Integrating Salesforce With WPForms

Have you ever wished to integrate Salesforce with your WordPress site? If you have been thinking about it, I've some awesome news for you today!

Salesforce is now easily integrate-able with WordPress using WPForms plugin. The Salesforce addon will let you automatically send form entries from WPForms to Salesforce CRM.

If you’ve been copying data from your form entries to Salesforce, this addon will be a game-changer.

And you don’t need to pay for a service like Zapier to connect WordPress to Salesforce. So you’ll save money too.

Automatically Create Salesforce Objects

The new integration between Salesforce and WPForms allows you to easily create objects in Salesforce without coding skills.

The best part? You can do it directly with WPForms.

Here's how it is done quickly and correctly.

Create Salesforce Object in WPforms

There are many other ways you can use WPForms with Salesforce, including creating a new Lead from each submission. In short the possibilities are rather endless right here.

The next step involves mapping the fields. Here's how it is done quickly.

Salesforce WPForms Addon Field Mapping

Not only what you can also leverage the advanced Conditional Logic if you want to have a better control on both WPforms and Salesforce integration.

Salesforce and WPForms

I find this integration very cool and I recommend you to give it a shot!

Oh yes, this unique WPForm integration with Salesforce is available for Elite plans (and above). Click here to learn more about WPforms (and free download).

How to Easily Get More Instagram Likes

Every successful marketing strategy makes the most out of social media platforms. Depending on the needs of your business, you can come to realize that Instagram is one social media platform you must exploit. Not only is it favored by customers of all backgrounds, ages, interests, and behavior, but it’s also widely utilized by the top brands. You can’t miss out on the benefits of implementing sound Instagram marketing strategies, and your plan will ultimately focus on getting more likes.

While gaining more likes can feel like an impossible task for starting brands, you’ll be glad to know that it’s much easier than you’d previously thought. Here are ways through which you can easily get more Instagram likes.

Analyze Your Audience

As it is the case with all marketing strategies, your first step is to analyze your audience and understand their interests. You won’t be able to create, much less share, relative content if you’re unaware of the behavior of your audience. Using the demographics and analytical tools, you’ll build more awareness to help you create a more realistic strategy. This will also help you schedule your posts so they can hit high-traffic periods where people are most likely to see your post and engage with it.

Provide Quality Content

Instagram will always be a platform for sharing pictures - and pictures have to be artistic. Whoever said a picture can speak a thousand words wasn’t mistaken. In your case, you want to publish photos that stir the hearts of viewers, imploring them to take action, and raise the popularity of your brand.

Many factors go into creating quality content. The pictures (or visuals) you post should be engaging and meaningful. They also need to be artistic, as we’ve mentioned - but being artistic doesn’t just mean using filters. Whether it’s a picture or a video, make sure you’re sharing content your audience is interested in. Avoid straightforward advertising - no one likes that. Moreover, the captions you post should be well-thought of and crafted, delivering your message concisely and pleasurably.

Use Instagram Automation Tools

Unlike other social media platforms, automation has been majorly limited on Instagram. That’s a shame for many Instagram marketers, as automation tools had previously helped them achieve targets seamlessly. Not to fret, though. The experts at https://www.socialproof.xyz/ explain that you can still use automation tools by using the Chrome browser extensions. These automation tools can help you get more likes provided by real people, contrary to the empty likes generated by buying fake accounts. On the plus side, automation can help you engage with your audience by wide-scale replying to the comments on your posts, so you don’t have to do that manually.

Keep Testing Hashtags

Sometimes, you’ll use a hashtag only to realize that it doesn’t mean what you thought it meant. Your realization often comes too late, after you find a weird target segment swarming your posts with comments. To make sure your strategies are well-executed, don’t stop experimenting with hashtags. Find the popular hashtags and jump the trend, target the hashtags of popular brands and causes, and keep analyzing the performance of your posts. While we’re at it, never use hashtags like #Follow4like, #FollowMe, or the like.

