editor, Author at Mediastreet

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TikTok resumes and Instagram portfolios: How college students are using social media to find jobs

December 10, 2021 No Comments

College students are on social media pretty much every day but when it comes to their job search, more than a third said they don’t use social media at all, according to a survey from College Pulse.

And we’re supposed to be digital natives?!

“I don’t get what the hype is around not doing social media. I think everyone should be on it,” says college senior and influencer Kahlil Greene. “It’s the way of the future and, if you’re not on it, you will be left behind.”

Kahlil Greene, student at Yale University, known as “The Gen-Z Historian” on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.

Source: Kahlil Greene

Greene posted his first TikTok video on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2021, and the rest was history — literally. Studying the history of social change and social movements at Yale University, he took to TikTok to educate people about Black culture and little-known stories, and racked up 1.3 million views pretty quickly. Now with more than 500,000 followers across platforms (including Instagram and LinkedIn), Greene will be trading in his post-graduation plans to work in consulting for a job in public education.

“I think that’s the thing that people don’t realize, that social media is everywhere, and it’s congruent with every lifestyle you want,” says Greene.

In today’s working world, the tailored one-page resume and cover letter seem to be going by the wayside. Social media offers a way to stand out beyond the traditional recruitment process, whether or not you’re an aspiring influencer.

In 2021, as many as 92% of companies use social media and professional networks to hire for jobs, according to social recruiting firm CareerArc.

“Having a resume is great, right, but everyone has LinkedIn,” says Korin Harris, a senior recruiter at Academia.edu. “So, fill it out.”

For most jobs, there are data and accomplishments to be shared that recruiters like Harris want to see.

According to LinkedIn, three people get hired via the professional-networking platform every minute.

LinkedIn may be the go-to place for an online resume but it isn’t your only option. Between Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube, the ways that social media can be used for networking, job searching and career-starting are endless.

Tony Bancroft, a nearly 35-year veteran of the animation industry, says he cannot overstate the importance of social media for personal branding. Bancroft boasts more than 114,000 followers on Instagram, having started an account in 2015 to share his illustrations and stay relevant in the industry.

Bancroft, who is also the program director of the Animation and Visual Effects program at Azusa Pacific University, says he always tells students: “Really curate the content that you put out there so that it’s uniquely you.”

And his advice works.

From working on a Netflix short to commissioned pieces of art, Bancroft has watched a number of his students get contacted directly through social media for projects big and small. Creating a personal brand doesn’t have to be scary, hard or time-consuming. You just have to be yourself. Consistent posts, a few follows and some direct messaging can go a long way to open doors.

The way that third-year film student Trevor Dunnigan sees it, “The only thing you can do is help your case.”

In fact, nearly half of employers say that they are less likely to call a job candidate for an interview if they cannot be found online — and that’s just for office jobs.

A seasoned gaffer on film sets around Chapman University, Dunnigan often does the hiring as well. And “I don’t get someone’s business card. I get someone’s Instagram,” he says.

With just a few taps around someone’s profile, from their main feed to their followers’ tab, Dunnigan can gauge: What is the calibre of productions that this person works on? How frequently do they work? Who do we both know?

Trevor Dunnigan, student at Chapman University, aspiring cinematographer.

Source: Ian Lock

Instagram Stories can be especially helpful for candidates if you don’t want to risk tarnishing your personal account or create a separate “professional” one. Post a 24-hour Story to thank your colleagues at the end of a project, or create a permanent Story Highlight to show off the finished projects. Located right under your bio and above your posts, Highlights are in the perfect place for your most valuable content.

“There’s a drone company actually here in LA that I ended up applying [to] based on their Instagram Story,” Dunnigan says. Before hitting send, he remembers thinking: “You know what, the worst thing that could happen is that they don’t get back to me.”

Dunnigan never did hear back from the company, though he’s glad he applied. Had he not followed the company on Instagram, he would not have found the opportunity at all. And, you never know — maybe a job opportunity doesn’t work out now, but it could lead to something down the road.

For Greene, too, his current favourite platform is Instagram, “just because it has everything that TikTok can do and more.”

No matter which social media platform you use, experts recommend following influencers and pages in your industry. Stay in the know. Introduce yourself to others. Ask questions. Social media can help recruiters discover you — and it can also help you discover them.

Makena Yee is a senior at the University of Washington, Seattle. Last year, she was one of just four TikTok “campus representatives” at the university.

“When TikTok first came out, people were like, ‘Oh, TikTok is for weirdos,’ or whatever, but I love TikTok because I thought it was hilarious,” Yee says. “One day I stumbled across this video that was like, ‘Hey, if you want to work for TikTok, you should totally apply’ … So I decided to take that risk.”

Even now that Yee’s time as a TikTok rep has ended, her risk continues to pay off.

In May, Yee posted a 60-second video as part of the soft launch of the “TikTok Resumes” pilot program, which she says resulted in more than 15 job inquiries and about six requests for interviews. Some of the responses she got included: “Sending this TikTok to my team,” “Hire her!!!!” and “Way to lead by example for others.”

Makena Yee, a senior at the University of Washington and a former TikTok college representative

Source: Monica Yee

Within the first 48 hours of the pilot program’s official launch in July, TikTok says users had already submitted 800 videos using #TikTokResumes in their captions.

From its start, as a short-form video app with built-in creation tools, TikTok had naturally created new ways for recruiters and potential recruits to discover talent and opportunities. The Resumes program just went one step further to allow job seekers to apply directly for jobs at companies like Chipotle, Target or Shopify.

The submission period is now closed — and Yee is keeping herself more than busy with school, multiple jobs and two Instagram blogs of her own — though the senior says she would definitely use her video resume again if a company was looking for creativity.

