Your handshake game may be a little rusty, but now is the time to brush up on your meet-and-greet skills. The in-person conference circuit is heating up, and business professionals are eager to reconnect at events specific to their industry. To make the most of your conference attendance, you need to have a strategy.
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While your company may be footing the bill for the expenses, business travel is a significant investment of your time. If a networking event or conference is on your calendar, use these tips to plan your approach. Instead of awkwardly muddling your way through, you’ll glide into the main hall with confidence and a plan of action.

1. Do Your Homework

Sometimes you’re slated to attend an event that’s new to you. Other times, it’s a conference that’s been on your calendar for ages. No matter your familiarity, treat your attendance like an assignment—because it is.

Despite their reputation for expense account–funded steak dinners and late-night social events, industry events are indeed work. At least a week before your event, pull up the conference webpage, review the schedule and scan the sponsors listing.

Depending on the type of event, consider how your attendance relates to the key topics and presentations. If you’ve signed up for breakout sessions, familiarize yourself with them and draft a list of questions to ask.

Beyond coming up with questions, you’ll need to ensure that you’ve got your professional house in order. Brush up on your introduction and takeaways. Update your LinkedIn page, personal website and elevator pitch, customizing each for your audience. Upgrade your business card by adding a QR code that gives the recipient more ways to reach you.

2. Devise a Game Plan Before You Hit the Registration Table

If you’re lucky, there might be an event page on LinkedIn where registered attendees can get updates. Check out who’s been interacting with conference information online and check out their profile information. If they’re a prospect, add them to the list of people you want to connect with at the event. Your contact list might read like a scavenger hunt—except this one will yield valuable connections instead of a plastic trophy.

The last time I attended a conference, I noticed that one of my breakout sessions featured a panel on digital strategies. I wanted to make some contacts who could be interested in growth marketing, so I started my research early. Before long, I had the lowdown on who would be there, their background and their interests. This made my outreach efforts after the session much more fruitful.

When going to a panel session, plan to arrive early and snag a seat up front. Say hello and shake hands with members of the panel and the moderator. This is a courteous move, and it will make you more memorable. When it’s time to take questions from the audience, yours will likely get the first nod. Afterward, you’ll feel much more comfortable hanging around to swap insights with the panel’s heavyweights thanks to the connection you established upfront.

3. Follow Up While You Still Have Momentum

If you didn’t learn this back in your early days of dating, it’s all about the follow-up. You wouldn’t want to get ghosted after a great date, and in the same way, you don’t want to be forgotten after a conference. Just as you’ve devised a plan to attend and work the conference floor, plan out your follow-up strategy.

If you’re the analog sort, keep notes on the back of business cards that you collect along the way. Jot down what you talked about, what you committed to and anything unique about the encounter. Anything that will help your note stand out among the bevy of post-event “We met at X conference” emails is something to write down.

If you’re digitally inclined, use a notes app or add this info to the person’s listing in your phone’s saved contacts. Include links, photos, and other meaningful intel to enrich your records. When attending a multi-day event, add to your networking list each night to make the process easy to manage.

After the event ends, aim to follow up within two business days. Conferences can take a lot out of people, both mentally and physically. Give everyone time to rest, but not enough time to forget you. Deliver a sincere thank you for the time spent with your new contacts at the event and pass along any information you promised. By offering value, you’ll forge connections that pay dividends.

Create Relationships That Offer a Mutual Benefit

​You already know that business isn’t all about you—it’s about relationships. Seek to understand what your contacts need, even if they aren’t able to articulate it just yet. Discover ways to be helpful, even if it’s not directly related to closing a sale.

The more you can prove to be a trusted resource, the more likely your new contacts will remember you in a positive light. When you offer assistance without strings, your potential clients will keep their doors open for you. And when it’s time to pitch an opportunity, the strategy you’ve developed beforehand will help you get your “yes.”



