by Lyn Lomasi; Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

As a website domain owner, it's important to stay informed on the most current ways to keep it in front of the most people at all times. Part of that involves using measurement tools to see what your website looks like to outside sources that may be used to find you. Therefore, you may be wondering what is my domain authority? Learn how to find your domain authority, learn what is domain authority and page authority,  what is a good domain authority, and more.

Ranking on or near the first page with the biggest search engines is essential to getting your website seen. Domain authority is a score developed by Moz that measures your ability to rank on the search engine result pages (SERPs). This score ranged from 1 to 100, with 100 being the best score possible and 1 being the lowest.

To check domain authority, you'll need to use a domain rating checker. The Moz Link Explorer is the best place to find your domain authority or the page authority of any given page on your website. Many online marketing platforms and SEO tools will quote your website’s domain authority. This useful tool will provide the domain authority ranking, which will be a number between 1 and 100. 

New websites always begin with a DA score of 1. As a website gains high-quality backlinks to it over time, this score will gradually increase. Keep in mind that because it’s figured on a logarithmic scale, it’s much easier to get to 10 than it is to 20, and so on. In order to track your progress, you’ll want to check domain authority history and use a domain rating checker periodically to check and log your current score.

What is a good domain authority? A “good” DA score for a website is one that is higher than that website’s competitors in search. It all depends on what the website you’re trying to rank is about. In some niches, a 20 or 30 is a good score if your competitors in search rank below 20. Other niches will require that you have a DA of over 70 to even have a good chance to appear on the first page of Google.

Domain authority is a predictive metric. It should be used to compare competing websites or tracking the ranking of a certain site over time. It’s not an absolute metric. Also, while DA is not an official metric used by Google itself, it is recognized as a benchmark that other SEO tools refer to all the time.

What is domain authority and page authority and how do each of these relate to each other? Page authority looks at the ranking strength of individual pages on a website. It’s ranked the same way, but compares individual pages in search results instead. So, you could have a website with a low DA but have individual pages with much higher PA (page authority).

Because DA is an approximation based on many different factors that Google uses in ranking websites, it’s difficult to influence it directly. As a general rule, you should focus on building high-quality backlinks. Track and log your domain authority ranking often. Then, check domain authority history periodically to see how you're doing. This will help you find patterns in what is increasing your score.

There could be many reasons your DA would change, some of which are out of your control. The first and most common reason for it to change is that Moz recently crawled more or fewer domains that were linking back to your domain. It can change based on the number of links, as well as the quality of said backlinks. The DA also may have changed because of a higher authority domain having its score raised or reduced. This can change the ranking of other indexed domains in the category, including yours. 

The easiest way to improve your domain authority is to create content that people want to link to. Also, making sure backlinks use keyword rich anchor text is important. Keeping track of your link profile and disallowing poor quality links with Google’s Disavow Tool also helps. DA is not something you can change overnight, so you have to continue to work on it.

In short, your domain authority ranking will tell you where you are in relation to competitors. Tracking it frequently will help you learn how much you are improving or of your score drops. To search for your domain authority score, use a domain checker, such as Moz Link Explorer. Improve your score by gaining quality backlinks from reputable sources.

Need help with proper SEO for search and/or increasing DA or PA? Hire Us!

When working on search engine optimization (SEO) for your website, it's important to consider not only your on-page content. Search engines don't only look at the content on your pages. They also consider off-page backlinks and mentions. The difference between these search ranking factors are grouped into on-page SEO and off-page SEO.

Content and metadata - such as keyword phrases in page text, title tags, and meta descriptions - on your website are what are known as "on-page SEO." Also included in on-page SEO are any links to internal pages and the anchor text used on them.

Links coming to your website from other places, as well as mentions of your website, are part of what is known as "off-page SEO." In fact, off-page SEO counts far more towards your search engine ranking than what is actually on your own pages.

There are many examples of sites that don't necessarily have the best search optimized content. Yet, some websites rank well in search results due to excellent off-page SEO. These rankings become based on lots of well-optimized back-links on other higher-ranked websites.

Many people think that off-page SEO is out of their control and that on-page SEO is all you can really do. However, there are cases where you can easily do something about it. Off-page optimization is quite a broad topic that can span dozens of articles. So, for now, let’s get you started with some quick and easy ways to optimize both your on-page SEO and off-page SEO.


On-Page SEO Needs Search Optimized Page Titles

First and foremost, your website's page titles should be concise as possible. Keyword stuffing is a big no-no, yet people still do it. It's harder today to get away with it and rank well in search. That's because  Google and Bing in particular are constantly working on fighting keyword stuffing. Other search engines are adjusting their own algorithms, as well.

In any case, you want the keywords most relevant to the page's content in the first two or three words of the page's title. Oftentimes, you don't even really need your own organization's name upfront. You'll likely rank highly for your site’s name anyhow on account of your domain name, plus the fact that your name should certainly be included on every page of your site.


What's the Best Home Page Title for SEO?

Of course, the most important page title on your website is that of your home page. Firstly, the worst possible thing for any website – and it happens far too often - is to have “Home” or “Home Page” then your site name as your page titles. That doesn't help the search engines at all, so that’s the first thing you want to avoid.

So, your home page title needs to say what you do and what you need to be found for by searchers. These terms need to beright up front for search engines to work for you. It’s a simple change that can work wonders, especially if no one has optimized well for certain keyword phrases related to your blog or business.

Say you’re a Used Car Dealer in Walla Walla, Washington. You’d want your home page title to be something like "Used Car Dealer in Walla Walla, Washington, Bob's Autos" or something to that effect. Especially with local search, using a location if you happen to be dealing with a particular geographical area is huge for showing up in the top few results of a given search.

But, if you aren't a local business, it becomes very important to identify the niche you can most easily reach online. You can do some simple keyword research with a free tool such as Ubersuggest, which will give you some ideas for terms you may want to use.

The highest volume search terms are typically the hardest to compete for, so if you can, find keyword phrases that most other similar sites to your haven't used. Just make sure that it's still super relevant and that you actually then include the terms from your home page title in the page's content.



How Often Should I Use My Keywords in My Home Page Copy?

Once you've decided on one or two keyword phrases to focus on with your home page title, mention them at least a couple of times on your home page. However, you do not want them so blatantly featured that it's downright obvious that you're just trying to rank for it.

There doesn't seem to be a "magic number" of times that you need to mention your keywords. But, mentioning your most important keyword phrases in at least a few instances on your home page is a good idea. While there isn't a magic number, SEO experts suggest you shouldn't use any one keyword phrase in more than one to three percent of your page copy.

In your home page copy, you want to have a couple of paragraphs to introduce the site to both visitors and search engines, but nothing too lengthy. Remember, you always need to write for your visitors first and the search engines second. Your website copy needs to read naturally, and search engine algorithms are continuously getting better at understanding when keywords are being unnaturally used.


Internal Links Are Vital For Good On-Page SEO

One very important SEO tip to keep in mind is to make sure to not use "Click Here" when linking to an internal page. Years ago, people felt it was necessary to say Click Here as a call to action. Today, you will see Call to Action images using this phrase, but the actual link will not include those words.

Here's why it's important to focus your link's text. Say that you have a lot of used Dodge mini-vans. You want that link to say "Find great deals on Dodge Mini-Vans here!” That way, you let search engine spiders that crawl your website to know that the page is relevant for "Dodge" and "mini-vans." But, it also includes the word "deals" which is often used when people are searching for great deals.

Ideally, you'd only want the text link to say "Dodge Mini-Van Deals" but having a call-to-action on the link makes visitors far more likely to actually follow it. You could just put the link on the "deals on Dodge Mini-Vans"  and bold that part, but in either case, it still includes the keywords.

Also, it's important to limit the number of internal links you use on any given page outside of your navigation. Only link to the most relevant pages, and make sure you let the search engines know what those links are about.

Now that we've covered some off-page SEO basics, let's look into ways you can identify good off-page SEO.


Off-Page SEO Needs Good and Relevant Backlink Anchor Text

Having hyperlink text tell search engines what the page it's linking to is about, is even more important in off-page SEO. If you use a tool like Google Webmaster Tools or other free tools out there that tell you about the domains that link to your site, take a look at a few of your off-site links. See how they link to your website and what text they use on the hyperlink itself.

