Eight Examples of Great Uses of Infographics

An infographic that is well designed will be easy to understand at a glance. The entire point of creating an infographic is to give the consumer a way to digest a lot of information quickly without misunderstanding. That is why the best infographics are either data or information centered.

If you have a lot of information to impart, you can use an infographic to show it. Let’s look at some examples of great uses of infographics.

1. Explain a Difficult Concept – There are some things that are just very difficult to understand when read without a pictorial demonstration. But when pictured, the mind understands it and the reader can move on to grasp more of what you’re trying to tell them.

2. Visualize Data-Rich Information – Anytime you have a lot of numbers, a great way to display them is with images in an infographic format. For example, you can use an infographic to show in a graphic way formulas that students need to use often. Or you can pull data from a report to show it visually.

3. Educate and Informs on a Topic – Whether it’s cooking or woodworking, a great way to educate and inform anyone on a topic is to include an infographic. When your audience pictures the information, they’re going to be more likely to remember it.

4. Build Brand Awareness – Have you been successful with your business? If so, you can create an infographic using the data that you have, such as how much you typically increase return on investment for your clients, or how many five-star reviews you’ve received, and more.

5. Provide Inbound Links – When you create shareable infographics correctly, they’ll provide inbound links to your website. These types of links are useful to help attract more audience members from the people who shared it with their audience.

6. A Terrific Recruiting Tool – Need to fill a vacancy? Instead of a boring job ad, why not create a viral infographic that will be shared far and wide, which describes the perfect person for your position so you can find just the right candidate.

7. To Present Survey Data – If you conduct a survey among your customers or audience, a great way to present the results is via an infographic. That way you can tell a pictorial story about the survey and help your audience reach the right conclusions.

8. Create How-To Information – If you want to teach your audience to do something, why not create an infographic that explains how to do it. You can do a lot of things, from how to finish wood, how to create homemade green products, or how to make drinks. Anything really.

Since infographics are about 30 times more likely to be read and looked at by your audience over text articles, it makes sense to include them as part of your content strategy. Don’t replace data-centric articles with infographics; instead, add to them so that you can increase understanding, engage, and demonstrate difficult concepts.

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Make The Most From Buying And Selling Gold With These Tips

Many people have turned toward gold investing because they want a safe place to put their money. There are a lot of items that a person must think over prior to getting into the gold market. A lot of people just don’t know where they should begin. Continue to read and find out what a gold investor needs to know.

When you invest in gold, you can’t go wrong with bullion bars. These come in various weights. They can be found in sizes as small as a half-ounce or as large as four hundred ounce bars. A heavier bar may be more difficult to find, however.

Read reviews and do your research before choosing a dealer to buy your gold. You can see how various dealers handle customer complaints by viewing online reviews and contacting the BBB (Better Business Bureau). Soliciting multiple bids will help ensure you get the best price.

Schedule for a proper delivery before buying gold from any seller. If delivery isn’t immediate, then you need written confirmation from the seller about your pieces. Their expected delivery date should be indicated. Only make the order if you have such a document.

When you’re dealing with any type of gold it can be of valuable to someone that buys it. This could be jewelry pieces which are broken, home decor, tableware or any other gold items you have around. In fact, a gold piece doesn’t have to be 100-percent gold to be worth something. A gold plated item or an item that is not entirely made from gold is still valuable. You’ll still get a decent return on your sale.

Shop around town if you are taking scrap jewelry or gold pieces to sell to a store or pawn shop. The “spot” price for gold is determined by a constantly fluctuating market, so not every store is going to pay it. Try to focus on stores that are not located in a mall, as their overhead may not be as high, which means they might have the ability to give you a better return on your gold.

Do not forget to search thrift shops and antique stores for hidden treasures. You can find great bargains if you understand what to look for. A lot of people give these items to thrift shops or antique markets because they aren’t aware of their true value. Their loss can be your gain.

Always read any fine print on your contracts. If you are going to sell gold pieces to a mail-in buyer, look at the fine print prior to selling to them. This helps you understand what you will have to pay in fees and commissions.

Those costume earrings you’re holding in your hand may have real gold backs or hoops. Many rings and clasps for bracelets and necklaces are gold too. Since such items weigh relatively little, you might want to sell them as their own “lot.” This is when many pieces are sold together to net a larger profit.

Recently, gold has become an extremely popular investment, and that seems to be a long term trend. If you want to be a good investor, you need to do your research. Use what you’ve learned here to your advantage so you can get on top of your finances quickly.

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Beat The Competition in Affiliate Marketing

Time To Win The Affiliate Marketing Game

To Beat the Competition you have to do more than they do. This is how you get the bigger commissions. Having to compete with hundreds or even thousands of other affiliates can make the task of generating income extremely difficult. And the only way to combat all that competition is to come up with methods and techniques that will make you stand out from the crowd.

Here are several ways you can do that…

Use Your Own Website

If you don’t already have a website, get one. If you have a website but it doesn’t lend itself to promoting other people’s products and services, put a site together that does.

Although you can promote affiliate products without a website, there are distinct advantages to having your own Website e.g. http://ift.tt/1a0OmZJ.

The most important advantage is the fact that you can pre-sell the products. Rather than send cold prospects to the owner’s sales page, you’ll have them warmed up and ready to make the purchase.

How you warm them up depends on the product itself. With some of them you can simply write a positive and glowing testimonial, telling them just how great the product is and how much benefit you receive whenever you use it.

With other products, you might want to give them a condensed sales pitch that includes a common problem (poor performance on the golf course) and the ultimate solution (a revolutionary new club that is guaranteed to improve their score).

Write Personal Reviews And Recommendations

There’s a reason TV commercials that have celebrities promoting products are so popular. If so-and-so drinks that soda or wears those jeans or drives that car, they must be worth buying.

Having someone personally endorse a product is the number one sales booster. And even though you might not be a celebrity, your personal recommendation will go a long way in convincing buyers how good your affiliate product is.

Review the product in a positive light. Use information from the owner’s sales page or list benefits that you yourself have thought of. Give the prospective buyers a solid reason to click over to the product website.

Implementing the usual sales approach is fine. But the most effective tactic, the one that will quickly and easily increase the conversion rate, is you personally singing the praises of whatever product you’re promoting.

Operate A Niche Blog

There’s no better method for promoting products than a blog. Naturally, you can do the same thing in a newsletter, but that only gets read by those individuals who are already on your mailing list.

With a blog, you can reach an unlimited number of people who would be interested in the type of products you’re promoting.

Of course, you can’t simply use the blog to sell things. You have to provide valuable and useful content, something that will not only make people listen, but will have them returning on a regular basis.

The easiest content – at least for anyone who relies on affiliate sales – is simply to provide product reviews. If, for example, you promote various pet supplies and training ebooks, you could create a blog for that particular niche and then include in-depth reports about different aspects of individual products.

You could also give tips and advice with regard to using any of the products. Or you could provide ideas on how the products can best be utilized. You could even ask readers to offer their own opinions and recommendations.

In most instances, these types of postings will spur comments from viewers, which in turn will spur comments from other viewers. And of course, the more comments that get posted, the more interest will be generated overall.

Write Articles

There’s no better way to get personal recognition than writing and distributing your own content. And once you establish recognition, all of your product endorsements will be taken even more seriously.

When it comes to choosing topics for your articles, always pick something that is directly related to at least one of the products you’re promoting. That way you can recommend the product and include your affiliate link right there within the article.

And make certain you take full advantage of the author’s resource box…

If you have a primary sales website, where you promote affiliate products, include that link. If you have a blog where you review products, include that link as well. Or, if you have a newsletter and would prefer to solicit more subscribers, direct readers to the page that gives them all the necessary publication and signup information.

Once you’ve written articles, you need to submit them to as many online directories as you can. And always let people know that your articles are free to re-publish as long as no changes are made and the resource box is included. Article directories used to be the best traffic source a few years ago, then they were being created everywhere and the article directories lost their power, google was starting to see spam directories and tried to clean up the internet. There are still some good ones out there, however don’t just post to any. Find the ones you like, search their Rankings, Read some of their Articles and see if they have any standards.

A Great place that I have been using recently is called IBOToolbox. This site has some great traffic advantages, a great network marketing area to build your connections and it is FREE. Join it now and take advantage of it.

 

Offer A Special Bonus

This is by far the best method for outselling other affiliates. Basically, you enhance the owner’s original product package by throwing in yet another product (or products) at no extra cost.

