clearly conveyed communications

The Key Elements To Running A Successful Blog

Good Blog Design

The success of your blog begins with good design. Why? The average attention span in 2015 is 8.25 seconds, continuing a downward trend. In other words, visitors won’t stick around if their first impression is negative. Make sure the design of your blog is user-friendly and easy to navigate. There should always be a search bar for people to look for posts on specific topics quickly. Also, you should have menus displaying your categories (and tags, if applicable). Ensure that the overall design is easy on the eyes too. You don’t want there to be too much going on, distracting visitors from consuming your content. It should be simple, but classy, and reflect your brand. It’s not that hard to come up with a good blog design with a little help. And, if you do, you’re on your way to a successful blog.

Post Regularly

One key to all popular blogs is regular posting. If you have a blog that you like to read, you prefer that they post regularly. It’s hard for people to get involved with a blog if you’re posting once a month. Viewers want regular content, and frequent posts will only see your view count increase. Naturally, you should make sure that all your posts are of a high standard. Don’t post any old thing just for the sake of posting. You have to post good content on a regular basis to run a successful blog.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a clever way for your blog to make some extra money. You will work in tandem with another company and promote something for them. You could write a blog post reviewing one of their products or services and link back to their website. You’ll then receive financial payment depending on how many of your viewers click on the link and visit the affiliate’s site. If your blog is generating a lot of traffic, you’re likely to make more money! First, you need to find some affiliate marketing platforms, and sign up with one that you like. The company will add your blog to its database and contact you if they find an affiliate that’s a good match for your blog. It can be a great way to earn some money and help make your blog successful.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Social Media

You want your blog to get a lot of views, earn money and be a success, but you’ll only get views if you market it properly. The best ways to market a blog are by improving SEO and using social media. If you improve the SEO of your site, it will rank higher in search engine rankings. Work on improving your ranking for relevant keywords, and focus on long-tail keywords, which are easier to rank for. For example, shoes (or even running shoes) is a short-tail keyword. Women’s trail running shoes for flat feet is a long-tail keyword.

Similarly, social media is the perfect place to promote your blog to millions of people. Make sure you post links to your latest articles across various social media platforms, formatted appropriately to maximize exposure on each platform. Use hashtags to increase the the eyeballs on your posts and strong calls-to-action (CTAs) to drive potential customers to click through to consume your content.

Are you interested in blogging or improving your blog? Check out our previous blog-related posts or contact us with your questions. We love supporting fellow bloggers, so drop your blog link in the comments below or suggest your favorite blog to read.

Happy blogging!
Jaime

Let’s chat (about blogging, SEO or otherwise):

The Best Social Media Sites For Business Marketing

"A Conversation" by Khalid Albaih via CC BY 2.0

Social media is one of the best marketing tools for businesses. In fact, it’s not just great for businesses; it’s great for individuals looking to market a blog too.

I could go on and on about the advantages and strengths of social media marketing. Instead, I’m going to talk about some of the best social media sites for business marketing.

Facebook

Facebook has been around for 11 years now and few would have predicted its success. When it started out, there were a few users who accessed the platform to stay in touch with family and friends. Facebook is currently the most used social networking site of all time and shows no sign of slowing down. Millions of people use Facebook every day for a variety of reasons, and this is why it’s perfect for marketing. In addition to the vast amount of potential customers, the social giant offers resources for businesses to help with your marketing efforts. You can pay to have your Facebook page advertised on people’s News Feeds who fall into your target audience(s). There’s also a local element; you can advertise directly to potential customers in your area and promote your location via check-ins, a map and your profile. It’s a tremendous site for businesses to use and continues to add new features and resources on a regular basis.

Twitter

When I think of Twitter, two words pop into my head: real-time and community. Twitter is the social networking site that people go to for instant updates. With its 140-character limit (for now), the micro-blogging platform encourages a higher volume of posting than other social platforms. Many people now go on Twitter to find out about news stories and learn what’s going on in the world. If you’re a Twitter veteran, you’ve probably noticed that online communities are easily formed there by utilizing lists, hashtags and tagging other users. In a business sense, it’s ideal for marketing. You can zone in on Twitter audiences that are most relevant to your business. Twitter also presents you the opportunity to engage with a lot of people. Some of the best social media marketing strategies include using Twitter to engage with users. Using hashtags gives you the chance to promote your business to people all over the world.

