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How To Make Money With Email List
Do you know that most of the articles you find on the Internet on ‘how to make money with email list‘ actually teaches you nonsense?

Forgive me for my rant, but I think that it is about time where someone stands up and put some serious facts on using the email list to put real money into your bank account.

For starters, there are just too many articles telling you how to make money using email list, but I realized they missed some seriously, crucial factors in it.

Now, don’t take my word for it. To justify the matter, take a moment to think about this.

Are you making $100 a month from your email list?

If the answer is ‘yes,’ you probably know what you are doing, and you can safely skip this post. However, you may want to continue reading to find some quick hacks to double your income generated from the email list.

If your answer is ‘no,’ please carry on reading and bookmark this! I promise you that you will find a lot of beneficial information from this post and it doesn’t take you more than 10 minutes.

1-minute recap: What you should know about building an email list?

Everyone who has a blog or website need to build an email list. While most email services providers charge you money, there are some who are offering free accounts such as MailChimp and Benchmark Email.

An email list goes a long way because he will help you generate money in a long run. Of course, more on how to make money with an email list is after this little segment.

Building an email list is also important because it is going to help you connect with your audience. You will connect with them in more ways than just psychological emotions with them, especially when your posts and writing resonate with them.

The result from this will be explosive:

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- They are going to help you boost your traffic
- They will share your content if they love them
- They are going to be your friends
- They are going to be your loyal fans
- They are going to look for you when they face challenges (usually within your niche)
- They are going to trust you so much that, they will buy anything you promote to them!
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Ladies and gentlemen, these are the exact reasons why you should build an email list.

How to make money with email list?

The million dollar question that you can find over a thousand tutorials on the Internet but yet, only a handful make money with email list.

The problem is fairly simple.

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- It is NOT because you are not using a paid email service provider
- It is NOT because you have a small email list
- It is NOT because you are not sending weekly newsletter
- It is NOT because you are not using an autoresponder
- It is NOT because you are using a free email service provider
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And the answer is this.

The simplest way to make money with email list

Segment your email list.

Yes, you read that right. If you want to generate real money from the email list, you need to start to segment your email list.

The biggest mistake you can ever do is to put everyone on the same email list. Here is a simple way to segment your email list:

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- General newsletter – Everyone goes in here once they sign up for your email newsletter
- Segment 1 – People with specific interest (example content marketing) only
- Segment 2 – People with specific interest (example social media) only
- Segment 3 – People with specific interest (example search engine) only
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When you send a weekly newsletter, send them by batches based on the segments. So, each newsletter can easily be custom made and be extremely focused on topics they interest them the most.

Do you know what happens when you do the above?
1. You will have low unsubscribing rate (with Google loves)
2. You can send highly targeted emails to the right audience which improves with click-through rate (CTR in short)
3. You resonate with your email subscribers and this build trust
Now, imagine doing this.

You send weekly emails to all these segments trying to provide tons of value. As a result, they love it and thank you for them.

Then, once every month, you send a newsletter that has some promotional items in it. For example, you can promote online courses, recommending an affiliate product or even upselling your services.

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Takeaway: Because there are a deep trust and understanding between you and your email subscribers, they are not going to be pissed off with you. Instead, they might even thank you for the promotional email and make some purchases!

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What’s next is simply, cha-ching!

How to start segmenting your email list?

Most free email service provider such as MailChimp doesn’t provide you with tons of options for segmenting. At least, in the point of view of a complete non-developer.

If you are interested to know the method to create tags using MailChimp, here’s an excellent article found on their knowledge base. Read more here.

The easier way is to create multiple signup forms and lists on MailChimp. This step allows you to send traffic to the right signup forms and ultimately helping you to segment your target audience.

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Important tip: Do not compile all your email subscribers under one email list!

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When you are sending your newsletter, make sure that you create different types of email based on your segment and always avoid recycling!

Bonus: Should you use email automation to make money with email list?

Yes, if you can afford it.

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What is email automation?

According to BigCommerce, email automation is the most effective way to engage in email marketing because it enables you to send out messages to your customers at designated times. … Using automation, they can save time by setting up the email platform to send messages when customers take specific actions.

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There are many email automation services that you can choose from in the market, but most of them cost above $15 a month. And I totally get it!

As a blogger or content writer, you might think that email automation system just adds more weight to your monthly budget.

I had the same mindset as well, and with having over 2,000 email subscribers, it gets pricey very fast. Recently, I move from a prominent email automation system to ActiveCampaign.

The result? I’m surprised!

Let me share with you some details here about ActiveCampaign. It comes with a free trial of 30 days which you can try out (using this link), and that’s not yet the kicker since every email marketing solution in the world provides that.

The kicker was the value and the price. For only $9 a month, you get a complete email automation system and trust me, a good email automation costs a lot more than $9!
- GetResponse starts at $15 a month
- AWeber starts at $19 a month
- ConvertKit starts at $29 a month
And yes, I was surprised and tested it out (thanks to my curiosity nature).

