How To Increase Facebook Likes With a Semi-Automated Facebook Marketing Strategy

4 January 2024 by Taylor Reaume

One important aspect of growing your business online is social media. Many business owners turn to social media platforms such as Facebook to market their business. While some might think of Facebook as a purely social medium for individuals, there are plenty of good reasons to also include it as a major part of your business marketing strategy:

Facebook has an incredible audience: According to the company, there are 2.74 billion monthly users! That is a lot of people who use the channel to post updates, share content and watch videos. It’s a good bet that a significant percentage are in surrounding communities, and these people are anxious to learn about and connect with your local business.
Facebook is heavily used: Most fans visit Facebook daily. In fact, it ranks only behind Google and YouTube as one of the world’s most visited websites.
People are engaged when they visit Facebook: Users spend over a half hour each day visiting Facebook, most of them from a mobile device. Even better, two-thirds of Facebook users said they visit a Facebook Page from a local business at least once a week.
It works for local businesses: Partly due to more people searching for local services during the pandemic and also an increase in “Support Local” trends, Facebook clicks on searches for local business increased by 23% from February through May, 2020.

Despite all these great statistics, not every small business is thriving on Facebook, due to a lack of engagement from their Facebook community. To be successful on Facebook, you need to be active and you need to generate content that motivates your community to action through “likes,” comments, or shares. It’s not enough to just post occasionally and hope that people react to it. You have to construct an effective plan to increase those likes and generate comments.

Know Your Audience to Increase Facebook Likes

The first step to increasing your Facebook likes is to make sure you know your audience. Knowing whether your prospects are young or old, male or female, consumer or business, will make all the difference in the type of content you share on Facebook and how you share it.

Besides knowing who you want to reach on Facebook, you must also build content in a number of different ways. Don’t just post videos, comical images, or promotions. Try mixing things up by incorporating different types of content such as brand stories, personal updates, lead nurturing and authority-building posts. Yes, you want to share your blog posts on Facebook, but also create unique posts that could start a conversation with your audience, stir a reaction from them, or solve their problems.

What to Include in a Marketing Strategy to Increase Facebook Likes

There are two ways to increase awareness of your business Facebook page. First, you want to have a large audience. This means more people will see your content every time you share it. Second, you want to have great content, so more of your current audience will like and share it to their social media circle. This spreads the word about your business to a larger audience than you might ever hope to reach through traditional advertising means.

You might see some ads offering to sell Facebook likes, but the quality of those connections is questionable. Better to do it yourself and have control over building your community. Here are some tips that will increase engagement with your business on Facebook:

Pay attention to your Facebook Page: This is the first thing people will see when they think about connecting with your business. Make sure it is optimized for search engines, has a crisp appearance, uses compelling photos, provides useful information, and includes your location and contact information.
Include Facebook links on your website and social media pages: Put buttons on your website that automatically direct visitors to your Facebook page, and be sure to ask them to “like us on Facebook,” especially on your Contact Us page. Ask your Twitter and Instagram followers to like you on Facebook, too.
Share your blogs on Facebook: Every time you post a blog on your website, share it to your Facebook page. Use an image and captivating headline to grab attention. Ask your blog readers to share your posts, too.
Ask people to “like” you: Tell your current customers that you have a Facebook page, ask them to like and share it with their friends. When you send an email to welcome new customers, inform them about your Facebook page. Include your Facebook address on your business cards, newsletter and email signature block.

Semi-Automate Your Facebook Likes Marketing Strategy

Here are just a few of the many tactics you can use to get your Facebook family more engaged with your content, and more likely to share it:

Create great content: Always have content that is topical and fresh. Use powerful images and headlines. Ask questions. Introduce your team, or tell a great customers service story. People get a lot of information through their Facebook streams, so your updates must stand out.
Add your posts to community pages: Facebook users are paying more attention to local community pages. If you have a service business, add something to the group’s page that provides helpful information for their community. You can also do this if there are groups that pertain to your business such as local bicycle groups, cooking groups or computer groups.
Boost posts: There are times when you put a lot of work into a post that you want more people to see. Boosting a Facebook post gets it in front of more people from a targeted audience you choose, and increases its engagement. If somebody likes one of your boosted posts, make sure you are set up to send them an auto-invite to like your page.
Pin your top posts: If you get a post that really spurs a response, you can keep the momentum going by pinning it to the top of your business page. Anyone who visits your page automatically sees this great piece of content first, so they will like your business and like your post, too.
Create a Facebook group: 1.8 billion people use Facebook Groups. If you have a really targetable audience, Facebook groups for business can be a great way to reach prospects outside your company’s brand’s page. Use your group to provide exclusive content, build community, and attract new customers.
Tag other pages: When you tag other relevant pages, your post will appear on their wall and may spark the interest of that page’s fans.
Share infographics: A good infographic on a pertinent topic can draw a lot of attention. If the information is really good, it should bump up your likes and shares tremendously.
Post videos: The average engagement rate for Facebook video posts exceeds other types of Facebook content. Viewers watch video intently and tend to be more engaged. Your videos can be a produced piece, or something that you shoot and post quickly on Facebook Live covering a particular topic of interest.
Cross-promote: Find other non-competitive local businesses and cross-share your Facebook content with them. It boosts your audience and gives your fans valuable content about local companies.
Website pop-up: Add a pop-up to your website that asks people to join your email list and like your Facebook page.
Ask customers to post: Encourage customers to post video or photos using your product or service. This provides an extended audience reach and an “accidental” testimonial.
Run Facebook ads: One quick way to garner attention is to run Facebook Ads that promote your brand. This is a paid strategy, but it can be useful for getting your name known quickly. There are software tools that help automate the creation of Facebook ads.
Time your posts: It just makes sense to share content when your audience is online, but how do you know when that is? Your Page Insights tab provides the answers. Once you understand more about when your audience is most active, you can establish your own posting schedule or schedule your posts if you’re unavailable to publish them manually.
Tell a story: 500 million people use Facebook Stories daily. Creating content for Facebook Stories is different from creating content for your news feed. The pace is faster, and you’ve got less text to work with. But Facebook Stories have the strategic advantage of appearing at the top of the viewer’s screen.

How Do I Know What Works Best on Facebook?

The Facebook Insights feature identifies the kinds of posts getting the most reach and engagements. Use this information to create more of the content your audience wants from you. Facebook Insights give you the ability to learn from your mistakes and give followers what they want, so you’ll be able to continue increasing those likes!

Another way to determine what works best is to look at case studies from other brands. Here are a few you can check out:

Facebook Group: In 2018 Starbucks launched a Facebook group, the “Leaf Rakers Society,” for its Pumpkin Spice Latte drink. Since this is a seasonal drink, Starbucks uses the group to generate a “latte love” all year long. This group builds anticipation for the yearly release of its famous drink. Currently there are 41.0K members in the group.
Facebook Video: For Halloween 2016,Tomcat (a rodent extermination company) created a live video event featuring mice in a haunted cabin (Yikes!). During the video, the audience was questioned as to how the story should evolve. The video got as astonishing 2.3 million unique views, with 21% of viewers actively participating in the fun. The Tomcat Facebook fan page also grew by a whopping 58%.
Facebook Ads: In 2017, Brewer Direct used two fundraising strategies to determine if it could acquire new donors, generate revenue, and garner a positive ROI. The campaigns were a success – they generated instant donations, added new members to the Facebook audience and acquired new email addresses.