Source: Forbes.com
​Image: GETTY

What Is Email Marketing?
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Aside from purchase notifications and direct replies to consumer inquiries, any email a business sends out might be categorized as email marketing. Internet marketing, which includes online marketing via web pages, social networks, blogs, and more, includes email campaigns as one of its subsets.

How to Market with Email 

Even though email marketing has many moving parts, it need not be difficult. Here is how it works:

1. Begin by Making a List

The essential truth is that you can’t do it if you don’t have someone to email marketing campaigns to. Additionally, remember that email marketing will not be effective if the right individuals are not on your list.
You must collect leads to increase your email list with your target audience. Then, by using our very sophisticated targeting techniques, you can show these advertisements to the appropriate individuals at precisely the correct stage of their customer journey.

2. Include an Email Service Provider

You may segment your audience, compile a list, and send email campaigns to your audience using an email service provider (ESP). Additionally, you may monitor the outcomes to tweak subsequent campaigns.

3. Set up VPN for Cybersecurity

A VPN server is a specific method to maintain your privacy while sending emails, and many VPN companies include email services that you may use. The VPN will provide you with an alternative IP address while sending emails, preventing the Email’s sender from being identified.

A VeePN is a fantastic tool for protecting your company’s data. You may significantly increase the strength and security of your networks by using a VPN across all of them. And a VPN enables any Internet-connected device to join a private network. This VPN explained assists you in ensuring cybersecurity and preventing malware attacks. Using email marketing first of all you should take care of the safety of your data.

How does Email Marketing benefit a Company?

Email can reach huge audiences in how to do email marketing for small businesses, provide a high rate of return, and aid in client retention. For these reasons, it’s a highly well-liked marketing avenue.

Additionally, Email may aid in audience research and company expansion. Email is a two-way street and, short of dealing with your consumers directly, may be the closest you can get to a direct connection. In contrast to in-person interactions, which are time-consuming, unpredictable, and infrequent, emails provide a controlled test environment from which you can get insightful information on the effectiveness of your efforts.

Statistics for email marketing in the modern day are relatively easy to collect, quantify, and examine. Every audience segment’s opens, clicks, interaction, and more can be easily measured.

Email Marketing Tactics to Boost Participation

Email marketing has many advantages, whether you run a startup or an existing firm, and the trick to seeing results is to use the proper tactics for your industry. Let’s look at some email marketing techniques that might boost client involvement.

1. Identify Your Target Market

By defining your target market, you may develop email messages that appeal to your particular clients. Your target audience will likely use or purchase your goods or services. You must investigate your clients’ hobbies, motives, pain areas, and choices to determine your target audience.

2. Provide Useful Stuff

Including high-quality, audience-specific information in your emails is a unique approach to offering value to your recipients. A compelling email should tell a narrative and demonstrate how your business can help the reader with their difficulties. It should also have intriguing subject lines, be clutter-free, and avoid using technical terms that the ordinary reader won’t comprehend.

3. Sign up for a Service that Automates Email

For your subscribers, email automation may provide tailored email experiences. Additionally, email automation may boost office efficiency and assist you in putting scalable marketing ideas into action.

4. Analyze Marketing KPIs and Metrics

There are several benefits to spending time and resources on email marketing initiatives. You could wish to increase your subscriber base and produce more leads. Alternatively, you could want to turn prospective consumers into repeat business.



Source: https://www.finsmes.com
Image Credit: Getty

In the highly-competitive real estate industry, building a successful home-selling business isn't possible without a next-level marketing strategy.

From Sarasota and Naples, Florida, to Hilton Head, South Carolina; South Hampton, New York; Austin, Texas; Prescott, Arizona; San Luis Obispo, California; and many other cities, the luxury real estate market is booming. Picture-perfect sunsets, sandy-white beaches and the allure of the wide-open spaces attract high-end market buyers, including affluent Generation X and baby boomers who are looking for second and third homes and millennials with money to spend.

