The 10-Minute, 10-Step Solution For The Best Blog Outline

Do you swear that you do a better job writing if you don’t plan and instead, just write in the moment? You may feel better about your writing experience when you do that, but that doesn’t make the actual writing better. When you are trying to inform or create a structured outcome from your blog post, more planning is better. Outlining what you’re about to write isn’t done the same way by every writer. Outlining, at its barest, is you knowing ahead of time the general idea of what you’re going to write. It’s the road map, the skeleton, the structure, the foundation—you take your pick. Either way, if you’re serious about blogging, some form of blog outline process should be in your writing toolbox.

In a previous post, How Planning Your Blog Content Can Help You Get More Done, I laid out an argument for planning in terms of how it can help you save time. However, planning your content with a blog outline can do more than help you save time—it can help you be a better writer. It can help you train your thought process and keep you from growing a wandering thought process. It also helps you get past writer’s block.

The practicing of outlining is beyond mere planning. It’s a conscious devotion to developing an idea, logically and persuasively. One thing I find very helpful with setting up a basic blog outline, particularly for posts that I need to do a lot of research for, is that I can plug links, snippets, and notes into places on the outline and worry about writing after all the research is done. In this situation, the blog outline helps me know what to look for and what search terms to use. This is a real time saver. There are few things I dread as a writer than a random and orderless collection of research links and notes. The outline lets me write in orderly piecemeal, one section at a time. When I am done, I can go back and streamline the post as a whole so it doesn’t read so choppy.

The 10-Minute Blog Post Outline

But good news: You don’t have to follow this rather strict approach to outlining. You only have to understand the basic idea that is at work in blog outlines, and apply a flexible version to your blogging.

1. Find the Big Idea

Your post isn’t a collection of main stand-alone points (unless it is a list post of that nature), but with supported points that are related and point back to the Big Idea. If you have lots of Big Ideas in one blog post, you will have a disjointed blog post that would be better broken up into separate posts. What’s a Big Idea? It’s the thing you base your headline on. You can only have one Big Idea per post. So with outlining, you take your Big Idea (headline), break that Big Idea into a handful of Key Points, and then support those key points. What’s a Key Point? A key point is a car without wheels. It needs the rest of the wheels to go anywhere. Together, your key points lead the reader to a conclusion or place of understanding. On their own, they are merely interesting facts or ideas. So what does a ten-minute blog outline approach look like? Remember, you’re not writing the post in ten minutes, but outlining it so it is easier to write.

2. Understand what the end result must be

3. List what you have to mention

Depending on what your goal is, there might be specific things you might have to mention. Make a list of them. For example, it might be specific data, like I mentioned in step one. Perhaps your team has gathered up various data from your website analytics. It’s up to you to decide what context you are going to give this data, but whatever you choose, you have to include it. “Jim, we’ve seen an increase in traffic ever since we changed our site’s header design. Here’s the data. We think it would make an interesting blog post.” Or, perhaps you’ve agreed to feature the infographic or some product announcement from another brand. Whatever the case, if you have a specific piece of information that has to be in the post, you need to center the post around it or it will seem awkwardly added on. Not all blog posts will make use of this step.

4. Figure out what you don’t know

5. Figure out what you do know

6. Organize all of the lists into related groups

If you find a grouping that is made up of only one item, get rid of it. It’s going to be too weak to stand on its own, and it clearly doesn’t fit the Big Idea very well because there was nothing else it paired with. When you do form groupings, you start to see how almost any blog post has the capability of being long-form or short-form, depending on what you decide to do in the next step.

7. Create summarizing headings

Now that you’ve grouped all of your potential content, give each grouping a heading that summarizes what it’s about. This isn’t likely to be the heading you use in the final post. It’s mainly meant to be helpful in deciding what stays and what gets cut, and how to write that section.

8. Reorder and cut the heading groups

Start to order your groups in a way that fits logically, flowing down from the Big Idea into your end goal. You might want your blog post to persuade, to sell, or to inform. You may want to present your information in terms of cause-and-effect, problem-and-solution, or compare-and-contrast. You can do so much with how a post ends up simply by what you do in this step. If you get the arrangement correct, when you write the post, you’ll stay on the path. Outlining helps writers stay on point and stay focused. If you don’t cut material that doesn’t fit, your outline is loose and will lead you astray.

9. Refine each heading group

At this point, you should have a pretty good idea of what your post is going to be about. You have your Big Idea, and you have the sections of copy that will support that big idea topped by a guiding heading. By arranging the groups earlier, you committed to an angle. Rework the headings to help you, the writer, write copy to that angle. Again, this is likely not the final heading the reader sees, but one that gives you direction. Your final heading might be "The 10-Minute Blog Post Outline System", but the one you used while writing it might have been "The Basics Of Outlining".

10. Start writing your draft

At this point, you’re ready to write the post. You know where you’re headed, you know where you will end up. You know specifically what you need to research, and where to dump that research back in your draft. You know that your own ideas are where they should be and you don’t have to worry about forgetting to include them. An outline like this will make much better use of your time.

Step 1: Keyword Research and Analysis

Keyword research and analysis is the process of identifying and categorizing keywords for use in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns. It is by far THE MOST IMPORTANT step in your blog outlining process.

