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This should be FUN – and they’re all easy ways to see fast results. 🙂

My challenge to you for the week: Do each of these 6 easy content ideas to improve your traffic & social media engagement!

Alice Seba posed a question this week on Facebook in one of her groups about free vs paid content, or access to you. My answer to that was 1- it depends on your niche and business model (of course). And 2- The more content I create and the more accessible I am to my audience… the more money I make. 😉

If you want exposure, traffic & sales – creating content is the answer. Even if it’s just on social media (quick & easy!) and even if you don’t yet have anything to offer or sell (use affiliate links!).

It’s just TOO EASY to be making sales online right now for you to NOT be doing it.

Maybe you don’t believe ^ that, or you’re not really sure YOU can easily make sales (or even make a living!) online. But maybe THAT alone is what keeps you from doing the things that will prove that you can.

Also, check out my P.S. below to see what I’m reading today (and why)…

6 Types of Content to Boost Your Social Media Engagement

Create visual content: a quote graphic, tip graphic, infographic, photo illustrating your topic, etc. * Canva is a great free resource with tons of free templates.

Create a video. It could be a short video demonstrating a how-to, a tip video, something inspirational or motivational. Itt could be an “over the shoulder” look at your hands doing something or a product and how to use it. It could be an educational video made in Powerpoint or Keynote (slides) exported to video format. Lots of EASY ideas!

Host a contest or giveaway

Respond to DM’s (Direct Messages) or follow up with someone that messaged you recently – check in to see how it worked out, or if that worked for them, etc.

Create a Top Tips or How-To post on something very specific. Make it “actionable content” for your readers to experience a sense of achievement.

Ask your audience questions! It encourages responses and interaction. Then respond to those questions and keep the discussion going. (Higher engagement = more social media reach on any platform!)

* Tip: Repurpose that Q&A into blog posts, a short report, a Facebook Live series – or all of the above. 😉

Start an Idea Journal for content ideas as they come to you. If you already have one, revisit it this week: does it need to be organized or updated? Or pick an idea from your list and run with it!

* * * * *

More free ideas & resources for you to make the challenge above EASY and FUN…

Social Media Content Ideas Generator – Grab the Free Brainstorming Tool at the end of this post.

5 Ways To Destroy Your Reputation on Social Media
Be sure to download the “Free Checklist: How To Build a 5-Star Social Media Reputation” while you’re there!

Get out there and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.

Best,
Lynn Terry
ClickNewz.com

p.s. Right now I’m reading Endless Instagram Traffic (Even If You Have No Followers) by Debbie Drum. While I’m doing GREAT with my niche Instagram account already, I’m always interested in learning new ways to improve my results – and always curious to see how & what other people are doing to get great results. 😉

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Instagram is all about engagement and the content value perceived by the end user. However, as more influencers and brands are catching in on the latest and greatest ways to create amazing content for their audience, it’s also getting harder to stand out from the crowd.

Think for a moment about the best speakers in the world today. Famous names like Tony Robbins, Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King and Oprah likely all come to mind — and the reason for this is that they are all great storytellers.

Now, think about some of the best brands and influencers you might be following on Instagram. They are likely great at creating content that tells a story as well.

With more than 500 million active users on Instagram, it’s now more important than ever to create content that grabs the attention of your audience.

The problem is, not everybody knows how to market their product on social media. Have you been listening to what’s going on out there? I mean, is it just me or is it getting crazier out there (Yes, I watched Joker, and I loved it!)

There are so many “best practices” to keep up with that you don’t even know if what you’re doing is right.

StoryBoost: Story Editor

StoryBoost is a mobile application that makes the process of creating content for Instagram easier, and more effective than ever before — and best of all, in just a few minutes time.

After downloading the app, users will have access to more than 1000+ templates to choose from, while also being able to add in unique animations, stickers and filters, animated text and more.

Within a few moments time you will start to see how easy it is to create new and engaging content for your Instagram feed, while also using the tools and features offered through StoryBoost to make your content stand out.

