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Category: Business Articles

Social Media For Your Business: Bente’s Tips For Success

Did you know that every month there are more than three billion people worldwide using social media? And most of this can all be accessed by the phone in our pocket. So, why aren’t more businesses using these wide-reaching platforms? We from Bente Online are teaming up with Kallen media to inform you about the importance of social media for your business. We are adding a bit of European flavor to the mix.

The importance of social media has increased even more this year. As a result of Social Distancing, we had to find a way to stay connected and maybe even stay relevant. We are social beings, and we are constantly in need of keeping in touch. Consequently, when contacts from our workplace, school, or daily activities lessen, the need for online interaction increases substantially.

social media

Besides seeking social contact during this pandemic, we also have a lot of free time on our hands. People choose to spend their time on countless social media apps. We seek entertainment, find ways to fill up our spare time and keep up with the news. Apps like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok were visited even more this year. However, it’s not only these platforms that have increased in popularity. Platforms like Skype, Microsoft teams, Google hangout, and Zoom are also beginning to shape our digital future. With all these changes, there are a lot of business opportunities being created online.

Staying Active on Social Media

But why is it important to stay active on social media as a business during these circumstances?

Covid-19 is something that affected everyone. Aside from the creativity the lockdown brought, it also brought a lot of complex problems. That is why you need to stay relevant as a business owner and take advantage of this increased use of social media during such a period. Looking at the way technology has been advancing in just the last 10 years, technology use will probably increase even more in the following years.

Lockdown or not, being present on social media is essential to growing your business. If you don’t have a LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram with your company name linked to it, you are simply not taking full advantage and are missing out. Only merely creating a social media account is not going to do it.

Essential Use of Social Media

I’m going to discuss the four main reasons why proper social media use is essential.

Reason number one being, the importance of engaging with your customers. Letting customers know you are active online provides an effortless and, most importantly, accessible communication platform. On these platforms, you can connect with your customers on a personal level. By doing this, you get more exposure, get to know the customers, and target the right target audience. You can create a platform with stories that people can relate to. Bingo!

The second reason would be to stay in touch with your competitors. Try to stay ahead of competitors by analyzing their social media and improving on this. If you have a social media account, you can see how they engage with their customers and learn from it. Incorporating related questions and problems in your social media posts will help you stay one step ahead. You respond immediately and post a social media post about the issue.

The third reason is that Social Media marketing is relatively cheap compared to other online marketing firms. By creating the right content and using social media ads the right way, you can get a lot of value for your money through social media leads. You need to know who you are targeting, and you need to create the right audience. If done the right way, it generates an organic way of getting sales from ads.

social media

The last reason would be that it provides traffic for your website and improves your Google reachability. By providing useful and interesting social media content, you can get your followers to click on your website and find out even more about your business. Moreover, it provides an opportunity to improve your SEO.

A Final Tip

By creating a good and interesting Instagram name, you are one step closer to being a click away from your customers. For example, you are a restaurant in New York that sells cookies. Your username would be your business name, while your regular Instagram name could be NEW YORK COOKIES BY SAM. Therefore, leading to better reachability on Instagram as people search for their wants and desires; stumbling upon your well-formulated page.

In the current digital information age and especially during this pandemic, we can take advantage of the increasing amount of social media users. Social media is a powerful platform, so use it optimally and efficiently to take advantage maximally.

Bente Online

Bente Online is a young creative company that provides Social Media marketing services to small and medium-size companies without its own marketing department.

We create, design, and maintain your Social Media channels to connect with your target groups and growth in the number of followers. We also sell social media posts separately for private and commercial use. Bente Online is your online manager.

While offering structure in combination with creativity, we realize a structured quality approach for a part of your business, which is so important nowadays.

In our view, the use of corporate social media is all about communicating interactively with your relations. A higher goal is to make them fans and ambassadors who can recommend your product or service in their network. There are 3 important conditions for this: openness, mutual trust, and a good reputation. This type of fast media is all about a healthy portion of creativity, discipline in your repetition, and perseverance.

How To Get a Fundraising Campaign Noticed

Fundraising is very often the only source of revenue a nonprofit has to draw from. And without a good fundraising plan, most nonprofits wouldn’t be able to sustain themselves. Over the years working with charities, we’ve learned firsthand how fundraising can impact a nonprofit. That’s why Kallen Media has spent time outlining how to get a fundraising campaign noticed.

This blog will focus on fundraising at different business stages and how social media can help you connect with your base. Then we will tell you about some ways you can ensure your next fundraiser will be a huge success.

Fundraising at Multiple Scales

Every fundraising campaign should have a set goal, but at the same time, you should have sub-goals and a plan to keep supporters engaged throughout the entire process. That’s why multiple scales of plans can help keep your campaign on track. At the beginning of a campaign, this can often mean your fundraiser starts with a soft launch.