Anyone can use social media to their advantage by following a few simple tips:

1. Embrace the tools. 500,000 followers ago, Kahlil Greene had no design experience. Now, he runs three popular accounts himself using the platforms’ built-in features as well as design apps like Canva and Bazaart. Of course, you don’t need to become a “Gen-Z Historian” in the way that Greene did to reach career success through social media. There are more free tools available that make career-building easier than ever before.

2. Do your research. What can you do that would support what your dream company is already doing? Look for the company’s social media accounts, find out what values you share and make it all part of your pitch. Your job search will be more successful if you know which platforms are most popular in your industry and can speak intelligently about a company in DMs, cover letters or interview situations.

3. Make connections. Connecting with employers through social media demonstrates three important qualities: confidence, drive and open-mindedness. You may even be able to reach staff who wouldn’t be involved in your recruitment otherwise. “I’ve personally messaged a lot of cinematographers and just asked little things here and there,” says Trevor Dunnigan. “A kid in film school who is super interested in [what they do] wants to hear about it, and they’re gonna send you paragraphs.”

4. Show off your achievements. Your people skills may be great, but securing that interview or official offer will require that you have the right job skills. Even if you are still gaining experience, post to your social media pages about what experience you do have while you figure out how to get more. Don’t worry if you don’t have a portfolio like Tony Bancroft’s animation students, either; using social media to showcase your work in any industry, in any form, can get you noticed.

5. Be yourself. “You’re allowed to have a private life,” says Korin Harris. Stick to LinkedIn if you want to, as the recruiter does in her work, but do at least use LinkedIn. Employers aren’t looking for a perfect human being but qualified candidates. Present yourself in the best way you know how.

It is never too late — or too early — to start building your social media brand.

By Sydney Segal

Sourced from CNBC

CNBC’s ”College Voices″ is a series written by CNBC interns from universities across the country about getting their college education, managing their own money and launching their careers during these extraordinary times. Sydney Segal is a student at UC Berkeley and is currently an intern for CNBC’s social media team. The series is edited by Cindy Perman.

In News

Why You Need A Digital Strategy To Get Ahead Of The Game

December 9, 2021 No Comments

By John Hall

The world is wired—heck, it’s even wireless. Consumer reliance on technology to find businesses, learn about them and buy their products and services had long been gaining speed. Then a global pandemic pushed the accelerator to the floor.

If your business hasn’t left a digital footprint at all yet, you are lagging behind, but you’re not alone. More than one in four small businesses in the U.S. don’t have a website. Of those that do, one-fifth complain about low traffic rates that may make them question the investment.

Having a basic digital presence is better than none at all, but it can’t improve your bottom line in and of itself. Businesses need to take advantage of all the online tools available and have an intentional strategy for optimizing them.

To get ahead of the game in the 21st century, you need a digital strategy. Here are three reasons why.

1. The Pandemic Made Everyone Digital

In case you missed the news, Millennials have overtaken the Baby Boomers as the largest generation. These 25- to 40-year-old consumers are virtually all on the internet. The oldest members of the next generation, Gen Z, are leaving college. They were born and raised with the internet and social media. These generations may not know they need to punch in a 1 to make a long-distance call on a landline, but they do know how to find almost anything on their smartphones.

If you think you’re OK without a digital strategy because your business caters to an older demographic, think again. According to a Pew Research study, two-thirds of those ages 75 and older and 54% of those ages 65 to 74 have little confidence in their ability to use tech devices or need help setting them up. Nonetheless, 82% of these tech-hesitant folk said the internet was important to them during the pandemic. Old dogs were willing to learn new tricks if they could see kids and grandkids without risking exposure to a deadly virus.

You might say digital technology was a trial by fire for a lot of people who never used it that much before they had to. Even those who did rely on tech pre-pandemic have developed online habits they may never break. From this point on, fewer people will actually be walking the aisles of stores to get their essentials. Now that nearly everyone has entered the digital age, your business needs to embrace it as well.

2. Consumers Just Aren’t Going to Work That Hard

Like me, you have probably experienced the online search let down countless times. That’s when you Google something like “landscapers near me.” A map comes up with a list with business addresses and directions, but several entries lack links to a website.

No matter how many times this happens to me, the same question goes through my mind: What business doesn’t even have a website? Like the vast majority of consumers, I want to research my options online before I decide where I’m going to spend my money. The ability to learn about businesses online makes our consumer lives easier. If you have a digital presence, I’ll look at you. If you don’t, I won’t do the heavy lifting to find you.

If you do have a well-designed, easy to navigate and mobile-friendly website, that’s a good first step. But if you aren’t engaging your audience on more than one digital platform, that’s a missed opportunity. To establish your business as the go-to for whatever you sell, you need to expand engaging content across multiple platforms to reach as many people as possible. You will also be getting a bigger bang for your content buck when you do.

Savvy digital marketing practices have created convenience-oriented consumers but not complacent ones. A digital strategy that comes at them from multiple angles will get you noticed. Then content, links and shares will help instil the trust they demand so you can close the sale.

3. Digital Strategies Aren’t Built in a Day—and They Don’t Need to Be

If you could afford to hire an agency to design and implement an omnichannel digital strategy for your business in a few weeks, that would be great. Of course, not all businesses—especially small ones—have the resources to do that. But that doesn’t mean you don’t make an attempt.

Digital marketing strategies are highly conducive to incremental development. Businesses can layer one platform onto another then another until a full-blown strategy is up and running. Many of those layers can be handled by even novice internal employees capable of using a drag-and-drop website builder or setting up a social media account for the business.

The proliferation of DIY digital marketing tools makes establishing an online presence easy and affordable. That’s particularly encouraging news for start-ups and small businesses. Fittingly, it’s the digital age itself that has made the secrets of digital marketing readily accessible and budget-friendly.