Exploit Affiliate Marketing Principles

If you have the chance for Instagram affiliate marketing, then you’ve embarked upon an invaluable like-generator. That’s especially true if your affiliate marketing partners are popular brands. However, you don’t have to start affiliate marketing to benefit from its principles; you can tag popular brands, iconic influencers, and well-known individuals to cross-promote your services and products.

Add Location to Your Posts

If you’re wondering about the link between geo-tagging your posts and increasing the likes, then it’s a huge one. For starters, adding location to your posts will help your local audience to find you in real life. However, the real value comes with expanding your presence to reach potential customers, who won’t only hit the like button but are likely to become regular customers as well.

Run Contests

Running contests is a tried-and-proven way to accelerate your like count like nothing else. If the rewards and get-aways of your contest are appealing enough, you can expect your audience to engage with you like crazy. Better yet, make sure to take full advantage of the contest by making a few requirements, such as stating that the participants have to tag their friends, share the post on their stories, or upload pictures and tag you.

Promote Your Posts

Getting organic likes on Instagram can be difficult for starting marketers and brands. Thankfully, you can get around this obstacle by utilizing the paid advertising option. Although you’ll have to add this to your advertising budget, it will enable you to reach audiences that you wouldn’t otherwise reach. IN the bigger scheme of things, it’s undoubtedly a worthy investment.

Hijack Trends

Trends go viral for a reason; everyone is interested in the topic. When presented with such a golden opportunity, you can’t afford to miss out on its benefits. Keep a close eye on all trends, and try to hijack the trend as early as possible. In your effort to hijack the trend, don’t forget to remain relevant and maintain your brand tone.

Use Other Social Media Platforms

Finally, the best thing about social media marketing is that it’s extremely easy to cross-market across multiple platforms. If you’ve been on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube for a while and managed to build a solid fan base in the process, what’s stopping you from diverting your followers to your new profile?

When the like count was hidden, many people assumed it’s not an important factor in the marketing strategy anymore. Although no one else but you can see the total number of likes on your posts, getting more likes remains very much crucial for any business. The main purpose of removing the like count, as explained by the creators of Instagram, is to let people focus on the quality of the content instead of the total like count. However, the Instagram algorithm still operates in the same way it always had - and your likes and engagement rates are primary factors.

Incredible Hacks That Will Make Your Blogging Experience Much Easier

When you think about it, every personal post on Twitter or Facebook is effectively a blog. Some people may be creating formal blogs on their own websites, using such software as WordPress. Others may be present on web pages like Medium.com, where many peoples’ articles are hosted.

Blogging is not an easy task, however. This is particularly true when it comes to posting quality material regularly. There can be a battle for ideas and inspiration, and a lack of time. Fortunately, there are some things a person can do that will help in all these areas. We’ll take a look at these together.

Include Video or Audio Content

Video Content is becoming more and more prevalent in blogs. It can take us out of the realm of text-only stories, making it multimedia. Imagine having loads to say in an article, yet saving time by inserting video links at certain points in the story.

Nowadays, people can do virtually anything with technology. The professionals at https://vidd.ly/ say there are now apps that enable folk to download YouTube videos to their computers, for watching offline at a later date. People can even turn videos into music files such as mp3 or mp4. YouTube videos are useful for bloggers because they include a ‘Share’ button. This will reveal the web link that can be cut and pasted into the blog.

Audio content is another way to make a blog stand out, and to save writing. WordPress users can use the ‘Add Media’ feature to bring audio files into their blogs. Similar things can be achieved on Medium blogs by installing the play.ht Chrome browser extension, and using the ‘Add Audio’ button.

Use Royalty Free Photo Sites

There’s no point in reinventing the wheel: if someone needs a photo, why pay a photographer if there are quality pictures available online for free? Pixabay and Unsplash are two major players who host thousands of quality photos that can be used for free. All a person needs to do is type ‘Source: Pixabay’ or ‘Source: Unsplash’ underneath the picture.

When blogs are colorful and full of photos, people will be more inclined to read the content. And yes - we do judge a book by its cover! This means the main photo should be more than a random choice or a quick decision.

