Posts Tagged ‘Online Business’

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Finding The Best Hashtag To Use On Twitter

Thursday, February 27th, 2014

Twitter is that beloved social media platform that asks you to sum up your thoughts in 140 characters or less. It forces you to keep the message short and sweet, and arguably stimulate your creativity. And when it comes to creativity, hashtags are in a class all by themselves. After all, if you want people to click on the hashtag and follow, you need to make it interesting enough. Read on …

What The Heck Is A Hashtag?
A hashtag is a metadata tag that lets people search for and label social media updates. If enough people follow and promote it, the hashtag can trend, which means more people follow it. A hashtag can also be used as a means of describing a particular promotion or deal.
HashtagWould this be hashtag hash? – (Photo Credit: powerplantop)

Hashtag construction is simple and straight-forward; it’s a pound sign followed by characters. So for instance, #hashtagsrule could direct people to a discussion on your website about how awesome hashtags are. Using it in a tweet could look like this: “We have some great ideas about using hashtags! #hashtags rule”.

Getting The Most Use Out Of Hashtags
Okay, so now you know what a hashtag is, but how to put it to the best use?

You can use a hashtag for your own branding purpose. For instance, Ed Young Jr Ministries uses #hecknology as their hashtag and their brand. Make the hashtag unique to your brand. You should do a search for it on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, GooglePlus, Instagram, and Pinterest, to see if anyone else is using it. If possible, keep the hashtag short and sweet (easier for people to remember and spell!). If your hashtag pertains to a particular campaign, then make sure the names complement each other. If your bar decided that instead of holding a Happy Hour from 4 to 6, you’d have a Crappy Hour from 2 to 4, you could do #crappyhour2to4.

Just in case you think that hashtags are all branding and trending, let’s bring up the concept of content hashtags. These hashtags point to content that helps to raise exposure of your business and improve SEO. For instance, if you run a hobby shop, your tweet may have hashtags that reference content on #modelwarships, #electrictrains, or #noroyarn.

There are no restrictions or guidelines in using hashtags over and over, but still, try not to overuse them; too much of a good thing, and all that. When you’re tweeting on Twitter, don’t exceed three hashtags. Furthermore, try to stay relevant to the topic at hand. Check out popular keywords and try to create hashtags based on them, but don’t ride the coattails of other trends; start your own!

And finally, avail yourself of some nifty tools, and speaking of which …

Tools You Can Use
… it just so happens tools are being discussed right here. Wow, you’d think this was planned somehow! Here are some cool tools for making better hashtags.

Hashtags.org- This free service shows what hashtags have been trending over the last 24 hours. Any heavy duty function like storing or monitoring hashtags will cost you.

What The Trend- This Hootsuite-owned resource lets you see global trends based on nation and city data. You can even track individual hashtags as streams in Hootsuite. The global trend tracking can be done either daily or monthly. While What The Trend is free, Hootsuite Pro has a monthly fee (though their basic service is free, and has fewer functions).

Trendsmap- This site visualizes the local use of hashtags and places them on a world map. This enables you to see trends by city, country, or even continent. If you own a local business, this tool is just right for you. There’s Free, Basic, and Plus levels of membership, each granting more functions. The Free level really just gives you the bare minimum, and is not meant for heavy use anyway.

All in all, hashtags help people find you online, alerting customers to a business that they otherwise may not have known about. Keep your hashtags informative, don’t overdose on them, and use trend-spotting tools to get some idea of what topics to link up with. Learn from others’ mistakes, and you’ll remain competitive. Good luck!

Byline: John Terra has been a freelance writer since 1985. He writes about everything from SEO strategies to home maintenance, and everything in between.

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Posted in Guest Post, small business, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »

Why Economists Love Cloudsourcing

Saturday, April 6th, 2013

“The cloud” is the phrase on everyone’s lips this year, but not all new ideas stick with us—Segways, zip drives, and HD-DVD were all the hot new tech at one point, and they’ve all gone the way of the dinosaur. Will cloud computing wind up on the scrap heap of tech history? We don’t think so, and neither do many economists. Here’s why:

1. Cloud computing massively lowers fixed costs

Drumming up initial investment is one of the biggest hurdles that small businesses face. The larger fixed costs are, the harder it is to get started—and the more likely entrepreneurs are to get stuck in an exploitative contract with investors. All startups endure a zero-profit phase while they build customer base and pay down their fixed costs, and the longer that period is, the more likely a business is to fail. Cloud innovations like virtual desktops, storage, and money management lower the need for startup cash, shortening the window of zero-profit, and allowing more good ideas to turn into successful businesses.

2. Global cloud networks spur investment in developing countries

Until quite recently, people in developing countries had very few opportunities to connect with the world of global business; if you couldn’t afford to go to college overseas, you were stuck. Now, cloud networks connect hospitals in Europe with x-ray technicians in Bangalore, and American corporations consult with engineers in Nigeria; the human capital of the entire planet is increasingly connected in an efficient, wealth-generating network that is far more than a passing fad.