The addition of Facebook to your business marketing strategy can make a marked difference in awareness and results, but it is important to be consistent in your efforts. Use as many semi-automated techniques as you can to get your business noticed on Facebook and build an engaged audience.

Analytics Marketing | Web Marketing

CALL TRACKING: Which Keywords Trigger Phone Calls?

26 May 2023 by Taylor Reaume

Compare Call Tracking Company Services23

Is There a Better Way to Track Your Phone Calls?

Most people enjoy the sound of a phone ringing, especially in business (unless it’s the car warranty people, of course!). For entrepreneurs and small business owners, the sound of a phone ringing is a very good thing indeed. It means people are interested in your business and called to find more information, or perhaps to even place an order.

Inbound calls have always been important to small-to-medium businesses, but never more so than in 2021. Pre-pandemic, 60% of customers preferred to call small businesses on the phone, according to a report cited by Small Business Trends.

During COVID, an analysis of 100 million phone calls revealed that customers called in even greater numbers, as a way of circumventing the need for in-person interactions.

The goal of a website marketing strategy is to drive website traffic, and motivate people to call you, but how do you measure success?

Which phone calls are coming from which keywords?

Which phone calls are coming from which banner ads?

Which phone calls are coming from Facebook? Instagram? Email?

How can you tell which segment of your online marketing strategy is pulling its weight in generating calls, and which might need a little work?

>> Enter CALL TRACKING.

That’s where a call tracking can prove to be an invaluable tool. Call tracking provides verifiable results that reveal which of your campaigns are driving those crucial phone call conversions. Instead of guessing which strategies provide the best return, call tracking provides exact performance data.

Call tracking automatically assigns phone tracking numbers to various components of your online marketing, such as Google Ads, Google My Business listings, Facebook Ads, Yelp, Email newsletters, etc. These calls are then forwarded to your business, and you are provided with data you need to track their sources.

Benefits of call tracking include:

Verifiable ROI: Most businesses don’t really know which components of their marketing strategy are doing the most work. This allows you to prove whether you are receiving a good return on your marketing investment.
Better Customer Journey: Sometimes one call is all it takes to make a sale, but it usually requires several steps to complete the buying journey. You want to make sure the customer has the information and motivation needed to proceed to the next step. If calls don’t come in from a marketing source, you need to re-examine it to determine what needs to change.
Drive More Traffic: Once you know what is working, you can invest additional dollars and effort into that channel to increase your traffic even more.

Which Call Tracking Tool Is Right For Your Business?

Call tracking is especially important for businesses that want to get to know their customers on a more personal basis. One tool I recommend is the highly-rated CallRail. The co-founder of CallRail was an entrepreneur, too, so he knew what would be needed in an intuitive call tracking platform uniquely suited to meet small business needs. Check out some of their case studies to see how other small businesses used the power of call tracking to their advantage.

CallRail Call Tracking software reveals the sources behind your calls, and provides access to each lead’s name, number, and location. After a free trial period, the call tracking suite starts at $45 a month, depending on the volume of phone numbers you need, the number of minutes your calls take, and other factors. Included in the basic plan are 10 local numbers, 500 local minutes, and 100 local messages. Basic features include:

Attribution matches incoming phone calls and texts to your marketing channels and tactics. This helps you measure the success of advertising campaigns while fine-tuning marketing strategies and spending.
Data-driven reporting helps you spot trends, save money, and market smarter.
Consolidate communications: With CallRail, you can talk, text, and track in one place. Advanced features like pulling up insights on a screen when a call begins give your callers a more personalized customer service experience.
Summary emails provide a breakdown of lead activity for companies within your account. You choose the data presented in your email, including total calls, total minutes, and statistics on new callers, keywords, and sources driving calls to your business. Here’s an example of a Summary Email:

Available for Apple and Android devices, the CallRail mobile app puts your call analytics in the palm of your hand, providing a real-time view of your inbound, outbound, and missed calls. You’ll also be able to listen to call recordings and communicate with customers via text message.

Call Rail Call Tracking Call Reporting Mobile App

If you add on The Conversation Intelligence plan for $50 a month, you can transcribe the phone calls and have them sent as a text message.

The keywords associated with calls can be used to gain insights into the language your customers use to talk about you, develop hyper-targeted ad campaigns, and include in blogs, ads, and other marketing materials to speak to your audience in terms they understand.

If you are trying to grow your business online by maximizing your web presence, driving traffic to your website, and presenting your website content in a way that more people will use your services or buy your products – tracking your phone calls is an essential ingredient for success.

Web Marketing

99Designs vs DesignHill vs DesignCrowd

14 May 2023 by Taylor Reaume

99Designs vs DesignHill vs DesignCrowd

Are you thinking about designing a new logo for your product or service?

Designing a new logo can be costly and time consuming.

The traditional process for designing a logo goes something like this:

Day 1: Hire a logo designer for $500.

Day 2 to Day 5: Review logo designs.

Day 10: Designer stops submitting designs or goes on vacation.

Day 15: You are unhappy and ask for a refund.

Day 30: Designer says no refunds are allowed. You have a mental breakdown.

Day 45: You settle for an average logo.

This is…well shall we say, not ideal!

What happens when your logo designer disappears mid project?

What if the logo designer decides to increase their pricing because you are being too picky?

You’re likely to run into some of these common problems when you take the traditional route with logo design.

Being stuck with a single logo designer will limit your options.

…what if there was a different way to design your logo, whereby you received submissions from 100’s of logo designers?

Enter Crowdsourcing.

Crowdsourcing involves obtaining work, information, or opinions from a large group of people who submit their data via the Internet, social media, and smartphone apps, into a contest, which typically has a small prize.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying to avoid all graphic design agencies. There are pros and cons to working with an established graphic design agency.

For example, if you’re a fortune 500 company, and time is more valuable than money, it might make more sense to have a graphic design agency take a full scope approach.

However, if you’re on a shoe string budget like most people, the crowdsourcing route, in my opinion, is the better option to consider.

Whether you’re an established businesses or a startup, you need your logo to stand out. From the website to the product packaging, you need a jaw-dropping, communicative, intelligent logo design.

Your logo should match your preferences, business and style, grab your customer’s attention with color and design, and make your business memorable. A eye-catching logo will help you stand out from the competition.

Image matters. And having a professionally designed logo is the first step in web branding.

Below are several logos which are a result of a crowdsourcing contest.

Three of the best crowdsourcing websites, when it comes to logo design, include 99designs.com, designhill.com, and designcrowd.com.

Each of these sites offers you the ability to launch a design contest in which designers compete for the prize of winning your contest, which is typically $299.

