How to Generate Leads with Facebook Ads

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Social media marketing has become one of the most effective ways for businesses to have success in the digital era.

In fact, 95% of adults between the ages of 18 and 34 follow brands on social media. Facebook leads the way in this category. According to Statista, Facebook has 2.2 billion active monthly users.

You can see why it’s so appealing for brands to have a presence on this platform. I hope  your company is on Facebook to.

To have success marketing on Facebook, you need to be active on a daily basis. Post content to your profile. Share photos, videos, and run promotions.

Facebook allows you to broadcast live videos to your followers. You should be taking advantage of that as well.

In fact, live videos are such an effective marketing strategy that it made my list of the top marketing trends to look for in 2018. Lots of these promotional tactics can be done  free.

But if you really want to take your social media marketing strategy to the next level, you need to run advertisements on Facebook.

Why Facebook? Well, in addition to  having the highest number of active monthly users compared to other social platforms, Facebook ads deliver a high ROI:

Obviously, running these ads isn’t free. But knowing that such a high number of marketers say  this platform delivers the highest ROI compared to other social media networks should make it worth your while.

That said, nothing is guaranteed. Not all advertisements on Facebook are successful. That’s why I created this guide.

If you are new to Facebook ads or need some improvement running your existing ones, this guide is for you. I’ll show you how to set them up and generate leads for your business.

Set your goals

First things first. Why are you running this ad? You need to determine your goal ahead of time.

There are a few reasons for this. First, you want to make sure  the ad you’re creating is aligned with your goals. It’s also much easier to measure the success of a campaign if you have a goal in mind.

But another reason why you’ll need to set up a goal first is because Facebook will ask you what you’re trying to accomplish when you’re putting the ad together.

Here’s a look at different marketing objectives for you to choose from:

As you can see, there is as an option for lead generation under the consideration column.

This will help you collect information from Facebook users interested in your business.

The cool thing about the lead generation campaign is you can set up a split test when you’re running it. I’m a big advocate of using A/B testing to maximize efficiency.

You can run tests of your campaign based on elements such as placement, audience, and delivery optimization. This makes it easier for you to measure your results and make any necessary adjustments. But we’ll discuss this concept in greater detail later.

You can also select one of the choices from the awareness column as an alternative method of generating leads.

Selecting the brand awareness option will aim to get your ad exposed to people who are most likely to pay attention to your message. A reach campaign, on the other hand, will expose your ad to the highest number of people possible.

Identify your target market

Next, you’ll have to determine who will see your ad.

No matter what type of business you have or what industry you’re in, it’s important you know your target market. In fact, knowing how to identify the target market of your startup is one of the first steps of creating a business.

Those of you who have been in operation for a while should have done this years ago.

That said, it doesn’t mean this selection will be cut and dry. You may have a diverse target market. Is this ad for everyone?

For example, let’s say your company sells a wide range of products and services. There’s a good chance you sell items intended for men and women of all ages.

Based on the goal  you’ve previously defined, your ad may be geared toward a specific segment or a larger target market.

Here’s an example of how you could set this up based on your audience:

As you can see, this ad is targeting men located in California. They are between the ages of 18 to 24 and speak English and Spanish.

Facebook allows you to get specific here. This is great because you can create multiple ads based on different segments of your target market.

Generic ads intended to reach a massive audience won’t be as successful. But if you target a specific group of people with your ads, you’ll be able to generate more leads.

All the information used is based on what each user puts in their Facebook profile. Keep in mind, this won’t be 100% accurate.

You’ll get some people who lie on their profiles about their age, gender, location, etc. But this shouldn’t be drastic enough to skew your results.

Set your budget

After you select your target market, you’ll have to determine how much money you want to spend on the ad.

Facebook makes it easy for you to set this up. Here’s what your options will look like:

This example uses a daily amount. But you can also use the total amount you’d like to spend on the lifetime of the ad.

Even though I set the daily budget to $20, it won’t always be exact. That’s because Facebook automatically shares your ad based on the most opportunities.

Certain days, the ad spend may be higher, but other days, it would be less to keep the daily average at $20. You’ll get charged based on each impression.

You can also set start and end dates for your ad. Or you can let it run continuously and stop it manually when it’s time.

Choose the format for your ad

Not all ads are the same. Facebook lets you choose which type of advertisement you want to run. Here are your options:

• video


• image


• collection


• carousel


• slideshow


• canvas

Video and image are both pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll explain what the others mean.

A collection is when display different items from your product catalog. It encourages users to shop by looking through a few items. Based on what you’re selling and the target market, these items will be customized for each person.

This is a great strategy for sales and conversions—but not necessarily lead generation. You can still use it as a marketing strategy.

Carousels allow you to display up to ten different videos or images within one advertisement. Each one would have its own link.

Slideshows use images, text, and sound to showcase your ad. Canvas ads can be opened as a full-screen display, and they are fully optimized for mobile devices.

Mobile ads are Facebook’s highest source of revenue.

That’s because businesses recognize how many Facebook users access the platform from their mobile devices.

In fact, as of January 2018, more than 95% of users access this social media network from smartphones.

But let’s get back to selecting your format. Each format has certain rules and restrictions. I’ve highlighted some of the top specifications for each one you need to keep in mind when designing your ads.

Video

Max length: 240 minutes

Ratio: 9:16 to 16:9

Text: 125 characters

Headline: 25 characters

Description: 30 characters

Sound and captions are both optional for your ads; however, it’s highly recommended that you include these features. Also, if your video thumbnail has more than 20% text, it may not have high delivery rates.

Image

File: png or jpg

Ratio: 9:16 to 16:9

Text: 125 characters

Resolution recommendation: minimum 1,200 x 628 pixels

Just like with videos, if your images contain more than 20% text, it can negatively impact the delivery rate. Make sure to limit the text on your picture ads.

Collection

Minimum image width: 600 pixels

Minimum image height: 600 pixels

Aspect ratio tolerance: 3%

Headline: 25 characters

Text: 90 characters

Carousel

Minimum cards number: 2

Maximum cards number: 10

Maximum video size: 4GB

Resolution recommendation: minimum 1080 x 1080 pixels

Link description: 20 characters

Canvas

Text: 125 characters

Minimum video length: 1 second

Maximum video length: 240 minutes

Bitrate limits: No limit for files under 1GB with 2-pass encoding

If you’ve got a vertical video ad with an aspect ratio taller than 2:3, it needs to be masked to 2:3. It’s recommended that you upload the highest possible video resolution based on the file and ratio limits.

Determine the placement and measure your results

Next, you’ll decide where you want your ads to be placed. Here’s a visual representation to show you what I’m referring to:

You can place your ad on a mobile newsfeed, desktop newsfeed, or right column advertising bar.

Mix this strategy up. This relates back to A/B testing you’d need to run to see which version delivers the best results.

Keep track of everything. See which ads are working and which ones aren’t generating enough leads.

It’s important that you constantly rotate your ads. You don’t want your audience to keep seeing the same ads over and over again.

You should also try to market to different audiences. Just make sure everything always looks professional. Focus on your call to action. Change that as well to see how that changes the results.

