Category: Strategies

Social media has become a game changer for businesses worldwide as it’s being used to promote products and services, make announcements, and interact with customers. In recent years, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and Reddit have helped to humanize companies and enabled them to connect with their target audience. Unfortunately, the attention received on these sites is not always positive. According to a US survey conducted by Statista, 38% of respondents saw trolls on social media platforms daily. Trolls post inflammatory statements and enjoy disparaging businesses with their vitriol. For this reason, companies need to take steps to protect their brand from social media trolls.

What harm can trolls do to your business?

Most businesses, especially small businesses, rely on positive word of mouth. An internet troll seeks to destroy a company’s reputation. By creating fake news stories and magnifying tiny communication errors, trolls can influence a company’s narrative. These spiteful individuals can weaken a company’s brand and cause financial losses.

Take for instance the case of Sara Christensen. In 2019, the entrepreneur lost her business and home because she posted a cropped picture of a job applicant in a bikini on Instagram. She intended to show what information employers can find when investigating a prospective applicant on social media. Fifty-seven people saw the post before the removal of the picture. However, the applicant, Emily Clow, made a comment on Twitter saying that she was objectified by Christensen’s company. The picture was removed from Christensen’s Instagram, but Clow’s complaint went viral, and Christensen and her clients started receiving death threats. Moreover, her podcasts received a lot of negative reviews, and her clients were warned not to do business with her anymore. Her home address was also released online, and she started getting letters from trolls telling her, in explicit detail, of what harm they intend to cause her. Soon after that, the entrepreneur chose to shutter her business for good, and she still lives in hiding to this day.

Meanwhile in Ontario, the website SafeTO-DO closed after just a week. Online anti-vaxxer trolls targeted the pro-vax businesses listed on their site. They flooded the listed companies with nasty comments, negative Google reviews, and fake bookings.

Think about the troll’s goal

Trolls can be infuriating. Take a moment before responding to these individuals. It might feel liberating to lash out at the trolls (especially if this is not their first attack), but it is necessary to rise above their games. Responding emotionally to comments will provide the fuel the troll needs to tarnish the company’s reputation. Keep communication respectful and polite even if they do not. When in doubt, always take the high road. 

Challenge harmful reviews

Responding to negative comments can be challenging, but simple issues can be dealt with quickly before they have a chance to blow up. YouTuber Jeffree Star is one entrepreneur who chose to deal with a difficult situation head on. The entrepreneur, who founded Jeffree Star Cosmetics disarmed trolls by being truthful about a quality control problem and providing customers with replacement products. Being attentive to customer concerns creates a positive buzz and earns loyal customers.

Monitor comments

Hiring someone to monitor the businesses’ incoming posts can foster a positive community. Moderating comments ensures any inappropriate or concerning messages do not get posted. The Library of Congress has a robust policy on posting that reflects the community contact they support. With clearly defined parameters, customers are better able to understand expectations set by the business. An SEO agency can help with any site changes required and ensure you get quality traffic.

Streamline your audience

Most people think that having more followers will result in more sales, but this isn’t the case at all. Followers who engage with a brand in constructive and meaningful ways can result in having more customers and potential sales. Meanwhile, followers who provide content that is disrespectful and highly polarizing can cause chaos and create a negative impact on your business. Be selective, get rid of toxic individuals, and support people who add value to the online community.

Add paid memberships or user registration

Trolls want a reaction from their comments, but they do not necessarily like playing the long game. In other words, most trolls will not sign up for paid membership just to spread discord. Setting up members-only pages will limit the disruption of trolls. Alternatively, businesses can create secluded communities by requiring users to be verified or registered. Trolls are less likely to cause trouble if they cannot stand behind a veil of anonymity.

Social media trolls will always exist. Any online business needs to prepare itself for these agents of chaos by focusing on de-escalation tactics. Creating member-only communities with clear guidelines helps route out trolls and creates a more peaceful online environment for your business.

Search Engine Optimization – SEO is a marketing practice that involves the promotion of a website on search engines for better ranking. A company can benefit from SEO in many ways, such as increased online visibility and higher revenues. This article will explain why every business needs to care about SEO, and provide some hows and whys of this powerful tool. Read on to learn more!

SEO Is Cost-Effective

One of the best things about SEO is that it is a very cost-effective marketing strategy. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on advertising in order to see results. In fact, many businesses see a significant return on investment after implementing an SEO strategy. However, if you need SEO help, be sure to hire an experienced and reputable company. Doing things yourself can be useful, but without professional guidance, you might not see good results. Also, doing things yourself might cost you more in the long run.

