Ways To Create A Killer Blog That Will Drive New Business Leads | simplyzesty.com

simplyzesty.com

We’ve been blogging for three years and we think we have what you would call a successful business blog. It helps raise the profile of our company, while keeping hundreds of thousands of people engaged and coming back to get the latest social media news. It feels like the blog is large and established, but we had to start somewhere too when we wrote our first post and nobody knew about the blog.

With all that in mind, we wanted to create a post that shares some of our thoughts and tips on creating a business blog that gets traction and that can help you attract new business. The good news is that most of the technology and tools that you will need are cheap and easy to use and with some quality content you will be well on your way. Here are 25 things that you can do that will help your own business blog massively.

Contents

1) Starting Off
2) Design & Appearance
3) Blog Content
4) Writing Content
5) Social Media
6) Promotion & Leads

Starting Off

Use WordPress
There is a vast number of free blogging sites like Blogger that will help you create one in seconds. However, the most popular blogging site out there has to be WordPress, thanks to its ease of use and range of styles. The scope for personalisation and design is vast, the dashboard is straightforward, and while you can pay for premium features, you can still create a clean and stylish site. When your business and site gains more prominence, you can start thinking about customising the design, but as a starting point, you won’t find any better.
Put Your Blog Front & Centre
Many businesses treat their blog as something that complement the main site, it’s nice to have one, but its use is limited. What you should do is make the blog the main feature of your site, so when people come to visit, they will see all the content you’ve been posting. Don’t bury your blog underneath your site as that defeats its purpose. Put it front and centre so you can show off your knowledge and generate more leads.

Many businesses treat their blog as something that complement the main site, it’s nice to have one, but its use is limited. What you should do is make the blog the main feature of your site, so when people come to visit, they will see all the content you’ve been posting. Don’t bury your blog underneath your site as that defeats its purpose. Put it front and centre so you can show off your knowledge and generate more leads.

Track Your Analytics Continuar leyendo «Ways To Create A Killer Blog That Will Drive New Business Leads | simplyzesty.com»

The Top 5 Techniques for Staying Up to Date in an Ever-Changing Field

Onextrapixel

It can often times be difficult to find the time to stay up to date in a technology-related field. With the growth of the web and of the web design and development communities as a whole, that also means that there’s far more to learn and it’s coming about at an exponentially faster rate each year. How can each of us possibly stay current on everything?

The Top 5 Techniques for Staying Up to Date in an Ever-Changing Field

It’s not possible to know everything, but it is possible to stay up to date in a niche. That’s what we as web designers and developers must do: focus on a specialty, and consistently learn more about it. In this article, we’ll discuss some tips for staying up to date, and keeping inspired in our fields.

Techniques for Staying Up to Date

1. Teach Others

The quickest route to learning something new and keeping up to date is to simply research it, of course. But, who’s there to make you get that research accomplished? A great way to force yourself into the habit of constantly keeping up with the latest technologies and trends is to teach yourself by teaching others.

Teach Others

If you can educate another in any way, you’re likely to go above and beyond to truly understand the relative concepts, to make sure you’re using best practices, and you’re likely to spell the concept out in a way that is truly understanding, both for the learner and yourself – the teacher.

Teaching can come in a wide variety of forms: blogging, writing tutorials, giving advice and feedback in forums, or doing private teaching consultations. It’s possible to turn many of these into additional income streams as well, so keeping up to date isn’t a chore, but rather can be more integrated with work.

One could even go the extra mile and create a course on Learnable, publish a podcast/screencast or write a book/eBook on a particular in-depth subject. Surely you’ll need to know something about the chosen topic to write something truly in-depth, but at any level creating learning material for others is a great way to begin to learn about a new topic, or for larger projects, a great way to expand one’s knowledge on a subject. Continuar leyendo «The Top 5 Techniques for Staying Up to Date in an Ever-Changing Field»

Tools for Managing Multiple WordPress Sites | sixrevisions.com

If you run more than one WordPress install, or if you have clients that run WordPress sites that you’re responsible for, then you know how much of a pain it can be to log in to each site every time you need to do things like update plugins, themes, or WordPress core itself.

With the release of WordPress 3.0, we now have the ability to create a network of WordPress sites with one installation through the multisite feature. However, your needs may go beyond what multisite allows you to do, and so you may need to explore other options.

Fortunately, there are a number of solutions out there that will let you manage multiple WordPress websites from one central location. In this article, I’ll share some options with you and give you a brief overview of each.

1. WP Remote

WP Remote is a simple and free solution that will allow you to do a few basic tasks related to managing multiple WordPress sites.

While you do need to install the WP Remote plugin for each WordPress installation, your administration panel for managing your sites is in one central location on the WP Remote site.