It may be that many of those backlinks will either just have your homepage URL or say "Website". Yes, the link is nice to have, but for search engine optimization purposes it's more useless than it first appears. Technically, these are good links to have if you're getting a lot of click-throughs from them. But, those links are not doing as much work as they could be. After all, you want the search engines to give your site credit for certain keywords, not just your own name, your URL, or "website."

Say you're have a lumber company – we’ll call it "Dad's Building Supply." Many current links to Dad’s website probably use the text of the company name, instead of simply the site URL. At least search engines will recognize that this site is relevant for the words "building" and "supply," which are perfectly good keywords people will use in search.  

Unfortunately, many of those links could well simply say "WEBSITE" or "CLICK HERE." These links won’t help you one bit as far as keyword strategies are concerned. In many cases, it can be difficult to get websites  to change how they link to things. However, there are plenty of ways to gain new link “juice” with minimal effort.

Say that “Dad’s Building Supply” has some key customers that link to your website from their website. Make sure that they at least put your company name in any hyperlink text, at the very least. You want to make sure they don’t only use your logo to link to you – as many have tended to do in the past when mentioning partners. If they do use images, be sure that the image's anchor text has the desired keywords - which works much the same way as the hyperlink text.

Better yet, it can't hurt to ask if you could have them say something like "Building materials supplied by Dad's Building Supply in Somewhere, USA" on their Suppliers page. That helps you most for "building materials" while also having "Somewhere, USA" in there, which is fantastic for local search optimization. It's very possible to take links you already have and make them actually work better for you. Also, believe it or not, even if no one ever clicks on that link, the search engines will still find it relevant and give you credit for it.


Make Sure Off-Page Links Are Relevant to Your Website

The most important thing to consider, however, is to not just stick hyperlinks wherever you can put them. You want to make sure that you seek out links on sites similar to yours or in related industries. It's OK if someone outside of your industry is offering to link to you on occasion, especially if it's some partnership or sponsorship opportunity.  But, be sure about the quality of those organization's websites before you bother accepting those links. You want to build links naturally.

Sometimes, some SEO specialists will ask you to hunt down every possible link you can get, and this is not always the soundest strategy. Most search engines, especially Google, frown on building lots of irrelevant links and can penalize your site quite harshly depending on the severity of the offense. This is why many off-page links have become tagged with the "nofollow" term. This means that search engines will still follow the links, but not pass on "link juice" to your site.

Keeping such penalties in mind, it’s extremely important to find out who links to you without the "nofollow" tags. If there is someone to contact at those websites, it can't hurt to politely ask them to alter the hyperlink text slightly. Or, if they're highly irrelevant, ask for the link to be removed.

What some SEO experts may call "link pruning" is a relatively simple way to increase your SEO without much work on your part. It's essentially addition by subtraction. You won’t always get responses, but even if just a few make the changes, those newly optimized links (or even removed links on poor quality websites) can go a long way toward helping your own search rankings.

While SEO is not always quality over quantity when it comes to links, having 1,000 links with "Website" and 100 links with "your keywords here" is quite different. You most certainly want to have more of the latter.


“No-Follow” Tagged Links VS "Dofollow" Links

Now that we know about the "nofollow" links, we know where to focus our link building efforts. Does this mean that it’s not worth seeking out links in directories that use "nofollow" tags? Believe it or not, it's perfectly fine to use directories. That's even true if the hyperlinks that point to you are direct links without "nofollow" tags.  However, your only real benefit is potentially getting new visitors from the directory's own audience. There isn't a direct SEO benefit, even if they do help you get found on occasion.

So, while links with "nofollow" tags still count as links to your site, they don’t give you the SEO boost outside of new potential visitors from the linking website. That being said, if the hyperlinks can give you the ability to gain keyword traction, the relevancy still helps your efforts on a strategic level. Just having your business name mentioned, and not a generic “Website” or URL link, can help the reach of your name. While mentions aren't nearly as quantifiable from a technical SEO standpoint, they do seem to help over time organically as people stumble across these mentions.

There's a great free tool to check if a page has nofollow tags on their links: No-Follow Finder from Get Rank. This can help you determine whether it's worth pursuing somewhere you don't already have a link. If they do, and they categorize their listings well enough, a free listing, even with less than perfect hyperlink text, is OK to get. But ideally, you want websites that let you use hyperlink text in your company description without "nofollow" tags being attached. 

In 2020, those sites who offer 'dofollow' backlinks have become few and far between, but they do still exist. Your best bet are working with the websites of vendors and clients you already deal with and trust. They will likely be more relevant to your business anyway and are easier to find. While it's important to not simply reciprocate links on a regular basis - as this is against Google's Terms of Service - it's not explicitly forbidden to do so if the links make sense and are done naturally over time.


Are Online Directories That Charge for "DoFollow" Links Worth the Investment for Off-Page SEO?

There are some online directories charge you to have their links changed to “dofollow” links. Some even will allow you to put your own optimized hyperlinks in your profile. It's up to you whether  you decide to pay them or not.

My personal advice is to go just with what's free first. However, if you're also convinced that said listing will get you a lot of click-through traffic that sticks around and converts, and it does so, a tiny investment may be worth it in the long term. However, do some research about these sites first. Find out if these directories are just taking people's money with the promise of new traffic, but not really delivering on that promise.


On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO Are Equally Important

In any case, on-page SEO is important. But, unless you have the outside links that tell the search engines to give you authority on given keywords, it’s likely you won't get found enough for search to work for you. Your off-page and on-page content optimization efforts must be in sync. 
Just focusing on a strategy to rank for high traffic keywords with on-page content alone is rarely going to be enough. Even if you could rank with on-page SEO alone, having the links helps authority with the search engines and makes you more trusted.


The more good and valuable links that you have out on the web, the more likely it is you’ll get far more quality traffic. While on-page SEO can work well for your search rankings in some niches, the former plan is a smarter route and long-term should be the way to go.

If you need copywriting for SEO and/or SEO editing for your blog or website, see what the Denver branding agency Brand Shamans and their SEO Consultants can do for you today!

by  R.A. Rowell; SEO Professional

In recent years, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has experienced a slow, but steady transition from focusing on simply optimizing websites for search engines to the actual user experience. It's a good trend, honestly, because search engine rankings are certainly not everything. What good is a search engine ranking if people click through to your site and don't bother to read your content?

Of course, you're not only looking to get visitors to read content. You're hopefully looking to convert some into subscribers. This is why it's so important to have the very best searcher experience possible.


Understand How Your Audience Finds Your Website

The best way to know how to get visitors to your sites is by understanding the many different ways that potential readers and subscribers will find your website. These days, you have social media accounting for a great deal of website referral traffic. This is why it has become so paramount to have a Facebook fan page and a Twitter profile (at the very least) to get your message out there. 

By seeing what sort of people regularly follow your blog on Facebook and Twitter, you get more of an idea of what sort of content they are looking for. Knowing your audience is a key part of any SEO strategy. Ranking on the first page of Google search results for some high search volume keywords is great, but not if those aren’t the keywords that your target audience uses to find solutions to their problems.


The Importance of Having Your Own Domain for SEO and Brand Authority

Back when I started in SEO around 2010, many people, even small businesses, commonly used free Wordpress blogs. While it's okay to have your blog on a free platform, especially now in 2020, it's far better to put it on your own domain. Many web-hosts allow people to install Wordpress for free on their own websites, and it’s easy enough to import an existing free WordPress site - if you already had one.

There’s also Weebly who offers free to extremely reasonably priced web hosting with one of the best do-it-yourself website builders out there.  Wix and Squarespace also have free options which you can later upgrade. While you can certainly get organic traffic with a free website - thanks to the authority of the wordpress, weebly, wixsite, etc. domains -  it’s not often going to get you to rank for the same quality of keywords you really want to optimize for in the long run.

Having your own domain not only helps your authority with search engines, but it also makes you look better to users. If you have a company blog that’s not on your own domain, it might make people wonder why you couldn’t integrate it into your existing domain. 

In 2020, offering the best user experience means having your own domain, because literally anyone with an internet connection and an email account can create a free website! Showing that you’re willing to at least in a domain name is always a good idea.


What is Relevant Content for Both Your Users and Search Engines?