SEO Helps You Reach More People

A well-implemented SEO strategy can help you reach more people than traditional marketing. For example, instead of buying ads on Google Adwords or Facebook Ads, you can optimize your website so that it ranks high on the SERPs for keywords related to your business. If someone searches for these relevant keywords, your website will be higher up in the search results, and they are more likely to click on your link. SEO also helps with targeting specific demographics, which can be extremely useful for businesses.

SEO Gets You More Traffic

One of the main goals of SEO is to get your website more traffic. And it works! In fact, many businesses see a significant increase in website traffic after implementing an SEO strategy. This increased traffic often leads to more customers and higher revenues. Traffic from search engines is also more qualified than traffic from other sources, such as social media. This is because people who use search engines are actively looking for information related to your business. However, implementing an SEO strategy is not enough to get you more website traffic. You also need to create great content that people will want to read.

SEO Is Great For Branding

SEO can also be great for branding. When done correctly, SEO can help you create a strong online presence and build a positive reputation for your business. In addition, high-quality content that is optimized for SEO can help you establish yourself as an authority in your industry. This can be extremely beneficial for businesses that are looking to grow their brand.

SEO Is Evergreen

One of the best things about SEO is that it is evergreen. This means that the techniques that you use to optimize your website will continue to work overtime. Unlike other marketing strategies, such as PPC, SEO is not a one-time investment. You can continue to reap the benefits of SEO for years to come if you do it correctly.

Also, SEO techniques tend to evolve over time, which means that you will need to stay up-to-date with this industry. This is another great reason why you should hire an experienced SEO company if you don’t want to do everything yourself.

SEO Is Great For Mobile Users

More and more people are using mobile devices instead of computers to access the Internet. This means that it is more important than ever for brands to optimize their websites for mobile users. Fortunately, SEO can help you make your website mobile-friendly. There are tons of tools available that can help you do this without too much hassle (e.g., Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test). While implementing an SEO strategy for mobile users may require a bit of extra work, it is definitely worth it in the long run.

SEO Is Beneficial For All Types Of Businesses

No matter what type of business you own, SEO can be beneficial for you. Whether you are a small business or a large corporation, SEO can help you reach more people and grow your brand. In addition, SEO is not just for businesses that sell products or services online. Even businesses that have a physical location can benefit from SEO.

SEO Can Help You Increase Revenue

One of the primary goals of SEO is to help you generate more revenue from your website. By ranking higher in the SERPs, you can attract more visitors to your site, which means more potential customers. Additionally, SEO can help you convert more of these visitors into customers. This is because people who click on your website from the SERPs are already interested in what you have to offer. Also, people are more likely to buy from a website that they trust, and SEO can help you build trust.

SEO Is Not An Exact Science

Unfortunately, SEO is not an exact science. This means that there is no one “correct” way to do it. If you want to use SEO as a successful strategy for your business, you need to stay up-to-date with industry changes and trends. You also need to be creative and willing to test different strategies and tactics. 

Also, not every strategy will work for every business. You need to find the right SEO strategy that works for you and your company. This is one additional reason to find an agency that can help you find the right strategy for your business.

SEO Is The Best Way To Understand Your Customers Better

Finally, SEO can be great for understanding your customers better. When you track your website traffic and conversions, you can see which pages are most popular and which ones are converting the best. This information can help you better understand your customers and what they are looking for on your website. In addition, it can help you improve your website’s design and content to better meet the needs of your customers.

As you can see, there are many reasons why SEO is important for businesses of all sizes. SEO can help you reach more people, increase revenue, and understand your customers better. If you are not currently using SEO to promote your business, you should definitely consider doing so. If you want to grow your brand and increase your revenue, then you should definitely invest in SEO.

There’s no doubt that entrepreneurs are a unique breed of people. They see possibilities that others don’t, and never let defeat slow them down. Entrepreneurs have to wear many different hats and juggle a lot of responsibilities at the same time, which is not an easy task. If you’ve got what it takes to be one, these useful tips can help you take your business to the next level.

Understand What An Entrepreneur Is

An entrepreneur is a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses. They take on greater than normal financial risks in order to achieve higher gains. Entrepreneurs often start out with an idea for something new and see it through from being a startup to an established company.

