Top 10 Business Trends for 2014

Business in 2014 is bound to be more vibrant, connected and tech savvy. Here’s how things are set to be in the year to come:

business trends 2014

1. Visual Explosion

Pictures can speak a thousand words and they are really more effective in communicating ideas and messages. This is probably why platforms like Pinterest and Instagram have become platforms and vehicles for those who’d like to tell a story with their products and services. The super duper success of YouTube perhaps is why we have a phenomenon called Vine today. More power to images which in turn propel businesses to a new level.…

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Critical Business Mistakes to Avoid in the Coming Year

As the new year approaches, most of you will be thinking of ways you can improve both your personal and professional lives in 2014. Oh, the agonizing decisions we’re going to be faced with whence the New Year’s bell rings in Time Square: app development; content marketing; social media; new competition taking established customers; what’s the bloody government going to tax us on this year; tech changes; will the first quarter be strong – or will our profits reign in the fourth; will the economy get stronger – or flatline as it has without warning in so many past years?

business mistakes

All these and many others weigh on the minds of any business owner.…

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Google Hummingbird and its Impact on SEO and Content Marketing Strategies

The new Hummingbird update from Google has hit the online marketing world by storm, much like every other update they’ve ever done! Site owners, marketers and search engine enthusiasts alike seem to go into frenzy-mode every time Google changes something. And rightly they should, every update makes a significant leap forward for the actual users.

google hummingbird algorithm update

While it usually sets most marketers back a few, or several steps – where they have to head back to the drawing board to figure out a game-plan to fight their way back to the top of the search engines for terms like “Test fit black elastic underpants sizes 1-20”, or “prefabbed concrete slabs in Glendale”.…

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Why You Need a Company Blog

Running a company blog can take up a significant amount of time. As a result, many small business CEOs are reluctant to start one. However, a company blog can reap long-term benefits for your business, particularly in terms of web traffic, viable leads, and brand reputation.

company blog

According to one survey, businesses with a company blog get 55% more traffic and 70% more leads than those that don’t. Here are the reasons why you should seriously consider starting a company blog.

  • A business blog is a hallmark of authority and quality. It demonstrates that your company is run by knowledgeable people, who have a deep understanding of their industry.
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PPC Advertising is the Perfect Marketing Solution for New Startups

PPC advertising is the best marketing strategy for startups and business entrepreneurs for a number of reasons, three of which are outlined clearly in this post.

pay per click advertising

All businesses need an online marketing strategy, but it’s important for new businesses to understand why PPC advertising would be so incredibly useful for their needs. It’s important for startup entrepreneurs to recognize why PPC advertising campaigns are the perfect marketing solution for a young business.

1. PPC advertising is about testing and tracking

All new businesses benefit from a very tight system of testing and tracking in all areas of business because everything is fresh and unknown.…

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Three Reasons Your Business Needs a Blog

With the emergence of social media sites that keep you instantly connected, blogging has become increasingly neglected by small business owners. Most business sites have a tab to their blog; however, that tab often brings customers to an outdated page that hosts a handful of articles that are irrelevant to both the customer and the business. The incredible return blogs offer should make them the number one priority of small business owners looking to increase their sales and customer base, though.

business blogging

These three reasons should provide plenty of incentive to start – or restart – your small business blogging efforts:

Work Your Way Up Search Engine Rankings

Any business owner with an online presence knows the importance of search engine rankings.…

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How to Do Surveys for Your B2B Demand Generation Strategy?

These days, B2B marketing is experiencing dramatic change. The marketing experts are finding themselves under enormous pressure to convey results and validate important program and head-counts investments. Moreover, products and service sales are the core of any business and without generating lead as well as clients it can not continue to exist. Although, there are several techniques to generate leads, surveys are among the most effective techniques for performing an exclusive lead generation.

b2b demand generation survey

Furthermore, conducting market research is really essential in order to understand the market behavior, customers, characteristics, etc. Today, there are numerous lead generation companies that promise to bring quality and effective leads and it becomes confusing which one to choose.…

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Need More Hours in The Day? Follow These Tips for Cutting Your E-mail Time in Half

More than a quarter of an employee’s workday is consumed with reading and responding to e-mail, according to a study conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI).

email management on the go

E-mail notifications and mobile connectivity have left many professionals feeling as though they must read every e-mail as soon as it comes through—a practice that cuts into a worker’s productivity throughout the day.

But this constant connectivity can have a negative impact on your business—pulling employees out of conversations with associates and clients and leaving your team members feeling burned out. By making a few small changes to your e-mail, you can become more productive and provide better service to your client base.…

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Utilising Search to Start and Grow Your Business

As a search marketer for over ten years and CEO, I decided last year to start my own business and have Google to thanks for it’s success to this day. Here are a few key insights to help any CEO or business owner looking to start their own business online.

search marketing

Align Your Business To Search Behaviour

One of the first marketing 101 lessons at any school is that the pathway to success in 99% of cases is to meet an existing ‘need’. Google has the perfect free tool called the keyword planner which can help you understand what people are searching for and therefore the most popular sets of ‘needs’ in society.…

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4 Ways to Boost Your Business Using Custom Signs

Gaining customers and increasing the productivity of your company is a goal that almost all businesses have. If you are looking for a way to get your company’s name out there in the public eye, having a custom sign made is a great option to increase visibility without much effort. Here are four ways that using custom signs can help to boost your business.

custom store sign

1. Visibility

Getting your business information out to the public is going to increase growth. But how do you go about doing that without creating too much extra work for yourself? Having custom banners or signs in locations where passersby can see them is going to allow you to put your information out to the general public.…

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