7 Steps To Progress Your Communication

Hi Friends,

If you're searching for jobs then you may have noticed that all the job posters recently are emphasizing "good communication skills" in their requirement list.

Why is it important to improve communication skills?

Not long ago, due to poor communication skills, my company did sack me. Here I am not focusing on how fluent you are in English or any of your native language, but how skillfully you transmit your thoughts to others.

I was upset initially but with the support of my family, I overcome that challenging phase of my career and am now in a position where communication and collaboration are the keys to survival.

What I realized now, poor communication was not the reason why I lost my job. Anyways, that is a different story and I will let you know about that another day.

How does communication affect productivity?

Another thing that I understood is, for better productivity, most (if not all) employers expect fluent written and spoken skills in every profession now.

I am not saying clear communication is less or has no importance outside the profession. In fact, it is just the opposite. Communication is more essential in personal life than professional fields as I found.

Anyways, my today’s post is communication in a career so no more deviation.

Communication in the workplace:

If you want to progress in your profession, at your workplace, reach career success, then aside from technical knowledge, you should poses proper communication skills.

Here are my suggestions to you who know their communication needs improvement. Bear in mind, all these suggestions were tested on my life by me and certified by me. So apply at your own risk!

What are the steps to improve communication skills?

So what are they, and where do you begin?

First practice listening.

Develop strong observational skills to fully understand the message being conveyed.

Secondly, learn the art of non-verbal communication.

Body languages like posture, gestures, and eye movement are very crucial for transmitting positive energy from you to others.

Thirdly, be clear.

Choosing the right words to express a message that’s easy to understand is key.

Fourthly, be specific.

Using fewer, well-chosen words to convey your message precisely is key too.

Fifthly, be confident.

Transmitting the right message with the appropriate non-verbal communication technique is absolutely pivotal.

The sixth is, be respectful.

A friendly tone and a simple smile can do magic and help turn the odds in favor of you.

And lastly, be patient.

Being calm and collected when conveying your message to avoid unnecessary scenes - rather use your emotions intelligently in communication.

Build a solid impression with prospective employers by mastering the art of communication today!

Is Digital Marketing Job Stressful?

Is a digital marketing job stressful? Yes, it is. But, digital marketing can be stress-free if you love to do it and counter the challenges that come with it rationally.

I have seen many digital marketers who do almost nothing to sharpen their skills. I have asked many candidates the same question in job interviews - how to keep pace with ever-changing digital marketing trends? Not surprisingly, the majority said, "Read blogs, follow forum discussions, and do a search on Google, etc.".

Sure, all these are OK. However, I am not satisfied with their answers. No one talked about their hobbies, their activities outside the office work which keeps them alive.

Simply, I believe hobbies help amplify our experience and our enthusiasm in life - they keep us creative. And digital marketing is all about being innovative.

So if you are not engaged with any activity which has no direct connection with your digital marketing profession, I feel, it’s very difficult for you to be a true professional.

The equation is easy. Those who manage to build a hobby; means utilizes some skills in their lives, are happier, and eventually will become more productive and efficient in their digital marketing profession.

Look around and you will see, every digital marketing evangelist whose blog you used to read every day to learn more advanced theories of online marketing and advertising, have at least a hobby, and developed some skills that are helping them enhance their proficiency and productivity in their career.

10 activities that made me a smarter and happier digital marketer:

My latest hobby is cooking and I shake hands with many hobbies in the last 10-12 years. You could consider picking up any of these, or develop your own and live a happy life.

1. Cooking

Cooking is one of the most beneficial hobbies for me as it required a lot of focus on the processes at hand. It also forces me to plan ahead and gather the necessary ingredients before I start cooking. I often try out experiments by mixing two-three different cuisines to make a unique yet tasty dish.

In web marketing, the focus is important and planning is too. The more you think out of the box, the better you stabilize yourself in a dynamic internet marketing industry. So, see how my hobby is helping me not only live a happy life but also in my career indirectly.