In the old days, all you had to do was post content regularly – at the very least once per week - around the keywords you wanted to be found for in search. But, it’s not just about writing and sharing content that people want. You want to make sure that your incoming search traffic – and social media traffic – is really getting what they’re looking for.

So, what do you post to your blog? You need to make your site more relevant in the eyes (or rather, to the spiders) of search engines. But you also need to make it more relevant in the eyes of those who may end up clicking on your website link in the search engine results pages.

The first part is easy: Do you answer their questions and/or do you fulfill their needs? Here's the part that isn't quite so easy: how do you make them feel? It's a proven fact that if you make people feel better by easing their concerns or solving a nagging problem that they may have, they're a lot more likely to remember you for that. Emotional value is everything for human beings. Since 99% of your readers will likely be human beings, that’s who you have to write for.


Keyword Strategies are Important, But They Are Only the Beginning

Obviously, keyword strategies are still incredibly important. But, you have to constantly build content on your website not only surrounding these keywords, but establishing a presence of authority and trust around them. You need to become a trustworthy personality who is knowledgeable about your site’s subjects. This is known as becoming a "thought leader."

You may not think of yourself as a thought leader in your chosen field, but you may be surprised how much you can be once you start answering the questions that you may get every day on your blog. It may sound simple, but if there's a need, and you fulfill that need, you might just find that a blog post a day keeps the searchers coming your way. Even if you can't blog every day, it's important to at least remain consistent, and keep an open dialogue with your audience.

Yes, it’s important to have a keyword strategy to fall back on. After all, that’s what helps you write a catchy title tag and meta description that’s also keyword-rich. But, when you get people to click through from Google, social media, or elsewhere, you want them to read all the way through AND get people to want to read more.


Being Consistent with Your Content is Key, But It's OK to Switch Things Up

While it’s important to be consistent in the type of content that you post to your website, if your strategy isn’t working, be sure to switch things up. You don’t want to look like a robot – even when things are working, switch things up for variety. People love surprises. 

Even a successful website will introduce a guest blogger or take a very new direction for a day or two just to offer some new perspective. Recycling old content by taking a completely different angle does this well. It’s fine to repurpose and recycle content, and people will appreciate your innovativeness often without really realizing it.

The purpose of any website is to provide information, advice and assistance to those people who are interested in what you have to share. Every site should strive to eventually build a community. You want people from all walks of life and many different fields and industries who can share common interests and experiences around your content. 

Building community around your content, both on social media and in comments, makes it clear to searchers and social media surfers that you are doing your best to offer a great user experience. Content creation doesn't always have to be cut and dry, and most of the time, you simply can't be. You've got to be there for people. It's the only way to win the minds (and hopefully the hearts) of your potential fans. 

So, while throwing bait for the search engine spiders to crawl is great, in the end it’s all about serving up a great user experience. Google especially likes content that’s shared often on social media. But, most importantly, search engines most appreciate sites that don’t create quick bounces from search queries. Keep people on your website by providing a great user experience and you will be rewarded!

by  R.A. Rowell; Author Extraordinaire

Is it true some kids just don’t like to read? Parents, librarians, teachers, and others are always looking for books to turn reluctant readers into avid ones. There are hundreds of children’s books out there that come recommended for that purpose.

But, perhaps you’re thinking of writing a children’s book yourself in order to get more children, even your own, more into reading. Over the years, children’s book writers have discovered eight key elements that make for children’s books loved by all. If you can work even three of these elements in your children’s book manuscript, you will have a great children’s book that could well be enjoyed by even the most reluctant readers.


Great Children’s Books Need Humor

While we all need some humor in our lives, making kids laugh is an important part of building a child’s interest in reading. This is because laughter helps create positive associations with reading. But, you need to aim the type of humor at the expected audience of the book, as different humor works best for different age groups.

• In picture books meant for children ages 0-6, humor should very visual and broad
• In easy readers and picture books for ages 6 and up, you can introduce verbal humor such as double meanings, puns, and other wordplay
• In chapter books, kids will be able to handle jokes with a setup and payoff that plays out over several scenes.

At any age, dialogue and character’s other interactions can be made innately humorous. Characters clearly having fun with their surroundings, situations, and with one another make for much livelier reading.


Great Children’s Books Need Well-Defined Characters

One of the main keys of a great children’s book is having characters that kids can identify strongly with right away. This is particularly essential for reluctant readers. No matter what the character looks like on the outside - whether he or she is an alien, a clown, or a talking dog - that character needs to embody the perspective of a child from within.

The best way to create these well-defined characters is to look at issues and situations that children may face in their own lives. It also involves the characters seeing the world in a childlike way. Just like any good character in any great book, children’s book characters must have multidimensional personalities. This means they have strengths and weaknesses, that may be more clearly defined in kids’ books than in books meant for older audiences, where those strengths and weaknesses may be more subtle. The characters need to feel real enough for kids to care about them and want to follow them throughout the story.

What about nonfiction books for kids? In particular, great biographies for children will often focus on elements of the subject’s life that are relevant to their target audience. They will make the person like someone they could know in their own lives and even be friends with, which makes historical personalities a lot easier for kids to like and follow.

Then, what do you do with nonfiction books on certain subjects such as events or fields of study? Great children’s nonfiction books usually use a character or characters that explore those subjects along with their readers. That way, readers are literally learning alongside the characters in the book.


Great Children’s Books Need a Fast-Paced Plot

Kids who love reading don’t mind reading through a few chapters to watch the story unfold. On the other hand, reluctant readers will easily lose patience. Many great children’s books start with the action by the very first paragraph. By the end of the first chapter, readers should know a lot about the main character or characters. The main conflict or problem that the characters face should also be very clear.

Once you get up to chapter books, having subplots is fine. But, be careful not to have too many subplots. Otherwise, having the story branch off into too many directions will get in the way of moving the story forward. You want to write a page-turner, one that sticks to the main characters and the central conflict or problem.


Great Children’s Books Have Concise Chapters

In children’s books, each chapter should only contain one clear event. In nonfiction, each chapter should only cover one specific point. Also, each chapter should have a clear story arc of its own: a beginning, a middle, and an end. That means if a child only wants to read a chapter at a time, it will still be satisfying to the reader. But, if the chapter ends on a high note, it may entice even reluctant readers to read more to see what happens.

Another way to go with children’s books is to create what are called episodic novels. In these books, each chapter stands alone as a short story. These are actually sometimes done in adult books, as well. But in kids’ books, they are obviously much more simplified. Having a book full of short stories, even if they are connected in some way, make it easy for kids who can only sit still that long still get something out of reading.


Great Children’s Books Must Be Relevant to Children

It’s extremely important to make sure that the ideas and themes that form the basis of a kids’ book plot must be meaningful, relevant and applicable to the reader’s own life. This is especially true of nonfiction, too. Kids’ stories need to be told from a kid’s frame of reference, not from an adult perspective. Also, remember that not every kid’s book needs to have a lesson. Some books can be just for fun. Just like with any writing, write to your audience, not at them.


Great Children’s Books Should Have Suitable, But Challenging Narrative

Children’s books are meant to be a way for young readers to develop their reading skills. So, they need to be written in a challenging but not overwhelming way. Use active sentences with concrete nouns and verbs, which will help tell the story as clear as possible. When writing for a broad range of writers, such as ages six to eight or nine to twelve, you will want to make the vocabulary accessible to the younger end of the age range, but still keep it appealing for readers at the older end of the range.

Many children’s books are written with very specific ages in min. That way, they can be written with a particular focus on the target audience’s reading skills and vocabulary. Trying to aim at too large of an age range, say ages six to twelve, could leave older readers feeling bored or younger readers confused.


Great Children’s Books Should Present Topics in a New & Unusual Way

Especially with nonfiction, children’s books should appeal to a child’s personal interests. In fact, many reluctant readers will choose nonfiction over fiction for that very reason. Still, whether your children’s book is fiction or nonfiction, it’s very possible to blend the two by taking topics your child is interested in, but presenting them in a new and unusual way. In fact, this is the very reason that many children’s books are written in the first place.

Some of the best children’s books, fiction or nonfiction, will find a new or unusual slant to even topics that have been done again and again. Whatever approach is taken, using humor and fun while sneaking in some educational value is usually a recipe for an awesome kid’s book.