Here’s what you need to try on Active Campaign using their free trial.

1. Create an email list

2. Import contacts to the email list you have just created

You can either upload a CSV file using the default button (green button) or manually add into Active Campaign.

It would take around a few minutes to upload the contacts.

3. Create an automation for your email list

The above is the drag and drop automation system found on ActiveCampaign. You can choose from several pre-made templates or you can create one from scratch.

Why did I choose Active Campaign?

The email automation system is so powerful that I can easily create proven automation without creating one from scratch.

What?!

Yes, Active Campaign thought about this and kudos to them. I don’t have hours to create a good sales funnel, and this is exactly what Active Campaign does for me. It gives me some awesome pre-made templates, and I can easily duplicate them into my email list.

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The results: 100+ hours of time-saving (testing, modification, and A/B testing), 30% of improving results, 90% of satisfaction for my email subscribers, 25% improved in revenue generated from the email list.

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Now, go figure!

Quick Guide: How to use Active Campaign tagging feature and make money with email list

Tagging works when email subscribers perform a specific task. In this case, it can be clicking on a link in the email, being subscribed to a newsletter or being added to a new email list.

Here’s a quick GIF on how to use Active Campaign tagging feature.

Once the above is done, you’ll find email subscribers that are tagged accordingly based on their preferences or journey in your sales funnel.

You can find the tags allocated to each email subscriber when you check on their profile.

Summary

I hope you find the guide, ‘How to make money with email list’ useful and do tell me what you think about it. Feel free to reach out to me if you need help and looking forward to seeing you in the comment section below!
March 5, 2024
Cloudways Managed Cloud Hosting Review 2017
You found this article because you are interested about the Cloudways managed cloud hosting review 2017. I’m not going to disappoint you, you’ve come to the right place.

I promised to make this article as detailed and informative as possible. Therefore, I’ll be covering a wide range of topics related to Cloudways such as:
- What is managed cloud hosting?
- Introduction to Cloudways
- Cloudways managed cloud hosting review for the year 2017
- Advantages and disadvantages of Cloudways
- How to migrate a website to Cloudways?
I hope you find this article useful and I will appreciate it if you can share this on social media.

What is managed cloud hosting?

According to Techopedia, managed cloud hosting is a process in which organizations share and access resources, including databases, hardware and software tools, across a remote network via multiple servers in another location. In managed cloud hosting, servers are purchased in slices or as a virtual server.

If the above sounds geeky for you, don’t worry. Here’s a simplified version for the meaning of managed cloud hosting.

Managed cloud hosting is not like your average shared hosting service (example, Bluehost). In shared hosting service, you will most probably share the same hosting environment with over a thousand or other users.

Compared to cloud hosting, you can utilize the entire server allocation for your usage. The server is also hosted on a virtual server where accessing it would require a remote network connection.

The term ‘managed’ simply means that the server or servers are maintained by one or more support team. Thus you don’t have to worry about server maintenance.

I’m a huge fan of managed cloud hosting and to be extremely honest with you, cloud hosting services aren’t the cheapest in the market. However, they are probably one of the best especially when it comes to server performance.

Searching for the cheapest managed cloud hosting platform? You don’t have to look far as Cloudways is the best (and cheapest) managed cloud hosting platform you can find in today’s market.

Introduction to Cloudways managed cloud hosting platform

Cloudways has long been in the industry of virtual servers. I’ve used them several years back, and they are affordable.

Back in those days, Cloudways only have Digital Ocean and Amazon Web Services (AWS) as their provider. Now, Cloudways is working with several other partners such as Vultr, Google Cloud Platform Live, and Kyup.

Here are some reviews on Cloudways:

“Cloudways is an interesting company because it is in the process of moving from a service offering, where every deployment is essentially a custom one, to a far more productized approach.” – Ben Kepes, Forbes

‘Cloudways takes care of the management of open-source tools for hosting websites, like Magento, WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla.’ – Jordan Novet, Venture Beat

“Cloudways indicates the emphasis is on simplicity, targeting SMBs that have little to no desire to operate or administer the infrastructure themselves.” – Liam Eagle, 451 Research

“There’s a lot to like about Cloudways. The Web host has flexible plans, killer Web-based customer support, and excellent uptime. It’s a company that you can count on to keep your site up and running.” – Jeffrey L. Wilson, PCMag.com

“Cloudways is always a fun company to test. It showed major performance improvements in this round (2015) and earned an honorable mention. It was by far the most improved provider between tests.” – Kevin Ohashi, Review Signal

Cloudways managed cloud hosting review for the year 2017

In all my reviews, I am always very strict about performance, scalability, cost and support. Coming from the customer service industry, these are just values that I cannot overlook and are often considered the core of any business.

