Most people didn’t notice last month when a 35-person company in San Francisco called HoneyBook announced a $22 million Series B*.
What was unusual about the deal is that nearly all the best-known Silicon Valley VCs competed for it. That’s because HoneyBook is a prime example of an important new category of digital company that combines the best elements of networks like Facebook with marketplaces like Airbnb — what we call a market network.
Market networks will produce a new class of unicorn companies and impact how millions of service professionals will work and earn their living.
What Is A Market Network?
“Marketplaces” provide transactions among multiple buyers and multiple sellers — like eBay, Etsy, Uber and LendingClub.
“Networks” provide profiles that project a person’s identity, then lets them communicate in a 360-degree pattern with other people in the network. Think Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
What’s unique about market networks is that they:
Combine the main elements of both networks and marketplaces
Use SaaS workflow software to focus action around longer-term projects, not just a quick transaction
Promote the service provider as a differentiated individual, helping to build long-term relationships
An example will help: Let’s go back to HoneyBook, a market network for the events industry.
An event planner builds a profile on HoneyBook.com. That profile serves as her professional home on the web. She uses the HoneyBook SaaS workflow to send self-branded proposals to clients and sign contracts digitally.
She then connects to that project the other professionals she works with, like florists and photographers. They also get profiles on HoneyBook, and everyone can team up to service a client, send each other proposals, sign contracts and get paid by everyone else.
This many-to-many transaction pattern is key. HoneyBook is an N-sided marketplace — transactions happen in a 360-degree pattern like a network. That makes HoneyBook both a marketplace and network.
A market network often starts by enhancing a network of professionals that exists offline. Many of them have been transacting with each other for years using fax, checks, overnight packages and phone calls.
By moving these connections and transactions into software, a market network makes it significantly easier for professionals to operate their businesses and clients to get better service.
We’ve Seen This Before
AngelList is also a market network*. I don’t know if it was the first, but Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi deserve a lot of credit for pioneering the model in 2010.
On AngelList, the pattern is similar. The startup CEO can complete her fundraising paperwork through the AngelList SaaS workflow, and everyone in the network can share deals, hire employees and find customers in a 360-degree pattern.
Joist is another good example. Based in Toronto, it provides a market network for the home remodel and construction industry. Houzz is also in that space, with broader reach and a different approach*. DotLoop in Cincinnati shows the same pattern for the residential real estate brokerage industry.
Looking at AngelList, Joist, Houzz, DotLoop and HoneyBook, the market network pattern is visible.
Six Attributes Of A Successful Market Network
Market networks target more complex services. In the last six years, the tech industry has obsessed over on-demand labor marketplaces for quick transactions of simple services. Companies like Uber, Mechanical Turk, Thumbtack, Luxe and many others make it efficient to buy simple services whose quality is judged objectively. Their success is based on commodifying the people on both sides of the marketplace.
However, the highest value services — like event planning and home remodeling — are neither simple nor objectively judged. They are more involved and longer term. Market networks are designed for these types of services.
People matter. With complex services, each client is unique, and the professional they get matters. Would you hand over your wedding to just anyone? Or your home remodel? The people on both sides of those equations are not interchangeable like they are with Lyft or Uber. Each person brings unique opinions, expertise and relationships to the transaction. A market network is designed to acknowledge that as a core tenet — and provide a solution.
Collaboration happens around a project. For most complex services, multiple professionals collaborate among themselves — and with a client — over a period of time. The SaaS at the center of market networks focuses the action on a project that can take days or years to complete.
Market networks help build long-term relationships. Market networks bring a career’s worth of professional connections online and make them more useful. For years, social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook have helped build long-term relationships. However, until market networks, they hadn’t been used for commerce and transactions.
Referrals flow freely. In these industries, referrals are gold, for both the client and the service professional. The market network software is designed to make referrals simple and more frequent.
Market networks increase transaction velocity and satisfaction. By putting the network of professionals and clients into software, the market network increases transaction velocity for everyone. It increases the close rate on proposals and expedites payment. The software also increases customer satisfaction scores, reduces miscommunication and makes the work pleasing and beautiful. Never underestimate pleasing and beautiful.
Social Networks Were The Last 10 Years. Market Networks Will Be The Next 10.
First we had communication networks, like telephones and email. Then we had social networks, like Facebook and LinkedIn. Now we have market networks, like HoneyBook, AngelList, Houzz, DotLoop and Joist.
You can imagine a market network for every industry where professionals are not interchangeable: law, travel, real estate, media production, architecture, investment banking, personal finance, construction, management consulting and more. Each market network will have different attributes that make it work in each vertical, but the principles will remain the same.
Over time, nearly all independent professionals and their clients will conduct business through the market network of their industry. We’re just seeing the beginning of it now.
Market networks will have a massive positive impact on how millions of people work and live, and how hundreds of millions of people buy better services.
I hope more entrepreneurs will set their sights on building these businesses. It’s time. They are hard products to get right, but the payoff is potentially massive.
The market is wide open and the demand for working from home is getting more and more popular. With many people suddenly finding themselves unemployed because of changes in their work place, many more are also looking at the idea of working from home.
A home internet business is one that is conducted out of your home, using a website in order to attract and interact with customers. Starting such a business can be an exciting and relatively low-cost way to make extra money or launch a new career, whether you are providing services online or using a website to market your products or skills. Despite the advantages, starting a home internet business is difficult, and most internet businesses fail. To make yours a success, you will need a clear plan, a polished website, and an effective marketing strategy.