Just don’t forget that a basic presence will require an upgrade if you want to compete at a higher level in your industry by, say, increasing website traffic with shrewd SEO. You may need to hire in-house talent to create engaging SEO content, adjust content for specific platforms and keep it fresh and on schedule. Or you may decide it’s worth the investment to work with an agency that has a successful digital marketing track record. Don’t worry if you need to pace yourself; at least you’ll be in the race.

Online platforms are the great equalizer among businesses of all sizes. They are how brick-and-mortar stores can be profitable despite the huge shadow cast by e-commerce behemoths. But your business needs to be in multiple places with the right content to make your online presence count. That can only happen if you execute a smart digital strategy. Do it well, and you’ll find your business on the winning side of the scoreboard.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By John Hall

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

John Hall is the co-founder and president of Calendar, a scheduling and time management app. He’s also the strategic adviser for Relevance, a company that helps brands differentiate themselves and lead their industry online. You can book him as a keynote speaker here and you can check out his best-selling book “Top of Mind.” Sign up for Calendar here.

Sourced from Forbes

In News

How LinkedIn Has Transformed The Businesses of These 3 Entrepreneurs

December 9, 2021 No Comments

By Hailley Griffis

I sat down with a few founders to learn more about how LinkedIn has transformed their businesses. Read on to hear their stories, see their results, and learn the strategies you can start implementing today.

People often think of LinkedIn as the place to go for personal career growth but it can also be an incredible resource for growing your company. Especially if you’re a small business owner whose personal brand is closely linked to your company mission, LinkedIn shouldn’t be ignored as part of your social media strategy.

I sat down with a few founders to learn more about how LinkedIn has transformed their businesses. Read on to hear their stories, see their results, and learn the strategies you can start implementing today.

Quick note: Before you get started with these strategies I recommend you audit your LinkedIn profile to ensure it’s accurate and compelling. It won’t take much time and it can go a long way!

Building Thought Leadership

While other social channels are typically reserved for building your company’s brand, LinkedIn provides a unique opportunity for you to grow a personal following—that can, in turn, support your brand’s recognition. This is especially true when your individual thought leadership aligns closely with the mission of your company.

When Sherrell Dorsey started the digital news and insights platform The Plug, she knew she wanted it to be seen as the leading voice in the Black innovation economy—and she wanted her voice to be in the mix as well. She turned to LinkedIn to share the work she was doing and lessons she was learning a couple of times per week.

Sherrell Dorsey, Founder and CEO of The Plug

The results were shocking: “Just a few months later, the kind of engagement I received was insane. And then just a few months after that, I was named a LinkedIn Top Voice in Technology.”

This recognition has helped give Dorsey and her company more leverage when it comes to PR outreach and speaking opportunities. “There’s a little street cred to it. I think folks come across my profile and they see that I’m a LinkedIn Top Voice, so I must be legit,” she says.

She’s continued to double down on her LinkedIn strategy—adding LinkedIn Live conversations into the mix—because she’s noticed how demonstrating her passion ultimately boosts her company’s brand, too. “It’s been a way for people to see me, see the work, see the authenticity, and then make a decision that they want to engage with this brand based off of what they’ve seen me post or share on LinkedIn,” she says.

Connecting With Industry Leaders They May Otherwise Have Never Met

Social media is great for connecting with new people, regardless of where they’re based. But many entrepreneurs share that LinkedIn has been especially valuable in this respect. In a post-COVID world where conferences and gatherings are less common, LinkedIn is a powerful platform for finding peers to serve as sounding boards, mentors to learn from, and even future customers from afar.

Sheena Russell, founder and CEO of Made With Local, loves the fact that her company operates out of the relatively remote city of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. However, she shares, “In certain circumstances, it can feel isolating to not be where the action is.”

Thanks to a strategy of sharing some behind-the-scenes action and reflections on her life as a CPG (consumer packaged goods) entrepreneur on LinkedIn, Russell has grown her network far beyond what would be possible locally. “With LinkedIn, I am personally connected to huge CPG founders and people who are running brands I really admire,” she says.

Beyond helping Russell and her team feel more connected and giving them the chance to learn from the best in the business, Russell expects these far-reaching connections will prove valuable as Made With Local sets its sights on expanding into the U.S. and beyond.

“It’s a really great way for us to start building a name for ourselves in the international CPG and natural food and beverage community that will serve us down the line when it’s time for us to finally start selling into those markets,” she says. “By that point, I will hopefully have shown up on the feeds of lots of other CPG founders and people from the States, so they’ll be somewhat familiar with the brand.”

Meeting Clients

Many social media platforms seem like a fun diversion—but do they actually help small businesses make money? The answer for LinkedIn—especially for companies in B2B or career-related industries—is a resounding yes. According to the Content Marketing Institute, LinkedIn is the top paid and organic channel for B2B businesses.

Latesha Byrd, CEO of talent development agency Perfeqta, has seen this firsthand. Back in 2015, before founding her company and while she was still working a full-time job, she started using LinkedIn Profinder (now called LinkedIn Services Marketplace) to advertise her career coaching services and find her early clients. “That essentially tripled the amount of revenue I was bringing in for my business, and in about six months I was able to leave corporate America,” she says.

Latesha Byrd, CEO of Perfeqta

Even today, as Perfeqta has established itself on other platforms, LinkedIn continues to be a powerful driver of clients. “One of my current retainer clients—a tech startup that we created a talent acquisition framework and did some diversity and inclusion roadmapping for—found me on LinkedIn and reached out,” Byrd notes.

Although not every new connection will lead to an immediate sale, putting yourself out there on LinkedIn can be a powerful way to build a pipeline of potential clients. “After my last LinkedIn Live, someone who works in diversity recruiting at a really great company reached out to ask for the inclusive recruitment guide I mentioned,” Byrd says. That LinkedIn Live has since been viewed almost 30,000 times.