Best of all, you will be able to tell your story and build a brand that you’re proud of — while also impressing your fans, followers, and customers!

It’s also important to note that StoryBoost is part of the suite of apps called ‘BoostApps‘ — which is also accessible through the App Store. The other two applications that make up the complete bundle are VideoBoost and PosterBoost, which are both focusing on providing users and brands with the best tools and features to create video and image content that stands out from the crowd.

The BoostApps suite has set out on a mission to make their users’ lives a lot easier, by implementing into their app all of today’s best practices in digital marketing. That way, their users can rest assured that the content they create is aligned with the latest trends in social media marketing.

So without further ado, let’s dive in.

How StoryBoost Works

As powerful and effective as StoryBoost is, the process to create amazing and engaging content through the app is quite simple.

It can literally be broken down in the following four steps:

Pick the Perfect Template

First thing first, you will need to choose a template from the 1,000+ designs that are pre-built into the application. Go for one that best represents your brand, or choose a stylish one that best exemplifies whatever it is you might be trying to sell or promote.

Add Photos, Videos, Text and Stickers

Now it’s time to add some original content into the mix. Tap the + icons inside the template placements to add in your own photos or videos.

Add some stickers or GIFs. 

You can also add unique and call to action headlines in this step as well.

Add Filters to Your Photos

If there’s anything we know about Instagram, it’s that we can’t live without filters! Once you add your photos to the Story templates, tap the photo and click the edit icon and choose your preferred filter.

Add Animations and Transitions

Make your latest engagement and photos pop with the addition of unique and fun animations that will act as transitions between your Stories! Tap the icon that connects the steps of your Story and just pick one of the transitions in the animation library!

This is one of StoryBoost’s most appealing features, as it helps your followers experience your brand as a professional content creator, which channels authority and strengthens your brand.

Share with Your Audience

The last step of the process is to take a moment and be amazed with the awesome new content you’ve created through the mobile application. Oh yea… you also now get to share it with your Instagram audience as well, and get to see how much they love it!

Tap the upload/share icon on the top right corner of the screen to share your post or simply save the story in your video library.

Now… let’s put all of this in motion.

As much fun as it is to read about how to accomplish something in a step by step format, visuals work so much better. Check out the short video below to see how these four simple steps bring your brand, content, and story to life!

Once your content has been posted to your social profile, be sure to keep an eye on what type of templates and animations get the most engagement. Not only is this great for split testing and tracking user preference, it’s also great for future planning as well. Analyze which posts are getting the most likes, shares, and comments and then use this data to influence new ideas on what type of content to create for your audience in the coming weeks months.

Bring Your Content and Story to Life with StoryBoost

Now that you’ve seen what’s possible through the use of StoryBoost, it’s time to see what type of content you can create for your own site, brand, or online business.

To get started, all you need to do is head over to the iOS mobile app store, or search for “StoryBoost” on your mobile device or tablet.

With over a hundred reviews, thousands of downloads and a Product Hunt badge, the application is already listed amongst the top apps in the Photo & Video category, and currently has a 4.2 star rating out of 5 along with the app store’s “Editors’ Choice” award.

Pricing

StoryBoost is free to download and has in-app purchases for even more features to improve how your content looks and feels when posted to the Instagram platform.

You can subscribe to StoryBoost Premium, which offers unlimited access to all templates and page-to-page animations. Three payment options are available, which are monthly, annually, and lifetime.

Be sure to try the StoryBoost app out for free to see what features you like best, then decide on an access plan that works best for you and your brand.

Download the StoryBoost app today, and see what type of creative content you can start creating for your social audience.

The post Create Stunning Instagram Stories in 3 Minutes with StoryBoost appeared first on Zac Johnson.