Great Children’s Books Must Have Visual Appeal

Books can be intimidating for some kids. So, the more visual appeal that a book has, the more likely a kid will want to read it. While not all authors have a say in a book’s design, especially when traditionally published, self-published authors and author/illustrators might. Some elements that add visual appeal to children’s books include:

• Generous use of white space
• Illustrations elaborating upon the text
• Larger typeface

Anything that breaks up text or makes the string of words less intimidating for young readers works very well in picture books. Some chapter books can have multiple illustrations, too, which can help more reluctant readers who appreciate the added visual elements.

If you can produce a great children’s book manuscript with all eight of these elements, you may easily have a bestselling children’s book on your hands. Even if you can just work in the majority of these elements in some way, you are much more likely to have even reluctant readers enjoy your work. After all, you want your book to inspire more kids to read.

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If you're looking for someone to get your children's book off the ground, check out Intent to Read Publishing. Intent to Read takes care of ALL your book and author needs from start to finish. And we won't charge you the price of buying a new home to do it. We believe that publishing and marketing services for talented authors should be both accessible and affordable.

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

I worked in retail for about 10 years. Five of that I’ve spent as an assistant manager. Managing retail employees brings with it its own challenges and rewards, and it takes a specific skill set to be successful as a retail manager. Here are the five most important skills of a retail manager:


1. Listen

The most important skill a retail manager can bring to the table is the ability to listen. Retail employees come from a variety of backgrounds; poor, middle class, educated, uneducated. As a manager, you have to be able to listen to all of their stories, ideas, issues, and complaints without being judgmental. You have to be able to offer advice and consolation. You have to be able to detox them from their home lives and focus them on the tasks at hand.


2. Communicate

The second most important skill a retail manager can bring to the table is communication. With communication comes motivation. You have to be able to speak positively and clearly, provide guidance and instruction. These things are paramount to getting the job done. An employee many not understand why a specific shelf needs reset. It is the manager’s job to explain why the shelf is being reset, how it will be reset, and what the end goals are.


3. Be Visible and Approachable

A retail manager must also be visible and approachable. This means being out on the sales floor. If an associate has a question or concern, they need to be able to find the manager without searching the entire store. Most of the questions a retail manager receives are time sensitive.


4. Be Knowledgeable

A retail manager must also be knowledgeable. They have to know their job, but they must also know every other job in the store and be able to explain it, train it, and troubleshoot it. At my last position, we often had problems with the photo software and printer. Assessing the situation quickly was paramount. We always had a long line of customers waiting to see their photos. A paper jam had to be fixed within a matter of minutes. A missing photo had to be found within the same timeframe. Since I was the manager, it was my job to fix it as quickly as possible.


5. Be Helpful

Finally, a retail manager must be willing to help with any task. My own personal motto has always been “I will not ask an employee to do anything that I would not be willing to do myself.” This includes taking out the trash, cleaning bathrooms, resetting and stocking shelves, and running cash registers during times of high customer volume. It speaks volumes to both employees and customers when a manager is willing to do even the most remedial of tasks.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

There are numerous ways to start and run a business. Some ways cost more than others. For my own business, I had no budget and no money. This meant that I had to be very creative when it came to start up costs.

No Outside Office

While I would love my own office in an office building, typical rates for a small office in my area are $18 a square foot. That's $5400 dollars a month for office space not including furniture or equipment. Instead of renting an office, I looked at my living room, rearranged the furniture, took the dining room table out to the storage closet, and made due with the space I had in my home.

No Employees

I am my only employee at the moment. That doesn't mean I won't need an employee in the future, but until I have more income than I need and more work than I can handle, I don't need an employee. The lack of an employee saves me $290 dollars a month at minimum wage, not counting the employment taxes I would spend if I hired an employee.

Office Furniture

When I decided to start my business, I had one computer desk and my computer took up the entire desk. I went out and bought another small computer desk for $40 dollars so that I would have a place to spread out and organize my papers.

Backup Computer

Six months into my business, I realized that I need a new computer, but instead of buying a new computer at a retail store, I enlisted the help of my father who can build computers. Instead of spending $600 on a new computer, he built me one for $200 which is a savings of $400.

Existing Website

Prior to starting my business, I had a website, domain name, and hosting account that wasn't doing anything productive. In fact, I had barely set the pages up. Upon starting my business, I took the existing website and changed it to meet my business needs.

In the first six months of my new business, I spent exactly $240 dollars. Since I earned more than that, my business was profitable already. It's entirely due to the fact that I decided on a home office with my existing furniture and no employees other than myself. By doing those things, I have saved myself thousands of dollars in start up costs.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

Being self-employed has its rewards. I can sleep as late as I want. I can go to the gym when and how often I want, and I can take care of family obligations on the fly. Doing those things means a lot to me, but since I am self-employed, I have to be careful with my budget. This means that I have to plan ahead for equipment failures, and the most important piece of equipment in my office is my computer. Unfortunately, I only have one desktop computer. If it breaks, I can’t earn any money.


Plan ahead for equipment failures

Once I ordered a refurbished computer from Staples. It was exactly what I needed for a backup computer; full sized case, expansion slots, 1gigabyte of ram, 250 gigs of hard drive space, and a Pentium 4 processor. I ordered it Monday night. It arrived Friday which was perfect. I had scheduled my main computer to go to my brother for the weekend for a total refurb.

I pull the refurbished computer out of the box. I plugged it in, connected the keyboard, mouse, and my extra monitor. I turned it on. The fan started spinning immediately. I noticed right away that it sounded like a 737. If I had a TV, I would not have been able to hear it over the sound of the fan. Strike one against the refurbished computer.

I waited for the computer to boot and tell me something, but the monitor reflected nothing and went to sleep. I turned off the monitor and turned it back on. No signal. I put the XP disk in the computer drive and rebooted. I waited. The refurbished computer never booted, and due to the noise of the fan, I couldn’t tell if the hard drive was working at all. I doubted it was since it had been clanking around in the case during shipment.

I had to take the computer back to Staples. It didn’t work. Had I needed that computer right then, I would have been running to Walmart to buy their cheapest desktop which runs around $298.00. The price difference between the refurb and the cheapest computer at Walmart is over $100 dollars. That’s $100 wasted.


Find someone who can fix it

If my computer were to break, I could take it to my brother and he can fix it. However, it might take him a week to diagnose the problem, fix the computer, and get it back to me. I can’t wait a week for a new computer, but it’s nice to know that my brother can fix it, and he’d do it for the cost of parts and lunch.


Find someone who can build it

Since I didn’t need the backup computer right then, I called my dad who can build computers. We’re estimating the costs at $250 - $300 dollars. It’s still a significant savings considering my dad can build me a computer with more power than the cheapest computer at Walmart for about the same price. Since my main computer is still functioning, I’m not in a rush to get the second computer. I can wait for my dad to build me a custom computer.

By planning ahead and buying an extra computer now, I am saving myself time and money. I won’t lose money due to loss of income, and I won’t be forced to buy the first computer I come across if my main computer breaks.

In short, I’m saving money by thinking ahead. I know my main computer is three years old. I have noticed that it takes longer and longer to reboot it. Eventually, it’s going to break. Sudden breakages are time consuming and result in the loss of productivity. Plus, if you’re in a bind, you’ll be tempted to pay more for the item you need. I’m taking the initiative and planning for future breakages buy buying an extra computer now.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

Profitability is a big issue when it comes to small businesses. On average, it takes five years for a small business to turn a profit. That’s a long time to run in the red. It’s also a long time to go without a paycheck. When I started my small business, I needed it to be profitable from the very beginning. What I didn’t need was for it to pay all my bills immediately. It simply needed to not cost me anything or at least not cost me more than anything else I buy.


Home Office

Most small businesses start in home offices or in the garage. It’s space that’s already being paid for through rent or a mortgage. Cars can be parked outside. The space inside the home can be rearranged to accommodate a home office. In contrast, an outside office can cost as much or more than a rent or mortgage payment. Using a home office is an immediate savings of $500 or more. Since I don’t have an extra bedroom, my living room is set up as an office. My other option was setting up my bedroom as an office and my living room as a bedroom. Since I don’t want clients or guests walking through my bedroom to get to my office, I didn’t set it up that way.


Business Website

There are still free websites out there. However, all of them include ads in some form whether they are on the right side of the page or delivered as popups. Those ads can be annoying to potential customers, but as a small business, free is free.