Of course, the more valuable and unique the bonus, the higher the possibility of making more sales than the next guy. The only other criteria is that whatever bonus you choose, it needs to be directly related to the main product.

Although you could certainly offer a tangible item, the least troublesome bonus would be something digital. That way, you don’t have to worry about physically delivering it to the buyer.

For example, if the product you’re selling is that revolutionary new golf club, you could create an ebook that has tips on how a golfer can improve their swing. Or, you could create a video that actually shows them how to do it properly.

The point is, you want a bonus that the buyer can simply download once they’ve made the initial product purchase. That automatically reduces the amount of work involved in delivering the bonus.

Naturally, the amount of time and money you invest in creating the digital bonus will depend on how much money you receive as an affiliate for each and every sale. I use a great Membership Site not only for learning from but for my Digital Bonuses. I have been with it now for over 8 Years. Click HERE to learn about it.

Just keep in mind that you’ll only have the cost of creating a digital bonus once. But the value of offering prospective buyers a special bonus could easily bring in substantial income for a considerably long period of time.

And make certain you clearly announce that the bonus can only be acquired if they make their purchase through your affiliate link. If they get the product anywhere else, under any conditions other than yours, they won’t receive the bonus you‘re offering.

Give Away Free Tips And Information

Rather than dismiss all those viewers who take a look at your offer but don’t purchase right away, you should offer them free tips and information. Naturally, the content will be directly related to the products you’re promoting.

You can place that content on your website but you also need to provide methods in which the viewer will have the information available on their own computer.

For example…

• Put together a downloadable list of frequently asked questions regarding the product and how to use it.
• Create an ebook that includes ideas for gaining the full potential of a product or service.
• Develop an autoresponder instruction, how-to, or general information ecourse that will be delivered over a period of subsequent days or weeks.

In each instance that you deliver advice, tips, or information, make certain you also include specific details about the product it‘s associated with. And of course, you’ll need to include your personal affiliate link as well. Just check out the links on this blog, check out the FREE Downloads on here. I get most of my products from The UM Membership Site.

Capture Names And Email Addresses

One of the major drawbacks of being an affiliate is the fact that you don’t generally have an opportunity to gain the names and email addresses of people who purchase through your affiliate link.

Plus, you’re going to attract plenty of targeted individuals who just aren’t ready to purchase during their first exposure to your offer.

Do whatever it takes to encourage prospects to sign up for your mailing list. If you create an autoresponder ecourse (and use a qualified autoresponder service), you’ll automatically receive names and email addresses. But what about any free downloads such as ebooks or reports that you’re giving away?

Instead of merely letting viewers take them anonymously, have them fill out and submit a form first. That way, they get the free information, you get their name and email address.

Now you can contact them over an extended period of time, continuing to give them valuable tips and information regarding the product or type of products they were initially interested in. Just don’t abuse the privilege by sending them promotional messages and nothing else.

Your ultimate goal is to sell something but in order to move your mailing list members into a buying position you first need to establish a relationship of trust and respect. That will be accomplished by supplying them with valuable information while at the same time letting them know the benefits the product will provide.

Notice around here I have signup forms for EACH Category, I have them for my downloads and I have them around the blog. Every opportunity you have to sign someone up, get it out there.

Use Your Own Ads And Promotional Materials

Most affiliates rely on promotional materials that are supplied by the owner of the product. That would include things like solo and classified ads, banners, pre-written sales copy, and cover and product images.

Although it might be quality material, the fact that so many other affiliates will be using it will automatically dilute the impact and effectiveness.

You can get much better results by writing your own ads, writing fresh sales copy, and creating new banners and images. The primary purpose is to have something different than any of the other affiliates. But it’s also possible that what you create is superior to the original marketing materials.

Overall, it’s simply a matter of doing something different and unique. And doing it better and more aggressively than anyone else.

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Ways to Get an Infographic to Go Viral

If you want your infographic to go viral, it’s not as simple as creating it and it suddenly becoming popular. You may have to work at it for a few months to get it to take flight online. There are numerous ways that you can give your infographic the most chance to go viral and get the most views.

* Go with the Trends – What is popular about your industry right now? What’s leading the headlines? How can you tie that in with an infographic in a timely manner to attract the most attention? If you also add your branding to it, when it goes viral it gets the word out about your business too.

* Answer Burning Questions – Your audience is sure to have some questions that they like to ask. Pick one burning question to answer for them in the form of an infographic. You can, in fact, turn most questions into an infographic to share with your audience. If it’s something they really want to know presented in a creative way, they will share it.

* Incorporate Useful Data – The main thing is that the data you put into your infographic should be something useful. You want your audience to say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” or, “Wow, I need to print that out and keep it handy for future reference.” When it’s that useful, it’s going to be shared widely.

* Keep It Tight – Try not to get too carried away with too much information on one infographic. Keep it to one important point or one desired result. For example, if you want your audience to buy a specific product, don’t talk about other products; present data about that one product only, using data that describes the benefits to them for buying.

* Pay to Market Your Infographics – The fastest way to get eyes on your infographic is to pay to promote it. Most social networks have that opportunity now, and it doesn’t even cost much to promote a post or a tweet. It’s more than worth it to get more eyes on it and start the viral process rolling.

* Use Social Media to Spread Your Infographic – Once you’ve published your infographic on your website, you want to also publish it across all your social media networks. When you do that, ask your connections to share it too. If you don’t ask, they may “like” it but not actually share. Make sure it’s published publicly so that when it’s shared everyone can see it.

* Use Social Influencers to Spread Your Infographic – If there are some leaders or influencers in your industry that have a huge following, send them your infographic and ask them to promote it. They may have a fee for this, but it can be more than worth it in the long run. And it’s typically an inexpensive way to get the word out so your infographic goes viral.

* Name Your Infographic Appropriately – When you create any type of file, consider how you’ll use it. If you’re going to distribute it privately, you can give it a non-descriptive name. But, if you want it to go viral, name it appropriately so that when people search for information online they’ll come up with your infographic based on the keywords in the file.

* Creating a Landing Page for Your Infographic – When you create an infographic, it really needs a home. And like most things you promote online, it should reside on your website or a landing page connected to your website. In this way, you can ensure that you get visitors to your site when they look at the infographic after clicking it – which you’ve asked them to do in some way on the infographic.

Infographics won’t go viral without help. You must promote it in every way that you can via paid promotions, advertisements, blog posts, reviews, and influencers. Once you do all of those things, your infographic is more likely to go viral – as long as the information inside is useful, timely, and relevant.

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Are Affiliates in Demand?

Is there a demand for affiliate marketers today? Yes, there is a huge demand. One of the challenges faced in the affiliate marketing industry is that it sometimes sounds too good to be true: advertising that’s guaranteed to work or it’s free! Newcomers wonder if it’s possible, and skeptics claim that the cost effective prices of affiliate marketing lower the bar for online advertising. But there is a good reason that affiliate marketing has experienced steady growth throughout the ups and downs of online advertising—it works. And affiliate marketing has evolved to become a reliable source of sales for a wide range of marketers.

Affiliate marketing has evolved from the early years when some touted it as the future of online advertising, and others claimed it was the downfall of the medium. It’s now a sophisticated channel that generates anywhere from five to 25% of online sales for many of the world’s biggest brands.

Almost all major multi-channel marketers have an affiliate program of some kind. The important thing to remember is that affiliate programs now come in all shapes and sizes. The concept of a wide-open affiliate program with an unlimited and uncontrolled number of affiliates is a thing of the past. Nearly all marketers agree that affiliates add value to an online marketing effort, but the program must be tailored to meet the marketer’s objectives.

Affiliate marketing did not bring an end to other, higher priced forms of online media advertising. The success of the affiliate marketing in delivering sales cost effectively by way of a pay-for-performance model paved the way for other forms of performance-based advertising, such as CPA-based search and portal advertising, to create acceptance among direct marketers. Affiliate marketing has evolved, with affiliates and marketers becoming more sophisticated and programs more integrated with other forms of online marketing.

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Everything You Have Ever Wanted To Know About Gold

Gold is hugely popular since the economy began to tank. Many people are going with gold for safeguarding wealth, but not every person knows how to do that properly. The following information will help you receive the most bang for your buck when it comes to gold.

Do not sell your gold without first knowing what it is currently worth. If you choose to sell gold items, those with differing karat designations ought to be weighed on their own. Don’t sell gold jewelry that may be worth more when sold as a designer piece.

Buy the right gold if you are investing for retirement. Gold as an investment must be designated as approved by the Internal Revenue Service. They require that the gold be coins or bullion bars that are 24 karat. Try to buy gold bars more than coins, because they are much more valuable.

