December in the Sun II

A couple of days exploring the Miami South Beach area,

First evening - start off with cocktails, of course, 

 great fun, everybody is so welcoming, interested in who we were, not just serving us.



Took a bite at a beach front cafe, food delicious, again service was friendly and fast.

 We took a walk around the Art-Deco area of town, these buildings are fast being dwarfed by the modern massive hotels that are being out up. It will be a shame if this clearly 1950's influenced buildings are lost.


These buildings form such a part of the 'Miami' that we wanted to see, the 'Cuban', South American and Spanish influences all come through, in a dramatic contrast to other parts that are only a few hundred meters away.

As we had flown in, we could make out the massive size of the full City that Miami is, this is just a small corner, but it has an atmosphere and bustle about it that is quite magical. To back up the Art-deco buildings there is also the Art itself, galleries hidden away, that you stumble across as well as pieces out in the open for all to enjoy.

 Even the Hotels were not just ordinary, the use of colour and the layout of the well planned gardens meant that we were always feeling like we were part of the creations.

The use of neon lighting means that a night time walk is a must, as well as taking an organised guided walk during daylight.

  It is not just the Hotel designs that create the Art-Deco quarter, nearly every hotel has joined in with sculptures, paintings and pieces, there is so much to take in that we were left feeling that we had only seen the 'tip of the iceberg' as we had only planned to stay for a couple of nights.




It also felt strange that Christmas celebrations were starting, in temperatures that were more akin to a UK summer, but at least Santa was wearing clothes that fitted the local weather:

Moving On tomorrow ......more to follow.

 You know you too can be like we are and work to your own schedules, and in places where the weather is definitely better that the UK at this time of the year.

If you want to be like us, check out how we do it here: Join US

5 Instagram Articles Every Marketer Should Read

It's no secret that Instagram has incredible reach. It grew more than 400 million users just in 2015. Here are 5 Instagram articles to help your brand. 

Does your business have a presence on Instagram?

Instagram has doubled its user base, to 700 million monthly actives in two years, fueled by Stories, web signups and better onboarding on low-end Android phones. Instagram’s growth rate is actually speeding up. It took just four months to add the last 100 million users since hitting 600 million in December , while it took six months to go from 500 million to 600 million.

However, not every business has jumped on the Instagram marketing band wagon and we understand why.

At first glance Instagram seems like it’s really only beneficial for those in e-commerce. Some businesses struggle with figuring out what they could post in Instagram that could really help grow their brand. And for many, it’s just one more social network to manage. Now that Instagram lets users manage multiple accounts from one device, it will be even easier for marketing managers to use.

All that aside, there is some true potential and value in Instagram, and the businesses that are taking the plunge are quickly seeing results.

Whether you’re active on Instagram, are thinking about starting your business profile or are reminded every once in a while that you should look into Instagram, these five articles can help you leverage the power of the platform.

1) How to Build Your Brand With Instagram:

    4 Tried-and-True Tips

HubSpot just got done helping a business grow their Instagram followers by 400,000 people which resulted in 70,000 email subscribers in just 12 months. It’s safe to say they learned a thing or two from their experience and we love that they’re sharing it with the world.

In this article they discuss four surprising ways that you can use Instagram to build your business and brand. The ideas include:

1. Grow your Instagram following with strategic partnerships Instagram,
2. Build your email list by converting your followers into subscribers
3. Create compelling content that’s worthy of being shared by others
4. Foster a community of highly engaged followers

Each strategy includes a variety of additional tips that any business can start implementing on their Instagram profile today.

Original article: How to Build Your Brand with Instagram Marketing

2) 5 Ways to Grow Your Instagram Following

Most businesses on Instagram report that it’s their most engaging social media platform. That’s exactly what Jess Ekstrom, CEO and Founder of Headbands Of Hope, explains in her article, even though her business’s Instagram profile has fewer followers than their Facebook Page.

Jess has found a strategy that allows her business to grow their presence and in this article she shares her five tips.

1. Put your handle on your packaging and marketing materials
2. Send products to Instagram influencers
3. Comment
4. Tag a friend
5. Give people a reason to follow

Two nuggets really stuck out to me in this article and those were put your Instagram handle on your packaging and marketing materials and send your products to Instagram influencers. Both of these strategies gives people a reason to upload a photo of themselves wearing your product to Instagram and tag your business, resulting in more eyes and followers on your profile.

Original article: 5 Ways to Grow Your Instagram Following

3) Never Designed an Instagram Ad?

  Here Are 7 Things That Will Make You Stand Out

Once you have a presence on Instagram you may want to look into your advertising options. According to our friend, Jeff Bullas, the two most important elements of an Instagram ad are inspiration and information.

In Jeff’s article he discusses seven tips that businesses should keep in mind when building their Instagram ad. The tips include:

1. Think about composition
2. Decide on a focal point
3. Create an intimate perspective
4. Don’t be aggressive with your logo
5. Use the power of color and contrast
6. Pay attention to consistency
7. Go easy with text

Jeff has an image example to go with each of his tips so that you can see exactly what he’s referring to. This article will help you get your Instagram ads up and running and seeing success in no time.