Image via CC0 Public Domain — Is your business utilizing the power of video?

YouTube

Many people forget about YouTube when the discussion turns to social media. It is considered a social networking site because you can create a profile and interact with others. YouTube was purchased by Google in 2006, only a year after its arrival, and is now a serious player in the entertainment business, with billions of people watching videos every day. This is fantastic news from a business marketing perspective. It gives you a chance to upload videos promoting your business, which can be viewed by potential customers around town or around the world. There’s also a chance that your video could go viral, resulting in a significant increase in traffic, attention and customers to your business. If a picture’s worth a thousand words, than a video is worth even more.

While social media is a conversation, what you want to achieve from this game-changing addition to your marketing mix is all about you.

While these three social platforms can be great options for businesses, remember that your business has unique objectives and needs. That’s why it’s crucial to put together a strategy before getting social. If you’d like help putting together your targeted strategy (or just have some questions on the subject), let us know. We love to help brands get social with their targeted audience(s)!

Let’s do social well (and social good),
Jaime

Let’s chat (about social media for business, social strategies or otherwise):

5 Digital Marketing Trends To Develop Your Marketing Strategy

A strong online presence is essential in today’s market. Without the help of digital marketing, your business is already one step behind. It’s that simple. To make sure that you never fall behind the curve, here are five marketing trends to keep you current. These are relevant right now, so prepare to adjust and adapt in the coming months.

'Digital Marketing Trends' by Automotive Social via CC BY 2.0 — Is your digital marketing strategy up-to-date?

Don’t Rely On Google (Now a Subsidiary of Alphabet)

Whisper it quietly so no one can hear you, because you might start a riot. Google, the king of the Internet’s search engines, might be on the decline (and is certainly going through massive changes). That doesn’t mean that the search giant isn’t still relevant. Google holds the largest market share and is one of the biggest brands on the planet. However, consumers are starting to want more from their search engine. Some just want a change because Google has been around for too long. SEO is too important to put all of your eggs in the same basket.

Mobile All The Time

One platform that you have to rely on is mobile. Unlike Google, mobile technology is at the peak of its powers. More than ever, consumers around the globe are using mobile technology to make purchases. Right now, there is an obsession with everything mobile that does not look like it is going to subside anytime soon. Remember that mobile technology is the technology of choice for over half of the world’s purchases, so it’s crucial to incorporate mobile technology into your digital marketing strategy.

Payment Methods Are Becoming More Popular

A Magento developer has never been more important for e-commerce and online payment websites. With the rise of the Europay, MasterCard and Visa card, or EMV for short, a new age of online purchases is here. Today, you need more from your developer than ever before. They have to be able to install and input these new techniques into your site because the world is quickly embracing the technology. EMVs are supposed to reduce the risk of fraud and data breaches, so you can see why they are becoming more popular.

Time To Start A Conversation

Unless you have been living ‘off the grid’ for the past several years, you know all about the benefits of social media for business. However, one tactic that is often left is the ability to start a conversation. Yes, social platforms are a great source of inexpensive advertising, but they also allow you to connect to your customer base. By connecting with your customers, you have the ability to improve your conversion rates. Sometimes, a simple conversation is all it takes to get to know someone and create a sense of loyalty.

Get Social: 4 Easy Ways to Join the Conversation

Paid Advertising Is Key

The trend of paying for advertising is not a popular one, but it is here for the long-term. As a result, paying for online advertising will provide a boost to your marketing strategy if done correctly.

Digital Marketing Trends: Your Feedback

What do you see as the biggest digital marketing trend right now?

What will be the biggest digital marketing trend in 2016?

Which social network do you prefer for your brand?

If you need help with your digital marketing strategy or have any questions, let’s talk.