If you don’t have lots of money to buy gold, but still want to profit on the upside, think about buying scrap gold. Use the capital you have and purchase what you can and add to it as money becomes available. Protect your gold until you can sell it.

If you are looking to sell gold, the first thing you need to figure out is if you’re going to offer it up as an entire jewelry piece, or seek the melt value. Private sellers and pawn shops tend to only pay for melt value. Don’t get discouraged since there’s a buyer out there that wants your pieces.

Avoid letting people know that you are planning to sell your gold. This is because you never truly know who may be listening. Lock your investment up in a safe at home or at a bank and don’t let anyone else know. This will ensure your gold has protection no matter what.

Go through thrift shops and antique stores looking for gold. You can find bargains in those places when you’re aware of what you want. Lots of folks donate items or sell them in such venues simply because they lack knowledge of their true value. A little bit of effort on your part to look around can yield big results.

Be sure you know about the gold in your possession. Just because something looks like gold, that doesn’t mean it’s worth the full weight in gold. It’s not uncommon to find gold that has been mixed in with other, lesser metals. This makes the value lower. This also applies to gold plated items. When you don’t know what you’ve got, have it appraised ahead of selling it.

Before selling your gold, comparison shop. The offers you get might surprise you! If you accept the first deal offered to you, you might be sorry. Spend the required time to comparison shop before making any decisions.

Gold’s importance and popularity has reached impressive new highs in the aftermath of the financial collapse recently experienced worldwide. With the right information at hand it is possible for individuals of all economic strata to use gold as an effective safe harbor for their financial resources. With any luck, readers will find much value in the tips found above.

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WHY You Should Do Affiliate Marketing

The Affiliate Marketing Journey

Affiliate marketing has always been one of the most popular methods of making money.

For anyone who is just starting out, there’s no easier or faster method of generating income. For anyone who already operates their own online business, selling other people’s products can create a substantial boost to the income they’re already receiving.

The primary appeal comes from the fact that the only task the affiliate has to perform is promote whatever product or service they believe has substantial sales potential. The owner of the product or service does everything else.

In theory, you don’t even need a website in order to make money as an affiliate. You can simply promote your assigned affiliate link and then send prospective buyers to the owner’s sales page.

Of course, the obvious drawback is that almost every other affiliate will be doing the exact same thing. If all you’re doing is directing targeted traffic through your affiliate sales link, you’ll be competing on an equal level with countless other people who are promoting the same product.

The Break Away

The only way to break out of the pack is to market and promote the affiliate product in a more intelligent and aggressive manner.

Those who are referred to as “super” affiliates, make a great deal of money selling other people’s products. That’s because they market and promote them in the same way they would their own products.

Even though there’s a sales page associated with each of the affiliate products, they create a page on their own website. The purpose of that page is to pre-sell the item. In other words, they get the prospect primed and ready to purchase prior to sending them to the owner’s sales site.

They also use pay per click advertising to gain targeted prospects. They know that in order to make money, they have to spend money.

Of course, most of them have become masters of pay per click. They know exactly what works, exactly how much to bid, and exactly how to attract the right prospects.

And because they’ve learned how to play the game so well, they most often generate a great deal more money than if they had simply used free advertising methods.

But pay per click and using their own website to promote products are only two of the methods they use. Others include…

– Writing product reviews and personal endorsements, recommendations, and testimonials.
– Operating niche blogs that are directly associated with the products they’re promoting.
– Writing and distributing articles that contain information that’s related to individual products (which includes their affiliate link).
– Offering a special bonus that is only available if the product is purchased through the affiliate’s own sales link.
– Giving away free tips and information, either on their website or distributed through eBooks or autoresponder messages.
– Capturing prospects names and email addresses for future contact and ongoing follow-up.
– Using their own marketing and promotional materials.

Although each of those methods are both valuable and effective, the last one is extremely important…

While every other affiliate is simply copying and pasting solo ads that the owner of the product has made available, the super affiliate is developing their own unique and original sales content.

Instead of delivering the same old message every other affiliate is handing out, they can put their own personal spin on it. That means they can make the offer seem more valuable, more appealing, and more original. And of course, they will ultimately generate more sales.

But that’s not all they do…

They also ensure their success by making certain they’re off to the right start. Rather than jump on every program, product, and service that comes their way, they carefully pick and choose ones they’re confident can be marketed and promoted effectively.

Although a certain degree of instinct and past experience works well in that regard, there are basic factors which will help anyone choose the best products. Things like…

– Determining the level of interest and demand
– Evaluating whether or not the sales page is capable of converting the prospects you send them into buyers
– Verifying the overall quality and value of the product
– Having sufficient information about the product to market it effectively

Super affiliates don’t gain their status overnight. They work hard at what they do and put in whatever time and effort is necessary in order to outsell everyone else in their affiliate arena.

And the ultimate payoff? A substantial income that be generated over and over again, month after month and year after year, for as long as they wish to continue marketing and promoting affiliate products.

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10 Easy Ways to a ‘Healthy-Diet’ for Kids

Healthy-Diet for Kids

Creating a Healthy Home can be easier than you think.

Creating a nutritionally healthy home is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure the health of your child. To start, make smart food choices, and help your child develop a positive relationship with healthy food. Your children will learn their food smarts from your example.

Here are the top 10 tips for getting children to eat healthy food:

1. Do not restrict food. Restricting food increases the risk your child may develop eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia later in life. It can also have a negative effect on growth and development. Also by restricting food you will actually increase the risk of overeating later in the day which will cause weight gain.
2. Keep healthy food at hand. Children will eat what’s readily available. Keep fruit in a bowl on the counter, not buried in the crisper section of your fridge. Remember, your child can only choose foods that you stock in the house, by limiting ‘junk food’ you will, by default, teach your child how to choose healthier foods.
3. Don’t label foods as “good” or “bad.” Instead, tie foods to the things your child cares about, such as sports, academics and hobbies. Let your child know that lean protein such as turkey and calcium in dairy products give strength to their sports and academic performance, the antioxidants in fruits and vegetables add luster to skin and hair and the carbs in whole grains will give them energy to play.
4. Praise healthy choices. Give your children a proud smile and tell them how smart they are when they choose healthy foods. Kids thrive on positive reinforcement!
5. Don’t nag about unhealthy choices. If your child chooses unhealthy foods infrequently, ignore it. However, if your child always wants fatty, fried food, redirect the choice. You might try roasting potato sticks in the oven (tossed in just a bit of oil) instead of buying french fries. Or, if your child wants candy, you might make fresh strawberries dipped in a little chocolate sauce. Too busy? Then keep naturally sweet dried fruit at home for quick snacks. With consistent effort taste buds change and soon your child will be craving healthy foods.
6. Never use food as a reward. This could create weight problems in later life. Instead, reward your children with something physical and fun — perhaps a trip to the park or a quick game of catch.
7. Sit down to family dinners at night. If this isn’t a tradition in your home, it should be. Research shows that children who eat dinners at the table with their parents have better nutrition and are less likely to get in serious trouble as teenagers. Start with one night a week, and then work up to three or four, to gradually build the habit.
8. Prepare plates in the kitchen. There you can put healthy portions of each item on everyone’s dinner plate. Your children will learn to recognize correct portion sizes. Too often people go for seconds and even thirds just because the food is right there. You might notice that you need less food to feel full!
9. Give the kids some control. Ask your children to take three bites of all the foods on their plate and give it a grade, such as A, B, C, D, or F. When healthy foods – especially certain vegetables — get high marks, serve them more often. Offer the items your children don’t like less frequently. This lets your children participate in decision making. After all, dining is a family affair!
10. Consult your pediatrician. Always talk with your child’s doctor before putting your child on a diet, trying to help your child gain weight, or making any significant changes in the type of foods your child eats. Never diagnose your child as too heavy, or too thin, by yourself. If weight change is recommended seek the help of a Dietitian.

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Use These Ideas And Increase Your Gold Knowledge Today!

The price of gold has historically been high. Since its discovery in ancient civilizations, it has been treasured by people. If you want to make an investment in gold, these tips will be of help.

Look at the current gold market price prior to selling your pieces. You will then be prepared to negotiate. Many gold dealers will pay market value; however, some dealers try to get your gold cheap.

You must be sure to purchase the right type of gold if you hope to rely on it in your golden years. This needs to be gold investments that have IRS approval. It must be in the form of 24K coins or bullion bars. The bars are a better buy than the coins are because they are more likely to retain their value.