There are three types of entrepreneurs:

• Revolutionary entrepreneur – someone who creates an entirely new market by bringing together elements that previously did not exist
• Innovation entrepreneur – someone who brings about change within the existing marketplace but who doesn’t create a new one
• Growth entrepreneur – this person identifies potential where others have missed it and builds upon these opportunities until they become profitable ventures

Get Professional Advice

Whilst entrepreneurs need to wear a lot of hats simultaneously, it’s unlikely they will be knowledgeable on every subject. An excellent way to get professional advice is to talk with external consultants and agencies. These companies can provide you with valuable input on how to improve your business ideas, strategy, and marketing plans. You could even hire consultants or agencies to do specific work for you, such as creating marketing campaigns, designing logos and websites, etc.

Your starting point for finding a suitable professional would be to visit the internet. If you want to know how to find a business coach online there are guides you can read, as well as free eBooks and related articles. They can help you research coaches, understand their knowledge and credentials and learn about costs.

Set Up A Business Plan

This is an outline of your business goals and the steps you will take to achieve them. In writing a plan for your startup (or expanding your current one) there are some things you need to consider first:

• who is going to be involved in the business?
• what skills would they need to have in order to help you achieve your goals?
• what type of clients do you want your products or services to attract?
• how much money should go into setting up this new venture?
• how long will it take for my enterprise to break even financially?
• once this happens, how quickly do I think sales/profits might grow from hereon in?

Check out the acronym ‘SMART’ online – it includes creating realistic goals that can be tangibly measured at specific points in time.

Have A Quality Website

By creating this, it can help you build brand awareness and credibility. Your website will make it easier to share information about your products or services, receive e-mails and feedback from customers, collect their data for future promotional purposes, etc. Make sure that it is user-friendly and that it displays as well on smartphones and tablets as it does on computers and laptops.

You can create a website by either purchasing hosting through a company, building one yourself or paying someone to create it for you. Once it’s been set up it will be the hub of all your online activities (including sales) and the place where your blogs and social media posts will be directing people.

Harness The Power Of SEO

These three letters stand for Search Engine Optimization. When people are searching the internet using keywords related to your business, it is important that they find your website so they can become a customer. Here are some tips:

• keywords – Use the right keyword density on your website and in your articles. This will help improve its ranking on search engines such as Google and Bing.
• backlinks – Get other websites to link back to you by providing high-quality content that is worth sharing. This will not only improve your site’s ranking but will also establish you as an expert in your field
• blog updates – When free content is being posted regularly on your site it increases its value and improves its ranking. It will also attract new visitors from different online sources
• social media – Share links to your blog posts on different social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) for better exposure. You can also create pages specifically for your business on these sites for more visibility
• marketing – SEO is important for advertising your business. If you run (e.g. Facebook Ads) campaigns make sure the wording is SEO optimized.

Use Social Media

It’s important to have an online presence on at least two different sites. As we said earlier, social media provides a platform for free interactive communication. These sites allow individuals, companies, brands or organizations to form communities around common interests or goals.

Social media provides an opportunity to create direct relationships between consumers and potential clients. This can make them more likely to purchase products/services from you rather than your competitors.

Think About Insurance And Compliance

Business insurance will protect you in case something goes wrong, for instance, if you are sued or have to pay damages. There are a variety of different policies that you can choose from, so be sure to research what would be best for your company. This is especially important if you are working with other companies or clients. Insure your employees, premises, vehicles and more.

Another thing to keep in mind when starting a business is making sure you are compliant with all state and federal regulations. This may include getting licenses and permits, setting up accounting systems, and filing taxes correctly. You may wish to speak to a business lawyer and employ an accountant to help you.

Hopefully, you have found these tips helpful and they have provided a springboard for further research. When these strategies are used wisely they can work together to both establish and enlarge your business over the coming years.

In today’s world of high-tech smartphones and tablets, not to mention the rise of highly interactive video games, the traditional forms of advertising are quickly fading away. With so many new ways to become removed from reality, it’s no wonder consumers are turning to more modern means of obtaining their information.

However, both traditional and digital ads are crucial to the success of any campaign. There are even some key advantages that continue to make traditional advertising an extremely important part of any campaign. Regardless of the industry, there are more than enough reasons to consider using traditional advertising. Therefore, here are some major benefits of marketing your product or business the traditional way.