I used an existing personal web account and changed the page and website link to reflect my business instead of my personal hobbies. Since I was already paying for the website, I incurred no extra costs.


Business Cards And Flyers

I print my own business cards and flyers. A pack of business cards from Walmart or Office Depot cost between $5 and $14. A pack of brochure paper costs about the same. In contrast, paying a business to print them can cost upwards of $150 and typically require a minimum amount to be purchased. I print mine at home so that I can control how many blank sheets I buy and how many I print off at a time.


Advertising

Since I had no money for advertising, I use word of mouth and social networking to find clients. Facebook, Twitter, and Craigslist are awesome for finding clients who need my services and skills. Not to mention, they are all free.

Another way to advertise is through business cards and flyers. Business cards and flyers can be hung anywhere there’s a corkboard. Apartment complexes usually have them near the mailboxes. Certain restaurants such as Jimmy Johns and various coffee houses have them on the walls. All you have to do is visit the establishments and tack your card or flyer to the wall. I do recommend bringing push pins as there are always more pages stuck to the corkboard than available push pins.

A second way to get your business cards and flyers out is to visit neighborhoods. Anything put in a mailbox has to have a stamp, but flyers and cards can be put in the newspaper boxes or hung on the doors of homes. It takes more time to hang the flyers than it does to mail them, but at .50 cents a stamp, it’s worth it to make the drive into a neighborhood and hang flyers for a couple hours.

I spend about four hours a week canvassing neighborhoods for new business, and I almost always receive four or five calls for my efforts.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

Finding affordable phone service for a small office can be a daunting task. The first choice is to decide how many phone lines your office will need. If the need is less than 10 lines, chances are you can order your phone service over the internet. If it’s more than 10, you’ll have to call the phone company. I recommend calling the phone company either way. Sometimes, they have better deals over the phone than on-line.


Determine the phone service provider.

There are two main phone service providers: AT&T and Verizon. For land lines, only one provider will be available for an area. For internet phone lines, several providers may be available. I recommend calling several area phone companies and making a list of the available providers and services offered. From there, determine which providers you’d like to do business with and narrow the list.


Which type of phone system does your office need?

There are two main types of phone systems VoIP (Voice over the Internet Protocol) and POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). POTS systems tend to be more reliable than VoIP systems or internet phone lines. The typical features of a POTS system include call waiting, voicemail, three way calling, 911, and speed dial. POTS lines can also be used to send and receive faxes.

A VoIP system uses the internet to make calls. They require a broadband internet service, computer, adapter or special type of phone, and may not be available in the event of a power outage. The types pf phone calls that can be made may also be limited by the service provider. Some only allow you to call other VoIP phones and computers or make local calls. Others allow calls to unlimited places and phone numbers. It is always best to check with the VoIP provider to determine who you can call.


To Bundle or Not to Bundle.

Depending on your office requirements and the cost, it might be cheaper to bundle the phone service with internet. When I called AT&T to determine prices for a 12 line office, the woman answering my questions stated that for just local and long distance the price would be $50 per line. If I bundled the lines with the internet, the price would be $40 per line. The cheapest internet package was $40. Since I needed 12 lines, it was cheaper for me to purchase the bundled package for a savings of $80 dollars per month.

Finding a small business phone provider can be a time consuming task. When I looked for providers, it took me four hours to determine which phone companies provided service to my area, another two hours to narrow my list, and 20 minutes on the phone with a customer service rep determining which plan would be right for my business. In the end I chose 12 phone lines with a bundled internet service for $520 dollars a month.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

A business mentorship should be rewarding for both mentee and mentor. Still, it's common for business mentees to think that they have nothing to give back to their mentor. That simply isn't true. Even if you can't give back in a monetary way, most mentors aren't in it for the money. So, how can you give back to your mentor?


Showing Gratitude

Mentors take satisfaction in making positive differences in people's lives. So, let your mentor or mentors know how they're difference makers in your life and business. Show gratitude for the specific things that they've helped you with. Let your mentors know how your life and business would've turned out were it not for them.

After each and every meeting with you, your mentors should walk away feeling like they did a great thing. That good feeling is why many mentors are in the business, after all. Being grateful and showing that gratitude goes a long way and builds a much stronger, long-lasting relationship being you and your mentors.


Public Recommendations

One of the best ways to give back to your mentors is through public recommendations and mentions. As you and your business become more successful, you'll have opportunities to speak in public or be written about in public. When that happens, go out of your way to mention your mentors.

Public mentions can serve as huge recommendations. This will help your mentors build up their names. It also gives them a sense that you truly do appreciate what they do for you.

When you read books by successful people, you'll find that they often acknowledge their mentors and influencers by name. These mentions can even be as long as a chapter or an entire section of a book, not just in the acknowledgments. Successful people are happy to give credit where credit is due to their mentors. Whenever you have a chance to speak well about your mentors in public, be sure to do it.


Being Successful

Finding extraordinary success is the ultimate goal of any mentor, and it's the best way for a mentee to say thank you. Mentors do their best to contribute to helping you realizing your vision. Both hitting and surpassing your goals is the dream of any mentor.

Mentorships exist to provide a foundation for success. A mentor finds his or her fulfilment in taking brand new businesses to successful enterprises. Not all entrepreneurs are successful, of course. So, if you succeed, you'll make your mentors proud.

The best ways for mentees to give back to mentors is in emotional ways. Let them walk away from your meetings feeling accomplished. You want them better off having spent time with you than if they hadn't.

Don't view your mentor relationships as you taking something from them. Mentorship should always be a mutual relationship. Your success reflects well on their advice and guidance. In return, mentors get a wide range of emotional benefits, worth far more than the money.

Who are your mentors?

by Lyn Lomasi; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

I recently had an interesting conversation with Brad F. Pollins about the subject matter of his book, “Awakening Your Organization.” In his book, he talks about how to “awaken” the healthcare field with a commitment to excellence. Learn what Brad recommends, based on the subject matter of his book, as well as his experience in the healthcare field both as a professional and a patient.

Q: In what ways do you feel healthcare organizations need awakening?

A: In many ways, I believe those of us who work in healthcare are rushing, frustrated, fatigued or complacent based on a number of environmental factors.  When we are rushing, frustrated, fatigued or complacent we cannot be truly present. This has resulted in many healthcare workers being principally task focused/task-centric which blinds them to what it truly means to be patient focused and centric. I have worked with and for so many different industries and what sets healthcare apart from other industries is we are dealing human beings who are experiencing pain, anxiety, stress, uncertainty, and even tragedy. This requires healthcare workers to be incredibly emotionally intelligent, empathetic, compassionate and clinically exceptional.

Q: Who can get the most out of reading this book?

A: Every healthcare employee including providers and leaders. Especially leaders because they foster the culture that influences behavior which determines the results achieved. I believe there are incredibly talented and committed healthcare workers who are constrained by ill conceived processes and outdated policies and procedures designed to govern behavior.

Q: Do you feel that lessons from this book could help awaken organizations in other industries, as well?

A: I do. The Awakening Organization Model is transferable to any industry or business. Every business should be setting clear and consistent direction, building a strategy supportive culture, staffing the enterprise with high performing employees and multiplying the efforts through continuous process improvement. I believe the performance of people is the physics of organizational performance because the behavior of people (actions and decisions) determines the results the company will experience.

Q: If readers can take away just one or two things from reading your book, what do you expect them to learn?

A: First, performance of an organization is not based on any single element - it's not just leadership, it's not just culture, it's not just people, it's not just strategy and it's not just processes - it is the synchronization of all of these components. Second, culture is critically important and most organizations only pay it lip service. There is a reason that enlightened people say “culture eats strategy for breakfast, lunch and dinner” - because most of the time it does. This is because culture either engages or disengages people, it energizes or de-energizes people and it connects or disconnects people.

A healthy and fit culture engages and energizes the people to behave in strategy supportive ways.  The connection between strategy and culture becomes clearer in this context – for successful strategy execution people have to behave in a strategy supportive manner, which has to be reflected in the core values of the organization and everything has to reinforce this imperative.  Culture can either be designed, or it happens by default.  A culture by default is what naturally emerges whereas a culture by design is a deliberate reconstruction of the elements that purposefully develop the desired culture needed to execute the strategy.

Q: Where can interested parties purchase your book, “Awakening Your Organization”?

