25 Blog Post Ideas To Grow Traffic & Increase Inbound Lead Generation

Coming up with blog ideas can be difficult but it doesn’t need to be. You need fresh, unique blog content to grow your rate of inbound leads that your website receives and you also need blogs to increase organic traffic on your website. Here are 20 of the best blog post ideas that you can customise and adapt for your business. These ideas are excellent for brand marketers, entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Pros & Cons Posts
Top 10 Posts
Listicles
Quizzes
How to articles
Ultimate Guides
Advanced Guides
Beginner Guides
Buyer Guides
Cheat Sheets
Tip Sheets
Fact Sheets
Case Studies
Interviews
Feature Articles
Articles with Gifs
Infographics
Reviews
Recaps
Surveys
Q&A Posts
Day In The Life
Experiments
Behind The Scenes Posts
Tutorials

These 25 blog post ideas are perfect if you are trying to generate leads for your business and to increase organic traffic. Whether you have a classic B2B business or you are a trailblazing entrepreneur, you need to have blog posts that are frequent and focused in their approach. Use any of these 25 blog post ideas if you want to become successful and start getting incoming leads as soon as possible. My personal favourites are the cheat sheets, guides & case studies because they are good for generating inbound leads for all types of B2B businesses and entrepreneurial blogs. Want more ideas? Drop me a line on info [at] imperial-drive.com.

Real estate marketing ideas — 10 amazing marketing ideas for real estate brokers and estate agents

The property industry always has clients and leads swimming around whether you are selling commercial property or residential real estate. These 10 marketing ideas for the property & real estate industry are perfect for estate agents, realtors and real estate brokers. If you are trying to find new leads & prospects for your real estate business, use these 10 marketing ideas to boost your bottom line:

Take visually appealing photographs to find new clients
Send interesting content in your email newsletter not just examples of what you are selling i.e you can write about what to look out for when buying a new property
Host a Q&A session
Do a webinar showcasing the tips for successfully purchasing commercial property of real estate
Improve your copywriting skills so that you write listings that pop and convert with buyers
Claim your Google My Business profile so that online buyers can find you easily
Be consistent with your email marketing newsletter to keep buyers engaged
Create a real estate landing page on your website to generate inbound leads
Launch a content marketing strategy that will help you create a stream of buyers online who want to go through with a purch
Design an optimised website that is ideal for conversions such as new buyer enquiries.

Luxury beachfront home graphic — Follow this Bonus Tip for marketing success

Bonus Tip – Always update new listings daily or weekly. Not only does this help with SEO but this shows that your business is current and fresh which in turn will lead to new buyers opting to go with you when it is time to purchase a home

With these 10 ideas, you can boost and grow your lead generation and sales for your real estate business. The key thing to remember is to use all of these ideas in tandem in order to create a healthy stream of inbound leads. If you want more detailed marketing ideas for your property or real estate business, send an email to kagem [at] imperial-drive.com to see what ideas can work well for you.

Landing pages are becoming more popular as brands and businesses strive to think of how to capture consumer attention. Let’s face it – every day we see marketing and advertising messages in addition to promotional offers. If you are trying to think about how to reach new clients or customers for your brand, you need to incorporate a landing page into your PPC campaigns. These landing pages should be highly specialised and niche in a way that speaks to your target consumer segment. In this feature, I am going to go into detail about how to write landing page copy that actually works so that your marketing budget generates ROI. You can use these tips yourself or you can also contact me at kagem [at] imperial-drive.com if you need help.

Writing landing page copy means understanding what consumers are looking for. To illustrate how to effective writing landing page content, I will use the fashion & beauty consumer market. Why? This market is ruthlessly competitive so it requires constantly thinking on your feet but also planning ahead. Here we go!