Advertise on Instagram

In case you didn’t know, Facebook owns Instagram.

It’s really easy for you to run Instagram ads from the same place where you’re setting up your Facebook campaigns.

Instagram has become such a popular marketing medium that 70% of hashtags on this platform are branded. Furthermore, 71% of businesses in the United States are using Instagram to promote their companies:

They’ve surpassed Twitter in this department.

If you want to stay competitive, you should be running paid ads on Instagram in addition to running them on Facebook. It’s easy to do since you’re setting them up through the same platform. You’ll just need to make a few extra clicks.

Conclusion

Having an active social media presence is an effective way to promote your brand at little to no cost. But if you want to take your social media marketing strategy to the next level, you should consider running Facebook ads.

These ads are perfect because Facebook offers tools specific for lead generation.

They are easy to set up as well. Just follow this guide as a reference to steer you in the right direction.

Start with your goals. Identify your target market. Set a budget.

After that, you’ll have to figure out which type of ad you want to run and where you want to place it. Keep all the ad specifications in mind when you’re going through this process.

Measure your results. Rotate your ads and make adjustments based on how successful they are.

You should also consider running ads on Instagram. Since those ads will be controlled from the same platform as your Facebook ads, it will be just as easy for you to set up.

If you follow these tips, you can turn your Facebook marketing strategy into a lead generation machine.

What types of Facebook ads are you running to generate more leads for your brand?

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How to Finally Stop Sexual Harassment at Work

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Turning a blind eye could be hurting your company.

April 16, 2018

6 min read

A Note From The Editor

Think your company has what it takes to make our Top Company Cultures list? Apply now.

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Whether it's in the White House, the board room or any company in America, sexual harassment is the dark reality that has faced us forever as women. We are just now feeling permission to discuss the issue. Men, it's real. Please don't minimize it. Here's one compelling reason:

Sexual harassment is costing your business a lot.

Forget the human side for a second and focus on the economic gains. If your workforce were created, trained, promoted and treated equally, your workforce engagement and productivity would improve by dramatically. That's greater revenue, greater productivity and greater innovation. In fact, researchers at the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that organizations with even a single female board member or executive member showed 15 percent more productivity than their all male competitors.

Related: Is 'That' Sexual Harassment? How to Tell, Using 'Cooper's 6 Levels.'

Without changing a single thing inside of your business, you can increase your profitability. Simply bring women to the table. No new processes, new procedures or new gadgets needed. Workforce equity is a profitable venture. And that's not even including the reduction in legal fees. Here's why:

The women sitting in your business today have earned over half of all graduate degrees, but hold only 14 percent of all leadership positions. Perceived fairness is a huge driver of a company's engagement and productivity. If your corporate culture would actually hire, train and promote fairly, that's an instant 40 percent improvement in your human capital. Not only would you increase revenue and productivity by capitalizing on your existing talent, you would create a culture that great people want to be a part of.

So, how do you make this switch-over to a better business? It's easier than you think.

Forget about policies. Focus on people.

The famous artifact that survived the downfall of Enron: the company's core values. As recently as last month, media have reported on Enron's core values: communication, respect, integrity. This is a warning signal to most businesses out there. If you aren't what you state you are as a company, then what are you? The truth lies in your corporate culture -- how people behave in the absence of rules, and when they believe no one is watching.

Related: A Step-by-Step Guide to Responding to Allegations of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

This was Enron's problem. Ditto for every company with harassment happening right now. Twenty-seven percent of women report harassment in the workplace, and that's not accounting for the unreported harassment. Given that 75 percent of all victims experience retaliation for reporting, the chances are pretty good that harassment is happening a lot more frequently than we think. Both the problem and the solution to harassment rest in your corporate culture.

But how do you change culture? Sure, criminalizing behavior is one way of shifting culture. But a slew of HR folks catching individual acts of bad behavior is expensive and un-scalable. On the other hand, shifting your cultural norms is powerfully effective.

Stop writing more and more policies, and start paying attention to people. People want to be part of the group, and will follow social norms at great cost. Leaders must decide, and then follow through. Make gender equity a part of your daily conversation; empower people to hold equity accountable. Make it a fundamental. Lead with equity. Be sure it's not only stated, but that it filters through meetings and informal interactions.

As a leader, choose to communicate fairness with transparency. Otherwise, just know that the cultural norms are shifting outside of your business. Eventually you'll get left being one of those bad places to work for that everyone talks about.

Related: These Companies Are Battling Sexual Harassment By Teaching Employees to Recognize Unconscious Bias

Don't mind the gap. Bridge it.

A very famous entrepreneur once told me that she left her great executive role because, simply, "one woman standing in a room full of old white men wasn't going to do very much."

Diverse mindsets bring diverse perspectives. All great entrepreneurs know that the easiest way to innovate is to bring together a group of people with diverse backgrounds. Ditto meetings, product development, marketing and every other area of your business. Think like an entrepreneur. Deliberately design roles, social constructs and, yes, even your leadership, for diversity.

If the brainstorm is 90/10 in any direction, you're not capitalizing much on the minority viewpoints. The same goes for everything else inside your business. Design it to enhance diversity. This includes at the golf course and happy hours.

Lead your company correctly, and the company will follow.

No single individual can prevent sexual harassment. The context of an organization, once defined, becomes the reality. While disconnected leaders are concerned with policies, great leaders are leading with culture.

What transformational leadership really means is social contagion -- creating ideas so compelling that they spread, and then reinforcing them in the social spaces and environment.

If your executive suite agrees, and then leads the workplace, the workplace will follow. It starts with a vision, then becomes communication and is followed up with reinforcement through all levels, in the environment and social spaces.

Related: So, a Manager Just Pawed You. Or a Principal at Your Firm Made Lewd Remarks. Now, What?

Women need great leaders now.

The truth is, so few of us women are able to achieve any level of success. It's still a man's world in 2018. While it may be easy to give out our phone numbers at a networking event, fighting to be taken seriously is almost always a losing battle.

It's not just one company or another; it's our nation's culture. Men sexualize women everywhere, overtly and subversively. Whether it's at work or in the grocery store, our culture has modeled ugly behaviors that are terrorizing your wives and daughters in unacceptable ways.

If you hate watching this unfold as much as we do, help us. We promise to never turn the tables and make life unreasonably hard for you. In fact, what a woman uniquely brings to the table in empathy, mindset and skills can make the world a pretty awesome place. Calling all great men everywhere: We need your help.

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7 Ways to Make Your Writing Personal (but Not Self-Indulgent)

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I get a little nervous when I advise that you should write for a specific group of people and convey your perspective.

Personal narratives can form connections with strangers almost magically, but self-indulgent writing has the opposite effect. It’s boring and a turn-off.

The tricky part is that there’s a fine line between “personal” and “self-indulgent.”

During my early days as a writer, I remember when my unbridled enthusiasm for crafting word art met that obstacle. I still meet it today, but I’ve developed skills that swiftly get me back on track when I’ve accidentally veered into self-indulgent territory.

If you’re looking to personalize your content marketing without distracting your audience, keep reading to discover seven of my favorite tips.