A soft launch is a process where you begin your fundraiser by reaching out to your known supporters or previous donors. Essentially this process helps kick start your main fundraiser with early donations! At the same time, this gives you the chance to fix any unforeseen problems with your event. A soft launch is a smart way to guarantee your main event is not only ready for public consumption but already has some inertia.

donations

Before you’ve reached the minimum goal you set initially, it’s important to focus on increasing your campaign’s momentum. A lull and loss of interest can be the death of a fundraiser, so it’s important to have plans to keep people interested in your fundraiser until you’ve met your goals! But what if you’re more successful than planned and you exceed expectations?

If your donors really resonated with your fundraiser and meet your initial goals, you’ll need to be ready for surplus donations, and people will expect you to have a plan. Stretch goals will help make sure that any extra money from fundraisers will go to good use. By setting stretch goals, you can guarantee an initial project and then begin to dream about incredible extra ones too!

Social Media Marketing and Fundraising

From crowdfunding sites to Facebook birthday charity drives, social media changes the way people connect to causes. And Nonprofit marketing companies are well suited to this fundraising landscape. Making sure your next fundraiser is well advertised on social media could vastly improve your exposure. But how exactly does a nonprofit get a fundraising campaign noticed on social media?

One simple way to improve social media awareness is a fundraiser hashtag. Specific social media branding for your fundraiser can give people a place to come together and check in on goals or even promote to other friends they have on the platform who might not be involved yet. Creating a hashtag gives people a way to promote and engage with your fundraiser more easily.

Show People Impact

One easy way to keep people engaged with your efforts is to show people what their money is paying for. During a lull, people who could potentially be donors might have a hard time seeing why they should invest in a nonprofit. Charities with videos or other testimonial style evidence of their efforts are more likely to receive donations. When people see what charities they want to help, give your potential donors a chance to see what their money would do for the nonprofit. People will also be more likely to promote your material once one of your fundraising campaigns is noticed, so show them off.

Matching Donations

Matching programs are systems that let a nonprofit or another organization match donations for a select period of time. Because you have an extra draw, matching can help get your fundraising campaign noticed. A Matching program is a great way to incentivize people to donate. This promotion makes people feel like they make double the donation. These perceptions make people feel like they have a lot more influence and spending power.

Depending on your fundraiser’s length and goals, a matching partner could choose to back the whole campaign, double your earnings, or only a smaller percentage of donations. Either way, the matching donations system brings in a lump sum of money and additional incentives.

Sponsorships

From 5k’s to pie-making contests, hosting an event is a time-honored way to gain financial support for a nonprofit. But a real big-ticket avenue not everyone thinks of is event sponsorships. Teaming up with a corporate or industry sponsor connects you to powerful financial resources that typically have established audiences through their customer base.

sponsors

Similarly, if you’re already hosting an event, sponsorship can be a form of delegation. If you’re already worried about several things, sourcing sponsorship and the accompanied help could make your event easier to plan and operate.

How To Get a Fundraising Campaign Noticed.

Fundraising is a critical element of financing any nonprofit operation. And because it’s so important, it helps to have a comprehensive plan for every fundraising level. Your nonprofit must have an outreach plan from the soft open to theoretical stretch goals when looking for capital. Using crowdfunding tools and clever social media tactics, you can help boost a fundraising campaign to new heights. But you’ll need to think of ways to keep customers engaged.

The team at Kallen media has had the pleasure of helping many different nonprofits over the years. And every time we learn something new about how to get a fundraising campaign noticed. So if you’re a nonprofit who isn’t satisfied with the results of your fundraising efforts, Kallen Media can help you. Contact us online or via the phone today for a consultation and a custom marketing plan from a team specializing in nonprofit marketing.

How to Start a Business: a Guide for You

Have you ever had an idea and thought: “I swear someone would pay me for this!” Well, you might be right, but there are some critical steps to take before your idea is a real business. Some people think of incorporating themselves as an impossible task. But making a company is easier than you might think! Today Kallen media will show you How to start a business.

All businesses start with an idea. But before you begin making companies based on random thoughts, you should prepare. Please don’t take it from us; knowing what you want to do and having a plan is key to a thriving company! So where do you start after you’ve had your idea? The first step in creating a business is all about researching your concept.

Market Research

 

Once you’ve come up with an idea for a company, you need to make sure that it will work how you envisioned. Research means testing the hypothesis against lots of real-world problems or conditions. To ensure your idea is viable, you need this kind of market research. Tests often include people’s opinions on your product or service. If people like your product, it’s essential to see if you can target similar audiences.

business person

Important decisions to make here focus on your direct product and target markets. Say you have the right product but don’t know who wants it; Market research can determine where products should sell. Once you are sure you have your final idea and a target audience, its time to move on to some more concrete decisions like location and name!

Operations Prep

 

One of the essential steps in your business venture will be getting funding. There are lots of options for financing, but depending on your network, some options will be better than others. One option is venture capitalists who will fund you for a stake in your business. Another good option is private funding from other angel investors who will be more hands-off.

After you are funded, its time to put all of your research to work for you! The next steps are making some concrete decisions about where and how you will do business. Firstly your business needs a name! Preferably something relevant and catchy so customers will remember it. Once you have all this, you have to decide where you want your business to operate.

