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    Home Unlabelled Thank you Thursday! - July 01, 2021 Entrepreneur

    Thank you Thursday! - July 01, 2021 Entrepreneur

    July 01, 2021

    Thank you Thursday! - July 01, 2021 Entrepreneur

    Thank you Thursday! - July 01, 2021

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 02:00 AM PDT

    Your opportunity to thank the /r/Entrepreneur community by offering free stuff, contests, discounts, electronic courses, ebooks and the best deals you know of.

    Please consolidate such offers here!

    Since this thread can fill up quickly, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts.

    submitted by /u/AutoModerator
    [link] [comments]

    I’m a three-time startup founder, venture partner, TechStars and YCombinator alum, and have raised over $80 million in venture funding. AMA

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 06:15 AM PDT

    Hey fellow entrepreneurs!

    I'm Rami, and I know what it takes to get a startup off the ground and funded.

    Over the course of my career as an entrepreneur, I've raised over $80 million in VC funding (including a $5M seed round for my latest venture) and learned how to turn investor no's into yes's.

    I'm a venture partner at IDEA Fund and Pioneer Fund, and a TechStars and YCombinator alum. My latest venture, Finmark, is dedicated to helping founders understand and take control of their startup's finances.

    I also learned what it's really like to take your startup to a successful exit.

    I've sat on both sides of the table in countless pitch meetings, and know what investors need to hear to buy into your vision. AMA

    submitted by /u/Rami-Finmark
    [link] [comments]

    101 best SEO tips to help you drive traffic in 2k21

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 04:54 AM PDT

    Hey guys!

    I don't have to tell you how SEO can be good for your business - you can drive leads to your SaaS on autopilot, drive traffic to your store/gym/bar/whatever, etc.

    The thing with SEO, though, is that most SEO tips on the internet are just not that good. Most of the said tips:

    • Are way too simple & basic ("add meta descriptions to your images")
    • Are not impactful. Sure, adding that meta tag to an image is important, but that's not what's going to drive traffic to your website
    • Don't talk much about SEO strategy (which is ultimately the most important thing for SEO). Sure, on-page SEO is great, but you sure as hell won't drive much traffic if you can't hire the right writers to scale your content.

    And to drive serious SEO traffic, you'll need a LOT more than that.

    Over the past few years, my and my co-founder have helped grow websites to over 200k+ monthly traffic (check out our older Reddit post if you want to learn more about us, our process, and what we do), and we compiled all our most important SEO tips and tricks, as well as case studies, research, and experiments from the web, into this article.

    Hope you like it ;) If you think we missed something super important, let us know and we'll add it to the list.

    And btw, we also published this article on our own blog with images, smart filters, and all that good stuff. If you want to check it out, click here.

    That said, grab some coffee (or beer) & let's dive in - this is going to be a long one.

    SEO Strategy Tips

    Tip #1. A Lot of SEO Tips On The Internet Are NOT Necessarily Factual

    A lot of the SEO content you'll read on the internet will be based on personal experiences and hearsay.

    Unfortunately, Google is a bit vague about SEO advice, so you have to rely more on experiments conducted by SEO pros in the community.

    So, sometimes, a lot of this information is questionable, wrong, or simply based on inaccurate data.

    What we're getting at here is, whenever you hear some new SEO advice, take it with a grain of salt.

    Google it to double-check other sources, and really understand what this SEO advice is based on (instead of just taking it at face value).

    Tip #2. SEO Takes Time - Get Used to It

    Any way you spin it, SEO takes time.

    It can take around 6 months to 2 years (depending on the competition in your niche) before you start seeing some serious results.

    So, don't get disappointed if you don't see any results within 3 months of publishing content.

    Tip #3. SEO Isn't The Best Channel for Everyone

    That said, if you need results for your business tomorrow, you might want to reconsider SEO altogether.

    If you just started your business, for example, and are trying to get to break-even ASAP, SEO is a bad idea - you'll quit before you even start seeing any results.

    If that's the case, focus on other marketing channels that can have faster results like content marketing, PPC, outreach, etc.

    Tip #4. Use PPC to Validate Keywords

    Not sure if SEO is right for your business? Do this: set up Google Search ads for the most high-intent keywords in your niche. See how well the traffic converts and then decide if it's worthwhile to focus on SEO (and rank on these keywords organically).

    Tip #5. Use GSC to See If SEO Is Working

    While it takes a while to see SEO results, it IS possible to see if you're going in the right direction. On a monthly basis, you can use Search Console to check if your articles are indexed by Google and if their average position is improving over time.

    Tip #6. Publish a TON of Content

    The more content you publish on your blog, the better. We recommend a minimum of 10,000 words per month and optimally 20,000 - 30,000 (especially if your website is fresh).

    If an agency offers you the typical "4 500-word articles per month" deal, stay away.

    No one's ever gotten results in SEO with short, once-per-week articles.

    Tip #7. Upgrade Your Writers

    Got a writer that's performing well? Hire them as an editor and get them to oversee content operations / edit other writers' content.

    Then, upgrade your best editor to Head of Content and get them to manage the entire editor / writer ops.

    Tip #8. Use Backlink Data to Prioritize Content

    When doing keyword research, gather the backlink data of the top 3 ranking articles and add it to your sheet.

    Then, use this data to help you prioritize which keywords to focus on first.

    We usually prioritize keywords that have lower competition, high traffic, and a medium to high buyer intent.

    Tip #9. Conduct In-Depth Keyword Research

    Make your initial keyword research as comprehensive as possible. This will give you a much more realistic view of your niche and allow you to prioritize content the right way.

    We usually aim for 100 to 300 keywords (depending on the niche) for the initial keyword research when we start working with a client.

    Tip #10. Start With Competitive Analysis

    Start every keyword research with competitive analysis. Extract the keywords your top 3 competitors are ranking on.

    Then, use them as inspiration and build upon it. Use tools like UberSuggest to help generate new keyword ideas.

    Tip #11. Get SEMrush of Ahrefs

    You NEED SEMrush or Ahrefs, there's no doubt about it. While they might seem expensive at a glance (99 USD per month billed annually), they're going to save you a lot of manpower doing menial SEO tasks.

    Tip #12. Don't Overdo It With SEO Tools

    Don't overdo it with SEO tools. There are hundreds of those out there, and if you're the type that's into SaaS, you might be tempted to play around with dozens at a time.

    And yes, to be fair, most of these tools ARE helpful one way or another.

    To effectively do organic SEO, though, you don't really need that many tools.

    In most cases, you just need the following:

    • SEMrush/Ahrefs
    • Screaming Frog
    • RankMath/Yoast SEO
    • Whichever outreach tool you prefer (our favorite is snov.io).

    Tip #13. Try Some of the Optional Tools

    In addition to the tools we mentioned before, you can also try the following 2 which are pretty useful & popular in the SEO community:

    • Surfer SEO - helps with on-page SEO and creating content briefs for writers.
    • ClusterAI - tool that helps simplify keyword research & save time.

    Tip #14. Constantly Source Writers

    Want to take your content production to the next level? You'll need to hire more writers.

    There is, however, one thing that makes this really, really difficult: 95 - 99% of writers applying for your gigs won't be relevant.

    Up to 80% will be awful at writing, and the remainder just won't be relevant for your niche.

    So, in order to scale your writing team, we recommend sourcing constantly, and not just once every few months.

    Tip #15. Create a Process for Writer Filtering

    As we just mentioned, when sourcing writers, you'll be getting a ton of applicants, but most won't be qualified.

    Fun fact - every single time we post a job ad on ProBlogger, we get around 300 - 500 applications (most of which are totally not relevant).

    Trust us, you don't want to spend your time going through such a huge list and checking out the writer samples.