Have Strategies For Inspiration

Over the years, bloggers have wasted way too much time sitting in darkened rooms, desperately trawling for ideas.

There's a mass of books online that are specifically designed to give people hundreds or even thousands of story ideas. They may include master lists, a thesaurus, character types, plots, or names. There may even provide lists of physical movements or romantic words. A quick Google search will reveal many of these books, and they can be a real goldmine for ideas.

Random Word Generators

It’s possible to find free versions of this online. Some give the option to request a list of five words. They can even be narrowed down to nouns. It’s then like pulling the lever on a casino machine: press a button and see what words appear! If one word is good, keep it and retry. There may be three words in the same result that create a novel idea when combined.

Random word generators can be great for coming up with new jokes. It’s the combination of previously unconnected things that can create exciting and funny new concepts.

Someone could create their own version if they needed something more bespoke. Why not create an Excel spreadsheet with different columns? There could be one for jobs, animals, and food, for example. Randomly connect the different examples and see what you come up with.

Mind Maps

Have you ever heard someone say, ‘I know what I need to say, but I can’t say it’? Sometimes a blogger has all the ideas in their head but doesn't know where to start. The solution could be to draw a circle with lines coming from the center. Write down all the ideas that currently exist for the blog, and don’t worry about the order or structure.

Once every element has been written down, get three blank pieces of paper, and write ‘beginning’ on one, ‘middle’ on the next, and ‘end’ on the last.

The beginning will be the introduction that sets the stage for the story. The end will be the summary and conclusion. The middle section is where all the different mind map ideas are numbered and put in order. The article can then be written piece by piece in a systematic way.

Ambient Music

There’s no doubt about it: music can create atmospheres! It can be good to muffle the sounds of such distracting things as cars, children, or doors banging in the background. The mood of the music should match the mood of the article. If it’s a humorous blog, don’t play sad music!

The problem with some music is the vocals. Don’t be surprised if you struggle to write about a holiday memory if a pop singer is lamenting a broken relationship in the background!

Instrumental music is great, and ambient potentially better. It can have a calming influence too, which can be great when someone is struggling with their blog.

Add a Subscription Button

This is a great way to gain regular followers for your blogs. Once a person’s email address has been gained, it’s also possible to use it for email marketing campaigns and future newsletters.

If the blogger uses a WordPress site, they need to use a plugin called Jetpack. Once it’s all installed, the button, title, and description can be personalized for your purpose. There are also ways to add a ‘please subscribe’ button within Medium articles, and this will involve downloading a plugin. This may cost money, but it may be worth it if it generates business.

As we have seen, blogging doesn’t have to be dull and predictable. It can be visually exciting and even harness multi-media. Some photos can be used, and blog creation strategies to be harnessed. Why not sit down and put some music on right now? Your greatest blog may be about to be written!

How Corporate Cards Can Help You with Your Startup Company

If you’ve decided to open a startup company then this is an exciting time in your life. You probably have some big ideas and hopefully, a reasonable plan that will allow your business to grow and develop. More than half of new startups fail in the first five years and the predominant reason is that they try to scale too quickly.

One of the things that can help you with handling your business in a more productive manner is corporate credit cards. Although obtaining one can be very difficult for a startup, more and more providers are focusing on this part of the business sphere. Let’s see how you can get a corporate credit card and how helpful it can be.

What are Corporate Credit Cards?

They function pretty much in the same way as standard personal credit cards all of us use. The difference is – they are issued to specific employees by their employer for business-related expenses. You can use them to buy tickets for work-related tips, to acquire office necessities, or something similar. Instead of waiting for the worker to report the expenses, the money will be immediately deducted from the firm’s funds. This way you won’t have to rely on the statements of those working for you to have credit card reconciliation. However, in most cases, you will have to provide a finance team with proofs of purchase, for tax reasons.

This will make the whole situation less stressful for everyone involved. You will have regular reports when it comes to the financial standing of a company while your employees won’t have to worry about payment charges and debt. Most of the corporate cards offer various perks for those who use them such as airport lounge access and travel emergency services.