Step 1 – Know your demographic

Women’s handbags is a lucrative segment of the fashion & beauty market. Whether it is high end designer bands from Chanel and Louis Vuitton to high street versions from Zara, women have shown time and time again that they are ready to spend hard-earned money on handbags and leather accessories. For the purpose of this example, let’s say you are trying to sell a handbag that looks like this one below:

Your first question should be – who are the customers for this handbag? Women is too broad. What type of women would want to purchase it and will they be ready to spend money on purchasing it online? Remember not all women are handbag aficionados and likewise there are different types of bags for different reasons. Luxury brands like Chanel are lucky because they are riding on decades of hard work that was done before in order to build a brand that matters. If you are trying to grow your e-commerce business and you sell handbags, you need to understand who your target demographic is before you start any paid traffic or PPC campaigns. If I was advising a client, I would highlight to them that the target market for this handbag would probably be women from 25 to 45 who are career women and are looking for a handbag that can go from ‘day to night’ meaning it can be used as a work handbag but they can also wear it at night when out with friends or colleagues. Once you know your demographic, you can start writing the landing page that attracts them.

Even if you are not in the fashion e-commerce space, you can use this demographic tip for your business. The take away questions to ask when you are brainstorming landing page creation is who is my demographic?

Step 2 – Brainstorm your landing page creation with pen and paper

Every executive has their own method. Whether you are creating landing pages for your agency or for your own business, you should start brainstorming creation with paper over doing it on digital. Writing ideas down on a piece of paper helps you flesh them out better instead of trying to do it off the top of your head.

When I am creating content for clients, I like to take a piece of A2 sized paper and I start brainstorming what the goal is for the campaign and what the client wants to achieve. Around this, I focus on 3 core elements for landing pages if I am doing a landing page project:

Landing Page Design: What the landing page will look like, how the graphics interact with the copy and whether the client wants a template or a custom landing page designed.
Landing Page Copywriting Headlines: This includes what are the main headlines for the landing page and how much copy will be included on each landing page.
Landing Page Calls-To-Action: This mainly deals with what are the best calls to action that don’t feature clichéd CTAs such as ‘Sign Up’.

I like using pen and paper to flesh out landing page copywriting because that is where the best results come from. You might decide doing it on your computer is best. Whichever way works for you, make sure that you spend some time planning and brainstorming how you landing page will look and how the content will perform with your graphics.

Step 3 – Create an A/B test for your first attempt at creating a landing page with 2 different headlines

A/B testing is the secret sauce of successful PPC campaigns especially when landing pages are involved. You don’t need to use any software. You simply create 2 landing pages that you will test across paid search (known as Search Engine Marketing or SEM) and paid social which is part of PPC.

To continue with my illustration, if I was running a paid campaign for a fashion e-commerce client, I would create 2 separate headlines to promote their handbags. The 2 headlines would look something like this:

Get your luxe look without the price tag – Stylish Handbags that don’t break the bank
10% off all fashion handbags for new customers – get your bag today before the offer ends!

The first headline can be Test A and the second headline can be Test B. As you can see Test A’s headline is more focused on convincing the consumer about the integrity of the product, while Test B’s headline is more promotional and focus on direct sales. Test A’s headline would work for a landing page campaign where you want to collect emails of potential handbag shoppers to put them in a funnel whereas Test B’s headline would work better

You should do you A/B test with the same budget for each test and the amount of clicks/conversions you get across SEM and paid social will show you which headline works best for your landing page.

Step 4 – Write the landing page copy itself

Writing landing page copy sounds easy but it isn’t. You might be super passionate and excited about your business or brands that you are working on but many consumers are just carrying on about their day without a care for what you are doing. This sounds intense but it is true. You need to understand you are up against tonnes of landing pages in the same niche as you so in order to stand out the copywriting needs to be done properly. Focus on the headline first, the body text and then the call to action itself.

Your body copy can be promotional, or you could decide to go for a more relaxed branded approach to your landing page. Think like a consumer when you are writing your landing page and keep your passion out of the page. Think what does a consumer need in order to buy your product or service? They need to be convinced that it works, it will help them and that they can afford it. Infuse these 3 elements into your landing page copy in order to stoke the fire of desire for your products and services.

Step 5 – Have an excellent call to action

The final part of your landing page is you need to have a call to action that is integrated with your lead generation goal in the landing page. For example, a B2B company might need a name and email to be filled within a form on the landing page. Your calls to action for B2B will be different from B2C so you can consider using phrases such as ‘Enquire Today’, ‘Learn More Here’, ‘Yes I Want More’ or other phrases to that effect.