    So, instead, we recommend you do this:

    1. Hire a virtual assistant to own the process of evaluating and short-listing writers.
    2. Create a process for evaluating writers. We recommend evaluating writers by:
      1. Level of English. If their samples aren't fluent, they're not relevant.
      2. Quality of Samples. Are the samples engaging / long-form content, or are they boring 500-word copy-pastes?
      3. Technical Knowledge. Has the writer written about a hard-to-explain topic before? Anyone can write about simple topics like traveling - you want to look for someone who knows how to research a new topic and explain it in a simple and easy to read way. If someone's written about how to create a perfect cover letter, they can probably write about traveling, but the opposite isn't true.
    3. The VA constantly evaluates new applicants and forwards the relevant ones to the editor.
    4. The editor goes through the short-listed writers and gives them trial tasks and hires the ones that perform well.

    Tip #16. Use The Right Websites to Source Writers

    "Is UpWork any good?"

    This question pops up on social media time and time again.

    If you ask us, no, UpWork is not good at all.

    Of course, there are qualified writers there (just like anywhere else), but from our experience, those writers are few and far in-between.

    Instead, here are some of our favorite ways to source writers:

    • Cult of Copy Job Board
    • ProBlogger
    • Headhunting on LinkedIn
    • If you really want to use UpWork, use it for headhunting (instead of posting a job ad)

    Tip #17. Hire Writers the Right Way

    If you want to seriously scale your content production, hire your writers full-time. This (especially) makes sense if you're a content marketing agency that creates a TON of content for clients all the time.

    If you're doing SEO just for your own blog, though, it usually makes more sense to use freelancers.

    Tip #18. Topic Authority Matters

    Google keeps your website's authoritativeness in mind. Meaning, if you have 100 articles on digital marketing, you're probably more of an authority on the topic than someone that has just 10.

    Hence, Google is a lot more likely to reward you with better rankings.

    This is also partially why content volume really matters: the more frequently you publish content, the sooner Google will view you as an authority.

    Tip #19. Focus on One Niche at a Time

    Let's say your blog covers the following topics: sales, accounting, and business management.

    You're more likely to rank if you have 30 articles on a single topic (e.g. accounting) than if you have 10 articles on each.

    So, we recommend you double-down on one niche instead of spreading your content team thin with different topics.

    Tip #20. Don't Fret on the Details

    While technical SEO is important, you shouldn't get too hung up on it.

    Sure, there are thousands of technical tips you can find on the internet, and most of them DO matter.

    The truth, though, is that Google won't punish you just because your website doesn't load in 3 milliseconds or there's a meta description missing on a single page.

    Especially if you have SEO fundamentals done right:

    • Get your website to run as fast as possible.
    • Create a ton of good SEO content.
    • Get backlinks for your website on a regular basis.

    You'll still rank, even if your website isn't 100% optimized.

    Tip #21. Do Yourself a Favor and Hire a VA

    There are a TON of boring SEO tasks that your team should really not be wasting time with.

    So, hire a full-time VA to help with all that.

    Some tasks you want to outsource include gathering contacts to reach out to for link-building, uploading articles on WordPress, etc.

    Tip #22. Google Isn't Everything

    While Google IS the dominant search engine in most parts of the world, there ARE countries with other popular search engines.

    If you want to improve your SEO in China, for example, you should be more concerned with ranking on Baidu.

    Targeting Russia? Focus on Yandex.

    Tip #23. No, Voice Search is Still Not Relevant

    Voice search is not and will not be relevant (no matter what sensationalist articles might say). It's just too impractical for most search queries to use voice (as opposed to traditional search).

    Tip #24. SEO Is Not Dead

    SEO is not dead and will still be relevant decades down the line. Every year, there's a sensationalist article talking about this.

    Ignore those.

    Tip #25. Doing Local SEO? Focus on Service Pages

    If you're doing local SEO, focus on creating service-based landing pages instead of content.

    E.g. if you're an accounting firm based in Boston, you can make a landing page about /accounting-firm-boston/, /tax-accounting-boston/, /cpa-boston/, and so on.

    Thing is, you don't really need to rank on global search terms - you just won't get leads from there. Even if you ranked on the term "financial accounting," it wouldn't really matter for your bottom line that much.

    Tip #26. Learn More on Local SEO

    Speaking of local SEO, we definitely don't do the topic justice in this guide. There's a lot more you need to know to do local SEO effectively and some of it goes against the general SEO advice we talk about in this article (e.g. you don't necessarily need blog content for local SEO). We're going to publish an article on that soon enough, so if you want to check it out, DM me and I'll hit you up when it's up.

    Tip #27. Avoid Vanity Metrics

    Don't get side-tracked by vanity metrics.

    At the end of the day, you should care about how your traffic impacts your bottom line. Fat graphs and lots of traffic are nice and all, but none of it matters if the traffic doesn't have the right search intent to convert to your product/service.

    Tip #28. Struggling With SEO? Hire an Expert

    Failing to make SEO work for your business? When in doubt, hire an organic SEO consultant or an SEO agency.

    The #1 benefit of hiring an SEO agency or consultant is that they've been there and done that - more than once. They might be able to catch issues an inexperienced SEO can't.

    Tip #29. Engage With the Community

    Need a couple of SEO questions answered?

    SEO pros are super helpful & easy to reach!

    Join these Facebook groups and ask your question - you'll get about a dozen helpful answers!

    • SEO Signals Lab
    • SEO & Content Marketing
    • The Proper SEO Group.

    Tip #30. Stay Up to Date With SEO Trends

    SEO is always changing - Google is constantly pumping out new updates that have a significant impact on how the game is played.

    Make sure to stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and Google updates by following the Google Search Central blog.

    Tip #31. Increase Organic CTR With PPC

    Want to get the most out of your rankings? Run PPC ads for your best keywords. Googlers who first see your ad are more likely to click your organic listing.

    Content & On-Page SEO Tips

    Tip #32. Create 50% Longer Content

    On average, we recommend you create an article that's around 50% longer than the best article ranking on the keyword.

    One small exception, though, is if you're in a super competitive niche and all top-ranking articles are already as comprehensive as they can be.

    For example, in the VPN niche, all articles ranking for the keyword "best VPN" are around 10,000 - 11,000 words long.

    And that's the optimal word count - even if you go beyond, you won't be able to deliver that much value for the reader to make it worth the effort of creating the content.

    Tip #33. Longer Is Not Always Better

    Sometimes, a short-form article can get the job done much better.

    For example, let's say you're targeting the keyword "how to tie a tie."

    The reader expects a short and simple guide, something under 500 words, and not "The Ultimate Guide to Tie Tying for 2021 [11 Best Tips and Tricks]"

    Tip #34. SEO is Not Just About Written Content

    Written content is not always best. Sometimes, videos can perform significantly better. E.g. If the Googler is looking to learn how to get a deadlift form right, they're most likely going to be looking for a video.

    Tip #35. Don't Forget to Follow Basic Optimization Tips

    For all your web pages (articles included), follow basic SEO optimization tips. E.g. include the keyword in the URL, use the right headings etc.

    Just use RankMath or YoastSEO for this and you're in the clear!

    Tip #36. Hire Specialized Writers

    When hiring content writers, try to look for ones that specialize in creating SEO content.

    There are a LOT of writers on the internet, plenty of which are really good.

    However, if they haven't written SEO content before, chances are, they won't do that good of a job.

    Tip #37. Use Content Outlines

    Speaking of writers - when working with writers, create a content outline that summarizes what the article should be about and what kind of topics it needs to cover instead of giving them a keyword and asking them to "knock themselves out."

    This makes it a lot more likely for the writer to create something that ranks.

    When creating content outlines, we recommend you include the following information:

    • Target keyword
    • Related keywords that should be mentioned in the article
    • Article structure - which headings should the writer use? In what order?
    • Article title

    Tip #38. Find Writers With Niche Knowledge

    Try to find a SEO content writer with some experience or past knowledge about your niche. Otherwise, they're going to take around a month or two to become an expert.