A: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and BookVenture

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner ofIntent-sive Nature & theBrand Shamans network

Whatever you may do, the first major thing to establish with any online presence is your thought leadership in your field. This is obviously much easier said than done. What are the right topics to focus on to become a thought leader? Establishing your own thought leadership on the internet and social media seems to be a matter of trial and error.

This all-important aspect of online visibility isn't always easy to get, though. Simply writing about subjects relevant in your field or area of expertise isn't always enough. Just watching the popular keyword phrases and writing to the trends isn't always enough. You need to build a fan base before you truly start producing. Yes, you have to have content for your potential fans to find. But the worst possible feeling is to produce tons of well-written and pertinent content, then have no one view it.

At first, it's very common to receive very little interest in the articles on your blog. But you simply can't give up. Taking a short break is fine, especially if you find yourself burning out and needing to regroup. The best way to find help is to build your thought leadership in your field is to build your network of like-minded people in your field. It's important to be in contact with thought leaders in related variety of fields, as well. Oftentimes, what works well in one field can translate to another, even if it doesn't seem related. By building this network, you can help both yourself and others become the best thought leaders that they can become.

Each individual has a special angle to offer the online community. Sometimes, you just have to find someone who gives you the right prompt to know what to focus on. Other times, your network may provide the attention and motivation you need to keep your online and social media efforts on the right track. Whatever you do, don't give up. Giving up only makes things worse!

Unfortunately, "write it and they will come" are not the words to live by. You do have to keep writing and sharing. But you also have to make sure that you have a strong network to both share your ideas and help others spread theirs. The best thing to do invest your time and energy into both cultivating relationships. Then, provide high-quality content that helps those in your network as well as others that come across it. In the long run, that's how you best establish thought leadership.

by Richard Rowell; Co-owner of Brand Shamans & Write W.A.V.E. Media

When it comes to putting yourself out there in the wide world of content, it might help to become a thought leader in your area of expertise. But how does one become a thought leader? Are you even the leader of your own thoughts? How do you even start?

First of all, put your thoughts out there. That's a start. Take a look around and see if there are people thinking about the same stuff as you. Chances are extremely high that you will find some similar thoughts to your own. This is where you begin to establish what you’re trying to do. These are the people you want to connect with. See what they are sharing, and see what you may have to add to spark discussion.

So how does one then become a thought leader fro here? Is it really as simple as reflecting on the discussion you see and becoming a part of it? Is it passively commenting on what you think of the thoughts being thought about your thinking, in your own space, then sharing those reflections? Or could it even be about analyzing those that either agree or disagree with your thoughts?

And what are you even thinking about that you could become a leader of that field of thought?

We often get a bit too dragged down with trying to figure out what verticals we want to pursue in the quest to get people to read our thoughts. There are plenty of horizontals and diagonals, too. Really, all you need to do is be a leader of your own thoughts. Whether people want to read about what you're thinking or not is another question altogether.

I've never been much for niche writing, at least as it's traditionally thought of in the content marketing world. I have tended to drift a bit from niche to niche trying to find the best fit for my knowledge and skills. What exactly has that accomplished?  You may have written a ton and have plenty of words to show for your efforts. But do those efforts make you a thought leader? Most certainly not, as the actual writing is only half of it.

That isn't to say you don’t have good material to share. It doesn't mean you have lacked passion or insight. Thought leadership, folks,  is all about perception. If you can't lead the thoughts, then you aren't a thought leader. But how does one come to have the superpower of leading thoughts?

Just be honest. Heck, everyone and his dog is trying to sell something to you these days. Even those that say they can improve your life significantly - especially them.

Well, I'm not trying to sell you anything, but your own thoughts. And those are free to begin with. So why should anyone buy them? Even if they are free. You know, just because something is free doesn't mean someone will care. Probably will even less, believe it or not.

It all comes down to, what is it you are thinking right now?  Is it important to you? Could anyone on the face of the earth relate to it? There you go. That's where you start. Now, how you do go about leading a discussion about that idea?

Is anyone you can find easily on the inter-webs leading a discussion on that idea? If so, do you agree with it? Either way, make your voice heard.

If you find yourself leading the discussion, or even just furthering it,  congratulations, you're on the way to being a thought leader.

Becoming a thought leader is all about taking initiative and speaking up. Sometimes, it's just about furthering the conversation about an idea that some others besides you care about. Then, you're on your way to getting people to see you as someone who could well be a thought leader. People will perceive that you care about what they have to say, at least..

And if no one cares about your thought or idea? Maybe no one has written about it yet. Put it out there. See if you can relate it to something people already search. Then, congratulations, you just became a thought leader… perhaps, of a niche of probably one. In any case, you're starting off somewhere.

So, if you have an idea, you're probably not the only one with a similar thought. Even if you can't find anyone else, it probably just means no one bothered to say anything. Again, it's all about initiative. You have to be the one to start something.

That being said, it's OK to not know exactly where you want to end up. Life has a funny way of opening doors to those that take initiative. If you don't know where to go now, that's most likely because you can't even imagine now where you may end up.

Do you want to be a thought leader? You should.

by  R.A. Rowell; Book Reviewer

Understanding Employee Reward as an Art and Not As a Science

“Like a thunder cloud, reward can be dark and menacing but it is also good fun, endlessly fascinating and bright sunshine is never too far behind.” - Daniel Hibbert, Thunder Cloud

Through his book, Thunder Cloud, UK business consultant Daniel Hibbert works to help those in human resources and business management understand that employee reward needs to be treated as an art and not as a science.

Borrowing the idea of clocks and clouds from Karl Popper, Hibbert explains how pay structures are often treated like clocks, while the reality of employee compensation is more like a cloud. Clocks are mechanical and work in a predictable fashion. But clouds are unpredictable and part of a much more complex ecosystem. Employee reward is often treated as a science, but it should be handled as an art.

Hibbert plainly and clearly outlines how we got to the pay and reward structures we gave today. He goes into detail about what doesn't work in today's prevailing employee reward strategies. He points out the clear flaws and offers actionable advice to improve the employee reward systems of businesses large and small.

Throughout the book, Hibbert delivers a clear and informative narrative that's accessible to those like myself who aren't HR professionals. Really, anyone interested on this topic should pick up this book.Without giving too much away, here are the 3 key takeaways that stood out to me after reading Thunder Cloud.


Data can be dangerous

The primary theme of Thunder Cloud is managing employee reward in the digital age. One of the things that Hibbert talks about us how data can be useful but that it can be too easy to rely on it, as well. Market data, in particular, tends to be a major factor in how employees are compensated. Data also plays a major role in deciding bonuses and what benefits to provide for employees, based on what competitors are offering. While there isn't actually anything wrong with data, and it's a great tool, it's too easy to rely on it too much. Each business has to do what's right for them while also being fair.


Managing employee expectations

Another major theme of Thunder Cloud is managing employee expectations of what to expect going forward with pay. Hibbert suggests staying just ahead of expectations when it comes to pay raises. The damage that can be caused from an employee feeling underpaid or under compensated is far greater than paying what the employee feels is fair.


Make reward something your employees understand

So what is fair when it comes to employee reward? Essentially, it comes down to communicating what goes into how pay and other compensation is figured. This includes not only pay, but also benefits and bonus potentials. Letting employees know how exactly their compensation packages are valued is extremely important . Many organizations are secretive about how their compensation is figured, and this simply can lead to misinformation and distrust. Open communication with your employees behind closed doors is just a good thing to do.

Thunder Cloud is a solid book. It's s pretty quick read, too. I highly recommend this book to anyone who works in HR, small business owners, hiring managers, and any other position that involves deciding on the  compensation of personnel. I also recommend Thunder Cloud to other HR and talent consultants, as there's great advice throughout this book.

You can buy "Thunder Cloud" as a paperback, hardcover, or eBook from Amazon.

*I received a free review copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. This review is in no way influenced by any outside sources. No other compensation was received for this review.

It's regrettable how many failures are direct results of a breakdown of communication. Most failures are due to a failure to communicate, and this is rather troubling. Our lives can become far too busy for us to fully pay attention to the things we say. Things aren’t always conveyed in the ways that they are meant to be.

When something appears to be going well, and suddenly you’re faced with the notion that you’ve failed someone somehow, how that does that situation usually end? There are too many situations in which awkward communications have ended what should be profitable ventures and even entire relationships.

