlinking to internal links and credible external links
• tailoring content to target audiences

In the case of an alcohol recovery blog, your target audience is recovering alcoholics and their friends and family members. You may also want to include anyone wanting general information about the recovery process. Regardless, you need to tailor your content so it speaks directly to your target audience.

When writing, don’t forget to include keywords. Your keywords are the words potential readers are most likely to search. Include those words not only in your blog content but also in your headers, meta descriptions, and images’ alternative text.

When you backlink to your past content, you increase that content’s engagement. Including links to credible websites such as Alcoholics Anonymous and the National Institute on Drug Abuse boosts your own credibility. Additionally, search engines are more likely to rank your blog high if you’ve included internal and external links in your content.

You can track and analyze your blog’s engagement via Google Analytics.

3. Use Social Media

Another must for leading traffic to your blog is social media.

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have the advantage of already having an audience. Your purpose on social media is to attract the portion of that audience that includes your target audience.

You can do this a few different ways. First, follow and like bloggers who also write about alcohol recovery. Doing so will put you on those bloggers and their followers’ radar.

Next, use hashtags to draw followers who also use those hashtags. Make sure the hashtags are relevant to your blog.

Finally, post links to your content. Use social media to tell your followers when you have new content available. The links will take them to the content, boosting your blog’s traffic.

4. Develop A Schedule

Developing a schedule has a few different benefits.

First, it will get you in the habit of posting new content regularly. In turn, your followers will expect new content from you regularly.

Second, you will know when you have a great window of opportunity for posting new content. Every search engine and social media platform experience higher traffic rates during certain times of the day. If you post then, you will increase your chances of engagement.

5. Engage Followers

Having great content and maintaining a social media presence isn’t enough. If you want to build a solid follower base, you need to interact with your followers.

Likewise, the online community is a kind of recovery village full of those who are part of your target audience. To become known in The Recovery Village, you must engage in conversation with the members thereof.

When followers comment on your blog entries, respond right away. Do the same when they comment on your social media posts. Engaging them in conversation shows them that you care what they have to say.

But don’t just engage your followers. Engage your fellow bloggers as well as subject matter experts in conversation. Developing friendships with them will cement your position as an expert within the online community.

6. Host or Participate in Events

Once you have established yourself, a great way to reach even more readers is hosting or participating in events.

The Internet has proven an ideal platform for various events, including contests, interviews, and webinars. Often, companies and organizations use these Internet events to advertise their wares. They invite well-known bloggers and other influencers to host or participate.

As part of the bargain, influencers gain extra exposure from their participation. They are also sometimes associated with the company thereafter.

7. Develop An E-Mail List

Some people don’t check social media often. Others aren’t willing to get online just to check your blog for new content. The best option to keep those people invested in you is developing an e-mail list.

That way, you can send them alerts when you publish new content. You can also follow up with readers who were maybe on the verge of engaging but held out for whatever reason.

E-mails feel personal, especially when they come from an individual and not a company or organization. A small nudge in e-mail form from you likely will be all it takes to entice those readers into engagement.

Check Out Our Other Marketing Content!

At ArticleCity, we pride ourselves on providing high-quality content about a variety of subjects. For more on marketing and self-marketing, check out our marketing archives!