Starting a business from home allows you to save money on office overhead — check with the local zoning officials to make sure your home can be used for commercial purposes. Now that you’ve decided that a home-based business is for you, where do you start? There are so many opportunities for home-based businesses, how do you decide which to choose?
Your first consideration should be if the company has consumable products. If you sell mattresses, you will need many more customers than if you sell soap or toothpaste. Pick a company with consumable products so that your customers will be repeat customers.
To decide on a product or service, look to your unique abilities, training, or experience. Ask yourself how you can utilize these things to create a product or service that creates value better for customers than your potential competition.
Your home-based business should be something that you are passionate about and love to do. Find a company with products that you will be using. By using the products, you develop your personal belief system in the products and the company. As your personal belief system grows, your testimonial about the products and company will be more believable.
Are the products of a good quality and affordable? The more expensive the products are, the more your market will be limited. Choose products that offer good value and in a price range that the majority of the public can afford. This will give you the largest possible customer base to draw from.
Consider the start up costs of your home-based business. Also look at the cost of maintaining the business. Are there quotas to maintain? The last thing you need is to end up with a lot of stock that you have already paid for and now have to store until it can be sold.
Consider how much time you are willing to put into your business. Some businesses are easier to do as part-time businesses than others.
Do your homework! Before you make your final decision, make sure that you have done your investigation of the company or companies that you are considering. You will be forming a business relationship with this company, therefore ensure that the company is solid financially and has sound business practices. If you need questions answered or need support, is a “real person” available? There are times when searching through a list of FAQ’s (frequently asked questions) just doesn’t work. Plus, it’s good to develop a working relationship with people in the company that you are doing business with.
Once your business is selected, and you know what is needed, then preparation needs to be started. Of course you want to do it right, so, with your budget in mind, start getting ready to open those doors for business. Don’t forget your website, and also the advertising.
In today’s economy, it’s hard for a large majority of the population to make ends meet. Everywhere we look our expenses creep upwards while our income lags behind. One salary households struggle to get through the month and have been known to “rob Peter to pay Paul”. Even in households with two salaries coming in, there are times when there is more month than money!
Juggling the family finances can at times be trying. What’s the answer? Perhaps a second job . . . It’s an option if you don’t mind giving up some family time for additional work time. Try paring back the expenses , if that can be done. Stretch your dollars as far as you can. Go through the storage bins and closets and have a yard sale or advertise items online as that could bring in some extra cash. Most of us have been around this block at one time or another!
Enter the technological age with all the advances in how we connect with our world. The portability of an office is at hand in the form of smartphones and tablets. Business can be conducted from any location as long as a phone and internet connection are available. Given the ease in which you can conduct business using modern technology, it is not a wonder that the number of households with home-based businesses have shot up substantially in the last few years.
Whether a person starts a home-based business on a part-time basis or whether a person jumps right into full time at the onset, there are many advantages. Among these perks are personal freedom and independence. Time spent in traffic can be redirected towards spending more time with family. There are no bosses, no dress code, no set work schedule, and no office politics to deal with. Personal drive, discipline, and time-management skills are required.
There are tax advantages to having a home-based business. A percentage of most household bills including mortgage or rent, utilities, property taxes, insurance, phone and internet bills can be deducted based on the percentage of your house that is used for your home office. Be sure to follow the Tax Guides for Small Businesses as set out by the Government. Any improvements or repairs to your home office are also deductible business expenses. Be sure and keep all receipts.
Many home-based business expenses are tax deductible including tax preparation fees for your home-based business; education expenses for classes you take to improve your business skills; software and office supplies purchased to use for your business, and transportation used for business purposes (deduct expense for mileage traveled for business at a per mile/km amount). All items you need to conduct your business are deductible.
There are other positives when considering a home-based business. Start up costs of a home-based business are considerably less when compared to starting a brick & mortar business or owning a franchise. You get to expand your skills as you deal with all aspects of running a business. You get to set your own schedule therefore it will be a little less stressful when having to juggle demands of work and family. You are rewarded as the harder you work, the more money you can make.
There are a multitude of home-based businesses to choose from so be prepared to spend some time and effort checking out the opportunities before deciding which opportunity to pursue. Be sure to take into consideration your lifestyle. Think about whether you would want to be able to conduct your business from more than one location; if not now, perhaps in the future. Plan ahead. It’s just as easy to choose a business that can be conducted primarily over the internet than a business that requires a more permanent location.
In this day and age of the entrepreneur; why not give starting a home-based business some thought . . . it may be just what you need!
There are three basic ways of earning money which include trading time for money, trading money for money and trading expertise/value for money. Society and the formal education system promote the first method of earning money which involves trading time for money. In other words, you work for someone else for a specific amount of time and then they pay you. You have a JOB! Working for someone else drains your energy and you don’t make much money.
The second way to earn money is utilized by a small portion of the population and involves trading money for money. In other words, you are earning money through investing. Investing can be risky; and if you lack additional funds then how can you invest any money in the first place? Therefore, many people can’t even try this option because they only have enough money to meet monthly expenses.
The third way to earn money is the best option. This entrepreneurial option involves trading expertise/value for money. This is the strategy of entrepreneurial experts. You have a flexible schedule, work less, and earn more. You can make thousands of dollars a day in this option.
In order to earn money through trading expertise/value for money you need to first figure out who you are and what you can give to others. What information do you know that could help others? You can find value from previous work experience or even from your hobbies. From this you can create your intellectual property.
What is Intellectual property? How big is the market for Intellectual property? Is there room for you in the Intellectual property market? These may be a few of the questions you have when you are investigating the information marketing business. First of all, anyone can create intellectual property. You don’t need to be a Rocket Scientist. You just need to have an area or expertise, or access to an expert, and a drive to succeed.