1. Cloudways managed cloud hosting server performance review (rating 9 out of 10)

For starters, I want to be straightforward to say that I am not testing on their smallest package, 512 MB server. Instead, I’m using two servers of 1 GB and 2 GB respectively. Therefore, my review will be based on both of them.

Of course, 512 MB server would probably be enough to host a brand new website or smaller ones. With the websites that I manage, I need more firepower of course.

Regarding performance, Cloudways exceeds my expectations by miles apart. Due to traffic and security concerns, I always use managed WordPress hosting as my go-to web hosting service. If you are wondering, I’m using WP Engine, and the package was Professional.

Here are the stats when I was still using WP Engine:

Here are the stats when I am using Cloudways managed cloud hosting:

Now, take a look at the top. The stats are very clear and straight forward.

It certainly looks like Cloudways is really good and could easily consider as overperforming since I’m comparing it head-on with one of the world’s best WordPress hosting, WP Engine.

Cloudways comes with Varnish feature as well, therefore, works like a charm and allows your website to load faster than most web hosting services could.

Plus, being a managed cloud hosting platform, there are more allocated resources for your website which will directly affect the loading speed.

Bear in mind that I’m using Cloudways 2 GB ram on Digital Ocean that costs me $34 a month compared to WP Engine Professional plan at $99 per month.

A critical Cloudways managed cloud hosting review is not complete without sharing the information of Let’s Encrypt and RackSpace’s email feature. According to Google, websites that have SSL would rank higher than most websites that don’t. When you use Cloudways, it is easy to apply for an SSL certificate (for free). The entire process takes around 5 minutes and can be done only when you have the domain pointing directly to the allocated IP address on Cloudways.

As for RackSpace email feature, it is chargeable at $1 per email (per month) and trusts me; this is an awesome feature compared to others. Bear in mind that you can easily have this service by clicking on the “Addon” button to purchase the service.

2. Cloudways managed cloud hosting scalability (rating 10 out of 10)

Need to scale your website because you are growing? No problem!

With Cloudways, scalability is never an issue. As a matter of fact, you can easily do so by just dragging the scale up to the designated value, and the billing will automatically be reflected.

Managed cloud hosting such as Cloudways allows you to scale down your website as well easily. This can be done by creating a clone server and selecting a lower tier cloud hosting package that fits your need.

Noticed the ease of upgrading and downgrading on Cloudways?

When it comes to scalability, I would give Cloudways scalability of 10/10 because it is just that simple and can usually be completed in 10 minutes.

3. Cloudways managed cloud hosting pricing/cost (rating 10 out of 10)

At this point of writing, I’m residing in Malaysia, and my exchange rate for USD is approx 4.46. So, let’s take the instance that I’m using WP Engine $99 per month.

USD 99 x 4.46 = RM 441.54

This means that I should be paying approximately RM 441.54 every month just for web hosting!

Now, when I use Cloudways, I’m being charged at $32 per month.

USD 32 x 4.46 = RM 142.72

That’s approximately 67% saving every month!

Let’s do us all a favor and think hard on this. We all talk about web hosting speed, security, performance and probably a dozen more features but at the end of the day, the price matters the most.

When you use Cloudways managed cloud hosting platform, you are doing yourself a favor by getting the best performance as well as easy on your wallet.

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Oh by the way, do you know that Cloudways doesn’t tie you down with prepayment? All subscriptions are based on month to month basis.

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4. Cloudways managed cloud hosting support (rating 8.5 out of 10)

When it comes to supporting, Cloudways go a long way in making their customers feeling happy and satisfied.

For starters, you will receive a telephone call from their support team a few days after signing up for their service. And on top of that, you have the ability to hop onto their ‘live chat’ sessions for any help. Until date, the waiting queue for live chat is always fast and usually, the wait time is under 30 seconds.

Typically, their support team is very well trained in most scenarios, but from time to time, you will meet up with a few who are less experienced. While they will try to help out as much as they could, it would be a little annoying when you have to repeat yourself a couple of times!

Now, when it comes to rating the level of support provided by Cloudways, I would give them a nice 8.5 out of 10. If they could have more experienced staffs working throughout the clock, it will probably further increase the satisfaction level of the customers.

5. Simplicity in managed cloud hosting (rating 9.5 out of 10)

Simplicity and user experience are two vital components for any web hosting service. As most beginners or webmasters don’t want to spend the entire day getting the server up and running, both of these are more important than ever.

Here’s a screenshot of my dashboard:

As you can see, it is very straightforward and pretty for the eyes.

Managing a cloud hosting server is not an easy task. It often requires experience and certain knowledge before you can have a fully running service. With Cloudways managed cloud hosting platform, it is extremely easy to create and manage your cloud servers.

Cloudways allows you to:

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- Create managed cloud servers quickly
- Manage servers easily
- Scale up or down the server
- Turn on and off Varnish
- Reboot the server
- Purge the cache
- Clone the server
- Install SSL certificate under 5 minutes
- Change PHP settings
- And much more
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The above can be done on all Cloudways managed cloud hosting servers without any coding. You can either turn on or off specific services with just a few clicks.