How can this failure to communicate be avoided? Simply put, it can’t be. What can be controlled is fear of failure. If something doesn’t sound right, don’t let it fester. This is something that we are all guilty of: not simply coming out and trying to resolve a misunderstanding. We all know how misunderstandings can lead to some serious issues later on if they’re not resolved in a timely and cool-headed manner.

For example, many pieces have been written where a good deal of the commentary will be extremely critical of the work. Sometimes, the author is gracious and willing to be flexible in others’ perspective of the piece. However, as authors, we can become very proud of our work. Sometimes, we respond in a snarky and/or sarcastic way that cause a major issue. The commentators can then grow defensive and things can be blown way out of proportion until one side or both end up looking quite bad. This, of course, happens in regular human conversation, as well, when emotions get in the way.

Emotions are pesky things. They can be useful, but when they lead down roads that can lend themselves to failures in communication, they must be controlled. If you have something to say that you don’t want to put right out in public, write it down; perhaps show it to someone that you trust. Too often things are posted directly online or otherwise put out in the open that cause more of a firestorm than they were meant to intend.

Even the most talented individuals experience serious breakdowns in communication due to some poor emotional, spiritual, or mental state. It’s all a part of being human. But as has often been said, it’s important to let cool heads prevail. Just don’t even let it bottle up, or otherwise it can only lead to a definite failure of some kind.

by Jhay Thomas, Contributing Writer

While cash registers may have a quaint antiquity about them, there are much better options these days. In today’s largely digital world, using current technology is a must if you want to just keep up with your competitors, let alone surpass them. Fortunately, implementing a modern POS system is surprisingly affordable and easy.

Here are the top ten reasons why upgrading to a POS system is better than continuing to rely on outdated cash registers:

10. They Make Life Easier

While the cash register may seem like the easier option, simplicity isn’t your friend in this scenario. Today’s POS systems do so much more than just facilitate transactions.

Once you start using features like the ability for employees to clock in and out, suggested purchases, employee incentives, and payroll, timesheet, and inventory management, you’ll wonder how you ever got by without your POS system.

9. Save Money

Many POS systems are all-inclusive software packages that include everything you need to keep your store in business. The right POS system allows you to streamline your business and cut unnecessary spending.

8. Go Digital

The days of paper are over. Instead of loading a massive file cabinet with documents, why not store your data digitally? There are plenty of backup and security options to keep your data safe, and storing your essential information online or in the cloud makes accessing, referencing, and editing it as needed a quick and easy process.

7. Make Informed Decisions

POS systems provide data that empowers you to make smart business choices. For example, let’s say you have one product that’s flying off the shelves, your POS system can recommend that you order more before you run out.

Or, let’s say you have a product that’s been collecting dust for the past month or two. Your POS system can let you know so you can lower the price, or cancel your next order.

6. Keep Your Employees Motivated

Some modern POS systems include employee incentives programs that allow you to reward exceptional staff members. You can also use data to see which employees are performing best, and which could use more training.

5. Speed Up Every Transaction

A POS system streamlines the checking out process, ensuring a fast transaction for your guests. Time is money. In a retail setting, time also relates directly with customer satisfaction. After all, if someone has to wait in line for a half hour to buy a product, they probably won’t be back. With ecommerce becoming increasingly common, providing an outstanding in-store experience is more important than ever.

4. Reduce Repair and Maintenance Costs

If a cash register goes down, it’s going to be out of commission for at least a few days, and that’s if you’re even able to find someone to repair it. On the other hand, POS systems are less likely to fail, and troubleshooting them is as easy as making a phone call or going online. If worse comes to worse and you need a physical repair, you’ll have no problem finding a technician.

3. Targeted Marketing

POS systems are capable of storing customer data, and that information makes it possible to cater specifically to their needs. For example, at a restaurant, you can look up your customer’s past orders, and suggest similar foods or drinks that they might appreciate. Or, at a clothing store, your employees can suggest specific fashions, in the right size based on past purchases.

Your POS system is like a rolodex of your customer’s buying habits – that’s an incredibly valuable tool to have at your disposal.

2. Decrease the Margin of Error

With a POS system, everything is clearly laid out in front of you. Need to split a check? No problem. Need to do a partial payment? Just press a button. Cash registers can be difficult to use, if the features you need are even available at all. Often attempts to solve a problem results in the creation more problems. POS systems reduce mistakes.

POS systems also reduce counting errors, and they have features that allow you to see where, when, and how mistakes were made.

1. Take Your Business On the Go

Whether you want to review sales reports at home on the couch, or you want to sell your products at a tent sale, a POS system makes it possible. Some of today’s cloud-based POS systems can be used offline on a mobile device, so you can set up business from virtually anywhere. You can’t toss your cash register into your carryon bag!

Upgrade Today

It’s clear that POS systems have plenty of advantages over the obsolete cash register. If you’re still relying on cash registers, shop around. You’ll be surprised by how affordable good POS software can be. Make sure you get to know the in-depth features of your software. The long-term results are worth it.

Read More on POS Systems

Jhay Thomas is a marketing expert with nearly 10 years of experience writing about growth strategies for startups and small businesses. He also works as a commercial technology consultant to develop an improved iPad POS system.

by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

The more your content is seen, the better the performance of your ads, services, and products, which leads to more revenue. But how do you get your content out there? What’s the best way to get more pages to receive the best traffic for ad revenue? In the years I’ve spent as a web writer, website owner, blogger, and all-around content creation specialist, I learned quite a bit about getting quality traffic, leading me to receive millions of pageviews  on my content. Like me, you too have the power to increase your blog traffic with several different methods that can be applied right away.

Optimize your content for search. Framing one very specific topic in each article helps attract both readers and search engines. Stick to the point throughout your page, article, or blog post and also within your title and descriptive overview. Use words people would use to find information like yours via search engines. Easy SEO Techniques for Online Article Writers and Using Google Autocomplete to Find Longtail Keywords will also help. Correctly using these and other whitehat SEO tips can help increase your article’s relevance to search engines, which can have a significant impact on on your page views. Using SEO techniques improperly (such as with blackhat SEO) might work at first, but will lead to a very negative impact.

Use social media to spread the word. Word of mouth is a strong force, especially on the Internet. People look to social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, for valuable information. Many are very likely to read what their friends and family members recommend and will show that same content to their friends and family. This circle of sharing that happens on various social media sites can help increase an article’s performance in a significant way. In addition to sharing content on your Facebook profile, all writers and website owners should consider starting a Facebook fan page to build their brand. Creating a Twitter account around a specific niche can also be a helpful tool for increasing readership, thus increasing page views. Social media tools, such as HootSuite can help writers and website owners manage those profiles and give you an idea of how effective your efforts are.

Backlinks from quality websites and blogs get you noticed. When your content is linked by multiple valued sources, that looks good to search engines. It also gets your link in front of more people. Make sure not to overdo the linking when linking back to yourself, however. That can have the opposite effect. The best backlinks are those that happen organically, meaning another person has noticed your work and linked back. You may not be able to control whether someone links back to you or not. But writing quality content that people are interested in can increase those chances. Guest posting on relevant sites with a link back to relevant work is an acceptable form of backlinks as well. Never pay for backlinks, as this can have a very negative impact if discovered by search engines.

Start a niche blog or website. If you are an expert in a topic, make it known by blogging regularly or keeping an up-to-date website. Link back to your existing content when relevant.  Not only does this draw more attention to your content. But it helps you build your brand, which is also good for gaining and keeping readership. Regularly updated blogs and websites draw attention of search engines and readers alike. When you link your content by publishing in multiple (relevant) places regularly, that increases the chance of those articles performing better. Be careful not to place too many links in each post or to do overdo the linking, however. It should always be relevant and natural.

Include a related section where possible. Regular readers may be familiar with this section in some of my articles. At the end, I sometimes include a section labeled “More from Lyn”. Once I started doing this, my page views increased significantly. This section gives more value to the readers while increasing the chance of greater performance of the linked content. Be sure not to include more than three to five links, however. They also must truly be related to the content. Unless a venue doesn’t allow it (or you have already placed enough links throughout the content), it is always best to include this section.

by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Sometimes ads can be annoying. So, you may be enticed to install an ad remover app or program. Before installing ad blocker or ad remover programs, consider all these reasons not to. Doing so can actually be harmful in many ways.