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People do fail at affiliate marketing, and I would be lying to you if I said that everyone who has ever dabbled in affiliate marketing, ended up reaping success. The newest episode of “The Affiliate Marketing Experience” dives into three reasons why (and 3 contexts when) affiliate marketing does not …

Affiliate Marketing Does Not Work (in These 3 Cases) Read More »

The post Affiliate Marketing Does Not Work (in These 3 Cases) appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog by Geno Prussakov.

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If you’re just setting up your web design agency, you have to make the difficult choice about which platform to work on. It’s relatively easy to switch platforms at the beginning, but once you’ve set up all your workflows and permissions and invested time creating custom templates and themes, moving to a different platform isn’t so simple.

There are a lot of features to consider when you’re picking a web design platform, including collaboration and multi-site management tools, the range of themes available, and SEO power. You might also want bonus features like white-label options and built-in site performance optimization.

You can’t ignore WordPress, as it’s one of the biggest names in web platforms. It’s the CMS of choice for 33.9% of all the world’s websites, including big names like New York Post, TED and Airstream.

But Duda gives WordPress a run for its money. It’s an all-in-one web hosting, collaboration, development and design platform that was built especially to address the needs of web design teams, and it was chosen as PCMag’s Editors’ Choice website builder of 2019.

To help make your decision easier, we put WordPress and Duda through a head-to-head comparison, to discover which offers more value for web design agencies.

1. Intuitive user interface

Both WordPress and Duda score highly. The two platforms offer an intuitive editing dashboard that’s easy to use without compromising on powerful content creation and web design capabilities.

Image source: https://www.codeinwp.com/blog/gutenberg-replace-page-builders/

While Duda might have had the edge before WordPress rolled out its Gutenberg editor last year, WordPress now offers native drag-and-drop page building, so usability-wise, I’d say the two are pretty comparable.

2. Collaboration tools

When you’re running a web design agency, you need more than one person to be able to work on the same website at the same time.

With WordPress, this is tricky. WordPress does have five different levels of user permissions, but the access rules can’t be adjusted according to your agency’s needs. Since only Administrators can change code and install or delete plugins, you’d need to make everyone an Administrator to permit them to change the layout, or themes of the website, which defeats the whole point of user permissions.

With Duda, you can fine-tune user permissions so that colleagues can work side by side on the same section without treading on each other’s toes. You can even give client-side team members access to certain content editing rights and not others, for example.

Duda also offers easy “website comments” messaging threads pinned to specific design elements so that you don’t lose track of your discussions or forget assigned tasks. This makes it easy to discuss what color a CTA button should be, or get a client’s opinion about the font for banner text, without having to conduct the conversation on a separate channel.

3. SEO optimization

No matter what type of site you’re building, you need to include full SEO optimization. As a CMS, WordPress shines when it comes to SEO. There are numerous plugins that do a great job of simplifying many aspects of SEO for WordPress sites, including meta data, site maps and server caching.

And even without plugins, WordPress was built with SEO in mind, and it’s also easy enough to the platform’s native “permalinks” settings to create optimized URLs.

But for the most part, WordPress is a bit of an SEO blank canvas. If you choose a poorly coded theme or a slow hosting service for it, for example, then you could be harming your own efforts.

Duda takes SEO to a new level, with several impressive technical onsite optimization capabilities built in to help you and your clients rank high in the organic search results. Mobile-friendliness and site speed are paramount to Duda, both of which are key factors in Google’s ranking algorithms.

Here are some of the game-changing SEO solutions that come baked in to every Duda-powered website:

• Hosting built on top of Amazon’s best-in-class AWS platform
• Image size and file type optimization
• SSL certificates enabling HTTPS connections
• Lazy loading of style sheets and images
• CDN for large media files

It’s true that all of these capabilities can be unlocked on WordPress as well. But that requires a lot of configuration and sourcing from expensive multiple third-party vendors. With Duda, it all comes built in.

4. Range of themes

WordPress is justly famous for offering thousands of different themes and templates, making it easy to find an appropriate theme for every client.

