5 tech tools for blogging bosses
If you’re a blogger, you probably know how time-consuming managing a blog can be. You need tech tools for blogging because between editing your pictures just right, resizing them for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram—and making sure your posts are typo-free—one can become frazzled very quickly. Blogging bosses cannot afford to be stressed out. We must maintain an air of effortlessness at all costs. So, here are a few of my favorite tech tools that take care of the annoying parts of the blogging business so you can keep focused on the big picture. Fiverr Delegate, delegate or delete; that’s my mantra. If something will take up more time than I have available, I find a capable person to handle it or I delete the idea. Find a programmer to do those annoying CSS edits to get your blog looking just right, or hire the perfect graphic designer to breathe new life into your blog images. Fiverr has it all, and for $5 a pop, you can too. No wahala! Tomorrow App How many times have you been stumped trying to figure out where you wrote your to-do list? Okay, maybe you’re organized and your lists are always within reach, but, there’s nothing like being able to see all your to-do’s, personal and professional, in one place and never run out of paper! Tomorrow App is a simple app without distractions. Just put in a to-do item and tap to cross the item off the list when it’s completed. If you don’t get to it, it automatically transfers everything over to the next day. I’m a staunch ‘paper and pen’ girl, but this Tomorrow App on my phone is a lifesaver! PicMonkey I take most of the pictures for my blog, ThisAfropolitanLife. Photography is on my list of creative pursuits. As much as I try to make sure I take pictures good enough to post without edits, sometimes I fail and a little touching up is necessary. PicMonkey is a quick and effective online tool. No need to download anything, just upload and edit away. For blog graphics and more involved designs, I use Canva. Canva Between Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and all the other social media platforms, one can be tasked with a nightmare of a job; adjusting one single photo into dozens of different sizes, just to make sure they display properly. Canva makes this easy and eliminates the stress. They have pretty pre-designed templates in all social media sizes you need. It’s a one-stop-shop to make all your blog graphics come to life. Grammarly There’s nothing more off-putting than an errant typo or grammatical error on a blog post. Don’t loose readers, tighten up your prose with Grammarly; a free tool that catches typos and grammatical errors. It’s like having your own personal editor or English professor within reach. Just upload your document or post and watch Grammarly work its magic.
How I got 10,000 real and engaged followers on Instagram
With a reported 300 million users and 70 million photos shared each day, Instagram has become a key marketing and social engagement tool for businesses. It is also a great platform for testing out new business ideas. To leverage Instagram as a marketing tool, some marketers have resorted to buying followers and using automated liking or commenting programs to increase their reach. Buying followers might make your page and product look popular. However, you will have no real insight as to who is actually interested in your brand or who will buy your products or services. What’s more, you risk getting banned by Instagram for violating its Terms of Service. In this quick guide, I’ll show you how to gain real followers by walking you through the steps I used to grow my Instagram page @MakeupforMelaninGirls to 17,000+ in just two months. Here are some tips for engaging your target audience: 1. Upload Quality Photos Instagram is a photo-sharing app after all, and people want to be inspired by the photos you share. Think of a colour scheme and/or theme for your photos. White is a popular background colour and for good reason. It helps keep focus on your image and is less distracting. If your products are in fashion or beauty, consider showcasing your products with the flat-lay style. Flat lay photo on Instagram by Beauty Blogger @thatigbochick 2. Use Web Apps that make managing your account a breeze Since Instagram is primarily an app for mobile phones, it can be tricky managing all your tasks on a small screen. Crowdfire is a social media management desktop & mobile app that grows your Instagram following by letting you copy followers of accounts in a similar niche as you. You can also see who follows or unfollows you. You can perform following and unfollowing tasks very quickly via desktop without violating Instagram’s terms of service. Crowdfire is free to use for one account but costs $9.99 per month for more than account. Another great web app is Iconosquare, which allows you manage your Instagram page on the web (comment, like photos, view feed etc). And though its popular optimization feature (shows you the best time to interact with your followers) is now a paid feature, you can see several other statistics about your page, including most commented posts. Crowdfire Homepage 3. Use hashtags relevant to your target audience Most people are already aware that using hashtags attracts more likes and interest. However, using popular hashtags that are searched by your target audience is the difference between getting engaged followers and just getting likes. For example, if your brand focuses on African fashion, use Websta (an Instagram Web Viewer) to look up related tags in order of popularity. Secondly, create a list of 30 hashtags and save it to any Notes app you use. Looking up #Africanfashion not only helped me find other popular hashtags within that niche, but it also helped me find similar accounts. Using the Crowdfire app in step 2, can also be used to follow people on those similar accounts you just found. There is no guarantee that these people will follow you back, but if you are uploading quality and interesting photos relevant to your target audience, you increase your chances of them liking in your page. When we looked up #Africanfashion, 260,000 posts is the highest number of uploads related to this niche. #Fashion also has a lot of visibility of Instagram, so adding it to your list of hashtags is a good strategy. The audience in your niche are those most likely to engage with your page. Create your list of hashtags by combining very popular hashtags with those most related to your niche. To create a list of hashtags for our #AfricanFashion example, Instagram has a limit of 30 hashtags so we can divide it into 15 popular #Africanfashion and 15 popular #fashion hashtags. 