Here's how you can increase your market share at this end of the real estate market and add more clients to your real estate business.  

1. Define the ideal client

Just as with any marketing strategy, you need to know who you want to target. The initial step in the process is to define the general characteristics of the group. While it's important to address each individual's unique personality, having a good handle on the group's traits will help define your marketing strategy. This includes the media (brochures, advertising, videos, events, showings, social media, etc.) you employ to reach your target audience, the images you use and the language and tone of your content.

2. Make a list of the type of clients you want to work with

A broad range of affluent clientele makes up the luxury real estate market. This includes tech entrepreneurs from both established and start-up companies, individuals in the entertainment industry and C-suite executives in the finance sector, as well as sports figures and others. Decide if there is a specific niche you want to target, such as first-time or experienced buyers, international buyers or eco-conscious individuals, for example. Consider other factors like the price range of the homes and the type of homes (discreet vs. opulent) that will fit your buyer's profile. Knowing this will help you in how you proceed to network with — and market to — the individuals with whom you want to work.  

Have your team (or hire an assistant) help you in targeting your marketing materials and advertisements to people with behaviors and interests that are consistent with the types of clients who can afford the premium properties you represent in specific locations.  

3. Build a sphere of influence

Develop contacts and generate leads from the network of people you know, including family members, friends, neighbors, colleagues, business associates, classmates and social connections. Reach out and establish relationships with family offices and advisory firms that manage the wealth of high net worth clientele. The wealthy invest in real estate and could become potential clients in the future. Learn about each person in your sphere of influence and keep in touch with him or her on a regular basis.

In addition, network with other real estate agents who can help you connect to buyers and sellers.  

4. Establish a consistent local presence in your newspaper

Although this may sound old-school, having a consistent presence in your local newspaper prominently displaying your business name and ad listings works. Spend the money to place a listing on a full-color, full-page or double-page ad on a regular basis so you can ensure people see it when flipping through the paper. Not only will this help you get buyers wanting to view the listing, but your consistent presence in the paper will reinforce your experience and credibility in the marketplace.

In addition, reach out to high-end local publications (print and digital) to feature your business. Offer your real estate expertise and write articles that are helpful for buyers and sellers.    

5. Use your digital footprint

Conduct an audit of your website. Has the website design been updated recently, or are you simply having new listings added? If you haven't updated your site in the last couple of years, it's time to do so. Hire a professional to create a beautiful, contemporary, UX-based, state-of-the-art website that reflects who you are, your experience and successes (i.e. showcase previously sold properties), your staff and the locations and properties you currently represent.

Make sure the website also shines on mobile devices since everyone is connected to their phones 24/7. Hire a content writer to tell your story compellingly. Include videos, press announcements, and features. Let your clients sing your praises via testimonials.

Make sure the property search tool on the website is segmented by product (location, pricing, square footage and other filters), easy to use and delivers the expected results.

Write a blog about relevant topics of interest to high net worth clientele. Leverage social media to build your followers and sphere of influence and to market your properties. Assign someone to keep your website, blog and social media platforms continually updated and fresh.

Focus on growing your email list. It's much faster and easier to reach out and connect with people or to announce a new property via an email blast. Clients, partners, developers and luxury real estate agents overseas can click on a link in the email to view the property on your website or via a digital storybook you have created. 



Source: Entrepreneur.com
Image Credit: ​Photo by Pavel Danilyuk (pexels.com)

How often do you ask yourself, “How’s my company’s online visibility doing today?” You may think I’m kidding, but if your online presence isn’t something you’re thinking about nearly every day, you’re probably not giving it the attention it deserves. Increasing the online visibility of your business should be routinely top of mind.

There are many reasons why boosting your digital presence is crucial. Improving your online visibility can increase sales, create brand trust and build your reputation among customers and industry partners. All this makes investing the time and resources necessary to increase online visibility something you don’t have to question.