The Envato Elements marketplace alone, just one digital goods site for buying and selling design files, lists nearly 1000 WordPress themes.

That said, because it’s an open-source platform, not every WordPress theme reaches the same high standards. Some of them aren’t compatible with certain plugins, or have serious security vulnerabilities, and many look very similar to each other.

Duda offers serious competition in the form of three whole libraries of content templates, themes, widgets, and other design elements that help speed up the web design process.

What’s more, you can create your own custom templates and save them in the Duda library, so that other designers on your team can quickly pull them out and apply them to a new site.

You can even aggregate old content to your new themes without entering the drag-and-drop editor, since Duda’s “connected data” capabilities make headless, API-driven website creation simple and scalable.

5. Content collection tools

Duda outstrips WordPress by a long way here. WordPress doesn’t offer any tools to streamline and speed up the often time-consuming process of content collection, but Duda has plenty.

Duda automates the task of scraping data from your client’s existing digital presences, and also provides an automated “Collect from Client” form to request the data and assets you need to complete your work, importing them directly into your account’s libraries.

What’s more, thanks to Duda’s specialized user permissions, you can safely invite your client to add content directly to the site, without risking them accessing and potentially altering sensitive areas of code or design.

6. Multi-site management capabilities

Even if your web design agency starts off small, you’ll quickly find yourself designing and maintaining dozens of client sites. WordPress offers WordPress Multisite to help you manage them all. It permits you to install and manage themes and plugins, grant permissions, and accept software updates across multiple WordPress sites.

The drawback is that it only works on a very high level. It’s basically made for brands that manage multiple publications as part of a network – not for agencies that manage multiple properties on behalf of unrelated businesses.

With WordPress Multisite (WPMS), you have to implement changes to all sites at once; you can’t change one site at a time. It also doesn’t enable content creation through the multi-site dashboard. To input or alter content, you’ll have to log in to each site separately, then log out and log in to the next site, and so forth.

In contrast, Duda has a true multi-site management dashboard that allows you to make changes to the content, design, or code of each site individually from within the dashboard.

It saves you time logging in and out of multiple sites, and improves your project management and ability to keep track of changes across numerous sites.

7. White label option

When you use WordPress to build a client site, what you get is a site built on the WordPress brand. There’s no white label option, unless you want to invest in having a coder replace all traces of WordPress branding from the backend.

But even that strategy could be a major mistake, since you’d have to repeat the process every time there’s a new version of the WordPress source code released, or you’d risk getting your clients’ sites hacked.

Duda, on the other hand, offers a white label version for you to use with your own agency branding, as well as an open API. This helps you look more professional and assists you in associating your agency with a sense of value in your clients’ minds.

You can also use the API to create fully self-service website building platforms for your clients to use on their own. This is exactly what top hosting platforms like Checkdomain and 1&1 Ionos have done.

The verdict: Duda wins for web design agencies

WordPress has many positive features that make it an ideal platform for individuals setting up a business, blog, or eCommerce site – including an outstanding user interface, massive libraries of plugins and templates, and top SEO tools. However, the accessibility and simplicity that make it well suited for individuals make it a runner-up for web design agencies.

Duda offers a unified, all-in-one solution with stand-out functionalities like content collection automation, in-platform communication, and user permissions that you can fine-tune according to your agency’s needs. When you add cutting-edge capabilities like a multi-site management dashboard and white-label versions, it makes it every web design agency’s first choice.

The post WordPress vs. Duda: Which platform offers more value to design agencies? appeared first on Zac Johnson.

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With business financing, it’s try and fail and try again. A full 77% of business owners who apply for a loan from a large bank get rejected. If you’re in the 77% boat, you’re likely discouraged. You need the funds to get your business off the ground, but all that work seems like just another mountain to climb. The good news is, there is more than one way to start a business. And with the peer-to-peer economy on the rise, more ways to fund a business are cropping up all the time. Here are some loan and business funding options

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