1. Let your audience guide you

Select the stories you tell based on who you want to attract.

Your goal is to show the people who you want to be a part of your community that they’re in the right place.

Let’s review the definition of “self-indulgence”:

“Excessive or unrestrained gratification of one’s own appetites, desires, or whims.”

The intersection of your own appetites, desires, or whims and your audience’s appetites, desires, or whims guides you to the “personal” zone.

2. Reveal your journey

People love backstories.

Think of “before they were famous” television segments or magazine articles about celebrities.

That idea translates to information content creators can reveal about themselves, with one small addition to stay audience-focused.

It’s valuable when you explain how you got to where you are today and your motivations for sharing your knowledge. Why do you want to teach what you’ve learned?

In the introduction to this article, I mentioned that I’ve cultivated ways to overcome the “personal or self-indulgent conundrum” because it’s a challenge I’ve dealt with as a longtime writer.

3. Have a point

As your audience’s mentor, it’s your job to clearly communicate the purpose of your content.

Everything you reveal should be tethered to your point. You never leave your audience stranded without a GPS. They should feel secure in your created reality, not lost.

These three resources help with that:

You could also think of your point as the moral of your story.

Ultimately, if a story doesn’t serve, it can sound like rambling, a diary entry, or even gossip.

4. Set boundaries

Speaking of gossip, I also call this one: “You’re a Writer, not the Town Gossip.”

Authenticity doesn’t include spilling every shocking secret you know. Your story can be true without divulging parts that are inappropriate.

As you develop your presentation, some boundaries will arise organically and other times you’ll have to ask yourself:

• Do I need to say that?


• Do I want to be known for saying that?


• Does this accurately reflect who I am?

Writers need to “check themselves.” It’s an integral part of the profession.

5. Choose specific language

I love applying techniques from other creative fields to content marketing.

In regard to songwriting, Leonard Cohen once said:

“I’ve always felt that the more personal you get, the more universal the application, rather than the other way around.

“If you begin to address yourself to the masses like that, then I suppose you could have a hit, but to me the more accurate you get about your situation, then the more accessible it is to other people.”

Here’s an example from a recent Saturday Night Live sketch, which appeals to women who wear leggings when relaxing rather than exercising.

The clip mentions the reality show Vanderpump Rules. It’s more powerful to add that specific name instead of a vague phrase like “trashy TV.”

I’ve never seen Vanderpump Rules, but the sentiment in that line immediately evokes thoughts of my guilty pleasure while relaxing in leggings: falling down rabbit holes on YouTube.

6. Avoid excessive praise or bad-mouthing

It’s typically a sign that you’re deviating from your point if you elaborate on how much you love or hate someone or something.

Even though other people can relate to the emotions of love and hate, musings related to your individual circumstances are often not useful.

Expressions of gratitude or frustration from your experiences can be made without tangents that don’t keep your reader’s best interest in mind.

7. Empower a transformation

This is another tip about avoiding extremes, such as putting a spotlight on yourself as a victim or a hero.

Descriptions of failure or success have to benefit the audience. Position those details in ways that empower the transformation the reader wants to have, rather than attacking or bolstering your own character.

You know “self-indulgent” when you see it …

Two thoughts we commonly have when we encounter self-indulgent content are:

“Where is this going?”

“This is already really repetitive.”

But we all have to practice recognizing those qualities in our own work too, before we publish.

Share your favorite methods in the comments below.

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The Secret to Saving Money in California

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I have a friend who works for YouTube and lives in the Bay Area. He tells me that the income inequality there is so bad that he doesn’t understand how low-income workers even survive. It’s such a concern that he tips double when he eats out.

And what he says is absolutely true. The median home value in California is over $500k and the median one-bedroom rent is $1,750. And wages haven’t caught up.

If you’re a middle-class joe trying to eke out an existence in California, chances are you’re struggling to even pay for your life let alone save. But it’s not impossible to get ahead of the paycheck and make life more affordable in California. Here are a few ways to do that.

1. Automate Your Savings

One money-saving tenant is the principle of paying yourself first. Running your life like a business might be a foreign and maybe stressful concept. But when you realize that you’re your own employee in your business, it can be kinda fun.

Think of savings as payment instead of a burden. That money is still yours and it will feel even more like yours when you pretend it’s a payment to yourself.

Set a small goal for savings at first. This doesn’t even have to be very much, maybe one to two percent. And then over the course of the next year, slowly raise that amount.

Ideally, you should have six months’ worth of income saved up. But obviously, you can’t build that quickly unless you’re a billionaire. Make it a goal to have six months’ worth of income saved up in two years.

Yeah, emergencies in that time might come up and slow you down, but you can recover. Budgets are meant to be flexible.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll be in the habit of paying yourself first. You can move on to saving for retirement or things you want to do such as vacations or home improvements.

2. Rent Out an RV or a Rental

Alright, this one takes a bit of money in the first place. But if you can get a loan, you can quickly recover the money and start having residual income.

For an RV, you can buy one for a few thousand dollars and fix it up or you can buy a new one. But renting an RV out is actually pretty easy. There’s a site that’s essentially the Airbnb of the RV world.

It’s called Outdoorsy and you can make a minimum of $1k per rental depending on the kind of RV you’re renting out. That’s almost a month’s rent for a small apartment. And it’s money you can make with minimal effort.

And the plus side of renting an RV is having an RV. If your goal is having money to travel, then you’ll be able to travel California when the RV isn’t rented instead of fretting about money in California.

3. Rental

This one is even more work than an RV rental, but it could yield more money. One of the best ways to rent a place is to go in on it with a friend. Now, you want to make sure you get along with your friend in all situations because business deals can be stressful.

There are two ways you could go about this. Either rent out an entire house or apartment on something like VRBO or rent out a room in your house with Airbnb.

The first option will require some major investment. And you might not see great returns on your investment for a year or two. But if your rental is successful, you could pay off the mortgage and eventually have residual income outside of your job.

Be sure to research the rules in your city, however. Some towns are moving to ban or regulate AirBnBs and VRBOs. You don’t want to fall into the trap of owning something you could never use.

4. Move to a Cheaper Part of California

My friend at YouTube lives in Silicon Valley. He’s considered moving out to the New York HQ where life would be a lot cheaper. But he likes where he lives and works.

For some people, moving to a cheaper place may not be an option. But if you want to stay in California, there are some cheaper options than the Bay Area or San Diego. California is a massive state with plenty of room for cheaper living.

Chico

If you’re looking for a place that boasts almost half the median home value for California, look no farther than Chico, CA. It’s a small town just 90 miles north of Sacramento and it has a small college town vibe to it.

Chico State University sits nearby and universities often increase the cultural value of an area. While agriculture is the main industry there, plenty of jobs exist in other industries including the beer industry.

Eureka

While it sounds like something you might shout once you’ve found your lost keys, Eureka is another vibrant inland California town. It’s an old Gold Rush town and the architecture still feels wild west.

Historic Victorian buildings litter the downtown. But sadly, the biggest industry is tourism and health care. This means that job choices are limited.