Location is a significant factor in your success. So a company should choose its base wisely. If you have a concentrated target market somewhere, consider opening up your shops there. Conversely, if you need to save money on overhead, a state with lower taxes might be your best option. If you don’t think a brick and mortar store is a good fit, you could hire a professional web designer. Either way, location will affect your profits, so make an informed decision.

Permits and Licenses

 

Once you’ve made all the decisions and have your business plan laid out, its time to make it official, you’ll need to register your business with the federal and (maybe) the state governments. Registration will help protect your brand legally. Registering also allows you to get access to other necessary business ID’s

Once your business is registered, you have to acquire federal and state tax IDs. To get these IDs, you’ll need to generate an employee identification number. An EIN is a number that government agencies will use to classify your business; it’s like a social security ID, but for a company. After you’ve done this, you’ve officially got a real taxable company to do business. But depending on your product or services, you might need other licensing.

business person

Once official, your business may need to acquire special licenses to make sure its legal to operate. One classic example of these permits is liquor licenses, which bars need to sell any alcohol to customers. Applying for licenses and permits is vital because, without them, you are potentially breaking the law.

How to Start a Business

 

A lot of people have a good idea or design for something they could turn into a functioning business. But most people either don’t execute their ideas or, worse yet, don’t know how to. But knowing how to start a business can turn your vision into gold! That’s why we think it’s important to understand the basics of making a company.

The first step is to make a business plan. This plan should be a description of what you want and think will work for your business once you have a loose idea to conduct market research. Market research will inform you about the crucial factors that will make or break your company. Once armed with knowledge, an entrepreneur must begin to decide what the business will be and where it will operate. Following all of these, business owners will need to secure funding and proper permits. And after all of these steps, you’ll officially have a legal business!

Once you’ve followed these steps, your journey isn’t over. After planning, operating your businesses will take you places you’ve never imagined. If you have questions about how to start a business or have more questions about running a business, Kallen media is here to help. Head to our website to chat with us about your companies’ rise to the top!

Google Ads Strategies for Real Estate: a Guide

It used to be that if someone wanted to gain more exposure through advertising, they would have to place an ad in a newspaper, magazine, or even purchase airtime on the radio. With technology improving over time, people have been looking to prepare for the future. That is where digital marketing comes in. Owners, managers, and investors are starting to focus more on social media, email marketing, content marketing, SEO optimization, and Google Ads. The real estate industry is no different than anyone else, you have to be marketing in the digital world. Here are some google ads strategies for real estate.

Real Estate Agents

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The preferred method for any Real Estate agent to make a sale is face to face. However, in current times during the pandemic, agents have to find other ways to draw more attention and sales to their business. They also have to spend time finding ways to draw more attention to potential buyers and sellers. Asides from agents having to create their landing page and setting up all the tools that they need for their business. Agents need to start advertising their inventory and have everything connected.

Once connected the process of connecting is where Google Ads comes into place. According to Jon Clark, the conservative estimate for an agent to set up google ads, generate keywords, and place bids can take 6 hours of work to put into their campaigns. That is not including the analytics either. According to the same article, the average cost per click is about $2.37.

Real Estate Agents use Google Ads to further target their audience by creating competitive ads for keywords. Similarly, by also generating keywords that would include property names, area names, types of real estate they provide service for, and other real estate keywords that would bring more attention to their business. Other words like buying, selling, and renting or commonly used keywords that agents place bids on to get ranked.

If Real Estate agents fail to optimize it correctly, then the time, money, and effort would be a waste, no question. So, if you are an agent and you are looking to create a campaign, we recommend that you make sure to approach it wisely by taking the time to go through how you want to draft your ads and what keywords.

Residential Real Estate

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Here is where it can get a bit more complicated. As tough as it is, advertising an apartment or home already has its challenges. This difficulty is because not everyone is renting an apartment or house, nor are they looking to rent either one. For a company to generate more visibility for apartments they own, it is crucial in their campaign that they target only the people who are planning on living in your city when they start their search. Even if there are well-known individual establishments in the area, keywords can be optimized around that place to create an apartment buzz for the company.

It is essential to bid on branded keywords. An example of branding can be the name of a community within a city where the prospective target lives. The idea is to create a campaign strategy that focuses more on qualified traffic by narrowing your focus and search. The broader the search, the more challenging your campaign becomes, and the business is not being utilized properly.

Commercial Real Estate

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According to an article on SharpLaunch, in 2019, Google accounted for more than 38% of the US digital ad market share and grew more than 80% of all search ad markets in 2020.

Google AdWords is very popular for virtually every business owner out there.

If you think residential is difficult, can you imagine what commercial real estate is like right now? Primarily due to the pandemic, most companies are not leasing offices. The majority of companies have their employees working for home.

But just in case, we will throw it in here.

Commercial real estate is expensive, but so are some keywords that go along with it.