    Alternatively, if you're having difficulty finding a writer with niche knowledge, try to find someone with experience in technical or hard to explain topics.

    Writers who've written about cybersecurity in the past, for example, are a lot more likely to successfully cover other complicated topics (as opposed to, for example, a food or travel blogger).

    Tip #39. Keep Your Audience's Knowledge in Mind

    When creating SEO content, always keep your audience's knowledge in mind. If you're writing about advanced finance, for example, you don't need to teach your reader what an income statement is.

    If you're writing about income statements, on the other hand, you'd want to start from the very barebone basics.

    Tip #40. Write for Your Audience

    If your readers are suit-and-tie lawyers, they're going to expect professionally written content. 20-something hipsters? You can get away with throwing a Rick and Morty reference here and there.

    Tip #41. Use Grammarly

    Trust us, it'll seriously make your life easier!

    Keep in mind, though, that the app is not a replacement for a professional editor.

    Tip #42. Use Hemingway

    Online content should be very easy to read & follow for everyone, whether they're a senior profession with a Ph.D. or a college kid looking to learn a new topic.

    As such, your content should be written in a simple manner - and that's where Hemingway comes in. It helps you keep your blog content simple.

    Tip #43. Create Compelling Headlines

    Want to drive clicks to your articles? You'll need compelling headlines.

    Compare the two headlines below; which one would you click?

    101 Productivity Tips [To Get Things Done in 2021]

    VS

    Productivity Tips Guide

    Exactly!

    To create clickable headlines, we recommend you include the following elements:

    • Keyword
    • Numbers
    • Results
    • Year (If Relevant)

    Tip #44. Nail Your Blog Content Formatting

    Format your blog posts well and avoid overly long walls of text. There's a reason Backlinko content is so popular - it's extremely easy to read and follow.

    Tip #45. Use Relevant Images In Your SEO Content

    Key here - relevant. Don't just spray random stock photos of "office people smiling" around your posts; no one likes those.

    Instead, add graphs, charts, screenshots, quote blocks, CSS boxes, and other engaging elements.

    Tip #46. Implement the Skyscraper Technique (The Right Way)

    Want to implement Backlinko's skyscraper technique?

    Keep this in mind before you do: not all content is meant to be promoted.

    Pick a topic that fits the following criteria if you want the internet to care:

    1. It's on an important topic. "Mega-Guide to SaaS Marketing" is good, "top 5 benefits of SaaS marketing" is not.
    2. You're creating something significantly better than the original material. The internet is filled with mediocre content - strive to do better.

    Tip #47. Get The URL Slug Right for Seasonal Content

    If you want to rank on a seasonal keyword with one piece of content (e.g. you want to rank on "saas trends 2020, 2021, etc."), don't mention the year in the URL slug - keep it /saas-trends/ and just change the headline every year instead.

    If you want to rank with separate articles, on the other hand (e.g. you publish a new trends report every year), include the year in the URL.

    Tip #48. Avoid content cannibalization.

    Meaning, don't write 2+ articles on one topic. This will confuse Google on which article it should rank.

    Tip #49. Don't Overdo Outbound Links

    Don't include too many outbound links in your content. Yes, including sources is good, but there is such a thing as overdoing it.

    If your 1,000 word article has 20 outbound links, Google might consider it as spam (even if all those links are relevant).

    Tip #50. Consider "People Also Ask"

    To get the most out of SERP, you want to grab as many spots on the search result as possible, and this includes "people also ask (PAA):"

    Make a list of the topic's PAA questions and ensure that your article answers them.

    If you can't fit the questions & answers within the article, though, you can also add an FAQ section at the end where you directly pose these questions and provide the answers.

    Tip #51. Optimize For Google Snippet

    Optimize your content for the Google Snippet. Check what's currently ranking as the snippet. Then, try to do something similar (or even better) in terms of content and formatting.

    Tip #52. Get Inspired by Viral Content

    Want to create content that gets insane shares & links?

    Reverse-engineer what has worked in the past. Look up content in your niche that went viral on Reddit, Hacker News, Facebook groups, Buzzsumo, etc. and create something similar, but significantly better.

    Tip #53. Avoid AI Content Tools

    No, robots can't write SEO content.

    If you've seen any of those "AI generated content tools," you should know to stay away. The only thing those tools are (currently) good for is creating news content.

    Tip #54. Avoid Bad Content

    You will never, ever, ever rank with one 500-word article per week.

    There are some SEO agencies (even the more reputable ones) that offer this as part of their service.

    Trust us, this is a waste of time.

    Tip #55. Update Your Content Regularly

    Check your top-performing articles annually and see if there's anything you can do to improve them.

    When most companies finally get the #1 ranking for a keyword, they leave the article alone and never touch it again…

    ...Until they get outranked, of course, by someone who one-upped their original article.

    Want to prevent this from happening? Analyze your top-performing content once a year and improve it when possible.

    Tip #56. Experiment With CTR

    Do your articles have low CTR? Experiment with different headlines and see if you can improve it.

    Keep in mind, though, that what a "good CTR" is really depends on the keyword.

    In some cases, the first ranking will drive 50% of the traffic. In others, it's going to be less than 15%.

    Link-Building Tips

    Tip #57. Yes, Links Matter. Here's What You Need to Know

    "Do I need backlinks to rank?" is probably one of the most common SEO questions.

    The answer to the question (alongside all other SEO-related questions) is that it depends on the niche.

    If your competitors don't have a lot of backlinks, chances are, you can rank solely by creating superior content. If you're in an extremely competitive niche (e.g. VPN, insurance, etc.), though, everyone has amazing, quality content - that's just the baseline.

    What sets top-ranking content apart from the rest is backlinks.

    Tip #58. Sometimes, You'll Have to Pay For Links

    Unfortunately, in some niches, paying for links is unavoidable - e.g. gambling, CBD, and others.

    In such cases, you either need a hefty link-building budget, or a very creative link-building campaign (create a viral infographic, news-worthy story based on interesting data, etc.).

    Tip #59. Build Relationships, Not Links

    The very best link-building is actually relationship building.

    Make a list of websites in your niche and build a relationship with them - don't just spam them with the standard "hey, I have this amazing article, can you link to it?".

    If you spam, you risk ruining your reputation (and this is going to make further outreach much harder).

    Tip #60. Stick With The Classics

    At the end of the day, the most effective link-building tactics are the most straightforward ones:

    • Direct Outreach
    • Broken Link-Building
    • Guest Posting
    • Skyscraper Technique
    • Creating Viral Content
    • Guestposting With Infographics

    Tip #61. Give, Don't Just Take!

    If you're doing link-building outreach, don't just ask for links - give something in return.

    This will significantly improve the reply rate from your outreach email.

    If you own a SaaS tool, for example, you can offer the bloggers you're reaching out to free access to your software.

    Or, alternatively, if you're doing a lot of guest posting, you can offer the website owner a link from the guest post in exchange for the link to your website.

    Tip #62. Avoid Link Resellers

    That guy DMing you on LinkedIn, trying to sell you links from a Google Sheet?

    Don't fall for it - most of those links are PBNs and are likely to backfire on you.

    Tip #63. Avoid Fiverr Like The Plague

    Speaking of spammy links, don't touch anything that's sold on Fiverr - pretty much all of the links there are useless.

    Tip #64. Focus on Quality Links

    Not all links are created equal. A link is of higher quality if it's linked from a page that:

    • Is NOT a PBN.
    • Doesn't have a lot of outbound links. If the page links to 20 other websites, each of them gets less link juice.
    • Has a lot of (quality) backlinks.
    • Is part of a website with a high domain authority.
    • Is about a topic relevant to the page it's linking to. If your article about pets has a link from an accounting blog, Google will consider it a bit suspicious.

    Tip #65. Data-Backed Content Just Works

    Data-backed content can get insane results for link-building.