But it gets better.

These sites also offer a 100% money back guarantee.

So, let’s say you are not happy at the end of the 7 day logo contest. Simply request a full refund. No questions asked.

Crowdsourcing your logo design is a great way to design a logo.

Which crowdsourcing site offers you the best deal though? How about the best designs? Let’s deep dive into these three companies to learn which produces the best choice for you.

99designs.com

99designs, now a Vista Print company, was the original kid on the block. They were the first really popular crowdsourcing site for logos. Logo contests can launched for $400. The designers at 99designs were the best ones you can find online when the site first launched. However, soon after they launched, clones started popping up and woo-ing designers away from 99designs with better pricing splits. I honestly saw a noticeable decline in the quality of the logo submissions over the years with 99designs. However, 99designs still has a great pool of designers, and if you know who to work with, which designers to invite to your contest, you’ll be fine. At 99designs you can get a logo design whether you hold a contest, or you hire outright.

More expensive than the other options
Greater selection of design options
More per contest submissions

DesignHill

DesignHill offers contests and for-hire options, too. Spend $130 to $500 to get yourself a beautiful looking logo. The high-end of the range includes the graphics intensive, “wow” types of logos you might expect from a corporation while the low-end will get you lower quality designs. Between that, you find a sweet spot of design and affordability. To hold a contest, you need to already have a design idea and know the colors you want. The site takes you through a multi-screen quiz that helps you build your site request. You do not set the cost of your contest yourself.

Cheaper direct hire
Flexibility in design solutions
Best for high-end designs

DesignCrowd

DesignCrowd only offers contests. You set the price as long as it meets the minimum prize. Costs for a logo contest range from $100 to $500. DesignCrowd seems to have pulled many of the best designers over from 99designs. I found myself working with many of the same designers. The quality of the logo you end up with will also depend on how smart you are at managing the designers, directing them and communicating your needs clearly. Since everything’s a contest, you cannot hire any of the designers outright.

Overall most affordable
A massive community of 640,000 designers
Most streamlined request briefings to complete

Commonalities of the Three Sites

Besides logos, each site offers websites, branding items, product packaging design, and other marketing collateral. You can hold a contest for each, but if you need all the products as a startup would, there’s no option for a contest for a full package. You would need to run a contest for each item.

Since you would probably want all branding to match, you would need to start with the basics — your logo.

The logo is the most important part of the entire web branding process. Re-branding is always very costly, so make sure you get the logo done first, then you can move on to the rest of branding tasks, such as a website graphics, social media graphics, email graphics, letterhead and more.

Why not hire an Agency instead?

When you need a design quickly, but you also need something affordable, you find out that hiring a graphic design agency probably isn’t within range. You also might have a tough time conveying to a professional designer what you want. If graphic design were your specialty, you could just make it all yourself. That’s where contest sites come in handy.

You could hire a freelancer, but that’s probably even riskier. They let you see finished work from prior projects. You cannot see the designer’s vision for your company. You also have to interview and choose one freelancer which can mean wasted time. You might choose someone who just does not work out because they may not understand the vision you have for your website or logo or product packaging.

Why Hold a Contest?

With a contest, you get to see the options in front of you and choose which design best meets your needs. The winner of the contest gets paid by you the prize money and in return, you obtain full rights to the design. It becomes a work-for-hire and you own the copyright.

Contests make sense for obtaining a logo design for less money. You could spend up to $10,000 hiring a professional graphic design agency, so $299 makes for a pretty good deal. You don’t need a business loan for that. You can just put it on your credit card.

A logo design is essential for a company’s branding because it is a visual representation of your company’s values and features. A good logo can improve a company’s brand awareness and exposure.

There’s another advantage to these design contests that many people overlook. Free marketing. You can promote the contest on your social media. You probably already have a Twitter or Facebook Page. Those free social media accounts can help you land your first customers plus posting about the contest for the design of your logo, website, product packaging, etc. can get you followers and vital re-tweets.

All of those graphic designers who like and re-tweet your posts about the contest have families and friends and clients who are not in competition to design for you, but they might want your service or product. You get free advertising by posting a poll and asking people to vote on 3 options for your logo design.

Starting your ‘logo contest’ is easy.

Input a few simple details (company name, sector, preferred colors etc.), post your brief and, and presto, you’ll soon have hundreds of hungry young designers from around the world submitting their proposals, of which you get to choose one. All for as little as $299. The best part is there is a 100% money back guarantee with no strings attached.

Before you start your logo contest, consider these points below.

Here are a few tips to consider:

Logo Design Tip #1: Identity: Before you pick a logo (or hire a designer), you must consider the message your logo will send to consumers. In order to design a logo that will resonate with your target market, you must determine your company’s identity and the elements that separate you from your competitors. Think of a few keywords that describe your business and its values then make sure your logo captures these concepts.

Logo Design Tip #2: Color: Humans are wired to respond to colors. When used appropriately, color can have a significant emotional impact on consumer behavior. It’s an important element in logo design that you need to take into consideration once you know what emotion you want your logo to elicit. Various social media sites use blue in their logo design to portray calmness, popularity, and security.

Check out this color emotions infographic.

Logo Design Tip #3: Font: Just like colors, different fonts stimulate different emotions too. It is obvious to avoid Comic Sans in a professional logo (or in any design), but picking the right font is still a difficult task. Make sure your font choice aligns with your company’s identity. Usually, serif fonts (e.g. Times New Roman) seem traditional and san serif fonts (e.g. Arial) look modern. If you already have a symbol designed for your logo, you should consider using a simple font that won’t take the attention away from the design. Try to keep your logo nice and simple by using no more than two fonts. Coca Cola’s swirly red font looks vibrant and refreshing.

Here is a great tool that will help you visualize your logo text:

GOOGLE FONT TOOL

Logo Design Tip #4: Adaptability: A logo should be so versatile that it can look great across multiple mediums. Some designs look great on the company website but loses its detail when printed on stationary. Avoid using overly complex designs and stick with vector graphics instead of pixels. Starbucks’ logo redesign allows viewers to see the twin-tailed mermaid clearly even when it’s minimized.

Logo Design Tip #5: Professional Design: Your logo represents your company so the design should reflect your organization’s purpose. Unfortunately, even an experienced designer with the good intention of creating a logo for your business can still fail to take a step back to evaluate their design objectively. You may have a great design but ultimately what matters is what consumers associate your logo with. Make sure your logo design is appealing and appropriate before you decide to use it on various mediums.

Lastly, below are a couple logo design videos you may find entertaining and educational.

What are your thoughts on crowdsourcing a logo? Have you had success with other platforms? Please share in the comments below.

SEO Marketing | Web Marketing

Improve Your Website Traffic With Schema Markup

8 May 2023 by Taylor Reaume

Schema markup and Structured data are an SEO tool that can help improve the click through rate of your website on the search engine results page (SERP).

While schema and structured data are not required they are highly recommended by all major search engines to help them pull the best data from your website in a way that makes it easy for users to view on a results page.