Intellectual property combines e-commerce and book publishing. For example, you can write and sell an eBook. Recent research has found that approximately 6 out of every 10 American adults surf the Internet on a daily basis seeking out entertainment, education, and to shop for products. People are more comfortable buying online than in the past. The market through the Internet is global and encompasses millions of people. Therefore, the information marketing business has room for everyone! When you market on the Internet, you market to your niche. Therefore, you don’t have to worry whether or not your neighbor will want to buy your product. The Internet opens the niche market for you.
If creating and selling intellectual property on the Internet is so simple, why isn’t everyone doing this? The formal educational system and previous societal beliefs are to blame. In school, we are taught to finish school and then become an employee at a company. The entrepreneurial spirit is not promoted; in fact it is almost shunned. Don’t let societal beliefs stop you. The intellectual property market is wide, diverse, and ready to fill your pocket book with cash.
Now is the rise of the entrepreneur. More and more people are finding out that home based businesses are the best way for an entrepreneur to go. Home based businesses are preferred by entrepreneurs because they require the least capital. In most cases of home based businesses, you require very little capital as you don’t really have to rent office space. Just think about all of the money you will be able to save by bringing your business home.
Markethive has fused the Social Aspect of Entrepreneurs with a state of the art very powerful Marketing platform for free. Email Autoresponders, Capture Pages, Blogcasting, etc.
Attain top SEO and reach billions of people on the Social Networks is a typical day for the Entrepreneur at Markethive
The Force Multiplier
When you gather the troops of Entrepreneurs as a family, with a common goal, the power of the Inbound Marketing of Markethive explodes exponentially.
Broadcasts in the trillions begin to happen, reaching SEO results unheard of and building lifelong partnerships with other Entrepreneurs is Markethive.
I started using Markethive a few months ago. The Tools are incredible, rotators, tracking, coop press releases, email autoresponders, capture pages, the blog platform is genius, the knowledge shared and the family of other entrepreneurs just makes the results of marketing with Markethive the very best.
It is all free, because they fund the system with advertising and then share 50% of the advertising with us in the affiliate program.
The Blog! Blogs are popping up everywhere. Your favorite website has one. Your favorite television show has one. Even your teenager has one. Blogs — What are they? Why are they everywhere you look?
Most simply put, blogs are like journals. Instead of being made of the paper and cardboard kept secret by an even thinner piece of cardboard and a lock your baby brother frequently opened with a paperclip, these journals are online. Why does it seem like everyone has one? Well, because almost everyone does; and there is a good reason. Blogs can be used as journals, both private and public; they can be used as ways for fans to discuss the latest episode of their favorite show; or they can be used by major companies, especially those that are Internet-based, because unlike the traditional forms of advertising, blogs bring in more traffic.
For business purposes, there are many ways companies use blogs. For example, a company may have several blogs on its website, each one dedicated to something different: customer concerns, product updates, etc. In addition to being helpful to customers and other website visitors, these blogs bring in more traffic to the website. Depending on the website, more traffic usually means more money.
So, how exactly do blogs bring in more traffic? The search engine visits your page more each time you update, ultimately moving your blog higher and higher on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).
Some pointers? First, the blogger will need to decide what he or she is going to write about. Choose a popular topic, one that people are interested in. Underwater Basket Weaving wouldn’t be a very wise choice as not many people seem to be interested in it. Unless, of course, you’re business is underwater basket weaving, in which case you should by all means write about it. Next, focus on some keywords; these are the words that search engines are going to pick up on. Don’t overdo it with keywords in your blog, but use them whenever you effectively can. Lastly, make sure you write content that will attract, and keep, a strong readership. You want your readers to keep coming back, right?
Go ahead, join the millions of people and businesses alike. Get yourself a blog. Or corner your boss and suggest writing one for your company. Explain how blogs bring in more traffic, more traffic means more money!
WHY AM I INVOLVED IN MARKETHIVE? In 2 words “my granddaughters”.
I first met Tom Prendergast back in the mid-1990’s, through his company “Veretekk”. At that time I was still in the work force and had limited time to spend on the computer learning how Veretekk worked. I found Veretekk to be very complicated to use, and I knew very little of the technical things involved with the internet at that time.
When Tom first explained the concept of Markethive, I was very interested because he explained that the platform would be much more intuitive and easier to use in comparison with Veretekk. PLUS, there was a component where an investment made to help build Markethive would pay off in long term income in the future. I had been looking for some way to create a residual income once I reached retirement, because I knew that my meager pension would not be enough to live on comfortably.
My “why” is my granddaughters. They live in Chilliwack, BC and it is my greatest desire to have the financial resources to move to Chilliwack. I want to be involved in those little girls’ lives, be a hands on grandma, and be there to enjoy all aspects of their lives. My grandmother was a huge influence in my life, we had a wonderful relationship, and she was the person that shared her crafty talents with me. I want that same type of relationship with my granddaughters.
My passion has always been sewing and now that I’ve reached retirement, I have the time to spend sewing. My goal is to have the financial resources to purchase supplies so that I can sew quilts to donate to women and children in need; and I want to share this with my granddaughter’s and hopefully teach them the art of sewing so that they can also enjoy a life-long hobby of sewing!
Opportunities come and go, and it"s up to me to decide when to act. When I first saw an advertisement for Legging Army, I knew that this was an opportunity that I wanted to be involved with. I signed up as a Legging Army Affiliate Marketer.