Let’s get social,
Jaime

Let’s chat (about digital marketing, social media or otherwise):

5 SEO Techniques That Will Boost Your Web Presence

Search engine optimization (SEO) is something that every website and business owner needs to use and understand. Here are 5 techniques to help you get started and boost your web presence.

Choose Your URL Carefully

It’s important to make sure your website’s URL is search engine-friendly. This is important when you’re setting up a website for the first time. The URL should be pretty easy to understand when people see it. It should include words that are recognizable and say something about what is contained on the web page. It’s easy enough to change your URL even if your website has been in use for a long time, so consider this option if you’re not seeing the right traffic.

Focus on Keywords

It’s impossible to overestimate the importance of using the right keywords. They need to be used in almost every part of your website, including your titles, content and image names. You need to think about how your keywords translate as search terms. This is important because the whole point of SEO is to customize your website so that it’s easy to find on search engines. So when you have a web page, you should think about what people would type into Google if they were looking for it.

Try It: SEO Competitor Analysis Tool

Get Linked Back to on Social Media

It’s vital to get links back to your website on social media. This means linking back to your website and trying to get links from other people and accounts. The first part of this is easy. You just need to provide links to your website alongside a short tweet that outlines what you’re linking back to. But it’s more difficult to get other people linking back to your website from Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms. It’s not impossible though. Building a strong following on social media and linking to other people’s websites will help.

Make Use of Internal Links

Internal links are one of the most basic, and one of the most important, parts of getting your approach to SEO right. It’s a simple and easy way to improve the traffic to your various web pages. It’s also helpful for visitors who might like what they’re reading and want to see what else you have to offer. This doesn’t mean you should go over the top with it though because then it will look unnatural. Make sure that the link is natural and relevant to the text if you want the best results.

Get Extra Help

There’s no reason to try and take everything on by yourself. If you’re not an SEO expert, then it’s always a good idea to get help from external companies that specialize in this area. Of course, you can do the basics, like the things mentioned above, by yourself. But for the more complex tasks, it could be a better idea to use the expertise of someone else. This guide will give you more information about tools and companies that can help with your website’s SEO.

SEO is an important part of your marketing strategy. If you have any questions, we’d love to talk.

Cheers,
Jaime

Let’s chat (about SEO, your web presence or otherwise):

Facebook’s Next Stop: World Domination (and That’s a Good Thing)

When I was growing up, my friends and I used to talk about what we wanted to achieve. No matter what occupation came up or what route someone wanted to take, it always ended with ‘world domination.’

“Planet Facebook or Planet Earth? by Paul Butler” via Duncan Hill via CC BY 2.0

That’s what Facebook wants too, and it may get there. The stats are already ridiculous, but the social giant continues to incorporate itself more and more into our everyday lives. Earlier this year, one billion people used Facebook in a single day. Think about that: 1 in 7 people on Earth logged into Facebook in one day. That’s incredible! And the social behemoth isn’t stopping now.

“On Monday, 1 in 7 people on Earth used Facebook to connect with their friends and family.” –Mark Zuckerberg

Here’s what Facebook has been up to this summer:

We already talked about how Facebook wants to be your news source, and the largest social media platform continues to strengthen its standing with journalists, publishers and public figures. It allows you to keep in touch with friends and family and even share private moments via Messenger and Moments. Now it’s looking to enter your work space and help those without the luxury of broadband Internet access stay connected.

If Facebook were a country, it would be the most populous on Earth. (Source: Huffington Post)

The social behemoth has 1.49 billion monthly active users (as of 6/30/15) and approximately 83% of its daily active users are outside the US and Canada. More than 40 million small businesses have active Pages, and the social leader employs nearly 11,000 people in 48 offices around the world. (Source: Facebook)

Do you see what I mean? Facebook isn’t comparing itself to Twitter or worrying about what Snapchat is doing. It’s trying to help people in need, bring Internet access to the whole world and connect people in every generation, in every country and in every language.

One day Facebook may touch nearly every aspect of our lives, from work to school to play, and it could change the world.

Read: Facebook Pages: Now Open for Communication

What’s the Future of Facebook?

Do you see Facebook moving beyond a social platform in its future?

Is Facebook’s potential worldwide power good or bad?