For B2C landing pages, you should use phrases that talk to the person as if your brand is a person not just a corporate entity. At the end of your landing page, you can say ‘Yes Send Me Sunglasses’ or ‘Get It Today’ instead of just using ‘Buy’.

Calls to action play a huge role in whether your landing pages will be successful or not. If you write CTAs that do not go well with your landing page, you will not get conversions. Use A/B testing with CTAs to see the ones that work well for your brands and businesses.

Bonus Tip – Optimise landing page copywriting for mobile

Ensure that your copy is compelling and energising to read if you want to convince B2C visitors to purchase your products. B2B landing pages should be thoughtful and concise in order to increase lead generation. Think about how your landing pages will on mobile because a lot of web visitors will stumble across your landing page via mobile. It should be fast to load and easy to read on mobile especially Android phones. For optimisation ideas, let me know if you want a post on that as well.

Landing pages are currency in our digital world that is always constantly changing and evolving. To put your business in the right lane, you should create a landing page with amazing design and scintillating copy that inspires people to buy your products and services.

If you want more help creating & writing landing pages for PPC campaigns, let me know your questions or queries by emailing me at kagem [at] imperial-drive.com.

image showing 10 b2b lead gen strategies

Create Q&A headline posts on your company’s blog

More people are enquiring via search engines by asking questions. For example, if someone is looking for content marketing ideas, s/he might write ‘how to create content marketing for my business’. Questions are popping up every single day as searches – you should be creating Q&A headlines as posts for your small business because it will help your company’s website be found easier for search. My first suggestion is to write at least 2-3 Q&A posts per month for your company’s small business. You should write these posts framed as the most popular questions you get asked. For example, an accountant might be asked how much their accounting services cost per month by a small business while an estate agent or real estate agent might be asked how much an average house they sell costs.

2. Create case studies

Case studies are unique currencies that you can use to find new leads for your business. Whether you are an accountant, real estate agent, or entrepreneur, a case study shows potential clients what your company can do and what type of results you can generate for your clients. Case studies should ideally be done with the permission of your client but you can also write general case studies connected to your industry to show your in-depth knowledge. When it comes to writing case studies, it is best to work with a content marketing professional (you can email me at kagem@imperial-drive.com for ideas) or you could try and write it yourself. Case studies are evergreen content that will last for a long time as long as your work is actually good. Once you have written your B2B case study, publish it on your website. Share it via your company newsletter. Ask all of your employees to share it via Twitter and LinkedIn on their profiles as well. Ensure that the case study is written following SEO rules and tips so that search engines such as Bing and Google can find it.

3. Encourage reviews via Google My Business

Google My Business is the business listing service created by Google. You can get verified on listing on there. This is an excellent form of lead generation because anyone who searches for you should see the listing first. This listing service is ideal for people who work in physical services such as HVAC, plumbing but it also works for people in white collar industries like accounting and legal. Whenever you service a client for your business, encourage him or her to leave a review for your business on Google My Business. People trust reviews and the more positive reviews for your small business, the higher likelihood that they will contact you to purchase your products and services.

4. Create a consistent blogging schedule & promote your content

Blogging is one of the easiest way to generate leads for your B2B business. Many small business owners do not know where to begin and think that writing 1 or 2 pieces of content is enough. It isn’t. You need to create a consistent blogging schedule for your B2B business and stick with it in order to see results. Inbound leads from websites tend to come via content marketing and paid marketing. If you want organic leads for your business, you should be writing 2-4 pieces of content per week. Once you have created your blogs and content, you should move onto promoting them. Each B2B business has a different approach to promoting content. My advice is think about where your potential B2B buyers are. LinkedIn is extremely important for promoting B2B blogs, however Twitter and Facebook work too. B2B buyers are people too, they have families and friends and chances are if you promote your B2B content in your own Facebook group, people will find it and if they are interested, they might contact you about your services. Pinterest should also be used in your B2B content marketing efforts especially if your B2B business has a visual element such as if you sell commercial property or commercial real estate. Each time you publish your blog, go on LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram and share your content. After a few days, repeat this promotion tactic so that more people see it. To track how people are consuming your content, use bitly to track your links so you can see who is clicking.