There are also certain drawbacks when it comes to using this type of card. Those using them might be less inclined to spend the money reasonably since it’s not theirs. Noticing something like this can be more difficult, that’s why you need to have an agreement with those who use them as well as with your financial team. Overall, this is definitely a more practical alternative to filing endless expense reports and waiting to be reimbursed. It’s something you should include in the work practice of your company right from the get-go as it will bring a lot of benefits down the road.

How Does It Work?

We don’t have to say how important it is to manage your finance in a proper manner, especially if you’re just entering the market with a startup company. As experts from https://www.tribal.credit/ know well, the banking sector is not providing this part of the economy with what it needs. The traditional financial system doesn’t look at startups too kindly but more and more providers are focusing on covering the needs of these young entrepreneurs and helping them reach their goal.

Corporate credit cards seem like a good solution for several reasons. First of all, you will be able to separate personal and business expenses. This is important and should be done from the very start. This will not only make it easier to track where your money is going but it will also be very helpful when the time comes to do your taxes.

Another perk is that you don’t have to wait ‘till the end of the month to see the list of expenditures. Many providers are now giving you an opportunity to follow your team’s spending as it happens and get an instant overview of all payments.

Young entrepreneurs very often hear ‘No’ from traditional banking systems when they want to obtain a corporate credit card. Given the fact that they represent completely new businesses, they don’t have credit histories. However, there are more and more providers entering the financial scene directing their services towards startups specifically.

Many of them will allow you to register and submit all the necessary documentation via online application. Understanding the situation these companies are in, they will not judge you by person or by company credit history. Even more than that, you will be able to set and adjust individual spending limits for every member of your team. And if anyone steps over the line and uses more money than needed, you can in one click freeze cards.

Also, having a balanced cash flow is usually difficult for startups. This way, you will get access to higher credit limits which means not worrying about unplanned expenses all the time. Basically, you will be borrowing money now to pay it back later. This kind of leeway will give you more room to create a successful business story. Plus, a higher limit means a lower ratio which also helps improve your overall score.

Are You Familiar with Virtual Cards?

As technology moves forwards and the rhythm of our everyday lives gets faster and faster, we are looking for more practical solutions that will be able to make us more productive and time-efficient. Physical credit cards are something all of us are familiar with but what about virtual ones?

Virtual credit cards can be used for shopping, just like the regular ones, but they are issued on a temporary basis. This option will be good for any startup as they eliminate the waiting period and your team can start using them immediately.

Differently from plastic ones, virtual cards represent random 16-digit numbers with expiration dates and CVV codes. Another benefit of using them is that they add another level of security. If a hacker somehow gets hold of your information, you don’t have to close the whole account. Thanks to spending limits, you will feel safer when it comes to hidden or unauthorized charges.

Getting a corporate credit card will make life easier for those who are managing a startup company. Not only will this allow entrepreneurs to separate personal from business spending but it will also give them a better insight into their financial situation overall. Expenditures will be immediately available to them via online application so they can take the necessary steps if money is being used unreasonably.

You Might Be Texting the Wrong Way: Here's How to Improve

Texting is nowadays one of the most common ways to communicate. Research indicates that users of mobile devices are texting more than they are making calls, with text messaging set to overtake calls. Communicating via text is fast, efficient, and convenient, but you need to get it right. Numerous text messaging tools available such as SMS, MMS, VoIP chats, and chat apps offer users a great opportunity to connect with other people at home, school, or even at work. Businesses are now increasingly using text support technology to communicate with clients and prospects.

Here’s how you can improve your texting game.

Timing Is Important

If you are intent on improving your texting game, always remember that time has a great impact. Different audiences have different time boundaries that need to be respected. One of the best ways to approach time in texting is to consider yourself first. Would you want to be bombarded with text messages when you have just fallen asleep at midnight? Unless it’s an emergency, businesses should send text messages within business hours. If you are texting friends and family, you could perhaps text into the night. However, too much texting and one might feel as if you are invading their private space.