Planet Facebook or Planet Earth: Where will we live in the future?

Tipping my cap to Zuck,
Jaime

Let’s chat (about Facebook, world domination or otherwise):

Inbound: Not Your Father’s Marketing

Learn how Inbound Marketing can help you!

Sometimes you have to slow down to get ahead. You may have noticed that the CCC blog went dark between September 4th and September 18th, missing three posting days. We were busy getting certified in Inbound Marketing methodology. I’m proud to announce that CCC is now Inbound Marketing Certified, and we’d love to help your business achieve success.

What is Inbound?

Inbound marketing is a different way of thinking. Here’s two scenarios; let me know which one you find more enticing.

You walk down the street toward a bar. People on the sidewalk are aggressively approaching bypassers, shouting at them through megaphones to come into the bar. The aggressive bar promoters have interrupted your conversation and made you want to vacate the area as fast as possible. Your happy mood has soured, and you have no interest in going in the bar.

You walk down the street toward a bar. Jazz music spills out into the street punctuated by a saxophone solo that makes you break into a smile. Your stomach rumbles as you breathe in the enticing aromas. As you approach the door, you notice a sign promoting a free drink tonight with dinner. You’ve never been to this bar before, but you decide to go in, have dinner and enjoy the atmosphere, while texting some friends to join you.

Which scenario is more appealing to you? If you said the second, you were drawn in by Inbound marketing, a process that uses compelling content to pull people toward your company and product, where they naturally want to be.

How Inbound Works

Attract strangers to visit with compelling content that aligns to your customer’s interests.
Convert visitors into leads with attractive calls-to-action that resonate with your customer’s interests.
Close leads into customers by providing value with compelling content, offers and solutions.
Delight customers with products (and services) that solve their problems, outstanding customer service and an excellent relationship. In doing so, they’ll be happy to promote your business for you.

How can Inbound help me?

No matter what you do for a living, you’re probably looking for customers. That’s where Inbound comes in. It helps you attract the right customers, not more empty leads. As with any marketing, Inbound isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme and probably won’t shower you with qualified leads overnight. It’s a process, one that takes time but produces results. It’s what happens when you publish the right content in the right place at the right time.

At CCC, we make marketing that people love. Coincidentally, that’s what Inbound is all about. If we can help you, let us know. Because the only thing we love more than espresso is helping people.

p.s. Interested in becoming Inbound Certified? Learn more about the course, certification and who it can help.

Officially Certified,
Jaime

Let’s chat (about Inbound, your marketing needs or otherwise):

Peanutized: How to Encourage Fans to Engage With Your Brand

Get Peanutized: The Peanuts Movie's interactive promotion

Have you been Peanutized?

I took the plunge this afternoon. After seeing the fun creations in my Facebook News Feed the past few days, I couldn’t resist anymore. (Ah, the power of social media…)

Get Peanutized is a cool microsite that 20th Century Fox is using to promote the upcoming release of The Peanuts Movie on November 6th. You can turn yourself into a character in the movie by selecting everything from your hair style and color to the shoes on your feet. So 20th Century Fox provided the site and is now sitting back and watching people promote their new movie for them. Genius! [Update: The microsite no longer exists, but there are still lessons to be learned from the idea!]

People will share their creations and promote the movie, because it’s fun and engaging. At our core, we want to socialize with others, even brands. How can you encourage fans to engage with your brand?

Give out branded merch: For CCC’s 3rd anniversary, we threw a week-long party and invited our fans to join in the celebration. By engaging with us (and therefore spreading our message) on social, fans were entered to win cool merch with a special retro look. It was a success! In addition to increased engagement on our networks, we developed some new advocates for our brand.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jaime Shine 💬 Marketer (@jaimeshine)