Original article: Never Designed an Instagram Ad? Here are 7 Things That Will Make You Stand Out

4)The 5 Best Free Instagram Analytics Tools

Now that you know how to build your Instagram presence and create beautiful ads, you need a way to track your efforts. You may or may not know that Instagram does not have native analytics. This means you have to use a third party tool to track your efforts, but knowing what works and doesn’t work will be worth it in the end.

In this article from Pete Schauer from SEMGeeks, he discusses five free tools for Instagram analytics. The tools include:

1. Iconosquare
2. SimplyMeasured
3. InstaFollow
4. Union Metrics
5. Crowdfire

Keep in mind that free analytics tool with come with some limitations, but they’re a good place to start. If you’re looking for some more advanced analytics consider paying for a software such as Postano or Unmetric.

Original article: The 5 Best Free Instagram Analytics Tools

5) 15 Hidden Instagram Hacks & Features Everyone Should Know About

Everyone loves a good social media hack. They save us time and usually show us some interesting things we didn’t know were possible.

Whether you’re a business using the social network or an individual perusing Instagram when you’re bored, these 15 hacks from HubSpot are what they call “game changers”

1. Get notifications when your favorite people post
2. See all the posts you’ve Liked
3. See the posts your friends have recently Liked, commented on, and so on
4. Look through pictures without worrying about accidentally Liking them
5. Clear your search history
6. Reorder the filters, and hide the ones you don’t use
7. Use Instagram as a photo editor (without having to post anything)
8. Insert line breaks into your bio and captions
9. Hide photos you’ve been tagged in
10. Adjust your settings to approved tagged photos before they show up in your profile
11. Remove photos from your photo map
12. Browse photos taken in certain locations
13. Drive traffic to an external website
14. Hide ads you don’t relevant
15. Send photos privately to your friends

Original article: 15 Hidden Instagram Hacks & Features Everyone Should Know About

If you’re ready to get started building your Instagram profile, check out Short Stack’s latest template, the Interactive Gallery Template. For e-commerce businesses, the Interactive Gallery Template allows you to create a shoppable gallery. However, the template is also designed to feature links to external pages, contest entries, newsletter sign-ups, downloads or even other pop-ups from within the Campaign. Use it as a landing page where your fans can click through to learn more about what you’re posting on Instagram.

Start improving your Instagram business profiles. Connect with your customers and increase sales. If you want more marketing suggestions and a way to generate conversion-ready prospects each month, then click here and learn more about my done-for-you system.

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Why People Share: The Psychology Behind Social Media

Social media has taken the internet by storm. There are 31.25 million Facebook messages, 347,222 tweets, 17,361 LinkedIn profile views, 48,611 Instagram pictures, and 300 hours of YouTube videos uploaded each minute. The internet is full of content that’s constantly being created or shared.

We already know what is happening, but let’s dig a little deeper and get to the “why” of it. Why do people love sharing on social media? What’s the psychology behind it?

As luck would have it, a study by the New York Times Consumer Insight Group found the answer for us. Researchers concluded that there were five major reasons why people share on social media:

Entertainment

Perhaps this is the most obvious answer, but it was also the least common reason out of the five. Everyone loves a good dog video or a funny prank that they can laugh at and share with their friends. After all, what is the internet for if not entertainment?

Less than half of shares are motivated by entertainment or passion. Nevertheless, it does explain the tendency for funny YouTube videos to go viral as people want all their friends to see it.

Supporting a cause

It’s almost impossible to go onto social media and not see someone talking about a cause they are passionate about. The study found that 84% of respondents use social media to share their support for a social cause. Whether it’s fighting against immigration bans or police brutality, social media remains a powerful tool for expression.

A perfect example of this would be the Ice Bucket Challenge. Politicians, celebrities, athletes, and hundreds of others all participated in this viral challenge which helped raise over $130 million for various ALS organizations.

Self-Fulfillment

Related to the above point, many people share on social media to feel good about themselves. A simple click of a button can let all your Facebook friends know how they can best provide relief to hurricanes or donate to their local homeless shelter.

Sure, some might call it slacktivism, but it’s hard to overlook just how excellent social media is for raising awareness of important causes. It’s an easy way for people to make themselves feel better while fighting for a good and noble cause.

Expressing Yourself

The study found that 68% of respondents love sharing things that they feel helps them express who they are. Whether someone is showing the world their love of dogs or how excited they are for the latest blockbuster summer hit, there’s something that just feels good about expressing yourself. No places are as good at showing someone’s uniqueness as social media.

It only takes a few clicks to let the world know who you are and what you like. Many people don’t have the chance to divulge such details about themselves in the regular world, so social media provides a wonderful vehicle where they can truly be themselves without fear of judgment or restriction.