According to the same article, the most expensive highest cost per click office-related keyword is “office space for rent NYC” with the cost of $74.49 per click. That’s about what it costs to pay for a nice meal and a high-end restaurant.

Companies are eager to rent out office space, and being able to advertise their available space is crucial to their success. When it comes to commercial real estate, it depends on the type of commercial real estate to invest in Google Ads. Whether it is office space or retail space, strategizing Google Ads has to be specific enough that companies can target the appropriate audience.

Our Conclusion

Creating a Google Ads campaign is challenging, and not everyone has the time. Especially if you have a specific budget, you would want to make sure that the money is.

It’s recommended to do an extensive search on keywords related to the area and type of real estate. Still, it would be beneficial to look up keywords that relate to a concept within real estate as well.

While Google Ads are a great way to market your properties and business, it is not an easy task. Have you struggled to develop the right google ads strategies for real estate? Don’t worry, Kallen media has the right tools for your success! If you need help with google ads strategies for real estate, please reach out. Kallen Media is here for you.

Design For Color Blindness

Design for color blindness is essential. There are around 300 million people worldwide who are color blind. Therefore, a good chance of more than one person who views your site will have this impairment. Furthermore, the design of your website will determine if you gain a new customer or give them away to the competition.

Equally necessary, it is also a legal issue. Organizations such as the ADA and AODA require that websites provide equal access or accessibility for those with disabilities.

There is good news; plenty of resources are available to help evolve your site to accommodate those who are color blind. Today we will review:

  • What is color blindness
  • How to design for
  • Tools to use to create an accessible site

What is Color Blindness

Color blindness is a term that many correlate with not being able to see any color. This complete lack of is one form of color blindness. However, there are other types of color blindness. You should be aware of what they are to design for color blindness:

Red-Green Blindness: Most typical type of color blindness, hard to tell between red and green.

Four Types:

  • Deuteranopia: Blindness to green
  • Deuteranomaly: Milder form of deuteranopia, makes green look redder
  • Protanopia: Blindness to red
  • Protanomaly: Milder form of protanopia, makes red look greener

Blue-Yellow blindness: blue-yellow is a Less common type of color blindness. It is hard to tell the difference between blue and green, and between yellow and red.

Two Types:

  • Tritanopia: Unable to tell the difference between blue, green, purple, and red, and yellow and pink
  • Tritanomaly: Milder form of tritanopia, harder to distinguish blue from green and between yellow and red

Monochromacy: scarce type of color blindness. See’s no color, only shades of grey.

To learn more about color blindness, the National Eye Institute is a useful resource.

To illustrate how color is viewed by those that are color blind, refer to the color theme below. As can be seen, one color can look different based on who is viewing it.

chart of how people with different types of color blindness view the same color theme.
This graphic shows how people with color blindness would see a color theme.

Color Blindness and Web Accessibility

Next, we will look at a term that you will hear a lot when referring to color blindness and the web, which is web accessibility.

Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed for those with accessibility issues such as color blindness. As a result, your website will be easy to navigate by everyone.

Building an accessible website or updating a current website, there are many ways and tools available.

Design for Color Blindness Standards

Where to start, as mentioned above, organizations such as the ADA and AODA require that websites are accessible. Standards for website accessibility are available through Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Below are three levels of accessibility that the WCAG grades on:

  • A: Bare-minimum level of compliance
  • AA: Target compliance level according to the ADA
  • AAA: Highest level achievable and complies with all requirements

Using the WCAG levels of accessibility, as shown above, let’s talk text. If the text color and the background color have low color contrast, then it is difficult for someone with color blindness to read. What you want is high color contrast. An example of high color contrast is a black font on a white background or vice versa.

However, if you want to use a colored type or background, you can. The WCAG has a contrast ratio scale:

  • AA: Contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text (at least 14pt) and 3:1 for large text (at least 18pt) or bold text
  • AAA: requires a contrast ratio of at least 7:1 for standard text and 4.5:1 for large text or bold text

Breaking down the contrast ratios shown above will take some time and math. Instead, there are some very easy to use online tools that will check the font and background color contrast.

Image of the WebAIM Contrast Checker to check for color contrast to better design for color blindness.
WebAIM Contrast Checker.

Color is Not Everything

Equally important, make sure to design all icons, buttons, messages, etc. with the colorblind in mind. They need to be able to see what to click on or update.

The first step, when starting to design or update your current website, is to turn it too grayscale. Why in grayscale? If you build a site that looks great and is easy to use in grayscale, it will be accessible for those with color blindness.

Example of designing a button in grayscale first, can ensure that the buttons actions are easy to distinguish between if you are color blind.
Design in grayscale first.


Second, when showing CTAs that are blocks of color, add in text. For example, if your site requires your customers to select a color, add the name of the color. As an example, refer below, only looking at the gray boxes is it easier to choose a color with or without the text?

Example of why to add text to a color box that is a CTA to design for color blindness.
Add text to describe colors.

Third, important messages, such as error messages, need to be more than a colored text. Of course, keep using color. Colors such as red are impactful for those of us who see color. Also, for those that are colorblind, add another queue such as a symbol, and adjust the text.