Hold a contest: Ask people to post photos of your products in action to be entered to win a prize. Remind them to tag you and/or use a special hashtag, so you see the photos and others can too. This is also a great way to share tips or helpful hints about your products. No physical products? No worries! Utilize the aforementioned fun merch and ask fans to post photos of themselves (or others) showing off your promotional products wherever they are—on vacation, at work, etc.
Join the conversation: Don’t just respond to messages and comments directed to you; reach out to people when appropriate. Search relevant keywords and hashtags to find conversations you can join and people you can help. The key is to provide helpful information, not to sell. Nobody wants you to bust into their conversation with a sales pitch. But if you have helpful DIY tips, writing advice or relevant experience to share, they may end up becoming a customer down the road.
Open all lines of communication: Communicate with your customers where they’re comfortable, whether that’s Facebook Messenger or over the phone. Let people know the myriad of ways they can contact you, and you’re much more likely to hear from them. According to Andrew Bosworth, Facebook’s Ad Chief, “messaging via Pages has doubled year-over-year-over-year, and some companies have told Facebook that it is now the primary place for them to receive customer service requests.”

However you choose to engage with your fans, put some effort into it. Don’t create an app that doesn’t offer any value. Don’t set up presences on every social network and then forget about them. If you don’t have the bandwidth to be everywhere, choose what fits your company the best and will benefit your customers the most. Consider bringing in outside help to manage what you can’t.

And always keep an eye on the future. You never know when you’ll be able to share your first virtual reality (VR) ad or beam up fans to your event location. How cool would that be?!

Engage With Us on Engagement

How do you encourage fans to engage with your brand?

Do your fans show a preference in how they contact you?

What cool technology would you love to utilize someday for your brand?

Who’s your favorite Peanuts character?

p.s. Looking for some ideas to spice up your marketing? We can help!

Peanutized and lovin’ it,
Jaime

Let’s chat (about engagement, the Peanuts gang or otherwise):

https://www.pinterest.com/jaimeshine/ — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimeshine/

6 Things All Businesses Should Do Over Christmas

It’s that time! The Holiday selling season is upon us…

Christmas is a stressful time for both businesses and customers. Businesses worry about losing customers during this hectic season, and customers worry about getting everything done on their lengthy to-do lists. Sure, some businesses will pick up customers as everybody is in a mad rush to buy presents. However, others can lose out to companies with better marketing strategies if they’re not on the ball.

Here are things all businesses should do over Christmas:

Offer A Discount

You might not think that offering a discount is a smart move over Christmas. After all, you have the potential to make a lot more money here. However, there’s nothing really stopping a customer from heading to a competitor for their needs. If you offer a discount, you’re giving them an incentive to continue coming to you. You could even offer the discount exclusively to loyal customers to show them you care.

Send Free Gifts

Why not get in the Christmas spirit and send your customers free gifts? You could send them a free thank you gift off your own back, or send them a free gift with their order, whatever you feel most suitable. It doesn’t have to be a Christmas themed gift to be effective. You could even make it a sample version of one of your products, or a voucher to use against a service you offer.

Run Competitions

Run competitions over Christmas to get people interested in your business. You can do this both offline and online, or one or the other. Do it wherever you feel you’ll get the most response. Holding competitions online can really help you to expand your reach and exposure. People love the opportunity to win stuff, so create a fun Christmas competition for them to get involved with.

Send Cards to Customers

Sending cards to your customers both old and new shows them that you value them. It also helps to keep you in the forefront of their minds, so that they don’t completely forget about you at this time of year. The most effective way to do it is to send business ecards. Then you can send a discount along with the card and monitor your efforts too. You’ll be able to see exactly how many people interact with your ecard, and it’s more eco-friendly!

Create Christmas Landing Pages for Your Site

Creating Christmas landing pages on your site shows that you keep it up to date. A page like this will be more engaging to Christmas shoppers. People start Christmas shopping as early as September these days, so don’t waste any time!

Promote on Social Media

Don’t forget to use social media to promote your Christmas offers and engage with shoppers. Don’t shove your offers down their throats, but make sure your online marketing strategy is on point.

All businesses should make sure they do these things over Christmas. If you do, you’ll increase your revenue and be much more successful in retaining your clients (and even adding new ones). Make sure your marketing is in the Christmas spirit, and you’ll have a great start to the New Year!

Holiday Marketing Feedback

Are you looking forward to the Holidays?

How early do you start your Holiday selling (or shopping) season?

