9 Ways to Measure the Success of Your Social Media Campaign

 

Sometimes business owners complain that it’s hard to track the effectiveness of social media marketing (SMM) and online marketing in general, but in reality, you can learn so much more from an online campaign than you can from most traditional strategies.

Since people leave a “trail” everywhere they go on the internet, you can see exactly how many folks are talking about your brand, their feelings about it, what they are doing on your pages, and more. With ordinary campaigns, you never really know who is seeing your message or how they react to it.

There is a multitude of ways to measure the success of your social media efforts, but here are some you should definitely not ignore:

Share of Voice

In terms of social media, share of voice refers to how much of the online conversation is devoted to your brand over your competitors.

Knowing this information provides valuable insight into how many social media users are aware of your business and find you worth discussing.  Obviously, you want more people talking about you than the competition, and examining this metric will tell you where you stand and which channels are in need of improvement.

To find your share of voice, simply divide the number of conversations/mentions of your brand by the total conversations/mentions of all other competing brands. Or, to make things easier, you can use a free tool, such as Social Mention, or invest in a social monitoring program like Radian6.

Brand Volume

In addition to comparing your number of mentions to the competition, you should also judge them against your previous history to gauge how your efforts are working.

Comparing your numbers on a week-to-week or month-to-month basis can give you an idea of the overall trend (whether it’s up, down, or the same). And definitely take special notice of how things change at the start of a new strategy. There’s no sense doing the same things over and over if you aren’t seeing any growth.

Measure Sentiment

Of course, just tracking mentions of your brand doesn’t really tell the whole story. After all, it doesn’t help to have a large share of voice if most of the comments are negative. Thus, you also need to monitor the sentiment behind the conversations — i.e. are people satisfied or unsatisfied with your business.

There are sentiment analysis tools that can track this, but let’s face it, computers aren’t exactly the best judge of emotion and incapable of understanding sarcasm. So, to get an accurate measurement, you need to examine this manually.

Read through your mentions and mark them as positive, negative, or neutral. Monitor them over time and see how they change. Hopefully, the good will significantly outweigh the bad. If you have a lot of neutral comments, you may need to step up your marketing efforts and show consumers what you really have to offer.

Engagement

Not only do you want people discussing your brand in general, but you also want them talking to you and interacting with your other followers. Social media is meant for… well, socializing, so if people aren’t commenting, replying, and joining in on your page’s discussions, then you are missing the point of social media.Fans, Google+ circle members, etc., or have your numbers remained stagnant?

If you’re not seeing much increase, try looking back at a time where you received the highest growth, and try to determine what caused the spike. Did you post some great photos, link to a particular article, or get the attention of a social media influencer? Once you determine the cause, try to recreate the formula.

Also, the more you can engage your followers, the more likely they are to become loyal to your business and share your brand with others — the crux of any SMM campaign.

Increased Followers/Fans

Perhaps the simplest, yet still important, data to track is your level of audience growth. In other words, are you consistently getting more Twitter followers, Facebook 

If you’ve always struggled to find an audience, it is likely time to reevaluate the type of content you’re delivering.

That said, remember, success in social media isn’t just a numbers game — always shoot for quality over quantity. There’s no point having thousands of followers if they’re not genuinely interested in your brand.

Click-Through Rate to Site Links

As with everything in internet marketing, links matter. One of the main purposes of nearly all social media campaigns is to drive traffic to the business‘ other web properties (whether it’s their main website, a microsite, or something else) for the purposes of sales, conversions, or awareness.

So, you should always monitor whether people are using your links and their behavior after they land on your site. There are several ways to monitor this, including using Google Analytics, to see where your inbound traffic is originating, and to discover other important data, such as unique page views, time on page, and total pages viewed.

Again, this is without a doubt something you should pay particular attention to while running contests or special incentives, so you can see if they are working or not.

Platform Reach

Platform reach refers to the strength of your brand presence on multiple social networks. Put simply, do you have a lot of mentions on all the major social networks?

Even if you don’t, this isn’t necessarily a problem since not every platform will fit your demographic. For instance, if you primarily want to target 20 to 35-year-old males, you may not be concerned about having a presence on Pinterest, which is very female dominated.

The point is to make sure you have a strong reach across the networks that most benefit your business, and if you find you’re not getting much attention in a particular platform, you should make a point to put more effort into that area of the campaign.

Mobile Mentions

With the popularity of smartphones, tablets, and people’s tendency to be always on the move, social media is becoming more of a mobile activity, and an increase in your mobile mentions and interactions is a good sign your business is keeping up with the trend.

