Actively Implementing Marketing Solutions will be closing on November 30th, 2014. I am making the decision to discontinue offering my services to work toward other goals. It is hard to leave something behind you have worked so hard to create, but I am looking forward to a bright future.
Below is a list of of professionals I am referring to help you complete your business goals.
White papers have become more and more valuable since the rise of quality content being king in marketing campaigns. Not only are these useful educational resources, but now equally as important as a business marketing tool. The next time you come across a white paper relative to your industry, don’t discard it. Turn it into something valuable and use it to grow your business. Allow AIMS to explain how…
First of all, let’s talk about where to find white papers. A simple Google search for “white paper” combined with your industry terminology will produce a plethora of results. Most companies producing these are happy to allow other companies to share (while giving full credit to source) via their own website because then everybody wins – You get great marketing tool, and the publisher gets recognition for the white paper they created.
Now, here’s what you can DO with a white paper. So you’ve come across some informative white papers that are relevant to your business. Great! Time to open it, read it, and lastly, put it to USE!
It may seem obvious, but whitepapers are valuable educational resources for your business – Only however, if it’s read and not put aside to ultimately get forgotten about. Read thoroughly and make note of relevant facts and findings. Share with your business’ staff and employees to further knowledge collectively.
Use the information to refine your own marketing strategy. Narrow your Google search to the most recent listings to find the newest research and learn what’s working in today’s business landscape. Things change fast in business, use these whitepapers to stay ahead of the curve.
Resonate even more with your target customer by basing content efforts off whitepaper valuable facts and findings. Consumers are increasingly looking to content that offers value information. Write up a blog post summarizing the findings or even a press release (be sure to give full credit to the publisher).
Offer a white paper as a download on your own site. Based on the publisher’s copyright, you may be able to share directly. Publishers typically specify how the information can be used by other entities, but if in doubt, ask the publisher directly for permission to offer the white paper. Remember content is king! Appeal to your audience as being a resource.
White papers are also useful for prospecting and cold calling new clients. Use white papers as an ice-breaker when reaching out to potential new business. Because the information is coming from a reputable third-party, it is a non-bias way to introduce your business while offering value from the start.
White papers provide valuable material to make your social posts more interesting. Social users tend to follow businesses that share insightful, engaging and relevant content. Use this tactic to provide value to your network and generate more connections for your business. Share by pulling out stats and findings in a single post or tweet, or share the whitepaper as a direct download from your website or from the publisher’s (depending on copyright).
AIMS is here as your resource for marketing solutions. Call us today to discuss your marketing needs and how we can help!
Did you know that the US is the only developed country in the world to not require even one paid vacation day or holiday? That means fewer and fewer of us are taking days off for leisure, and that’s a shame. Here at AIMS, we believe that checking out for a while is important to staying engaged and on top of your game.
Here are five reasons why checking out helps you check back in:
Vacations help you de-stress. Did you know that too much time in front of a computer screen has been linked to stress, loss of sleep and depression? Our solution? Power down for a while.
They’re good for the heart. Okay, so we could have tied this one in with number one, but it bears mentioning: According to the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine middle aged men with a high risk of coronary heart (CHD) are less likely to suffer a debilitating attack if they take regular vacations.
You can catch up on your reading. No, we’re not just talking business books. But we have found that reading for fun can actually help spur on ideas in the workplace.
Vacations help clear your mind. Have you ever found yourself thinking about that one problem at work that just won’t take care of itself? You’ve invested so much time, but nothing seems to be working. Stepping away for a while can be helpful if only to allow you to clear your mind. After all, a clear mind is an open mind.
After a vacation you’re ready to get back at it. We don’t know about you, but when we take a few days (or weeks) off, we come back refreshed and ready to go! Everything seems shiny and new again, which bodes well for creating a positive work environment.
So now you know why we like vacations, what are your reasons?
Working from home isn’t right for everyone. There are a lot of people who need the structure that office life provides – having somewhere to go and be held accountable on a daily basis. But if you’re like me, then working from home is the dream.
Now, I run my own business, and if something doesn’t get done, I’m the one who has to answer for it. Which is fine, I understand my position and what I’ve gotten myself into. For some though, that is too much pressure, not to mention all the distractions (Oh, I’ll just do a quick load of laundry…no wait, the cat needs to be fed first…but now we’re out of food and I need to make a grocery run..).