Using the tools offered by Markethive, and the expertise I have gained by attending the Markethive workshops, I"ll be blogging regularly to get the word out about Legging Army as it is a fairly new company. I"m excited to be promoting Legging Army products and the Affiliate Marketing opportunity, even before I receive my first legging order! Leggings have been around for awhile and are very popular.
What I like about Legging Army, is that it offers leggings for kids as well as adults. Women"s Leggings – One Size (3 – 14); Women"s Leggings – Plus Size (14 – 20). Girls Leggings come in two sizes S/M (Fits Ages 4 – 7) and L/XL (Fits Ages 8 to Junior Size 1/2). There are Mommy and Me Sets as well. I will post pictures here as time permits.
To see the complete collection of leggings, please click on the link below.
Writing is a dream job, but it is not for everyone. While there are some writers hired to write product descriptions for catalogs, there are others that turn out to be J.K. Rowling. Unfortunately, most writers have a better chance of writing product descriptions than they do of becoming best-selling authors.
There is more quantity on the internet than anyone could read in a millennium, but there will always be a place for good quality, timeless content. Writing is one of those things just like meditation or exercise, and it’s easy to stop after you’ve seen the benefits of it. Just like you begin to take your health for granted; you forget that the reason that you have good health is because of the practices you had! With writing, it’s the same.
Plain writing is best. Short paragraphs, short sentences, and easy words are the most readable. So don"t try to win any writing awards. Digital content is not what you learned to write in English class. Shorter and simpler are your mantras for better readability.
Ideally, great content will win over time. The reality is that if you create great content – and it gets no attention, then it won’t gain much in the way of ranking. "Ideation" is a marketing industry buzzword that describes the creative process of finding a subject, title, and angle to write about; and ideation begins with analytics.
I consider my blog to be MY place and voice. Even if nobody reads this material, it helps you to internalize the message so that it stays relevant for your own life. It’s almost like accountable journaling in a way. You are accountable to anyone who does read it while you are journaling your thoughts and feelings.
Copywriting agencies combine copywriting services with a range of editorial and associated services, that may include brand positioning, message consulting, social media, SEO consulting, developmental and copy editing, proofreading, fact checking, layout, content syndication and design. Outsourcing such services allow businesses to focus on core competencies and to benefit from the specialized knowledge of professional copywriters and editors.
The content writer is a hard job to define simply because we have to be so many different things to so many different people, but we all do share a few things in common. Let’s take a look at some of the essential elements that make up a content writer, and examine how those elements would improve the way you interact with your web audience.
A technical blueprint is a step-by-step, visually enhanced article demonstrating exactly how to complete a task. Often the pictures tell the story more than the words do. Designers and programmers use this style of a blog post to show how they code a website, design an image using Photoshop, code software, or simpler activities like attaching a file to an email. Consider a technical writing certificate.
Technical writing is a type of content writing that focuses on communicating technical material through manuals, reports, and online documents. This could be a how-to guide, a safety manual for a worksite, or a document on a process or procedure. There is a growing demand for technical writers who can explain complex procedures to the average reader. Most technical writing programs are accelerated and take one to two years to complete. These programs will focus on improving your organizational skills, your project management skills, your ability to create user guides and documents, and your ability to write content for online formats. Check your local college or university for a technical writing certificate program. Look at the faculty of the program to confirm you are being taught by professionals in the field or working content writers who are familiar with the demands of the writing industry. Certificate programs can be beneficial for writers who are new to content writing or technical writing.
Updated SEO knowledge is also critical. Search engine algorithms change constantly, and writers have to keep up. One thing remains constant: High quality is always in demand. If you can write in-depth content from a unique perspective, you"ll be in demand.
We are designers. When a content writer puts together a piece for a website, e-zine, blog, or newsletter, he or she doesn’t just have to make sure that the piece is well written, it also has to be nicely formatted and properly displayed on the screen. With the clever and artistic placement of headings and subheadings, the content writer ensures that your copy doesn’t look like an insurmountable wall of text. A good content writer can take your complicated idea and turn it into an easily digestible and accessible piece of copy that pleases your readers, and keeps more eyes on you.
That there is the key! What you’re targeting, and how you’re targeting. The more you can do, the better you can do it – the better the end result. Promoting garbage works … but takes a lot of promotion. Promoting quality works … and takes less effort than promoting garbage … but takes a lot of effort to create. Setup the on-site/technical, create the content, tweak for optimization, promote … and promote again revisit content tweaking … and keep that process going for each new piece. Most people don’t realize that some on-page values increase over time, nor that Google will rank new content based on older contents performance. So over time, you should naturally improve. Add in increasing your reputation and relationships, naturally increasing your exposure/promotion reach/rate … and again, you should naturally rank better over time.
Look for tips on writing and topics that are useful. Then write and pretend no one will ever read it, and keep on writing.
Profile Pages: “Online Branding and Building Authority”
What is the difference between online branding and building authority? Some would consider it the same thing, but in reality it can be two completely different processes. Online branding is a way to get more exposure for your brand on all levels of online marketing, especially search and social.
Building authority takes online branding to the next level by making each online presence for a brand authoritative. It goes beyond just about creating a blog or social media account. The following are ways you can build your online brand as well as your authority.
Blogs are beneficial for brands for three reasons. First of all, blogs help you rank well in search engines – Google loves fresh, unique content on websites that are constantly updated. If you’re looking to meet this goal, be sure to use Markethive’s blog platform and build a blog team in a Markethive group to assist in greater content and curation.
RE: WordPress Markethive’s technology super charges WordPress campaigns.