You can sell anything that contains gold to gold dealers. This could be jewelry pieces which are broken, home decor, tableware or any other gold items you have around. It is not really necessary for these items to be solid gold. It could be part of an item that’s gold, or just gold-plated. You can still turn a profit on these pieces.

If you’re using a mail-order gold buying service, make sure you understand any return postage fees you’ll need to pay if you decline their offer. A lot of companies say they offer free shipping, but if you refuse their offer they charge a great deal. Know beforehand how much you would have to send in order to get your pieces back.

Remember to look for gold in thrift and antique shops. Many of these places offer great finds in gold at a cheap price if dig deep enough. Often, gold ends up in stores like this because the original owners didn’t realize the items they had were valuable. If you’re educated on how to make these finds, you can score some great deals.

Always understand what you are signing. If you’re looking at selling gold through a mail-in dealer, you will want to know all the finer details that entails the process. This lets you know how much you end up with after any fees are taken off the top.

Do not sign anything from a gold dealer without fully understanding what it implies. Gold is a huge market that has some serious money involved in most transactions. It’s best to pay attention to what you’re signing your name to. If you’re not happy with the specific terms, then you need to keep moving along. It’s important to protect your finances.

Before buying gold, know your dealer. The Better Business Bureau can help you determine whether you are dealing with a credible, honest company. If you contact the BBB, they will tell you if the dealer has complaints filed against them. If a dealer has complaints files against him, go with another one.

Now you know about the absolute value of pure gold and why it’s treasured by many people. This wise investment is great for both short term and long term investments. Take the information here to start your investments in gold.

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Are Treadmills the Perfect Piece Of Exercise Equipment

Treadmills the Perfect Piece Of Exercise

Oh treadmill, how I love thee. I can always depend on my treadmill to achieve weight loss and muscle tone. I have had a couple of different treadmills through the years and I have always been able to attain my goals with this outstanding piece of equipment. I have gone from a dedicated runner, to couch potato, to overweight and back and the only variable that did not work all the time was me!

There is a reason the first piece of equipment you see on “Biggest Loser” is a treadmill, or why there is a line at the gym waiting for this coveted piece of equipment. They work! The act of running itself is fantastic, but with running you have many variables, (i.e. rain, potholes, stranger danger, and the occasional scary animal).

Many people associate running with injuries and joint issues, and unfortunately this can be true of running outside due to the high impact on your joints and muscles. With a treadmill, you are able to take all of those variables away, and still have the purest form of cardiovascular exercise in your own home. Running on a treadmill allows you to control your environment with cushioned and flat running surface. Treadmills also are able to accommodate any fitness level from the first day you begin, to training for a 5k.

There is no learning curve involved at any time with exercising on a treadmill. That fact alone makes this a perfect machine. Many people will get frustrated quickly with a piece of equipment they are uncomfortable or unable to use. On a treadmill, all you must do is walk and you are “working out”. No need for a trainer, instructions, or nerves.

In my personal experience, I have become to depend on my treadmill almost as much as my Doctor. I am able to lower my blood pressure, heighten my lung capacity, tone and build muscles, lose weight, and motivate myself to move.

Make an investment in yourself

When you are ready to make this wise investment, there are a few pointers to consider when purchasing a treadmill. It is always a good idea to talk to a friend or relative about their treadmill, and what they like and don’t about the features they have on their home or commercial equipment. Also, go to several gyms and fitness stores and actually walk or run on several of the treadmills available to get a true feel for the structure and performance of each piece of equipment. Listed below are the top 10 questions you need to ask yourself and a sales person prior to choosing the perfect treadmill for you.

1. What Kind of Weight capacity does the treadmill offer?
2. What type of features are you interested in for your workouts? Are you interested in a heart rate monitor? Do you need different workout programs to vary your workouts?
3. What kind of space are you willing to allot for storage? Do you need to be able to fold the equipment, or can you have a traditional style.
4. What is the speed on the treadmill? How fast and slow does the machine move, and what is the speed that you require?
5. What type of warranty does the treadmill offer, and what type of ongoing maintenance does it need?
6. What is the “continuous duty” of the treadmill? You really need to look for a 1.5 to 2.5 HP to insure you are getting a solid motor.
7. What price are you willing to pay for a treadmill?
8. Noise, do you need a quite model due to children in home, or a sleeping spouse? Do you want to hear a TV over the sound of the treadmill? DC motors are usually the more quite option.
9. Are you comfortable with the length and width of the treadmill? Can you move your arms freely, and is the deck long enough to accommodate your stride?
10. Is there a safety key, or an emergency shut off? If you have children this is an important option to have available.

All of these questions, if answered correctly by you and your salesperson, will begin a beautiful relationship with the right treadmill.

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Why you should be listening into the conversations that surround your niche

Social media has completely and totally transformed the way that we interact with the rest of the world, literally granting everyone with Internet access the ability to communicate with anyone else (regardless of how little-known or well-known they may be) with lightning like speed.

Most of us, understandably, use tools like Twitter to talk to people that we want to interact with – but smart and savvy marketers, business owners, and entrepreneurs are using the same tools to listen in on global conversations to get a head start and almost unfair advantage over their competitors.

One of the smartest things you can do is start to listen in to the conversations that are happening in your niche, market, or industry – and twitter gives you the chance to do exactly that!

The best products and services come from your customers

The dumbest thing that anyone can do when they are looking to start a business is to create the business that they themselves envision, ignoring completely what the market or what the niche is most interested in, most passionate about, and most frustrated with.

Nothing kills more businesses then catering to the needs and demands of the business owner rather than the needs, demands, and desires of the customers that are going to fork over their cash for the products or services sold.

When you make this fundamental shift and really start to listen to the frustrations that your market has with other companies in your space, the features that they feel are missing from products or services, or the hopes and dreams that they wish would be fulfilled you are able to capture incredibly valuable market information and research that just isn’t available anywhere else.

Start listening to your market and you’ll be amazed at the things you’re able to learn – but start building that inside information into your operation and you’ll be able to completely dominate your space in a way that your competitors won’t ever fully understand.

Pay attention to hashtags

While it’s always a good idea to pay attention to your competitors by following the accounts that they have on social media, it’s also a good idea to pay attention to the hashtags that are being posted on Twitter and Instagram – especially those that are starting to capture global attention or trending in your niche or industry.

These are the kinds of messages that are really resonating with the overwhelming majority of your niche or market, and this is where you are going to want to spend the bulk of your time researching new solutions to the issues that they are bringing to your attention.

This turns social media into a superpower, and it’s one that your competitors may be actively ignoring – giving you an edge that you won’t be able to get anywhere else!

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Want To Make Money In Gold? Try These Tips!

If you have been wanting to begin investing in gold, now is the time. You need not feel scared; just rely on your ability to acquire the knowledge you require. There are many good things about investing in gold of which you should be aware.

Stick with a reputable buyer when selling your gold. Check BBB.org to find out more about the firm. Good customer service and fair market prices are good indicators of reputable buyers. This can help you to be protected when dealing with gold.

Save your money to buy higher quality gold and avoid gold-filled and gold-plated pieces. You do not have to spend lots of money at a jewelry store to buy nice gold jewelry. Buy cheaper gold jewelry online or at a local pawn shop.

If you’re sending your gold to some company via the mail, check them out before doing business with them. Be certain you have a clear understanding of the timeline involved, and make certain your jewelry is insured. Last, but not least, photograph each item you are sending via mail so that you have recourse if a dispute occurs.

You can get into the gold market with just a small investment in scrap gold. You can accumulate scrap gold as you can afford it and have a pretty nifty next egg in a few years. Make sure you have a safe place to keep your gold (a safe deposit box is ideal) while you’re collecting it.

If you want to unload scrap gold pieces or jewelry items for cash, do your homework first. Many stores will charge a higher rate than the posted spot rate for gold. Stores located apart from larger shopping centers may have fewer fixed costs and are thus, able to pay higher prices.

If you are looking to sell gold, the first thing you need to figure out is if you’re going to offer it up as an entire jewelry piece, or seek the melt value. Many buyers only want to pay for the melt value of the jewelry. You should look for an individual buyer who is interested in the jewelry itself if you want to get a better price.

If you are shipping jewelry, be certain you find out how much it’s going to cost to get your pieces back if you fail to accept their offer. Many companies advertise no shipping costs, but they often hide large handling fees in the fine print. Know beforehand how much you would have to send in order to get your pieces back.

