technology

Take 1 Hour To Automate Your Social Media

Posted on by Zinga H

I manage the social media as a part of my role. It is a small percentage of my day so to stay consistent with my schedule I set aside 2 hours a month to plan and organize posts I like on Hootsuite. tEREUy1vSfuSu8LzTop3_IMG_2538With the ups and downs of working in higher education, it can be easy to forget to reach out on a daily basis. Using a social media management system can help you to share your own content and build your brand by displaying what interests you value. Here’s how I would split up the time.

10:00  Review my annual social media plan – Make any adjustments and add in any new creative ideas around the events happening in my local area.

10:05 Scan through Feedly and look for articles that match the month’s theme and my brand’s values. I right click through the ones I like and write relevant reviews with a short link going back to the original post. Read through the articles, write a short summary, and find a relevant picture to represent it. Sometimes there will not be a picture that represents well enough, so I will often find a better article or create the picture myself using Canva  or find one on Photopin.

10:35 It averages about a minute per post to get the month scheduled for one post per day. Doing this grew the social media page by 300% over the past three years. It’s small, but steady, growth, and engagement averages around 27% percent of organic views, where organic reach for a page my size benchmarks at around 11%. So once I’m done I check to make sure every day is posted and review for typos.

10:40 For the rest of my time, I scan my social media feeds on Hootsuite and share relevant content from my community, specifically from other social media contributors within our organization, such as what’s happening in the Facebook groups, on our Listservs, or other events emailed to me.

10:50 Finally, I will add in a few posts supporting initiatives I have in my department.

When it comes to social media marketing, what you share from others should balance to four times of what you self-promote. Linking together is key to building a strong voice and vision with your social media brand.Finding time to consistently post is a matter of scheduling and automation. There are plenty of tools to use but Hootsuite is definitely tech I pay to have.

What are your biggest social media management challenges?

3 Ways to Attract Your Audience Online

Posted on by Zinga H

Do you own a shop in a local town? Where I’m from in Northeast Ohio there are a ton of local shops popping up in mid-size towns around me. I am happy to see small business owners serving and providing the community with a diverse set of offerings. The shops all have their own unique style, yet the ones that see the most action are the ones inviting to the customer to linger and offering a quality product. Like shops, our websites play an important role in inviting our customers, clients, or members to seek more from us.

3 Ways to Attract Customers Online

Attract Customers With Open Doors

photo credit: Sainsbury’s – High Street, Longbridge Town Centre – entrance via photopin (license)

How do customers feel when they approach your website? Are they turned off by the design? Your competitors are using better strategies to ensure the user experience is as exceptional as would be in real life. Here are three ways to keep your site on par.

Improve your display

Your website is a window to your products or services. Like in local business marketing all parts of your business- from a menu to a bar of soap- must be displayed as if it is in a Macy’s window in the middle of New York. Keep your aesthetics clean and related to your brand. Make your colors appealing to the eye, yet let them represent the values of your brand.

Here’s Inspiration
95 Inspiring Websites of Web Design Agencies

Form, Function and Beauty on Brand Websites

Simplify your navigation

Your site might be too complicated If a customer has to ask: how do I make a reservation or get to the checkout? Users are used to making their next move quickly. If your customers can not simply find what they are looking for then they will leave for a site that is easier to navigate.  While designing navigation avoid having the level of navigation go beyond three. If you are having trouble getting rid of levels, consider: What can be consolidated or removed? Links help connect people to infinite amounts of content, rely on proper linking over a cluttered navigation menu.

Optimize for Mobile

Web sites must be mobile friendly. 50% percent of shoppers are browsing on their phones. Google, the most-used search engine so far, also rewards websites in search engines if they are optimized for mobile viewing. Test your website today using google’s mobile-friendly test. In addition, to the design of your site being optimized for mobile, your content should also offer users quick and easily scannable information. Here’s results from my mobile friendly test!

zingahart.com teaching abundance as the value of education ZIngahart.com abundance is the value of education

How does your site measure up on the mobile-friendly test?

Tech Review: Build a Cleaner Resume with Resume

Posted on by Zinga H

When job searching it is important to spend a time catering your resume to each and every position. Taking the time to keep track, modify, and distribute multiple resumes can be draining, add making them modern and beautiful and you can find yourself consumed with time spent on just your resume alone. One website that helps makes this process easier for the job search is Resumonk.

online resume builder resumonk

Resumonk offers users easy design, fair pricing, and a sleek interface. Although there are some cons overall, the website delivers and has become a favorite since emurse went away.