Example of why you need to add a symbol and/or adjust the text when communicating an important message for those that are color blind.
An important message, the text is larger & symbol added.

Tools to Design for the Color Blind

As mentioned above, there are a lot of tools online to help you design for those that are color blind. Below we will go over a couple of additional tools you can use.

First, let us look at the tools to use when starting to build your website. Designing in Figma, Adobe XD, or Sketch, these tools all offer plugins that can help check your font and background color contrast. WordPress, which we use at Kallen Media, also offers plugin options to add to your website.

Second, Adobe Color provides a tool to help select color themes for those that are color blind. Furthermore, it shows what the color theme looks like for those with different types of color blindness. Similarly, this Color Accessibility Tool is free.

Show how Adobe Color Accessibility tool works to see how your color theme will look to those that are color blind.
Adobe Color Accessibility Tool.

Website Accessibility for All

If you already have a website, there are online tools that check site accessibility. Two free tools are Lighthouse’s website accessibility and performance tool and WAVE’s website accessibility tool.

In addition to visual accessibility, it is essential to look into other types of accessibility issues:

  • Visual – Accessibility issues such as blindness
  • Auditory
  • Motor
  • Cognitive

As mentioned throughout this article, if you have a website, put in the time to make sure it is accessible. If time is not available, look into outsourcing your site’s web design. If you choose to outsource, ensure the company addresses website accessibility.

In conclusion, you need to design for color blindness as well as those with other accessibility issues. For more information on how to make your website accessible to all, check out WCAG standards. Making some simple changes can change your website accessibility and allow everyone to use your site entirely.

Creating Blog Engagement: Connecting To Your Users

By now, everyone knows how essential blogs can be to SEO practices. But some people struggle to get their users to interact with their content. A professional blog will foster an active connection with a user. But this process isn’t easy. Creating blog engagement is a difficult but necessary step in your success. 

But how do we create engagement as writers? And what kind of strategies produce the most results? Today we will describe some of the engagement practices we use every time Kallen Media writes a blog post. So let’s get started! The first step is to have topics your readers care to read.

Standard Topics

 

The odds are your blogging because it will help your website grow. But if your writing isn’t a topic your users are interested in, you won’t get many readers. When a company outlines the issues they want to explore, they can focus on what the consumer is trying to see. By tailoring your topic selection to your audience, your blog will begin to draw in your targeted market.

Similarly, it would be best if you are a qualified expert in the fields you write about. Expertise will not only improve the quality of your writing but your engagement too. When you write from a place of knowledge, people will want the information you have. An excellent example of this is our recent digital marketing blog. We’re a digital marketing agency, so logically we’re going to talk about what we do!

Blog Consistently

 

A schedule for blogging and posting can help both sides of the engagement process. A business will benefit by gaining an exact time content has to go out. Plans can help writers with deadlines and make sure you have things ready to go. The consistency also helps establish you as a content provider. And if users come to rely on this, your engagement will boom.

pencils

Users benefit from a schedule by gaining consistency. Just like the morning paper, your blog can become a staple in customers’ everyday life. When people begin to adapt your content to their daily life, your business becomes a household name. But be careful. You have to uphold it once this schedule is established. Breaking from the program might upset some users.

Use Visual Aides 

 

Not everyone takes in media the same way. While some people prefer written media, others want images. And it is essential to recognize this when you’re creating blog engagement. By adding visual supports to your blog, you create a more wholesome experience for users. This balancing of media will help make more engaging posts for everyone.

Images also help to break up your text. By using images strategically, you can make a blog seem more straightforward to read for users. Because it is easier to read, breaking up blogs like this can help keep users engaged for longer. Images can slow down loading times, but WordPress updates and photo resizing makes this delay shorter every day. 

Team Up

 

One of the best ways to make engaging content is to team up with other businesses or creators. Crossposting relationships can help expose your website to already-established audiences. And if your topics and goals are similar, odds are a lot of those users will also engage with your content. 

Crossposting is also an incredibly powerful SEO metric. Having your blogs referenced in other blogs tells Google that your content is trustworthy. While SEO metrics don’t always indicate engagement, more users’ sheer value will naturally result in more engagement. Crossposts are an efficient way to reach out to new users with confidence in your target market.

Promote Action

keyboard

The last tip is a relatively common one in all forms of engaging writing; You should always add a call to action. A call to action will offer users a clear and outlined path for what they should do if they are interested in engaging with your content. While it may seem obvious to some to ask, not all writers do this. A great example of this is the Mashable blogs; These blogs all include some call to action!

Creating Blog Engagement

 

Creating blog engagement is all-important to your SEO success. And there are a few key ways to foster that kind of user experience. One way to do this is to have topics you are qualified to write about regularly and cover them regularly. Another way to help your engagement is to add visual aspects to your blog. Visuals will help make your blogs more attractive and comfortable to read. Our final unique tool is crossposting; these posts will help expand your audience and improve search results’ placements.