Keywords are broken down into two MAIN categories:

The Challenges with Keyword Research

More difficult keywords have a lower conversion rate, but they are still relevant to the topic of your blog post. This is why including both higher volume and mid to low difficult keywords are important, since each has a chance of bringing a new audience to your blog post.

The higher your blog post ranks on search engines, the more likely you are to generate a lot of traffic and become a successful blogger as a result. This is why you SHOULD NEVER underestimate the power of keyword research.

Step 2: Choose the Best Blog Post Title

Bramework NEW Blog Title Generator Tool

This is because popular search engines like Google will only display the first 70 characters of a title, and if you write something longer, the headline might not make sense to the reader.

Why You Need to Spend Time Working on Your Blog Title

The way you phrase your headline always depends on the topic you write about. There are some titles that have a high chance of attracting readership, though, no matter what your topic is – they offer a solution to a problem.

Here are a few examples of blog listicle articles:

Here are a few examples of blog “how to” articles:

Resource:

https://coschedule.com/blog/blog-outline

How to Create a Blog Post Outline Quickly (4 Step Process)

https://www.bramework.com/how-to-write-a-blog-post-outline/

25 best jobs for college students

There are many opportunities available to college students across a variety of industries. Here are 25 examples of jobs that can be beneficial while you complete your education:

1. Administrative assistant

Job duties: Administrative assistants generally handle administrative tasks on behalf of more senior employees. Their duties usually include taking notes during meetings, maintaining files and records, sending and receiving correspondences and distributing memos and other communications to other employees.

2. Animal caretaker

Job duties: Animal caretakers groom, bathe, feed, water and walk/exercise non-farm animals. Generally, these professionals work in kennels, pet daycares, veterinary clinics, animal shelters, pet stores, zoos and aquariums.

3. Bank teller

Job duties: Bank tellers help customers with financial transactions, such as depositing, withdrawing and transferring money, and fulfilling money orders. They also answer phones, greet customers, count cash, file deposit slips, manage ATMs and balance numbers.

4. Barista

Job duties: A barista works at a restaurant or coffee shop and greets customers, takes orders and prepares and serves hot and cold beverages such as coffee and tea. They also clean work areas and customer seating areas, sanitize utensils and equipment and manage cash registers.

5. Brand ambassador

Job duties: Brand ambassadors are employed by companies to help drive publicity and raise brand awareness. They act as representatives of the brand, promoting products within their social circles via social media, providing product samples to retailers, performing product demos, monitoring and addressing customer feedback and building relationships with customers and vendors.

6. Customer service representative

Job duties: A customer service representative handles customer questions and concerns via phone, email, chat or in person. They’re generally tasked with offering advice and guidance on products or services, updating customer records and helping customers complete a purchase, return or other transaction.

7. Line cook

Job duties: A line cook works in a restaurant kitchen and reports to a chef. Generally, line cooks are responsible for washing and prepping vegetables, and grilling, cooking and plating food. Most kitchens employ multiple line cooks and assign one person to each station or work area.

8. Receptionist

Job duties: A receptionist is responsible for greeting and directing customers, answering customer questions and referring them to other employees. They also answer the phone and assist with administrative duties such as filing and office organization. A receptionist may also screen visitors and issue security badges.

9. Restaurant server

Job duties: Servers greet diners, set tables, take food and drink orders, answer menu questions and provide suggestions, communicate orders to kitchen staff and serve them after they’re prepared. A server clears used dinnerware and utensils, issues the check at the end of the meal and collects payment.

10. Retail sales associate

Job duties: A retail sales associate stocks merchandise, helps maintain display areas, greets customers, answers customer questions and assists them in finding products. They may also be responsible for taking inventory, managing cash registers and recording sales.

11. Telemarketer

Job duties: A telemarketer dials customers or receives inbound calls and solicits orders for products and services. Telemarketers are usually responsible for reading from scripts composed by marketing teams to persuade prospective customers to purchase items or sign up for services on behalf of retailers and financial institutions.

12. Transcriptionist

Job duties: A transcriptionist listens to live or recorded speeches or conversations and transcribes it into readable text with proper syntax, spelling and grammar. Transcriptionists may be employed directly with a company or work for multiple clients as part of a transcription service.

13. Tutor

Job duties: A tutor travel to student’s home, school, library or other locations to help them improve their academic performance. Tutors may conduct lessons, assist with homework and help students prepare for upcoming tests. They may also work with students virtually through video calls.

14. Cashier

Job duties: Cashiers are responsible for receiving customers’ payments by cash, credit or debit card, check or vouchers and providing change and receipts. They also issue refunds and credits and count money at the beginning and end of each shift. A cashier may work at a grocery store, bookstore, boutique, campus dining hall or any other retail store.

15. Package handler

Job duties: A package handler is responsible for sorting packages for delivery, making sure packaged goods are successfully transferred and delivered to their intended destinations. They may also pick up packages and operate machines such as forklifts and trucks.

How to Choose the Best Part-Time Online Job for You

1. Your Skills:

Get brainstorming. Make a list of everything you’re good at and start to look at the big picture of how you could use your skills to make money. For example, if you’re crafty, look into some creative art or projects to sell online. If you consider yourself a people person, time to look into online marketing and sales. Use your skills and make money doing something you excel in.

