How to Start Tasks You’ve Avoided Like the Plague

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Project Management
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Mark Twain said, “Never put off till tomorrow what may be done the day after tomorrow just as well.” It’s easy to agree (because you’ve totally been there!). However, when it comes to business projects, you won’t get anything done if you keep avoiding tasks and putting them off until the “day after tomorrow.”

In the business world, procrastination is your enemy. Whether you’re procrastinating on a difficult project, avoiding sending that email you know you have to send, or are just too stubborn to delegate—getting enough done each day is a problem most of us face. A recent LinkedIn survey reported that a mere 11% of professionals report accomplishing the tasks they set out to do in a given day. (That means 89% don’t!)

So, how can you boost your own productivity, get started on stuff you’ve been putting off, and head to happy hour or home to be with your family earlier?

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Phishing: Don’t Take the Bait

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Security
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No, this post is not about something that is fun and entertaining. It’s not a misspelling of a relaxing sport that involves trying to catch tuna, trout, or salmon with a pole, reel and hook. Nor is it about an American rock band with a dedicated following.

So, what is phishing?

Even though it sounds like the two others, the phishing we’re talking about here is a serious cybercrime attack that casts a wide net hoping to ensnare as many people as possible using forged emails, telephone calls or texts with malicious attachments. According to the FTC, “Phishing is when you get emails, texts or calls that seem to be from people you know. But they’re actually from scammers. They want you to click on a link or give personal information (like a password) so they can steal your money or identity, and maybe get access to your computer.”

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Creating a New, On-Brand Email Signature

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Email
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The average office business worker sends 40 emails per day. That’s at least 40 chances every day to market yourself and your company, not to mention dozens of opportunities to reach out and expand your professional network when recipients read the email signature.

Unfortunately, many people don’t think very much about email signatures. This makes these signatures a real missed (while totally free!) marketing opportunity, “…to make it clear who you are, make it easy for people to reach you, and give people a place to go to find out more—either about you, about your business, or about something you’re working on,” says Hubspot.

That means if you’re just putting your name and a point or two of contact information in your signature (or not inserting a signature at all), you’re not taking full advantage of the opportunity to connect and engage with the people you’re emailing.

It’s really easy to set up your own email signature that includes important information about you and your business and is on-brand. So, there’s no reason to miss out!

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On-SERP SEO: It’s Not Your Same Old Search

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Uncategorized
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More and more keywords are becoming less and less profitable these days. That’s because 61.8 percent of search results in Google are now zero-search results, according to data from Jumpshot. Plus, Google’s always tinkering around with SEO. So, what do you do?

According to Entrepreneur, in 2020 and beyond you have to figure out on-SERP SEO to gain a huge competitive edge. Continue reading →

Worth A Thousand Words — The Power of Instagram Ads

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Social Media
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Now that you have learned about the Beginner’s Guide to Instagram for Business as well as the versatility of Instagram Stories, we are here to conclude this social media post trilogy with an in-depth look into the world of Instagram Ads.

Marketing guru Seth Godin has lambasted the idea of interruption marketing (an older, pre-social media approach to marketing) many times in the past. In one particular instance, he stated: “marketing by interrupting people isn’t cost-effective anymore. You can’t afford to seek out people and send them unwanted marketing messages, in large groups, and hope that some will send you money.”

Though social media marketing has gone through many iterations in the last decade and is by no means completely perfect by this point, one key part of the approach is to make any ads that you put out there seem as natural an addition as possible to your targeted audience’s news feed, timeline, etc. With demographics pertaining to gender, age, location, occupation, likes, interests and more, Instagram Ads allow you to create messages and content that your audience already have a predilection for. Read on to see why we think Instagram Ads would make an effective addition to your company’s social media and overall marketing strategy.

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Podcasting for Beginners: Giving Your Business a Voice

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Podcasting
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There’s been explosive growth to podcast listeners over the past few years, and the popularity of podcasts is continuing to rise. To say that podcasts are “having a moment” would be an understatement, according to industry research data.

  • According to an Edison Research study, an estimated 67 million people listened in 2017, roughly 25% of the U.S. population over age 12, up 45% from 2015, and up 180% from 2009.
  • eMarketer forecasts that by 2022, 83.8 million people in the US will listen to at least one podcast per month, up from 73.0 million people in 2018.

Podcasting was once regarded as a self-indulgent hobby for individuals who liked to listen to the sound of their own voice. But in the current media landscape, producing one of these digital talk shows has proven to be an ultra-effective marketing tactic. Like blogs and social media, podcasts are an easy and effective way for people just like you to share their thoughts with the world, with the episodic audio series continuing to gain traction with listeners seeking both entertainment value and educational dialogue.

According to Entrepreneur, some experts have gone so far as to deem podcasting “the next marketing frontier.”

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