The best part is that all of these business owners agree that LinkedIn requires less intense curation and content creation than many other social platforms. Post consistently a few times per week, engage with people in your world, and don’t hesitate to share your story authentically. With those three steps, you’re well on your way to building a strong LinkedIn strategy—and growing your business in all kinds of incredible new ways.

By Hailley Griffis

Sourced from Buffer

In News

5 Simple Practices That Will Boost Your Online Presence

December 9, 2021 No Comments

By Hillel Fuld

The best strategy to maximize social media is to be human.

Whether you’re running social media for your company or as an individual, remember that there are two components here: The media part, which everyone seems to already understand, and the social part, which is often ignored.

To get the most out of social media, you need to address both social and media. That said, here are five easy ways to maximize the human aspect of social media and make sure you’re being social.

1. Don’t start an email or post with, “Dear all.”

This is such a pet peeve of mine. If you’re sending me an email or a message on any platform, then talk to me directly–not me and 100 other people. This is true for mass tagging on your posts and it is true for starting a message with, “Hey all.”

Even if you are sending a mass email, you don’t have to rub it in my face that you don’t consider me important enough to send me a personal email. Besides, when you send a message to a group of people, everyone assumes the next person will deal with it and most people will automatically delete the email. I know I do.

2. Become acquainted before pitching an idea.

It is mind-boggling to me that in 2021, this even needs to be said. Not a single day goes by in which someone doesn’t add me on LinkedIn and upon accepting their request, they instantly begin pitching me. Most of the time, it’s a pitch for something that is completely irrelevant to me, but that person skipped the five minutes of looking at my profile to determine whether their product is something I need or not.

Just like you would not walk up to a total stranger offline and start selling them on something without establishing any trust, don’t do it online.

Whether it’s on LinkedIn or any other platform, try sending that initial message by saying hi and that you’d love to hear what that person is working on. You’ll find that to be a great ice breaker because people like to talk about their work.

3. Use a real profile picture.

I know this might seem trivial, but I assure you, it is not. People like to do business with people. People do not like to do business with a logo or a picture of a nice landscape. Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for beautiful landscape photography, but not to be used as your profile picture.

When I see someone who has no profile picture, or they have a picture of a view, I think to myself, “If this person couldn’t be bothered to have a normal profile picture, I can’t be bothered to do business with them.”

Putting a face to your company is super important, and even if you’re just an individual and not a company, people want to know who they’re talking to.

4. Reply to all comments or tweets.

Again, why does this even need to be said? If someone took the time and effort to consume your content and comment or share it, don’t they deserve your recognition? You don’t have to write a whole essay on every comment, but a quick like or thank you would be nice.

Now, you don’t owe anyone anything, and just because that person commented on your post does not mean that you must like their comment. It’s not a question of obligation, it’s a question of decency and etiquette.

5. Highlight others.

I deeply believe in giving others the spotlight. No one wants to engage with a company or a person who spends all day self-promoting. However, a person who highlights others and gives others the stage? That is someone I find worth following.

Besides, highlighting others is a fantastic marketing strategy. You strengthen the relationship with the person you’re highlighting, you get their followers to consume your content after that person shares it, and you elevate your own brand by associating with thought leaders who you are featuring.

In summary, don’t be like most people and only focus on the media part of social media. Be social, be human, and then you’ll truly see how powerful these platforms can be.

Feature Image Credit: Photo: Getty Images. Illustration: Reagan Allen

By Hillel Fuld

Tech marketer and start-up adviser @hilzfuld

Sourced from Inc.

In News

New Gmail Security Threat Arises! Outlook and Other Popular Email Services Targeted as Well

December 8, 2021 No Comments

By Griffin Davis

A new Gmail security threat is currently targeting email users. Experts claimed that the new malicious campaign also affects other popular email services, such as Outlook.

is why they are urging consumers to avoid clicking messages from unknown contacts or verify the source before accessing the links provided in the message.

Currently, hackers and other cybercriminals are targeting email services and applications. Gmail has already fallen to online attackers for the past few months.

Now, Gmail and Outlook users are facing another security threat, which specifically tricks users into telling them to purchase high-value products. Tickets are included in these sold items.

New Gmail Security Threat

According to Express UK‘s latest report, the new malicious email message claims that if users want to purchase the expensive items being offered, they need to call the customer service number stated in the message.

(Photo : Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
Students work on their laptop computers at St. Joseph Catholic School in La Puente, California on November 16, 2020, where pre-kindergarten to Second Grade students in need of special services returned to the classroom today for in-person instruction. – The campus is the second Catholic school in Los Angeles County to receive a waiver approval to reopen as the coronavirus pandemic rages on.

However, the number would direct you to one of the involved cybercriminals. This online attacker would then ask for your personal details to steal your money.

On the other hand, they would also force their victims to install malicious apps and other files into their PC or smartphones. Right now, this is just one of the security issues that Gmail and other online services are suffering from.

Recently, we reported that 4th Gen Intel CPUs have a new vulnerability, which is claimed to be caused by the DirectX 12. On the other hand, a new PS5 hack was also discovered, exploiting the console’s kernel and root keys.

Protecting Your Gmail Account

Security experts explained that the best thing you can do to avoid the new malicious email is to avoid clicking any link or calling any number provided by an unknown message.

But, the Google Account Help website also provided some tips so that you can protect your Gmail account. Here are some of them:

Always customize your Gmail settings.
Don’t forget to update your email application.
Choose a strong password, which can’t be easily identified by your friends and relatives as well.
If you are receiving spams, phishing messages, and scams, always report it to Gmail’s customer service.