2. Your Time:

How much time do you have to commit to a job? 10 hours per week, only an hour per day? Look at how much time your studies take up and how much time you could realistically fit work into. Remember, you are still a student and should think of your study time first. If you are studying online such as at the tuition-free University of the People, you can choose your own hours to study, which also gives you a lot of flexibility to choose the hours you want to work.

3. Your Financial Needs:

Make sure you take into account how much you need to make your budget work. Take stock of your expenses and calculate how much you would like to make per week or per month, and use that to calculate an hourly rate you will need as a minimum. Also think about how valuable your skills and time are and don’t accept any less!

4. Your Future:

5. Freelance vs. Salaried:

Some jobs are better suited towards freelance, such as design and writing, while others it might make more sense to be an employee. For a freelance career, remember you will need to keep track of your own taxes, but the pros to being self-employed are you get to choose your own projects, don’t need to ask for time off, and it’s easier to work around your school schedule. For hourly or salaried online work the pluses are that these jobs may come with certain benefits, and the peace of mind that comes with a reliable and steady income.

Check Out These 10 Best Online Part-Time Jobs for Students (And How to Get Started!)

1. Tutoring Online

If you’re an expert in any subject, use your smarts to make some extra money and help others too! Tutoring can be done in any field, but commonly requested subjects are math and test preparation.

How to get started: Make a note of the subjects you have mastery over, then make accounts on tutoring websites such as Chegg, Tutor.com, and/or Yup. You can also find private tutoring gigs from your peers, family, or Craigslist.

Source: Unsplash

2. Teaching English Online

In order to teach English online, you will likely need to be a native or very fluent speaker. Most often, companies will prefer teachers from the U.S. or Canada, but any native English speakers can apply. Some companies may require a TEFL certificate, but many do not!

How to get started: Check out the following companies that hire for flexible online English teachers. They will match you with students from around the world! VIPKID, Cambly, and Qkids are all great sites to get started on.

Source: Unsplash

3. Blogging/Writing

Writing is an amazing way to make some extra money as a college student. You already write for school, so why not put those skills to good use? Look for topics that you love, or topics you consider yourself an expert in, or try something brand new! It can be fun to teach yourself about a topic you know nothing about, so don’t knock a potential writing gig if you don’t have personal experience in the field. Try freelance proofreading as well, which involves editing others’ online articles and posts. Typically, proofreading or editing will pay a bit less, but will also take much less time per article. Great option for busy students!

How to get started: If you want to get paid to write, you will certainly need to provide writing samples. A great way to get started is to write your own blog, or offer to write a few pieces for a friend or peer’s site or blog. In addition, try to reach out to various small local companies to see if you can write an online article for them, either for free or for a small fee, just to get experience. Once you’ve got your writing samples, try looking for freelance writing gigs on sites such as Morning Coffee Newsletter or Blogging Pro.

Source: Unsplash

4. Data Entry

Data entry generally won’t make you a millionaire and it can be tedious, but the benefits are that it’s easy work, and there are lots of options! The position will usually involve looking at collected data and organizing it into a spreadsheet or other program. This industry is wrought with scams, so be careful and find legitimate data entry jobs on Indeed and FlexJobs.

How to get started: Online data entry positions rarely require experience, and usually you just need a fast typing speed and flexibility to get the job done quickly. You can find plenty of data entry jobs through online job sites, but as we mentioned, be wary of scams in this field.

Source: Unsplash

5. Freelance What You’re Good At

Freelancing something you have talent in can be very fun, and you’ll get to improve on what you know, while getting paid to do something you enjoy! Some ideas for freelancing to get you started could include: web design, graphic design, content writing, counseling/advice, photography, music writing, travel or sport consulting, or consulting in any area you may know a lot about!

How to get started: Figure out what you’re good at and what services you could provide others. Do some research on what prices are generally offered for your kind of work. Then make your own website on easy-to-use platforms such as Wix or Squarespace. Market yourself on freelance sites such as Upwork, Freelancer, or Fiverr. This is also a great time to benefit from networking! Use your connections to see who is out there looking for freelance work, and what type of freelance work. Check out these great networking tips.

Source: Unsplash

6. Translation

If you were lucky enough to be born with a knack for languages, or were raised speaking more than one language, put those skills to use with translation services. With the global economy and increased need for communication across countries, there is a high demand for many translation services, with the highest demands for global languages such as Spanish, French, Arabic, and Chinese. You may even be paid more for obscure languages.

8 best student jobs you probably haven’t considered

Working a part-time job while you’re at uni is a great way to boost your CV, meet new people and (most importantly) rake in some extra cash. And it looks like you agree with us – according to our National Student Money Survey, 66% of students work part-time.

But entering the competitive world of the part-time job hunt can be super daunting. Every student and their dog is looking for a way to supplement their Student Loan, which often barely covers rent.

So why not increase your chances of landing something great by looking where others don’t? Here are some part-time job ideas for students you probably haven’t considered yet!

The hardest part of working during term time is juggling shifts with your studies, and a lot of universities recommend you work no more than 15 hours per week. Check out our guide on how to balance a job and university.

8 best jobs for students

Working in PR is a perfect option if you’re an outgoing, enthusiastic and social person. A lot of brands are interested in hiring student ambassadors (or ‘Student Brand Managers’ as they’re also called) to promote them online.

What does a student brand ambassador do?

Often brands will ask you to post about them on your social media accounts to generate interest from your friends, or they’ll simply ask you to spread the word in exchange for a bit of commission.