3. Cloud services give small firms access to economies of scale

Most production processes get cheaper as they get larger, and in the past, that fact has strangled small businesses who attempted to compete with the bigger players in their industries. A mom-and-pop grocery store simply can’t match the massive, fine-tuned supply chain of a global supermarket franchise. For services like data storage, web hosting, and accounting, the cloud has given small firms the same “bulk discount” that big companies receive—which makes markets susceptible to disruption and innovation on an unprecedented scale.

4. Comparative advantage is everything

Comparative advantage is the first principle of economics: it states that economies run better when everyone concentrates on their strengths, instead of trying to do everything themselves. Until recently, most entrepreneurs would have to serve as accountant, lawyer, analyst, customer service, and IT, all at once—a very inefficient and exhausting way to do business. Today, cloud services allow entrepreneurs to focus on idea-creation and execution where they have expertise, and use cloud services to store their data, track financial goals, and hire customer service and tech support at minimal cost.

5. Cloud networks broaden the labor market

Only fifteen years ago, companies were limited to the workers they could hire in-town, or persuade to move. Now, about three-fourths of businesses in the US hire part or full-time telecommuters, meaning they can select the best employees from all over the world to meet their company’s needs. Cloud file structures like Dropbox and Google Docs allow firms to collaborate seamlessly across the world. Not only does this allow for firms to save money and run more efficiently, but it also allows workers to find employment without the massive cost and commitment of moving across the country or the world.

 Tara Wagner is a staff writer for TechBreach. She has worked from home for over a decade, and loves sharing news and advice with fellow telecommuting moms and dads. She’s fascinated by new tech and new ideas; and when she finds time to unplug, she enjoys long hikes in the mountains near her home. She lives in Denver.

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Posted in Entrepreneur, Guest Post, small business, Tips & Tricks | 1 Comment »

Top Ways to Have Stress Free Blogging

Monday, October 8th, 2012

Blogging is an excellent online business to make money. But, it is not a funny job, unless you are creative and posses the passion to post your blog on the top of the list. To run your blog successfully, your blog content must be unique and natural. To achieve this, you may sometimes feel placed in a stressful environment. By indulging in this activity, sometimes you may forget or may not find time for social activities like outing with family and friends. Here are some of the top ways to have stress-free blogging.

1. Planning your activities

Planning is the first step that is essential for a successful blogging. Don’t attempt at doing things randomly. Some people begin with a task and before completing it they simply jump on to the next one and end up without completing any of them. Though they are found busy working for the whole day, they end up in having pending tasks. You should plan well before performing any activity. Planning helps you to allocate time for different activities. You must also take care in seeing that each of the activity does not overlap with the other. It is of no use, if you just make a plan and do not follow it. By sticking on to the parameters of a schedule, you will be completing the task more easily. Hence, you are left with more time to enjoy.

2. Make use of the available tools

No business achieves success without using its related tools. Blogging tools like SEO help you in producing and promoting quality blogs. It improves your chances of getting exposed on searches for a particular thing and therefore eases your work and saves your time. So, you must not forget to incorporate SEO in automating your tasks.

3. Limit your expectations

You need to be realistic in this blogging domain. You should not think of becoming rich overnight. If you think so and fail to achieve the goal, you may end up in stress. By limiting your expectations in this career, you can expect a bright future.

4. Think positive

Negative thoughts tend to wreck your mind. These thoughts don’t have any role but only cause you to develop stress. If you remain positive in your thoughts, you are going to achieve success in the right direction. If you happen to encounter some negative thoughts in your career, you can simply overcome them by not concentrating much on the results.

5. Sharing your work

You can choose a person of similar interest and take him as you partner in sharing your work load. He may be assigned with activities like site designing or marketing. His social network also promotes increased traffic. Therefore, sharing your work load greatly helps in leading a stress-free blogging life.

6. Make time for family and friends

When you feel stressed, you can try reading other blogs. This way you will be educated, entertained and relaxed. This method also equips you with new ideas for your blogs. You can also spend some time with an outing with family or friends. This gives you a small break from the stressful activity and those happy moments will energize you to work with extra passion.

Hope you learnt something with the above tips that would be helpful in developing a stress-free blogging life.

About The Author: Margaret is a blogger and internet marketer. She loves writing and travelling. Blogging is her passion. Recently she did an article promoting Local rank tracking on Google. These days she is working on rank tracking tools used by SEO companies.