Feature Image Credit: Photo by LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

By Griffin Davis

Sourced from Tech Times

In News

The Ultimate Guide to Landing Pages, Best Practices from Industry Leaders

December 8, 2021 No Comments

Sourced from in Touch

As you browse the internet, you’ll undoubtedly come into contact with a wide variety of landing pages. Whether you arrive there after clicking on a social media ad, an email link, or by manually typing in a URL, a landing page will typically be your first experience with a brand. First impressions are crucial, and the best landing pages will not only make a great first impression, they will convert casual browsers into devoted customers.

Landing pages are a powerful component of your digital marketing strategy. They should always serve a specific purpose – whether that purpose is to convert visitors into leads, or to inspire them to take a particular action. While many companies simply use their homepage as their landing page, a successful website will feature a standalone page that has a single request. A good landing page can significantly boost your conversion rates, so take a moment to learn how to successfully use this tool from top industry leaders.

Call to Action

“Your landing page should feature some call to action – you can use your landing page to collect email addresses or other relevant information, in exchange for a great discount or more information about your products. This is not the place to feature lots of detail or in-depth information; that’s what the rest of your website is for. Your landing page should simply get the ball rolling and establish a connection between your visitor and your brand.” – Fred Gerantabee, Chief Experience Officer of Readers.com

Eliminate Distraction

“When you design your landing page, make sure to keep it as simple as possible. Only ask for essential information, and make your ask clear. One of the benefits of a good landing page is that it eliminates distracting information, like other links, testimonials, or an abundance of images. A streamlined landing page should only ask for one or two pieces of information. Visual cues help keep things simple too: use bold fonts and limit how many images you feature.” – Kashish Gupta, Founder and CEO of Hightouch

Segment Your Customer Base

“One great feature of landing pages is that they can be customized to your audience. Customers may have very different needs, depending on your company and the product you’re offering, and they may benefit from different information and offers. Whether your landing page segments automatically based on things like geographic location, or if it asks people to segment themselves based on their interests, designing a tailored experience for your users can ensure that they find what they’re looking for.” – Jordan Duran, Founder and Designer of 6 Ice

Follow Up With a Thank You

“If your landing page successfully captures user data, even if it’s just their name and email address, you should make sure you send a follow up email thanking the visitor for their interest. The email can be simple, just confirming that their information was received and welcoming them to your brand. This is a good way to ensure you’re making a positive first impression on the visitor, and is the first step in nurturing a good customer relationship.” – Jared Hines, Head of Operations of Acre Gold

Integrate Your Channels

“Your landing page should have a clear call to action, but you can also follow that up by connecting them to your other channels. Once they’ve signed up to receive emails from you, for example, maybe your next step is to direct them to your Instagram or Facebook page, or to a specific product page. Make sure your landing page directs your customers through a quick and easy process, so they don’t get lost trying to navigate around on their own.” – Nicholas Vasiliou, CEO of BioHealth Nutrition

Keep it Simple

“Don’t go overboard when designing your landing page. If customers are overwhelmed with options and testimonials, they will probably just exit out and you will have wasted your time and theirs. Focus on one task only, and keep the design streamlined and visually appealing. It’s also important to make sure your landing page has a similar design to the rest of your website, so people don’t feel duped, or think they’ve landed in the wrong place. Your landing page should be an extension of your brand.” – Isaiah Henry, CEO of Seabreeze Management

Set a Goal

“Be clear about what you want your landing page to accomplish. Your landing page should be part of your overall marketing strategy, and just like any other marketing campaign, the expectations should be outlined from the start. Maybe your goal is to convert leads to sales, or maybe it’s to get people to sign up for a free trial. Once you have clear goals, you can measure the success of different designs or layouts to make sure you’re on the right track.” – Lindsay McCormick, Founder and CEO of Bite

Test Your Landing Page

“When you design your landing page, it’s helpful to do some A/B testing so that you can try out different designs and formats. Use different images or language to see what works best for your users. If you’re worried your landing page is too cluttered, try eliminating some form options to see if that leads to higher conversion rates. When doing A/B testing, make sure you only adjust one factor at a time so you can determine the true impact of each component.” – Anish Patel, Founder of Tinto Amorio

Make Them An Offer They Can’t Refuse

“If your landing page requests something from your visitors, make sure you offer them something in return. Your landing page can be the place you offer a new customer discount, or a special subscriber-only perk. If your company hosts events, maybe your landing page offers access to an invite-only event in exchange for customer information. People expect to come into contact with landing pages, and they also expect to get a decent deal in exchange for personal information. Make sure your landing page upholds your end of the bargain, or your visitors might just click away.” – Derin Oyekan, Co-Founder of Reel

Don’t Make Them Scroll

“Just like newspapers, landing pages should feature their most important messages above the fold. In other words, your most compelling information should be immediately accessible to users when they click over to your website. Feature your lead form clearly near the top of the page so visitors don’t have to scroll down to access it. Many users may not realize they need to scroll and will simply exit the screen if they can’t figure out how to proceed.” – Tri Nguyen, Co-Founder and CEO of Network Capital

Stand Out From the Crowd

“Not only does it need to look attractive on first sight, but it also needs to be accessible, and functional, while displaying a degree of originality to stand out from the crowd. Of course, the contents of your landing page will differ depending on the product or service you offer, but there are elements that can commonly be found on successful landing pages. They could include anything from a video that demonstrates the value your company can offer, to a contact form that clearly explains the benefits of signing up to your mailing list, to awards that show off your past success.” – Desire Athow, Managing Editor of TechRadar Pro

Identify Their Pain Points

“Remember that someone with a nagging problem or challenge will look for solutions, one way or another. Be there when your ideal customers need you most – with your relevant, well-designed landing page geared towards a positive user experience. If your landing page is relevant both in web design, call to action, and content – you’ll become the go-to expert to somebody who’s been looking for a solution and you will increase conversion.” – Neil Patel, Co-Founder of Neil Patel Digital

Feature Image Credit: Unsplash

Sourced from in Touch

In News

Hosting a Social Media Giveaway? Here’s What to Know First

December 8, 2021 No Comments

By Emily Heaslip

Social media giveaways can be a great way to boost engagement and increase brand awareness, but pay attention when designing your incentives.