You also need to respond promptly. Often, the text messages are meant to elicit a quick response. Don’t wait 12 hours to respond to an urgent message. Even if you don’t have an immediate response, just acknowledge receipt of the message and promise to get back to them soon. In case the recipients have not responded yet, be patient, and avoid bombarding them with follow up messages.

Follow Etiquette Rules

Etiquette starts with using respectful language. In texting, words and characters are your primary forms of communication. Foul or abusive language should always be avoided even if the response is not as desired. Slang is common in text messages, but if you have to use it, ensure it is for the right audiences. Some older family members and friends could, for instance, feel left out when you use slang. Equally, businesses using slang to text their clients might be getting it wrong.

Be sensitive to cultures and communities. Your message could be understood differently by different cultures. Avoid sharing private information, being too aggressive or demanding in your texting.

Be Proactive

Being proactive in texting means you meet your end of the bargain before sending the message. Texting professionals over at VoxDirect.com advise that if your texts are full of grammar and spelling mistakes, you risk appearing rushed and careless. Conduct a full spelling and grammar check before sending the text message. There are numerous online tools that you can use to proofread text messages and improve readability.

Slang, social media abbreviations, and emoticons are a nice way to spice up your texts. However, you may want to steer clear of them when texting your employer or clients. You also don’t have to publicly broadcast an issue that you could address privately with the relevant recipient.

For businesses, audience research is crucial. Learning more about an audience will give you demographic data such as age, location, language used in texting, if they send text messages and how often they send them, and the kind of content they would want in the messages. Audience analysis will enable you to determine the frequency, tone, and content of a text message program. You will also know whether it is the right audience for the program.

Also, ensure that you use autocorrect appropriately. Autocorrect might easily miss some business terms and industry-specific jargon that you may want to include in your message. You should also avoid using all caps because it sounds as if you are shouting or angry.

Know Who Is on the Other End

It is important to think about who will see your message. The effort you put in texting can bear more fruit if the target audiences find them relevant and useful. Receiving a text message is a personal experience because the audience receives the text messages privately. Therefore, you need to consider your audience and how they might perceive the message to get everything right.

Be Concise

Text messages are unlike emails or letters. Audiences might not appreciate long paragraphs and the meaning therein risks being lost. You should aim to make complex information simpler and better understood by your audiences. Don’t risk texting long explanations because the intended message might be lost. Lengthy texts also discourage immediate response.

Some texting platforms limit the number of characters that you can use at one time. The character limit underscores the hallmarks of texting, as a short-format, high-priority communication format which has a close to 100% open rate. A brief text message with a sentence or two is more effective than a long paragraph crammed with details. Long paragraphs have lower readability and readers might have a challenge deriving information from such texts. If you need to include more information, it is best to send more short messages than one long paragraph.

Be Personal

When you personalize texts, the recipients feel appreciated. Blanket messages sound generic and bland. Businesses can achieve better ROI from a texting program through personalized messages. Messaging individual recipients can be a good way to start. The recipients will be surprised and delighted and they are more likely to engage a brand. You can also address them by their name. Addressing recipients by their name breaks the ice and sets an approachable tone.

You may also include their pet names, car make, and model and product they purchased in the text message. Consider sending a personalized birthday wish or gift card on their birthdays as well. Audiences might trust brands with personalized messages more than those who send blanket text messages.

With more individuals and businesses embracing texting, there is a need to get everything right. The moment you press send, there is no going back. Sending follow up messages to correct errors is not only costly, but also has a negative impact on the intended message. When writing text messages, always ensure that you are empathetic and helpful to the target audience.

Why You Need to Backup Your Business Data (and How to Do It)

Losing data is always a conundrum, let alone how damaging it can be for a business. As a business owner, you are not responsible only for your staff’s data but also for your customers. This makes data loss or corruption a pitfall you must avoid at all costs.

Technology is a capricious thing; one moment, your systems may all be up and running, and the next, you might find that your local data copies have been lost. Luckily, creating another copy of your important files is not as hard as it sounds. Check out the following points to learn why backing up data is vital for businesses and how you can make the process a breeze.