Know what you actually have in your possession. There are many things that look like gold, but are completely worthless. Quite often, other metals are mixed with gold to give some strength to the metal. This will reduce the value. Also, some items may only be gold plated. Have your pieces appraised before sale to determine their value.

Now you have all the information you need to get started. Gold investing is interesting and can be lucrative. You can easily use the advice to start with it in a more knowledgeable way. It won’t be long before you start witnessing the perks of being a gold investor.

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Using Infographics for Your Content Marketing

One of the parts of content creation that are often forgotten is the marketing part. If you don’t market the content that you create, you won’t get as many views as you should – which means you won’t get as many sales or conversions. Thankfully, you can use infographics for your content marketing.

* They Look Great – Well-made infographics look nice and catch the attention of your audience. This means that your audience is more likely to read them, as well as click through to read the rest of your content. Visually they are simply more pleasing and get more attention.

* They Can Go Viral – If you play your cards right, there is potential for the infographic to go viral. They might not go as viral as the funny cat memes you see (depending on your topic), but within your audience community you may get a good conversation started.

* They Explain Your Content Better – Sometimes data-centric content is hard to understand in only text mode. But when it’s put into a story in infographic form, it brings the information to life so that your audience can understand it better.

* They Build Brand Awareness – If you watermark your content correctly and brand it so that it’s noticeable as yours, you can build extreme brand awareness. One way to do that is to host the infographics on your own website and allow others to embed it on theirs.

* Search Engines Like Them – Google likes images and if you name your infographic properly with a keyword-rich file name, people who do searches for the information will find your infographic and your website. And if search engines like them, it means that you’re making a mistake not to use them.

* You Can Build Your Expertise Quotient – When you can compile information that you’ve learned in an expert fashion, it will boost your expertise status to your audience. You’ll look more professional, and people will start to know you as the person with the information in your industry.

* You’ll Get More Traffic – When you use infographics to spread information, you’ll get more traffic to your website – which will help you sell more products or get more clients for your services. The reason is that it’s easier to explain concepts faster with images than with just text.

* Get More Engagement from Your Audience – Infographics can induce discussion among your audience in a way that pure text won’t. The reason is that people learn things better when also presented visually with images over just text and numbers. You can create discussions, make people think, and more – all with visual graphics that explain difficult concepts.

You can improve your content marketing by using infographics to help explain the content you create to your audience in a clearer way. The more ways you show your audience the information you want them to know, the better. Visually appealing infographics can help get the word out better, since they’re more likely to be shared.

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Here’s why you should keep unique and consistent messages flowing on Twitter

Each and every single day, literally millions and millions of messages are sent out on Twitter – in the overwhelming majority of these tweets are lost to time and completely ignored just moments after they have been sent out!

We live in a world that is completely used to over communication. Because we now have the ability to communicate with anyone and everyone we want to – celebrity or otherwise – anywhere on the planet with lightning like speed completely free of charge we really abuse this privilege, and there is way more “noise” in the world today than ever before.

Now imagine trying to set up a brand-new Twitter account for your business and reaching your perfect prospects in this flood of constant communication. It just doesn’t seem possible, does it?

Thankfully though, nothing could be further from the truth – though you do have to be pretty smart and savvy about the approach you take to market to your prospects.

For starters, you need to be completely clear and completely consistent with the messages you have flowing from your Twitter account

The one thing that is going to help separate you from the rest of the pack on Twitter – which can get really, really messy in a hurry – is a completely clear and consistent message and voice that you use every single time you post, something that your prospects can uniquely identify as you even in a flood of tweets.

Now, this isn’t always the easiest thing to pull off for sure, but the advantages in creating that consistent and streamlined far outweigh the difficulty in finding and establishing that voice to begin with.

You have to be unique – and maybe a little bit controversial – to capture attention today

Spouting the “same old, same old” kind of messaging with your target market just isn’t going to cut it any longer. With everyone saying exactly the same thing, repeating it over and over again, you just aren’t going to drama any real excitement – and that means you are going to be ignored right out of the gate.

When you create a unique, interesting, compelling, and perhaps controversial kind of message on Twitter you are going to set the “Twitter universe” on fire and that means you are going to be pulling in eyeballs left and right.

When that unique messaging is in line with your branding, your products, or your services you’re able to create a flood of organic targeted traffic that just wouldn’t have existed otherwise. This is the real sweet spot you want to strive for when you are using Twitter as a tool for business!

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Mistakes to Avoid When Designing an Infographic

Infographics help your audience understand faster the information you want to provide them with. Whether you’ve written an article, a book, or are giving a presentation, an infographic can go far in helping your audience better understand the information you want to provide to them. Not only that; it can drive the story toward the direction you want to drive it so that your audience concludes without a doubt that your information is accurate.

But, an infographic has to be well made or it will make things worse rather than better for your audience – and for you. Here are some mistakes to avoid when designing an infographic.

* Not Checking Your Math – If the numbers don’t add up, they’ll be even more noticeable when you use images. Ensure that the way you arrange everything means that the numbers add up. There’s nothing like people focusing on your numbers being 147 percent instead of 100 percent. Even if there are reasons, the information will not be believable if the numbers don’t make sense.

* Not Using the Right Form of Chart or Graph – There are many types of charts, from 3D graphics, to pie charts, to stacked bars, line charts, and more. Use the right type to show the information you want correctly, without trying to trick the reader into thinking something is better than it is by the visuals you use.

* Not Laser Targeting the Information – When you are trying to create an infographic, you need to narrow down the type of information that you want to provide. It’s imperative that you don’t try to convey too much information in one infographic. You may be able to create more than one infographic out of any survey or group of data that you obtain.

* Not Scaling Images Correctly – When you are using images to portray a value, it’s imperative that the images you choose are proportional in relation to the number. Don’t try to make numbers look bigger than they are by your visuals.

* Not Creating Compelling Headlines – If you want someone to click through to look at your infographic and to keep reading it, take the time to develop headlines that make people want to know more.

* Not Including the Legend on the Infographic – Some people try to save space by putting a link to the legend, but you don’t want to do it that way. Put the legend in a clear place right on the infographic.

* Not Using the Right Comparisons – Don’t compare apples and oranges. Ensure that any comparisons you make aren’t conflating two different things. If you do that, you’ll confuse your audience – plus you might even turn them off.

* Not Using Logic When Arranging Data – Arranging data in a logical way is important. For example, if you want to demonstrate something using a pie chart, put the colors of the pie in the order of size.

Using infographics can help explain tough-to-understand data, directions, and information that you have explained in an article, blog post, or white paper. The addition of an infographic that can work both with and without the text information will help you impart information in a better way; you just need to know the mistakes to avoid when designing an infographic.

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How to Grow Your Instagram Following

Having a big Instagram following can be very lucrative for marketing and driving free traffic to your site. But there’s more to it than a simple numbers game. Simply having a lot of followers doesn’t necessarily mean anything. The key is having active followers – people who not only follow you but actively like and comment on your posts. These are the people that you want to target when growing your audience.

We’ve all heard of people buying Instagram followers, and while they have impressive numbers in the tens and hundreds of thousands, those followers don’t mean anything. They are purely aesthetic in nature. That’s not what we’re trying to do. We want interaction with our audience.

Be Consistent

There are some simple things we can implement to help organically grow our following. The first is to post consistently. This means you want to post once a day (or every other day, or twice a day, find what fits your needs best!) and try to keep it around the same time daily. But that’s not all, it also means that you should stick to a particular theme. Sure, you can absolutely post a beautiful landscape photo one day, and a picture of a gaming computer the next, but it is most beneficial to stick to one theme for all of your posts.

Interact With Your Followers

You’ve got the consistency down, and that’s great, but it doesn’t end there. You should also be interacting with the Instagram community. When someone comments on your post, take the time to acknowledge that comment – like it, and reply to them. You will notice increased interaction over time if you take the initiative of talking to your followers.

Your interaction doesn’t stop at your posts. You should also spend time every day scrolling through hashtags that are relevant to the information you share on Instagram. While you scroll through it’s important that you keep liking and commenting on posts. What’s the best way to draw people to your page? Show genuine appreciation for their page!

Gaining Followers Quickly By Following and Unfollowing

If you are looking to quickly amass a large following there is a fairly simple and straightforward strategy you can follow that has proven itself time and time again. This requires that you find pages with large followings that are similar in content to yours. Then, in addition to following the basic rules of consistently posting within your theme, and maintaining constant interaction with your followers and the community at large, you will go to the page of your choosing and follow their followers. Typically, you want to follow between 25 and 35 in a single session. Then you should allow them some time to follow you back. If you want to increase your chances of getting a follow in return, you can like and comment on a few of their posts when you follow them. After you have allowed some time for them to follow you, you will unfollow everyone from that page that you followed before. Then simply rinse and repeat, and you will find your follower count quickly increasing with real, quality followers.