Doing PR for clubs and student nights (where you get paid a small commission for every person you get into the club) is also a popular option for students, and this can be as easy as creating a Facebook event and inviting everyone in your halls, or flyering on campus.

Most companies will ask to see your social media profiles when you apply because PR is all about knowing people. If you can, it’s best to get working on your friends list and online following.

But beware – companies hiring student brand ambassadors will often promise freebies, prizes and sell the job as “valuable experience” instead of paying you an actual salary. Only get on board if the company is paying minimum wage. You wouldn’t wait tables for “the experience” now would you?

Resource:

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/best-jobs-for-college-students
https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/the-best-online-part-time-jobs-for-students/
https://www.savethestudent.org/student-jobs/top-10-student-jobs.html

How to Hire Best Freelance Content Writer to Scale Your Content Marketing

Whether it’s digital marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing, blogging or website creation; content plays a crucial role in generating traffic, engaging with customers and boosting conversions. In other words, content is the king in order to increase brand equity and reputation.

With the shift in digital technology, the demand for freelance content writers has increased. As the success of a brand depends on the type of content produced. So, companies are keen on hiring freelance content writers who could write good content for them.

A freelance content writer is a self-employed individual who writes creative and engaging content for clients. They help clients to craft their online content which further saves their time and provide value to the audience.

A content writer not only knows the art of content writing well, but can also set the tone, garner attention, understand the subject matter and, most importantly, layout all the information in a sequential and presentable manner.

But the question remains how to hire the right freelancer for content writing? It is not that difficult anymore since the gig economy is booming. In this article, we will guide you on how to find the best freelance content writer for your startup.

How to Hire Freelance Content Writer

Resource:

https://startuptalky.com/hire-freelance-content-writer/

What Is the Minimum Expectation for Full-Time Hours?

There is no legally defined minimum number of hours you must work to be considered a full-time employee, though 35 hours is widely accepted as the informal standard. The definition of a full-time and part-time worker depends on the definitions that the employers themselves create. If you’re deciding between taking a full-time or part-time job, understanding what full-time work is can help. In this article, we explain what constitutes a full-time worker, how and when they can be treated differently from part-time workers and what advantages they enjoy by working full-time hours.

how many hours of work constitutes a full-time position and defines a part-time position in contrast to the full-time requirement. This figure can also vary depending on the employer and the type of work they do. Instead, it’s common for employers to provide an hourly rate of pay and your expected working hours in writing within your employment contract, whether you have set hours or a more flexible schedule.

Does the maximum working hours rule apply to everyone?

There are a few categories of employees that cannot opt out of the weekly cap on working hours. These jobs tend to include employees who operate vehicles and machinery. Airline staff, delivery truck drivers of trucks over 3.5 tonnes and security guards who operate armoured vehicles carrying high-value goods must comply with the 48-hour weekly cap without exception.

, an employer must treat part-time and full-time employees the same, in terms of the rate of pay, pension opportunities, training, career opportunities and holidays. Financial benefits, like holiday bonuses, have to be applied pro-rata, proportionally to the number of hours worked. If a full-time worker receives a £1,000 bonus, the part-time worker contracted for a third of the hours would receive approximately £333.

The pro-rata cannot be easily applied to all benefit classes. For example, this includes health insurance policies that have set prices. For cases like this, the government enforces the principle of ‘objective justification’ when a part-time worker cannot be treated proportionally the same as a full-time worker. In these cases, the employer is responsible for coming up with an alternative that would be proportional—for example, offering to offset part of the cost of a part-time employees’ insurance policy.

Doing part time PhD while working full time – pros and cons

Can a PhD be called Doctor?

Throughout much of the academic world, the term Doctor refers to someone who has earned a doctoral degree (highest degree) from a university. This is normally the Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD (sometimes Ph. D.

Are PhDs worth it?

If there is something really specific you want to spend three year or more years learning then a PhD can be a great opportunity. They’re also great for building soft skills such as independence, team work, presenting and making decisions.

What is part-time PhD full-time PhD?

A part time PhD would enable you to acquire your doctorate degree while pursuing a full-time job. A part time PhD is of a longer duration spanning around 6 to 8 years while a regular doctoral degree might be somewhere between 3 to 5 years.

Can you do a PhD and work full-time?

Earning a PhD while working full-time means prioritizing research, reading, and study time over other things in your life that may seem significant. If you’re OK making this sacrifice, a PhD could be the right move. The takeaway: Earning a PhD with a full-time job requires discipline.

Is a PhD full-time education?

Traditionally, a PhD involves three to four years of full-time study in which the student completes a substantial piece of original research presented as a thesis or dissertation. Some PhD programs accept a portfolio of published papers, while some countries require coursework to be submitted as well.

How is the life of a PhD student?

If you’re studying a part-time PhD, your workload will be halved, at around 17 and a half hours per week. Depending on your schedule, this might be across a full week or a few days. Universities rarely impose a number or pattern of work hours on PhD students, so it’ll be up to you to manage your time effectively.

What does a PhD student do all day?

PhD students do the same only with a different split, much more of their time is allocated to research, but they often have teaching and administrative duties as well. The focus of their daily routine can also change depending on the needs of the given day and program.

How many hours a week is a PhD program?

As can be seen from most of the responses here, the mean is 40 hours/week, just like a regular job. However, PhD students in different fields will have different workloads, which is to be expected.