Also, tracking consumer’s mobile dealings with your brand is vital if you have QR codes, mobile coupons, etc. as part of your strategy.

Return on Effort

When you are analyzing your marketing results in so many different detailed areas, sometimes it’s hard to see the forest through the trees, so to speak. In other words, is your SMM (as a whole) worth the effort you’re putting in?

A social media management tool can make it easier to see the overall picture, or you can devise your own monitoring system. Either way, it’s important to calculate your total growth against the time and money you are devoting to SMM.

Only you know exactly what your time is worth, but a good campaign should ultimately lead to an increase in conversions and sales. If you aren’t seeing this then it is time to reevaluate. You may want to consider hiring this area of your business out to a professional social media manager who can focus on it exclusively and has the know-how to deliver results.

Does your business use the metrics above (or others) in analyzing your social media campaign? If so, which do you find the most useful?

Culled from Spark Logix

Post Tags:#online marketing#Social media#social media 

20 Tips For Dissertation Writing

Writing a dissertation has always been a difficult task and most agree with that. You need to approach it very thoughtfully, as a dissertation helps to define not only your academic but also your future success. By saying this, we mean that it’s not enough to just concentrate on the task to succeed, but also you need to know the dissertation structure, its basics, and the main things to pay attention to or to avoid. This is a type of paper that requires high skill and deep knowledge of the subject matter.

Here we will walk you through our short guide in order to help you write a dissertation. We will give you some dissertation writing tips that will be handy for those who look for help writing a dissertation.

So fasten your seatbelts, we’re taking off!

20 Tips For Dissertation Writing

1. Don’t wait too long to start: People are used to thinking that this is the simplest part of the work, especially when the real work is done. But don’t overestimate writing, students usually struggle when it comes to analyzing all the data after the main research phase. Keep in mind that it’s never too early to start.

2. Take notes: You will be recording the results of your research in order to save time while searching for the needed information. And you will avoid plagiarism by citing all sources of information. If you have any doubts about the originality of your work, you could use a free plagiarism checker so as not to worry about it while defending your dissertation.

3. Keep in contact with your advisor: Most people are afraid of showing their papers until they believe the work is done which could be a big mistake. It’s important to stay in touch with your advisor during the process of writing the dissertation. This will help you see the common mistakes and to see the text from another perspective.

4. Dedicate enough time to the task: Make it part of your daily routine. Think that a single hour per day is a good habit just like going to the gym. 

5. Don’t be alone: You can form or join a dissertation writing group; your university even may have a special group dedicated to students who are in the process of writing a dissertation. This will be a good point for you as you will be able to show your paper to the others, share your opinion about some work, improve your speaking skills, or overcome some fears (if you have some). This is a good way to find inspiration and share your experiences.

6. Don’task your friends about how much they’ve already done because this will only interrupt your progress as you will only think about their papers, comparing the results.

7. Use humor and jokes but only if it is appropriate.

8. Don’t be afraid of moving to another section if you get stuck: If you feel that you are currently stuck but there’s another section where you can be more effective at the moment – move to it. Don’t turn this into a habit, we should always be ready to work on the hard part.

9. Don’t think that your first draft is your final draft: Write in order to rewrite different parts of the text. We all aim for perfection, this is ok.

10. Don’t forget about resting: Eat well, feed your brain, and try to avoid sleepless nights. You have to stay productive, which is impossible if you don’t get enough rest.

11. Avoid getting stuck on introductions. It’s usually easier to create the main body of the chapters and then return to the introduction. This is a basic rule in writing a dissertation as many people are used to getting stuck on the introduction and wasting time while they aren’t sure what to write about.

12. Focus on the task. Your results also depend on discipline, but the most important thing is to help your brain concentrate on the task and avoid multi-tasking.

13. You may also think about changing your laptop/pc keyboard to hardcopy paper.

14. Go for a walk: Let your brain breathe more – walking helps you to promote creativity. Give it a shot and you will be surprised with the result.

15. Capture your thoughts: You will want to capture your thoughts during walks. You can use a small notepad or voice memo on your phone.

16. Talk to the others: Tell your friend about your ideas, listen to their opinions or discuss your ideas with the teacher. This way you will be able to learn something new or ensure that you are on the right track with your paper.

17. Set a deadline: Try to set them a bit earlier than the official deadline date. This will help you be more productive.

18. Take breaks: it’s always good to take a little break as during the work our brain can get tired and that is why you are recommended to take short breaks from time to time in order to rest.