Growing your Instagram following can be very important for business purposes. If you follow the basic rules, post high-quality content, and are willing to put in the time and work, you can easily see a bump in followers almost immediately.

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Using Infographics to Get Leads from Your Website

Creating infographics are fabulous ways to get leads from your website. This is especially true if you get a lot of people to share your infographic and talk about it. The best way to get the information to as many people as possible is to create something that can go viral, but which also links back to your website and includes a call to action right on the infographic to do that.

* Announce a New Product or Service – An infographic is a great way to talk about any new product or service that you’ve created. You can make a story board about why you created the new product or service and then what problems the service solves, while also telling them what to do to get it.

* Present Amazing Data – When you’ve collected a lot of great data that helps promote what you offer to your audience, putting it into infographic form will solidify your expertise status enough that you’ll be able to get more leads through that data share. It will make people curious enough to click through to your site and check out what else you offer.

* Lead Magnet – An infographic can be a lead magnet. You can gather industry data and create an amazing infographic regarding that data, then give it away to your audience to use as well. Make it editable and brandable, and they’ll be sure to sign up for your email list to get it.

* Showcase your Products or Services – A great way to showcase your products and/or services is to make an infographic showing the evolution of your products and/or services, in a way that describes the benefits of the solutions you offer in a creative way.

* To Tell Your Historical Story – This is a great use for an infographic, which can go right on the about page of your website. It’s a beautiful way to tell the history of your business, how you arrived where you are today, and how that benefits your audience.

* To Make Anything Easy – If you want to show people how to do something in a simple way, make an infographic. Did you know that restaurants often have infographics for each of the dishes they make in the kitchen to help everyone remember what goes into the dish and how it should look? You can do the same thing, which will make you well sought out because of your knowledge – thus increasing the leads you capture based on your infographics.

* Create an Actionable CTA – One tip to get more leads from infographics is to remember to include a call to action on the infographic. The branding you add, plus your call to action, is going to make all the difference to whether people simply share it or whether they engage with you in some way.

* Sell a Product or Service – You can use an infographic to highlight one product or service, showing all the benefits of that one product or service to the viewer. Make it click through to your shopping cart, and you’re in business.

* Get Them to Sign Up for Your Newsletter – A good way to increase leads is to offer something of value in return for something of value from your audience. Ask them to sign up for your newsletter or email list to get more fabulous information, such as what’s in the infographic they’re currently looking at.

* Promote Your Brand – Any infographic can be used to promote your brand if you add branding to it such as a watermark for your social media, website link, and more. Everything, from the colors to the tone of voice you use for the information you’re imparting, can make a huge difference.

If you want to get leads, the best way to do it is to be consistent in the creation of infographics and then also the promotion of the infographics. If no one knows you created it and you don’t promote it as if it’s one of your best products, it won’t work as well for gathering leads.

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10 Killer Tips For Rapid Weight Loss

In order to make the most of your weight loss program, finding the most effective ways to burn fat will maximize your results and minimize your waistline! Follow these 10 tips for fat burning if you want to lose weight and lead a healthier way of life.

1.) Drink More Water

One of the best weight loss secrets is to ditch the sodas and stick to water! Experts say you should drink approximately eight glasses of water a day to stay hydrated and healthy. Instead of turning to calorie-laden or sugar-rich drinks, grab a refreshing glass of water. In addition to flushing toxins out of your system, drinking water encourages you to build muscle.

2.) Eat More Meals

A traditional three-meals-a-day plan just will not cut it if you are in the market to burn fat. Your body is not able to metabolize large meals and will quickly turn any excess into fat. Many experts believe you should eat six small meals a day. Be sure you cut back on your food consumption at each meal, or else you will be doubling your intake—and doubling your fat storage!

3.) Work Out with Weights

One great way to maximize the amount of fat you are burning is to add a weight program to your work out routine. Weight training will not only tone your physique, but will strengthen your body and improve your general health. Lifting weights will also burn calories and fat more quickly than traditional exercising, and it will also boost your metabolism.

4.) Choose Protein

Choose protein-laden foods for boosting your metabolism and enabling your body to burn fat rapidly. In addition to burning fat, consuming a protein-enriched diet will help you rebuild muscle after work outs and maintain leanness of that muscle. Wisely choose proteins for your diet. Take great care to pick proteins low in fat so you do not consume extra calories.

5.) Cut Calories Wisely

It may be tempting to drastically cut your calorie intake when starting a healthy lifestyle. Instead, use a step method when cutting your calorie intake to minimize risk. Reducing calories too quickly results in your body rapidly burning all available calories, which will lower your metabolism. Furthermore, you are more likely to maintain your healthy lifestyle through this step method.

6.) Reward Yourself

When it comes to successfully dieting to burn the most fat, be sure to reward yourself. Everyone has temptations and favorite treats—so allow indulgence. You will be less likely to cheat on your new diet if you grant yourself small rewards. If you are a chocolate lover, treat yourself to a small square of chocolate or single chocolate kiss each evening.

7.) Avoid Marathon Work Outs

The biggest mistake people make when looking to burn fat and lose weight is to have one long, extensive work out session. Instead, break up your work out plan into small chunks throughout the day. Take a brisk walk in the morning, enjoy a work out at lunch, and then exercise more in the evening. In addition to staying active all day long, breaking up your work out will better maintain your metabolism.

8.) Mix It Up

Choosing to engage in a variety of quality exercises will keep your interest and best allow you to maintain your goal of burning fat. Instead of doing the same exercises each day—mix it up! Opt to swim laps one day, jog another, and bike the next. Rotating your activities will not only allow you to experience a variety of athletics, it will also allow you to better tone your body.

9.) Skip Happy Hour

For those individuals who want to burn fat quickly, avoid alcohol. Rich in sugars and carbohydrates, alcohol is a calorie-rich substance. These empty calories can add up quickly and take away from necessary nutrients that should be included in your daily diet. Furthermore, alcohol acts as an inhibitor for burning fat, allowing your body to store it more quickly.

10.) Try a Low GI Diet

A low GI diet is an excellent method of burning fat quickly. This diet encourages individuals to consume high amounts of foods with low rankings on the Glycemic Index. These foods are nutritious and will aid your body in burning fats and calories at a quicker pace. This diet includes many of your favorite fruits, vegetable, meats, dairy, and grain products.

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Are you talking AT your followers or TO them?

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they send out tweets to the “Twitter universe” is not treating each and every single one of these messages as though they were an individual tweet tweaked to a single person or prospect that they want to reach as opposed to a mass message sent out to anyone and everyone.

This is the exact same kind of mistake that “legacy marketers” make on a daily basis and why advertising on television or in magazines is nowhere near as effective as it is online. When people feel like you are lumping them in with anyone and everyone else in the world, rather than talking to them, about them, and with them, they are going to tune your message out and it begin to actively ignore you at every and any opportunity.

Thankfully though, making a shift from talking at your followers and instead beginning to talk to and with them is a lot easier than most folks make it out to be. You really just have to start to be a little more conscious about the messages in the verbiage you are spreading with your Twitter account – and from there everything just kind of falls into place!

Envision your perfect prospect and send each tweet out to them and them only

The really easy way to communicate effectively with your Twitter followers is to send a tweet out to your perfect prospect, and treat each and every single individual Twitter message that you post as though it was going to a single recipient and only a single recipient.

This will give every single one of your messages a very direct kind of voice, but it will also help you to kind of hone in on the words that you actually use to spread the messages that you are looking to share. Instead of treating everyone like a group you are instead bringing them into the fold, and you shouldn’t be surprised if you start to get Twitter messages back to you from people that feel as though you were talking directly to them.

Engage with your followers

The absolute worst thing you can do with your Twitter account is use it to share your own information rather than to communicate back and forth with your followers that are trying to strike up a relationship with you.

Now, you’ll want to completely ignore this tip when it comes to trolls, but if you have legitimate followers that want to communicate with you it’s in your best interests to use instant and public communication tools like Twitter to get the conversation rolling and to engage as often as you are able to.

When you are first starting out this can be a difficult line to balance as you don’t want to spend all your time on Twitter, but once your operation is really rocking and rolling you can dedicate more assets and more resources to your Twitter department and from there the conversations can really flow.