Social media giveaways can serve many purposes. You can use a giveaway to boost engagement, increase your email list, add more followers and gain visibility for your brand through cross-promotion. When designing a social media giveaway, it’s important to know your goal and create incentives that will help you be successful. Otherwise, you’re just handing out free stuff.

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when hosting a giveaway on social media.

Set your goal from the beginning

There are many reasons why you might host a giveaway on social media. Your ultimate goal will help determine the format of the giveaway and the social media channel you’re going to use. Here are some examples:

Increase follower count.
Grow your email list.
Improve brand awareness.
Increase engagement.
Promote a new product.
Recruit brand ambassadors.

Giveaways can often satisfy more than one of these goals, but pick your primary purpose and build your campaign toward that outcome. Your goal will help you determine the prize, the mechanics of the campaign, and even the social media channel on which you host the giveaway.

Most of the rules for hosting a giveaway are relatively straightforward, but if you don’t follow the rules, it’s likely that the platform will delete your campaign.

Choose your channel wisely

With your goal in mind, decide which social media channel — or channels — you will use to host your giveaway. The channel you decide to use will also be determined by the format of your giveaway, where you have the most active audience, and each platform’s giveaway terms and conditions.

“If you want to increase your following, request entrants to follow your page or profile to enter. This is especially popular on Instagram,” wrote SproutSocial. “If you want to generate more leads and increase your email list, you can request that people sign up or enter their email before entering. These can be done on a landing page and linked from any platform, or you can create a Facebook tab specifically for your contest.”

Follow the platform rules

Keep in mind that Twitter, Instagram and Facebook all have different rules for running contests. Read those carefully before you get too far into planning. Most of the rules for hosting a giveaway are relatively straightforward, but if you don’t follow the rules, it’s likely that the platform will delete your campaign. You could also risk being banned or having future posts penalized by the algorithm.

Partner with other brands

Team up with a like-minded brand to cross-promote your giveaway and raise the stakes. For example, Klean Kanteen, a water bottle brand, worked with Biolite headlamps, Public bikes, and Forsake footwear to create a bike kit giveaway worth $1500. The brands benefitted from promoting the giveaway to each other’s followers, increasing their reach and engaging with new customers in the process.

Look for other merchants whose products and services complement yours. A bookstore might partner with a café, or an event photographer might partner with a caterer. Think about which brands might have similar audiences and put together an incentive that showcases the best of both brands.

Match the reward to the effort

The goal of your giveaway is to incentivize your audience to do something: share your story, join your email list, follow your account. The prize you’re offering needs to match the relative effort you want your followers to make on your behalf. Offering a free coffee if someone posts, comments, shares and likes your page is probably asking too much. Offering a chance to win a month of free coffee, however, might be more enticing.

Likewise, you’ll want to make sure that your giveaway is exciting and meets your customers’ needs. For example, if you are hoping to generate buzz around a product launch, the giveaway should probably be the product you are launching. The prize of your giveaway should be relevant to your brand. Otherwise, you risk attracting entrants who are not going to be customers.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images/YakobchukOlena

By Emily Heaslip

Sourced from CO

In News

8 Fantastic Ways to Make Your Resume Stand Out

December 7, 2021 No Comments

By Richard Maize

The job market is competitive right now — here’s how to maximize your chances of success.

Job hunting can be an exciting yet overwhelming experience. I get it; no one likes to get the dreaded rejection email, and nothing is more frustrating or discouraging than sending off 20 or more applications and getting zero responses. You may have the exact experience a hiring manager is looking for, but maybe you’re just not telling your story right. Or it’s possible your resume isn’t getting past strict algorithms that scan resumes for keywords.

If you’re wondering what you can do to set yourself apart from other candidates, you’re in the right place. From choosing the right keywords to designing the ideal layout, creating a stellar resume is no easy feat. But you’re fully capable of getting the job done — no pun intended.

1. Customize your resume for your industry

When you’re creating your descriptions for the roles you’ve held, you should include all of your skills and experiences relevant to the job(s) you’re applying for. Read through the desired job description and see how you can tailor your resume to showcase you’ve got the skillset they’re looking for in a candidate.

You may want to have a few different versions of your resume depending on the types of roles you want. For example, if you work in marketing and are interested in a few different roles within that industry, you can have one resume specific to SEO content marketing, one resume specific to PPC campaigns and one resume that is specific to email marketing.

2. Use a header

You can think of your header as a business card right under your name and right at the top of your resume. It should include your job title, phone number, email address and your location. If you have a link to your portfolio, you should add that in there as well, along with any certifications and or desirable credentials.

This helps hiring managers see right away what your goal is without having to sift through your resume.

Here’s an example:

John Smith

EMAIL MARKETING SPECIALIST

Los Angeles, CA, 90210 | 310-XXX-XXXX | johnsmith@email.com | jsmithportfolio.com

This is just one example, but you can find a few more here along with some useful tips on how to make your header stand out.

3. Make sure your resume is clean, concise and error-free

Hiring managers and recruiters are usually overwhelmed with resumes and cover letters to sift through and manage. Give yourself a leg up by ensuring your resume is easy to read and free of spelling and grammatical errors. Keep the content concise; simplicity goes a long way!