19. Read your paper: You will likely find some hidden mistakes (logical or grammatical).

20. Don’t be afraid to change your dissertation supervisor if he or she is not right. Do pay attention to your reasons, as they have to be valid (such as the supervisor isn’t able to give you appropriate advice, he or she is always busy, etc.). Usually, the department will grant your request.

Culled from Papers Owl

Some Hard Truths You Need to Know About Writing

Writing is not hard, especially if you have a good command of the English language, or whatever language you are writing in. And many people have always said that writing is way easier than speaking because all you have to do is write, and not bother about the pitch, the tone or the emotions your voice is trying to portray. This may or may not be true, depending on the perspective you are looking at it from, but it will be a discussion for another day.

Whether writing is simple or not, there are some truths that are very important for you to know. Whether you are a long-time writer or just a prospect, you still need to know these truths because they will guide you and help you become a better author.

Some Hard Truths You Need to Know About Writing

1. You will always have critics.

When it comes to writing, you can never please everybody. Someone would always have a different opinion or a negative thing to say about your writing no matter how hard you work on it. Not everyone would agree with what you have written or the method you use to write. Be okay with that. Just do your part and write without errors. Write with correct and well-researched facts. Then leave the rest to the critics.

2. There are times when you will have to rewrite your work multiple times.

This might sound hard, but it is the truth. When writing, sometimes you might think that you are on the right track, then along the line you will find out that you have gone away from your line of thoughts, or that what you are writing does not seem to make sense. Then you will have to start all over again. When you are at this point, it is better to start all over again than to patch things up and just edit. It might not turn out well in the long run.

3. Your writing can always be better.

No matter how many years you have been writing or the kind of experience you think you might have gained, your writing can always be better. You have to keep learning different ways to make your writing better. Even if you have a bestseller or you have won numerous awards, you still have to keep learning and keep getting better. There is always something new to learn.

4. Not all your ideas would see the light of day.

You need to know that not all the ideas you have about your book would see the light of day. Your manuscript might be entirely rejected, or you might have to edit and rework some parts of it. You have to be okay with that and work around it rather than feeling bad and perhaps thinking you are not good enough.

5. Writing is not just about you.

This might sound strange because you are the one doing the writing. The book was your idea. The title was your idea. And your name was written on it.

But it is not all about you. It is about your readers, the people you are writing for. They have to be able to enjoy the book, learn from it and love it. This means that you must consider your audience when you are writing.

Final note

One thing that can help you deal with these hard truths is imagining that you are writing a book to people outside your region, outside your culture, people entirely different from you. When you have this at the back of your mind, you will be able to work around your ideas and books to make them suitable for everyone and anyone to read.

Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writing.

How to Market an Event: 50 Event Marketing Tips

The date is set. The venue is booked. Now you just need to get people to show up. Worried? Maybe a little? Don’t be.

If you’re not sure how to market an event, here’s a list of 50 event marketing tips. You don’t need a big advertising budget or celebrity endorsements to make this work. Just use this list as your event marketing plan. Here are our best practices for filling a room…

 

50 Event Marketing Tips

 

The event page

The cornerstone of all the promotion efforts is the event page or website. This could be a page or website specific to the event, or if you don’t have a site for the event, use an EventBrite page. Either way, make it compelling by including ALL of these elements:

1. Compelling description

Clearly indicate the topic, time, place and who should attend. The description should include specific benefits for each type of attendee. Make it brief and scan-able. Use third-party endorsements when possible, such as a quote from a previous event.

2. Pre-event curation of content 

Curation of tangible content leading up to and/or during the event for event attendees to take away from the event (this could be videos, photos, t-shirts or just about anything.) Done right (not SWAG,) this can add to the buzz leading up to the event, tap new audiences for attendees and keep the event property top of mind to departing attendees. Content is about capturing great memories!

3. Speaker pictures and bios

Great speakers draw crowds like a magnet. The speaker page should show their faces and list their credentials.

4. Event image

The image will appear when the page is shared on social networks. It could be the event logo, a picture of a room full of people, or just a genuine smiling face.

5. Event-related videos

Create simple video interviews of the speakers and post them here. These can be produced quickly using Google Hangouts or Skype. It’s easier than you think and very effective later on. If you ask nice, maybe the speakers will make a little video for you, like Jay Acunzo, founder of Unthinkable, did for us for Content Jam.