4. Post at the Right Times and Days Putting some thought into the days of the week and times of the week will also help your follower base and visibility. Iconosquare’s popular Optimization feature displays a graph of the best times for you to post is now a paid feature, but don’t despair. I’ve got you covered. Lunch time and 5 pm when people are getting off work are examples of optimal times to post. Keep in mind that these work better if your audience is in the same timezone as you. A view of the Iconosquare Optimization section 5. Engage with your audience Completing the steps above, should build a group of connected followers. Do not forget to have fun with your followers by liking and commenting on their photos, sending them messages if necessary, and answering their questions. Instagram is a social media page, so connect with your followers! They want to know that there are real people behind the brand and that you care about the same things they care about. Many people log onto Instagram to take a break or pass the time so make sure browsing your page is an enjoyable experience. Finally, below are some extra tips below did not make the cut because they cost money. However, if you have the money, they are great tools to use to grow your follower base. Host an Instagram contest or Promotion Negotiate with an Instagram Influencer or personality for a promotional shout out of your product. (Caveat: Some Influencers are known to receive products but do not promote it. Research influencers before finalizing any payments.) Pay a Popular shoutout page in your niche to promote your page (This could be risky as some of this pages buy followers. Browse their page to see if they have users that comment and engage with the page). Find a friend or hire someone with an aesthetic eye that will showcase your page in the best light
Don’t vex: 10 must do’s for using social media for business
There is so much hype on using social media for business. Yet, many brands are not using it at all or many of those who are, are not getting it right. We’ve complied the basic must dos for all of us to revisit once more. Thousands of businesses have taken to platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus to build a brand that’s accessible, lovable, and profitable. Instagram has proved to be an especially viable means of building a customer base for fashion brands. Think Orange Culture, Eve and Tribe, Shop Zuvaa, Iconola, Tzar Studios, and so on. Social media gives you access to an enormous audience that could be converted to loyal customers if you play your cards right. Below are 10 steps that will help you dominate social media and harness its potential. 1. Know your why Explore why your business is on social media and why you are on each specific platform. While social media allows you to build a relationship your audience, the nature of the relationship you have with your consumers is completely up to you. Are you on social media to share relevant information to your industry, showcase your business products, establish yourself/business as an expert or some mix of them all? Whatever it is, knowing your ‘why’ is an imperative first step. 2. Decide the best platforms for your business Use your why to inform the social media platforms you choose for your business. There are over 400 social media platforms currently active and it is impossible to be them all. What platforms do you think would be more beneficial for your business? Let’s dive into the benefits of a few: Instagram and Pinterest allow you to connect with audience on a visual and emotional level. Google Plus helps with search engine rankings. LinkedIn is great for publicizing your company profile page or business resume. Ryze is a social network for businesses, may especially helpful for business to business (B2B) companies. Twitter, Facebook, Talkbizniw, Affluence, and Quora; the list is exhaustive. Take time to study the benefits of each of these platforms then pick at most 3 of the those platforms for your business. 3. Develop a strategy Wondering why 100 fashion bloggers are talking about the same shirt from a particular fashion brand at the same time? Well, it’s no coincidence. Welcome to the world of strategy – the ultimate key that unlocks opportunities for businesses. To start, your key strategies must align with your company’s mission. While all of the elements listed below are part and parcel of doing the strategic work, it is important to understand that setting time aside to write our your overall social media strategy is a vital actionable step that stands alone. Having a good social media strategy is essential for growth. Your strategy should include all of the elements listed below as well as data and feedback metrics. With a clear metrics for examining progress and growth, this work will be for naught. 4. Get the timing right Preparation + opportunity = success. Opportunity is a function of time, and posting the right content at the right time makes a difference. On Facebook, post from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m any day for the highest average click through rate; 3 p.m. on Wednesdays is the peak time. For Twitter, post from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. from Monday to Thursday. The peak times for LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google Plus are 5 p.m. daily, 3 p.m. on Fridays, and 9 a.m. on Wednesdays respectively. 5. Be human Think of developing a well rounded person as you develop your brand on social media. You must clearly articulate your mission and choose consistent brand colors, style, and tone for all of your social media accounts. Remember to show empathy in your branding, after all, there is a person on the end of the screen. 6. Know what your audience wants and give it to them As you begin to build your followers and audience, take the time to listen to them. Study the kind of posts they react to; which posts get the most comments? Which ones get the most likes? Which of your social media pages does your audience constantly engage on? Are they creating content and visuals related to your product that you can repost. Social listening and data collection is crucial: once you provide your audience with what they want, they’ll stick around and tell others about you. 7. Use hashtags As distracting as they appear to you, hashtags go a long way on social media. People are constantly searching for things, and correctly hashtag-ing your posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, will put you on the radar and increase your visibility on search engines. Use hashtags reasonably and strategically, and soon enough you’ll see the benefits. 8. Offer promotions, contests and discounts Everyone likes freebies in every shape and form. Giveaways, special offers, and discounts will get people to notice your brand. Be clear on how every giveaway you host improves your business, helps you grow, or increases audience interaction and participation. In order to create a win-win situation, everything you do must also be beneficial to your brand. 9. Link back to your website Many people forget this step: don’t forget that social media is there to help improve your business and as such, people must know where to find you off social media. Connect everything to your website so that your followers can actually make the purchase after you’ve done the work of building the relationship and converting them to loyal fans. Don’t just add your website link to your social media profiles; share that link with your audience intermittently as reminder. 10. Stick to the plan Finally, it is so easy to fall off on social media as a tool to grow your business if you are not consistent with steps 1-9. But there only way to win in the long run is to be consistent. As famous