    For example, OKCupid used to publish interesting data & research based on how people interacted with their platform and it never failed to go viral.

    Each of their reports ended up being covered by dozens of news media (which got them a ton of easy links).

    Tip #66. Be Creative - SEO Is Marketing, After All

    Be novel & creative with your link-building initiatives.

    Here's the thing: the very best link-builders are not going to write about the tactics they're using.

    If they did, you'd see half the internet using the exact same tactic as them in less than a week!

    Which, as you can guess, would make the tactic cliche and significantly less effective.

    In order to get superior results with your link-building, you'll need to be creative - think about how you can make your outreach different from what everyone does. Experiment it, measure it, and improve it till it works!

    Tip #67. Try HARO

    HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, is a platform that matches journalists with sources. You get an email every day with journalists looking for experts in specific niches, and if you pitch them right, they might feature you in their article or link to your website.

    Tip #68. No-Follow Links Aren't That Bad

    Contrary to what you might've heard, no-follow links are not useless. Google uses no-follow as more of a suggestion than anything else.

    There have been case studies that prove Google can disregard the no-follow tag and still reward you with increased rankings.

    Tip #69. Start Fresh With an Expired Domain

    Starting a new website? It might make sense to buy an expired one with existing backlinks (that's in a similar niche as yours). The right domain can give you a serious boost to how fast you can rank.

    Tip #70. Don't Overspend on Useless Links

    "Rel=sponsored" links don't pass pagerank and hence, won't help increase your website rankings.

    So, avoid buying links from media websites like Forbes, Entrepreneur, etc.

    Tip #71. Promote Your Content

    Other than link-building, focus on organic content promotion. For example, you can repost your content on Facebook groups, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc. and focus on driving traffic.

    This will actually lead to you getting links, too. We got around 95 backlinks to our SEO case study article just because of our successful content promotion. Tons of people saw the article on the net, liked it, and linked to it from their website.

    Tip #72. Do Expert Roundups

    Want to build relationships with influencers in your niche, but don't know where to start?

    Create an expert roundup article. If you're in the sales niche, for example, you can write about Top 21 Sales Influencers in 2021 and reach out to the said influencers letting them know that they got featured. Trust us, they'll love you for this!

    Tip #73. .Edu Links are Overhyped

    .edu links are overrated. According to John Mueller, .edu domains tend to have a ton of outbound links, and as such, Google ignores a big chunk of them.

    Tip #74. Build Relationships With Your Customers

    Little-known link-building hack: if you're a SaaS company doing SEO, you can build relationships with your customers (the ones that are in the same topical niche as you are) and help each other build links!

    Tip #75. Reciprocal Links Aren't That Bad

    Reciprocal links are not nearly as bad as Google makes them out to be. Sure, they can be bad at scale (if trading links is all you're doing). Exchanging a link or two with another website / blog, though, is completely harmless in 99% of cases.

    Tip #76. Don't Overspam

    Don't do outreach for every single post you publish - just the big ones.

    Most people already don't care about your outreach email. Chances are, they're going to care even less if you're asking them to link to this new amazing article you wrote (which is about the top 5 benefits of adopting a puppy).

    Technical SEO Tips

    Tip #77. Use PageSpeed Insights

    If your website is extremely slow, it's definitely going to impact your rankings. Use PageSpeed Insights to see how your website is currently performing.

    Tip #78. Load Speed Matters

    While load speed doesn't impact rankings directly, it DOES impact your user experience. Chances are, if your page takes 5 seconds to load, but your competition's loads instantly, the average Googler will drop off and pick them over you.

    Tip #79. Stick to a Low Crawl Depth

    Crawl depth of any page on your website should be lower than 4 (meaning, any given page should be possible to reach in no more than 3 clicks from the homepage).

    Tip #80. Use Next-Gen Image Formats

    Next-gen image formats such as JPEG 2000, JPEG XR, and WebP can be compressed a lot better than PNG or JPG. So, when possible, use next-get formats for images on your website.

    Tip #81. De-Index Irrelevant Pages

    Hide the pages you don't want Google to index (e.g: non-public, or unimportant pages) via your Robots.txt. If you're a SaaS, for example, this would include most of your in-app pages or your internal knowledge base pages.

    Tip #82. Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

    Make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. Google uses "mobile-first indexing." Meaning, unless you have a working mobile version of your website, your rankings will seriously suffer.

    Tip #83. Lazy-Load Images

    Lazy-load your images. If your pages contain a lot of images, you MUST activate lazy-loading. This allows images that are below the screen, to be loaded only once the visitor scrolls down enough to see the image.

    Tip #84. Enable Gzip Compression

    Enable Gzip compression to allow your HTML, CSS and JS files to load faster.

    Tip #85. Clean Up Your Code

    If your website loads slowly because you have 100+ external javascript files and stylesheets being requested from the server, you can try minifying, aggregating, and inlining some of those files.

    Tip # 86. Use Rel-Canonical

    Have duplicate content on your website? Use rel-canonical to show Google which version is the original (and should be prioritized for search results).

    Tip #87. Install an SSL Certificate

    Not only does an SSL certificate help keep your website safe, but it's also a direct ranking factor. Google prioritizes websites that have SSL certificates over the ones that don't.

    Tip #88. Use Correct Anchor Texts for Internal Links

    When linking to an internal page, mention the keyword you're trying to rank for on that page in the anchor text. This helps Google understand that the page is, indeed, about the keyword you're associating it with.

    Tip #89. Use GSC to Make Sure Your Content is Interlinked

    Internal links can have a serious impact on your rankings.

    So, make sure that all your blog posts (especially the new ones) are properly linked to/from your past content.

    You can check how many links any given page has via Google Search Console.

    Tip #90. Bounce rate is NOT a Google ranking factor.

    Meaning, you can still rank high-up even with a high bounce rate.

    Tip #91. Don't Fret About a High Bounce Rate

    Speaking of the bounce rate, you'll see that some of your web pages have a higher-than-average bounce rate (70%+).

    While this can sometimes be a cause for alarm, it's not necessarily so. Sometimes, the search intent behind a given keyword means that you WILL have a high bounce rate even if your article is the most amazing thing ever.

    E.g. if it's a recipe page, the reader gets the recipe and bounces off (since they don't need anything else).

    Tip #92. Google Will Ignore Your Meta Description

    More often than not, Google won't use the meta description you provide - that's normal. It will, instead, automatically pick a part of the text that it thinks is most relevant and use it as a meta description.

    Despite this, you should always add a meta description to all pages.

    Tip #93. Disavow Spammy & PBN Links

    Keep track of your backlinks and disavow anything that's obviously spammy or PBNy. In most cases, Google will ignore these links anyway. However, you never know when a competitor is deliberately targeting you with too many spammy or PBN links (which might put you at risk for being penalized).

    Tip #94. Use The Correct Redirect

    When permanently migrating your pages, use 301 redirect to pass on the link juice from the old page to the new one. If the redirect is temporary, use a 302 redirect instead.

    Tip #95. When A/B Testing, Do This

    A/B testing two pages? Use rel-canonical to show Google which page is the original.

    Tip #96. Avoid Amp

    DON'T use Amp.

    Unless you're a media company, Amp will negatively impact your website.

    Tip #97. Get Your URL Slugs Right

    Keep your blog URLs short and to-the-point.

    Good Example: apollodigital.io/blog/seo-case-study

    Bad Example: apollodigital.io/blog/seo-case-study-2021-0-to-200,000/

    Tip #98. Avoid Dates in URLs

    An outdated date in your URL can hurt your CTR.

    Readers are more likely to click / read articles published recently than the ones written years back.

    Tip #99. Social Signals Matter

    Social signals impact your Google rankings, just not in the way you think. No, your number of shares and likes does NOT impact your ranking at all.

    However, if your article goes viral and people use Google to find your article, click it, and read it, then yes, it will impact your rankings.