Do you regret doing a PhD?

Those who earned a PhD had the largest percentage of “no regret” responses, but 10% of PhD respondents said they regretted the time it took to complete their degree while 5% regretted obtaining too many degrees.

How long is a PhD after a Masters?

Time commitment-Many American PhD programs do not offer significant coursework reduction for students who already have Master’s degrees. This means that they will have to do a five to seven year PhD on top of their one to three year Master’s.

Is it worth doing a part time PhD?

A part time PhD will also have a more manageable workload, and supervisors will usually be more experience in providing support to working students. But keep in mind that some PhD part time programmes will not be eligible for financial aid or funding, at which point part time study may no longer be personally worth it.

Which PhD is most in demand?

In recent years, chemical engineering has been recognized as the best doctoral degree by salary-offering steady job growth and high early career and mid-career salaries. Chemical engineers often work in biotechnology and business services as researchers.

What is the easiest PhD to get?

Which PhD pays most?

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) PhDs tend to pay the most, according to research conducted by Payscale. Electrical & computer engineering is America’s most lucrative PhD, with early career pay reported to be approximately $102,000.

Should you put PhD after your name?

Do you call someone with a PhD professor?

Anyone who has earned a doctoral degree can be addressed as “Dr. Last Name”. The most common doctoral degree is a PhD, but you might also encounter instructors with other doctoral degrees such as a Doctor of Theology (DTh), Doctor of Public Health (DrPH), or Doctor of Engineering (DEng). When in doubt, “Dr.

Does having a PhD increase salary?

Fields where having a Ph. D. over a master’s degree may not make much difference in terms of salary include communications and journalism, industrial arts and consumer services, and education. In these fields, holding a doctorate will only increase your salary earnings potential by $15,000 per year at the most.

Resource:

https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/full-time-hours
https://educatecafe.com/how-many-hours-is-a-full-time-phd
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/jobs/workplace/federal-labour-standards/work-hours.html

8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes You Need to Avoid

Considering the fact that 500 million people use Instagram daily , social media marketing is one of the most effective ways to expose your business to a huge audience. Most businesses know that, but few actually excel at using social media marketing the right way.

You often see in social media marketing guides that you should be authentic and create great content. But w hen you try to do that, it doesn’t always show great results. That’s why you see so many business pages on Facebook that only have a few hundred subscribers.These business could be doing everything right—but they could be doing some things very wrong.

Buying followers

We all know that buying followers is against the guidelines of all social media networks. But when fewer and fewer people follow your business page over time, this illicit activity becomes more and more tempting. After all, how can you pass on getting a thousand followers for $5?

Whenever you make a post, it is shown in the feed of a few select members of your audience. The more people like and comment on it, the more the algorithm thinks it’s a good post. It will continue showing it to other subscribers.

Now, imagine that you originally had 500 followers and paid to get 1000 more. Now, two-thirds of your audience are accounts with thousands of subscriptions. They aren’t interested in your posts and won’t like them even if they bother checking their feed.

Once, there were so many fake profiles made for selling followers on Facebook, that even official ads resulted in fake likes. This led to a scandal because these fake likes were harming businesses, and Facebook had to delete over 2 billion fake accounts. Why did big brads make Facebook do that?

Because these fake accounts prevent posts from getting promoted by the algorithm. The result is your original subscribers will see fewer of your posts. This is definitely not something you had in mind when you were paying for followers.

Only Focusing on Your Number of Followers

While having a high follower count could give you bragging rights over your competitors, if you focus too much on that count, you are probably missing the big picture. As with many things, you should focus on quality over quantity when it comes to your social media followers.

Even though you may not have as many followers as your main competitor, are yours engaging more with your content? Are they more active whenever you make a post? If so, consider yourself the winner, as that quality can lead to more rewards down the line versus simply having a high follower count.

By not focusing so much on follower count and instead aiming for engagement, you will have an easier time creating captivating content that moves the needle. And over time, this will help your social media profiles and your brand grow.

The takeaway

Here’s the takeaway – there’s no one thing that you need to do to make your social media efforts top-notch. It’s about taking care of each aspect and aligning your goals and processes to ensure that you do the basics well and build on that.

Take an audience-first approach – set a clear strategy with objectives, bring value to your customers, demonstrate customer care, don’t be sloppy, and fulfill audience expectations. If you put these tips into practice you should be well on your way to having social media that grows your customer base and skyrockets your ROI – which is what we all want.

Birbahadur Singh Kathayat is the founder of Lbswebsoft, where he helps his clients to build powerful brands through content marketing, search engine optimization, website development, and web design. He is a writer and author on Social Media Week, SEMrush, e27, and other publications. You can follow him online at Google+, LinkedIn or Twitter.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on socialbakers.com. Any statistics or statements included in this article were current at the time of original publication.

Sources:

https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2019/12/11/social-media-marketing-mistakes
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/seo/social-media-mistakes/
https://emplifi.io/resources/blog/social-media-marketing-mistakes

General Tips for Attention-Grabbing Social Media Posts

1. Brand Your Social Media Posts

You want your customers and fans to instantly recognize your posts in their social media feed. Where possible, use aspects of your brand to help mark your posts out as yours. If you’re adding text to a photo, for instance, you could use your brand fonts and colors.