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Here’s Why You Should Link Back To Your Authority Site

Your site and blog is something that you should be proud of. The odds are you have invested your money and time to make it a great tool for serving your clients and also generate leads. However, is including external links to in your site the best idea? The links could take people away from your site or distract them from reading your content.

Don’t worry, linking is a common practice expected and also respected by all kinds of users thus it is unlikely to harm your site. Below are four benefits that one could get from including external links to their sites or blogs;

1. Makes Your Blog or Site A More Valuable and Scalable Resource

Regardless of how great your site might be, it can never contain all the relevant information or value that a user might be looking for. Therefore it makes great sense to use the power of external links to create a scalable and easy path to making your site experience better and more rewarding visits. This also not only rewards the brands you have linked but also offers your site a chance to becoming a reference resource.

2. Search Engines Are Likely To Reward the Behavior Algorithmically

Search engines spend time analyzing spams. When doing so, they look for links with quality signals rather than spamminess. While it certainly pays considering the links you have used, links you send can be useful and usable equally. Sites with low signal quality generally link to junk substantially as compared to sites with great signal quality. These webs of trust and value can be algorithmically used by search engines to creating better search results. Use this advantage and link to resources that you know your users, as well as engines, will love.

3. External Linking Incentivizes Links In

Sites that get links tend to do external linking to themselves. When one includes external links to their sites, then it shows that one is willing to take part in the web’s linking space rather than being a closed-off individual or a purely pompous self-referential know-it-all.

4. External Links Encourage Positive Contribution and Participation

There are lots of people on the web who are smart, talented and very dedicated that can contribute and make your efforts successful. When you include external links to your site especially in an opportunity-driven and consistent way you will be building incentives for website builders, forum participants, and other users to want to engage with your site. Incentives bring value which will essentially build your site.

There are numerous good reasons as to why including external links is suitable for your site. To maximize on your site, consider this as a tip.

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“Golden Advice”: Top Tips For Gold Selling, Buying, And More

Anyone can invest in gold as long as they have the right information. Does that sound interesting to you? If that’s the case, keep reading for useful advice to get into the gold market.

Get a value from a few buyers before selling your goal. Different gold purchasing entities are at your disposal, and they all require different profits from the purchases. By seeking multiple estimates, you are able to determine whether an offer is truly fair.

Think about selling gold on the web. Gold transactions do not require traditional physical storefronts. Many websites want to buy gold from you. Most sites work by mailing you a mailer or kit. You then use your mailer to ship the gold. If the transaction goes smoothly, they’ll give you a quote and you can either accept or decline the offer.

Always make delivery arrangements before purchasing gold from a vendor. Delivery times are important. If this is not possible, make sure you get a written contract outlining when the items will arrive. Make sure that a specific date is listed within this writing. Don’t go through an order without this documentation.

There are places you can send you jewelry to get paid. See how you can get your gold back if you don’t like the offer. Many companies advertise no shipping costs, but they often hide large handling fees in the fine print. You should be well aware of what this could cost in advance.

Avoid letting people know that you are planning to sell your gold. You can’t be sure who’s listening or who is trustworthy. Lock your investment up in a safe at home or at a bank and don’t let anyone else know. This keeps your gold hidden and secure, as it is a very valuable investment you want to protect.

Proceed with caution. There are some shady companies in the gold market. Many people want to keep the money you are owed for themselves. Always err on the side of caution, and fully research every option before taking it.

Comparison shop prior to selecting your gold buyer. You never know what kind of offer you will receive! If you accept the first deal offered to you, you might be sorry. Be sure to take time to choose your buyer wisely for the best profit.

A magnet can be used as a cheap and fast way to determine if a piece is really made of gold. If it is a true precious metal, it will not adhere to the magnet. In some cases, only an item’s clasp is solid gold, while the remainder is merely plated. This is a good way to test that.

Gold prices have risen remarkably in the last decade, over four times the price it was just ten years ago ago. It may or may not be the best time to purchase gold depending on the worth of the dollar. Basically, weaker dollar value boosts gold value.

Anyone can invest in gold. While you may have been hesitant before, now you have the confidence you need to invest. Use the tips you just read to make good decisions when investing in gold. It’s time to invest with confidence!

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How To Support Yourself By Investing In Gold

The value of gold is ever-changing, though its ultimate trend is ever upward. There’s always a good market for buying or selling gold. When the economy falters, values tend to rise dramatically. In this article we will discuss ways to make money trading gold.

Check the price when you are buying gold. This price can be found on a number of websites. Only place your order if you can find a dealer willing to sell for an 8% markup or less over the spot price. Knowing the value of your gold will keep you from getting ripped off.

GoldMoney can be a good resource when buying gold. It’s similar to opening a “gold bank account.” You put money into it like any other account, (e.g. a savings account) but it’s converted into gold bullion. The gold physically sits in a bank vault where you’re able to portion it, cash it, or in certain circumstances, redeem it for one kilo gold bullion bars.

Prior to coming to any decisions with regard to a gold buyer, shop around. You might be amazed by the variety of offers received. If you select the very first buyer you encounter, you may get a terrible deal. Take a little bit more time at first so you’ve got the maximum return on your gold investment.

Research a gold dealer before doing business. To ensure you’re dealing with someone legitimate, do some research with the BBB. You will be able to learn if there have been any complaints lodged against them. If you notice there are registered complaints, then you need to choose another gold dealer.

Be wary of selling your gold unless you really need to. Gold tends to raise in price and while the price is very high now, it could go down more later. The longer you can hang onto gold, the more money you stand to make with it.

Break up your gold into karat values when you intend to sell it. Since a piece’s value can vary considerably based on its karat value, weighing and selling it all in one batch may lead to you missing out on some potential profits. Your gold means more at a higher karat.

In order to help get the best possible deal for your gold, make sure you know who the buyer is that you will deal with. This is crucial when you use mail-away services for out-of-state buyers. Ensure the gold-buying companies you’re using are listed with the BBB to see if any issues or complaints were filed against them.

Inquire if your relatives would be interested in selling any gold they no longer want. Buy your own little scale, weigh each piece and give people a fair price for their items. You should make a profit in the end as well.

Gold is one of the oldest and most attractive ways to make money. If you want to get a leg up on this commodity, you have to understand it, realize how to profit from it and cement your financial aspirations when you handle it. Apply what you have learned here to get started in the gold market.

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Get Involved In Gold With These Solid Ideas

It’s amazing how popular gold is since the recession. You may feel that investing in gold is a smart thing to do but lack the knowledge of how to do it. Read on to learn more about this booming market.

Gold bars are the most economical choice for investment purposes. They come in varying weights. You can purchase a large, four hundred ounce bar down to a tiny half ounce one. A heavier bar may be more difficult to find, however.

It is important to research the current value of gold before selling your gold. If you sell gold, pieces that have various karat values need to be valued and weighted individually. Remember that jewelry will sell at its melt value, not the price the jeweler wants for it.

Do not allow the high price of gold to deter you from buying quality products. You will not benefit from buying jewelry that is plated or filled with gold. You do get to buy gold jewelry without spending a ton at an actual jewelry store. Find cheap gold in pawn shops or online.

If you’re clueless about the value of your gold jewelry, have it appraised. Though you will have to pay a bit, knowing its value is crucial. Make sure you go to an accredited and reliable appraiser to get valid appraisal papers. When selling gold jewelry, you will receive only a percentage of the appraised value.

Understand that gold dealers are interested in all gold items. Valuable gold can be made into anything that is now broken such as jewelry and any home items that could be around. In fact, a gold piece doesn’t have to be 100-percent gold to be worth something. The items can be gold-plated or made of an alloy containing gold. You can still get a good return on the sale.

If you’re going to ship your jewelry to a mail-order buyer, know how much return shipping is going to cost you in the event you don’t accept their offer. Companies often provide free shipping, but it can be costly to get them back to you in the mail. By knowing this information ahead of time, you can prevent unnecessary charges.

Know what you are working with. Many things look like solid gold but are not. Some jewelry is a composite of a number of different metals. This can lower the price. Items that are just plated in gold can also be affected. When you don’t know what you’ve got, have it appraised ahead of selling it.

A magnet can help you determine if a gold piece is solid. Gold and other real precious metals aren’t attracted to magnets. There may be times when an item of jewelry has a solid gold clasp, but the rest of the item is only gold plated. This method is good test for that.