Keep on reading and try relating each of the below hobbies with your career as you can.

2. Gardening

Gardening lends some wonderful perspective to my life and can help us unleash our caring side.

3. Writing

Writing is a very influential and significant outward appearance of inner expression and it helped me to streamline my randomized thoughts, dreams, and desires.

Writing helps unlock my creative side and helps my communication a lot as well which are essential for success in data-driven marketing.

4. Jogging

Jogging is one of the healthiest sports activities for me. It not only allows me to stay fit, is one of the easiest ways to meditate.

It helped me remove mental blocks by teaching how to push through pain and obstacle, which were prohibit me to finish my digital marketing projects on time.

5. Dancing

I am a horrible dancer. That’s fine though. I believe dancing is a fantastic way to stay healthy physically and mentally too.

Professional dancing forces us to follow rhythms, practiced movements, and we can use that as a template in our online marketing job for achieving something which well worth watching.

6. Yoga

Yoga is one of the proven productive activities as it helps us to meditate.

The more we gain the power of controlling emotional and spiritual wellbeing, the less we’ll be worried about unnecessarily which causes us productive less at work.

7. Reading

Reading is like writing, one of the world’s most trusted ways to find inner peace.

It helps me not only during my downtime but also in my "free time" in which I do nothing critical.

Reading to me is reading storybooks or any books that you may like in printed versions - the more traditional way.

Reading taught me how little I know, and accept my own limitations which are again very important for success in the interactive marketing world.

8. Swimming

Swimming is a relaxing and equally healthy way of exercising our full body and mind.

Swimming can help remove all fears, clear the mind for a more positive stroke and view, and make us feel more eager to work towards our goals (i.e., the KPIs set for our online marketing projects).

Experts have shown that regular swimming means many physiological and psychological health benefits, as to swim, your body’s every muscle has to work a little bit.

9. Trekking

You need not take long leaves from your work for enjoying your holidays anymore. I often enjoy a short city tour with my bicycle. Even sometimes, when returning back to my home from the office, I use to take different walking routes to reach my destination.

All you need an eye to see the beauty in everything that surrounds you and find excitement in whatever you are doing as a digital marketer. I cannot take leaves all the time due to many reasons, but no reason so far stopped me to take a break on weekends for a long walk alone or with my family/friends outside the city.

Regular breaks allow me to start afresh all the time especially on Mondays.

10. Dreaming

I love dreaming. It’s an activity that gave me benefits in terms of pursuing a lifestyle I am currently passing by.

I feel if you dream about the right thing at the right time, your dreams allow you to push your limits, explore thoughts that you never even considered - even ideas that might need little actions from your end.

And sleeping which is very close to dreaming is also a fantastic way to stay recharged. As many experts have recommended, a quick 20-minute nap during office time (preferably in the afternoon) can help provide precision and help make employees even more focused and productive with creative power.

Conclusion:

So, again the same question - is a digital marketing job stressful? Because more than 2/3rd of digital marketers feel they're overloaded and undervalued. You too may have complained to your friends about how stressful your digital marketing job is. Burnout and work-related stress are very common among those in the digital marketing industry. However, it's worth mentioning that no job is stress-free. It’s your skill to keep the stress away professionally.

Every digital marketer gets a full bucket of stress. It comes in diverse forms, triggered by not the same causes. End-result is digital marketers often find it tough to bring success to online marketing and/or advertising campaigns in the form of generating traffic and drive conversion. Such stressful moments can lead to losing the job for digital marketers.

Let us know which is your secret way to become a smart stress-free marketer in this digital space? We all happy to learn from you and sharpen ourselves further.

10 Communication Best Practices For WFH

Even before the current crisis, remote work has been a solid growing trend globally. I’ve some tried-and-tested best practices from my year-long experience of working from home as a digital marketer.

For millions, working from home is a challenge filled with unsteady Wi-Fi, countless distractions, and your kids. Being a remote worker is a test for your limits of professionalism.