Do you prefer printed cards or ecards?

Happy Holiday selling,
Jaime

Let’s chat (about Holiday marketing, the magic of Christmas or otherwise):

How Flexible Should Your Blog Schedule Be?

Blogging. As a small business owner, writer or business professional today, you understand its benefits (and may even enjoy it). But some days it becomes a four letter word in your vocabulary.

Computer Problems by CollegeDegrees360 via CC BY-SA 2.0

Recently I read a post from a fellow blogger who was asking her readers about her new posting frequency. She had committed to posting more often, so she had set up a schedule. However, sticking to the much-increased schedule was wearing on her and killing her spontaneity and creativity. In other words, she felt like it was making her writing worse.

Quality over Quantity

If your current posting schedule is overwhelming, cut back the number of posts. Quantity is never a substitute for quality, and we remind ourselves that at CCC every day. As I tell clients, commit to a schedule that you can keep, and don’t create a schedule in your fantasy world. Yes, blogging is hard work and a time commitment, but it shouldn’t keep you from running your business, working with clients or whatever else it is that you do (unless you’re a full-time, professional blogger, of course.)

Consistency is more important than frequency. Set up a schedule that you can handle — perhaps once or twice a week or even less often at first. Then stick to it and post quality content on your publishing days. That doesn’t mean that you should be afraid to test out different days if you notice your analytics suggesting you do so. If you find yourself posting anything just to stick to your schedule, stop!

Consistency is important because search engines send crawlers around the Internet to find content. If they know when to look for your new content, they’ll find it faster and make it available to people searching for those topics.

Work Ahead for Flexibility

That doesn’t mean you have to sit down and blog on set days or at set times. If you come up with ideas on a whim, jot them down. Sit down and blog when the mood strikes and schedule the post to publish on one of your scheduled days. You don’t have to write a full post; get a draft down with all its imperfections and smooth it out for publishing later.

With consistent publishing, you can let your readers (and search engines) know when to expect new content. However, you can still write or blog when you’re in the mood by working ahead. I keep a dry erase board in my office and a notebook on my phone to jot down ideas for posts and descriptions. If a trending topic catches your eye, adjust any scheduled posts you have so you can blog about the topic while it’s still hot.

Related Reading on Blogging

Let’s Talk About Blogging

Do you follow a blogging schedule?

How often do you post new content?

Have you adjusted your schedule over the past two years?

Is your schedule purely data-driven or a good fit for you?

Happy blogging!
Jaime

Let’s chat (about blogging, a new project or otherwise):

Content is King — or is Conversation?

We live in an era where content is king — or so we’re told on a daily basis. But think about it…

If you produce valuable content and no one is around to consume it, is it still king?

“A Conversation” by Khalid Albaih via CC BY 2.0

I’m reading an intriguing book right now, Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free by Cory Doctorow. It’s a thought-provoking read about how we create and exchange value in the digital age, but one quote in particular thus far caught my eye.

“Content isn’t king. Conversation is.”

Doctorow has a good point. He notes that the telecommunications industry — companies that let people talk to each other — has always outpaced the entertainment industry, including a $270 billion advantage in 2011-2012.^ What is the Internet besides a gigantic conversation?

Read: Get Social: 4 Easy Ways to Join the Conversation

This insight made me reconsider the widely accepted adage of today — content is king. Of course, it’s important. You can drive all of the traffic in the world to your website, and if there’s nothing there, it won’t help. However, you do have to drive people to your website or storefront or studio, and great content alone won’t do that. You have to create — and engage others in — a conversation.

Read: Are You Being Heard? Communication Tips For Your Brand

So the question remains… If you produce valuable content and no one is around to consume it, is it still king?

Content or Conversation

Is content or conversation king?

How do you drive traffic to your content?

What’s more challenging: creating great content or driving traffic to it?

^ Source: Information Doesn’t Want to be Free, “Getting People to Care About Your Work,” pgs 49-50

Joining the conversation,
Jaime

Let’s chat (about content, conversations, a new project or otherwise):

Good Blog Design

Post Regularly

Affiliate Marketing

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Social Media

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