Schema and structured data improve the look of your websites listing on Google increasing potential traffic and showcasing the products, services, or information offered on your website. This will potentially decrease user bounce rate and increase your organic traffic revenue generation.

Schema gives you more control over how your website shows up on Google and the information users see when they search for your product or service offering.

Having accurate schema markup will improve your website’s local search ranking and help Google prioritize your website above competitors that have not invested in this untapped SEO tactic.

This guide to Understanding Schema Markup For SEO will outline:

The difference between Schema markup and structured data
How Schema and structured data affect a sites SEO
Types of Schema markup and structured data available
How to implement Schema and structured data on different web platforms

Below we will start by clarifying what schema and structured data are, how they are implemented on common web development sites, and what they can do to improve the search ranks of your site.

What Is Schema Markup

Schema markup is a code that you put on your website to help a search engine pull the right information from your website. Schema creates better descriptions, accurate company information, and enhances the users experience on the search engine leading to higher quality traffic for your website.

Schema is an open sourced code that anyone can use. To get a better understanding of how it works you can visit schema.org.

What Is Structured Data

Structured data is a way to organize data in a standard form that Google and other search partners can easily pull from. Thinking of structured data like a database each item or description on your website will have its own structured data. Company information can be structured along with products and services.

Structured data is how Google sets up shopping ads or understands which products are in stock on websites. There are many types of rich snippets and markup options for your site.

How Do Schema & Structured Data Affect SEO?

Schema markup and structured data tell Google what important information should be pulled from the website. This improves search listings with accurate and well-thought-out descriptions and information. Structured data also helps Google know what rich snippets are available on a website.

A rich snippet can be anything from a question box in position zero, book review, or FAQ. It is information pulled directly onto the search page to improve the users experience. A rich snippet increases the size of a site’s listing and allows for more information on the results page increasing the likelihood of a click through to the site.

Structured data is not a ranking factor for Google, but it does affect a site’s overall rankings.

Click Through Rate (CTR)

Schema markup will have an impact on your CTR. A higher CTR, will increase your rankings by signaling to Google that your site is a good result for that search.

Structured data can help you with CTR because rich results catch the eye of the searcher and provide an outline on the information they will find on site potentially lowering the bounce rate and improving on site traffic quality.

Schema Markup Types Supported by Google

Structured data is available for almost any type of product or service and a full list of available markup can be found on schema.org.

There are also many types of rich snippets that Google has developed. You can find a full list of available rich snippets in the Google Developer.

Common snippets include:

Position zero
Breadcrumbs
Reviews
FAQ
Ratings
Events
Products
Local business information
Recipes
Site links

Product Markup

Product based markup is required when running paid shopping ads on Google. Paid shopping ads are a form of PPC ads on Google Ads that list items for purchase directly on Google. Using Shopping Ads can give a product company an edge over the competition as the product shows without the need for a user to click into the website. Schema works hand in hand with the merchant center to list products seamlessly.

How To Add Schema Markup On Your Website (The Right Way)

Implementing Schema on a web platform like WordPress and other eCommerce sites has become easier with WordPress schema plugins. If you are looking to implement Schema on a custom site it is best to hire a web developer to help implement the proper HTML code in your specific system.

Here’s how you can implement structured data correctly on your website, on different platforms:

How to add schema markup on WordPress

To add Schema Markup to your WordPress blog, check out the structured data & schema markup plugins in the WP repository. Most SEO plugins like YOAST and SEO PRESS also add basic structured data functionality to most websites including description and title tags.

How to add schema markup in Magento & eCommerce

Most eCommerce platforms such as Magento, Shopify, and Square Space will come with structured data already integrated.

If you’re not sure that your site has the proper structured data, use the structured data Google Structured Data Testing Tool.

If there’s no Product section, it means your implementation is missing. There are always plugins and extensions so do a Google search and find what suits your platform.

Always fix the warnings and misinformation, they won’t stand in the way of your rich snippets displaying, but it’s always best to have accurate data.

Local SEO structured data

If you have a local business, structured data can really help your local SEO. You can mark up your NAP (name, address, phone) so that search engines can better understand that information.

This plugin for WordPress supports structured data for Local Businesses.

Custom schema markup implementation

If you’re planning on adding markup manually, make sure to validate your code with the Google Structured Data Testing Tool.

Why Doesn’t My Website Display a Rich Snippet?

Schema markup on your website does not guarantee that Google will implement a rich snippet on the SERP. The schema is only there to help tell Google what you want. If the information you shared is useful to the search Google will include your schema.

The best thing for you to do is test your rich snippet to guarantee it is working with the Rich Snippet Validator.

Voice search is the future of how we will interact with our devices.

If you want your business to show up in voice search, you need accurate Schema markup and structured data programmed into your site.

Voice search is a natural way to ask for information and get results. It’s hands-free, eyes-free, and all about you. You can use it anywhere – in your car, at home or on the go – as long as you have an internet connection. And it’s not just for Google Search anymore! Now Siri on iOS 11 lets you access Apple Music with just your voice.

Schema markup will provide more information about your website and it’s content in order to make it easier for voice assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa to understand what you’re offering.

The goal is to make it as easy as possible for Google to understand the kind of content you want to show up when people search for specific things like “restaurants near me” or “movies starring Tom Hanks.”

Structured data and Schema should be your first priority when it comes to site wide SEO, it is an important step in improving the long term quality of your website traffic.

Like any other SEO tactic, Schema should be part of a larger strategy that focuses on the entire optimization of your website.

Rich snippets and markup provide Google and other search information an easy way to improve a search result page and improve the user’s experience while on the search engine. The more information you give to a search engine in an easy-to-understand way the more likely they are to prioritize your site.

Improving the quality of your website traffic can help increase inbound revenue generation. Schema markup and structured data is one of the best ways to improve the quality of your organic traffic coming from Google.

Google Marketing

New Resources For Video SEO

18 March 2023 by Taylor Reaume

As global online video consumption continues to grow, Google aims to surface video content from diverse sources across the web. We want to make it easy for site owners to get their videos indexed and surfaced on Google.

Today, we’re excited to share two new resources to help you optimize your videos for Google Search and Discover.

Search Central Lightning Talk

In this new lightning talk, we discuss how Google indexes videos, highlight features where videos appear on Google, and share five key tips to optimize your videos for Search and Discover:

Make your videos available on the web. Each video must be available on a public web page, that isn’t blocked by robots.txt or noindex metadata.
Provide structured data with VideoObject markup. Follow the guidelines in our Video structured data documentation.
Include high-quality thumbnails. Without a valid thumbnail image, the video may not be indexed. See more best practices for video thumbnails.
Submit a video sitemap. You can find guidelines and examples in our video sitemap documentation.
Make video content files accessible. This allows Google to understand the video contents and enable features like video previews and key moments. Follow these best practices to allow Google to fetch your video files.

Video best practices

In addition to the lightning talk, we also updated our Video best practices guide to clarify the most important steps you can take to help Google find, index, and understand your videos. The guide shows you how to:

We’ll continue to update this page over time with our latest recommendations, alongside our video structured data guide.