But if you can figure out ways to make money outside of the typical 9-5, then Eureka might be your town. It too has a median home value of less than $250k.

Temecula

Wine is a big deal in California and everybody knows about Sonoma, but few know about Temecula. While the wine rush has blown up certain economies in California, some regions remain fairly untouched.

Temecula is one of those places with only 40 wineries. And it’s a beautiful valley to live in.

It’s a little more expensive than Chico or Eureka, but the jobs market is a bit better than either. It also boasts the biggest casino in California.

Saving Money in California Takes Dedication

You may not be able to live the life of your dreams immediately. It may take a few years of saving and digging deep to get out of debt or build up your life. But it’s entirely possible if you have the know-how and the dedication.

Want more advice on how to save or make money? Check out some more Shoemoney here.

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Mandatory Characteristics for Making Money Online

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What does it take to be a successful Internet entrepreneur, let alone a self-described dot com mogul? Even if you don’t have the bold ambition to earn a six-figure monthly income like John, even if you’d be terribly pleased to earn a comfortable middle-class living with your online endeavors, you need to start with a basic core set of characteristics and competencies. And these might not be what you expect.

You might think that if you want to make it as a professional blogger, for example, that you need to start with a healthy foundation of technical knowledge. You might think that you should have a basic understanding of HTML or that you need to know how WordPress works or that you need to have a fundamental grasp of search engine optimization. All of those things can be learned along the way. You don’t need them to get started.

You might think that if you want to make it as an affiliate marketer that you should already have a good background in marketing in general. You might think that you should have a firm grasp of everything from ROI to CPL, CTR to eCPM, but all of those things can be learned too. You don’t need them to get started.

Are You Right for the Job?

The minimum starting point is so much more fundamental than that, because it boils down to your personal characteristics and these sorts of habits are much harder to change as adults. They can still be learned, but not nearly as easily as the ins-and-outs of blogging and affiliate marketing.

• Financial Discipline: Are you one of those people who get really excited when you receive an income tax refund? Making money online might not be for the you. The truth is when you get a tax refund, all that means is that you’ve provided the government with an interest-free loan. It was your money to begin with and you’re just getting back. As an online entrepreneur, there’s a significant chance that you could be hit with a hefty bill come tax time too. You need to have the kind of financial discipline and wherewithal to absorb such costs on relatively short notice. Your perspective on money needs to shift away from what you might get at a regular job.


• Self-Motivated: When you work at a more traditional kind of job, even if there isn’t a manager or supervisor breathing down your neck the whole time, you’re still subject to the social pressure of being surrounded by your coworkers. You feel like you should be working, if only to keep up appearances. When you work from home by yourself, no one is watching you… but you still need to get the work done. The motivation has to come from within and it needs to be sustainable.


• Resistant to Distraction: Related to the point above, when you work online, you will be faced with endless opportunities for procrastination. Facebook, YouTube, Reddit and Netflix are just a click away… but they’re probably not going to pay your bills. This becomes even more challenging when working within Facebook and YouTube are a part of your actual business. Resist. You must be able to resist the temptation.


• Tolerant of Inconsistency: A regular job probably provides you with a regular paycheck. With some minor fluctuation, you can usually expect to receive about the same amount of money every two weeks. When you’re a blogger, affiliate marketer, or other online entrepreneur, you could see wild swings in your income (and expenses). You must be prepared for this.


• Positive Perspective on Failure: You will fail. Hard and often. And that’s okay, because hopefully you learn each time you fail so that you can do better the next time around. It can be a giant shot to the ego every time something you do falls flat, but you’ve got to learn to roll with the punches and embrace failure if you want to succeed.


• Willing to Let Go: Try as you might, you can’t do everything. And you shouldn’t try to do everything, because you’ll end up falling into the trap of trading hours for dollars all over again. It is a much better investment of your time and money to outsource tasks to people who can do it better (and faster) than you can and this means you have to be willing to relinquish some level of control.


• Unconventional Schedule: You know how most people look forward to the weekend? You know how most people stare at the clock, anxious for 5 p.m. to roll around? You can’t be most people. When you make money online, you have to realize that the Internet is a 24/7/365 operation and this means that you might have to put in some work on a Saturday night or a Sunday afternoon. This also means, though, that you can more easily take all of Wednesday off to run errands and to spend time with your family. It’s all about trade-offs and balance.

Test Your Might

Here’s the thing. Anyone can make money online. That’s the beauty of the dot com lifestyle. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, male or female, American or Armenian. Anyone can make money online, but it’s not for everyone. Is it for you?

Click Here To Download John Chow’s New eBook, The Ultimate Online Profit Model!

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Register A Company In South Africa

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Company Partners is the leading Company Registration Service Provider in South Africa, offering a One-Stop-Shop for all the Company Registration and Tender Compliance Documents.

With over 120 Start-up Services, Company Partners is the perfect Partner for Company, Tender and Contract compliance.

Established in 2006, Company Partners guarantees that the services they offer meet the standards of the best in the industry. Over 30 full-time Consultants offer services and standards of the highest quality.

Company Registration Benefits

Your Company Structure is the first consideration you need to make when you want to register a new Company at the CIPC. The preferred choice of a legal entity for most Businesses is a Pty Company.

Related: Business Model Design – Picking The Business Model That Works For You

Here’s why:

1. You protect your personal life and assets from your business when you register a company. If one runs a business, it is necessary to operate in a safe legal structure where your business assets and risks are separated from your personal ones.


2. You look more professional when you operate under a registered company name. If you want to obtain a large contract or a tender, it appears more professional to trade in a Pty Company capacity than in your own name.


3. Most Suppliers and Government Departments require businesses to be registered as a Company to apply for their Tenders and Contracts.

How to Register a Company

Step 1: Complete and submit the easy online sign-up form here.

Step 2: Your dedicated Consultant will call you to assist you with any questions you may have.

Step 3: Email your ID and easy supported documents – which your Consultant will explain.

Step 4: Within a few days you will receive your brand new Company ready to use for Tenders and Contracts, via email. You can contact your Consultant at any time on a toll-free number.

Related: New Fund For Small Businesses To Be Developed

Need a Company fast? Perhaps consider a Shelf Company

Company Partners offer a variety of Shelf Company Options to suit your needs, including 2016- year Registration Number Shelf Companies. Within 24 hours after purchase, you will receive the registered Shelf Company.

You can start using your Company Registration Number and Bank Account (for income) immediately.

Each Shelf Company includes a 2016 Year Registration Number, Free Share Certificates, a Free ‘Tax Number’ and a Free ‘Official BEE Affidavit’.

You can also make use of a Nedbank Business Bank Account that’s active for your Shelf Company.

Luckily, getting your own Shelf Company is easy in terms of compliance. All that’s required is that you are at least 18 years of age, an ID document / Passport and a South African Business Address.

Why use Company Partners to Register a Company?

Fast timeframes: Your Company will be registered fast and effectively online. Your documentation is set-up in less than 24 hours, after which CIPC will process it.

Simple requirements: The only requirement for Company Registration is an ID / Passport. Everything gets done online, so you can be based anywhere in South Africa or the World.