Here’s a look at the simple control panel on the WP Remote site:

WP Remote Features

Bulk update all WordPress installations
Create off-site backups
Update plugins that can be updated via the WordPress plugin page
Update themes that can be updated via the WordPress themes page

2. InfiniteWP

InfiniteWP is on a freemium model. (In other words, basic features are free, but you’ll need to pay for other feature upgrades such as auto-scheduling of WordPress site backups.)

Below is a video by the creators of InfiniteWP that will give you an idea of what the tool looks like:

InfiniteWP Free Features

The basic features of InfiniteWP are basic indeed, but they’re also pretty handy, and so many of us may not need the premium/paid features this plugin has. The basic features include the following:

One-click updates for the latest version of WordPress
Install and manage themes
Install and manage plugins
The ability to restore, download, and delete backups

InfiniteWP Premium Features

There are currently six available premium features available (with three more in the works). These are the currently available addons:

Install WordPress
Clone a WordPress installation
Schedule automated backups
Back up to repositories
Manage WordPress users
Save and run custom PHP code on multiple sites
Brand the InfiniteWP plugin with your company name or hide the plugin altogether

The premium addons currently in the works are the following:

Integration with Google Analytics
Manage posts and comments on multiple sites
Bulk create Posts, Pages, and Links

3. ManageWP >>>>>> Continuar leyendo «Tools for Managing Multiple WordPress Sites | sixrevisions.com»

La estrategia de marketing y el plan de marketing | lo pedís lo tenés…

Fuente: Emprendedores
Consejos Para Ganar Dinero Siendo Emprendedor | Recomendado! *****

No es poco común que las personas confundan la diferencia entre la estrategia de marketing y el plan de marketing. La forma más fácil de explicar la diferencia es:

Estrategia de Marketing

Es la explicación de las metas que necesitas lograr con tus esfuerzos de marketing. Tu estrategia de marketing se forma con tus metas denegocio. Tus metas y tu estrategia deben ir de la mano.

Plan de Marketing

Tu plan de marketing es cómo vas a lograr esas metas de marketing. De que forma tu estrategia es un mapa que te guiara de un punto a otro.

El problema es la mayoría de las personas intentan alcanzar el “como” sin conocer el “que”. Esto puede terminar malgastando recursos de la empresa, como tiempo y dinero.

Cuando se trata de marketing, debemos siempre identificar el “que” y luego el “como”.

La estrategia es pensar, la planeación es hacer. Este es un ejemplo de cómo trabajan juntos.

Objetivo: Alcanzar una mayor cuota de mercado.
Estrategia de marketing: Entrar en nuevos segmentos de mercado.
Plan de marketing: Desarrollar una campaña de marketing que alcance, identifique y se enfoque en el segmento específico.

Una formula exitosa que puede ser utilizada para explicar la importancia de la estrategia y el plan de marketing es esta:

Estrategia de Marketing -> Plan de Marketing -> Implementación = Éxito

Tu estrategia de Marketing consiste de >>>>>>>>> Continuar leyendo «La estrategia de marketing y el plan de marketing | lo pedís lo tenés…»

Innovation Guide

blog.kissmetrics.com/innovation-guide

Do you ever wish you could build something so great that people and the media would get just as excited as they do when Apple launches a new product?
Or, do you ever wish that (because of your innovation), your company would rise in value so fast that the world’s biggest social media network would buy it for $1 billion?

An innovation like that would change your life forever. It’s the dream of every entrepreneur.
While there is no formula for creating revolutionary products, there are some critical elements of innovation that will promote their development.

This simple guide will help.

1. You can plan innovation

You may not be able to plan a specific and predictable sort of innovation…but you can create a culture in which people put a high premium on innovation. That kind of culture starts at the top.

In their early days, Google allowed employees to spend 20 percent of their time on pet projects. That led to some DOA products like Buzz, but it also set the stage for some killer ideas like Gmail.

The founder of GE, Thomas Edison, created an atmosphere that valued innovation by:

Encouraging collaboration
Encouraging mistakes
Demanding one major invention every six months and one small one every ten days

If you think about it, Steve Jobs did the same thing in his company, pushing his people to invent and then innovate products like the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad.

2. You don’t have to spend a lot of money

The beauty of information software is that everything is basically free. In the old days, a company would have needed tens of thousands of dollars just to get the software for their product. Now, with open source movement, cloud storage and a whole range of free sources, expenses are reduced drastically.

The makers of Angry Birds—Rovio—innovated cheaply, which paid off big for them when they went public in 2012, at an estimated worth of $1 billion. Continuar leyendo «Innovation Guide»

MoviePass debuts an unlimited movie service that may just save cinemas

VentureBeat | News VentureBeat | News About Tech, Money and Innovation About Tech, Money and Innovation

Devindra Hardawar

The notion of creating a “Netflix for theaters” is a tough one — not only do you have to get movie studios on board with your plans, you also have to form partnerships with national theater chains. And let’s face it, neither group is quick to climb aboard a service that disrupts the current ticketing model.