We hope these tips help you with your blogging and improve your website’s engagement. But if you’re still struggling to get the results you want, Kallen Media is here to help. Our professional services cover all areas of digital marketing, including blogging content. If you’re looking for help increasing engagement and strengthening your SEO strategies, reach out to us.

Build Trust Through Content Marketing

Content marketing can feel like a numbers game. There is a need for businesses to continually output content. This can make it hard for a business to tell when it is doing well. So how does a company build a reputation as the right content provider? The short answer is companies build a relationship with their consumers. Building trust in your products was a big focus of WordCamp 2020 So how does your company build trust through content marketing?

Today’s blog will take you through the steps companies use to develop an excellent reputation for their content. How does a company get started in this process? And what kind of practices are best when you’re an established provider? Kallen media is here to clear up the best practices for content marketing. Let’s get started!

Consistency is key

 

People often know precisely what they want when it comes to content. So your company has to deliver. All of the content you provide should be on brand and in line with your current goals. Random content might satisfy your need for development, but it won’t help you in the long run, just like Financial planning for your business, your content should be designed with intention. But it’s not enough to have a consistent message. Companies have to produce too.

Consistency applies to a content schedule as well. Content is often a form of entertainment for some customers. For example, many red bull customers love to watch their sporting events. A company should focus on having a schedule for production. The standard output of content helps build a loyal audience base.

Honesty and Ethical Behavior

 

Now more than ever, people want the companies they support to behave ethically. Ethical behavior can mean supporting essential causes and using your platform for good. But it also includes regular communication. No-one wants to work with people they don’t like. So treating people with respect and telling the truth can make or break a companies reputation. Word of mouth is one of the business’s best friends, thus fostering a good reputation is essential.

So what does this look like in practice? Firstly just don’t lie. That may sound easy, but remember not to get carried away over-promising things to your audience. Sometimes the best intentions don’t play out well, be careful with your content, and plan for the worst. Also, consider getting many opinions before finalizing content. Sometimes a second set of eyes will see something you are missing.

Authenticity

 

Does your company say what It means? Do your blog posts accurately portray the companies views? Creating authentic content is very important in building trust. An audience can tell when the content has no heart behind it. Writing from your companies field of experience will build more confidence than anything else. People want informed information. If your company can help spread its knowledge, the audience will find and promote it.

Authenticity also extends to a writer’s voice. If your business is formal, your tone should reflect that. Ensuring writers’ content will fit well with your brand’s style is vital to creating good work. An authentic voice is especially apparent when making humorous content. Humor is a useful tool for content development, but if it doesn’t fit your companies view, it will be very damaging. Ensuring your company is authentic in its content helps keep your content on targeted and on track.

Trusted Experts: Your Skillset

 

Your company probably has some features that make it stand out. Some corporations are experts in customer service, while some excel in speed. If your company shines in an area, you should promote that in your content. By displaying your companies area of expertise, writers can use an already established reputation.

Content in your field is precious; your audience wants to know about what you do. So a company can take this opportunity to build off of its accomplishments. An excellent example of this is a blog about blogs. Once a company has a blogging reputation, it can expand more into that topic when blogging.

Build Trust Through Content Marketing

 

For a company, it is a long and challenging process to build trust through content marketing. But some practices make it easier. Focus on areas where your company is excelling; this will help bolster initial confidence in your content. Once established, it’s essential to keep being authentic. Users want a consistent and real voice from their information providers. After you know your style and sound, consistency is critical. Regular updates will help users build a schedule around your content. Lastly, the company needs to be ethical. Behaving honestly and ethically is the only way to build trust, and it is easy to lose at any time.

Suppose you want help designing your content marketing strategy trust in the experts. Kallen media has been producing content for companies for many years, and we could help you too. Reach out to Kallen media today for assistance with your content marketing strategy and implementation.

Sales Tactics: Four Strategies to Minimize Risk

Choosing a sales strategy is a balance of adding risk for potential rewards. Often this area is where a company will choose to take risks to make extra profits. However, the risk isn’t always worth it. What if you want to select sales tactics that you know will work?

There are nearly infinite sales strategies you can use. But some choices are riskier than others. So what does a company do when they need a reliable plan? Well, many companies rely on similar sales tactics when they don’t want the added risk. Today we’re going to talk about four of these reliable sales tactics.

Up-Selling Sales

 

Up-selling is the process of making already profitable transactions more profitable. This can include stuff like upgrades and add-ons. This process boils down to leaving no stone unturned. This process improves value for both consumers and businesses. Often a customer will purchase an improved product, which in turn benefits the seller as well. So what does up-selling look life in the real world?

One example of the Up-sell is fast food upgrades. Fast-food chains will offer customer upgrades to more substantial sizes at a reduced cost. The upgrade means extra profits for a small price. Fast food has seen massive success from utilizing upsetting strategies! Similar to up-selling, cross-selling also capitalizes on existing sales.