Dedicated Consultant: Your own dedicated professional Consultant takes care of the entire process – he or she is available on his / her email and also on a toll-free number.

Professional Service: With years of experience of representing our Clients in Government, the entire process runs smoothly over the Internet. No lost documents and no frustration.

Company Partners completes all necessary applications correctly and reviews all the paperwork for you. You simply have to wait for your company documents via e-mail, confirming when you may start trading using your registration detail.

Related: Beauty Of Failure: The Art Of Embracing Rejection

After Company Registration

Any new Business needs guidance to prepare for Tenders and Contracts. After Company Partners gets you registered for your Company, Company Partners can assist you through the entire Company start-up process (optional).

That means they will ensure you have everything you need for a Tender or Contract application like a new PTY Company, BEE, Tax Clearance, VAT Registration, Logo Design, Website, Business Plan, COID, Letter of Good Standing, NHBRC, Accounting, Payroll and more.

Get Started

To start, just complete and submit the easy application form here and a friendly Consultant will contact you. Alternatively contact Company Partners toll-free on 0800 007 269 (toll-free from landlines and cell phones).

Online Brochures (click on the image to download)

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This Is How You Cold-Call Your Entrepreneurial Heroes Without Annoying Them

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Lead with value and doors will open for you.

April 16, 2018

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Successful entrepreneurs are busy. Building a business requires more of you than it feels like you have to give at times. The entrepreneurs you look up to are putting in the work, and at a higher level. That means more responsibility. 

They get alerts and messages like most of us would experience during a day. Family and friends checking in. Business associates sharing the latest developments. Potential new customers reaching out to buy one of their premium offerings. There are, however, a few messages they receive that they’re most likely to ignore. 

These messages start off innocently, but a successful entrepreneur has experienced this hundreds of times. They know where the conversation is going. Someone is going to ask for the knowledge and strategies their customers pay for.

Just because it's tempting and easy to message, tweet or email an entrepreneurial hero doesn’t mean they are waiting to hear from you. I understand why you want to connect with someone who inspires you, so I have some tips for networking in a way that helps you build mutually beneficial entrepreneurial relationships. 

1. Make a strong first impression.  

Just because entrepreneurs are easily accessible these days doesn’t mean they will be receptive to you. The internet and social media make this world smaller but business etiquette and principles still apply. You make your best first impression when you lead from a place of value, not by asking first for something you want. Your access to someone does not mean they’ll share what their customers pay for. The way successful entrepreneurs give out free strategy is deliberate. 

They publish free blog posts, articles, podcasts, videos, in-person training, webinars and lots of other ways. Consume their free content and take action on it. A better first approach is when you can message them talking about the amazing results you got just by implementing their free content. Entrepreneurs want to make an impact. They will respond favorably when they see that they’ve made that impact. They will be more willing to help you with the next steps. Successful entrepreneurs respect action.

Related: How to Master the Art of the First Impression

2. You have enough information, so do the work.

If you have spent time studying what you want to accomplish in your business, you probably know more than you realize. Information overload is a very real problem for entrepreneurs. The allure of all the opportunities for training has many entrepreneurs chasing their tail.

Stop signing up for every free training offer and consuming as much free content as possible. Before you know it, you’ll have no clue where to even start if you take this path. Stop! Take inventory of what you know. Get honest about what you want to accomplish. Create a plan. Take massive action. There is no magical “one thing” a successful entrepreneur did to become successful.

Related: Stop Learning About Entrepreneurship and Start Doing the Work

3. A professional deserves to be compensated for their time and knowledge. 

Entrepreneurs start a business for a reason. They want to create freedom and financial security. They’ll never achieve those goals if they spend their time responding to every message and give away their value for free. Successful entrepreneurs are professionals, and pros get paid what they deserve. Respect an entrepreneur’s boundaries. If they open the door for more communication, then follow through. If they have made it clear they aren’t interested, respect that and move on to doing the next steps in your plan.

Related: Do the Job Nobody Else Wants and You'll Never be Overlooked at Work

4. Form mutually beneficial business relationships.

Relationships will make or break your business. Whom you associate with can push you to be better or  suck you down to a lower level. Successful entrepreneurs form business relationships that are mutually beneficial. Both parties have to understand what each brings to the table and how that helps everyone involved. When you approach a new entrepreneur, you should have a clear understanding of the dynamics.

You should know what they do and be clear about what you do. You should have an idea about how you could possibly work together in a way that adds value to both of you. A little research goes a long way. When you’ve done some research, you can formulate a better approach and make a first impression that gets you a second conversation. If you aren’t there yet with how you can add mutual value, don’t make the approach. Build up yourself and come back when it makes more sense.   

Don’t let the allure of possibly connecting with a successful entrepreneur ruin your chances before you even get started. You can connect with your heroes, but do it in a smarter way. Lead with value and watch doors open to you! 

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How to Reshare an Instagram Post to Your Instagram Stories : Social Media Examiner

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Wish you could easily reshare someone else’s Instagram post?

Have you heard of Instagram’s Add Post to Your Story feature?

In this article, you’ll discover how to add any public post to your Instagram story and how this feature can benefit your business.

How to Reshare an Instagram Post to Your Instagram Stories by Jenn Herman on Social Media Examiner.

Find Out if You Have the Instagram Reshare Feature

The Instagram reshare feature is currently being tested only with a select audience. Not everyone will have access to it. Even I don’t have it yet, but fortunately, my friend with @tickletreestudio does and she granted us permission to use her account to show you the features.

To find out if you have access, select any public post from any public account (including your own). Tap on the Message or Send To button (the icon under the post image that looks like a paper airplane). If you have the option to Add Post to Your Story, then you have this feature!

Note that Instagram gives accounts the option to block this sharing feature. If you check a post and you don’t have this option, the account may have it disabled. You may want to check more than one account to see if you actually have access to the feature.

#1: Reshare Posts to Your Story

This new reshare feature is a prelude to an official “regram” feature within Instagram. It’s not a fully operational regram tool as many of us would like. In this current testing version, you can share an Instagram post (from the regular feed) to your own Instagram story. You can’t reshare it to your own Instagram feed.

The process to share a post is relatively quick and easy.

Select the Post to Add to Your Story

Choose any post, including one of your own, that you want to share. Tap the Send To button and choose Add Post to Your Story (as mentioned above).

A new story post will open. Instagram’s technology automatically selects a gradient of colors for the background based on the colors in the post image. The original post is a square image with the original username of the account beneath it.

Edit Your Story Post

Now that you have the story post open, edit your story as normal to add more context to your reshared post. You can drag and resize the reshared post image and add text, stickers, or other components to it.

If you don’t like the color of the background that Instagram applied to the post, you can change it. First, tap the pencil icon.

Then choose a color, and tap and hold the background of the post to fill it with the color of your choice.

Tag the Original User

Unfortunately, with the current testing version, although the original username is listed beneath the photo in the story, the original user isn’t actually tagged in the post. They won’t receive a notification you’ve shared their post.

In this situation, it’s good etiquette to give proper attribution by adding a text box that lists the original user and tagging them in the post so they receive a notification.