Source: Official Google Webmasters Blog

Blog Marketing | Web Marketing

10 Reasons Why You Need LastPass Password Manager

3 February 2023 by Taylor Reaume

Keeping track of unique passwords for various devices is a never ending scooby doo mystery for most business owners.

LastPass is a password management software that simplifies your password management strategy. It allows you to store all your passwords in one secure location, which you can access with one master password. LastPass offers packages for personal use and for business use.

In the personal category, you can choose a premium or a family package. You need not purchase either one immediately. You can sign-up for a 30-day free trial to see if you like it. No credit card is required.

When your premium trial ends, you can continue with a few basic features, including a secure password vault, access to one device type, and a LastPass authenticator, at no extra charge. If you want to access more advanced functions of the site, then you will be required to pay $3 a month.

There is also the LastPass Families package. You can use it to store and share medical, entertainment, and credit card accounts that everyone in your family can access. This costs $4 a month and allows up to 6 users.

LastPass also offers packages to businesses and organizations of all sizes. LastPass can provide solutions for password and information storage and management for individual teams and across an entire enterprise. LastPass MFA uses biometric and contextual intelligence as authentication factors, which gives your people an even more robust way to protect valuable data. The company also offers business and IT executive the ability to centralize and track authentication so that they know who is accessing what content, from which platform or device. LastPass is open to working with companies on an individual basis to address specific needs.

LastPass is one of the most trusted brands in password management. Here are 10 reasons why you need LastPass to store, secure, and manage your passwords:

Secured Through Encryption: You may feel uneasy about storing all your passwords in one digital space. But you should know that LastPass stores your passwords in one place on your computer and protects it with encryption. The master password is the only way to access this information, and it is not stored anywhere. You will be the only one who knows your master password. Not even the LastPass team has access to it; nor do they have the ability to retrieve it.
Saves You Login Time: LastPass automatically gives you the option of adding password-protected sites to your vault. When you add a site to your vault, LastPass will automatically fill in the username and password for you every time you visit it. You can also add multiple accounts on the same site to your vault. If you have a number of accounts on different social media sites, LastPass allows you to save multiple login credentials for each of them.
Accessible From a Range of Platforms: LastPass is available through Google Chrome, Mozilla, Firefox, Microsoft Edge. It can also be accessed on smartphones that are run by Android, iOS, or Windows Phone.
Other Storage Options: LastPass is known primarily for its password storage and management system. But you have the option of storing other sensitive data and information on it. Users can put credit card, banking information, and notes that they do not want to commit to memory or write down on paper. You can also use LastPass to automatically fill in credit card information for purchases you make online.
A One-Time Password Feature: There may be times when you need to access your LastPass account from a public computer. If it is one that you do not trust, then LastPass has a feature that allows you to punch in a one-time password to access your vault. You may prefer this to entering your master password on a computer that you do not know.
Helps You Create Secure Passwords: If you are having a tough time coming up with a good password, LastPass will generate one for you. It has a feature that allows you to tailor the password to a specific number of characters, numeric digits, and special symbols. The system will then fill in this generated password to any site you add to your vault.
Transparent: LastPass monitors its network around the clock, and there have been no known breaches of the system. However, no data storage site is completely secure. The professionals at LastPass are honest about any security issues they may have with the network. And they send their members updates until the matter is resolved.
Sound Authentication Procedures: It is quite hard to get into your vault. In addition to entering your master password, you must also punch in another piece of information. LastPass gives you the option of using Google or Grid Multifactor authentication, both of which are free. You can also use more advanced authentication procedures such as a smart card or a fingerprint for a fee. The aim here is to deter hackers from trying to break into your vault and steal your passwords and information.
Cost Effective: LastPass is a relatively inexpensive password manager system. You can get access to basic functions and support for free. The more advanced features that come with a premium personal account will cost you $36 a year. This is very little money given the many benefits gained.
Trusted By Experts: The thing about the computer and computer security industry is that those who work in it tend to share their opinions about various IT companies and the services they offer. LastPass has received mostly glowing reviews by these experts. There is a world of difference between companies that promote themselves as a trusted brand and those that are accepted as such by industry leaders. LastPass is in the latter category.

Creating and memorizing unique and strong passwords for each of the password-protected sites that you visit is impossible. Using LastPass is the best way to avoid this struggle. No matter the particulars of your situation, if you are active online and must access multiple password-protected sites every day, you need what LastPass has to offer.

Best Life Hacks | Blog Marketing | Web Marketing

Dr. Marshall Rosenberg and Nonviolent Communication

15 April 2022 by Taylor Reaume

Note from Taylor Reaume: Dr. Marshall Rosenberg is one of my top 10 mentors. I was privileged to have the opportunity to meet him twice at workshops held in Santa Barbara. His model for compassionate communication is the most advanced and helpful system for processing internal thoughts I have ever found.

With a nation often on edge due to political and racial strife, students and communities trying to make their voices heard, and even families forced to quarantine together in close quarters, it has never been more important to learn to communicate without resorting to violence. Nonviolent Communication, or NVC, heightens awareness regarding the importance of communicating compassionately, verbalizing feelings, and understanding the differences between needs and requests vs. demands. I hope you enjoy these insights into his work.

A Worldwide Movement Begins

Dr. Marshall Rosenberg was an American psychologist, mediator, author and teacher known for developing the theory of Nonviolent Communication. He began formulating his insights during the civil rights and anti-war protests of the 1960s, and helped to peacefully desegregate long-separated school districts. From there, he went on to work as a global peacemaker and founded the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC), an international non-profit organization. The NVC community is currently active in over 65 countries around the globe. According to the Center:

“NVC is based on the principles of nonviolence – the natural state of compassion when no violence is present in the heart. NVC begins by assuming that we are all compassionate by nature and that violent strategies—whether verbal or physical—are learned behaviors taught and supported by the prevailing culture.”

NVC assumes that we all share the same, basic human needs, and that all actions are a strategy to meet one or more of these needs. People who practice NVC have found greater authenticity in their communication, increased understanding, deeper connections, and enhanced conflict resolution. Applications can be seen in all sectors of society from the personal and professional to the political.

Groups such as educators, mental health and health care providers, managers, lawyers, police and prison officials, military officers, prisoners, clergy, government officials, and families have benefited from his teachings. He has provided training to promote the peaceful resolution of differences in areas fraught with war and economic disadvantages.

What is NVC?

Most of us want to improve the quality of our relationships, to deepen our sense of personal empowerment and to communicate more effectively. Unfortunately, though, we have been educated from birth to compete, judge, demand and diagnose; to think and communicate in terms of “right“ and “wrong.“ The habitual ways we think and speak tend to hinder communication and create misunderstanding. At their most extreme, our unfeeling habits can lead to anger, pain, and even violence.

NVC reaches beneath the surface and discovers what is alive and vital within us. It flows from the understanding that all of our actions are based on human needs we seek to fulfill. NVC provides a vocabulary of feelings and needs that help us more clearly express what is going on in us, and understand what is going on in others. When we understand and acknowledge our needs, we develop a shared foundation for much more satisfying relationships.