Additionally, hyperlinking to your portfolio or LinkedIn profile is an easy way to preserve space and keep your resume looking clean and easy to navigate.

4. Don’t go wild with fonts and colours

Look, even if you’re a creative and want to showcase your talents, your resume really isn’t the best place to do so. Your portfolio can be stocked with relevant work, but your resume should still be easy to read and formatted to look both modern and professional.

You can add a border to your resume or use some colour in a tasteful way, but sticking to a clean and simple resume ensures it will be legible across all platforms. Readability is huge when it comes to creating an effective resume, so make sure any colours you use are easy on the eyes.

5. Incorporate industry keywords

If the job description has certain keywords (and it almost undoubtedly does), your resume needs to have those as well. Many companies today use some sort of method to search for keywords when sorting resumes. This means in order for your resume to even be viewed, you need to include those keywords in your resume.

It can be a tedious process, which is why I suggested having a few different versions of your resume on deck depending on which roles you’re applying to. But either way, make sure your resume includes the right keywords for the role. Taking the time to do so is a sure-fire way to ensure your resume stands out.

That all said, don’t overdo it! Yes, it is possible to “keyword stuff” your resume. While some companies’ algorithms initially sift through resumes, the human being eventually reading your resume will be able to see that you stuffed a bunch of keywords into your descriptions. No one likes to see that. Hiring managers have seen enough resumes to last ten lifetimes and can easily see when someone is guilty of keyword stuffing in the hopes of getting past algorithms.

6. Include those metrics!

Anyone can write about or fluff up the role they did while at a company. So, if you want to show hiring managers all that value you can bring to their company, you need to include metrics. Including your quantifiable achievements helps hiring managers get a better idea of the kind of results they can expect from you.

Every industry is different, so if you need help deciding which metrics to include and how they should be included, check out this site that goes into further detail.

7. No need for any trash talk

Unless you’ve been absurdly lucky throughout your career, it’s likely you’ve had some less-than-ideal experiences at past companies or maybe even at your current one. Do not include negative information or details about anyone or anything, neither in your resume nor in your cover letter.

And, it should go without saying, but you really shouldn’t trash talk past or current employers or teammates in your interview. You are above that, and it is never a good look.

8. Create a cover letter that tells your story

While your resume should convey your professional story in the most concise and effective way, your cover letter can really show the hiring manager your professional experiences, accomplishments and how you’ve grown over the years.

The top three things that must be included in a cover letter are how your work experience meets job requirements, how your skills meet job requirements and the reasons why you want to work at the organization.

Your cover letter needs to show the reader that you are just the right person for the job. You don’t need to include any hobbies; just stick to showcasing your skillset and how it’s relevant to the job.

Keep in mind that hiring managers often see the same phrases and claims over and over again. You can consider using a template and refer to Glassdoor’s blog on writing a solid cover letter to make sure your cover letter doesn’t sound like everyone else’s.

By Richard Maize

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor

Richard Maize is a real-estate entrepreneur who has built a well-respected reputation for making astute business investments. Before the age of 30, Maize had already accumulated 1,000 apartment units, and he now owns property in 20 states. Additionally, Maize invests in TV and film and philanthropy.

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

In News

Why LinkedIn Is The One Good Social Network

December 7, 2021 No Comments

By Alex Kantrowitz

LinkedIn is something of an enigma as a social network. Despite its massive size — nearly 800 million members — it isn’t filled with the same type of misinformation, trolls, and engagement baiting algorithms that define its peers. The tone on LinkedIn is, actually, kind of friendly. It’s a place, as Scott Galloway recently put it, where people assume you’re engaging in good faith, not bad. “I no longer respond to people on any platform except LinkedIn,” Galloway said. “People are much more civil.”

LinkedIn’s built a friendly, productive, and scaled network by developing the right incentives and taking genuine action when things go wrong. It’s not perfect, of course. But given that the network’s peers seem to live in perpetual scandal, there’s a lot we can learn from it. Here’s a brief rundown of what LinkedIn gets right:

Real consequences for being a jerk

On most social networks, you can be a jerk with little consequence. Twitter is filled with anonymous, bile-spewing users who corrode the network’s tone. Facebook may require you to use your “real name,” but being a jerk can mostly cost you Facebook “friends,” and since you likely have more of those than friends in real life, you can spare a few. On LinkedIn, being a jerk has consequences. It threatens your ability to get your next job, strike your next partnership, or find your next customer. You use your real identity there, and what you say has ramifications. This encourages people to pick their fellow users up, not tear them down.

Long term product health > engagement

LinkedIn’s product team makes substantial changes to address bad things on its product, even when it costs the company “engagement.” While I was at BuzzFeed News, for instance, my colleague Ryan Mac and I wrote about a phenomenon called Broetry. At the time, LinkedIn’s feed was flooded with “broems,” or stories written line by line with spaces in between, often by cringeworthy growth hackers. LinkedIn prioritized these posts in its algorithm because it believed that when people clicked “see more” to expand posts in their feed, the posts were probably compelling. But the growth hackers figured this out, and then exploited the curiosity gap and filled the feed with garbage.

LinkedIn’s product team could’ve left the algorithm alone and kept its precious engagement. But after the story came out, they changed the algorithm and minimized the signal, and Broetry largely disappeared. When you have a product team willing to sacrifice short-term numbers for long-term product health, you’ll often end up in a good place.

A business model aligned with user interests

Most social networks make money via advertisers (their real customers), so they try to keep people (users) as engaged as possible, even if it requires some sacrifices. When you run an ad business, it’s okay if a certain percentage of the platform hates each other, as long as they keep coming back to fight.