Upload Your Story

Now complete your story post upload like normal, and you and your followers will be able to see it on your profile.

#2: Interact With Reshared Posts

When a user has reshared a post to their story, you can tap on the story and then tap the See Post button to go directly to the original post from that user.

Once you open the original post, you can engage with it as normal, liking or commenting on it.

#3: Edit Your Post Sharing Settings

By default, your account allows others to share your posts. Everyone should currently have this option in their account settings.

There may be a situation, however, where you don’t want other accounts to be able to share your posts to their stories. You can prevent this, even if you don’t have the reshare feature now, by editing your settings in Instagram.

Tap on the gear icon on your profile and scroll down to the Allow Others to Reshare option. If the slider for this option is on (and blue), people currently have the ability to share your posts. To disable this setting, tap on the slider to turn it off.

#4: Legal Considerations for Resharing

There are always legal considerations around posting someone else’s content on social media. They own the copyright to the original work and you require permission to reuse their content.

Many “share” functions on platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow users to skirt around copyright because they’re sharing the original post with attribution. This new reshare feature on Instagram works more like these sharing functions and many users will use this tool without considering the rights of the original user.

It’s always best practice to ask permission before resharing someone’s content. Because this new feature is for Instagram, many users will likely be happy to see their content shared. But that shouldn’t discourage you from asking for their permission first.

This will be especially true when resharing content that customers have posted about your product or service. If you’re sharing content that can be shown to drive financial rewards for your business by using their posts as testimonials, you want to make sure you have explicit permission from them (via a comment on their post or a direct message) to reshare that post.

Once you have permission, have fun with the reshare feature! Enjoy adding more variety to your stories’ content and providing more value to your audience.

#5: 5 Creative Ways to Use Reshared Posts

Just as many of us like to regram posts on Instagram, this reshare feature offers a variety of ways to augment your content strategy for Instagram Stories. If you have this feature, you may want to consider resharing posts in these ways:

• Showcase how your customers use your product or service.


• Highlight local events or venues near your business.


• Provide educational tips from industry leaders.


• Share breaking news or updates related to your industry or audience.


• Cross-promote your own Instagram posts to your stories for added reach to more of your audience.

Even if you don’t currently have the reshare feature, it would likely be advantageous for your brand to enable the resharing function. If your followers or others have access to the feature, they’re able to share your posts to their audiences. This can provide more reach and exposure to new audiences and drive more engagement on your own posts, while potentially leading to more followers.

When this feature rolls out to more users, I can see it being a great way to conduct contests (there aren’t currently any restrictions on being able to reshare posts on Instagram contests), requiring a reshare of your post to enter.

Conclusion

The reshare feature is still currently being tested and many users don’t have access to it. This has been a common request for years, however, and we can assume that this feature, or a very similar version of it, will be rolling out to all users in the near future.

What do you think? Do you have the reshare feature and are you taking advantage of it? Are you eager to get your hands on this feature? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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The Anatomy Of Peak Performance

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William Badenhorst, a Director of Global Strengths, is a coach to the coaches. His “Rock Star” attitude along with the deep driving desire to help others find their true selves formed the fabric of a highly interesting and entertaining interview.

The rolling thunder of his voice brought forth quote after quote, quip after quip and wisdom after wisdom. As a “peak performance coach” to professional athletes, celebrities,  entrepreneurs and corporate career orientated individuals, William believes that knowing who you truly are as an individual is the catalyst for lasting growth and useful change in business and in life in general.

His intense eyes and energetic hand gestures emphasized one of his core beliefs and that is that we all are nothing but our very own beliefs.

“Everyone is focused on Results”

Everyone is always focusing on the outcome – the results they want. But what creates results? Let’s do some reverse engineering. In order to achieve RESULTS we need to take ACTION. And in order to take ACTION we need to make a DECISION. To make a DECISION, we need to think about it – THOUGHTS.

The interesting thing about humans is that we do not create our thoughts, we can only control them. So what does create your thoughts? Your BELIEFS creates your THOUGHTS. So ultimately your BELIEFS creates your RESULTS.

“You don’t attract what you want, you attract what you are.”

It is our very own limiting beliefs, such as for example that “I am not good enough” and “I am not deserving” and “I’m not worthy ” that creates barriers to our own success in entrepreneurial ventures and in our lives. In order to reach our limitless potential we must find and remove the self-created barriers that hold us back.

Although he loves the interaction and benefits of social media he is quick to point out that it also has created a fantasy of who and what we should be. He advises to not to adopt such fantasy as your desired reality but to instead be who you really are as an individual and goes on to quote the famous Greek philosopher Socrates:

“Know thyself, Be thyself and Love thyself”

You always end up falling back on your beliefs -whether they are empowering or disempowering. The challenge with that is that a large number of your beliefs are unconscious especially when you have not put in the work to find out what your belief system truly is.

Related: Osteostrong: An Exploding Global Movement Of Positive Change

Through his vast experience as a coach he realized that a large number of people veer away from self-awareness as they are afraid of being judged for whom they truly are.

Have Faith

The conversation naturally evolved into the exploration of the true meaning of the concept of faith and William’s mind grasped at a Quote from the apostle Paul:

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”

He went on to explain that faith is evidence of true-self which creates certainty which in turn is equal to confidence. Confidence brings a certain state where everything flows. He calls it “Peak State”. He further advises to search for evidence of who you really are and gain belief in yourself.

Advice to young entrepreneurs

William’s thoughts on self-development for entrepreneurs are to get a Coach. If you are already in business and don’t have a Coach – get one!  Begin with taking extreme ownership and responsibility of everything in your life. And when you do that you win.

Stop blaming everything and everyone around you. Stop complaining about circumstances. You are in control and it is up to you to make it happen.  There are no un-resourceful people, there are only un-resourceful states. Go where you are celebrated not tolerated and love yourself unconditionally. Remove the very unrealistic expectations of what and who you should be and authentically be yourself. Believe in yourself and go all in on YOU!

Related: How To Conquer Your Fear Of Becoming an Entrepreneur By Being Disciplined

Become the best form of yourself because as an entrepreneur you are the business. Play to your strengths and manage your weaknesses. You do not need a title to lead, have massive self-belief and others will follow.

Have an attitude of constant learning:

“If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room”

And then yet another quote rolled off his tongue that put me in a self-reflective mood:

“A person that shines from within does not need a spotlight”

William Badenhorst, the father, the coach, the entrepreneur and key note speaker left the author and the reader with a question of mesmerising depth:

“What if you woke up this morning with only the things that you were grateful for last night?”

Gratitude is everything!

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How to Use Instagram Like a Beauty Brand

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Does your brand’s activity on its social accounts impact its search rankings? Maybe. Maybe not. But does it matter anyway?

I shouldn’t have to convince you that investing in a social media for your company is worth it; even in light of Facebook’s recent data breach, we are so reliant upon our social profiles for real human interaction that leaving them is not a real option. In fact, the below statistics from Pew Research Center’s 2018 Social Media Use Survey indicate that we’re not going to give up our social media profiles any time soon.