Easy design

When first using Resumonk users have the option to start from scratch or import their LinkedIn Profile. The import tool was great because it brought in all facets of my profile, including any recommendations others have left. One downside was it listed all my skills. While useful you will have to pare down as it will take up a lot of space on your resume. It is easy to navigate from section to section, and there are many options to design your resume as you see fit.

Fair pricing

Resumonk is a freemium website. While you can use it for free, I ended up purchasing the subscription because I enjoyed the premium resume designs offered. A lifetime plan is $59 dollars while a 1-year plan is $20. Depending on how long your job search will take $20 for a year should be plenty of time to design, re-design, and distribute an unlimited amount of resumes.

Sleek Interface

A lot of resume builders online are ugly and as dreadful as filling out an online job application. Resumonk gets past that by paying attention to the design. The templates are well worth using and the fact that it pairs the design with the cover letter makes this web application a true professional service. Finally your dashboard provides you with all your past resumes to copy, edit, and reuse, making your job application process much easier.

Cons

While I will be using Resumonk for a while. I do hope they improve their resume template options. Although there are 4 pages, without the promise of more to come, I worry their designs will become generic as more users purchase their services. It should also be easier to transfer sections and pieces of one resume over to others. Finally, the import from LinkedIN can be awkward as it tends to list your oldest job at the top, requiring me to re-arrange in present chronological order.

Overall Resumonk is a great resume builder and tracker. You get to make 4 free resumes with the free option so check it out today!

Resumonk

Tech Tool Review

Posted on by Zinga H

Canva is a tool to buy to make your marketing life easier. Simple design, lots of options, and a simple pricing model make it a web app worth investing in. I run leadership events in Northeast Ohio and creating flyers for the event I almost immediately turn to Canva. It works so great, you won’t regret investing in it as a simple tool for your business.

Canva a semi-free graphic design app

Easy to use

Canva is a simple web app and you can access it anywhere and anytime. It’s easy to share using links and there is no download needed to share designs. It uses a two-panel design where you drag-and-drop images, designs, and clip art to your visual marketing content. There is also an option to automatically optimize design sizes using an array of pre-cut formats in the size of Facebook picture posts, twitter posts, web page banners, infographics, etc. Canva keeps it easy to use and there are a ton of ways to incorporate it in your marketing strategy.

Tons of free options

Free web apps are a dream for anyone charged with marketing for their start up. Canva offers tons of high-quality graphics and beautiful designs to use in your marketing material. I have used Canva to create many formats enhanced for web use. Colors are easy to change to add your can upload and use your own graphics for free adding even more to your design options.

Simple pricing model

Canva’s free options make web marketing easy and even fun. Canva monetizes its model by charging a dollar for premium flyer elements, clipart, backgrounds, and designs. It’s straight-forward and there is no need to sign up for a monthly subscription. While, I use the free options often, I buy the stock art they offer because it is good quality. It also makes it easy to market quickly and consistently.

5 Top Apps Worth Using Daily

Posted on by Zinga H

In the entrepreneurial world, time is still money, and a major detractor of progress can be poorly built tools that have the guise of serving a purpose. Introducing, applications. While some mobile and web applications serve a great purpose, many can often suck away our time and leave us with very little results in the way of moving towards venture success. So what is worth it? I consider it only apps I have paid money for or am willing to pay money for in the future. Here are the top five I use towards strategic planning and executive leadership.

1. WeekPlan for daily planning. WeekPlan was the first app that was ever graced with my Paypal balance. With its sleek and simple design, the app incorporates Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It’s great features include planning your week according to quadrants, having a long-term option for listing goals/tasks and color coordinating tasks according to roles you designate. In addition, the customer service with the app goes above and beyond in authentically reaching out to clients.

2. Trello – If WeekPlan is in the trenches, Trello is in the war room. Great for long term strategic planning, Trello has the ability to break up and track long or short term projects.

3. Stitcher – Entertainment is great. Knowledge is power. Learning while commuting is one of the safer driving distractions and you feel the benefits of acquiring more knowledge. Stitcher allows you to access newly posted podcasts. Choose podcasts in business, leadership or success to help keep you moving towards your goal.

4. Pinterest – Visit your vision often to make sure you are on the right track. Pinterest is a great tool for visioning [article coming this week] and it is worth visiting often, especially if you are a visual learner.

5. Twitter – Connecting with the social world requires daily maintenance. The key is in planning well enough and simply enough so there is room for organic spontaneity. Twitter allows for a lot of simplicity and a way to connect with the worlds that intersect with your world.

Be wary of the apps you spend time on since they can make or break your progress. Find ones that leverage your see-saw of success and you will feel an authentic progress towards your desired purpose.