6. Prominent “register now” button

Without a clearly visible button and a call to action, you might not get any action…

Pre-event email

If you have a list, your best channel for event marketing may be email. If you don’t, you may ask partners, speakers, or friends to mention the event in their emails (see “Affiliate Partners” below). Regardless of the list, use these event marketing email guidelines:

7. Subject line

Subject lines that inspire awe, anger, or anxiety lead to higher open rates. Studies have shown (slide 20) that subject lines with lukewarm emotional content are less likely to be opened. Try a subject line such as “10 things you miss if you aren’t at this event.”

8. Send during the weekend

Consider sending an email on the weekend. Since few companies do it, open and clickthrough rates may be higher. And when possible attendees see it on a weekend, they may feel less stressed for time and more willing to commit a few hours to your event. They may be in a social mood and even invite a friend.

9. Video thumbnail

Show a clickable image of a speaker interview video in the email. Video thumbnails in emails can improve clickthrough rates.

10. Social proof

If you have positive feedback from previous events or credentials for the speakers, use them as quotes in your emails and on the website.

11. Send and send again

Plan to send an event marketing email several times. For large events, email once months in advance to announce the speaker lineup and to announce early-bird registration discounts.

Email just before this discount ends, and again as the event approaches. Finally, send an email a few days before with reminders of the time, place for registrants and a final pitch for new registration.

Pre-event social activity

Events are social occasions. So of course, your event marketing should use social media. Here’s how to promote the event with social media and blog posts:

12. The hashtag

Pick an event hashtag that’s short, and ideally, unique to your event. You’re going to always, always use this hashtag in every tweet and post.

13. Links in social media bios

Usually your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn bios will link to your website. But when you’re promoting a big event, consider changing these links so they send visitors directly to the event page.

14. Find relevant people on Twitter

Use Twitter Advanced Search to find people who are interested in your topic and live nearby. Mention them in tweets about the event or tweet to them directly with a friendly invite.

15. Tweeeeeet!

Unlike email, most tweets are missed as they flow through the social streams of your audience. So tweet early and often. Here’s a list of reasons to tweet before the event. Many of these tweets can be scheduled far in advance, using tools like MeetEdgar and Buffer.

Registration opens

Early-bird registration is ending soon

Countdown: “Just X days until the event!”

Reminder of time and location

Thank your sponsors (mention sponsors)

“Just saw Jane’s presentation. Wow!” (mention speakers)

“See you at the event!” (mention registrants)

Thanks for sharing, posting and re-tweeting (mention anyone who shared)

Tweets with testimonial quotes about a speaker (find these on LinkedIn)

Tweet to the pre-event blog post using a quote from the interview. (mention speaker)

“Thanks for registering! See you there!” (mention registrants, especially social media influencers)

16. …then follow people

After these tweets, follow a few people who may be interested in your topic. When you follow someone, you might get their attention and they may notice the event. It’s best to follow people when you have a compelling event promotion tweet at the top of your stream.

17. Post the event on Facebook and LinkedIn

Of course! Make sure that the image from the event page appears. Mention speakers, encouraging them to share it with their networks. Post again with videos and remind people of registration deadlines.

18. Registration thank you page

On the thank you page after the registration process, offer to let them share the event on social media. The tweet will announce that they’re going and include the hashtag and the link to the registration page. Use a Click-to-Tweet link to make this easy.

19. Registration auto-response email

Once people register, they’ll receive an email. Use this as an opportunity to suggest they follow you on Twitter. Don’t forget to mention the hashtag.

20. Other auto-response emails

If your website can send people an email when they submit a contact form, add a link to the event here.

21. Cross the streams

If you find that you’re getting traction on one social network, but not others, move the conversation around. If someone shares something on Facebook, thank them on Twitter. If someone mentions the event on Twitter, say hi to them on LinkedIn.

As you can see, we’re recommending a lot of social media activity, taking advantage of any excuse to connect, mention, post, tweet and link.

Pre-event blog posts

22. Write a pre-event blog post

For successful event marketing, begin posting on your blog a week in advance. Like the videos, this could be an interview with one or more of the speakers. Email interviews are an efficient way to produce content quickly. Just send a list of questions and post the answers when the speaker sends them back. Link to this post in the emails mentioned above.

23. Invite speakers to write guest posts

Speakers will recognize that although this takes a bit of time, there are SEO and social media benefits to guest blogging. If they do write something for you, encourage them to share that content with their networks.

ProTip: Do a guest blog post exchange with a speaker. Here is an example of how a content strategy event was promoted with two guest posts, one written by the speaker and posted on the event site, and another written by the event organizer on the speaker’s blog. 