5. Use non-invasive calls-to-action

Call-to-action online have evolved beyond ‘sign up’ or ‘buy now’. If you are in the B2B space, you can encourage leads to take a proactive stand by using calls to action that make sense. In our line of work, we encourage potential clients to send us emails so that we can learn more about their issues, for example, if you need help with content marketing & lead generation, you can email me at kagem [at] imperial-drive.com. If you are an accountant, you should have your phone number visible on your website in content so that potential clients can call you especially. Doctors, dentists, plumbers and technicians would benefit from adding emails and phone numbers together at the bottom of every blog post. You don’t have to write in an overtly sales-like manner at all. Just let people know how they can contact you anyway that they want. When it comes to then actually needing an accountant, lawyer or doctor, you will be the first person they call because they will remember your content and your phone number at the end of all of your blogs.

6. Create landing pages that convert

Landing pages are smoking hot at the moment in marketing because of their potential in generating a lot of leads for all types of B2B business. I have tonnes of ideas when it comes to creating and writing landing pages that convert. One of my favourite strategies for using landing pages as lead generation is to create a landing page based on one service that you sell. Let’s say you are a real estate agent and you are trying to sell a commercial property. You need to think about who is the ideal B2B buyer for the commercial property that you are trying to sell. The ideal B2B buyer may be a small local company that wants to expand their business without moving to another city. The ideal buyer could be an entrepreneur who wants a commercial property that they can rent to other potential business tenants. Likewise you could have an investor who wants to purchase commercial property in order to hold it. Now that you have your three potential buyer personas – your landing page should focus on the one thing that these 3 segments have in common: they are looking for commercial property as an investment because they feel good about their business prospects in the future. The landing page should focus on buying a commercial property as an investment into your future with a clear call to action such as a form to fill out so that the estate agent can contact these leads within these 3 B2B segments. Your landing pages should always serve one overarching theme (in this case commercial property as investment) but they should be broad enough to reach different types of people within the segment.

7. Use your LinkedIn Company Page to find new leads

LinkedIn is a goldmine for B2B lead generation but it can be bulky, difficult to navigate and it is definitely a pay to play world where companies with big budgets are seen before those that do not have a lot to spend. If you want to test out LinkedIn for organic lead generation, use your LinkedIn Company Page as a breeding ground for growing new lead generation opportunities. Let’s say you are running a B2B software company. Your target market will mainly include people who work in the IT department at companies and CIOs (chief information officers). Update your Company Page on LinkedIn with links to blogs but also create LinkedIn content and look at your analytics by seeing who likes the content you are creating. As you grow your follower list on your Company Page, create calls to action that encourage followers to sign up for free trials for your software products. By using this Company Page to generate sign ups for your B2B services, you are taking advantage of this golden opportunity before LinkedIn changes its’ algorithm.

8. Create an amazing lead magnet to attract new leads

Lead magnets are pieces of content that will make someone want to exchange their email for your content. If you are a plastic surgeon, you could create a lead magnet focusing on everything a customer needs to know about plastic surgery. If you are an accountant, you could create a lead magnet about how small businesses can stay profitable through good cashflow management strategies. The lead magnet should be free – and your landing page should have a form where the person can fill out their name and email in order to receive it. I like Thrive Leads to generate leads as they have solid interfaces for their forms and pop-ups. Once you have created your lead magnet which will require an excellent graphic designer and copywriter, you should assign a budget to promote it via Facebook, LinkedIn and search (Google/Bing). If your lead magnet is targeting an older crowd aged 45+, use Bing as this search engines skews towards an older demographic. B2B buyers are everywhere so you should test paid social and paid search to see what works. After you have received a few dozen downloads of your free magnet, with permission of course, you should put the people who downloaded the lead magnet onto a separate email list that you can nurture with effective email newsletters. Eventually, you can give them an offer after a few weeks to see which leads actually want to buy your services.

9. Write powerful email newsletters

Never underestimate the power of email when it comes to generate revenue or referral traffic. Email newsletters are absolutely perfect for nurturing your audience but also for introducing you to a whole new world because of the fact many emails get forwarded or shared with friends, family or colleagues. Let’s say you are an accountant and you want to grow your client base. You already know that word of mouth and referrals are going to be critical for your accounting business. You should be focusing on using email as a way to encourage people to spread the word about your accounting services. Write email newsletters that focus on making financial topics interesting for small business owners. For example – you could tackle the controversial topic of invoice terms such as Net 30 and Net 60 and ask your email subscribers whether they think credit terms help or hurt cashflow for small business owners. By creating engaging content via email, you are increasing the chance of your email newsletters to be forwarded and shared which can increase inbound lead generation for your business.