    E.g. you read our SaaS marketing guide on Facebook, then look up "SaaS marketing" on Google, click it, and read it from there.

    Tip #100. Audit Your Website Frequently

    Every other month, crawl your website with ScreamingFrog and see if you have any broken links, 404s, etc.

    Tip #101. Use WordPress

    Not sure which CMS platform to use?

    99% of the time, you're better off with WordPress.

    It has a TON of plugins that will make your life easier.

    Want a drag & drop builder? Use Elementor. Wix, SiteGround and similar drag & drops are bad for SEO.

    Tip #102. Check Rankings the Right Way

    When checking on how well a post is ranking on Google Search Console, make sure to check Page AND Query to get the accurate number.

    If you check just the page, it's going to give you the average ranking on all keywords the page is ranking for (which is almost always going to be useless data).

    Conclusion

    Aaand that's about it - thanks for the read!

    Now, let's circle back to Tip #1 for a sec.

    Remember when we said a big chunk of what you read on SEO is based on personal experiences, experiments, and the like?

    Well, the tips we've mentioned are part of OUR experience. Chances are, you've done something that might be different (or completely goes against) our advice in this article.

    If that's the case, we'd love it if you let us know down in the comments. If you mention something extra-spicy, we'll even include it in this article.

    submitted by /u/DrJigsaw
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    I realized that I really want to have a business like this: me working alone, owning some sort of expensive equipment, and using that equipment to do something for a customer and get paid. That is very vague though, how would I go about finding a list or something of such businesses?

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 07:18 AM PDT

    Like is there a term or something for such a business?

    Like, imagine you owned a power washer or something and you power washed stuff for people. Things like that. But I need a sort of list of such things, so I can peruse many such options and see what suits me and my circumstances best.

    Any idea on how I would find a list of such businesses? Thanks!

    submitted by /u/dadasad2125
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    New to taking on investment. Someone offered. So do I get to keep that investment, or does it become the company's money to be used to grow?

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 01:33 PM PDT

    So I own a small-ish landscaping business, and an acquaintance just told me that they are interested in investing in my company. They said anywhere from $30k to $100k.

    I've never looked into getting an investment before, so this is all new to me. My question is this:

    If he invests $100k (and I give him X% of the company in exchange), do I get to take that $100k and plop it right into my personal bank account? Or is it understood that the $100k would go into the company bank account, and it would then be used to grow the company?

    And if it can be either, depending on the deal, how would I go about broaching this topic?

    Thanks for the help!

    submitted by /u/AlwaysAroundApple
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    Starting a shoe making business

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 11:47 AM PDT

    I'm wanting to start a business making custom shoes. I'll be allowing customers to pick out a shoe then putting different design themes on them (for example Spider-Man Nike Jordan's). What's the best way to market this? How do increase word of mouth? Any help would be awesome as I've never started a business before.

    submitted by /u/CulturalBreakMC
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    Change my mind:- Consistency is not the key to success

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 08:02 AM PDT

    Millions of people work at regular jobs consistently everyday and they are still in the same space.

    Many Entrepreneurs are Implementing a wrong Marketing plan, Facebook ad or anything that doesn't work and you posted Consistency is the key will make them keep doing that!

    Be Practical!

    submitted by /u/lazymentors
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    What legal work needs to be done before I setup an ecommerce website?

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 10:11 AM PDT

    Hello all,

    Recently, I've decided I want to open a print-on-demand ecommerce website, but am unsure about the legal requirements. Considering I want to brand the website with a name and logo, will I need to register the website as a business entity with my government (I live in the US), or if I choose to be a sole proprietor, will I need to file a "Doing business as" with my website name? Or, can I just create the website with my branded name and logo and start selling designs no problem, albeit without legal protection? What should I do in this situation? Any and all advice would be appreciated.

    Thank you.

    submitted by /u/thesimplesleuth
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    People trying to pay with multiple cards online. Scam?

    Posted: 30 Jun 2021 06:54 PM PDT

    I own an online patio furniture store. I just had a customer reach out to me asking to make an order with multiple Visa and MasterCard gift cards.

    Is this a scam?

    Seems super unusual and I know scammers like to use gift cards. I just can't figure out what the scam angle would be here?

    submitted by /u/Uncledowntown
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    Feedback on my new app CheckYourList - Resettable checklists to stop forgetting things.

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 06:28 AM PDT

    Hi, I'm Spencer and I have ADHD. I recently built an app to help me, and I'm not really sure I'm getting the message across on what the app does through its website. I would love if anyone can give me some feedback on the landing page and/or app https://checkyourlist.app/

    I found myself forgetting things more and more after the birth of my son. Dropping him at daycare and then going to the gym, required so many things. I felt overwhelmed and would take ages to leave the house as I searched around looking for what I needed. I wanted a solution, so I built this app. Now I run through a daycare and gym list and am confident I have everything I need. Even when I think I have everything, I've often missed something, which I now get caught out on thanks to this app.

    If you take the time to give me some feedback, please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you, such as give feedback on something of yours, or anything else within my power (design and coding mainly) :P

    submitted by /u/swalden123
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    Tips for getting traffic to website

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 02:35 PM PDT

    So I've been working for a small business that has been around for 10 years and we just launched our website today. How do we get sales to start rolling in? I know it takes time but what are some tips?

    submitted by /u/ganjaangel333
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    best credit card for starting a business?

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 02:25 PM PDT

    My credit score is good, 691 to be exact.

    I have an apple credit card to buy the equipment that I need/want, so I'm covered in that aspect.

    I don't want to use my personal credit card for business expenses (I use discover and the point system is alright -- depending on the time of year).

    My savings account is dwindling as we speak (not even sure if I really NEED to open a new credit card, but I figred it might not be a bad idea... I have yet to open a business bank account as well).

    Any solid advice is extremely appreciated! Thank you!!!

    submitted by /u/redditor11236
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    Process for procurement of commercial gym equipment

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 02:04 PM PDT

    Hello Entrepreneurs of Reddit!

    My business partner and I are starting an upscale health club catering mostly to women and have filtered down the list of equipments to purchase.

    The health club will be based in Malaysia and there isn't any distributors of better quality brand equipments such as Precor, Life Fitness, Cybex etc. in our state.

    The stores in my state sell mostly equipments which might be perceived as lower quality/ less exclusive without the brand name and reputation of Life Fitness for example. I personally feel there's a difference in how the equipments look and feel and would much prefer procuring known brands.

    There are distributors of these brands in other states which are an hours flight away. However, I'm hesitant to deal with them as I believe the durability of gym equipment is of utmost importance and if anything breaks, it'll be difficult to utilize the warranty available/ have the equipment fixed.

    I appreciate any advice/ guidance for the whole process of procuring the said equipments. Thanks!

    TLDR; Unsure of how to procure gym equipment of known brands such as Life Fitness as no distributors in the our state. Doubts regarding warranty and maintenance of equipment. Also, seeking advice for whole process of selecting equipment.

    submitted by /u/Bulky-Consideration
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    Confessions of an ex artist and talent manager: How NOT to go completely bonkers in the creator economy

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 02:01 PM PDT

    Self-doubt:

    Everyone has it. Some are just better at hiding it than you are.

    The most successful creators and entrepreneurs are often, secretly, the most insecure.

    It's the need for applause that drives them to succeed.

    Success:

    It won't taste as sweet as you think it will.

    As soon as you hit your goal you will create an even bigger goal. Rinse and repeat.

    Ironically, it's the years of struggling and hustling on the shaky rollercoaster ride to the top that will become your fondest memories.

    It's the sacrifices we make in life that shape us and not the achievements.

    What is your Why?

    Many developing creators and entrepreneurs are chasing external validation. Many of our greatest creative icons were/ are the same.

    There are easier ways to get external validation.

    If you are determined on an entrepreneurial career then connecting with an audience is your new obsession.