2. Keep Sentences and Paragraphs Short

Shorter is usually better on social media. If your social media posts are long screeds of text, they’re going to be all too easy to scroll past. Keep it snappy: don’t use more words than you need to. Break up long sentences and paragraphs, too, just as you would in your blog content.

Add Humor (if Appropriate for Your Brand)

Funny social media posts are often the ones that get the most attention on social media. If you want your post to go viral, humor is a great way to do that. Just make sure you’re using humor in a way that’s appropriate to your brand and your audience.

4. Include Trigger Words

Using trigger words in your social media posts can be a great way to grab attention. Trigger words are ones that tap into emotions and help your audience to know that you really get their problems and struggles. You can find a handy list of trigger words here.

5. Only Post Once or Twice Per Day

Are you trying to improve engagement by posting multiple times per day on social media? If you’re sending out tweets every hour or adding new photos to Instagram constantly, then you may struggle to get any attention because you’re sharing too much. Try posting once or twice a day instead on most social media platforms and track your results.

6. Tag Influencers in Your Niche

While you won’t want to do this with every post, tagging influencers in relevant social media posts can hugely increase how much attention you get. People scrolling through will spot the name of someone they know (bonus points if the influencer is in a photo with your post) – and the influencer may well reshare your post, hugely boosting your potential audience.

Key findings

Brands are no strangers to social. But, by and large, brands have only just begun to realize the value of truly connecting with consumers and treating social as more than a channel for promotion. Here are the top five findings from our research on the business value of building connections through social channels:

• People believe brands and social media can power connections. Despite feelings of division, 91% of people believe in social’s power to connect people. More specifically, 78% of consumers want brands to use social to help people connect with each other.
• Social is the number one channel for brands to connect with consumers. When asked which communication channels give brands the best opportunity to connect with their customers, survey respondents ranked social media as number one.
• Connection breeds loyalty and bottom line growth. Investing in relationships with consumers directly impacts business revenue and strengthens customer loyalty. When customers feel connected to brands, more than half of consumers (57%) will increase their spending with that brand and 76% will buy from them over a competitor.
• Real people are the key to authentic relationships. Consumers want to learn more about the people behind their favorite brands. Seventy percent of consumers, for example, report feeling more connected when a brand’s CEO is active on social. Additionally, 72% of consumers report feeling similarly when employees share information about a brand online.
• People want brands to connect them to other people. And they don’t mean only those with similar mindsets. Sixty-two percent believe social can unify people of different backgrounds and beliefs, and more than half (52%) expressed interest in connecting with individuals different from them.

52 Content Ideas For Businesses to Post on Social Media

1. Your Company’s Blog Posts

Does your business have a blog? The best way to get your blog seen is to share it on your own social media platforms. You know it’s relevant to your business because it came from your business. Be sure the content you’re writing for your business blog is valuable and will connect with your audience.

2. Posts Showing Your Company’s Culture

What better way to showcase your business than by sharing a culture post? A culture post is an image or article that highlights what your business is all about. It could be a behind-the-scenes image of your employees doing something quirky, or an article about how your business does something a certain way.

3. Industry News

In raw numbers, news articles get more social shares than any other type of article. Most businesses that produce content are focusing on deep, long-form content rather than as-it-happens breaking news. Create a list of news sources in your industry. This could include trade publications or websites. Then, find those sources on Twitter and follow them. When they share something interesting, retweet it to your followers or share it on another social network, like Facebook or Google+.

4. Curated Content

Content curation is simply sharing the content of others in your niche. Sometimes, the things you want to share with your audience have already been written. Rather than spending the time crafting an in-depth post, you can quickly share one that’s already been written (by giving them credit, of course). At CoSchedule, we use our handy-dandy Chrome Extension tool to help with our content curation. Here’s an example of a post we shared from Kissmetrics:

5. Question Posts

Not everything you share on social media has to be a blog post or article. Get your audience talking and engaging with one another by asking a burning question. For example, you could ask, “What sort of content should I blog about next?” It’s the best way to know what your audience really wants to read. Asking a fun question or creating a Twitter poll is a good way to get your audience’s insights.

6. Product/Company Videos

Visuals are eye-catching when your audience is scrolling through their news feed. It’s been proven time and time again that visuals help improve engagement, but what about videos? Research shows that videos have a 135% greater organic reach compared to photos. That’s a crazy high number. Take advantage of this organic reach opportunity by sharing videos about your company or a new product you have.

7. Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Does your company have dedicated fans? Let their voices be heard and share their thoughts on your social media. You can do this by retweeting their kind words or creating a graphic with their testimonial directly on it. Don’t forget to include their name/handle!

8. Quick Tips and Advice

Aside from sharing an entire “How to” post giving in-depth tips and advice, you can share a few tips that you think are the MOST important. Sharing a simple tidbit is an easy way to share valuable information with your audience. Here at CoSchedule, we call them “Pro Tips”.

9. Memes or GIFs

Aside from sharing images to your social media, you can use memes and GIFs when publishing your content. This adds a fun spin to your plain post and will be too irresistible for your audience to scroll past.

Memes and GIFs are extremely popular on social media, even among top companies. At CoSchedule, we’ve recently started using memes and GIFs on Twitter and have found that they receive far more likes and retweets than regular images.

10. Contest Posts

Encouraging people to participate in a social media contest related to your brand will boost engagement with those who are already followers. They can help you increase subscribers by requiring those who don’t follow or like your page to do so in order to participate.