Working with partners

24. Photo and video partners

If you don’t have the budget to hire professionals, offer free admission (or even a table in the event space) to a pro photographer or videographer in exchange for services. Make sure they commit to providing you with assets in a reasonable timeframe. And make sure you give them good exposure in exchange for their time.

25. Standardize presentations

Create a standard Powerpoint template and share it with your speakers. It may only be two slides (a title slide and an interior slide) but it will have fonts and colors that match the event theme. This will help things look good later when you share the presentations after the event (see post-event email below).

26. Affiliate partners

Create a unique promotion code for each partner and speaker. They can use this code when they promote the event, offering a discount to people on their social networks. Since the code is unique to that partner, you’ll know how effective that partner was at promoting the event. Now you can pay them a referral fee to that partner for those registrants.

27. Pre-written tweets

Don’t just encourage your sponsors, partners and speakers to help with promotion, make it easy for them. Write a list of compelling tweets and send them along in an email. Now they’re more likely to help and less likely to use the wrong link or hashtag.

28. Dinner and drinks

Invite speakers, sponsors, influencers and members of the press for a night out before the event. This is a chance to bond and have some fun. If you try this, you’ll likely find people referring to the dinner conversation during the event. “We were just talking about this the other night…” Strong personal connections may lead to better cohesion on the big day.

Submit to media and industry websites

29. Submit to local media outlets

Many media sites, especially the hyper-local news sites, let you post events. Find these by searching Google for “event calendars” in your city.

30. Submit to industry associations

Industry and trade associations may also allow you to submit. If the event is relevant to their audience, ask if they will accept, post or promote events from outside organizations. Chambers of commerce are often happy to promote events relevant to their members, especially if the organizers are members themselves.

31. Let the press know

There are likely journalists who cover local events. Find them by searching for similar events on news websites. Then graciously contact them with an invite, press badge or offer of a relevant article. This could be an interview with a speaker or a guest blog post from you for their website. If you successfully get their attention, you may get a bit of press!

Make your event page SEO friendly

People may be looking for your event right now! Follow these basic instructions to search optimize the event webpage or the Eventbrite registration page.

32. Target a keyword

First, we need to choose a relevant keyword. The target keyword should combine the event topic, the word “event,” and the name of your city. Examples: “orthodontist event Tulsa,” “campfire safety event Charlotte” or “vegan cooking event Chicago.” For tips on finding more specific keywords, take a look at this post: How to Research Keywords.

33. Title tags and headers

Use a title tag and header that include your target keyword. In the title tag, it’s best to put the name of the event last, so the keyword appears first. This helps indicate relevance to Google. For example, an event for veterinarians in Texas may benefit from a website with a title tag such as “Veterinarian Event in Dallas – PetCon Dallas.”

34. Search-friendly description

The event page should have a nice, detailed event description, which includes the keyword several times. If it’s long, break up the text into short, concise paragraphs. Use lots of formatting, including headers, sub headers, internal links, bullet lists, etc. You can find more advice on this SEO checklist.

35. Linking

Internal links are important for search engine rankings, so make sure to link to the event page from other pages on your site including older blog posts. This will guide visitors to the page, and also help search engines know that the page is relevant.

During the event

Live tweeting during events is a huge opportunity for event marketing and promotion. Registrants will be watching the hashtag, so fill that stream with interesting content.

36. Tweet quotes

Listen for juicy nuggets in conversations and in presentations. Mention the person who said it and use the hashtag.

37. Share pictures

Make sure to take pictures of people, speakers and attendees, as things are happening and share them on Twitter. Smartphones make this easy. Mention people and use the hashtag.

38. Hold a contest or drawing

Even if you’re giving away something small, like a book or a gift from a sponsor, use this as an opportunity to gather email addresses (with permission of course) and then share a picture of the winner holding the gift on the social networks.

The end of the event isn’t the end of the event marketing. After the event, follow up with activities that will make your next event an even bigger success.

Post-event blog post

Event recap blog posts are often easy and fun to write. Post them on the event site or submit them as a guest post to a relevant blog or local or industry/association website. They can include all kinds of relevant content.

39. Summary of presentations

These summaries can include quotes of positive feedback from a follow-up survey.

40. Speakers’ presentations

As with the photos, it’s ideal if the presentations are embedded into the event site or blog post using a tool such as Slideshare.

41. Gallery of event photos

Ideally, these galleries are embedded into the event site or recap blog post using tools such as Flickr. If so, you’ll be sending traffic to your site, rather than a photo-sharing website.

42. List the “top tweets” from the event

These are easy to find if you used a hashtag. It’s even easier with Storify.