    To create content that moves people emotionally is all the validation you will ever really need.

    The art of true art is in the connections.

    Results vs Systems

    Developing creators talk in terms of results.

    Getting noticed, blowing up online, and having six-figure businesses.

    But in order to achieve those goals, you need a system. It's successful systems that lead to successful results.

    That means sitting down and creating every day. It means creating a schedule and focusing on marginal gains to slowly master your creative skills.

    It means making sacrifices. Getting used to being uncomfortable.

    To succeed: means committing to a philosophy that cultivates peak creative performance.

    It means mastering your craft. It means connecting deeply with your audience.

    It's making services/ products/ articles/ podcasts that create word of mouth.

    Start focusing on the system and stop focusing on results.

    Get the system right and the results will follow.

    Audiences:

    You don't build an audience you connect with one. The more people you connect with the bigger your audience becomes.

    Make content that moves people emotionally.

    They will tell their friends about you.

    That is the key to be successful. Your icons simply connect with much more people than you do.

    'How can I grow my audience?' is the wrong question. How can I connect with more people?' is a better one.

    Focus on the audience. Focus on connections.

    Deciding vs Wanting

    Building a career as a creator or entrepreneur is hard.

    It's a solid struggle.

    Struggle is when you can't finish your content. Struggle is when you're too scared to release it when you do.

    Struggle is when you overthink everything.

    Struggle is releasing content that doesn't connect time and time again.

    Struggle is investing your self-worth in all of the above.

    These struggles are all part of the journey. Your icons struggled, too. They decided to keep on struggling and got a bit better year after year.

    Everybody wants success.

    Successful artists and producers decide they are going to be a success — and are willing to pay whatever the price is to do so.

    Connecting with creativity:

    This is the key to your future. It is your competitive advantage.

    How do you connect with people?

    Authenticity. No, not the fake BS type you see on social media. The real genuine shit, where you're scared of looking like a bit of a dick. That level of authenticity.

    Empathy. Make content that articulates the pain they are feeling and the compassion to try and heal it with your art.

    Creativity is a service mentality. It is evoking emotions within others.

    It's content that moves them. Making content that makes a difference… emotionally, inspirationally, politically, or culturally.

    True creativity is humanity. It's making a difference.

    It is the art of being a true artist.

    Failure:

    It is essential. You will not develop as a creator or entrepreneur without it.

    The more failures you have, the more you will grow as a creator. More failures lead to success.

    By reframing failure as growth you reduce the pain and increase your power.

    Quitting:

    There's no shame in quitting.

    Life is short. The entrepreneurial world can be brutal. If the struggle is making you anxious and depressed, quit — or take an extended break.

    Nothing is worth more than your well-being.

    I quit the music industry after 25 years. It was no longer worth the chronic stress and burnout. The end no longer justified the means.

    We are creatives.

    There are other creative outlets. Find one that you love to do and do that instead.

    Perfection Vs seeking excellence:

    Perfection is a myth. Seek excellence.

    The difference?

    A perfectionist has unrealistic expectations and is never happy with the results regardless of how good they are.

    A seeker of excellence demands extremely high standards and is happy when they achieve them.

    Comparison:

    Don't watch/ listen/ read your icons when you're creating. It will only make you feel inadequate.

    Watch their first Youtube video. Read their first article. Listen to their first podcast.

    Everyone is shit in the beginning.

    Control freakery:

    Control freakery is a curse. It is the source of much of your anxiety.

    Trying to control situations that are uncontrollable will do that.

    You can only control your effort, your attitude, and your reactions. Surrender to the rest.

    Remember this the next time you are writing, filming, recording. Focus all your energies on your effort and attitude.

    Ignore everything else.

    In elite sports, they call it 'controlling the controllables.' It is a peak performance technique that will serve you well.

    Fulfillment:

    Success is lovely but it won't fill the voids in your self-esteem. It won't make you happy. It won't fulfill you.

    It may make you feel worse. Why? Because you have probably convinced yourself you'll be happy when you find success.

    You won't.

    You will have more money.

    But this is also true of your fears and anxieties. The trouble with creative success is once you have it, you spend more time worrying about losing it.

    Creative fulfillment:

    This will make you happy. This is your goal.

    Happiness comes from mastery and not results.

    Creative fulfillment comes from mastering your craft. Creative fulfillment comes from connecting with others with your art.

    Creative fulfillment is making music that matters.

    Get into flow. It is intrinsic motivation.

    It's the joy of creating for the joy of creating.

    Fears:

    Everyone feels fear.

    The core fear of developing creators is: 'Am I good enough?'

    The core fear of established creators is: 'Am I still good enough?'

    All other fears manifest from the core fear.

    • Perfectionism
    • Procrastination
    • Writer's block
    • Imposter syndrome
    • Fear of failure
    • Comparing yourself with others

    Fears never leaves you. The fear of losing success is greater than the fear of never finding it. This is called loss aversion bias

    The more successful you get the more you will fear losing it.

    Channel your fear to tap into your superpowers.

    If you can't channel your fears, you will never reach your creative potential.

    My philosophy for creative success:

    The best philosophy to be a success in the creator economy? Stop focusing on the results.

    Create a process and do that every day.

    Focus on the fundamentals and success will take care of itself.

    Become the best creator you can be. Focus all your energy on creating your content.

    Master your craft. Master the art of connecting with people with your music.

    If you want to earn a full time living in the creator economy you only have to do two things:

    1) Make remarkable content that people share with their friends.

    2) Create a product or service people will pay for.

    This is not easy. It will take you years to master.

    Focus all your energy on fulfilling your creative potential. Become the creator/ entrepreneur you were meant to be — and the results will take care of themselves.

    2 million people have created six-figure businesses in the creator economy.

    Connecting people emotionally with your stories/ videos/ podcasts/ tweets/ and the money and business will follow.

    Set financial goals. Set targets. But all that will take care of itself after you've connected with a big enough audience.

    So focus on that and results will follow.

    submitted by /u/RebelMusoSociety
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    Looking for some feedback on our landing page

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 01:40 PM PDT

    Hey everyone,

    I'm trying to gather some feedback on our landing page, as we're featuring on Betalist later this month and I want to make full use of it to maximize sign-ups.

    I have enough feel for design to know it can clearly be improved, as it's only a first draft anyway - but not enough design know-how to know where to improve it. If anyone has any good examples of landing pages, feel free to share them!

    Link: www.radius.to

    Feel free to read the below after looking at the page - hopefully, the idea is simple enough that you understand what it is from the landing page alone.

    The purpose of our web app is: a platform to find events and organise them (basically like Meetup & Eventbrite, but with a few improvements)

    submitted by /u/radius_hq
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    What’s helped you find a problem to solve?

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 01:22 PM PDT

    I quit my job to start a life coaching business but I am noticing myself losing motivation — a person I know who is further along has been struggling to get off the ground. Also, I there are so many coaches out there already.

    In addition, my background is in Science. I am now confused: I quit my job, but not sure how to leverage my skill set and find problem to solve.

    Any tips?

    submitted by /u/awakened_ape
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    How to run sole proprietorship in multiple states? Professional photography business.

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 01:14 PM PDT

    Hi! Quick question I hope can be answered!

    I just recently started running my photography business full time after having done it part time for the last six years. I am based in California, have a sole proprietorship, business license for the state, liability, basically have everything I need to run my business properly in California. But I am expanding my reach to multiple states. Would I need a business license for every state that I plan on doing work in? I have folks in Washington who are interested in my work and I wanted to go out there to do some shoots.

    Do I need to get a license for all states that I plan on working in? I know I would need to file taxes for different states, but as a sole proprietorship can I operate legally in multiple states.

    Been looking everywhere online and it's not been as useful, so some you do, others say you don't. Couldn't find any real answers to this anywhere. Hoping someone has some experience running a sole proprietorship in multiple states.

    submitted by /u/griffinta
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    Self employed ideas for licensed civil engineer?