10. Create a channel sales strategy inspired by lead generation

This is one of my favourite strategies for generating B2B leads for any type of business in the commercial sector. The first thing you do is find companies that do not compete with you but they need to sell to the same audience as you. For example – if you are running a web design agency, you sell web design services but you might not want to focus on doing branding or graphic design. Find a graphic designer who wants to create graphics and refer business between each other. Anytime you get a web design client, your graphic design partner should do any graphic work that comes through as an upsell and be credited for this work. When your graphic design partner receives an organic referral, you should be given any web design work that comes from their end. By doing mutual channel sales, you can grow your sales and revenue together without stepping on each others toes. By using channel sales, you are exposed to each other’s leads in an organic and systematic way. This does not only work for companies in the digital marketing sector. If you are a real estate agent and you are selling properties, you could partner with accountants, lawyers or financial advisors to help the end B2B client with purchasing your property.

Be inspired today with B2B lead generation & grow your business

b2b lead gen strategies - 10 strategies for small business

These 10 B2B lead generation ideas are meant to inspire you to get laser focused on success when it comes to increasing your sales and revenue. It goes without saying that cold calling and cold emailing should be part of your B2B sales strategy. The inclusion of these 10 ideas is meant to supplement your current sales strategy so that your business can flourish and grow.

Want to continue to boost your B2B lead generation and do you have any questions about how to increase leads in even more detail?

Ask me anything you want by sending me an email at kagem [at] imperial-drive.com.

If you are in Tanzania and you have a business, sales and marketing should be your two top priorities. Yes, we all know that networking and ‘who you know’ matters in Tanzania but digital marketing in Tanzania and online advertising in the country are changing how we all do business. Here are 21 digital marketing ideas that are perfect for all types of Tanzanian businesses irrespective.

Create a Facebook page in English & Swahili
Run a Facebook campaign to promote your products
Launch a Facebook Group where your most passionate fans can congregate and share ideas
Start an email newsletter and send 2 newsletters per month – you can use MailChimp or Klaviyo to send newsletters
Leave your business email in your Twitter biography
Add your website link in your Instagram biography
Update Instagram Stories daily to showcase daily offers for your business
Use Facebook Stories to capture more people in Tanzania on Facebook
Create regional offers for people in Mwanza, Moshi, Arusha and other Tanzanian cities. Regional customers are passionate and loyal to brands that care about them. Make an effort to launch regional offers in Tanzania if you want to see success.
Update your company blog at least 2 times per week to generate organic traffic for your business
Claim your Google My Business Profile so that people can find you when they search automatically
Run a Google Ads campaign targeting Dar-es-Salaam consumers to increase online sales
Do a branding campaign using YouTube Ads
Improve your Tanzanian SEO by creating landing pages for your market and insurance and location. For example, if you are the owner of an insurance agency in Tanzania, you could create one landing page that says ‘Insurance Broker Dar-es-Salaam’ or ‘Insurance Broker Mwanza’. This will help more people find your business.
Shoot YouTube tutorials showcasing how your business works
Use Instagram Hashtags to increase followers
Write bilingual posts in English and Swahili to reach as many people as possible
If you have a consumer business in Tanzania, create a Pinterest profile to post pictures of your products and link back to your website.
Create a digital marketing strategy for 2019 for your Tanzanian business by focusing on where your customers are
Work with influencers in Tanzania to encourage more direct sales and follows for your brand
Do A/B testing to see which marketing platforms work best for you

These 21 digital marketing ideas will work beautifully for Tanzanian companies and startups that are looking to grow user bases, revenues and profitability. For more awesome ideas, email kagem [at] imperial-drive.com.

An image showcasing pencils and notebooks highlighting the thoughts you need to come up with ideas on how to increase blog traffic — Boost your blog traffic exponentially in 2019

Increasing blog traffic for your company’s blog or any blog that you are building seems difficult because you need to have the ideas, tips and strategies on how to actually boost blog traffic. In this feature, you are going to learn all of the key tools that you need to boost blog traffic significantly. If you need more ideas or you are stuck on how to increase your website traffic specifically, contact me on kagem [at] imperial-drive.com.