Larger Audience Reach

One of the biggest benefits of traditional advertising is that it can reach a much larger audience than digital advertising can. With traditional advertising, businesses can target their audience more directly. With billboards and print ads, or advertising in malls, businesses can place their ads in locations where the people they want to see them are. With magazines and newspapers, your business can also reach a nationwide audience in one publication. The benefits of directly reaching your audience and getting your message out there just can’t be matched by digital marketing. Digital advertising might be more interactive and targeted, but traditional advertising is still a fast and effective way to get your product or service in front of potential customers that you otherwise might not be able to reach with digital ads.

Wider Audience Reach

In addition to reaching a larger audience, traditional advertising also reaches a more diverse audience. With digital advertising, you are typically targeting people who are already interested in what you have to offer. This is because they’re the ones who have taken the time to find and interact with your ad. However, with traditional advertising, you are reaching potential customers who may not be accustomed to seeing ads daily. There are also certain age groups (e.g., those over the age of 65) who don’t use the internet as much as other age groups. This makes traditional advertising a great way to reach potential customers who may not normally see your company’s name and logo.

Passive Media Consumption

Another big advantage of traditional advertising is that it’s a passive form of media consumption. People generally have to actively search for information on the internet, whereas with traditional advertising, people are exposed to it whether they like it or not. For example, when someone is driving down the highway and sees a billboard for a new restaurant, they might not be interested in the restaurant but they’ll still remember its name and location. With digital ads, people are much more likely to ignore them or even actively block them. This isn’t always the case with traditional advertising, as people are more likely to see it as something that’s just there. This can be a huge advantage for businesses because it means that people are more likely to remember their product or service even if they’re not interested in it at first.

Easier Content Management

Another benefit of traditional advertising is the ease with which it can be managed. For example, with digital ads, you have to constantly monitor them in case something goes wrong with the ad or changes need to be made. With print ads, you have to manage your ad campaigns by constantly producing new advertisements for different publications. This has a cost associated with each new advertisement that needs to be created and sent out. Moreover, these costs are not cheap either. However, traditional advertising doesn’t require any of this effort on the part of the business owner because there’s no content management involved at all. You show up, set up an ad campaign and they run until the end date; it’s simple enough for anyone to do!

Memorability

In today’s world of digital advertising, it can be difficult for a company to maintain its customer base from month to month. This is because many consumers may not remember what they saw or heard on a computer or smartphone after a day or two has passed. However, with traditional advertising, it’s much easier for customers to remember your product or service. This is because traditional advertising is generally more memorable than digital advertising. For example, a billboard or print ad can be seen and remembered by a customer for weeks or even months after they see it. With digital ads, customers are much less likely to remember what they saw within just a few days. This is because there’s so much information coming at them from all angles that it’s difficult to remember anything specific. Therefore, if you’re looking for a way to make sure that your customers remember your product or service, then traditional advertising is the way to go!

Greater Brand Awareness

One of the most important benefits of traditional advertising is that it can help your business create a greater amount of brand awareness. Because so many people are exposed to traditional advertising regularly, it’s much easier for your business to get its name out there and become more recognizable by the masses. Some studies have shown that 86% of consumers can identify brands from just seeing their logo on a billboard or in print ads. With digital marketing campaigns, only 42% of customers could say the same thing. This is why creating brand awareness is one of the biggest goals for most businesses when they do any type of advertising. You want your potential customers to remember who you are and what you offer so that they’re more likely to do business with you in the future.

More Cost-Effective

Compared to digital advertising, traditional advertising is much more cost-effective. This is because you don’t need to have a website or any type of online presence to run a successful ad campaign. All you need is some space in a publication or on a billboard and you’re good to go! This can be a huge time saver for businesses that are trying to design their company logo, create content and then advertise on the internet. Not only that but you don’t need to spend money on expensive web hosting either. With traditional advertising, you can run your ad campaign without spending any money at all! This makes it much more cost-effective than digital ads because you’re not spending any money on something that may not even produce results.

Traditional advertising isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’s growing stronger every day with methods such as out-of-home advertising. If you’re looking for a tried and true way to get your business in front of more consumers, then traditional advertising is the way to go.

Managed IT services are a great way to keep your business running smoothly. They provide benefits that go beyond just keeping your computer or network up and running. In this article, you will learn about the benefits of using managed IT services for all of your technology needs.