MoviePass debuts an unlimited movie service that may just save cinemas

But MoviePass, a company that’s been trying to crack this nut for some time, may have found the answer. Today MoviePass is debuting a new subscription movie theater service that relies on mobile app check-ins and a proprietary payment card. And best of all, the company has managed to do this without any formal agreements with movie theaters and studios. Continuar leyendo «MoviePass debuts an unlimited movie service that may just save cinemas»

In Singapore, QR codes on beers help bar patrons initiate anonymous conversations

springwise

Bottle Message is a new technology that lets shy patrons send anonymous notes to each other using beer bottles embellished with QR-enabled tags.

alttext

Lifestyle & Leisure.

If Greek consumers can use augmented reality and a chocolate bar to convey a secret message to a friend, it only stands to reason that patrons at Singapore-based Harry’s Bar should be able to use a beer bottle for much the same effect. Enter the Bottle Message, a new technology now in use at the multi-bar chain that lets shy patrons send anonymous notes to each other using beer bottles embellished with QR-enabled tags.

Conceived in partnership with ad agency Cheil Singapore, the Bottle Message system aims to let anyone start an anonymous conversation with another patron at Harry’s Bar, according to a Digital News Asia report. Launched in August at the company’s Harry’s Esplanade outlet, the Bottle Message system gives customers a QR code tag with the purchase of any beer. Once they download the Harry’s Bottle Message mobile app, those customers can then scan the QR code with their smartphone and write an anonymous message. The tag is then flipped over and placed on a second bottle of beer, and the patron asks the bar’s staff to deliver it to the fellow patron they have in mind. After the recipient scans the QR code, the two can chat using the mobile app. The video below explains the premise in more detail… >>>> Continuar leyendo «In Singapore, QR codes on beers help bar patrons initiate anonymous conversations»

Google patents smart watch with flip-up display that could reveal everyday objects’ secrets

By Terrence O’Brien | engadget.com

Google just announced its earnings for Q1 of 2012 and the company did not disappoint. It raked in $10.65 billion, a full 24 percent higher than last year for the same time period and a hefty improvement over last quarter. Of that rather sizable chunk of cash, $10.2 billion came from advertising revenues — $7.3 billion of that placed on Google’s own properties.
GAAP net income for the quarter was $2.89 billion, more than twice that of Q1 2011, which brings its total war chest to $49.3 billion in cash on hand.

Perhaps the biggest news for investors, though, is the 2-for-1 stock split, which is a perfect accompaniment for the skyrocketing price. It’s worth noting however, that this new stock is a new class of non-voting shares. For more info check out the PR after the break and don’t miss the letter from Larry Page and Sergey Brin at the source link.

It looks like Google has considered transferring ideas from Project Glass over to your wrist by patenting a smart watch with a transparent, flip-up touchscreen. Continuar leyendo «Google patents smart watch with flip-up display that could reveal everyday objects’ secrets»

Los españoles trabajan más que los alemanes | Expansión.com

Los españoles trabajaron una media de 277 horas más que los alemanes en 2011, según datos del Instituto de Estudios Económicos (IEE) a partir de estadísticas de la OCDE.

[foto de la noticia]
La OCDE asegura que el promedio de horas trabajadas en España en 2011 fue de 1.690 horas frente a las 1.413 horas de Alemania, según recoge el IEE.

Buena parte de los países europeos no alcanzan la media de la OCDE de 1.776 horas trabajadas en 2011, entre ellos España. No obstante, el dato español no sólo supera al de Alemania, sino también al de otros once países de la UE. Continuar leyendo «Los españoles trabajan más que los alemanes | Expansión.com»

galaxyadictos

Ya hemos lanzado la primera versión de la aplicación GalaxyAdictos, la aplicación que te servirá para estar informado de todo lo que acontece en GalaxyAdictos.com.

Por supuesto la aplicación esta disponible de manera totalmente gratuita y tan solo necesitarás disponer de una versión de Android 2.1 o superior para disfrutarla allá donde te encuentres.

Ver la entrada original 33 palabras más

4 formas distintas de aprovechar una memoria USB | via Bitelia

Eduardo Briceño (Perfil)
(Bitelia)

Las memorias USB son conocidas y usadas por todos, nos permiten almacenar importantes cantidades de datos, son fáciles de transportar y cada vez son más pequeñas y económicas. Pero con la creciente popularidad de los servicios de almacenamiento en la nube muchos las hemos dejado en el olvido, sin embargo, estos pequeños dispositivos son tan versátiles que podemos darles diferentes usos más allá del simple almacenamiento.