Next, blogs provide for great content to share on social media networks. It’s hard to get traction if your just sharing product and sales pages. But if you’re sharing informative blog posts about your industry, you’re likely to get a lot of traffic and social shares.
Markethive provides plugins and widgets and tech that allows visitors to subscribe to your blog from their Social Networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, thereby allowing your new Markethive posts to publish to their news feed automatically.
Finally, great blogs can help your brand build authority in your niche. This is where you go above and beyond cookie cutter posts that talk about your product to creating awesome content in the form of:
Tutorials
Infographics
Videos
Industry Interviews
Awesome content will show fans of your industry that you know your stuff and therefore are the brand to go with for their business needs. A great example of this is the blog you are reading right now – Markethive has Inbound Marketing technologies, the go to Social Network and infographics that have been tweeted and liked over 10,000 times and posts that have been viewed on Facebook, LinkedIn and Stumbleupon over 100,000 times.
There are two great fears that brands have when it comes to blogging. One is that they won’t have anything to blog about, and this is a complete myth. Everyone can find something to blog about. You just have to expand your definition of the target audience. Imagine you had a body shop. You probably won’t get a lot of attention if you’re writing about paint booths and sanding tools all the time, but you will if you think about broader topics that would interest the people likely to visit an auto body shop. You can blog about the latest coolest Hot Rods at the coming Hot Rod Nationals show or the latest NASCAR winner to grab fans of those programs. Or you can blog about environmental issues and the Prious to grab environmentalists. Just think bigger!
The other fear is that they will be giving away “trade secrets” and lose their business. This one is especially common within industries like SEO, where a brand might feel like giving out ten steps to link building will give their customers the info they need to just do it themselves. But this just isn’t true. I have found that most of the time, if you give a complex, in-depth tutorial, a potential customer will see that your brand has the knowledge to do the service, but they won’t have the time or resources to do it for themselves. Hence, they’ll go with you because they feel confident that your brand has the expertise demonstrated in the content provided on the blog.
The key with your brand’s blog is to make sure that it is apparent who is behind the content. Whether you have your blog on your domain (yourbrand.com/blog), as a subdomain (blog.yourbrand.com), or as a separate site (yourbrandblog.com), be sure that it is matched to your brand. Check out Markethive’s site, blog, and subscribers profile pages, logged in dashboard and display variances on hand held devices. All are unique yet all are well branded and follow a conventional identity protocol (all on separate domains and different devices) as an example of great branding.
Guest Blog for Others (This is a major component in Markethive)
When it comes to blogging, you don’t want to keep the good stuff all to yourself. Guest blogging (join a Markethive Group to share content is that easy) is a great way to build your online brand presence and authority. The basic goal is to find a (GROUP) blog whose audience will be interested in your brand, and create a great piece of content for that blog.
Notice I said great piece of content. I would go so far as to say that the content you create for another (GROUP) site’s blog should be even better than the content you create for your own site. You want the content you create for another blog (GROUP) to rock. You want that content to generate additional social shares, comments, and traffic for the blog owner.
As you create GROUP posts for others, be sure to save the links to those guest posts for future reference. As you approach new GROUPs that you would like to guest post upon, you will want to include those links as examples of your successful guest posts in other Markethive GROUPS. If you can convince the GROUP owner that your post will be a perfect fit for their audience and will drive significant traffic and response, the GROUP blog owner will have a hard time resisting.
My main tips for GROUP blogging for your brand include:
1. Find the best GROUPs to guest post on.
When it comes to blogs you want to get a guest post on, your goal is to find those whose audience would be interested in your brand. The blog should get a significant amount of traffic and social shares as well – there’s no reason to post on a blog that has no visitors just because it has high PageRank or any other criteria – you want to get some brand exposure out of this! Use the Markethive GROUPs directory to start your search for blogs in your niche or industry.
2. Find the GROUPs blogging policy.
If you see that a GROUP allows guest bloggers or outside contributors, the GROUP should have some page or post posted that describes their post policy. If they do have a policy page or post, then be sure to note any and all criteria.
3. Start building a relationship with the GROUP owner first. (Markethive Groups is excellent for this)
Now that you’ve found the blog you want to pitch an idea to, don’t just jump in and pitch them yet. Start by getting to know the GROUP owner first by following their Markethive blog posts, their Twitter and their Facebook fan page. Comment on some of their latest posts – make those comments valuable to enhance discussion and demonstrate your writing skills and expertise in the industry. CoPromote their posts using Broadcasting tools and widgets. Do this for at least a week or two before pitching content to them.
4. Research and pitch great topic ideas. (Join others in our live Markethive Work Shops)
Don’t create the content first and then try to find it a home. Once you’ve found the right blogs and started engaging with the blogs themselves, you’ll get a feel for the type of content they publish.
To get an even better idea of what content is successful for each blog, subscribe to them in your Markethive back office blog platform. Then you will be able to see the site’s latest traffic scores. The higher score, the more comments, tweets, Facebook likes, and other social shares the post received. Use these high-scoring posts as an indicator as to what content does well on each blog.
Now you can message via the Markethive message system or request to join their group saying that you have recently enjoyed reading their blog (as evidenced by your commenting & social sharing) and would like to contribute to their site as a GROUP member. After reading their guidelines, you would like to see if they would be interested in the following topics. Then add three to four great post ideas that you believe will fit their audience to choose from. And of course, if you’ve done guest posts elsewhere, include some of your best links. If not, just include some great links from your own brand’s blog.