Step 1 – Use Pinterest to boost referral traffic

Pinterest is an excellent source of traffic growth for your blog

If you are not already using Pinterest to grow your traffic, you are missing out on millions of users that might be interested in the content on your website. You should be doing manual pinning every single day and you should also be scheduling posts. I helped one of my clients increase their traffic via Pinterest and I have learned the power that Pinterest has when it comes to growing blog and website traffic. Pinterest works very well for blogs and websites in the consumer space specifically. If you have an e-commerce or online business, you need to use Pinterest. I like doing at least 20 manual pin uploads per day in conjunction with the scheduled posts for clients in addition to writing rich descriptions that inspire people to click through.

Step 2 – Be consistent

You need to create content on a consistent schedule if you are going to generate organic leads through your blog. Consistency means different things to different types of businesses. I would suggest B2B companies update their blog 2-3 per week while B2C companies should be writing updates every single day in order to keep organic traffic coming through.

Step 3 – Use Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories is a goldmine for generating referral traffic for blogs. If you are trying to make your blog traffic explode, you should be updating Instagram Stories every single day in order to see results. Your Stories should be unique content that isn’t found elsewhere.

Step 4 – Improve on-page SEO

On-page SEO needs to be improved significantly on your blog if you want to see improvements in blog traffic. One trick I like is focus on fixing alt text and image descriptions for your images so that people can use image search to find your content easily. Never forget fixing on-page SEO on every single page and blog post because it can hurt your organic rankings.

Step 5 – Write things that people want to read and share

It is really that simple. If you are trying to grow your B2B business in accounting for large commercial firms, you still need to remember your clients are people and people want to read captivating content that captures their attention fully. Write headlines that have short URLs and use numbers in your headlines in order to get more organic traffic to your website.

Growing blog traffic requires patience and a strategy. You need to follow these 5 steps for 30, 60 and 90 days consistently to see increases in your blog traffic. For more awesome ideas, contact me on kagem [at] imperial-drive.com

Question – How do I find a good and talented website design firm in Tanzania without overspending?

This is a question that I get a lot from clients and it is one that people are right to ask because finding excellent website designers in Tanzania is not as easy as it looks. The talent is here but it can be a minefield finding the designers or web design firms that can create an excellent website for you without you having to spend a big amount of money.

When you are looking for website design firms in Tanzania, take a look at the following things:

All credible web designers will require a deposit. Deposits allow for smoother transition when it comes to actually creating a website because the designer knows that you are serious about having the work done
Tanzanian web designers should be able to make a website from scratch. The more you are paying for a website, the more you should require the website is made from scratch.
Always ask your website designers in Tanzania if they have specialisms such as creating e-commerce websites or standard company websites.
Enquire if your web designers are also going to add a SEO package so that your website can be found via search engines such as Google and Bing. This can cost more money but it is worth it.
Ensure that your web designers are bilingual because if your website is going to be in English, it needs to be free of all spelling mistakes. Many Tanzanian websites have a lot of spelling mistakes in English which can be very embarrassing. Double check that your website designers are fully fluent in English before hiring them.

If you are looking for excellent website design without huge price tags, call or WhatsApp +255 784 153 603 to gain access to awesome website designers who can make the website of your dreams.

How to grow your email list in 2019

Your email list is the most important aspect of your lead generation for 2019. You can spend a lot of money on ads but if you don’t grow your email list, you are leaving money on the table. Look at these top tips from Imperial Drive about how you can build and grow your email newsletter.

