How to Think About Marketing and Social Media in 2020 | CNN Interview

In case you didn't catch this thought provoking interview with Gary Vee, here it is.

Recorded at the turn of the year when we knew little about the 2020 pandemic, but the message remains true

Using Facebook As a Marketing Tool for Promoting Your Business

Facebook has been well established and well known for what may seem like forever. For most people it is a social sharing site, but if you are reading this you'll already know a bit about how Facebook is a really powerful marketing platform too.

Phil Andrews takes us through why that is and how you can make the most of it

As a vehicle through which to share information, it is probably fair to say that social media is fluid and constantly changing. For younger users the "traditional" platforms such as Facebook and Twitter almost represent the establishment, and a bevy of new options provide fresh ways through which to disseminate gossip and share pictures and events in real time.

From a purely business perspective however, Facebook remains a surprisingly user-friendly option for getting your product or service out there, and with a bit of imagination you can still reach audiences in their tens or even hundreds of thousands with little or even no financial outlay.

1. Paid adverts

Like most social media platforms Facebook offers an option to pay for advertising, and the special appeal of this is that rather than your ad being fired out randomly it can be carefully targeted at your preferred audience.

Once your advert is ready to go you will be asked to specify demographics, allowing you to determine the location, age, gender and interest groups of those you are seeking to reach out to. If the thing you are selling is liable to be of particular interest to a specific target group or groups this enables you to place your ad on the feeds only of those who are likely to be attracted to it.

2. Use your friends list

With a bit of imagination however it might not be necessary to spend money at all in order to call out to your market. Let's face it, your first and most reachable audience is usually going to be those who actually know you. That's why your own timeline should always be the first port of call when it comes to letting the world know what it is you have to offer. It is your noticeboard, you can use it in any way you like.

3. Set up a Facebook group

Most services belong to a particular niche, so if you have the time to build slowly it can be a good idea to create your own Facebook group which others who are interested in that particular subject can join. As the administrator of the group you have complete control over the content that it is posted onto it, and as such when you display your wares you will be doing so before an audience of people with a special interest in your line of business.

4. Join existing groups

Most Facebook users will from time to time join groups with a dedicated focus upon a particular subject. Most often this is a leisure interest, but with a little research it is possible for you to seek out a whole raft of different groups within your niche with a view to using them to discreetly market your product or service. Do this methodically by creating a database of all the groups you belong to and bookmarking them so that you have the links available at your fingertips.

It is important that you familiarise yourself with the rules of each individual group, and respect them. Many operate a strict no advertising policy, and spamming them will earn you not only a ban but also a bad reputation within the industry. If in doubt, you can always message the administrator of the group before posting and ask for permission. Admins generally are grateful when people take the trouble to ask, and even if your request is met with a refusal you will have cultivated some goodwill with an important player in the field.

Ultimately how successful you are in your efforts will depend on how organised your marketing strategy is. Making it work properly takes time, but then forward planning is the key to achievement in any field of work.

Phil Andrews is a freelance English-language content writer specialising in articles, web content and blogging. He is the author of The Best Year Of Our Lives, a historical fiction novel set in 1976 about a group of young people growing up in a restless West London suburb beside the River Thames.

About the author: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Phil_Andrews/2043953

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10330276

OBSHacks | How to Start Dropshipping in South Africa

If you're just starting out selling online there are a lot of terms to get your head around


Dropshipping is one such term


Using the example of Dropstore, Adewale Adejumo takes us through a clear explanation of what dropshipping is and how it can work

The Taoist Approach to Email Timing

If you are serious about marketing online you'll be growing a strong database for your email list

Did you ever stop to consider there could be some useful tactics about employing your email list?

In his article here William T Batten gives an overview of a few things to think about

I've heard lots of folk obsess about when to send emails to your list.

And I've read entire chapters in books dedicated to this topic.

Some folks say it's best to send them in the mornings. Lots of readers check their email first thing, so you want to be at the top of the list.

Similar reasoning goes into lunchtime emails, commute-home emails and evening emails.

Then they turn around and pretend they've said something useful, instead of 'almost any time, really'.

So... great. Send your emails whenever, I guess.

But it gets worse than that.

When should your emails circle the globe?

I once almost signed up for a marketing course. This little anecdote isn't why I decided against it - a few things didn't work out - but it's funnier if I say it is.

Anyway, the sales letter for this training said these two things, with full sincerity.

"We provide this elite training online to students in over 50 countries around the world."

And:

"We have our weekly FAQs at 2:00pm, which is a convenient way to break up your afternoon."

Sigh...

You know, sometimes it's frustrating living in Australia. Whenever a movie or project launches 'next Spring" we have to wonder, so they mean Autumn? And when something arrives 'on the 10th', it's really the 11th for us.

Minor inconveniences, sure.

But this sort of stuff really takes the pie.

The meetings are at 2pm? Great. Whose 2pm? They didn't even include a time zone with that...

As it turned out, that oh-so convenient 'afternoon meeting' was 4am my time. Yeesh.

So many marketers brag about knowing their prospects inside and out... yet forget they live in different time zones.

This comes back to your emails. Maybe you decide you want to catch the morning vibes with a 6am email. Whose 6am, though? Because it's always early morning, late afternoon and the dead of night somewhere.

No time is the right time

But maybe you run a local business, so all your readers are in one time zone. What then, huh?

There's a sensible yet paradoxical philosophy in Taoism. Hints of it show up in other religions - definitely Buddhism too.

The Taoists say it like this:

No Way is the Way.

Translation:

If someone shows you 'the Way' (to enlightenment, say), then it isn't the Way. The Way can't be shown or codified. You have to find it for yourself. There's only so far dogma and gurus and teaching can take you.