5. Create Awesome Content.
Once you get approval from a GROUP, your next job is to create an awesome piece of content. Make sure it fits the theme of that blogging GROUP and that it has the overall feel / tone of the GROUP blog you are submitting to. Also be sure to add in relevant links throughout your blog post – not to your own properties, but internal links to the blog itself. This shows the blog owner you’re really giving it 100% for them and their audience and not just trying to promote yourself.
The self-promotion piece should come at the end with your guest bio. Check out other author bios on the blogs and create yours to match. This is where you can say you are John Smith, an industry enthusiast from ABC Company.
Again, be sure to consider the blog’s guidelines and previous guest author bios when deciding to add one or more links back to your brand. The blog owner ultimately reserves the right to edit it as they feel is necessary.
6. Support your GROUP post once it goes live.
It’s not over yet. After that guest post goes live, you should give it your unconditional love in the form of social sharing with your brand’s audience on Twitter, Facebook, etc. as well as coming by to respond to comments. That kind of response on your guest post will further boost your brand’s reputation as a great guest blogger as well as a confident authority in your niche.
Don’t Forget Blog Commenting
Blog commenting is a great branding and authority building exercise you can do on any blog in your niche. I would suggest subscribing to the top blogs in your industry in Google Reader, and each time there is a new post, be sure to read it thoroughly and add a valuable comment. Remember this isn’t about link building – this is about building your brand’s presence online as an authority in your industry.
Get a Disqus account as well as it is a sort of social network of people that comment.
You can use the blog’s previous comments as a guide as to how you should format yours. Some blogs require you to only use your real name, while others are a little more lenient in using your name – your company. I would suggest linking your comments to your blog as people are more willing to click through to a brand’s blog than their main website.
Your Online Branding & Authority Building Strategy Using Blogs
What is your brand’s strategy when it comes to building your brand’s authority using blogs? Be sure to share what you find brings your brand the best results in the comments!
Create a Consistent Brand Image for Each Profile
Have you ever visited a company’s social profile, and you were not sure that it belonged to the company? One of the most important parts of branding is keeping a consistent image across all of your online properties so that no matter what path a person takes from one property to the next, they will always know it is your brand. For example, someone might:
Find your fan page through a friend’s activity stream and then follow it to your blog, then website
See a tweet from someone they are following, visit your Twitter profile, and then continue onto your website.
Start at your website, then go to check out your social profiles to see if your company is engaging with fans. Engaging is fuel and grows awareness, authority and respect. Comment, recommend. Just drive by liking and endorsing does no one any good and makes you look like a tire kicking couch potato.
Just like you wouldn’t want pages on your website to be different themes, you will want your social profiles to do the same. Markethive also leads the way in doing it right as well:
MARKETHIVE
Markethive probably does the best with branding between their website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube accounts as shown above. All five are branded with the honey comb logo, color theme and climbers ascending Mt. Everest in representation of the entrepreneurial social community of entrepreneurs helping each other achieve their agendas, so you can feel the consistency moving from one property to the next.
BMW
The above shows BMW’s branding between their website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube profiles. Each online property uses the same color scheme and is currently focused on automotive technology. The logos are all consistent, and the auto focused in the pages is different perspectives, the coloring and themes are consistent as well
BOLTHOUSE
Bolthouse’s (organic farm fresh juices) branding between their website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube profiles as shown above uses the same color scheme, logo, and focus on their primary product, carrots and selections of juices. Excellent example of branding and consistency!
Help People Find Your Profiles
I do a lot of competitive analysis in my line of work, and one of the most frustrating things I have to do is search for a brand’s social profiles. Don’t hide your social media presence – flaunt them! Be sure to:
Put Social Icons on Your Website – Let visitors to your website know that you are engaging with your audience on social media as well by adding social icons to your website design. The most common places to place them include the header / menu bar, sidebar, and footer. They don’t have to be large and in charge – BMW’s are none existent on their main page and Bolthouse are right up top left of center where they should be and get the job done..
Put Social Links in Your Communications – Do you send emails regularly? Add social links to your email signature. Do you send newsletters? Add social icons to them.
Make Your Profiles Search Friendly – If I Google your brand name + Twitter, I should get your Twitter handle in the search results. To make this happen, be sure that the name of your social profile (and the username if possible) matches your brand name. You might be tempted to keyword optimize your profiles instead of optimizing them for your brand name – this is something you need to resist. You can learn more about social media SEO on how to optimize for both effectively for search engines.
Another frustration is the direct sales industry.
Even though the size of this industry is huge by any comparison with a market measured in the trillions, even the top 100 fail miserable branding with social media. Do not be like them, rather show them a good example with your efforts. After several days of research I was able to find one such company that at least had the top 5 Social Medias registered with a similar array (not the same name) of usernames. The super majorities only have a token Facebook page, even less with Youtube and Twitter and nearly nonexistent with a Google+ and for that almost none of them are engaged.
BEACHBODY
Team Beach Body with a yearly market of 250 million, struggles with social media but has managed to set up the top 5 social medias, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Linkedin and Google+, albeit, the account usernames vary, and across the media branding is seriously lacking. It becomes painfully clear this industry needs Markethive or at least their distributors seriously do.
Get Engaged with Your Followers, Fans, and Subscribers
You probably know that it is important to maintain an active account by posting lots of updates, and that it is best to do something other than blasting advertisements non-stop about your brand. So the question is, what should you be doing to stay active in your social networks? Get engaged with your audience, of course. Here are the top networks to get socially engaged in for your brand.
