Small Business News

May 15, 2016 By Carrie Gallagher

How Taylor Swift Reinvented Herself (and You Can Do the Same)

Author: themuse.com

I’m an adult with a job and responsibilities, yet I’m a Taylor Swift super fan. While some can’t see past her youth or twee blond looks, I see a seriously powerful businesswoman—one we should learn from, not underestimate. Her latest release, 1989, garnered three Grammy nominations, saw the best opening-week sales of her career, and became the “only instant-platinum release” of 2014. Impressive.

Last year was a critical turning point for Swift’s brand. As Rolling Stone points out, she had a bit of a coming-out party, debuting as a full-fledged pop star. Gone were the frilly white dresses and songs about waiting for Prince Charming. Instead, she debuted a new identity, one brimming with business prowess and brand awareness.

Want to rebrand yourself or your business? Take a page from T. Swift’s playbook.

Music critics, teen fans, and grown-ups like me lost their minds over 1989. But it was a business decision that kept Swift on top the of news cycle: She removed her catalogue from Spotify. Swift says Spotify does not compensate artists adequately, and as she boldly put it in a Wall Street Journal op-ed: “Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for.” Amen.

4 Ways to Know if You’re Ready to Leave Your Comfort Zone and Get a New Job

Author: themuse.com

Jennifer Goff was fresh out of college when she landed a dream job at a thriving art gallery in San Francisco.

Before long, she climbed the ranks to become the director of PR and media. She loved it, but after three years in the role, she began to feel restless.

“I had adapted to the continuous deadlines, and had established smooth, efficient routines—yet I was less absorbed by the work,” says the 27-year-old Goff. “I no longer had moments when I felt ‘in over my head.’ And, oddly, I missed that.”

After reflecting on her situation, Goff realized that she wanted to expand her writing and marketing skills beyond what her current gig offered. So she made the difficult decision to move on, accepting a content marketing job at an Austin-based startup.

“My team in San Francisco was extremely close-knit, so it was hard for me to say goodbye,” she admits. “But I looked ahead to the benefits that could come from exploring the unknown.”

In fact, Goff recalls a quote from Yahoo president and CEO Marissa Mayer that really resonated for her when she was contemplating the career move: “When you have different options, you should choose the thing that looks like it will be more difficult, because that usually turns out to be the right choice.”

Game-Changing Digital Marketing Trends in 2016

Author: Kenneth Gillett On Google Plus

If the past few years have taught digital marketers anything, it’s that striving to keep up with effective Internet promotion techniques might be compared to enjoying a roller coaster ride with no seatbelts. Fashions, technology, and Internet user preferences can change in a flash. Still, some traditional marketing tactics have translated very well from offline to online. Meanwhile, marketers get to enjoy an exciting ride, but they need to adapt quickly or risk falling off.

It’s past time for website design go mobile: In May of 2015, Google already announced that mobile traffic outpaced laptop and desktop traffic in several countries, including the US. It’s interesting to note that that Smart Insights data suggests that the average time spent on a PC isn’t really decreasing. Rather, time spent on cell phones and other mobile devices is increasing rapidly. That means that it’s important to make sure you have an effective mobile design, but it’s not time to abandon updates for your laptop and desktop site. Your competitors might be spending more on social media ads next year: According to a survey of 5,000 marketers that was reported in Adweek, 70 percent of companies with a digital marketing budget plan to spend more on social marketing ads than they have in the past. An astounding 66 percent of companies reported that social media was considered fundamental to their business. Your competitors may also spend more on organic social marketing: In the same Adweek survey, 70 percent of marketers also planned to spend more on using content marketing to increase their social presence. Attracting attention via useful or entertaining content can complement social media ad spend. Video will become critical for digital advertising success: Most marketers have already explored the power of uploading video ads to sites like YouTube and promoting them via social media. In addition, Google is testing using video ads in their PPC search ads, and these are expected to debut soon. Platforms like Facebook already have paid video ads, and they’re performing well enough to be a new standard in the marketing mix. Marketers will chase influencers: What’s considered the most rapidly expanding way to to acquire new customers? It’s influencer marketing. Recent surveys suggest that getting authorities or celebrities to mention or promote products might grow faster than SEO, PPC ads, and content marketing. Tactics to attract influencers vary, but they might include sending free products to review, offering cross promotion, or simply paying a fee. Content marketing will have a positive impact on bottom lines: Affording to the Smart Insights survey, almost 20 percent of marketers believe that content marketing will have the greatest commercial impact for their business. This is greater than the combined totals of marketers who believe paid search marketing, organic search marketing, and social media marketing will be number one for commercial impact. Of course, using articles, videos, and graphics as content to engage prospects goes hand in hand with social and search marketing. The “money’s still in the list:” Adweek’s survey of the way that marketers planned to face the new year found that three-quarters of respondents said that email marketing was a core pillar of their business. When ads and content marketing get expensive and competitive, there is a great comfort in having an email list. Expect a significant portions of paid and organic search and social media budgets to focus on capturing emails to keep growing subscriber bases.

Modern Marketing by Pam Moore Forbes Top 10 Social Media Influencer, CEO Marketing Nutz, Social Business, Digital Marketing, Branding, Marketing, Online Marketing Strategist, Entrepreneur, CEO Marketi

Author: itunes.apple.com

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12 Awesome Content Marketing Ideas That Aren’t Blog Posts (Infographic)

Author: blogs.oracle.com

Today I want to share with you 12 creative media formats that make your company’s story stand out from the blogging sphere. An easy-to-grasp guide introducing 12 great ideas for content that isn’t blog-shaped.

With so much content out there it can be hard to ensure that your brand’s message does not get lost in the noise of the Internet. Particularly if that message is being presented in the standard blog format – SEO optimised for sure, but is it engaging and different from any other content?

So to help your content stand out from the numerous dry standard formatted blogs out there why not take a different approach and frame your content as a quiz, or a comic strip? Perhaps move onto Twitter and host a Q&A; session? Or why not post your content into a shared space and generate discussion around it?

There are many ways in which you can differentiate your brand message and really engage with prospects – below we have pulled together 12 of the most awesome creative media formats, from charts, text messages all the way through to content vampires, to help you really make sure that your content is noticed. As fashion designer and style icon Vivienne Westwood once said “You will have a more interesting life if you wear impressive clothes” and the same applies for content marketing – you will have a more interesting brand if you create impressive content”.