The answer can never come from without.

So if you hear an answer, it isn't the right one.

Similarly, no time can be the right time. Let's say someone discovers that, sure enough, 6am is the perfect time to send an email. Within a month, everyone blasts their lists then, drowning each other out.

Meanwhile, the email that arrives 12 hours 'late' stands out.

So don't sweat it. Send them whenever you want.

Besides...

I doubt it matters much anyway. Folks read emails that are interesting, persuasive and informative, not those that arrive at just the right time.

Focus on getting your writing down, rather than chasing a minor-if-anything boost from timing.

"But, wait, timing does matter for me!"

Then again, some of you will need to focus on your schedule.

If you announce lunchtime flash sales for your restaurant, you probably want to send them at 11am or noon, not evening.

Lighter emails might land better on Wednesdays (from folks looking for a mid-week break), Fridays (just because) or the weekend.

Business emails probably want to go out during business hours. Maybe. Who knows?

If your business has a niche relationship to time, I invite you to figure it out for yourself. Don't ask your readers - they'll probably tell you to email less simply because they hate spam. Test it. Experiment with different times and see what leads to sales.

But for most businesses, the timing doesn't matter so much.

The point, which I've spent over 600 words making, is this isn't worth thinking about too hard. It's small potatoes. Get your offer and your message right, and everything else falls into place.

I've only written an article about this because so many folks wonder about it. So wonder no more.

If you're still nervous about timing?

Then email every day.

That way you're more likely to hit the right times.

And if you want to know how to create that much content for your readers, without boring them or burning out, you want my Write Like a Demon course. It's thanks to these principles that I've churned out hundreds of articles a year on everything from marketing to self-improvement.

You can stream the course here:

https://skl.sh/2PymK9O

About the author: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/William_T_Batten/2522089

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10326328

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Fastest Way to Build an eCommerce Store

Shane Emerson

Looking for the quickest possible way to start your online store? Pick the right eCommerce platform and rest assured building your store would become an effortless process.

When it comes to choosing an eCommerce solution, you have mainly two options, viz., self-hosted, and hosted eCommerce platform.

 

Why Choose Hosted eCommerce Platform?

Server Space is Rented

A hosted solution will enable you to quickly build an eCommerce store. You don't have to handle the technical hassles of running your online business. When you choose a hosted solution, you only rent server space; no buying server, or looking after its maintenance.

 

No Handling Technical Aspects

Your website is hosted on someone else's server, which means you don't have to worry about web hosting, upgrades, and maintenance. The hosted eCommerce provider takes care of everything so that you can focus on designing your store.

Focus on Marketing

When you launch an online store with a hosted eCommerce platform, you can spend a majority of your budget and time on the most important aspect of your business - marketing. You are in a position to amplify your marketing efforts and grow your business.

Run your Business from Anywhere

A hosted solution is a cloud-based eCommerce platform, meaning the server is hosted on the Internet. This allows you to handle your online business from any Internet-enabled device. No depending on office PCs to manage your business.

Internet connectivity to your laptop is all that is needed to connect to your business. To put it simply, a hosted solution gives you the flexibility to run your business from any Internet-enabled device.

 Affordable

You have to pay a reasonable monthly fee to use the hosted solution. Any customizations and upgrades to the software are delivered via the Internet. The operational cost dramatically reduces when you choose a hosted platform.

Also, hosted eCommerce platforms come with drag and drop functionality that eliminates the need for coding to design the store. Without knowing CSS and HTML, you can design the store as per your needs.

 

Why Avoid Self-Hosted eCommerce Platform?

High Capital

Honestly speaking, a self-hosted solution is not suitable for small and medium-sized businesses. Startups and new entrepreneurs should stay away from self-hosted eCommerce platforms. This is because a fair amount of investment is needed to launch an online eCommerce store using this platform.

Purchase your Own Server

With a self-hosted solution, your eCommerce software runs on a dedicated server that has been specifically designed for your online business. You own the server, which means you are fully responsible for its maintenance.

Server Management

The headache of managing your own server can be a daunting task. Server management includes installation, monitoring, backups, and maintenance. You will be left with no option but to hire a dedicated IT team for server management. Regular server maintenance and backups are very important to ensure website speed.

High Operational Cost

What's the point of choosing an eCommerce solution that increases your operational cost and lowers your margins?

Self-hosted solutions are typically offered on a monthly/annual licensing fee. Moreover, hosting and development requires considerable investment in IT infrastructure. The large upfront cost is one of the major disadvantages of using a self-hosted solution.

A self-hosted solution is commonly described as an on-premise eCommerce platform. This is because the server and other IT infrastructure lie within the premises of your organization. So connecting to a device that is outside your organization can be a daunting task.

On the whole, a hosted solution provides a cost-effective way to run your eCommerce business. Without handling any technical aspects, you can comfortably run your business from any laptop that is connected to the Internet.

If you want to be successful in your online venture, choose an eCommerce platform that makes it easy to manage an online business. With a hosted solution, you can spend more time on designing strategies that help you to increase the conversion rate.

About the author:

Shane is an American writer for various digital news publications. After being in the e-commerce industry for more than 15 years, Shane has a good understanding of what it takes to make an eCommerce business successful. He also likes to cover newsworthy events related to business management software, customer relationship management (CRM) and Quoting software

Article source: http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/ecommerce/fastest-way-to-build-an-ecommerce-store.html

I Paid Fiverr to Create a Shopify Dropshipping Store

You want to set up your online store

You've chosen Shopify as the platform for your sales

... and you OUTSOURCE the whole creation process rather than do it yourself. Right?

See what is revealed in this interesting look at just that from Sharif Mohsin