11. Holiday Posts

No matter where you live, holidays are a big deal. Show your holiday spirit by sharing a holiday-related post on your business page. Whether it be an image, video, or article, your audience will appreciate that your business has real people that also get excited about holidays! Starbucks is known for getting exceptionally excited during Christmas season.

12. Photos From Company Events

We discussed sharing culture posts that showcase your company’s personality, but you can take that a step further by sharing photos from a company event. If your business hosts a charity event or fundraiser, a great way to spread awareness is by sharing it on social media.

13. Post an Answer to a Commonly Asked Question

Are you receiving the same question over and over again from your audience? Instead of constantly responding to this question one by one, solve it once and for all by sharing a post with the answer.

Sources:

https://www.seohorizon.com/social/attention-grabbing-social-media-posts/
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/data/social-media-connection/
https://coschedule.com/blog/social-media-post-ideas

14 Characteristics and Qualities of a Good Leader

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While hopefully you’re right in that these people in leadership positions are in fact good leaders, being an effective leader actually has nothing to do with a job title or a certain level of seniority.

Being a leader is more than just being a boss. You don’t automatically become a leader when you reach an executive status. One would hope that people who have worked their way up in a company are good leaders, but this is not a prerequisite.

You don’t have to have a specific number of people working under you in order to be a leader–having people work for you simply makes you a manager. Management and leadership are not the same thing–in fact, you don’t even have to have a job or have anyone answering to you on a regular basis in order to be a leader.

In this article, we will look at 14 characteristics and qualities of a good leader and steps you can take to build each of these characteristics. What are the commonalities among great leaders and what qualities does a leader have to have in order to be effective? As you’re being proactive in developing these personal characteristics, you will also be advancing your personal growth.

If you’re actively working on personal development, chances are that you have a growth mindset. This is important when it comes to gaining the qualities of a good leader because leadership skills are something that can be learned and not something that you are either born with or not born with. Through observation, experience, and practice, you can develop the characteristics and qualities that all good leaders share.

While I will mainly focus on leadership in a professional work environment throughout this article, keep in mind that these skills can be used universally throughout your life and aren’t restricted only to those who have a career.

What is leadership?

Though some people think leadership is about ordering people around, it’s really about being a source of empowerment for others so they can achieve success for themselves and for the organization. It’s also about being able to make decisions in favor of the bigger picture or the organization’s goals, rather than for your own gain.

Anyone can call themselves a leader. But to make an impact on your organization or your team, you need to learn a few essential leadership qualities. If you can start living out these characteristics, you’ll see your career grow and your team thrive.

1. Drive

2. Resilience

It’s okay to feel frustrated sometimes, but good leaders work on their mental fitness continuously and push forward despite the hardship. In fact, they often take pleasure in overcoming obstacles through creative problem-solving.

3. Integrity

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

4. A desire to learn

5. Self-awareness

One of the most important leadership qualities is humility . Good leaders understand their strengths and work to improve their weaknesses. Self-awareness can also help a leader develop a leadership style that fits their personality.

6. Confidence

Leaders have to make big decisions, and these decisions often come with big risks. It can scary being a leader because when you’re the one taking the risk, you’ll also probably shoulder the blame if things go wrong. But that’s just part of the gig.

Moreover, there are always people who disagree with the leader’s decisions. While it’s important to listen to other viewpoints, a leader can’t back down in the face of criticism or conflict. They need to have the self-confidence to brush off the people who doubt them and trust their intuition when they know they’re making the right choice.

7. Positivity

8. Realism

9. Creativity

Creativity is about seeking the best solution, even when it’s not the typical one, and thinking on your feet when situations change. Plus, a creative leader doesn’t try to be the lone genius. Instead, they tap into the innovative potential of their people.

When an idea or plan isn’t working out, creative leaders also look for new ways to use resources and bring their teams together to develop innovative new perspectives and approaches to the problems they’re trying to solve.

10. Communication skills

Great leadership is all about communication . If you don’t have good communication skills, none of the other leadership qualities or characteristics on this list mean anything. You won’t be able to get through to the people you’re supposed to lead, and that will have detrimental effects on your team and your organization.

Clarity is especially important. According to the Predictive Index People Management Study, out of managers rated “bad” by their employees, 58% don’t communicate clear expectations. This can be immensely frustrating and disheartening for the whole team.

11. Listening skills

This can be a hard quality for leaders to develop because it’s sometimes at odds with other good leadership qualities. Strong leaders are confident and full of exciting ideas, which makes many of them prone to dominating the conversation.

12. Empathy

13. Decision-making

14. Strategic mindset

Leaders may be involved in tactics and operations to varying degrees. But they also need to know when to focus on strategy and entrust the small details to another member of the team.

15. An eye for talent

Part of leadership is choosing the right people for the job and then helping those people develop their own skills. A great leader can recognize and foster leadership traits even in the most junior members of the team.

Watch out for these negative leadership qualities

Sometimes the qualities of an excellent leader and a terrible one are surprisingly similar. If you want to evolve into a better leader yourself or help develop one on your team, you’ll need to pay close attention to certain traits.

Let’s say someone appears to have many essential leadership qualities. They’re confident, great at delegating, and wonderful at execution. But if you take a closer look, you might see that this person intimidates their direct reports into doing their work for them, and then takes all the credit. This individual is clearly not fit for leadership — at least not until they learn to overcome these negative behaviors.