Raising your company’s online profile won’t just occur on its own. You need to be focused on the work it takes to make it happen. Here are four things you should do to increase your online visibility.

1. Envision Your Endgame

Mental rehearsals have been proven to improve performance. Visualizing yourself shooting a basketball and watching it swish through the net will increase your free throw percentage. Why not use the same strategy to increase your online visibility?

The first step will be to define what your “swish” looks like. You need to determine what constitutes success for your brand and set benchmarks and goals. That’s the only way you can know whether your online strategy is a hit or a miss.

Let’s say you want to increase social media engagement with your brand by 25%. Obviously, reaching this goal demands increased visibility, so determine what tactics you can use on all your social channels. These could include making timely responses to comments, posting compelling content, holding a giveaway or enticing users to comment, follow, like and share.
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Visualize where you want to end up, and you’ll find developing a digital strategy to get there will more easily fall into place. Make your brand conspicuous by its greater online presence, not its absence.

2. Find Out Where You Stand

To understand what you’ll have to do to achieve your goals means understanding where you are right now. Figuring out where you rank among your competition used to require investing in major market research projects. The digital world makes the calculation much easier.

Use competitor analysis tools to take a close look at how key competitors in your niche are scoring in SEO rankings. Once you determine which ones are coming out on top, take a deep dive into how they’re getting there.

Review their websites, content and social media presence. Explore which keywords are putting them at the top of the search results and how they’re using algorithms to their advantage. Employ Google Analytics to benchmark your brand among your competitors and to reveal how readers are engaging with their websites.

Once you figure out what they seem to be doing right, insert the elements that will translate to your own brand into your strategy. Think of it as viewing your opponent’s game film before updating your playbook. To best the competition, you must know how you’re ranked going in.

3. Plan and Execute Your Strategy

​You have visualized where you want to be and whom you’ll need to pass to get there. Now you need to devise and execute a strategy to raise your online visibility. And that will require a team effort.

You should tap your best talent to work on developing this plan. If you don’t have some of the necessary roles in house, look outside to recruit an employee for a needed position or outsource that role. Hire an SEO consultant or content agency to work with you on strategy, implementation and analysis.

These pros can help you determine—and create—the kinds of content you’ll need to engage your audience at every stage of the sales funnel. They’ll advise you on the keywords you should be ranking for and let you know which ones are within your reach. From developing related webs of content to scoring valuable backlinks, implementing the right SEO techniques will gradually increase your online visibility.

Whatever you do, make sure you keep your strategy true to your brand. If you resort to shady SEO tactics merely for the sake of competitive advantage, you risk losing the trust of customers and prospects alike.

A savvy and solid game plan is indispensable in your pursuit to increase your brand’s online visibility. Put the right players on the team from start to finish, and you’ll find yourself celebrating wins.

4. Lower Your Expectations

You read that correctly. In your quest to raise your brand’s online visibility, you need to lower your expectations. That’s because the climb to the top won’t be easy.

As your team develops a strategy, develop realistic timelines and milestones and temper expectations. It’s critical to analyze what’s working and what’s not at every step, adjusting accordingly. Although there are some tactics that may boost visibility quickly, lasting success takes time.

Trial and error is part of any new strategy. To paraphrase Thomas Edison, you’ll discover more things that don’t work than do, but both are equally valuable to the process. In the spirit of anticipating failure, have a Plan B and C for every Plan A. When something in the strategy misses the mark, you’ll be ready to send in a substitute.

Having lofty aspirations for your online visibility is OK. But making sure your goals and expectations are realistic is the only chance you have to achieve them. Think of your strategy to increase your online visibility as a rebuilding period for your brand’s marketing efforts. Give it time.

By envisioning your endgame, doing the needed oppo research and developing and implementing a solid game plan, you can slowly but surely get your business noticed. When you ask yourself how your online visibility is doing on any given day, “We’re working on it” is always a winning answer.




Source: https://www.forbes.com