It is so easy that you can even migrate your website using Cloudways’s migrator tool!

In the scale of 1 to 10, I would give Cloudways simplicity and user experience at the score of 9.5.

Yes, Cloudways managed cloud hosting is seriously that good!

How to migrate to Cloudways managed cloud hosting platform?

Do you remember paying hundred of dollars just to migrate your website from one web host to another? Yes, those days.

With today’s technology, you are no longer bound for that. Instead, you can use migration tools provided by some hosting companies to ease the job. Currently, Cloudways is the only managed cloud hosting platform that offers such service.

The process of migrating to Cloudways is simple. Here are the steps:

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IP propagation takes time. Therefore, do not panic if your website doesn’t load or shows 404 error.

Advantages of using Cloudways managed cloud hosting

Cloudways is still one of the best managed cloud hosting platforms you can find on the market today. It is highly affordable, and the server performance is better than most web hosting services.

When you use Cloudways, you will get powerful servers all to yourself as well as excellent customer service. Another plus point is that Cloudways is a fully managed cloud hosting platform. This means that you don’t have to go all the way to learn how to manage a server. Cloudways teams will take care of the maintenance for you.

As Cloudways is very affordable, it makes all the sense that Cloudways is more popular than most VPS or cloud hosting platforms within the industry. While most VPS and cloud hosting services would cost above $50, it only costs as low as $10 with Cloudways.

Disadvantages using Cloudways managed cloud hosting

Cloudways is not created to fit everyone’s needs. After all, there is no product in this world that fit everyone in the market. One of the biggest disadvantages using Cloudways is the price.

Allow me to explain.

When you use Cloudways, you need to understand that Cloudways works as an intermediary between you and the cloud provider. Therefore, you are required to pay slightly more when using Cloudways.

Take a look at Digital Ocean pricing structure:

And here’s the pricing structure for Digital Ocean on Cloudways:

Do you see the differences?

I know for a fact that many people consider it as a huge cost disadvantage. Well, it depends on how you see it.

Creating a droplet on Digital Ocean is easy and price efficient. However, you are required to do all the server maintenance yourself. Compared to Cloudways, the dashboard and systems are setups for you. Instead of using command code to get the droplet in Digital Ocean running (which could take hours if you are inexperienced), you can opt to pay slightly more for a full-fledged service through Cloudways.

Now, can you consider this as a disadvantage for Cloudways? Go figure!

Summary: Cloudways managed cloud hosting review 2017

If you are looking for a good and affordable managed cloud hosting service, you should consider using Cloudways. After all, the entire operation system is set up to ease your burden, save you more time and ensuring that your website is up and running the short time possible.

On the other hand, Cloudways is less effective if you know about coding and server management as there are many Cloudways competitors such as Digital Ocean, Amazon Web Services and Linode to choose from. Of course, those are an unmanaged cloud hosting compared to Cloudways managed cloud hosting platform.

To end my Cloudways managed cloud hosting review for 2017, allow me to stress that I highly recommend Cloudways because it is highly scalable, user-friendly and a high-performance cloud hosting platform for both beginners and advanced users. With affordability in mind, there is absolutely no doubt that Cloudways is the best managed cloud hosting you can find in 2017.

Click here to try Cloudways for free and judge Cloudways by yourself!
March 5, 2024
How to Serve Static Content From a Cookieless Domain
Want to know how to serve static content from a cookieless domain?

You came to the right place. In this article, I’ll be sharing with you how to solve the irritating “serve static content from a cookieless domain” warning.

If you are using Pingdom, this sight is just too common for many:

Disclaimer:

Due to the latest changes with the web and new protocols such as HTTP/2, it is safe to ignore this warning for now. However, I’m still a strong believer that we should find a solution to fix the “serve static content from a cookieless domain” warning if we can.

And yes, this article will show you how.

if we can.

And yes, this article will show you how.

How to fix the “serve static content from a cookieless domain” warning?

Here’s the quick and direct response to your question. In order to serve static content from a cookieless domain, you can either re-configuring your WordPress website or use a Content Delivery Network (or CDN in short).

Solution 1: Re-configure your WordPress website to serve static content from a cookieless domain

This method is free but at the cost of some work and knowledge.

For starters, you need to understand that the way your website is being configured will play a crucial role in the success of this method.

If you use a top-level domain such as domain.com, then you would need to actually use a separate domain altogether. If you are using www.domain.com then you could simply set up a subdomain such as static.domain.com.