But what about within yourself? Maybe you think you’re ready for a promotion, yet your colleagues keep getting opportunities that aren’t offered to you. That could mean it’s time for some self-reflection. You may unknowingly have some bad habits that are preventing you from stepping into your full potential.

The good news is that we’re here to help with a list of negative leadership characteristics to watch out for. If you see one of these dispositions or qualities in yourself or your employees, it may be time for some self-development and inner work.

• Lack of vision: Inadequate leaders can do a lot of the same things good leaders do. But the leader’s decisions need to have a purpose, such as driving the team closer to the business’s strategic goals. If there doesn’t seem to be a clear, easy-to-communicate vision behind what employees are asked to do, they’ll quickly lose trust in their boss.

• Inability to produce results: It’s simple. No leader succeeds at everything all the time, but the excellent ones will have something to show for their efforts.

• Uninspiring: If an individual can’t uplift, motivate, or inspire others, they’ll need to learn how before they can be a good leader. That’s because leadership isn’t something you do by yourself — it’s about the people you lead.

• Overconfidence: A good leader is dauntless — they can confidently take on challenges. But poor leaders can have a lot of confidence and take risks, too. If they’re cocky, presumptuous, or arrogant, they have a lot to learn before becoming a leader.
• Apathy: Too many people come to their jobs without feeling a sense of investment or ownership in their work. This can cause them to produce sloppy work and even have negative relationships with coworkers. This trait will be a major obstacle to anyone who wants to be a great leader.

THE QUALITIES AND TRAITS OF LEADERS

Committed

A good leader has to show commitment. Fulfilling your vision won’t happen overnight and you need to be able to convince everyone else that you won’t disappear when things get tough. If you make a promise, you need to keep it. You can’t just preach about achieving A, B and C, but you need to show that you are actually going to do it.

Commitment matters for two reasons. First, when you show commitment you help build trust. The team and anyone involved with the project will be able to trust your word. Trust will keep work morale up and help you achieve objectives faster since people don’t need to second-guess what your objectives are.

But furthermore, the second aspect of commitment is about setting an example. As mentioned throughout the article, leadership is about setting an example and if you show commitment to your word, your subordinates will be inspired to stick to their promises. Using your own example of hard work, you will ensure the people around you feel motivated to do the same thing.

Passionate

Passion should be at the heart of everything you do. It doesn’t matter whether you are a leader of a multibillion company or a lumberjack, without passion, you won’t achieve success. You can understand its importance when you view it as the fuel for your truck. If you don’t have enough fuel, i.e. passion, you will eventually run out of steam and your journey will be cut short. But if you make sure your tank is full, you can continue driving.

Furthermore, passion helps in leadership because it can motivate other people. Consider a person is doing a job simply for the sake of doing it. They might show up every morning and finish the tasks as told, but there is no burn within them. On the other hand, you have someone who is always excited to start a project, who talks about the tasks and comes up with new ideas and suggestions.

Passion can, of course, seem depleted at times. Just like adding fuel to your car, you need to occasionally rekindle your passion. The Muse suggested these six ways of finding your passion in a blog post:

• Adopt the right approach to seeking passion – Don’t assume finding your passion will be impossible, but be inspired by the opportunities you have in front of you.
• Identify your ‘peak moments’ – Examine your experiences and find the moments that stand out.
• Find the connection – Your passions might sometimes seem different from each other, but try to identify the connections linking your interests together.
• Differentiate a hobby from a career – In the world of business, you naturally need to find a profitable angle for your passion. While you shouldn’t ever do something for the sake of making money, you do want to ensure your passion can sustain the kind of lifestyle you want.
• Don’t be afraid of the resistance – Your inner voice will try to come up with all sorts of reasons you shouldn’t follow your heart. Resist the fear.
• Explore your comfort zone – Passion requires you to take the plunge and to step outside of the comfort zone.

Honest

In the previous section, we discussed about the importance of empathy. Another similar trait, which leaders need to have, is honesty. A strong leader is able to treat people with respect and care, while staying honest. Leadership is not about wiping things under the carpet. If there is a problem, a great leader is able to identify it, talk about it and find solutions to it. A leader doesn’t add a sugar coating on things, but they use their communication skills to ensure people are aware of the issues.

Honesty also means openness about the processes and the implementation of the vision. The leader should always be as informative and open about the tasks ahead as possible with the subordinates. The more information the subordinates have, the better they are able to conduct their work as well. If the vision and the objectives are shrouded in mystery, it can be difficult for the subordinates to fully commit to the job.

Confident

A great leader is confident. He or she doesn’t second-guess whether they are up to the job; but the person knows his or her strengths and how to use them in order to implement the vision. If they are hesitant or seem to have a lack of trust in their own abilities, subordinates wouldn’t feel comfortable following their lead.

When things are going wrong, people often start looking around them for comfort and support. A leader is the person who stands out in these times because they show composure that relaxes other people. If a ship is sinking, you look at the captain and you want him to give you orders calmly on what to do, not run around yelling, “we’ll all die”.

Resource:

https://www.developgoodhabits.com/characteristics-leader/
https://www.betterup.com/blog/leadership-characteristics
https://www.cleverism.com/leadership-qualities-traits-and-characteristics/