Why Are Data Backups Important?

Access Files Remotely

Long gone are the days when employees had to be on-site to access business data. Nowadays, most people take work back home with them or rely on their smartphones to finish up tasks. This makes having a cloud copy of your company’s data a must, not only to improve workflow but also to allow employees to set their own work hours, which is extremely important in the COVID-19 era. So, if you want to have full control over your files even when you are not in the office, definitely invest in data backups.

Decide Which Files to Keep

Realistically, not every file is worth backing up. However, finding out which ones are can be challenging, especially if you have thousands of files to go through. Because the amount of data you want to create a copy of directly affects the cost of the process, particularly when it comes to cloud backup, you have to make sure that you are not just copying all the files you can find. To make the process a bit easier, ask the head of every department to find the data that is worth keeping. This way, you can keep important files protected without going over your budget.

Avoid the Woes of Power Cuts

Even if you have the best generators on the market, they may still not be enough to power up your systems during blackouts. This is especially the case if your business is based in an area that experiences wacky weather and frequent power cuts. Why go through all the trouble of finding a professional to retrieve important data when you can always be sure that your files are safe and sound? Creating backups can help you avoid the worst-case scenario and allow you to get some peace of mind.

Add an Extra Layer of Protection

To blindside you, hackers are getting increasingly craftier with the way they plan their attacks. They exploit any security loophole that your system may have to assume control of your data. By gaining access to sensitive files, they can also employ extortive means to sell them back to you for thousands of dollars. Because you certainly do not want to give these nefarious individuals that much power, backing up your data often will help you prevent these sticky situations from ever happening.

Free Up Space

If you own a startup, you may not have enough money to invest in expensive storage solutions, which makes destroying old data a necessity. However, by sacrificing this data, you may end up making things harder for your staff. After all, you never know when you might need to retrieve a certain file. Instead of continuously getting rid of files to free up space, why don’t you create another local or a cloud copy? Most solutions do not even cost that much, so you will not have to break the bank to keep your data protected.

Keep Customers Satisfied

Losing your staff’s data is one thing, but losing your clients’ information is a different story altogether. Customer satisfaction is always most business owners’ top priority, so it only makes sense that you may want to go above and beyond to keep your clients happy. This is particularly important if you have an e-commerce business where storing credit card information and other sensitive data is mandatory. Even if a power cut happens and you lose your local copy, you can ensure that your clients will never be cut off from your services as you try to fix the problem.

How Can You Create Data Backups?

Set a Budget

You can try many solutions if you want to create data backups for your business, but not all of them cost the same. This is why you need to set a budget before choosing a method. Generally speaking, the fewer data you need to back up, the lower the cost will be. However, this cost can go up if you decide to hire professionals to handle this process. For this reason, startup business owners who have enough tech knowledge or a strong IT team are advised not to seek a professional company when creating backups to keep the cost down.

Find a Method

As we’ve mentioned, you can choose from a plethora of options when it comes to data backups. The easiest way is to purchase a few external hard drives and USB sticks. Although this is usually seen as an outdated method, it still works pretty well, especially if you have a limited budget. Just make sure to keep these storage devices off-site in a safe place. You can also go for cloud storage. Yet, when picking a cloud storage provider, make sure that they have an intricate security system because you definitely do not want hackers to get to your data. Moreover, to guarantee that you will be able to access your business files anywhere, cross-platform support is a plus.

Follow a Schedule

Routine backups are very important. That said, you do not have to create one every day. Experts agree that backing up files once a week is usually enough. Nevertheless, if there is sensitive information you are afraid you might lose or your area experiences frequent power outages, it is best to incorporate this practice into your daily routine.

Business data loss is a nightmarish scenario. However, you do not have to spend thousands of dollars on fancy professionals who claim that they can retrieve lost files when you have a more straightforward solution at your disposal. By investing in creating several copies of important information, you can rest assured that your business remains on top of the food chain and give your customers the best possible experience.