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 12:59 PM PDT

    Self employed ideas for licensed civil engineer?

    submitted by /u/MarcRodross
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    What does the average business owner take home a year in net profit? What’s your business?

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 09:08 AM PDT

    Title says it all. I know that there are many positives about having your own business…Let's be real, money is a bug driver. What do you make a year net? What's your business?

    submitted by /u/georgiaspaniel
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    Should I drop this client? How?

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 12:28 PM PDT

    Hi!

    I have... quite the problem here. My client has a massive project and it has brought me thousands of dollars in revenues.

    It's really big platform with a lot of functionalities, but it's crushing my sould everytime I have to work on this project.

    It all started with the initial project: 2500$ for a 500 hours project. Dumb idea, took a lot of time and energy. I almost gave up halfway there and gave her what I did for free just to not be working on the project anymore. I made the mistakes of also accepting way too much free demands. She wanted a small functionnality added, I didn't want to make her angry so I did it anyway and she always asked more.

    Now, we started to work on a functionnality basis. She tells me what she wants, I offer her the price and she agrees. However, halfway through the projects, she changes everything, wants me to add more things, etc. I end up working 3 times as much as I planned to and it sucks. And since I hate this project with all my heart, it takes even more time when I work on it and I keep getting unmotivated.

    It also makes me looks pretty unprofessional when I have a project I planned to do in one week ending up taking a month to do.

    Other thing: she refuses to pay "on time". She always tells me she must test the project before to make sure there isn't any little bug hidden somwhere. Sometimes, it takes up to three months of me pushing her to get the work checked and the bill paid.

    I am starting to feel very angry towards my "self-made job" and I don't want this experience to ruin this for me. I was wondering if it is a good idea to tell this client I can't work for her anymore. I am finishing a functionnality or two (since I started them), but I still have several others that could take a bit of time to finish.

    How should I handle this situation? I already tried to tell her that this way of working together doesn't work but she doesn't really change.

    I am planning on telling her that because of some personal issues, I am less and less time to work on her projects and that in order to avoid making her wait for nothing, it would be better if I redirected her to some of my competitors. I have already selected a few that might be a great fit for her projects.

    Is it a good idea? What would you do in my situation? We still have some things we planned to do on her website, we are half-way through the list but I didn't make her pay for anything else.

    Thanks!

    submitted by /u/AsteroidSnowsuit
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    Help us design truly sustainable packaging!

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 12:26 PM PDT

    Hi everyone!

    I'm part of a team of students enrolled in LaunchX, an incubator where we are currently building a startup. We're passionate about sustainability, and aim to help both consumers + business reduce their environmental footprint through more sustainable packaging.

    As a business, your input is extremely valuable to us. So, if you own a business or are planning on one soon, could you please fill out this quick survey here:

    https://forms.gle/iw6MdQef6aMHazFT8

    Everyone with a business can fill this out, but we're looking specifically for those with a focus/interest in sustainability

    For consumers, we've created a separate survey, which everyone can fill out (regardless of whether they own a business or not). You can find that here:

    https://forms.gle/sPn3jup6GB8VKEbY9

    Thank you all so much in advance :)

    submitted by /u/-_-avocado
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    Multiple Businesses or umbrellaed under one Business multimedia (Tax Question)

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 12:23 PM PDT

    I'm an animator and artist and I want to start posting videos on YouTube and eventually monetize that. I also want to start selling stuff on sites like Etsy or my own site. When I fill out my taxes at the end of the year would I be able to lump them in together or would they be considered separate businesses and get their own tax forms require me to pay separate taxes etc.?

    submitted by /u/midstuffy
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    Ever feel like you are in the wrong business, but have no other ideas? Any ideas?

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 12:16 PM PDT

    Good morning folks. Just making this post to see if others relate and if anybody has solutions. I am a service based company. I make pretty good money but man... I get so tired and burnt out. It is a landscape and hauling company. I wish I was in a more passive or at the very least, less physical business. My days consist of marketing and selling jobs, physically completing jobs, managing and finding employees, and dealing with the customer.

    You might think " why don't you automate your business so you don't have to be at the job?" Yeah sure it sounds good. But finding employees is so tough. Nobody wants to work. I would really love a business with minimal employees...

    I'm making changes to the business, but still I hope to be in a completely industry sooner than later. I think something online would be great but I'm just not that creative. The only thing I can think of right now is saving capital and also studying for my realtors license. Be a broker but also learn the investment side of things. I think of studying other things like online business or stocks but I just feel a whole lot of analysis paralysis when I do that.

    So all in all... I guess I'm continuing building my service business, and slowly learning real estate until I can figure something different out. I always see other people's businesses and I'm like damn I should do that! But getting side tracked is pretty bad. Thanks for letting me rant. Feed back and discussion welcome!

    submitted by /u/Losingmymind2020
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    Automated SMS to prospects triggered by new leads in my inbox.

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 11:52 AM PDT

    I own a homecare agency that is part of a franchise network. I get leads through the national office that come as an email with a link to a salesforce lead page. Without using a SFDC plugin, is there a way to automate a text message to go out as soon as I receive the lead?

    ​

    Also, I get leads directly from some lead services. With these I get an email with all the info in the email. Is there any tool that can pull the number from the email and send an automated text message?

    ​

    Thanks!

    submitted by /u/NYCnole
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    What’s the most lucrative middle man business?

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 07:53 AM PDT

    What's the most lucrative business where you act as the middle man.

    The most lucrative product/service you can just sell and someone else fulfills it.

    Curious of your ideas!

    submitted by /u/ClozerRob
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    Guide to LinkedIn Part 2: Images

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 11:36 AM PDT

    Hey guys I am back with another guide, I hope you'll have read my previous guide on LinkedIn. Check it out here.

    In this guide, I am going to be talking about photos, one of the most important parts often overlooked by everyone. Also, this is meant for advanced users who want to get the most out of LinkedIn. So let's get started.

    Linkedin Profile Picture

    Hire a professional photographer, I recommend having a professional photo taken of yourself because it will be the first thing a potential employer sees.

    It's a good investment because the photos may be used for a variety of social media platforms and reasons.

    Or you can go the route of having a good photo clicked by someone at your office and get it edited by a professional. You can hire someone very cheap to do this as well.

    Use most of the frame, Your face should be in the center of the frame, with a tiny gap above

    your head and the image reaching to your shoulders.

    Be professional, keep the background neutral, Don't let the background distract viewers.

    Features:

    • Recognizable: Use a recent photo.
    • Dress up: Wear something professional or something which resonates with your brand.
    • Smile: Friendly smile is always more inviting
    • Only you: The person in the image should unmistakably be you. Leave your dogs and cats out of this.
    • No selfies: We have Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook for a reason.
    • Quality: Use the highest quality image, please don't use stretched or pixelated images.

    Picture sizes:

    Cover photo

    • 1,400 x 425 pixels recommended
    • 120:8 aspect ratio
    • Maximum size 4MB

    Profile photo

    • 200 x 200 pixels and higher recommended
    • 1:1 aspect ratio
    • Maximum size 10MB

    Banner photo

    • 1,536 x 768 pixels recommended
    • 2:1 aspect ratio
    • Maximum size 4MB

    Business logo

    • 300 x 300 pixels and higher recommended
    • 1:1 aspect ratio
    • Maximum size 4MB

    Mobile posts

    • 1,200 x 628 pixels recommended
    • 300:157 aspect ratio

    Desktop posts

    • 1,200 x 1,200 pixels recommended
    • 1:1 aspect ratio
    • JPG, PNG, or GIF files only for all images.