Ads Keep Your Information Coming

In order to be able to display that information you’re reading, website owners often rely on payments from those ads. Without impressions (aka you viewing the ads), this can’t happen. If not enough ads are getting impressions (and clicks and sales), that means the website owner no longer can afford to display said content and you lose that reading venue. It costs money to maintain a website (hosting, domain, time and effort, possibly employees and freelance creators, and so on). Therefore, when website owners don’t earn enough via ads, they sometimes have to downsize or close that venue.

Many Content Creators Get Paid Solely From Ad Views and Interaction

Similar to the website owner, many writers, videographers, and photographers get paid based on the ad revenue made from their content. If the ads have little to no impressions (due to the ad blocker or ad remover), that person makes little to no money on the content and can no longer afford to display it or create more. Therefore, you may no longer see content from this person and they make no money from the hard work they did getting the information out there for you to see.

Can you imagine going to work every day, say 5-8 hours per day, and then getting no paycheck as a result of that work? This is what would happen to a content creator if everyone blocked the ads. Sure, not everyone does. However, each blocked ad does ad up and count toward a loss for the people who worked so hard to create that content you love. Just like you deserve to enjoy it, they also deserve to be paid for the work put into it.

Blocking Ads May Encourage Publishers to Charge For Their Info

The display of ads is often the only way publishers and writers can afford to freely display their content to the public. Without funds from ad revenue, many publishers look to other options, such as paywalls, eBooks, subscriptions, and other paid access choices. In order to keep information free for all to access, sometimes those seemingly annoying ads just have to be there without the intrusion of ad blocking and ad removal programs. I think most people would agree that seeing an annoying ad here and there is  a much better option than having to pay for each item they want to view online.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section.

by Phoenix Desertsong, SEO Expert

Search marketing experts love to mention "chasing the long tail" as one of the most cost-effective ways to improve your search engine optimization (SEO). "Chasing the long tail" just means finding keyword phrases that are specific enough to be relevant to your specific product or service. Still, you also want them to be just broad enough to get enough of an audience to get your voice heard. This is, obviously, much more easily said than done.

Longer keyword phrases are going to be often much less expensive to bid on when it comes to advertising, as they come with lower search volume, too. But, it's just as important in organic search to chase the long tail keyword phrases. While you may get less traffic from them, that traffic will be a lot more valuable to you. Let's learn why "chasing the long tail" keywords is a good idea.


Why Are Long-Tail Keywords Useful in SEO?
 
One of the most common examples used to illustrate chasing "long-tail keywords" is by adding a color to a certain phrase. For example, if you sell linens, "blankets" is a ridiculously broad term that gets hundreds of thousands, if not millions of searches a day. "Baby blankets" is obviously a lot more specific and has considerably more refined search traffic. But to "chase the long tail" so to speak, you need to find three or four word keyword phrases (or perhaps longer) that are more specific to what your customers are looking for.
 
For example, think of "blue baby blankets." That's a fairly common color for baby blankets. So it's not surprising that it's a search phrase that actually gets about 900 searches a month on Google alone. So, you might want to write some content about "Why Are Blue Baby Blankets So Popular?" 
 
Now, why would you limit yourself to a specific color in your content? Preferably, you would have content around red or green baby blankets, as well. The concept of chasing the long-tail is more about zoning in on the types of people that are closer to ready to buying a product.
 
However, chasing the long-tail keywords must also consider the variations on a keyword phrase. I have mentioned "red baby blankets" and "green baby blankets" as possible options for content surrounding "baby blanket" searches. However, per Google's Keyword Planner, "green baby blankets" get about only 400 monthly searches, less than half of "blue baby blankets." On the other hand, "red baby blankets" , gets about 500 monthly searches, which is very close to "blue baby blankets" at about 900.
 
What does this research show exactly? If you have a section of your business devoted to baby blankets, this is rather important information to consider. It means that your blue and red baby blankets have twice the Google search audience as your green blankets. This is pretty powerful information.


Watch the Monthly Trends of Long-Tail Keywords to Optimize Your Online Marketing Efforts

If you are actually selling baby blankets, or any product or service, you want to be sure you know about the monthly search volume. But, don't just pay attention to the average search volume. You also want to know the trends for those keywords. Plug in these keyword phrases into a keyword tool like Ubersuggest, and you'll see that those averages can sometimes be misleading.

For example, "blue baby blankets" peaks at about 1,000 monthly searches in June-July, then December through early February. But from March to late May, those numbers drop to between 600-700 monthly searches. Meanwhile "red baby blankets" drop close to 200 monthly searches in April and May. Green baby blankets dip only in April and June, but are up in May.

These trends are important for a couple of reasons. On one hand, these trends tell you the relative search demand for particular colors of blankets. It also means that you should aim to be more aggressive with marketing certain colors of blankets when search volume is up. On the other hand, when traffic is down, it's likely more competitive, meaning content and product pages based around those keywords will be harder to rank. That's because your competitors are fighting for more of the searches. This is important to keep in mind so that you have other keywords to make up for those that decline during certain times of the year.


Why Not Just Optimize for "Baby Blankets?"
 
If you were to optimize for simply "baby blankets," which is a term that gets 40,000 monthly searches, you're going to be lost in the noise of all the other companies out there trying to rank on Page One of Google for that product. Focus in on the specific products people are looking to purchase, especially in a particular color. As the longer keyword phrases often don't have the same amount of competition, you can rank much more easily for the long-tail phrases. Then, you're much more likely to get someone's attention.
 
Think of some basic ways you can help focus your content on specific permutations of your product or service. WIth products, it can be basic as color, size, or model. For services, it can be services tailored to specific industries, niches, or needs. Just make sure that people are searching for that specific thing on a regular basis. It can be just a few hundred searches per month, if it's specific enough.

No matter what product or service you have to offer, there are still certain ways that people interested in what you have to offer will search for it that you can also rank well for and be found. The free Google Adwords Keyword Planner (with sign-up for a free Adwords account) is great for doing this sort of research. It can also give you other keyword ideas for content you should be producing surrounding your content.
 
Keep in mind that search traffic alone isn't everything. You need to be getting the right traffic, too. By focusing on the power of specific keywords, you get more targeted, more relevant traffic. Keyword research really can be your best friend,. While it takes some time, the basic info that you need is free to get and can lead to powerful results.

Need some long-tail keyword phrase suggestions for your own site? Leave a comment below, so we can check it out and give you some quick suggestions!

by Phoenix Desertsong, Writer's Advocate

Whenever you post a comment or publish a blog post or an article, you’re inevitably joining an online conversation about whatever topic you’ve written on. Unfortunately, sometimes it feels like you’re just writing a monologue that no one is hearing. It’s very discouraging to never have anyone react to your writing. Even a like on your tweet or a reshare would be welcome, and sometimes they never come. So as hard as you may try to join the online conversation, sometimes all you get is crickets.

So what are you doing wrong? Probably nothing,  per se. It's just that the right people aren't hearing you. Sure, hashtags sometimes help the right audience find your content, but not always. Posting to groups related to your content can sometimes help. But, in many niche communities sharing your own links is frowned upon.

You might wonder why free promotion that actually works is so hard to find. It's because spammers have so often abused it. But really,  sharing links everywhere isn't really what you need to be doing. You need to get people talking about what you write. You have to focus on promoting discussion.

That's how the best articles earn their money: page views from visitors returning to answer replies to their comments and traffic generated from those comments. More comments mean that the page gets updated more often, which means the search engines find it more relevant. In turn, this all means more traffic, more views for the impression-based ads and potentially more clicks.on affiliate links and banners.

Simply sharing links should be only a small part of your promotion strategy as a writer. Joining the conversation and becoming a major contributor to it is the best way to get started. Eventually, you can start your own conversation and take command of your content. Building conversation around your content is a major component of content success, both online and offline.

Networking can be a useful tool in promoting your content, but the conversation content creates is the most important part. Essentially, you’re wanting to create content that promotes itself indefinitely. That should be the ultimate goal as a writer, to being a driving force in conversation. You just have to know the right questions to ask. The answers, it turns out, people will sometimes be more than happy to give you for free. You just have to steer the conversation in the right direction. That’s the skill that will bring you the most success.