43. List the speakers, sponsors and attendees

List.ly is a very social way to build lists and embed them into a website. This kind of list may help attendees find each other afterwards and get a better networking benefit from the event.

Post-event email

The email follow-up to registrants is a way to say thank you, share important links and keep a bit of buzz going…

44. Link to a survey

Surveys are a great way to get feedback, but they’re also a way to gather testimonials that you can use for future events.

45. Link to post-event blog posts

Since you already gathered up your best content and posted it, linking to it in these emails should be easy.

46. Invite registrants to follow you on the social networks

Some of your registrants may not follow you yet. Never miss a chance to promote your social media accounts!

47. Invite registrants to be notified of the next event

Some of your registrants may not be subscribed yet. Link to your email signup form to grow your list and promote your email marketing.

Post-event social activity

Now it’s time to share stories, say thank you and stay connected. Here are some social media activities.

48. Thank you tweets

Show your gratitude after the event by thanking the speakers, sponsors and attendees in follow-up tweets and posts. This is good for networking.

49. Post photos

Put a few of your best photos on Facebook and Google+. Be sure to tag and mention people.

50. Keep sharing

In the days after the event, listen for tweets, mentions and blog posts from others. Hopefully, the hashtag makes this easy. When you see these mentions, share them!

Culled from Orbit Media

The Best Way to Meet Customer Expectations

The more you know and understand the background and behaviour of your audience and their needs, the better you can prepare your approach to dealing with them.

Human behaviour is a function of the environment in which the individual finds himself. In business, striving to have our customers’ background information can help us identify their needs, concerns and inquiries.

Our competency in establishing this knowledge will be enhanced through effective communication skills, empathy/emotional stability and efficiency in handling difficult situations and customers. Customer service attitude is beyond initiating greeting and smiling to a customer. A satisfactory skill set must be attained to be an effective customer service representative that is meeting up with customer expectations.

Gaining, retaining and maintaining customers in a friendly working relationship, while at the same time maintaining a business-like relationship which brings about loyalty on the side of the customer, is a necessary skill needed by salesmen, brands and service providers who aim to control and dominate a market.

 

Who is a Customer?

Customers are the people that patronize us in our business and who go away with a positive impression of our firm.

A customer may pay for our goods and services but must achieve satisfaction for their expenses. The success of the four essences of marketing, i.e. product, promotion, price and place, is based on the continuous patronage of the customer.

A business is dependent on the customer. Therefore, an effective customer service campaign is brought on by delivering service excellence. It is the quality delivery of output. Customer expectations for patronage range from customer to customer, but on a general note, every customer requires the following:

 

Some Customer Expectations

• To be given awesome service because many are more likely to give a repeated business or referral after a good service experience. Likewise, many customers may stop doing business with a company due to poor customer service experience and failure to resolve their problems in a timely manner.
• Most customers make purchasing decisions as a result of the influence of visual factors in our workplace, website, staff appearance and approach. Many make judgments about a firm’s credibility based on these factors.
• Customers like it when you underpromise but deliver beyond expectation. However, reverse expectation is expected if it is otherwise.
• Sustaining valuable content and brands and presenting new ideas for customers enhance their experience.
• Consistency in driving and maintaining professional core values will be a measure of loyalty. Measuring satisfaction on customer journeys is more predictive of overall customer satisfaction than measuring happiness through each individual interaction.
• Pay a lot of attention to the few customers who may have complaints or observations because for every one complaint you get, there are more unhappy customers who have remained silent. Investing in a feedback mechanism is crucial. In this case, on-the-spot attention in resolving customer wants is advisable above the drop-box comment technique.
• Steady availability on speed dial paid or toll-free lines for making home delivery requests will draw your customers to you.
• Rewarding loyal customers through socially responsible perks will likely increase the volume of goods and services sold. Loyal customers are more likely to recommend a product, service or brand.
• Quality customer service forms the basis of the customer experience. Most customers’ main interaction with a business is through interacting with a business’ employee, either by visiting a store or by speaking on the phone. In essence, the company representative has the opportunity to deliver excellent customer service and thus create a great customer experience through proper motivation. If you take care of your employees, they will in turn take care of the customers.

TemiDayo Babatunde is an Associate of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and can be reached via his LinkedIn (chatwitdayo@gmail.com).

Post Tags:#brand#business#Market

Where Do Successful Authors Get Their Most Brilliant Writing Ideas?

Do writing ideas just fall out of the sky? Is it reasonable to sit around waiting for a great idea to land on your lap, so you can write the next big bestseller?

I don’t think so.