Pendrive

1. Bloquear el ordenador

Podemos usar una vieja memoria USB como “candado” para prevenir accesos no autorizados a nuestro ordenador gracias a una interesante aplicación llamada Predator, cuyo funcionamiento es increíblemente sencillo.

Enciendes el ordenador e insertas la memoria USB.
Inicias la aplicación Predator. Aunque lo ideal es que arranque automáticamente al iniciar el sistema operativo
Comienzas a trabajar normalmente.
Si vas a estar lejos de tu PC por un tiempo, simplemente extrae la memoria del puerto. Esto bloqueará el teclado, el ratón y la pantalla.
Para desbloquear el ordenador solo tienes que volver a insertar el pendrive en el puerto respectivo.

La aplicación cuenta con una versión personal totalmente gratuita que puedes descargar desde su sitio web. Continuar leyendo «4 formas distintas de aprovechar una memoria USB | via Bitelia»

Latencia de marca: una manera de medir el impacto

mercado.com.ar

Son pocas las marcas que permanecen en el tiempo. Algunas le deben su permanencia a condiciones de mercado estable, otros a protección estatal o a su habilidad para adaptarse a los cambios. En cualquier caso, la clave está en la “latencia de la marca”.

¿Cuántas marcas de la niñez puede recordar? En definitiva serán un puñado las que hayan permanecido en el tiempo. Algunas tal vez tengan que agradecer a un mercado estable que les permitió crecer (Standard Oil), a su capacidad para cambiar cuando las circunstancias son adversas (IBM, Peugeot), a la protección del Estado (Boening, Airbus) o a la carencia de competencia seria. En todos los casos, son pocas las marcas que ganan el corazón de las audiencias en el tiempo. ¿Cuál es el secreto?

Los especialistas todavía no se ponen de acuerdo; ese amor es casi imposible de predecir o de duplicar. Hay muchos libros escritos sobre el tema tratando de responder por qué una marca dura más que otra. Sin embargo, hay un aspecto que todas ignoran: lo que Minter Dial, fundador de la compañía de Marketing Myndset, llama “latencia de marca”. >>>>>>> Continuar leyendo «Latencia de marca: una manera de medir el impacto»

Perdón, el error es mío

mercado.com.ar

En la relación empresa cliente se producen infinidad de errores, muchas veces de la parte empresarial. Más que negarlo, conviene admitirlo. Eso permite corregir errores, entrar en contacto directo con el cliente y generar una relación fructífera.

Todos cometemos errores y a ninguno nos gusta admitirlos. Como empresarios, dice Michael Houlihan en Entrepreneur, nos preocupa la intolerancia de los clientes con nuestras equivocaciones y traspiés. Pero lo cierto es que negar un error sólo contribuye a magnificarlo y genera situaciones incómodas que terminan dañando la reputación de la empresa. Pero un error bien manejado puede marcar el inicio de una buena relación, generar mejoras y beneficiar la marca.
Algunas sugerencias para manejar equivocaciones propias:

1. Admitirlo. A la gente no le disgusta alguna que otra imperfección después de todo. Demuestra un nivel de autenticidad, vulnerabilidad y humanidad con lo que todos nos identificamos. Además es más difícil enojarse con alguien que dice “Usted tiene razón. Yo metí la pata” que con alguien que insiste en que no tuvo nada que ver… aunque uno sepa que sí. >>>>> Continuar leyendo «Perdón, el error es mío»

Amabilidad, esa cualidad que perdimos

Un pequeño acto de amabilidad de parte del personal del café estadounidense Panera Bread resonó con miles de usuarios cuando los protagonistas contaron la historia en las redes sociales. Ese acto se convirtió en sensación porque ya la amabilidad no forma parte de lo cotidiano.

Todas las semanas hay una historia en Internet que gana viralidad y conmueve a los usuarios. En este caso se trata de un nieto, su abuela y la cadena estadounidenses de cafés Panera Bread. Se dio a conocer cuando uno de los protagonistas contó la historia en la página de Facebook de la compañía, resaltando la conexión entre marcas y consumidores que por momentos excede lo comercial.

La historia apareció en la revista digital AdWeek. Brandon Cook, un chico de New Hampshire que fue a visitar al hospital a su abuela enferma de cáncer, se encontró con que ella se resistía a la comida de ese establecimiento. Le dijo que lo que más quería en el mundo era un plato de sopa pero que las que le ofrecían ahí eran un desastre. Deseaba, en particular, una sopa de almejas que hace la cadena Panera Bread. Como cualquier nieto que se precie de tal, Brandon llamó a Panera para ver si la podían hacer, aunque la cadena solo la sirve los viernes. Rápidamente encontró una respuesta: habló con la gerente de la sucursal, Suzanne Fortier, que no solo le regaló la sopa sino también una caja de galletitas de parte de todos los que trabajaban allí. Continuar leyendo «Amabilidad, esa cualidad que perdimos»