Dr. Marshall Rosenberg Non Violent Communication NVCC

Violent Communication vs. Nonviolent Communication

In its Key Facts About Nonviolent Communication, the CNVC describes violence as “acting in ways that result in hurt or harm.” Based on this definition, they believe that much of how we communicate – judging others, bullying, having racial bias, blaming, finger pointing, discriminating , speaking without listening, criticizing others or ourselves, name-calling, reacting when angry, using political rhetoric, being defensive or judging who’s “good/bad” or what’s “right/wrong” with people – could therefore be called “violent communication.”

Nonviolent Communication, on the other hand is the integration of four things:

Consciousness: a set of principles that support living a life of compassion, collaboration, courage, and authenticity.
Language: understanding how words contribute to connection or distance.
Communication Skills: knowing how to ask for what we want, how to hear others even in disagreement, and how to move towards solutions that work for all.
Means of Influence: sharing “power with others” rather than using “power over others.”

NVC serves our desire to increase our ability to live with choice, meaning, and connection; connect empathically with self and others to have more satisfying relationships; and share resources so everyone is able to benefit.

The Four Cornerstones of NVC

Most workshops, prior to Dr. Rosenberg’s time, tended to focus on conflict resolution as gaining power over other people. There was no recognition of individual qualities or affirmation of each other’s uniqueness, no compassion or nurturing. While violence usually results from such concepts as judgments, thoughts, strategies and demands, Rosenberg instead based NVC on four core components known as OFNR:

Observations: This is a description of what is actually happening, as reported by our direct, sensory experiences mixed with our “inner voice.” Observations should be free of moral judgment and criticism.
Feelings: These are the physical sensations and emotions which are universal to all people. It could be a sensation of fear, love, happiness, or guilt.
Needs/Values: These are the resources which are necessary to sustain our lives, and are also universal.
Requests: Requests are when one party has an opportunity to contribute to the well-being of another. It is a specific action which provides a concrete offering with the intention of helping to fulfill a need. Requests can come in the form of clarity, feedback and action.

How You Can Use the NVC Process

The life-changing benefits of NVC can be applied to conflict resolution, personal relationships, parenting and families, education, personal growth, organizational effectiveness, anger management, business relationships and individual spirituality.

NVC helps to develop your emotional vocabulary, connect with your feelings and needs, break negative habit patterns, hear the needs behind behavior and get to the heart of the conflict.

A good starting point is to learn how to use “feeling” words in a sentence. This way you can accurately describe how you are feeling to the other person.

Getting both people’s needs met involves accurately communicating how one feels about the needs being met or unmet.

Here is a general outline of the entire communication model:

Paraphrased Quotes from Dr. Marshall B. Rosenberg

“Every criticism, judgment, diagnosis, and expression of anger is the tragic expression on an unmet need.”

“The goal of Nonviolent Communication is not to alter people and their behavior to suit us; it is to establish relationships based on empathy and honesty, which will fulfill everyone’s needs eventually.”

“The more we discuss the past, the less we heal from it.”

“We can’t make anyone do anything against their will without enormous consequences.”

Below is a Youtube video of Dr. Marshall Rosenberg speaking to a group of psychologists. This was an NVC workshop in San Francisco, CA.

Although Dr. Rosenberg passed away in 2015, the Center he founded continues to educate people to communicate more effectively and become more connected globally. The world is definitely in a better place for the legacy he left us.

NVC QUIZ FOR KIDS: I stayed up until 4am designing these quiz sheets below. If you have kids, you might benefit from chatting with them about the answers.

I use these quizzes to annoy the crap out of my nephews and nieces when I see them. 🙂

They are designed to help children distinguish between feelings or thoughts, and requests or demands.

And finally, below is a collection of infographics I’ve collected over the years.

Email Marketing | Local Marketing | Web Marketing

How To Build Your Email List

2 April 2022 by Taylor Reaume

Email is sometimes seen as a lonely outcast in the online marketing world, sometimes even a joke. It just keeps plodding on behind the scenes whiles its flashier cousins get all the attention. Yet savvy marketers know that email is just as powerful now as it has always been, and deploy it as an integral part of their online strategy.

Email is the perfect way to promote your products and services, distribute interesting content, and stay in touch with prospects and customers. Carefully targeted, automated “drip” campaigns that provide information without becoming spam can take your business from an interesting idea to a possible partner in the recipient’s mind.

Here are some eye-popping email statistics to give you a better perspective:

The number of email users continues to grow: Statista reports that there were over 4 billion email users worldwide in 2020. This number is expected to grow to almost 4.6 billion by 2025.
Emails get opened: In 2020 email benchmarks for all industries included an average open rate of 18.0%, an average click-through rate of 2.6%, and an average click-to-open rate of 14.1%.
They influence purchase decisions: According to consumer research, 59% of respondents say marketing emails influence their purchase decisions.
Emails get results: Even in 2019, the ROI on email marketing campaigns was over $40! How does that compare to direct mail or your other online efforts?

Why do people unsubscribe?

Why am I starting this blog with “how to keep your list” instead of “how to build your list”? Because keeping your list is probably the most effective way to “build your list”.

It’s similar to the age old money principle; “It’s much easier to make money, that it is to keep it.”

So how do we keep our email list subscribers from opting out?

To answer that question, let’s examine sending frequency.

Research firm Marketing Sherpa surveyed the opinions of 2,000 Americans about what frequency they think is optimal for newsletters. The diagram above shows how the survey participants answered the question:

“How often would you like to receive newsletters (coupons, promotions) from the companies you’re subscribed with?”

Too frequent mailings are a sure way to lose subscribers. Your subscribers may unsubscribe simply because the emails they receive overload their inboxes. Just look at the huge selection of email customization tools that demonstrate the need for users to manage and reduce the number of emails they receive.

What is a normal unsubscribe rate?

There is no official percentage benchmark for the unsubscribing norm. It depends on each mailing campaign and the industry. That said, below is a table of industry averages which you might find interesting:

Email List Open Rates and Industry Averages

According to the Campaign Monitor research, the average unsubscribe rate in 2019 was about 0.17%. From 1000 letters sent – 1-2 people unsubscribe.

As long as the number of unsubscribes does not exceed 0.5%, everything is pretty normal. If your base is 200 subscribers, then with each submission at least one of them will unsubscribe. It’s sad, but true.

Segment your email list to lower unsubscribes.

The best way to lower the number of unsubscribes from your mailings is to segment your database. There are many different ways to do this:

which links are clicked when they receive your email;
which online resources are used (e-books, webinars, etc.);
whether they participate in online events or not (webinars, for example);
how often your emails are opened (frequency of interaction);
where subscribers live;
income level, psychographic data, etc.

The statistics prove the reliability of email marketing, but their effectiveness relies on the quality of your email list. Careful attention needs to be paid to adding addresses to your list, updating them as needed, sending quality content and promptly responding to unsubscribe requests.