Benefits of growing your email list

Generate repeat business from your old and new clients who have subscribed
Cultivate a strong B2B brand with your email list

5 tips for growing your email list

Write an email newsletter consistent – If you are going to write an email newsletter for your company, stay consistent with your publishing schedule. Send it weekly or monthly depending on what type of B2B business you are doing.
Use the right software – Mailchimp and ConvertKit work well with B2B while Klaviyo is good for B2C e-commerce companies.
Create incredible content that inspires your list – You should be writing fascinating and vibrant content that makes your email list subscribers say ‘Wow’. For B2C companies, this means sharing lifestyle content. For B2B, share case studies in your email list and strategies that enrich and help your email list.
Cross sell services in a unique way – Use your email list to generate revenue in a fresh and unique way without annoying subscribers. For example, send one email a week full of information and content then send one sales email that encourages people to buy your products and services.
Encourage people to sign up to your list – Have well made pop-ups or email sign up links such as this one that I use that inspire people to sign up for your email newsletter. Remember you don’t want to be irritating or annoying – just helpful so that people can get your newsletter.

Ultimately growing your email list requires you to be serious and determined when it comes to writing, designing and promoting your email list. I regularly do free email newsletter audits for B2B and B2C companies. Get in touch at kagem [at] imperial-drive.com if your email list isn’t working for you.

Top strategy for using business credit cards properly

If you are trying to grow your small business, you probably want access to credit. This strategy should only be used if you are good with money and if you don’t overspend within your business. I regularly ask my clients who they spend their marketing budget and a few of them follow this strategy – the ones that do are happy. Here we go:

STEP 1 – Use small business credit cards to pay for online advertising

I have a detailed list of the best small business credit cards that you can get if you sign up for my newsletter. I think small business credit cards are best used to pay for your advertising and marketing spend only. This allows you to rack up a lot of points. This strategy works beautifully if you are a UK, US or EU based business because of how popular credit cards in these Western regions. If you plan to spend a lot of money on Facebook and Google Ads, you could divide your spending by business credit card depending on the offer that the banks are giving you.

STEP 2 – Set up repayment reminders in your phone

You have to be aggressively focused on repaying your credit card in full to avoid any problems with the growth of your small business. I tell clients to put reminders 2 days before the bill is due to repay the debts that you have incurred with your cashflow or revenues. By having payment reminders in your phone, you take more ownership over paying your bills on time.

Step 3 – Don’t be afraid to ask for limit increases

It’s important to get limit increases so that you can advertise freely as long as you are not spending recklessly for your business. I talk about this in detail in my exclusive email newsletter – ask for limit increases if you want to supercharge the growth of your small business.

Want to know which are the best business credit cards for your business? Get in touch with me and I’ll share my ultimate recommendations for US, UK and EU businesses.

How to start a business in 2019: The Complete Guide – Part 2

In Part 1, I talked about how to set up your first online business. In Part 2, I am going to go into detail about how to manage your marketing budget for your business so that your business can grow and flourish.

CREATE A MARKETING BUDGET THAT YOU CAN AFFORD

B2C companies need to spend more money on advertising compared to B2B companies. If you are starting an e-commerce business, get ready to spend up to $1,000 in advertising in order to test and understand who your target market is. I always suggest that clients have around $2,000 available to grow an online business that is targeting the consumer market. $2,000 in marketing should allow you to generate at least more than $10,000 in revenues as long as you know what you are doing.

B2B companies can advertise with less money but you will be spending more on cost per click and more to acquire leads. I think it’s better to spend money hiring good sales people who can hit the phones aggressively and you can have a smaller content marketing budget in order to create organic leads. For exclusive case studies on creating a solid marketing budget, get my exclusive newsletter here.

ORGANISE YOUR MARKETING BUDGET’S FINANCES

Don’t go broke when it comes to spending money on marketing and advertising. If you are someone who overspends, always settle your balance before the end of the month when you are advertising on Google Adwords, Facebook or Instagram. This allows you to stay accountable when it comes to the finances of your online business.

I suggest focused entrepreneurs to have a separate business credit card for advertising only and always pay it off at the end of the month to avoid racking up debts. Don’t mix your personal finances with your marketing budget. For solid help, get in touch via email for excellent help.

GET A RETURN ON AD SPEND ASAP

You need to have a decent ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) to justify spending money on online advertising platforms. I’ve seen clients get ROAS of up to x10 when using the methods that I suggest. The best way to get ROAS like this is create excellent copy and visuals that encourage people to buy online.

In Part 3 of how to start your own business, you will learn the importance of the mindset that you need to have and the hard work you need to put in to make your business become successful. Love what you are reading? Get in touch via email and get our newsletter.

Corporate

Category: Corporate