As most websites are configured on www.domain.com, the method below is strictly for websites with www:
1. Create a subdomain
2. You can use any name and I’m using static.domain.com. This is where you will be delivering your files from (and ultimately solving the server static content from cookieless domain warning.
3. Point your subdomain to your wp-content directory with a CNAME.
4. Not sure what is CNAME? Here’s a quick source for you.
5. Edit your wp-config.php file to reflect the following:
define(“WP_CONTENT_URL”, “http://static.domain.com”);
define(“COOKIE_DOMAIN”, “domain.com”);

Not sure where to find wp-config.php file?

The configuration file of your WordPress script is located in the WordPress installation directory and its name is: wp-config.php

You can edit it through cPanel –> File Manager. Find the file, click on it and from the top menu choose “Edit”.

Solution 2: Using CDN to serve static content from a cookieless domain

The fastest solution to serving static content from a cookieless domain is by using a Content Delivery Network.

Here’s the concept: If you offload all your static content to a CDN or a file storage service like MaxCDN, keeping the static file requests cookie-free should be easy as long as you haven’t set up a CNAME record on a subdomain that receives cookies from your top-level domain.

For Google and other search engines, it doesn’t matter the files are hosted on 3rd party servers or your own.

Remember that it is all about the domain that the request is made to and making sure nothing on that domain sets any cookies.

Why use Content Delivery Network such as MaxCDN?

The answer is simple. It is easy and hassle free. You don’t have to crack your head or mess with confusing codes just to serve static content from a cookieless domain.

Besides that, MaxCDN is seriously affordable and apart from solving your static content serving, it also helps you to speed up your website loading speed by the seconds!

Don’t forget that Google gives higher ranking to websites that load faster (and under 1.5 seconds).

Learn more about MaxCDN and click here to get MaxCDN discount.

How to know if you have successfully serve static content from a cookieless domain?

Once you have completed either of the steps above, you would need to clear your browser cache and empty the cache plugin. You may also decide to leave it for a few hours before checking on Pingdom Tools.

You will know it is successful when you see the following:
March 5, 2024
9 Business Trends to Follow in 2017

The world is changing at the speed of technological innovations and the public is more digital, more demanding. The Millennials, as well known as Generation Y, grew hand in hand with technology and is today the main responsible for purchasing decisions, as the largest group of consumers.

The business trends for 2017 are following these changes.

The world is changing and businesses, for the coming years, will have to take care of this generation.

The 10 trends that will drive your business in 2017 will be focused on technological tools, on the growth of eCommerce platforms, on work remotely and more.

Here you go.

1. Web Design Trends

It is no wonder web design has become more important to business than ever before.

Long scrolling, flat design, micro interactions, rich animations and HD visuals are just some of the new trends. From logos to websites, to enriched graphics on social media accounts, consumers are becoming more obsessed with visually appealing content and companies need to take advantage of it.

Following web design trends for 2017 will be required for every business in order to compete at the highest levels. This holds true especially for those companies who refuse to embark on the Internet for fear of getting lost and not being able to emerge.

Every company, every startup, every small workshop will need a strategic online presence. CMS platforms like WordPress allow you to easily manage a website, with just a minimum of technical know-how to build your online activities.

2. Personal Branding

If you are a young entrepreneur then you should know that personal branding is a key element for the growth of your business.

The Internet has opened the field to a grueling competition among experts in this sector, generating a kind of uniformity among rivals. What matters is being able to find new personal branding tools to help bring out our companies, like Mention, which helps to monitor in real-time your business name or brand. Just enter a keyword in the search box and you can track what people are saying about you across different platforms.

3. Remotely Recruitment

Tech companies and startups are using different forms of remote working.

Since the meeting can be made on Skype or other video conferencing platforms, there’s a much better chance of taking true talents via the digital channel, without the tedious and costly grain of the work on site, in order to have an important role within the company and bring success to your business.

4. Millennials

People may think that Millennials are lazy kids who prefer to stay at home and work in pajamas and slippers.

On the contrary, they are just the opposite of the baby boomers. They seek creative ways to do their job, constantly improving the work process.

This means that companies have the opportunity to meet the needs of the talented Millennials to get in return success and turnover, following the trend of the business carefully.

5. eCommerce

2017 will be the year of the growth of online shopping: the spending is on the rise in both the US and Europe.

Just consider that one of the points in favor of the online business development is about shipping and for 2017 the business trends will be all oriented on electronic commerce.

The shipping cost has a very important role in decision making of customers. 58% of consumers are willing to add items to their carts to meet the threshold for free shipping.

Also, the web development and loading time of the ecommerce pages will influence the purchase decision. Be sure to choose the right web hosting to avoid losing customers.

Other important areas will be the social commerce, because many consumers can now make secure purchases using their smartphones.

6. Business Intelligence Software

In 2017 the Business Intelligence will give a big hand to SMEs. BI is a set of business procedures used for the collection and analysis of data and strategic information. Through software like Cyfe you can collect the data fragmented by translating them into valuable information for the development of our business.

BI has historically been used by large enterprises to treat, preserve and display what is known as Big Data. However, the growth of technological solutions and the large amounts of data gives the possibility to small companies to take advantage of BI solutions.

