Social MediaSocial media marketing is a strategy that is just that, social. It is typically done on an Internet platform that engages the public in your content via your computer, smartphone or tablet. Social media allows your target consumers to engage with you and your brand. Some of the most common social media platforms used in marketing today are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Managing your Social Media Marketing can be very time-consuming. So, I recommend focusing your time and content on a few sites. Here are some recommendations:Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are visual platforms that will connect your art with customers. With Facebook you can create a business page this is separate from your personal page. The business page will allow you to create a community of followers that can like, comment, and share your images and content. Instagram has the same basic framework as Facebook in that you can create multiple profiles and navigate between them within the app on your phone. This similarity is nice if you have a personal and a business profile. Instagram is a social media outlet that focuses on images which are perfect for visual artists. Again, you can create a community of followers. For Instagram, the usage of the hashtag is vital in generating traffic to your profile, unlike Facebook that is better built on sending requests and calling for people to share your page.YouTube allows the public to take a step into your studio to see you working on your most current pieces. It may not seem like YouTube is a form of social media but in fact, by definition it is. Social media is any networking platform that allows users to communicate and connect in a social way. Due to the ability to like, share, and comment on videos on YouTube it is truly a social network. YouTube is actually a social media platform before it is a video marketing technique. In the next section, I will share a bit of information about how you can turn this social media platform into a video marketing tool!Video MarketingVideo marketing is meant to call your consumer or viewer to action. For a video, you create to be considered video marketing it should either generate interest back to your website or to something they will need to pay for in order to gain additional access. Videos are a great way to share your talent with the public and generate interest in your art. Videos also allow your followers and subscribers to get to know you. Viewers enjoy the feeling of developing a relationship with you. When you can create a sense of loyalty, your viewers can become some of your best marketing partners because they may share your videos with their friends.Since YouTube is free this is a great way to share videos that focus on your art technique or provide short free tutorials for a specific art medium. Don’t forget for this to be a marketing technique it needs to generate something the viewer will need to act upon or purchase. By running a link at the end of your video to send them to your website or offering more in-depth instructional videos for a price at the end, will qualify as a video marketing tool. With YouTube, you can create a channel that may focus on the techniques of your particular style of art or you can post instructional videos with step-by-step information to complete a unique piece of artwork. Free and low-cost video editing software, like Apple’s iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, is available to allow you to truly customize your videos before uploading to YouTube.Let’s use a watercolor artist who focuses on floral still life, as an example. The artist posts a 5-minute painting tutorial on the subject matter of roses on YouTube. The video was created through the iMovie software that comes standard on most Apple computers currently. At the end of the free 5-minute video, the artist then advertises a paid 30-minute video from their website that will walk the viewer through painting a floral still life with roses from start to finish. The webcam and software come standard with Apple products. The cost for creating this example of video marketing was free.Social Media and video marketing are both virtual ways to reach your target audience. A low-cost type of marketing that is more tactile and leaves a lasting impression on your audience is through guerrilla marketing.Guerilla MarketingGuerilla marketing is a grassroots, low-cost, fun, and in-your-face marketing strategy. Often guerrilla marketing takes the form of visual art like spray paint tags or unique posters and decals allowing it to seem like a natural fit for visual artists. This marketing strategy is meant to create interest and cause the bystander to be curious enough to investigate the advertisement. It takes more imagination and creativity than money to make guerrilla marketing work for you.Implementing guerrilla marketing can be a fun and exciting. Some ideas for guerrilla marketing might be to use vinyl stickers or paper posters; this is called wild posting. Walking billboards or quick pop up galleries of work in public places are another trending approach. It should also be stated that legal issues can arise in regard to how or where wild posting and pop-up galleries appear. Posting decals or posters can cause an issue especially if they are placed on paid advertising or local, state or federal fixtures. In most municipalities, there are permits that are required for setting up in public places. Don’t let the risk of legal infringement deter you from using this strategy. With the proper research and planning, guerrilla marketing can be a quick and fun way to create buzz about your art.Social media, video marketing, and guerrilla marketing are ways to increase awareness and create artist loyalty from the community near and far. Successful marketing will help you increase brand awareness and loyalty among art consumers.
8 Marketing Tips That Can Catapult Your Business Into Success
Growing a business takes time. There are some people who can make a lot of money in a short period of time, but most of the time, these are the people who have a large customer list and have been in business for a long time already.
But if you have neither, then this article will be particularly useful for you. Because inside this article, you will learn 8 great marketing tips that you can use to take your business to the next level. It won’t happen overnight, but with time and a steady focus, it will happen eventually. Let’s take a look at the first tip:
1) Generate leads
You will want to generate leads so that you can follow-up on these leads over and over again to make it easy to close the sale. It’s hard to sell your products in a small ad, therefore you want to generate a lead so that you can present your full sales presentation in future contacts with your prospects. Here’s the next tip:
2) Operate in a niche market
If you try to market to everyone, more than likely, you’re going to have poor conversion rates. If you can operate in a niche marketing and structure your message according to one kind of prospect, then you will have more success with your marketing efforts.