When it comes to developing worthwhile writing ideas, it’s either feast or famine for most of us. Some writers have so many ideas, we can’t decide which one to pursue. Other writers struggle to find something worth writing about; they don’t have enough ideas.

And even if you have a compelling idea, the idea itself might not sustain a story or a poem. It’s not enough to have a concept: you need characters, settings, plots, subplots, and themes.

When writers are at a loss for ideas, they often self-diagnose with writer’s block. I believe that’s a misdiagnosis. People struggling with writer’s block aren’t at a loss for ideas. Many are merely dismissing their own good ideas (often because they aren’t perceived as original enough), or they don’t want to put a lot of effort into looking for ideas. I also think that poor health or stress are sometimes misread as writer’s block, in which case the only cure is to take better care of oneself.

However, for the rest of us who are struggling to find the right ideas, there’s no shortage of sources we can turn to for inspiration. Why not start at the top? Why not find out where some of the most successful authors have gotten their brilliant writing ideas? If that doesn’t inspire us, I don’t know what will.

No Imagination Necessary

First, let us dispel the myth that if you want to be a writer, you must have a vivid imagination. Plenty of writers have found success by being simple observers.

Mark Twain is a shining example. His idea for Huckleberry Finn wasn’t an idea at all; he simply based the character on someone he knew from real life. It turns out that the beloved character was practically a replica of Twain’s childhood friend, Tom Blankenship:

“In Huckleberry Finn I have drawn Tom Blankenship exactly as he was. He was ignorant, unwashed, insufficiently fed; but he had as good a heart as ever any boy had. His liberties were totally unrestricted. He was the only really independent person—boy or man—in the community, and by consequence he was tranquilly and continuously happy and envied by the rest of us.” — Mark Twain

Have you ever known someone with a standout personality? Such a person can influence your work in the same way that Tom Blankenship influenced Mark Twain.

Political, Religious, and Social Commentary

Of course, Mark Twain is not the only author to successfully draw from real life. During the Great Depression, hundreds of thousands of people migrated from the Dust Bowl to California and other western states. John Steinbeck (one of my literary heroes) told their story in The Grapes of Wrath, which was developed from a series of articles that ran in the San Francisco News in 1936.

But it was more than a story about people struggling with poverty in a downtrodden economic climate:

“I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [the Great Depression and its effects].” — John Steinbeck

Steinbeck’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel is a thoughtful commentary on social injustice and the forces behind poverty and oppression.

In today’s world, which is rampant with political, religious, and sociological commentary, one need not look far for writing ideas. If you can find an issue that matters to you, just look to the news and documentaries for true stories that you can use for inspiration.

Dreaming Things Up

Creative people from all walks of life from artists to inventors have found answers and ideas within the magical world of dreams. One of the most successful living authors of our time, Stephen King, attributes a dream as the inspiration for Misery, a novel that was also made into a film and an off-Broadway play:

“Like the ideas for some of my other novels, that came to me in a dream…I fell asleep on the plane, and dreamt about a woman who held a writer prisoner and killed him, skinned him, fed the remains to her pig and bound his novel in human skin. His skin, the writer’s skin. I said to myself, ‘I have to write this story.’ Of course, the plot changed quite a bit in the telling. But I wrote the first forty or fifty pages right on the landing here, between the ground floor and the first floor of the hotel.”– Stephen King

Unfortunately, many of us don’t remember our dreams, and if we do, they’re hazy at best. Luckily, there are some proven techniques to help us learn how to remember our dreams. Try a few of them and see if you can’t get your next big writing idea while you’re sound asleep.

Making Connections

Suzanne Collins broke the mold with The Hunger Games, arguably the most successful post-Harry Potter series to date. The books captured the hearts and minds of untold millions of young adult readers, and the films turned the story into a cultural phenomenon. So how did she do it? Where did Collins get the idea for a dystopian, young adult novel set in a future where citizens are required to tune in to an annual reality show so they can watch teenagers fight to the death in an oversized arena?

“One night, I was lying in bed and I was very tired, and I was just sort of channel surfing on television. And, I was going through, flipping through images of reality television where there were these young people competing for a million dollars or a bachelor or whatever. And then I was flipping and I was seeing footage from the Iraq War. And these two things began to sort of fuse together in a very unsettling way, and that is when I, really, I think was the moment where I really got the idea for Katniss’s story.” — Suzanne Collins

Look at the world around you. There are unimaginable things happening everywhere. Some are horrific; others are endearing or bizarre. What connections can you make in the world today to prompt yourself to imagine what the world will be like tomorrow?