Twitter Engagement
If you’re goal is to build a strong presence on Twitter and demonstrate your brand’s authority in your industry, you need get involved with your following. Some ways to do so include:
Monitoring Brand Mentions – If you use Twitter itself, just do a search for your brand and save the search for future reference. If you use a Twitter management tool like HootSuite, create a keyword search column that will constantly update you with brand mentions. Anytime someone says something about your brand, whether it is good or bad, you should be responding to it if at all possible. This may mean adding some extra team members to your social media GROUP as a response staff. But over time, if people see that you are always on top of any discussion of your brand, you will gain trust and receive lots of great word of mouth marketing. People will tell their followers what a great response they’ve received from you and likely recommend you based on their satisfaction level.
Monitoring Industry Conversation – One of the best parts of Twitter is that you can jump into any conversation, anytime. So if you are a company providing Inbound Marketing services and technologies like Markethive, you can monitor anyone who talks about Inbound Marketing, SEO, linking, Entrepreneurial interests, and other related topics and just answer simple questions that anyone asks about those topics demonstrating your expertise.
Curate the Best Content – Even if you are the best content creator in your industry, people often like to see a second opinion. Find out who other authorities are in your industry and share their opinion on industry topics with your following. You will gain more relevant followers simply for sharing the best news.
Facebook Fan Page Engagement
There are several different ways you can engage with your fans using your fan page that will keep your current fans active and bring new fans to your brand. These include:
Updating Your Fan Page on Facebook – It’s tempting to use HootSuite and other automated programs to update your fan page. But it’s becoming more and more obvious that if you want your updates to show up in fan’s news feeds that the updates must be organic, or originating from your fan page itself. So take the extra time to disable all of your autofeeds and start updating your fan page manually on Facebook. And when people start engaging with your posts or posting directly on your wall, be sure to respond to them. If they know they’re getting response, they’re more likely to return. No one likes a one-way broadcast.
Try Out Different Types of Updates – Don’t just post links or ask questions. Spice it up – add some video updates and photos. Different types of people like different types of content – be sure to try to cater to everyone by mixing your content up!
Thanks to the last major update to Facebook fan pages, you are able to use Facebook as your fan page. This means you can like pages as your fan page instead of your personal profile and then comment on them as your fan page. If you can find pages that are not direct competitors but whose audience will be interested in your brand, you will want to get active on them. For example, social media consultants should be living on Social Media Examiner’s fan page to connect with other individuals and businesses looking for social media help.
LinkedIn Engagement
If your brand isn’t on LinkedIn, you are missing out. LinkedIn allows you to add a company page where you can post your products, services, job openings, and even send status updates to your company followers including your latest blog posts. But some of the best branding and authority building activities for this network lie in the activity of the professional profiles including:
Participating in Groups – There are lots of great, active groups on LinkedIn in a wide variety of industries. Find the groups that have your potential client base within them and start getting active in discussions and posting useful content. Just be sure not to do anything that the group moderator would consider as spamming!
Answering Questions – The next best area to build a great professional reputation and strong authority in your industry is in LinkedIn Answers. There are questions asked every day in topics ranging from administration to technology. The people who answer the most questions are also featured on the answers’ home page as the week’s top experts!
Gaining Recommendations – Last, but not least, is recommendations. You can get recommendations on both the company pages and the professional profiles of your employees. Imagine if someone is browsing your company’s page and sees that the top employees have a ton of recommendations. It will show that you have a lot of experts in the industry which will make potential clients even more confident in your brand!
Effective Article Marketing with These 8 Time Tested Tips!
Will you be ready if opportunity knocks on your doorstep? Most people would answer this with an emphatic yes, when in fact they are not ready! In case you have the opportunity to build a web business, ensure that you"re always prepared. Look at tips on article marketing provided here and learn how to completely ready yourself for the road ahead.
Write your article as if you are sharing information with a good friend that you care about. Visualize them listening to you in addition to asking you questions. Think through the kinds of things they want to learn and put those answers in your article. Explain your ideas comprehensively as if your friend doesn"t have familiarity with the topic.
Consider choosing a course to learn how to produce titles. Article titles are certainly important, maybe more important than the credit given to them. An article title needs to get the reader engaged or your document will never be read. Creating applications that are short, to the point, in addition to punchy can go a long way when it comes to making your article a prosperous one.
Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of article marketing: most of the working techniques used by marketers today were actually thought up and implemented by marketers. This means that any great idea you have that goes against the grain could easily become the next best-selling eBook on how to effectively market.
Write guest blog posts. By writing on websites for others in your field, you get access to their readers and prepare them as prospective buyers of your respective products or services. Remember to include a url to your site somewhere in the content so they can visit your site when they"d like. Guest websites also allow you to show oneself as a competent voice inside the field, as well as a skilled article writer.
The most important key to article marketing is that you have original content. Yahoo and Google far prefer posts which have something new to say more than reprints. There are many writing providers who offer cheap article marketing, so compare their costs and find a company which can give you an affordable contract, if you are unable to create your own unique content.
Contact webmasters about your articles. Mention that you simply saw similar articles particular site and that you have some posts they might find useful. Calling other site owners is an active way to get exposure, particularly when they are not advertising for guests bloggers; you"ll reach their particular visitors before your competitors.
Be sure that your articles are correct. Articles bring traffic to your web site but inaccurate articles may drive traffic away as opposed to bringing repeat traffic. Devote a few minutes to fact-checking to determine the reliability of your articles. This time will be well-spent as accurate posts are widely shared by way of social networks.
Don"t use keywords out of context! Search engines can locate keywords using context and definition. Write naturally, using words that relate to your topic and show up on a keyword search.