Since the world has fallen into unstable financial waters, gold has become an increasingly popular investment. Having a good understanding of both the buying and selling of gold is a great way to take advantage of the gold markets. Soon you will be an expert in the subject of gold.

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Become Skilled In Gold By Trying These Ideas!

The idea of buying and selling gold has become very popular, especially during the recent downturn of the economy. To make money in gold, however, takes some education and experience. It takes some forethought. Keep reading to discover what you need to know about gold.

Always use a reputable company when selling gold. You are able to find out more about their reputations with the local BBB and through online reviews. A buyer with a good reputation is going to give you a better deal for the gold you have, and they probably will have great customer service too. Protect your interests and your gold by doing this.

Before buying or selling gold, know how all the prices work. Gold, platinum and silver prices tend to fluctuate daily, so make sure you check the spot price on a specific day before you make a transaction. Gold pieces with fractions of an ounce will command higher prices than pieces weighing one ounce.

Research a gold buyer before selling your gold. BBB and consumer reviews are two sources of information that can give you an indication of a dealer’s reputation. By getting bids from several different gold buyers, you will be more likely to get top dollar for your gold.

Do your research and know what the latest gold price is before you sell your jewelry. This can help you discern whether you’re being offered a good price or not. The majority of dealers will offer you market value for your gold, but some know that sellers just want to convert their items into cash quickly, and they take advantage of the buyers.

Get your jewelry appraised. This can cost you a little initially, but you want to know right? Only use an independent, accredited appraiser to get the most realistic value. However, do not expect to receive the exact amount suggested by the appraisal when you sell the gold.

There are places you can send you jewelry to get paid. See how you can get your gold back if you don’t like the offer. Many companies advertise no shipping costs, but they often hide large handling fees in the fine print. Be sure that you find out ahead of time how much it will cost to get back your jewelry.

Avoid letting people know that you are planning to sell your gold. This is because you never truly know who may be listening. Make sure that your investment is kept private and kept safe. This ensures that your gold is protected under all circumstances.

Never pass up an opportunity to search for gold in a thrift shop or antique store. When you know what to look for, you can find a great deal. A lot of people don’t know the value of what they have, and just give or sell cheaply to those places. Reap the benefits from that loss, but only after researching first.

A lot of people are excited about making money in the gold market. But, lack of knowledge prevents people from properly using this market for profit. After reading this article, you should be better equipped to make good financial decisions.

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How to keep your finger on the pulse of current events with Twitter

Believe it or not, Twitter isn’t just a tool for killing time for a powerful tool for driving targeted traffic to your website – though it definitely does double duty in those departments for sure!

No, Twitter is also a powerful tool for keeping your finger on the pulse of current events and your marketplace in a way that hasn’t ever been possible before. Social media has completely and totally transformed the way that we not only consume news and media today, but also the way that we share and interact with the world around us.

Legacy media is really having a tough time figuring out its place in the world now that social media (and especially Twitter with it’s a lightning fast pace) is the number one way people get information, and we are likely to see a whole new world of media step forward in the coming years because of the transformational shift in the fabric of this industry.

At the same time, you definitely want to be poised for success by keeping your finger on the pulse of the world around you – and your business – and that means using Twitter and all the leverage it has to offer.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you do exactly that!

Identify influencers and follow them religiously

The most impactful thing you can do to really stay informed across the board is to find the major influencers in the fields that you are interested in keeping up with and then following them and all affiliated accounts on Twitter.

You can do this with major news groups, reporters, and other “new media” groups, but you can also follow your main competitors, their competitors, and other influencers that you want to stay informed with. Throw a quick follow on these people and you’ll never be left out of the loop again.

Use content aggregators to cut through the clutter

Another powerful tactic you’ll want to keep in your back pocket when looking to stay abreast of everything happening in the world and your market on Twitter is to sign up for content aggregator accounts or websites and use them to do the bulk of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to sifting through the flood of information constantly flowing online.

Content aggregator websites (with Reddit being the most popular right now) not only allow you to stay up on current news, but also gives you all angles, tremendous amounts of opinion, and also lets you join in on the conversation about these current events as well.

These kinds of content aggregators can also be a fantastic channel for product/service research, but that’s an entirely different topic altogether!

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Why You Should Be Using the Instagram Video Function

Instagram video content has increasingly become very popular on social media recently, and thus it is of paramount advantage for anyone looking to market him/herself to make use of this function. This shift shows that more and more business whether small or big is starting to visually communicate with their followers, customers, and fans.

The video function is one of the popularly known platforms that will enable one to leverage the power of marketing!

With more than 150 million users, Instagram is the best sharing platform. It allows one to share not only photos but also short videos. There are millions and millions of videos shared daily which is a great reason why one should utilize this platform. Below are some of the main advantages of using this function;

Increased Engagement

Unlike video posts on Twitter or Facebook that are sometimes overlooked by users regardless of their quality, Instagram videos are rarely missed. According to a study done by Forrester, Instagram videos generate more engagement 58 times than Facebook and 120 times than Twitter. Having an Instagram account with interesting and useful content can earn one with crazy levels of engagement with the audience.

Building Personality and Trust

Since more content is becoming popular, one of the key benefits of using the video function is that it helps one build trust. People buy from people they can trust, and Instagram video feature will help you create that emotional connection with your audience. The significant thing here is that this function allows one to share their day-to-day experience in a casual and informal way giving followers, fans, and customers a feel for one’s business.

Sharing behind the scene activities has been noted to rank well on Instagram, particularly if it is a service provider. Such videos make one’s company more trustworthy and attractive which in turn positively affects one’s marketing.

Increase in Traffic

Even though one cannot add clickable links to the videos, they still are a dominant source of traffic. Moreover with the levels of engagement being higher than Twitter and Facebook, using the video function can be tremendously useful for your site’s visibility.

Gaining a Competitive Edge

Competition on Instagram is still far less than in Twitter or Facebook. The American Express Survey reported that nearly 2% of small business are currently embracing the Instagram video function and they have gained an advantage over their competitors. Thus is clear that by using the video function, one is likely to reach their target audience faster and easier.

Free Advertising

Yes, that is correct. The great thing about using Instagram video function is free publicity. One can showcase their services and products in action generating large exposure. The feature gives one an opportunity to show off what they are offering.

Embrace the video function and be rewarded!

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The Ins And Outs Of Gold Purchasing And Selling

If you have wanted to make a gold investment before but have not done so, you are in the right place. You need not feel scared; just rely on your ability to acquire the knowledge you require. Investing in gold offers many positives, and knowing what they are is key.

Changes in the current price of gold will affect the price you will get. Different karat values will be valued and weighed separately when selling your gold. Stay away from selling high-end jewelry pieces because they have more value.

Prior to buying or selling any gold, be sure you truly understand how gold pricing works. There are fluctuations in the prices of these metals every day, and you will want to know the current price. You should be ready to pay a higher percentage for fractional pieces like half ounces and quarter ounces over the melt prices.

Look online for the most reputable gold buyer you can find. BBB and consumer reviews are two sources of information that can give you an indication of a dealer’s reputation. Shop around to get the best price for your gold.

Prior to buying a piece of gold from a seller, make sure you schedule for timely delivery. Be sure you have your delivery date in writing. Immediate delivery is best. This should be spelled out in no uncertain terms. Do not complete your order without this important information.

If you’re thinking of mailing off some jewelry to someone, you need to be sure you do your research first. Ensure you understand the reimbursement terms, and don’t neglect to purchase postal insurance for the package. Lastly, take a photo of all that you placed in the package in case there’s an issue later.

If you’re going to sell scrap gold for cash, be sure you’re looking into everything. Some stores won’t pay the market price of gold, and it’s up to you to realize this. Look for stores off the beaten path as they often have lower overhead and better deals.

If you are looking to sell gold, the first thing you need to figure out is if you’re going to offer it up as an entire jewelry piece, or seek the melt value. Some buyers, including a lot of private sellers and pawn shops, only care about melt value. However, if you are patient, you will find a buyer who is willing to pay top dollar for your jewelry.

Only make a sale to buyers who hold a state license in buying gold. There’s always a risk of getting ripped off, but a buyer who is licensed poses far less risk of this occurring. Never sell without doing research and verifying the dealer is licensed.

Try using something like GoldMoney for buying gold. It’s like opening a bank account, but for gold. Set up the account, deposit some funds, and you get gold at the price that correlates to the account. The gold is in a vault being protected, but you can sell it or even have a bullion bar shipped to you.

Now you know how to get started. Use these tips to help you become a master gold investor. You will be glad you did.

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