    Decided to keep this one short. Hope you all liked this. And yes next will be outreaching for sure!

    submitted by /u/thewildidea
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    Marketing strategies from the app that got valued at $135M in less than a week after launch

    Posted: 01 Jul 2021 11:17 AM PDT

    TLDR

    2 brothers middle in their mid-twenties, no ads, no big tech, just their strategically planned, well-executed, creative marketing plan

    -----------------------

    Poparazzi – a social network that allows you to set up your profile, but only your friends can post photos to it. This counters the ideal photos of Instagram and should bring more authenticity to people's online presence.

    The app went viral and became a top download.

    Strategy & Tools

    Highlights

    • Mar 15, 2021 - the app is first published on the App Store.
    • April 2, 2021 - a TikTok campaign starts, promoting the app beta and pre-order. The beta's 10,000-user limit has been reached within just a few days.
    • May 24, 2021 - The pre-order has already gathered over 500,000 users.
    • May 25, 2021 - Official iOS release. The app gets downloaded by all who pre-ordered it automatically, taking it straight to the top charts on day 1 – top 10 in 53 countries and #1 in 24 countries. At its peak, it has been downloaded 2,000 times per second.
    • May 27, 2021 - Benchmark allegedly topped Andreessen Horowitz on Series A founding, closing at $20 million. Forbes says it's been at $135 million valuation.
    • Jun 1, 2021 - over 1 million downloads (in less than a week!). #poparazziapp has been viewed over 15 million times on TikTok.

    The number of worldwide downloads could be at 3.3 million now.

    ​

    Limited functionality
    Poparazzi doesn't try to tick all the boxes. It's core feature is photo tagging and making photos of others which can be abused but profile owners have control over what is posted to their profiles–they can delete what they don't like.

    Apart from that, the platform focuses on sharing and doesn't allow comments, nor sending DMs nor showing followers. You can only like a photo or add any emoji reaction to it.

    Content built on GIFs
    You can only post a photo or a set of 9 consecutive photos within a set timeframe that will be posted as a GIF. It seems that all the users are using the platform to post GIFs 99% of the time.

    Also notice that the content posted to Poparazzi will be unique to the platform as it gives that 3rd person view of a user. It won't be replicated across Instagram or Facebook.

    ​

    Great UX
    Poparazzi has a great user experience of just playing around with the app. It welcomes you with an effective intro with haptics and vibrations. It then continues to use that effects when you interact with the app or shoot photos. It also recreates a red carpet photoshoot effect as the flash shoots only for a fraction of a second.

    Making GIFs with this effect could make the person on the other side of the camera indeed feel like being the object of paparazzi shots.

    ​

    Targeting
    The target audience of Poparazzi is Gen Z, of course who are less attached to Instagram and have proven to look for its more authentic alternatives. It seems that TikTok is a vital part of marketing to that group. To make the ads more relevant, they were recorded by an unknown teenage girl that makes faces when headlines about the app appear.

    This type of content is new to the audience. It's quite clear it stands out

    ​

    Pre-order campaign
    Since Apple has introduced app pre-orders in 2017, they allowed new apps to build demand before they officially launch. Pre-ordering an app means that the users will be notified when the app becomes available and it will be downloaded automatically within 24h from the release. Hence - 500,000 downloads could happen on the day of release.

    Poparazzi capitalized on that through TikTok campaign that built demand and drove users to sign up for a pre-order. The first post on the Poparazzi account that promoted the app got over 1 million views and many comments and likes. It probably had been promoted, as not a single post repeated such success later on. Although they get a good 15-25k views.

    There are accounts talking about the app set up entirely for promotional purposes.

    ​

    Closed Beta
    Following Clubhouse's success, Poparazzi let a few people in to a closed beta on AppStore's Testflight, to build demand for those that weren't invited. The user limit on Testflight is 10,000.

    ​

    Influencers
    Many TikTokers were hyping up the Poparazzi beta. One of them posted the video with #ad hashtag which could mean some influencers were paid to talk about the app beta.

    Poparazzi has definitely worked with some influencers with small-to-mid accounts as, for example, a girl named Esra Nova with over 139,000 followers seems to have multiple alt accounts named as „esranova50" , „esranova22", etc. that all talk about the app.

    After the release, the creators of top TIkToks with #poparazziapp hashtag are paid $500.

    ​

    Word of Mouth
    A large portion of the users came through word of mouth. Many TikTokers spread the word about the app on their profiles, inviting their friends and followers to install the app. You can also see that in TikTok comments with #poparazzi hashtag videos.

    The app launches with a clever onboarding screen that uses haptics to buzz and vibrate your phone while the intro video plays. This is unusual enough that users will talk and post about how cool it was — another potential means of generating organic growth through word-of-mouth.

    ​

    Collecting data
    The app requires you to register with phone number which ensures that the users are real but doesn't allow to use other login types if you prefer not to share your number.

    It also requires you to share your contact list so you can find your friends and your friends can find you. If that's not enough, it will ask you to enable location services to find people nearby.

    ​

    Helping the network effect
    After you allow all the permissions, you are automatically connected with all your contacts–if they were already Poparazzi users, they start following you immediately, and vice versa. The app also encourages you to invite your friends to download the app.

    ​

    Referring to new users
    Only your friends can post your photos. This means that unless you convince them to do that, your profile is empty. If they're not on the platform, you're more likely to ask them to join you, so you can share each other's photos. That's how you'll do part of the Poparazzi's marketing.

    ​

    Snapchat integration
    Sharing the app with your friends and asking them to post your photos is made easier outside of the platform through integration with Snapchat. You can ask for photos or share what you find. That also enhances the reach of Poparazzi-related posts on the established social media.

    ​

    Incentivizing pops
    The profiles feature a „Top Poparazzi" section which can be enough of a reason to post more frequently and get the top poparazzi bragging rights.

    ​

    Easy outside sharing
    Poparazzi doesn't fight the giants. It encourages you to share your profile link wherever you like as it's the biggest button there. Apart from that, it allows you to share any photo you see to your Snapchat, Insta Story or Instagram profile, so an interesting content has the potential to live outside Poparazzi.

    ​

    Psychology

    Authenticity
    Authenticity is well received by humans and we prefer authentic experiences and brands over non-human ones. The anti-polished look of paparazzi shoots is therefore attractive enough to check out the app

    ​

    Referrals
    When a product is referred to us by our friend or a person we have a connection with (like an influencer), we're much more likely to check their recommendation. This is why smaller influencer accounts have higher engagement and are often preferred by brands to work with–they can provide better results through their personal relationships with their audiences.

    ​

    Snowball effect
    With such successes, there's always a snowball effect that fuels its growth further. Getting to top charts on the first day after the release helped many others to see the app which is why the number doubled in less than a week.

    ​

    User experience
    UX can be a buzzword these days but it makes the difference from a psychological standpoint by lowering the barriers of using it and making it more entertaining. We like to interact with things and systems that are responsive or fun to use.

    ​

    Scarcity
    People value scarce items higher than those widely available. This aspect has fueled the pre-release hype since the 10,000 Testflights spots were quickly taken.

    The only thing other 500,000 people could do was watch the beta testers having fun and posting it to their TikTok profiles.

    ​

    Sensory appeal
    People engage more with things that appeal to multiple senses. Poparazzi adds haptics to the interactions which makes it slightly more engaging than other apps.

    ​

    Curiosity gap
    People have a deep desire to look missing information. Many people loved the app in the beta phase but others wanted to know why are they hyping the app so much. That built demand out of curiosity.

    -----------------------------------------

    Thanks for reading!

    If there are examples of clever examples to make a product go viral, Poparazzi is one of the best recently. Every aspect of the app and the campaign has been designed to build hype, get shared, and go viral.

    The most lessons here are aimed at those who market to Gen Z. TikTok is the go-to platform for marketing. Scarcity still works but so does building apps around creating the network effect and working with influencers. After all, Poparazzi is pretty much useless without friends. The challenge now is to retain not only single users but whole groups of friends.

    If you enjoyed it I share more viral marketing/growth hacking examples here kickstartsidehustle

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