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Posted in Blogging, Guest Post, Tips & Tricks | 3 Comments »

Small Business Ideas With No Financial Investment

Wednesday, August 15th, 2012

It has become natural that for launching any kind of business you need to invest a small amount of money, which depends upon the kind of field you’re going into. Do you want to increase your income by starting a small scale business? You don’t want to invest any money in starting up the business? Then here are some solutions listed below for your small business start-up ideas where you can earn profits without investing any cash in the business. The different small business ideas that can be turned into reality are:

  • Start earning online: Blogging, link building, freelancing and selling goods are different kinds of jobs that can earn you money online. This is one of the easiest ways that doesn’t need any capital to be invested in the process. You can directly start earning money with your deeds.Online Income
  • Establish a consultation: There may be some hidden talents in each one; it is time for you to notice them and bring them out. You can cash your talent within a very short span of time where you can establish a consultation where you provide necessary advices in the field that you expertise in. This is also known as expertise selling where you share your ideas for some amount.
  • Content writing: As there is an increase in the demand of content writers that produce quality content that is genuine and copyscape protected, you can take an advantage of it. Even in this instance you don’t need any initial amount where you can start off with your service as early as possible and get paid as per your talent.
  • Freelancing: You can start free lancing that includes music, journalism, screenwriting, editing, web designing, graphic designing, consulting and translating, where you are self-employed and there is no boss above you. You may require the client to sign written contracts or sometimes perform on verbal agreements. The pay for freelancing is high compared to other services.
  • Travel agency: This is the best option for the people who are mostly interested in travelling to different places, so that they can guide others with their experiences regarding the travelling options. You can have a franchise with a travel company and start offering exciting packages that tempt people. Even this earns you a good amount of money as there will be many people in the list who want to travel and explore many places.
  • Organising services: This is one of the interesting businesses that one can opt for. You can offer services such as organising parties, marriages and different occasions. This service is in huge demand at present as many people want to have things organised to reduce their burden and perform the ceremony free from stress.

However there may be some jobs that need a small initial amount to be invested in starting it. In such situations you can secure payday loans rather than a traditional loan that offer a short repayment period and instant approval with no credit check.

Author’s Bio

My name is Michelle. I am a tech writer from UK. I am into Finance. Catch me @financeport

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Posted in Entrepreneur, Guest Post, small business | 7 Comments »

3 Easy Steps to Make Money Blogging

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Make a great living online by following these simple steps

Thousands of people around the world enjoy blogging, and most think of it as a small hobby that they couldn’t hope to live on; but it’s surprisingly easy to turn your blog into a modest, successful small business. There are already plenty of blogs that discuss Google Ads and affiliate marketing, so we’ll focus on how to make your monetization strategy (whichever you choose) more profitable. There are no “dirty tricks” here—these are all tips to make a blog that is both useful to your readers and attractive to legitimate advertisers.

1. Find a niche

For your blog to attract the attention of users, advertisers, and search engines, you need to select a theme; ideally, one that isn’t already populated with big-time sites. For instance, if you want to start a generic cooking blog, you’ll be competing with thousands of others, including giants like Betty Crocker and The Food Network, and your blog will never get past the twilight zone of page 8 on Google. If you select some specific, underserved niche, however, you’ve got a shot at reaching people.

Before you nail down your blog’s theme, do a bit of Googling on the topic. Check to see how many people are searching for key words related to that topic, and what pops up on Google’s front page. If very few people are searching for that specific niche, you’ll struggle to bring in traffic; but if the key words are bringing in a healthy amount of searches, and you’re competing with other small personal blogs, you’ve got a good shot at topping the Google rankings and becoming an important source of information on that topic.

2. Create user-friendly content

This is more than just “writing well”, although that is important (and could be a blog post all to itself). People read online content differently than they read books and magazines, so you need to modify how you write to suit an online audience. Follow these tips:

  • Break up your content: Reading long blocks of uninterrupted text is harder online than it is in print, so you need to separate your content. Select the best funny videos or images related to your topic and use them to chop up your content into smaller, easy-to-read pieces.
  • Numbered Lists: You’ve probably seen a lot of “Top 10” lists on the web recently, and that’s because it really does draw more traffic than content posted in other formats. Numbered lists provide an easy way to organize and simplify your content so that busy readers know what they’re getting into before they click
  • Keep it brief: With few exceptions, most online readers lose interest after about 1000 words, so if your post is longer than that, you might consider a more focused topic, or breaking up your post into installments.

3. Get Connected!

This is by far the most important way to start pulling traffic and getting money from your advertisements. Find successful bloggers (or better yet, a blog network) that is related to your niche, and offer to guest post on their sites.  Don’t be afraid to submit high-quality content in guest posts; you might feel like you’re sacrificing good work, but it’s a small price to pay for the awareness it will create for you and your blog. At the bottom of each guest post, most bloggers will allow you to include a link to your blog; and that’s how you’ll bring in users and start earning real ad revenue.

As you cultivate relationships and continue creating trustworthy, quality content, other bloggers will begin linking to your site on their blogs, increasing traffic directly and improving your Google ranking. Keep expanding your network, reaching out to more and more blogs and establishing connections. It’s this growing network that will draw in ever-increasing traffic to read your posts, click your ads, and bring in revenue.

About the Author: Tiffany Ganttis a staff writer for ApronAddicts.com, a website dedicated to the love of cooking and looking good while you do it! You can often find her getting creative in the kitchen as she whips up something yummy in one of her flirty, color coordinated aprons.

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Posted in Blogging, Entrepreneur, Guest Post, small business | 6 Comments »

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