LinkedIn’s business model is different. About one-third of its revenue comes from advertising, but many of LinkedIn’s users pay to use its premium product, so its users are its customers, and the interests are aligned. LinkedIn also sells a premium product to recruiters, who want to get people jobs, and creepy targeting won’t help with that. LinkedIn is able to sacrifice short-term engagement for long-term goals — as noted above — because its business model incentivizes it.

A functional trending column

LinkedIn’s trending column is world-class. It’s filled with relevant news, curated by human editors, and doesn’t rally people to ridicule peers who became that day’s “main character.” Facebook struggled to figure how to build a trending column, and eventually gave up. Twitter’s trending column is so bad that the best stories about it call for its destruction. LinkedIn, however, is demonstrating how you keep people informed about relevant, popular news without wrecking society.

A reasonable share button

LinkedIn’s share button doesn’t allow you to pass along other people’s posts without accountability. Unlike Twitter’s retweets, posts on LinkedIn show up with your name and photo when you share them, adding a layer of ownership that’s missing on Twitter. There’s also little incentive to share dunks or outrage due, again, to the disincentives for being a jerk.

The slow life is the good life

LinkedIn’s feed has interesting information, but nothing feels too pressing. People using the service, therefore, tend to be thoughtful when posting. This differs from Facebook and Twitter’s rollicking, impulse-driven feeds. Slowed-down social media, as counterintuitive as it may seem, tends to be a better experience and healthier for society.

Feature Image Credit: Gabriel Varaljay on Unsplash

By Alex Kantrowitz

Sourced from Big Technology

In News

5 Signs You Should Start Using Paid SEO Tools

December 7, 2021 No Comments

By Aashirvad Kumar

I expect that you are using Free SEO tools but facing some problems in ranking your website. There are chances that you can make a brand of your online business, but these chances are pretty low with Free SEO tools.

If you are struggling to mark your online presence, you must start using paid SEO tools instead of free ones because Paid SEO tools will give you a more detailed report of your competitor’s website.

With proper analysis, you will be able to replace your competitor on every search engine.

In this article, I’ll be discussing five signs of your website that indicate that you should start using paid SEO tools now. But, first, let’s Optimize for SEO to get more and more engagements.

5 Signs Indicating you to use Paid SEO tools

#1 Conversion Rate is low

You are getting enough impressions to attract many visitors/customers, but you are getting enough CTR, so eventually, you aren’t getting enough people on your website. This is a problem because your website lacks some crucial aspects that search engines require.

Generally, free SEO tools don’t have enough data to analyse the flows of a website; to thoroughly analyse your website and understand what is stopping your website from converting your impressions into visits; you should use paid SEO tools.

Paid SEO tools will give you detailed and correct information about your website’s optimization. In addition, paid SEO tools will help you optimize your website according to search engines.

#2 Not getting enough Sales

There are situations where you are getting visitors, but your website cannot convert them into your customers. If you are struggling with this problem and free SEO tools aren’t helping you. So, now it’s time to switch to paid SEO tools so that you can understand what is wrong with your content and your website’s layout.

You have enough backlinks and good off-page SEO to attract visitors, but your content has some problems. Once someone lands on your website, then it’s your content that can convert the visitor into your customer.

Paid SEO tools like Grammarly can help enhance your website’s content.

#3 Unable to generate quality content

This is somewhere similar to the above situation, but here you have neither visitors nor the content to upgrade. So here you are struggling with the essential requirement of a website that is content, Right? And Free SEO tools aren’t effective in helping with content quality.

Only paid SEO tools can help you in such situations because they will make the content creation process much easier for you.

For example, Grammarly will analyse each sentence you write and find errors, if any. If it finds any errors, it will highlight the particular word/phrase where the error is present.

Apart from this, Grammarly will suggest possible corrections that will undoubtedly help you generate better content relatively quickly.

#4 Unable to find worthy keywords

Keyword Research is the most important aspect of SEO. You can’t rank on search engines without proper keywords, and without keywords, you can’t even make your SEO strategy. But, on the other hand, if you pick the wrong keywords, you will waste your effort and time.

You have to be very careful while picking your keywords to work on. However, I discovered that most of them aren’t accurate enough to rely on while using Free SEO tools. Thus, for me, Paid SEO tools like SEMRUSH, AHREFS work perfectly fine.

These tools are regularly maintained and upgraded by a bunch of professionals, and these are entirely reliable.

#5 Email Marketing isn’t working

If you are facing problems with email marketing, then you are pretty much sorted with the website’s optimization and content-related issues; if you aren’t, then before email marketing, you should concentrate on them. Then, once you are satisfied with your content, you can use Email marketing to grab some extra visitors.

If you are already generating quality content and your website is also well-optimized. Still, emails aren’t working for you, then it may be because of a wrong template, or your mails are piling into the receiver’s spam folder.

You need to pick a reliable tool for email marketing because most of the free email marketing tools aren’t very effective. So you have to keep on shuffling with some paid SEO or email marketing tools and need to analyse which one is working for you.

Final Verdict

Using paid SEO tools for your business, you can also generate income and increase your online presence through some free SEO tools. But, again, as mentioned above, the chances are pretty low. However, many Digital Marketing Companies, such as an SEO Company in India, SEO Company In the USA, SEO services in Vietnam, etc. are started using many tools for their clients.

If you are using some paid SEO tools, then no doubt they will give a good ROI. It is mainly because most of the paid SEO tools are accurate and precise. This makes them reliable to use.

To get faster results and you want to make your website/business a brand, then I think it is entirely worth it to invest in some good Paid SEO tools.

Feature Image credit:- freepik.com

By Aashirvad Kumar

Aashirvad Kumar is a Writer at Tele Trick Mania and SEO Executive at Optimize For SEO. He has been blogging since 2016 in the technology niche. He has experience of more than 5+ years in Digital Marketing.

Sourced from readwrite