Friendship

This last point takes us to the social aspect of social media. More and more people are making new friends and connections online. It doesn’t matter if you’re finding your next hot date on Tinder or connecting with a potential new business partner on LinkedIn—social media and the internet has made meeting new people much easier than ever.

According to the study, 78% of respondents share on social media to keep in touch with old friends. It makes sense when you consider that the vast majority of Facebook friend lists are people that most users never keep in touch with. Sharing content allows them to reconnect with those who they haven’t talked to in a while and rekindle old friendships.

Conclusion

It’s impossible to deny the massive influence that social media has in our current day and age. The influence of companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram also allows brands to capitalize on new opportunities as they can reach people who are just casually scrolling through pages from the comfort of their phone.

Take a look at your content and ask how it plays in to one of these five psychological factors. You never know what sort of marketing strategies might arise after a little bit of introspection. And, if you’d like more access to invaluable online marketing strategies, check out my done-for-you system.

How To Properly Use Facebook Live To Gain More Clients

In this video you will find out how maximize the reach of Facebook live, and how it can be used for business. There are 9 tips to follow, which are easy to follow and also not very time-consuming. Among them are making sure of the right timing, having good visual quality, as well as audio quality.

Want to know more about Using Social Media in your Business Marketing, Check out this Programme, by Australia's Leading Social Media expert: 

Using Images to Improve Your Content Marketing

Whether they are inserted into the header or placed within the main body of text, images are an illustration of you contents core idea. Including simple images that relate to as wide an audience as possible will help maximize the work your content can do.

Where Can I Find Photos? 

There are a number of places on the web you can find royalty free images that are free to download.  Even more where you can pay to download. The easiest way to find the latest resources is to do a search for “Royalty Free Images.”

No matter where you go for images, it’s vitally important to give proper attribution when required. A good rule of thumb for attribution is to credit the contributor of the image and include the website where you found it, ie: “Photo Courtesy of ABCD from FreePics.com.”

The same goes for a registered trademark or trademarked product. For example, if Nike Swoosh or an actual Nike product is seen in the photo, include a statement like, “Nike, the Nike logo, and Nike Products are trademarks of Nike Inc., registered in the U.S. and internationally.”

Image SEO

According to most experts in the SEO field, Keywords appear to be the end all be all of SEO.  Primary Keywords, secondary Keywords, Google “Keyword” and the list of sources of info will probably go on forever.  With Image SEO the first location to use your primary keyword will be the image filename.

The right filename will let a search engine know what the image is about.  This means if your image is a women’s top in a specific abstract design, the file name shouldn’t be DSC12345.jpg.  Instead, you want to rename it “ann-monique-womens-top-abstract-v.”  This gives the search engine spiders something to grab onto and take back to their part of the web.

Start a file name with a lowercase letter or a number and remove all spaces.  For multiple words, join them with a dash. 

Loading times can be crucial for websites to maintain traffic. The faster the site, the easier to visit it. Images can have a huge impact on this.   Standard resolution for a screen image is 72ppi and most web pages won’t need an image to be more than 1000-1200 pixels wide.  To put that into perspective, a typical smart phone camera today will give you an image at 72 ppi but the file will often be over 3000 pixels wide (or more).

There are a few online image editors that work quite well and often don’t cost a thing or have a minimal membership fee with added benefits.  Two are PicMonkey and Pixl.

When uploading your image, you will often be given an option to add “alt text” or “alt tags.” This is also another good place to use your keyword placement.

In most e-commerce catalog pages, the product is shown in a specific place on the page that doesn’t overlap any other image or text.  JPEG images are most commonly used for this.  I’m adding this quick highlight in case a need arises for you to remove the background of a photo.

JPEG images include a visible background showing behind any curves or irregular lines. If you’ve taken the trouble to remove the background of the photo of a product but save it as a JPEG (JPG), you will still be stuck with a background color when you re-open it.

PNGs allow you to make the background transparent so it can be used over any color, texture or other text.  This can be helpful if you decide to show multiple products in one virtual shot but don’t have the means to retake the photo.

GIF images are a much lower quality than

JPEGs or PNGs. Best for small decorative images and icons it is doubtful you will have a reason to use them on a product page.   Most often they are used to float basic logos over pages or header graphics since they can be saved with transparent backgrounds, like PNGs.

Even if it takes extra time to find just the right image for a post, the increase in SEO and lead generation make it worth your time.

Monitoring the social media marketing landscape is vital to your success. If you’d like to have access

to even more powerful marketing tips, as well as a way to generate conversion-ready Internet marketing prospects each month, click here to learn about my done-for-you system.

Take Your Products To The Next Step With Image SEO

This video gives a step by step instruction on the best way to use images for your business. 
From choosing your filename to adjusting the image size or resolution, to using Alt-text/alt-tag, and choosing between jpeg, gif or png. It’s made simple and easy to follow to make those images work best for you and your business.

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