I spend a lot of time writing posts about different things to help people who work from home, like myself – different websites, products, techniques, etc. But I hardly ever get any tips from my readers, so today I wanted to invite you to share some of your favorite tips that have helped you be successful with working from home. Please feel free to comment below with your favorite tips!
Archives for August 2016
How to Battle Lethargy When Working from Home
People who work from home can often start feeling lethargic. However there are ways you can battle that feeling when you work from home – this blog post will provide some tips for battling lethargy when working from home. [Read more…] about How to Battle Lethargy When Working from Home
A Review of Cold Turkey
A few weeks ago I reviewed a software program called FocusMe, which helps you focus on what you’re supposed to be doing at the present moment by blocking out distracting websites and applications for a specific period of time. I liked FocusMe, except that it didn’t allow you to set a timer until a certain time, it only allowed you to set your timers for a specific length of time. Also, I could only use it for free for a little while, then I would have had to pay for it if I wanted to keep using it. So I did some research and found another focus program called Cold Turkey – I’ll review it in this post.
How does Cold Turkey differ from FocusMe?
As I just mentioned, Cold Turkey allows you to block distracting websites or applications until a certain time, rather than a specific length of time. So if you know you’re going to write until 12 pm, for example, you can set up a timer for writing by first choosing the websites and applications you want to block, and then setting your timer by first choosing the hour and then the minutes. I like this because if you do want to work until a specific time, you don’t have to figure out how long you’ll be working like you do with FocusMe. Keep in mind as you set your timer that times after 12 pm will be listed in 24 hour time, so 1:00 is 13:00, 2:00 is 14:00, and so on.
What are the downsides of Cold Turkey?
You can use the program completely free – however you can only block websites with the free version, not applications. However, if you want to buy the program, it’s only a one-time charge of $19. Also, Cold Turkey doesn’t run in the system tray like FocusMe does – you have to keep the program open in the background in order to use it. Another downside of Cold Turkey is that as far as I can tell, at least, there’s no way to cancel the timer once you’ve started it if you need to get to a website you’ve got blocked in an emergency. Other than that, I think it’s a great program – I like it a lot better than FocusMe, and will probably eventually buy the full version so I can block applications as well as websites.
How do I download Cold Turkey?
If you’re interested in trying the program, you can go to https://getcoldturkey.com/ to download it.
I hope this review has been helpful – if you’ve used Cold Turkey, feel free to comment below with your experiences.
Social Media Optimization and How You Can Build Your Brand on Social Media
A guest post by ClickMinded
People use social media every day for various reasons. It has also become the perfect place for branding and marketing. And with the help of Social Media Optimization, it can boost the traffic movement to your website and improve its ranking on search engines. One good example would be Facebook. Facebook has definitely become a ripe market for promoting brands. And with the right way to use its advantages, it can surely help you with your branding and marketing. So here are some tips that will help you get the most of what social media has to offer your business:
Know the Social Media World
Understanding the needs of social media users is vital in the process of promoting your brand. It is a must to find out what the people are interested in or vice versa, so that you would know what to post on your profile for a better feedback.
Keep your Social Media Posts Interesting
One important key to it is consistency. In order to catch more people’s attention, you need to be consistent in posting on your profile. To get more attention and exposure, you may also use pictures, gifs, videos, and hashtags to make your profile look more interesting. It is also important to keep your posts short and concise to make sure everybody reads it and gets the message.
Create a Decent Profile
Creating social media profiles are crucial to branding. Make sure that the details you use for your profile are true and an interesting representation of your brand. Use your company logo, it will give a lasting impression on your potential customer. And do not forget to add your contact information, so it would be easy for your customers to reach you through your email or phone number.
Interact with Social Media Users
Creating a network is one thing to keep in mind, but connecting with social media users is another. People value brands that give their customers the amount of attention they need. Interacting with your followers will prevent traffic from coming in. Responding to comments, sharing positive feedbacks, and thanking individual customers is a great way of connecting with your followers on social media.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization is the process of increasing search results to consequently drive more traffic to your website. This will allow your social media profile to appear in search results as long as you keep your profile buzzing from attention. Normally, search engines use Facebook likes or retweets to rank pages on web searches. Social media profiles are also most likely to appear first than your website due to its demand and popularity of usage. Therefore, you should always keep your social media profile up to date with the attention you can gather from other social media users. Know more about how you can implement search engine optimization and sign up for an online SEO training.
Conclusion
If you want to spread your company’s image and in promoting your brand, you should use all the positive advantages you can get from the social media world. Because it is always essential for you to keep your brand image going for the success of your business.
Featured images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
Michelle Gonzalez has been writing for SMEs across the United States, Canada, Australia and the UK for the last five years. She is a highly-experienced blogger and SEO copywriter, writing business blogs for various industries such as marketing, law, health and wellness, beauty, and education, particularly on creating online courses such as those offered by ClickMinded.com.