Now that you"ve studied a few great tips on article marketing, most likely you are a little more prepared for that task than you were last night. However, you still have a long way to go. Start first by mastering these kinds of methods and then continue to increase from there. You should never stop researching article marketing if you want to run a prosperous web business.
One of the biggest questions that is asked about article marketing is just how articles can be used to generate traffic to a website and help promote a business. The thing is, using articles is a double-sided tool, in which you are getting a message out, building a reputation, communicating more, and even directing traffic through today"s web-based techniques. Learn more, however, before you dive in, as tips like the ones provided in this article could work wonders for your results.
The more tips you read about article marketing, the better your odds of success will become. Think of the business of marketing like attending school. There"s a reason that you go to school for all those many years. There"s just a lot to learn out there. The same holds true with marketing. There is a lot you need to know.
Beginners in the arena of article marketing will want to avoid the tendency to build their back-linking networks too fast. Search engines, and Google in particular, have fine-tuned their algorithms to identify sites with highly inflated link activity from month to month. Rather than rising in the Google standings, these sites are penalized for their aggressive activity and drop from sight. Experts suggest that a moderate pace, say 15% growth in inbound links/month will help you grow steadily while keeping you out of trouble.
Focus on just writing the piece and think about what you will use it for later. This will allow you to concentrate solely on the task at hand and not waste time thinking about other things. You will finish your article in a shorter amount of time and can move on to your next task this way.
The reason to publish your articles is different than the reason you write them. There are three reasons you publish your articles: branding, promotion and lead generation. Informing your audience is the only reason you write an article. If you do not focus on informing your audience, then your publishing will be for naught because it will not interest your audience and they won"t want to read it.
If you have written a number of articles on a particular topic, consider putting them together into an ebook. You can use that as a bonus to get readers signed up for your email list, or as a bonus offer if you are doing some affiliate work as well.
When you know it is time for a new marketing technique, article marketing is waiting for you to get on board. The multipurpose strategy works great for all businesses. Use the tips in this article to begin your learning journey.
There are many business opportunities that claim to be the best. Many people are in search of the best home-based business opportunity. However, the best home-based business opportunity is not that easy to find. The key to finding the best home-based business opportunity lies with understanding that the best home-based business opportunity does exist, but it is not the same for everyone.
There is a wide assortment of different home-based business opportunities available in almost every market and in almost every business category. The choices seem endless. So it isn’t surprising that people are looking for someone to tell them what the best home-based business opportunity is.
The best home-based business opportunity is the one that makes the most money or is the easiest to run, and is the one that is best for the individual person. What may be good for one person is not necessarily going to be good for someone else. In order to find out exactly what a person is needing in a home-based business opportunity, they should look at the following:
1. What type of product or service do you want to sell?
This is a big question and will point a person in the right direction of where to look for a business opportunity.
2. How many hours do you want to invest in the managing of the business?
Some businesses require very little back office time because they are fully automated. Some other businesses require a lot of back office work, though.
3. How many hours do you want to invest in the operation of the business?
Again, some businesses require a lot more time for the operation of the business than others.
4. What skills do you have and what skills do you lack?
This can really dictate the type of business a person chooses. Some businesses require more technical skills than others or more of a certain type of skill so it is important for a person to know their strengths and weaknesses.
5. What type of income are you looking to make?
Some businesses can provide a more steady income than others, but may produce a lower amount of income. Then there are the opposite which can take longer to produce an income, but produce a larger amount of income.
These questions should give a person a good idea of what type of business opportunity they are looking for. The best home-based business opportunity will meet their needs perfectly. They will feel happy and comfortable with it.
There is a best home-based business opportunity for everyone – it’s about finding it. To do that a person has to get to know themselves and how they fit into the business world. Once they understand what they want and what they can do they can easily find the best home-based business opportunity for them.
Internet-based businesses have many advantages. What stands out as possibly one of the most appealing aspects is the fact that an internet-based business does not require a lot of cash upfront to start. With some basic computer knowledge, a little research, and dedication, the possibilities are open to almost anyone.
There is not a lot of risk involved in an internet-based business. You can gauge the status of your website and your advertisements based on how many hits you have had. By doing this, it also eliminates many of the risks that tend to be involved in other business types. Marketing decisions are not made while being in the dark, therefore, internet-based business gives you the ability to make selective choices to help give you the best chance at generating business.
With an internet-based business, your potential rundown of clients is essentially boundless. New individuals are associating with the web each day, and with the best possible showcasing and business techniques, an internet-based business ought to have the capacity to pull in a significant amount of clients or customers.
One way to generate income on an internet-based business is by putting pay per click publicizing on your site. This tends to function well because advertisements are directed to the particular sorts of interests that the clients or customers of your internet-based business have. Each time one of these notices is clicked, income is produced for you. This really is a simple way to begin generating income.
Internet-based business provides another significant advantage in that all your products and services can be listed on the website. Customers will appreciate the fact that they can view everything that is available. In comparison, at a brick and mortar store, only a certain amount of stock is available. Additionally, an internet-based business is valuable to the client who is attempting to settle on a choice, since he or she can return to see the item various times without leaving the comfort of home. Contrasting costs and particulars of individual items is likewise made simple for the client who is purchasing from an internet-based business.
The pace and simplicity of online money related exchanges is likewise an awesome favorable position for both clients and the individuals who claim their own particular internet-based business. Much of the average cost of ordering is slashed through the efficiency of an internet-based business.
Despite the fact that an internet-based business has more competition because of the simplicity of starting up online commerce, if an internet-based business can make its items stand out in a unique way, there is basically a boundless potential for income.
From Social Networks To Market Networks
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Profile Pages: “Online Branding and Building Authority”