7. Green Business

The Millennials are quite aware of what types of products to buy. For this reason, they search for companies that pay attention to the planet’s health through the products they consume.

Green business is a very familiar term, but only recently has been taken seriously by the companies, which have developed specific products to contribute to the success of this mission. Nothing strange, then, of seeing a grow for green businesses in 2017.

8. Videos

2016 was the year of online videos, so much that Facebook has invested and continues to invest much on this powerful medium.

2017 could be the year when videos will be used to create useful content to solve the customer problems.

The video is becoming an essential source of information and many experts have understood in advance. Through powerful targeting tools offered by social networks, you can create a real-time video to address specific issues and help our users to solve them.

In essence, focus on videos to promote your product.

9. Fewer Emails

2017 could be the year of Slack overtaking emails. Just think this famous tool has exceeded 4 million users a day.

This does not mean companies will abandon emails so sudden, but it is certain these tools of real-time communication will become more used among users.

In an organization where internal and external communication takes place via email, you can save much time using real-time tools, other than spending most of the day with the mailbox open waiting for a response.

As we all know: time is money!

March 5, 2024
Thrive Themes vs X Theme: The Best WordPress Theme Of The Year
Thrive Themes vs X Theme.

I get it. You are undecided on two of the best premium WordPress themes on the market. Lucky for you, you will find the complete review on both Thrive Themes vs X Theme in this post.

And if you wonder why I do so, it is simple. I’ve been in the same position as you in the past, and it is hard to decide. As for the record, I ended up buying both the themes!

Being an avid WordPress user myself, I totally understand how it felt like when it comes to choosing the best WordPress theme for your blog. On the one hand, you have the popular Thrive Themes, and on another, you have the X Theme which was rated as the best WordPress theme in 2015 on CodeCanyon.

Don’t worry. In this post, you will find the complete review of Thrive Themes vs X Theme — all under one roof.

Of course, if you like this WordPress builder review, I would appreciate if you can share it with your friends!

If you are looking for comparison between Thrive Themes and other WordPress builders instead, here are some links you should take a look at:
- Thrive Themes vs OptimizePress Review
- Thrive Themes vs Genesis Theme Framework
What is a WordPress builder theme?

WordPress builder allows you to do a heck lot of things, especially when it comes to customizing your WordPress theme. In most WordPress themes development, a single project can costs at least $200.

If you are feeling adventurous (and tight on budget), getting yourself a WordPress builder theme such as Thrive Themes or X theme is a great alternative.

Developing a WordPress theme is time-consuming and in most cases, you are required to have a certain expertise in coding. This is where WordPress builder theme comes into play.

A good WordPress builder helps you to create awesome themes without any coding knowledge. In most cases, you are just required to drag and drop different columns to create the ultimate theme of your choice. And yes, all the above is done without any coding skills.

What are the requirements of a good WordPress builder theme?

The market is saturated with dozens of WordPress builders. Sadly, not many make the mark!

So, here are some of the requirements of a good WordPress builder theme:
- Mobile responsive
- An array of typography
- Search engine friendly (and optimized)
- Fast loading speed
- Affordability
- All year round support (email or forum)
- Integration with other important plugins
- Low learning curve
- Automation upgrading
Lucky for you, both Thrive Themes and X Theme have pretty similar similarities with the above requirements (which we will dive deeper in this post).

Thrive Themes review

You can read my up-to-date Thrive Themes review, and I am firm with my stance; Thrive Themes is one of the best drag and drop builder in the market.

But wait! What should you know about Thrive Themes?

The theme doesn’t have tons of bloatware, and all the Thrive Themes are built with the focus on speed and converting visitors into paying customers (or email subscribers).

As a blogger or marketer, you’ll understand how important getting leads through your blog. And that’s exactly what Thrive Themes can help you to achieve! Every part of the theme created is focused heavily on getting conversions; email subscribers, inquiries, etc.

For one, I’m a huge fan of StudioPress themes and personally, I have used it for over ten years. When I decided to use Thrive Themes on one of my websites, I was worried and to be extremely honest, I was not convinced on Thrive Themes.

However, I read many blog posts talking about the advantages of Thrive Themes, and I was tempted to try it. After all, what’s the worst case that can happen, right?

My experience using Thrive Themes

As an experienced WordPress user, I skipped the manual and went directly into installing the premium theme.

(a) Installation of Thrive Themes

My verdict for this part is that Thrive Themes is easy to use. It doesn’t take long to install, and it is very easy as well.

(b) Using Thrive Themes

A full copy of Thrive Themes comes with inbuilt Thrive Leads and Thrive Content Builder. With the combination of both plugins, you get a complete, all-in-one premium theme that takes away all the hard work and leave the nice results for you.

(c) Thrive Leads integration

Thrive Leads is pretty much the most advanced version for any lead generation plugin. As a huge fan of OptinMonster, Thrive Leads easily surpass what most common lead generation plugin could do.