When I talk to others out there about working from home, one of the biggest concerns I hear is that people are afraid that it will be too hard to separate work from home life. But do you know what? That is the least of my concerns, and do you know why? Because I’ve set boundaries.
Here are a few rules I follow when working from home:
Set working hours and abide by them.
No work is allowed outside of the office – and especially not in the bedroom.
Get dressed every day. That might seem kind of like, duh, but really, it is important to get up, take a shower and get dressed as though you are going to the office.
Take a lunch break. This is also a duh, but I like keeping to a schedule. Not only that, but it is important to take that time to decompress.
TAKE WEEKENDS! I will admit, sometimes I do work on the weekends, but only when it is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, I make sure that I take a few days to myself.
So what do you think, could you follow these rules? Do you already work from home and have a few tips to add?
Breaking up is hard to do, especially when it’s with your company’s website. It’s one of the hard truths of life that someday you will grow up and be forced to move on to the next big thing. So now you have a choice, go into it willingly with arms open wide, ready to embrace the challenge, or go along kicking and screaming fighting it every step of the way.
Here at Actively Implementing Marketing Solutions we’ve chosen to embrace change, which is why you will soon be visiting us at a whole new site!
When we logged on before, we could see the flaws, and we knew that in order to grow we needed a website that was not only visually pleasing, but also functional and easy to navigate.We hope that when you visit us now you will notice that we have improved our copy, added our blog to the website itself, and you can now easily browse through all our available services.
The best part about all this is that we’re doing it on our own with the help of WordPress. This way, we have 100% control over how our site looks and what it is saying. We’ve also upgraded our logo to reflect the changes we are making to our system – sleek, recognizable and easy to read.
This wasn’t a decision we came to lightly, and it has taken a lot of work, but we think that the final result will be one that we can be proud of. We encourage anyone who isn’t happy with their current website to make the appropriate changes so that when you hand out a business card you are happy to direct others to your site.
We plan to go live with the new site sometime in the coming weeks. Check back with us for updates!
Speaking from experience: No, it is not OK to take images from Google and post them to your own blog or website.
Copyright infringement on the internet is a real thing and it can cost you big bucks; trust us, we know, and so do thousands of other bloggers. Ask Kari DePhillips of The Content Factory or Roni Loren over at BlogHer. Both were hit with copyright infringement penalties in excess of $8,000 for posting a copyrighted photo to their personal or their client’s blog without permission.
You read that right, $8,000 just for using a photo.
The problem is, where copyrights are concerned, a photo is never just a photo; it is another person’s intellectual property.
We did the same thing here at AIMS, and honestly, it was a mistake. We found a great picture on Google, linked it back to the original source and posted away; all the while thinking it would be fine because we provided a photo credit.
Several months and countless blog posts later we were hit with a fat fine and a notice to take the photo down.
Ignorance is no excuse and it is a lesson we have learned well. We were not operating within the Fair Use guidelines for images.
What is Fair Use? It is a provision in US copyright law that allows the use of a copyrighted material on a limited basis for a specific purpose without the permission of the copyright holder.
So, now you may be asking, is my use fair? To answer that question you should be using the four factor test:
1. What is the purpose of use?
Nonprofit, educational, scholarly or research tend to be the most acceptable forms of use.
2. What is the nature or type of work?
Content should be published and fact based.
3. Hoe much have you used?
Use only what is necessary – less is better.
4. What is the market effect?
If it is not possible to gain permission to use the photo, or it will not effect the market value of the photo it may be acceptable to use.
Our advice? DO NOT USE GOOGLE TO PULL IMAGES FOR YOUR WEBSITE.
We started using royalty-free images exclusively, and it has been worth the investment. If you want to avoid costly penalties or lawsuits, it would be in your best interest financially to do the same.
Selling insurance on social media can be a mean feat. Depending on the content, you run the risk of alienating your followers, or worse, losing some of them altogether. Here are a few of our tips for engaging your current followers and gaining new ones.
Get Real
We like to put people in boxes – our teachers are teachers, police officers are police officers, and insurance agents are insurance agents. You need to show your clients that there is more to you and your company than just pencil pushing.
Give your posts a little personality: put up some pictures from the office holiday party (but keep it classy) or let your followers know when one of your employees welcomes a new little bundle of joy into the world.
