Want to make 2018 your best year ever? Of course, you do! The big difference between those who will find massive success in the new year versus those who just continue to ‘do business’, is going to be the ones that put the best tools, automation, and monetization methods to use for them.
Instead of preaching about the importance of great content creation and marketing, let’s jump right into our list of some of the best tools, services, and resources you should consider using in the new year.
Sentione
How active are you currently on social media? Probably quite active, but are you monitoring all social updates and mentions across all platforms? At the same time, are you even looking at what’s being posted to the search results, online forums and various other sites about your personal name or brand? Probably not…
If this is the case, you could definitely benefit from using a tool like Sentione — which an advanced ‘social media listening’ tool, that basically does all of the online monitoring for you. In addition to actively monitoring the majority of the internet for any personal names or brands you might have, it’s also a great platform for reputation management. After all, having a great presence online isn’t just about knowing where you are being mentioned, but also how to respond and know what people are saying. Sentione makes all of that possible.
PandaDoc
Running an online blog and business had a ton of benefits. However, one of the negatives is that you can quickly find yourself overloaded with emails, content, invoices, documents and much more. While tools like Google Docs and Sheets can make management over such data less complicated, there are better options out there.
One such option is PandaDoc, which not only allows for better management of your documents and files, but also streamlines the process for how yourself, team members, and clients access, send, and reply as well. Through the use of this quoting software, it’s helped thousands of customers not only save time, but also increase earnings in the process. It’s now reported that over $16 million worth of deals have now been closed to clients using PandaDoc. If you are doing any type of freelancing, hiring, media buying campaigns of invoicing of any type, you will appreciate how this platform can make your data and document headaches a whole lot better in 2018.
UseProof
To continually compete against some of the biggest names in the industry and pull customers and business away from them, you need to gain the trust and respect of your audience. One of the best ways to accomplish this is through the use of customer testimonials and social proof. While many of us are already familiar with the concept of text and video testimonials, there is actually a new method out that is sweeping the internet by storm — and that is Proof. This extremely simple, yet effective, service allows site owners and brands to show a quick little popup of previous users and customers who have already taken action on a site.
If you want to see a working example of this, head over to Blogging.org and just see how many new users are getting active on the site and starting a blog of their own.
Incapsula
With way too many websites and blogs on the internet today, it’s going to be tough to compete. It’s not just about making sure your content and service are great, it’s also about making sure your site is loading as fast as possible. As attention spans continue to diminish and more people are short on time, just a second or two in site delays can cost your site or online business thousands of dollars and millions of customers over the course of the year. One of the best ways to combat such issues, while also making sure your site is up and running at all times, is through the use of a quality CDN (content delivery network).
Since most of us already have web hosting plans in place, you should already understand the importance of having your site online, while also running off a fast server. What a CDN does, is basically boost the performance of your site, while also putting less stress on your server in the process. If you don’t currently have a CDN in place, right now is a great time to get started with one.
mysimpleshow
Like it or not, text content is quickly taking a back seat to online video. With more internet traffic now coming from mobile devices than ever before, the demand for online video is just going to continue. The same can be said of social media as well, it’s now more video focused and less about text.
With all of that in mind, if you want to compete and grab the eyes of your audience, you need to start creating online video as well. However, this doesn’t mean you need to become a YouTube star and get millions of followers. It simply means you need to create video content catered to your audience.
One of the best ways to accomplish this is through the use of explainer and whiteboard videos. While there is some level of design skill required to create these from scratch, there are platforms like mysimpleshow, which have made the video creation process as simple as using their drag and drop editor. Try it out and see how you can start using online video to build your blog or brand in 2018.
BigCommerce
It seems like everyone is jumping into the world of e-commerce these days. Ever since a few people started reporting about how much money they are making through dropshipping and selling online, everyone is coming out with a store of their own — which is awesome!
One of the problems here is that there are way too many solutions and shopping carts out there to choose from. It can be a job in itself just to try and find the right one to use.
BigCommerce continues to make a great name for themselves as one of the major players in the e-commerce space, not only helping their clients get started with an online store but also managing shipping and payments, while even allowing for the posting of products on Amazon, Ebay, Facebook and more. While you might also find that BigCommerce higher in price than some of the leaders in this space, you will also find that they offer more built-features, which allows you to actually grow at a faster space and more less money in the long run.
pCloud
If you are reading this blog, you likely already have web hosting for your site or blog. However, not all web hosting is the same. For example, pCloud is a premium hosting service that is focused mainly on ‘data storage’ and keeping your files sale. This could be anything from personal photos, business documents, music files, and much more. At the same time, pCloud also offers ‘unbreakable security’ through their platform to make sure your files are not just private and confidential, but that they are also encrypted at the highest level possible. It doesn’t matter if you are a blogger in the making or a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, it’s always great to back up your personal data and files online, while also making sure they are accessible from anywhere, yet protected at the same time.
Make 2018 Your Best Year Ever by Putting These Expert Tools to Use
Right now is definitely an exciting time. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions now out of the way, it’s time to focus on the real value of the fourth quarter — which is to prepare for the new year and getting excited for those big goals you want to hit!
Start the year off right by making sure you are taking advantage of what some of the latest and greatest online solutions and platforms are offering today.
Like John always says “Don’t work harder. Just work smarter.”