You can integrate custom lead forms or choose from the huge library of pre-made forms seamlessly into your blog or website.

A huge plus point for Thrive Themes users is that Thrive Leads can integrate into dozens of email marketing providers. Seriously, you will be surprised on how many plugins who face multiple issues when it comes to integration!

Side note: I use Convertkit for my email marketing, and there is absolutely no problem using it with Thrive Leads! You can also read my post on why I left MailChimp for Convertkit.

(d) Thrive Content Builder

Thrive Content Builder or TCB, in short, is a powerful plugin that comes along with Thrive Themes. Instead of the traditional blog writing, Thrive Content Builder allows you to create powerful and highly effective content through drag-and-drop option.

You can easily add content, images, videos, maps and other interactive ‘˜materials’ within the blog post with using any codes. All you need to do is to select the option available and start writing!

(e) Thrive Themes loading speed

Makes no mistake. Thrive Themes is excellent when it comes to website loading speed. I am always keen on making my website load under 1 second, and that’s why I use WP Engine to host my websites.

With StudioPress themes, I can load my website under 1 second, and when I use another theme builder, it usually takes a whole 2 seconds or more!

When I use Thrive Themes with WP Engine, my website loads around 1.2 seconds which is superb!

X Theme Review

I came across X Theme two and a half years back. Back then, I was hunting for another premium theme apart from StudioPress. Adam Connell (founder of Blogging Wizard) introduced me to X Theme, and I was instantly ‘wow-ed.’

At that time, X Theme was still new in the market, and it was okay. It provides tons of features and is probably one of the best I ever used.

Fast forward to now, X Theme has come a long way. Now, it can integrate to dozens of plugins and add-ons, including Cornerstone which is awesome!

For me, X Theme is a great choice for both beginners and experienced WordPress users simply because it offers a lot of features under its hood.

For starters, X Theme can integrate to multiple plugins such as email opt-in forms, lead generation, under construction and social sharing. Instead of buying a truckload of plugins, you can find nearly everything with X Theme.

My experience using X Theme

Similar to the above, I installed the X Theme and here’s my honest review about X Theme.

(a) Simplicity in using X Theme

X Theme is way easier to use now than previously. After installing the theme, you can select to import designs or pre-made layouts from the option. Alternatively, you can create your theme from scratch.

X Theme also comes with Expanded Demos which you can import directly into your WordPress website. Here’s a short video of it.

(b) Using X Theme

Do you want an honest answer? X Theme is great, and there’s a lot under its hood. However, it is not that straightforward (if you are comparing Thrive Themes vs X Theme).

But it makes all the sense, though. X Theme offers more features and is often very ‘˜heavy.’ Compared to Thrive Themes, you can do more with X Theme.

The downside? There’s a learning curve, and it can be annoying if you skip the manual altogether (like me).

(c) X Theme integration with Cornerstone

X Theme nearly lost the entire battle when it comes to the premium plugin, but thankfully for Cornerstone integration, it is now back on track.

So, what is Cornerstone?

Cornerstone is a drag and drop plugin that allows you to do pretty much anything with the X Theme. With it, you will get WYSIWYG, and you can easily customize your website in real time.

Pretty awesome, right?

(d) Multiple visual effects using X Theme

If you are the type that loves powerful and engaging visual effects on your blog, you got to try on X Theme.

Personally, X Theme is very good when it comes to creating 3D buttons and effects. In most cases, you will not be able to have such features easily on most premium WordPress themes. You would either need to have some serious coding work needed or installing a few more plugins to get the desired results.

With X Theme, all you need is to select the option for 3D effect and you are good to go — all under 10 seconds, or less!

Thrive Themes vs X Theme review

Trust me, I put a lot of thought into this and to be honest, I can’t make a solid decision (literally speaking). Both are equally good and to make the decision much easier, carry on reading the below.

Thrive Themes vs X Theme: Simplicity, ease of use and fast loading speed

The winner got to be Thrive Themes. Sure, X Theme is good, but Thrive Themes excels much more in this category.

It is easy to use, very straightforward and more importantly, it has a fast loading speed (around 1.2 seconds compared to X Theme at around 1.8 seconds).

Want to see Thrive Themes in action? Click here for the complete demo!

Thrive Themes vs X Theme: Design, features, and future integration/upgrades

When it comes to design, I am an avid believer that X Theme still has the upper hand compared to Thrive Themes. The designs on X Theme is often more intuitive and flexible, while Thrive Themes is very much ‘˜by default.’

Also, X Theme has always been adding new features and upgrades since day one. Therefore, X Theme may one day be the top player in the industry especially if they continue to add more integration into the theme.

Click here to see what X Theme can do for your website!

Summary: Thrive Themes vs X Theme review

I don’t believe there is a clear winner when it comes to comparing Thrive Themes vs X Theme. It boils down to exactly what you need as a blogger/writer and how these themes can be used in your daily usage.