Niche marketing is all about separating yourself from your competitors and marketing to a specific kind of prospect. The more specified your marketing efforts are, the better your results will be when it comes to closing sales.
3) Create a free offer
Everybody loves things for free, so with a free offer, you give yourself the opportunity to generate a lead or inspire people to come into your store. And you don’t have to limit yourself on ways to apply this to your business. Your free offer can be a free report, a free consultation, a free sample of your product, and more. You want to mention this free offer in your ad to get as many people as possible to respond to it.
4) Use a variety of marketing tactics
You want to find multiple ways to get your message out in front of your prospect. You can do direct mail, yellow page advertising, newspaper advertising, press releases, joint ventures, val-pak advertising, and so much more.
The possibilities are endless and wherever you advertise, be sure to include your free offer to generate the most response.
5) Contact your current customers more often
You’re missing out on a lot of business if you’re not contacting your customers on a monthly basis. 80% of all business profits come from the backend, so this is why a strong backend marketing strategy is key.
You can send your prospects a free monthly newsletter, or simply coupons with special offers every month. You always want to find good reasons to contact your customers so that you don’t lose them to a rival competitor.
6) Promote one product a time
When contacting your customers, it’s best to focus on one product at a time. If you have a catalog of products that you sell, this is fine, but you should highlight one product at a time to your customers so that you don’t confuse.
Your opinion has weight in the eyes of your customers, so if you recommend something useful for them, they will take your word for it and purchase the product that you recommended. But recommending more than 1 similar product will only confuse them, so be sure not to do this.
7) Offer a money-back guarantee
You want to offer a money-back guarantee on all of your products. This will only increase your response rates and will inspire trust amongst your prospects. By offering a money-back guarantee on your products, it means that you stand behind all of your products, and it also lowers the barrier to making the sale.
Track everything
Testing and tracking is important because you want to know what is winning for you and what is not. This way you can cut out all the losers and only market the winners. This in turn will decrease your marketing costs while improving your profits. So testing and tracking is key.
Use these 8 tips to boost your business now while you still have the chance. They will prove to be very useful for you.
Jumbo Refinance Mortgage Loans Can Be Approved If You’re Prepared
You are thinking of a jumbo loan for a home refinance while rates are low but you’ve been told, “Do not to waste your time applying. Not now, because the banks aren’t lending!” Most banks aren’t too keen on approving jumbo loans. The jumbo loans are considered a higher risk loan, especially in a stagnant economy. Some banks may offer jumbo loans but their underwriting process is so strict that getting the jumbo loan to the closing table is impossible. There are a few banks that handle jumbo loan efficiently and will hold these loans in their portfolio. Finding this type of bank may be the first step in your quest to have your jumbo loan refinanced. The right bank will have the widest array of terms and have the most flexible underwriting guidelines. There are other points that should be considered in choosing the right bank.Despite the inherent risks posed by higher loan amounts, the basics of mortgage loan underwriting still apply. Like mortgage loans with amounts below $417,000, the 5 Cs of lending remain intact, (capacity, credit, capital, collateral, character.) So what’s different with jumbo loan underwriting?A residential jumbo loan is any home mortgage loan where the loan size exceeds GSE’s (Government Sponsored Enterprise such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) limits. Currently, the GSE’s loan limits are capped at $417,000.00 or $625,500 in Alaska or Hawaii. Any mortgage loan exceeding these limits is considered a jumbo loan. This is of course the first obvious difference between a standard home mortgage and the jumbo loan. With higher loan amounts comes a lower LTV (loan to value) Expect to have at least a 20% equity position on a rate/term refinance.The loan terms will vary from lender to lender and it’s always prudent to look for a lender that has a variety of options that can be tailored for your specific needs, whether you need a 30 year fixed rate, a 15 year fixed rate or a 5/1, 7/1 or 10/1 hybrid ARM or interest only. The interest rates on these higher loan amounts are not as high as some borrowers think they would be. They generally are a little bit higher than conventional mortgage rates and in some cases they may be lower than some conventional loans after their rate adjustments.Many borrowers have unique situations and the bank that you should turn to is one that has a clear understanding of the uniqueness of the higher loan borrower. For example, although many borrowers have a standard salary and W2 income, there are a disproportionate number when compared to lower loan amount applicants that have a W2 income that include bonuses or commissions. With the higher loan values, there are also a larger number of self employed borrowers and professionals. Different calculations should be used for this type of borrower to allow for depreciation, depletion, bonuses and commissions. For a borrower’s best shot at loan approval and efficiency, the higher loan amounts require a bank that has a staff of underwriters and originators who have a higher skill set and proper training for this type of loan origination and underwriting.In order to be approved for a jumbo loan, you must be prepared with support documentation. Income documentation, documentation of reserves, letters of explanation, tax documents, etc. In short, you will need two years tax returns with all schedules, one month’s most recent pay stubs, two months most recent bank statements, schedule of real estate owned, most recent statements of stocks, bonds 401k and IRA accounts. A professional loan originator who is accustomed to this type of loan will give you insight on what documents you need for your application.