Don’t Alienate Your Facebook Fans
I bet a lot of you out there have liked a page on Facebook before only to immediately unfollow it or hide their updates. It happens all the time – you log in and are inundated with special offers or BUY THIS NOW! propaganda. And let us tell you, it really turns a follower off.
If someone took the time to like your page, then they are already one of your fans. You don’t need to get up in their face to try and convince them to like you – they already do.
Learn to “Creep”
The kids these days call it “creeping”, we call it research. Here’s what you do: Get on Twitter and log into advanced search. Look up the keyword insurance, set the place to the city your business is located and hit the search button.
Voila. You now have a list of everyone within 15 miles of you who is tweeting about insurance.So take this opportunity and respond to their questions or comments. There is no one better to answer their insurance based questions than an actual insurance agent.
Post Testimonials
You know who people trust? Other people. It’s why we spend so much time on Yelp and TripAdvisor. You can hawk your own wares ad nauseam, but unless you have someone else to back you up, a current customer for example, you don’t have credibility. Every so often you should pick out a testimonial or two and share it on your social media sites.
Scare Tactics
It might be cliché, but sharing horror stories works. There is a reason you went into the insurance business: To protect people and their belongings. Every insurance agent out there has a story to tell of a off the wall claim or a common claim. Let your followers know this, and let them know that the unthinkable really can happen to anyone.
Follow along with AIMS for more great insurance marketing tips and tricks!
Hello all! I just returned from three days in Phoenix, Arizona at the 2014 WordPress camp. I got to listen to amazing speakers and gain a whole lot of WordPress knowledge! I would like to tell you what I took away from WordCampPhx:
One: I am not a designer or a developer; I am a marketer.
Two: Building a Website is an art form that takes years of practice to perfect.
Three: I will not be building a php website any time soon.
Now that you know this blog will not be about those three things let me tell you about the event itself. I found this event great for any freelancer or individual who is starting their own business.
Why? Because you are introduced to new technologies and the people who know how to use them. Not only that but, you learn the best practices for web design, content creation, customer engagement, legal issues, branding, and how to ask for the money you are worth. This conference would also be great for anyone who wants to get down and dirty in the world of website design and development. Unfortunately, every time I tried to listen to the masterful designers and developers at WordCamp Phoenix I found myself lost as the content was going in one ear and out the other with no comprehension.
A few things I took away from WordCampPhx:
Use Google Analytics!
Scream your call to action and tell your clients what you want them to do. (No really, be bossy.)
Know what you want from your website.
Why do you want a website?
What do you want people to do when viewing your website?
What do people want from you?
Where are people when viewing your website?
All of the Speakers did a great job and I want to recognize the few I was able to see this weekend. Thank You for sharing your knowledge and insight:
Betsy Cohen
Ken Granger
Joe Casabona
Stacey harris
Joe Manna
Jennifer Bourn
Ruth Carter
Elisa Camahort Page
Chris Lema
Heather Hogan
Troy Dean
Patrick Rauland
John Gough
Without all of the camp’s sponsors we would not have been able to attend such a lavish event for the small ticket price of $50.00. I was truly impressed by the event and I would like to thank the event organizers, volunteers, as well because with out their hard work this would not be such a special event.
We know that fresh content is important in driving consumers to a website.With the recent uptick in content marketing however, we are seeing fewer and fewer quality posts. You really can’t log into Twitter or Facebook without running into some infograph or another.
Flooding the web with content might get you page views, but is it really generating leads for your business?
As a business owner, you are the one who knows what your clients are looking for. Which is why we want your input as we plan out your content marketing schedules for the year.
Content calendars allow us to plan around key events in your industry and tailor content to fit current events. If you see a gap in your content plan, we can easily rearrange the schedule to fit the needs of your business. The further ahead we plan the more consistent we are in our postings.
Here is a sample calendar we have made for some of our current clients:
Our goal is to help you build a brand, and that brand relies on a constant stream of digital content.We want the content we produce to represent you and the image you are trying to project for your business.
Blogging is fun; it’s informal and it is one of the best ways to connect with potential customers.So tell us, how do you want to connect? What would you like to see more of? Or conversely, less of?Would you like to see more current event blogs? Safety tips? Commercial lines?
At AIMS we are here to work for you.Contact us and let us know what you would like to see done in 2014 to help build your brand. We will be happy to build a custom content calendar for your business!