Let’s talk about building your email list.

Probably the best way to build your email list is with a “give to get” opt in strategy.

Offer potential customers a white paper, or an infographic, in exchange for subscribing to your newsletter list. Their email goes into your database automatically, and generates a series of welcome, thank you, or content updates.

Most people jealously guard their email address because they don’t want to get on some type of “spam” list. But they do want to get worthwhile information and offers from companies that match their interests. So what can you offer that makes your company look good, and still adds value to your prospective customer?

Below are several creative ways you might consider building your list:

Add an email opt-in form to your website: This one is simple – just ask your website visitors to subscribe to your monthly online newsletters. Once they sign-up, be sure to only send relevant, interesting content that meets their needs, though, or they might unsubscribe quickly. Make sure this offer is repeated on every page your visitors might access from their online search results.
Use pop-ups: These are quick hits that grab a user’s attention as they begin to surf your site. Have a headline that promises something, offer a discount, or have a limited time offer. Make it very simple to fill in the email and leave it at that.
Ask on social media: There are many creative ways to get emails from people on social media. “Give to get” email opt-in strategies are a common way to build an email list using social media. You can offer a PDF or white paper in exchange for an email address. You can use Facebook, or do a call-to-action Tweet or post on Instagram.
Check-out process: If you offer ecommerce services, you can always ask for an email address during the checkout process. Most people don’t think twice about providing an email to a company they trusted enough to make a purchase.
Insider Tips: Put together a one page sheet of special tips that apply to your product or service, and offer it in exchange for an email address.
White Paper: A white paper is a deep dive into a topic of particular interest. If you own a computer store for example, a good white paper might look at various computer setups to achieve maximum office efficiency. The white paper seeks to take a complex matter and break it down with expert advice and research. It provides useful information that can help solve a particular problem, and maybe even motivate the reader to work further with your company.
E-book: This is a more in-depth study of a particular topic. It might come in handy for analyzing many sides of a particular issue or product offering.
Special Access: Offer to let prospects on your email list have sneak previews of new products or upcoming sales and promotions. Have a limited sale period that is available only to this list before you open it to everyone.
Helpful Audio or Video: Is there one topic that you are always explaining to customers? You can reproduce your answer in the form of an audio or video file, and offer that as the email address incentive.
Surveys: Ask someone to provide answers to a few questions about your product or service. Offer to provide results if they give you their email address.

Case Studies on Building Email Lists

Buffer, the marketing software firm, shared its strategies to double email signups in 30 days. They added eight more ways to their existing tactic, to make it ridiculously easy to sign-up for the list. Options now include slideup form, blog homepage email capture, HelloBar, sidebar ad, postscript CTA, Twitter lead generation cards, Facebook newsletter signup, SlideShare, and Qzzr.
University of Alberta realized a 500% increase in subscribers simply by adding a chat window signup with Qualaroo. Even though their website page offered a newsletter preview, few visitors took the opportunity to actually sign-up. A pop-up chat window, however, noted their interest and provided a quick way to enter an email address.
Sol de Janeiro, a body care company, generated 25,000 new subscribers in under five months using a layered lead capture approach that began with an offer that triggered when a prospect appeared to be ending a website session.

Automate Your Email Automation

Create specific emails to respond to certain situations, and set up your system to send them out automatically. You might have emails already created to:

Accompany the white paper or other information you are sending.
Follow-up on information that was sent
Welcome a new customer
Connect with someone you haven’t heard from lately
Send out to those with an abandoned cart
Celebrate milestone occasions

Use productivity tools like Constant Contact, Mailchimp or Cloud HQ to automatically schedule emails, update your database, respond to unsubscribe requests, and handle your automatic reply needs.

Start Building Your Email List Today

When you are building your email list, think about the emotions you want readers to feel. Try to put yourself in their position to see what would make you give someone your email address, and build from there.

Do you have a coveted email opt in strategy that’s worked for you in the past? Well don’t keep it a secret, that’s no fun! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

SEO Marketing

25 Advanced Search Engines (Other Than Google)

28 March 2022 by Taylor Reaume

It may come as a shock to learn that Google is not the end-all be-all search engine. There are many search engines out there, much more than the 25 included in this list.

Learning how Google stores and utilizes the information you search for may lead to seeking out a different, more private search engine.

Which search engine is right for you? It depends on what you are searching for and what you are interested in finding.

Are privacy and tracking options important to you? Are you looking for academic material or strictly for video clips? The search engines you use can help better define your search, and get you the answers you need more quickly.

Thankfully, you have options! Keep reading to find which search engine best fits your needs.

25 Advanced Search Engines (Other Than Google)

Bing is one of the most-used search engines behind Google. Some users find it more visually pleasing than the info up front layout that Google uses. Bing, while similar to Google’s layout, offers trending images while searching.
Yahoo is another popular search engine, which boasts a different layout than other search engines, including top news headlines and recommended articles.
Baidu, which is the most popular search engine in China, has a similar design layout to Google, but is heavily censored.
Yandex is Russia’s answer to Google. Powered by AI, they utilize cookies, and their machines are constantly learning in order to provide better search results for their users.
DuckDuckGo is among the most popular alternatives to googling. DuckDuckGo is the search engine for those who want privacy. They do not track and consistently block access from others trying to obtain your search history.
Swisscows is notable for its privacy settings, and does not store your data. Many parents utilize Swisscows and find their family-friendly privacy policies ideal for their children’s internet experience.
Ask.com formerly known as Ask Jeeves is a laid-back and user-friendly search engine. Ask runs a “question-answering based search engine.” Ask a question, get an answer, simple as that!
Ecosia appeals to the environmentally conscious. With every search you type in, Ecosia helps give back while you do your research by planting trees where they are needed across the world. They are privacy-friendly and utilize Bing and their own algorithms to bring you your results.
Startpage offers an interesting service as it does not track your history or cookies. But it goes a step further in that you can install a Startpage plugin and keep using Google and its search engine, without the potential privacy issues.
Pinterest, while it may not seem like a search engine, is a massive database of images and other creative content. Although a (free) account is required, you can pin designs and photos into categories, making repetitive searches obsolete.
Keyhole sets itself apart as a search engine by allowing users to search the World Wide Web by keywords, hashtags, or @mentions. Keyhole can show you how a piece was shared across platforms and offers a live campaign tracker. Keyhole utilizes social listening online and provides analytics to help improve your online marketing strategies.
Flickr’s advanced search specializes in all things media. Whether you are looking for photos, videos, illustrations, you can find a variety of content with what Flickr offers.
SlideShare is a major database of slideshow presentations. If you missed your latest conference or are interested in brushing up on some topics, Slideshare may be a perfect search engine for you.
TinEye is a reverse image search engine. You plug in the picture and TinEye will compile a list and show you where the image has been shared around the internet.
LinkedIn Answers Search can help you find keywords used on the site. It’s a great place to seek advice from experts in your field or ask their staff questions.
Social Searcher can track keywords and social metrics. This search engine can also show you a specific hashtag or @mention all in one list. This is great for monitoring your growth as a brand and on social media, and see what people are talking about.
Wolfphram Alpha: some may remember this search engine from seeking help in understanding difficult mathematic equations. But Wolphram Alpha goes a step further as a search engine. The website offers expert knowledge in a variety of fields, and is a hub of helpful videos and examples to explain any question you may have. It is privately owned and doesn’t track your searches.
Boardreader offers a unique search engine perspective. With Boardreader, you can search message boards and forums specifically, which is helpful with a narrow search.
Yippy is a search engine that offers private browsing. It doesn’t overload the user with results, which some may find more appealing in the never-ending search for information.
Buzzsumo offers a unique perspective as you can search by topic or by competitor. This search engine is helpful to users and marketers, as they find which article topics were shared most and can see articles related to the topics or keywords they are searching.
CC Search, also known as Creative Commons Search, aims to show licensed works in public domain. They help users find and share creative knowledge straight from the creators themselves. If you or your company want to avoid copyright claims, using CC Search may work for you.
Amazon is rising in popularity as a search engine as well. Keep in mind that their search results are geared towards sales, but can be a great resource for research as well as for purchasing.
Gigablast is a huge database of billions of indexed webpages. This cryptographically-protected search engine is private, and has a directory of categories you can search from. It’s free and open source, with an advanced index search as well.
WebCrawler is a beloved search engine, as it was the very first to provide full-text searches. Now WebCrawler pulls from other major search engines, but it remains a useful facet for crawling meta-data.
The Internet Archive which features The Way Back Machine, is a collection of content and webpages from around the internet, uploaded by people around the world. There are billions of pages within this engine.