Keeping Your Business Data Safe 

Lots of companies are working with tons of sensitive information gathered from employees, customers, as well as clients. Some of this data is falling prey to hackers and if you visit Computers In The City you’ll learn just how essential it is to keep all this protected. Managed IT services are here to help you with this and the benefits of using these services are plenty.

One such benefit is keeping your business data safe. With so much sensitive information floating around, it’s easy to see why every company should want their data protected as much as possible from hackers and other threats. What managed IT service providers do for their clients will keep all that precious info locked down which means they’ll be able to focus on running a successful business instead of worrying about security breaches.

Another good reason for businesses to consider working with an MSP is the benefits you get when hiring them in relation to hardware support. They can help out if something ever goes wrong with your devices or any software installed on them by giving quick assistance via phone or computer screen sharing programs.

Keeping Your Data Organized 

IT services will provide you with the best solutions to keep the data organized. If you are not able to do this by yourself, then it is better to outsource these services so that they can manage your information in a more effective manner. There are many benefits of hiring IT support for keeping their data properly managed and here are some of them:

• You will have access to all kinds of tools which mean that everything is kept secure 
• The risks associated with cybercrime are minimized because you know where all your information is located at any time 
• Your employees work productively as there would be no issues related to using outdated systems or software programs 
• You get more benefits at a lower cost because of the existing IT infrastructure 
• You can focus on your core business and let the professionals handle everything else.

Organizing all this could take a long time for you if you are not able to do it by yourself. Time is money and this will make things more complicated for your business in the long run.

Managed IT services can help keep all these benefits with minimal disruptions to your daily operations, which means that they work around the clock until everything looks better. They know exactly what needs to be done because of their experience working on different types of businesses, so hire them now!

Reducing Downtime 

Good management means reduced downtime, which benefits both your company and the IT company you work with. The benefits are obvious: less time off-line means more productivity at all levels of an organization. 

Some possible benefits that come along with reducing downtime include increased revenue for companies who rely on 24/7 availability to serve their customers (think banks). This causes improved customer satisfaction due to reduced wait times when calling a call center, or even better business decisions being made because there is always data available in reports! 

All these benefits can be achieved by working together with managed service providers. No matter what applications or systems you use, they will be up and running 100% of the time without any loss in performance. This way your employees remain happy about having access to their tools and your customers will be satisfied that they can reach you at any time! 

The benefits of using managed IT services and reducing downtime are so many, it’s a no-brainer to go ahead and contact an experienced provider today.

Improving Employee Productivity 

The things mentioned above will make your employees more productive. If you have a smaller business, it is likely that your employees are the main drivers of your company’s productivity and their happiness can impact how well they perform at work. When people feel good about where they work, then they will be more engaged with what they do; this means that less time will be wasted by them trying to find information or waiting for technology problems to get resolved.

Managed IT services like MSPs (managed service providers) make employee benefits possible because these benefits directly stem from using managed IT support instead of simply paying someone in-house to try and fix any issues as quickly as possible. A great way of improving employee productivity through managed IT support is offering incentives such as team-building exercises which build morale and give the employees benefits that extend well into their personal lives.

Improving Customer Service 

Managed IT services will ensure customer loyalty thanks to improved customer service. When you sign up for managed IT services, your customers will see how much attention is being paid to their concerns and requests because the benefits of using managed IT services are obvious if they compare it with other companies that don’t use this technology. 

All your clients will have a better experience when working with you or asking you for help. Thanks to good IT management, you will have a faster response time to questions or issues regarding systems problems or technical difficulties reported by the end-user(s). All this means easier problem resolution on first contact instead of having tickets go through various rounds before getting resolved to result in frustration from both sides.

Keeping Up With Tech Trends

Staying up-to-date with tech is essential for the success of your business. If you are not doing this, then it is only a matter of time before competitors get ahead of you and leave you behind. Luckily there are benefits to using managed IT services that will help keep up with the ever-changing world around you.

The benefits of using managed IT services can be important for any type of company in order to adapt to changes in technology so they remain successful over time. One main benefit is being able to stay on top of new trends by having access to experienced staff members who have knowledge about the very latest technologies available.

Managed IT services are essential for a successful business. Your data will be safe and well-organized at all times reducing downtime and increasing employee productivity thanks to these features. Your customers will also have a better experience working with you meaning they will probably come back and you’ll always stay on top of the tech changes. Not having to do this all by yourself will save you lots of time, which you will be able to focus on other parts of your business!