Cross-Sell

 

Cross-selling is the process of collecting a database of past customers to market products and services too. Cross-selling can also happen immediately. If a customer makes a purchase and you offer a complimentary one, they might get that too. This process relies on the idea that some goods or services are complimentary. And customers are likely to buy these goods together when presented with the chance.

But how does cross-selling work on the ground? For a cross-selling example, we can look at online retailers. Its common practice in e-commerce to forward catalogs to past customers. The data shows these customers often return to buy other products. Even the corporate giants do this in the form of recommended goods or services mid purchase. Like up-selling cross-selling relies on predicting and adapting to customer needs.

Third-Party Charges

 

Third-party charges are additional payments to a separate party outside of the initial buyer and seller relationship. These charges are often found where a service provider is teaming up with other companies to improve services. Third-party charges can help facilitate previously complicated relationships. This is usually done where some part of the transaction is useful to the third party. One example of this is video streaming.

Often video streaming websites will offer their service for free. Initially, this might seem like a bad idea for profits. But when the third party advertisers step in, the business model is quite profitable. This model involves a third party to facilitate a better service at a lower cost. Including the third party saves both the consumer and the provider money. And they are often providing utility to the third party.

Bundle Offerings

 

Bundle offerings are sales that package goods together to create a more attractive offer. Because the purchase is more significant, the customers see a higher value to purchasing power. When customers feel this increased value, they are incentivized to buy. The bundled products should be complementary goods for this sales tactic to work. Complimentary goods make bundles worth the increased initial price. Some products are only sold in packages. A product that is bundle exclusive is oftentimes only purchased in tandem anyway. Because the product is only sold with its likely counterparts, the company actually saves money. So what are some examples of bundled products?

One classic example of a bundled product is often seen in car sales. Often, additional purchases of A.C. systems and window tint will be sold in a bundle with the car. These products would cost more aftermarket unless purchased from a dealership. This difference means that for most customers, a vehicle with additional bundled goods seems more valuable. To return to the fast-food metaphor, another bundle is kid’s meals. Certain complimentary kid foods are served together in a cost-effective package.

Sales Tactics

Some sales tactics come with more risks than others. But what do you do when you don’t want to add risk? Utilizing a trusted sales tactic can help remove some risk from your business plan. Up-selling is an excellent strategy to make the most out of your product line. If you can modify a product for little cost, up-selling is effective.

Similarly, if you offer multiple complementary goods, you can utilize cross-selling or bundle offerings to promote higher value sales. But what if your value is linked to your customers? Your company can team with a third party to offer a cheaper service.

If you need help deciding which sales strategy is best for your company, Kallen media can help. To get help with sales tactics and even more contact, Kallen media on our website.

limited end-user communication: how to bridge the gap

Do you want to feel like the work you do matters? Most people crave a job that they feel pride in doing. At work, people often enjoy interacting face to face with customers who use their products regularly. These meetings are called end-user interactions. They occur in business when the person using a product or service interacts with its provider. Now more then ever with record numbers of people working from home, communication can be important. Connection with end-users can be beneficial to employees. But not all companies can interact with customers directly.

 

What do you do if you have limited end-user communication?

So how do businesses who don’t see their end-users operate? What does a business lose when it has less contact with end-users? How can these setbacks be overcome? Well, with a little bit of planning, a company can maintain an end-user relationship with almost no direct contact. But first, you have to decide if that’s right for your business.

End-User Value

 

So what does having regular contact with end-users bring to the table? Direct customer interaction lets a company know how well it’s performing. If customers are talking about how much they love you, great! But if they have some suggestions you might be wise to listen to them. Interacting with customers can make or break a business. This kind of feedback is valuable. With limited end-user communication, companies often have to resort to costly neuromarketing studies to acquire the same information.

 

Besides information, end-users create a sense of fulfillment in a job. Without some of this feedback, it can be hard for some employees to feel the value their job provides. For example, let’s look at restaurants. A recent trend in dining spaces is open concept kitchens. These kitchens are designed to allow chefs to interact more closely with customers. Some restaurants feel like this improves the dining experience by creating interactions with end-users. So how can you generate more end-user interactions?

Pictures of People

 

A straightforward way to create a link between customers and providers is to see their pictures. People have an easier time relating to folks when they can put a face to a name. Because images can humanize a group, they are useful to business with less face to face interactions. When a company creates a front for communications, the difficulty is harder for people to generalize about the companies. Pictures have a similar effect on customers in reverse.

 

 

A lot of companies have seen success by showing real employees in their advertising. From spotlights ads to letting employees design the entire production, showcasing workers has seen real success. This also enables employees to understand the best examples of their work in action. Another tactic for businesses with limited end-user conversation is to spread these kinds of stories.

Internal End-User Stories

 

So we’ve talked about how customers benefit from workers’ success stories, but can workers benefit too? The short answer is yes—however, it’s important to remember to keep the stories focused on successes, not failures. Promoting success stories creates a positive environment that improves workplace morale. One typical example of this is nightly reports where workers mention highlights of their work shifts. This creates a source of positive stories that higher-ups can distribute. When looking for insider stories, and the end-user story should be inspirational to workers but also show the customer positively. But what if these interactions rarely happen?