No Excuses! Writing Ideas Are Everywhere

So much for writer’s block — and so much for imagination. We writers need only be influenced and inspired by the world (and the people) around us.

“You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we’re doing it.” — Neil Gaiman

You know what that means: no more excuses! You’re a writer, so go out there, find your writing ideas, and then write. Write your hearts out.

Source: Writing Forward

5 Reasons Rejection is Good for Your Growth

 

Chances are, you read the title of this post and huffed, “I hate rejection! Rejection, I will dance upon your grave!”

The good news is that if you are to sustain your growth as a writer, you’ll never stop experiencing rejection, so you won’t have to be shining up your dancing shoes anytime soon.

Wait — did I say the good news?

I did. In my career as a magazine writer, book author, content marketer, blogger, and copywriter, I’ve been rejected well over 500 times. Yes, I counted.

But instead of seeing “no-thank-yous” as a sign that I should just give up and get a real job, I see them as a tool for boosting my career success.

Here are five reasons to consider rejection your bestest friend …

#1. Rejection teaches you how to stop being rejected

In the late 90s, I was trying without success to break into the national women’s magazines. Every pitch was met with rejection.

Then, one day, I received an email from an editor at Woman’s Day. She said she liked my query — in fact, she wanted my permission to showcase it at a writers’ conference as a pitch that was almost-but-not-quite there — but that I didn’t do enough research on the topic. Why don’t I expand on the idea and send it to her again?

So I did a few interviews, added some quotes to my pitch, included a few examples of what I would include in the article, and turned it in.

Behold! My first women’s magazine assignment.

And I went on to write for Woman’s Day again, and also sold more than a dozen ideas to Family Circle (and became their highest-paid writer) using my new, well-researched query approach.

Of course, not all rejections will be full of friendly tips from prospects, but you can learn even from boilerplate “No thanks” responses.

For example, if you’re getting a lot of these impersonal rejections, that’s a sign you’re doing something wrong and need to reconsider your approach. Something about your letter of introduction, pitch, offer, or samples may be lacking.

#2. Rejection allows you into an exclusive, world class club

Ever hear of The 4-Hour Workweek — you know, that New York Times bestseller that created a worldwide movement to work less and earn more? Author Tim Ferriss was rebuffed 26 times before he found a publisher willing to take him on.

Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, was turned down 30 times. King was so frustrated he chucked his manuscript into the trash. His wife fished it out and encouraged him to submit it just one more time.

JK Rowling suffered countless rejections before scoring a hit with the Harry Potter series. She’s now one of the richest people in Britain.

Take heart that the rich and famous have been where you are right now, fielding no-thank-yous left and right. When you get rejected, you have something in common with the most successful writers out there.

#3. Rejection demolishes your competition

I cannot even tell you how many wannabe writers I hear from who gave up in the face of rejection.

That makes me sad, but it offers an advantage for you: The more writers out there who let “no’s” stop them, the more opportunity there will be for you to land those content writing gigs.

In other words: Fewer writers = less competition. Yay, right?

#4. Rejection helps you cut through the crap

Think of rejection as clearing the path towards your best successes.

All those prospects who are turning down your content writing offers — they’re just obstacles you need to get past before you finally reach the prospects who will hire you.

Every rejection brings you that much closer to an acceptance. Think of those famous failures we just talked about. What if Tim Ferriss had stopped at rebuff #26, or Stephen King had given up for real at #30?

They were at their final rejections, people!

Who knows which will be the final rejection on your current marketing campaign? If you’re learning from rejection and tweaking your copy and offer in response, chances are you’re getting pretty close.

#5. Rejection brings you better clients

My take on rejection is that if someone turns me down, that means we wouldn’t be a good fit.

Sayonara, sucker!

You may be thinking — especially if you’re a newish writer — that any client would be a good client, but believe me (I know from experience) that there is such a thing as a bad client, and that you don’t want one.

So the ones who turn you down? They’re sparing you from slogging through an assignment for a client that isn’t a match for you in work style, writing style, pay, or PITA (that’s Pain In The A**) level.

Even better: When you get a rejection from one prospect, that leaves room for better ones to enter your life. (Why yes, I do believe in all that woo-woo energy stuff!)

Over to you …




Why do you love (or hate) rejection? Are you on the verge of giving up?

Can you see how rejection can be used as an ally in your work, instead of merely a hard bump in the road?

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Culled from Copyblogger

• FIRST-TIME WRITERS
• FREELANCE WRITERS
• REJECTION
• WRITER'S GROWTH