Humans are social creatures. It makes sense that we love being on social networking sites. We crave interaction with fellow humans. We’re also highly likely to trust the recommendations of our friends and family (Nielsen) and those recommendations often influence our purchasing decisions. We ask our loved ones for advice on where to put our dollars in myriad ways, all at different price points:

• What coffee shop do you like to go to?


• Which mascara is that?


• What are you reading right now?


• Where’d you get that tie?


• What neighborhoods are you looking to move to?


• What schools are you looking to send Anna to?

Yes, those same searches occur online. They also frequently occur in tandem with testimonials from the people in our lives (depending on how thorough we want or need to be).

So if you have a thing that you want to sell to a group of people and you’re still not pursuing a social strategy, I don’t understand what you’re doing. Yes, it’s 2018 and I still find myself trying to persuade clients to proactively use (the right) social networks to promote their brand.

For the sake of this piece, we’re going to focus on organic usage (read: free, not paid advertising) of Instagram. Why just Instagram? 35% of US adults say they use Instagram as of 2018, up from 28% in 2016. This was the greatest growth across top social networking sites reported by Pew Research Center. Additionally, its 35% usage puts it at the third most popular social networking platform, behind only Facebook and YouTube.

Other good news? It may be easier for brands’ posts to appear in users’ Instagram feeds than on their Facebook feeds: Facebook still wants to prioritize your family, friends and groups, while The New York Times reports that Instagram is updating its algorithm to favor newer posts rather than limit the accounts in your feed.

So should every brand have an Instagram? Maybe? But notice I’ve been primarily using the word “brand,” not “company” or “business.” That’s deliberate. Companies (only) provide customers with a service or sell a product. Brands provide customers (followers) with an identity. (If you want to dive further into this, I highly recommend this presentation by former Distiller Hannah Smith.)

The best companies are brands: they’ve got identities with which consumers align themselves. We become loyal to them. We may even use the brands we purchase from and follow as self identifiers to other people (“I’m a Joe & the Juice kind of guy, but not Starbucks,” “I never use MAC, only NARS,” “Me, shop at Banana Republic?! I only go to Everlane!”). Not every company should be on Instagram — it doesn’t make much sense for B2Bs to invest time and energy into building their company’s presence on Instagram.

Instagram is not for your consulting firm. And probably not for your SaaS company, either (but prove me wrong)!

It’s for celebrities. It’s to show off your enviable trip. It’s for fashion blogs. Sneakerheads. Memes. Art. Beauty brands. It’s really great for beauty brands. Why? Instagram is obviously great for sharing pretty photos — and if you’re a beauty company, well, it’s a no-brainer that you should have an active account. And it also has incredible built-in features to organically promote your posts, engage customers, and sell products with actual links to those products on your photos.

So, if you’re going to use Instagram, do it right. If you want to do it right, do it like a beauty brand.

First things first: Why do beauty companies’ IG posts look better?

Glossier

Onomie

Milk

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: each account features beautiful models, pretty sceneries, and cosmetics in clean packaging. That said, it’s not just the subject of the IG photos that matters: each of these IG accounts’ photos have been curated and edited together, so that their photos look cohesive when you view them in IG’s grid format. How do they do that? Let’s look at three posts from these accounts.

Glossier

Onomie

Milk

It’s hard (for me) to pick apart precisely why these photos are aesthetically pleasing — and it doesn’t help that I’m neither a photographer, nor a designer. That said, here is my rudimentary, non-designer take on why these photos look great together:

#1: Their subjects are beautiful (duh)

#2: There are limited primary focal points, and tons of negative space (though the medicine cabinet and floral arrangement photos are arguably “busy”)

#3: Their hues are complementary (pinky-pearlescent-pastels, anyone?)

There’s a lot of pink. And white. And pastels. And more pink. And then, occasionally, pops of color (think: a new violet lipstick shade).

Color schemes remain consistent across Onomie’s, Milk’s, and Glossier’s photos — these beauty brands don’t suddenly change their color palettes from one photo to the next. In fact, they are most likely implementing the same Instagram filters for each photo, or at least editing the color balances so that the photos complement each other. They are deliberately catering to Instagram’s 3x3 grid photo format (or 3x4, or 3x5, depending on your screen size). While many users do see IG posts in their “feeds” when they open the app, users are still motivated to look at IG accounts’ for a number of reasons: IG profiles are the only place where you can add hyperlinks on Instagram, and is also where accounts can pin stories for users to revisit.

But how on earth do they do it? They may have professional photographers, or graphic designers they can beg to normalize their color balances across photos. However, I don’t think that most companies necessarily need this mastery in-house in order to have an Instagram profile that looks good to mere mortals.

What I can assure you is that they plan, plan, plan out their posts in advance. In order to do this effectively, of course, you need the right tools. Here’s your starter pack of IG apps:

• VSCO
  
  • Freemium phone app
  
  
  • Enables you to edit photos like a master — VSCO goes way beyond a small set of filters
  
  
  • Has its own community and image feed within the app, separate from IG
  
  
  • VSCO can’t post directly to IG (yet), but you can easily download any edited photo
  
  


• Planoly
  
  • Freemium desktop tool and phone app
  
  
  • Can visualize your photos in a grid format with your other IG photos
  
  
  • Built-in analytics
  
  
  • Can schedule and post directly to IG, with captions and hashtags
  
  


• Unum
  
  • Free
  
  
  • Offers some photo editing tools
  
  
  • Can drag and drop photos to plan out how they will appear alongside your other uploads, in grid format
  
  
  • Can post to IG, but no scheduling features
  
  

This may sound like a lot of work, and for non-designers in particular it’s pretty challenging. That said, the fruits of your labor can be used again and again. In fact, that’s precisely what these beauty brands do on IG: if they’re featuring a product (again, hello lipstick shades), they show off that product’s different colors, on different skintones. Basically, rinse and repeat with your IG photos: this repetition is great for those with sparse content calendars, and still looks great.

Okay, but they’re not popular just because of their looks, right? Why are beauty brands on IG so damn popular?

Yes, looks matter. IG is a visual platform. Sorry not sorry. And yes, we’re talking about beauty brands that have budgets to advertise their accounts and products on IG, which also contributes to their popularity. However, that’s not the whole story.

They use hashtags and photo tags.

Hashtags

Just like on Twitter (and Facebook, to a degree), hashtags are a natural way to boost exposure and get “discovered.” That’s largely because IG users can also follow hashtags, in the same manner as following a handle. And, just like on Twitter, it matters which hashtags you use. IG also allows users to add up to 30 hashtags per post — and yes, this can look spammy, but if you’re using IG like a beauty brand, you’ll separate your caption from your hashtags with periods-used-as-line-breaks or as a separate comment after you post.

So, where should you begin hunting for hashtags? Unfortunately, the Cambridge Analytica debacle has extended to Facebook’s other properties, including Instagram. It seems like one direct response to this is to limit the number of API calls we can make of IG. This means awesome services like websta.me can’t serve up the same amount of information around hashtags as they once did.