If you are looking for a fast loading website with leads conversion focused, Thrive Themes is the one you should be using.

If you are more towards custom theme and building a theme from scratch, consider using X Theme as it offers a wide range of features to help you customize your blog.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.
March 5, 2024
Contentmart Review – One stop solution for content writing services
It can be difficult to find a good writer at times. The problems can be a) you don’t get a writer who is worth hiring for the job or b) He/ she might charge a high amount. So, how to get out of such a sticky situation? Are their quality content writers at affordable prices? Well Yes, Contentmart.com addresses this problem and helps connect you to a skilled, qualified writer.

Contentmart works in a way such that not only the clients but the writers can also find projects of great value. Addressing the above-stated problem clients can post their requirements with details of what they are looking for and writers can then bid for the project. The client then makes a choice depending on the bidding writers’ area of expertise, education, experience and knowledge of grammar.

Contentmart Review – A platform for Clients and Writers

Contentmart serves as a platform for authors, copywriters, and clients. Contentmart has a categorical presentation of a list of writers as well as clients with an easy interface for both the clients and writers to find each other.

Contentmart is a platform solely dedicated to content which the clients can trust and helps them reach out to serious individual authors and editors.

With over 48 thousand writers and 56 thousand clients, Contentmart promises to take content writing to another level.

Clients @ Contentmart

Posting content requirement at Contentmart is simple. Register as a client on contentmart.com. Registration can be done using Facebook id or e-mail id without disclosing the credit card details. After successful registration the following page appears:

To place an order go to ‘New Order’ and follow the steps given below:
- Click on New Order
- Give a name to your order and describe the details in the ‘Order Details’ section. This helps the writers analyze the requirements and apply for the project
- Fill in other important details like the category of writing, deadline, language, etc.
- Moving ahead mention the details like number of words, price per word and writers to whom your post would be visible.
- Click ‘Publish’ to post your order
- The writers will start sending bids after the order has been published and approved by Contentmart team.
- Go ahead and hire the best writer for your project.
Once the writer has been finalized it is his prerogative to deliver the work well within the mentioned deadline, failing which the client can cancel the order.

The client, in turn, has to accept or reject the content within five days of viewing.

Once accepted, the amount will be transferred to the writer’s account, and if rejected the amount is refunded to the client.

Writers @ Contentmart

Writers are equally well served by Contentmart. A one-time registration is needed where the writer has to fill in his/her credentials correctly. The registration can be done using a Facebook id or an e-mail id. After creating the account, a link for activation is sent to the registered email id. Once the link is clicked upon, and the account is activated other details such as education, work preferences, etc. can also be updated.

The writer can also upload work samples so that the client can have a look at the previous work of the writer.

Once all the details are provided the writers can start bidding for orders that meet their interests. Though the bidding is completely free, it is totally up to the client whether he/she chooses you for the project or not. Writers can withdraw payments from their accounts only if they reach above Rs. 3000/-. Contentmart charges 10 percent of the total earnings from the project.

Why use Contentmart?
- Clients need not pay any commission for getting their work done at Contentmart which is unlike any other content providing the platform.
- Maximum bids due to a large number of writers present on Contentmart (48000+ writers). The client has a wide range to choose from and hence can judicially choose the best writer for the project.
- Writers are graded as per their English grammar knowledge and their work with previous clients.
- Complete freedom to the client to reject the work if he/she does not like it. The client can even ask the writer for editing.
- Provides a great opportunity to writers to find good projects as the client base is huge (56000+ clients)
- Writers can withdraw payments directly to their bank accounts once they reach the threshold of Rs. 3000.
- Safe Billing. Once the client has placed an order, the payments are locked so that if the client cancels the order mid-way or is not available for payment, the writer still gets paid.
- Contentmart is a platform which is solely dedicated to content writing.
Affiliate Program by Contentmart

Joining Contentmart can also be beneficial through its affiliate program. The program is free of cost and someone joining Contentmart through a referral link makes the referrer eligible for 10 percent of the referral’s income for a year.

Though the affiliate program is optional, the link for the same can be found in the dashboard after signing in on Contentmart.

This is a great strategic move by the Contentmart team to expand their base and add more writers which would ultimately benefit their clients by giving them more options to choose from.

Summary

Contentmart is a great platform to connect Writers and Clients and provides a large number of choices to both the Client and the writers. A writer can use the platform to get creative and quality writing work. It is also a great opportunity for writers to find good projects with renowned clients.

For clients, it takes away their pain of hunting for writers as the client only has to put in his requirements and then can choose from all writers who bid for the project. Also being the only dedicated platform for content gives Contentmart an advantage over all other platforms.

If Contentmart can hold on to its uniqueness and engage the writers by encouraging them to share their writing styles and writing tips they could be a great marketplace to hire writers.
March 5, 2024