Privacy concerns are not the only reason users may seek out other advanced search engines other than Google. Some users have a more specific search request or want to search a database without the possibility of copyright claims.

From Swisscows, known for its privacy settings, to TinEye, an advanced image search engine, there are many search engines that hold their own against Google, by offering niche or advanced features.

Really it comes down to which search engine best suits your needs.

Which search engine is your favorite and why? Let me know in the comments below!

Best Life Hacks

12 Spiritual Audiobooks That Changed My Perspective

4 November 2021 by Taylor Reaume

Our sense of hearing is what enables us to connect to the world in so many vital ways. It allows us to communicate with others in a way that is different from the other senses. We hear the words others say, and listen closely for clues that reveal their true intent. For me, I have also found that hearing and listening not only bring pleasure; they can also make a difference in the overall quality of my life.

Although I have always had a thirst for knowledge, it was sometimes hard for me to gain full meaning just from the written word. I am an auditory learner, so I started using audiobooks as a way to learn. To me audiobooks are an immersive, educational, and entertaining experience. They improve my comprehension, and give me access to information that helps me learn more about a wide variety of topics.

I don’t just listen to audiobooks for business or marketing information alone. I also like insights that can help me become better as a person. Here is a list of 12 spiritual audiobooks that helped change my perspective. I am sharing them in case you might find them helpful for your own personal life journey.

Loving What Is by Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell: Here readers are challenged to answer four questions that are designed to change the way they think about life. This book gave me ideas that helped turn negative thoughts into positives, and changed how I react to people and events that cause stress in my life. Instead of focusing on what I wish “would be,” I now focus on trying to love what my current reality is.
Ask and It Is Given by Esther Hicks and Jerry Hicks: The problem with attempting to manifest your own desires is that sometimes you don’t even know how to ask for or received what you want. This book offers 22 separate and powerful processes that help you identify and achieve your personal life goals. This is the power of positive thinking taken to an entirely new level.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, and It’s All Small Stuff by Richard Carlson: This may be an oldie, but it is still a good read, and a great listen! Just like Carlson says, I was allowing all the little everyday details to completely take over my life, so much so that I started losing focus on my much more important life goals. Instead of long, explanatory chapters, this collection of 100 short affirmations helps remind me on a regular basis of simple actions I can take that will have a big impact on how I can control my own destiny.
The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck M.D.: Although it was first published in 1978 (and updated since then), this refreshing read gave me new insights into how traditional values and spiritual growth can change our life for the better. Life may indeed be difficult, but the author gently provides ways to bring fulfillment and peace.
The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity by Edwene Gaines: This book addresses the question of what prosperity really means. In a world as money-centric as ours can be, that is certainly a deep question. What is more important – gaining money or gaining spiritual prosperity – and can those two goals co-exist? Can you follow the four laws: set specific financial and spiritual goals; forgive others and yourself daily; tithe ten percent of all you earn or receive; and find and commit to a divine purpose?
Enneagram by Adam Night: An Enneagram is a model of the human psyche that is based on understanding nine interconnected personality types. This book offers a step-by-step guide to discovering your spiritual personality. The goal is to create better relationships by understanding yourself and others better. Be sure to take the included test!
Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss M.D.: If you believe in exploring the lessons learned from your past lives, then this is the book for you. Although regression is often thought of as an alternative form of psychotherapy, this can be an interesting foray into your psyche in order to make more of your present life. What lessons have you already learned and have yet to learn?
The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer: Do you know what is tying you down, and holding you back from reaching beyond the boundaries in your life? Are those boundaries of your own making? This #1 New York Times bestseller offers simple answers to some of life’s most perplexing questions. Find out what you can do to stop living with the habits and thoughts that keep you from achieving your very best being. You might be surprised by what you can achieve without those inner tethers!
Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh: Although not strictly about organized religion, the author does draw heavily from the spiritual teaching traditions of Buddhism and Christianity to help readers commit to mindfulness, so they can find the connection between personal, inner peace and peace on earth.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle: The New York Times recognizes Tolle as one of “the most popular spiritual authors in the United States” for good reason. His guide to spiritual enlightenment forces you to reject the self-made concept of ego, and to live in the here and now that surrounds you. This can be a difficult task with all we try to accomplish, and all that works against you to keep you from your peace, but it is possible to relieve yourself of the psychological pain you experience by accepting what is and being present in the Now.
An Invitation to Freedom by Mooji: Mooji is a Jamaican-born spiritual teacher who has attracted followers from around the world to his lessons on finding spiritual contentment by connecting with your true inner self. This book provides a guide to finding that sense of fulfillment we all seek, even in this cluttered, busy world. I enjoy the questions which force you to discover the truths in your life that can help lead you to emotional freedom.
Out of Your Mind by Alan Watts: If you spend too much time living in your head, then it is time to get out of your mind and focus on new perspectives. A former Anglican priest who mixes in a generous appreciation of Zen Buddhism, Watts provides listeners/readers with twelve pinnacle teaching sessions. These help you break through the boundaries of your rational way of thinking, to help you expand your appreciation for that which Watts calls the “Great Game.”

Once you have used these books to make a start on understanding spirituality and its applications to life and work, I’m sure you will find many more on your own that will help lead you down the path to peace and prosperity. Feel free to share your insights and ideas with me, as I am always open to new concepts that can help change my perspective as I continue to grow into my own reality. Happy Travels!

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