External End-User Stories

 

Sometimes a Job requires very little interaction with end-users. One example of this would be forest rangers. A lot of times, forest rangers are isolated and can go weeks without contacting a random person in their park. Sometimes the value of this job can be overlooked, and it can be hard to be motivated to protect people if you don’t see them. By sharing success stories of forest rangers, the sense of duty is upheld.

 

Similarly, in any field where interaction is limited, sharing success stories can help motivate workers. If a person can see their peers succeeding, they will be driven to succeed too! This tactic can also improve employee retention.

 

 

The hiring process can be complicated and costly. So if sharing stories of employees succeeding can increase loyalty its a valuable too. If an employer takes the time to make their company feel like a community, everyone will benefit in the long term. This is the significant benefit of spreading end-user stories externally. Because the sample size grows, the employees can see the value of their work as an industry, not just an individual.

 

Limited End-User Communication

 

End-user communications are valuable for a companies success. These resources help improve the business as well as create loyalty and motivation for employees. So when a business can’t create these interactions, it has the chance to lose some of these benefits. By showing the value end-users receive to employees, a company can address these issues. By replacing this relationship with photos and stories, a company can preserve end-user communication.

 

If you have more questions about fostering the end-user relationship, Kallen media is here to help. To contact us with your end-user questions, please visit our website.

Financial Planning: Questions For Starting Your Business

How much money does it take to start a business? Are specific business cheaper than others? Will you need investors? Starting a business is a complicated endeavor. But asking the right questions can simplify the process. Financial planning for your business will make this process easier.

In this blog, we talk about five essential questions that show how much you need to start a business. Financial planning is the key to business success. However, not all companies are the same. As such, the business plan should be unique too. Firstly what does your business do?

What Do You Sell? Products or Services

 

Does your business offer a service or produce a product? This distinction makes a big difference in startup prices. The short answer here is that services tend to be cheaper. Services operate with fewer employees, less manufacturing, and sometimes no rent! Often services are offered by qualified professionals, which means you have to do less networking! There are some cons when providing a service. Services are hard to scale. This hurdle can mean higher costs in the long run. However, products are more simple to scale.

Products have high manufacturing costs. To start your business, you need things made and packaging and other underlying costs. Planning for all of this in budgeting is essential. Unlike services, selling a product is easier to scale. Accelerated manufacturing often makes the unit prices of goods cheaper. One of the hardest parts about starting a product based company is the initial investment.

Staff: how many employees do you need

 

You are deciding how many and which kind of employees you need is vital to operations. Too many employees might make the system inefficient. While on the other hand, too few employees make work impossible to get done. Having the right number of employees is the key to efficient work. But what kind of employees do you need? Between contractors, part-time, and full-time employees, there are lots of choices. E-commerce can also change the number of employees you need. If you require full-time employees, one key consideration is extra costs like insurance and other benefits.

Location: where is your startup

 

Some places are cheaper than others. This difference can be affordable rent for you to live while you build your business. Or sometimes, a state has low operating costs due to tax laws or other factors. Deciding where your business is based is a crucial decision when financial planning. The critical distinction here is rural versus urban environments.

Densely packed cities will always mean higher rents and more competition. And these factors can often kill a new business. Often companies who can’t afford to initially staff where they live will outsource to remote offices. Therefore they are saving money. But they do lose some direct access to work. A less populated environment means cheaper land and often lower startup costs in general. This is doubly true for the internet. Sometimes setting up a website is a better move. Fees also apply to housing. Living in a less costly area means all of your money can be focused on growing a brand new company!

Time to market: out finance the competition

 

This may seem obvious, but it is still vital. If your competition can replicate your product or are already designing a similar service, time to market is very important. If you need to be the first to market, get ready to spend. Accelerating a launch is possible; it just requires more money, time, and effort. The money should be spent if a company could fail based on this time factor. But what if you’re not in a rush?

If you don’t need to speed to market you’re in luck! Because there is no time pressure, saving money is easier. You can wait for better prices and even take time to scale at a healthy pace meaning fewer startup investments.

Salary: plan to keep your day job

 

CEO salaries are vastly different from company to company. Do you need to be paid a salary right away? Sorry, but you’ll probably need your day job. Most companies can’t afford to pay a CEO salary right away. This means you’ll need other income to support yourself. But what if you can survive for a year? Well, if you can make it that long you will probably be ok. By a year, most companies can afford to pay a CEO. So if you can make it that long you get to focus on your business even more!

Financial planning for businesses

 

It’s pretty important to plan out the money you need to start your business. Knowing what kind of business you want to start is essential. If you know that, answering questions like location and staff is more comfortable to answer. Then all that’s left is personal finance questions and long term scaling projects.

Do you still have questions about financial planning? Kallen media is an expert at helping startups maximize their budgets. If you need help with planning out your business, feel free to contact Kallen media via our website.

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