That said, Tagboard is one option for content and social media marketers to use. I like to use it to suss out hashtag intent (in answering whether this the right hashtag to use for this post). *Readers: if you’ve got tools you love to find hashtags on IG, add them in the comments below for us, please!

Otherwise, your best bet (as far as I know) is to search for hashtags directly in Instagram’s Discover area, under Tags. There, you can see how many times those hashtags have been used (what’s popular?) and then click through to see what photos have been tagged.

Photo tags

Beauty brands also take advantage of photo tagging on their posts when they can: if they are featuring a celebrity (like the magnificent Tracee Ellis Ross), they can tag her IG directly onto this post. Not only does this let Tracee (or, more likely, her social media manager) know, but depending on her settings this photo now shows up under her tagged photos on her profile — for her fans to discover.

Similarly, if you’re a business selling products and you’ve been approved for shopping on IG, you can also tag your products in your photos so that users can click through directly to their product pages. This is a no-brainer. Just do it.

They talk to their followers.

We already know that it’s best practice to engage and respond to followers on social media (within reason), and IG is no different. Onomie, Milk and Glossier all have downright spirited conversations in their photos’ comments sections by prompt fellow ‘grammers to participate in a few ways. They:

They add stories.

IG’s “Stories” feature is another great tool that Onomie, Milk, and Glossier all use. They’re like IG posts, but ephemeral (they only last 24 hours) and do not live in your main feed: users can access these stories from the top of their IG feeds, and from the account’s main icon. In some cases — especially brands selling products — these accounts may choose to “pin” evergreen stories to their IG profiles, so that users can access them beyond the 24-hour lifespan.

Stories are an excellent way to gather additional insights from followers (outside of comments) because you can run polls (with clickable elements) to collect simple data (“Should our next product help alleviate dry or oily skin?”). What’s more is that, depending on users’ notification preferences, stories automatically push notifications to followers’ phone screens. This means that even if a user is not using the app, they will be notified of new, temporary content.

If your brand (or your client) isn’t taking advantage of IG’s great marketing tools, it’s time to stop waiting and get ‘gramming. Especially if your target audiences are using the platform, there is no reason not to test out all the ways it allows you to engage its community.

Share your favorite IG tools, tips, and accounts below, so that other Moz readers can get inspired. And if you’re passionate about marketing, come join our team, and help me convince more awesome brands to take over Instagram. (JK. Kinda.)

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Angels & Demons: What To Know When Negotiating Equity Funding For Your Start-up

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I would argue that you should not try to start a business until you can clearly articulate how you help people in a pitch. Pitching is vital to your success so it makes sense that you need to master it before you can launch a business. Why? It forces you to focus on what you can do right now and what problem you solve in the marketplace. It’s the value of your business in just a few words.

You will need to pitch your product, idea, or service to:

• Turn strangers into customers


• Attract investment partners


• Hire new employees

Before anyone is going to do business with you, you have to get attention. A million dollar pitch is a short commercial that will attract attention and make the benefits of your company tangible to a customer. It should be 20 seconds or less and help the person take an immediate interest in what you do. It’s a simple statement with a specific goal.

How much time have you invested perfecting your pitch?

If you’re saying to yourself right now that what you do is “too complicated” to put in a few words, you probably lack clarity about what you’re doing. It might also be a sign you’re only thinking about making money instead of how you can add value to others.

A lot of people cannot articulate their value in a few words.

There are so many distractions out there, so you need a well-crafted pitch to cut through all the noise. People call me all the time on my shows with long-winded explanations about their business. When you’re pitching, no one wants to hear about your company history. I don’t say that to be disrespectful, but because it’s just the truth. You have to give someone a reason to want to ask more about you – that’s what a good pitch does. The other party knows the immediate benefit and whether it’s big enough for them to want to learn more.

Related: 3 Actionable Insights To Make Your Investment Pitch Perfect

What can you do right now?

Have you ever thought “I could do that too” when you hear about someone doing a particular activity to become successful? I always laugh when people tell me stories like this. Let’s agree that you can learn anything. Here’s my question: is your idea something that you could do if you learned it or is it something that you can do right now?

Before you can be successful, you have to base what you do in your reality. Ask yourself what you can do right now, not what you could do in the future. Unless you’re planning a career change, assess your income-producing skills that you currently have and centre your pitch around that.

What problem does this solve?

After you figure out what your skill is, you have to ask what problem it solves. If a lot of people are having the same problem then it could be a great idea for a business. Who is your audience? Who do you already know in the marketplace that already needs your product, that wants your product? Most likely it’s not going to be people around your street corner. Look for a market that already exists and see how what you do can help that market.

Putting it together

Now that you have a business idea based on these two requirements, create a 20 second or less commercial out of it. The shorter the better. Most people just string something together without much thought. It’s your job to create a powerful statement that makes it impossible for someone not to want to learn more about you.

Here’s one of my pitches “My company increases sales by 15 to 20 percent and we’ll do that in less than 14 days.” Look how it’s based on something that I can do right now and that solves a problem for a large group of people. Do you think that my prospective customer would be interested in what I have to say after they hear this pitch? I’ve used it many times so I can answer for you – yes!

Is your pitch effective?

What kind of response are you getting from your pitch? Are you getting people to take action or ask more questions? Aside from creating a compelling pitch, it has to be practiced to be effective. Why do you think I wrote the Closer’s Survival Guide? It’s a training manual for closing – it’s essentially a bunch of pitches with the goal of closing the customer. I wrote them out and train them all the time. That’s what a lot of people miss. They could have killer pitch but are horrible at delivering them. You will only sell someone on your pitch if you train, drill and practice it until it’s second nature.

Related: 6 Great Tips For A Successful Shark Tank Pitch

3 Tips for pitches

Clarify Your Goal: What is the purpose of your pitch? To have a successful pitch, you need to clarify your goal. Do you want the other party to sign a contract, agree to a meeting or sign up for your email list? If your goal is clear, then it’s much easier to create a pitch that serves that purpose.

Ask for Attention: You’ll have to get the full attention of the person before they will listen to your pitch. Never start your pitch before you ask them if you can share what you do. The best way to do this is to simply ask them. If you’re in an elevator ask, “can you give me your attention for the next 20 floors?”

Make It Memorable: A pitch is not an explanation of how your business operates or your company history – it’s a well-constructed value statement and it has to be BIG. You need to wow the customer and you’re not going to do that if your pitch is dull. It has to hit hard using a big claim. If you use my pitch as an example, it has a quantifiable result for the customer. That’s a good strategy to use. Show exactly how you can help that person. I always say show me don’t tell me.

Building a business one person at a time

Remember that strangers have everything that you want. Using a well-crafted pitch is the best way to introduce yourself to someone because you created it to get attention. It’s your job to make them interested in you. You must network and make your contacts grow so you can grow your business.

Promote and market yourself using your pitch 24/7. The better it is, the more attention you’ll get. Don’t be like everyone else and “start a business” before you have created a million-dollar pitch. I can tell you from experience that if you follow these simple steps, you’ll have a better business and will be able to sell more people on your ideas. Let me know how this strategy works for your business.

This article was originally posted here on Entrepreneur.com.

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