The reality of a remote worker

When your team is expecting you to contribute, your temporary home-based workstation can suddenly feel like misery. That’s because you are distracted - more by inside than outside factors.

Distractions are everywhere. Working from home is challenging too. Whether you’re a full-time freelancer or dealing with this new normal, there are ways to stay focused, professional, and help your team more effectively.

Consider this post as a crash course for all who now stuck at home for an indefinite period with some deadlines are lurking around.

Here are the best practices from my experience for staying on board when you’re working from home:

1. Leverage the technology

Different people have different communication styles. But when you’re into the remote workforce, adopt the most common technologies for communicating with each other.

Perhaps you’re a junior executive or maybe you’re a department head - all you need the right tool so you can get connected with each other.

At a minimum, you’ll need a common platform to start communication with your team members that all will be comfortable most. This puts all into a common podium and makes it easier for you to coordinate with them.

2. Focus on time and speed

In a world where you’re being asked to work remotely, communication is key to keeping the fluidity of the process. So, communicate the right way.

Like most things in the world, there’s etiquette or unspoken rules to follow; common ways of doing things that others will appreciate -

• Respect others: Try to acknowledge every message you received; be quick and concise, similarly implant your questions smartly.
  
  
• Be clear with your message: You’re reaching out to one who is working from home too. The more direct and clear your messages would be, the more easily your queries could be resolved.
  
  
• Address points: Everyone types and communicates at different speeds, so make sure when you’re responding to others, realize carefully why the question is being raised by your colleague. And also make sure, you are not replying after 2 hours the message you received.

3. Follow protocols

Employ the same office etiquette when you work from home. If a serious topic that requires discussion and you don’t want there to be any miscommunication, then pick up the phone and have a discussion right after sending an email or chat messages. That’s the best way for someone to bypass miscommunication.

4. Set a tone

It’s true that working from home needs from people to not just write well, but to also understand the nuances of language - essentially how messages get read and interpreted by the people you send them to is how the query gets resolved.

A good rule of thumb is to be positive and work on your interpersonal skills to get accustomed with all easily.

At the same time, if we start overanalyzing every single word written to us - we will start to create more mess for all, which leads to unnecessary friction where it didn’t exist before.

Basically, you need is building trust with all your co-workers. With that said, you should also set a tone for all your communication - because after all, you are a professional.

Nonetheless, if things go awkward, acknowledging fault is the best way for all parties to move on.

5. Try emoticons

If you are able to express your feelings better through emojis, GIFs, or memes, then do so, but stay away from silliness and again be professional. Sometimes, a thumbs-up emoticon to celebrate a job well done is more impactful than typing Thanks as your reaction!

6. Maintain routine

When you’re working from home, all sorts of things can come up that you didn’t anticipate in your office life!

Once you know that work gets done, you start to avoid getting derailed from the moment you sit down to start your office work.

How to block the distractions? If you’re a professional, please understand the power of the “mute” button. Mute yourself off in a room to spare the mind from the cacophony of domestic disturbances. Your heart will appreciate it’ll give you no excuse to getaway.

Best practice: Follow a routine. From waking up every day to start the day with assigned tasks, to sending day-end reports, to sign-off from work, to enjoy the rest with your family. The way you follow your routine on weekdays when you at the office, follow that same routine when you are working remotely.

7. It's okay to take breaks

If someone asks you a question, they expect an instant response. No matter in which situation you are. Communicating instantaneously throughout the working hours with co-workers is also important. So, when you are not working or away, put an away sign as a status on your chat window. This will buy you time to do whatever you need to do at home. But make sure, your breaks are no more than usual.

Because you are in a team and if you are away for a long time, it may cost the whole team’s productivity in the end. Better, set a login and logout time for all in a team. So everyone knows, what’s the best time to reach out?

8. Balancing act

With the full dependency on technology to get through your workday, it’s important to predict tomorrow. If you are working in a cross-functional team, you might even consider writing emails or sending chat messages in a more descriptive manner, so that the receiver can easily digest it and reply you back on time. Pick the email subject line bit more carefully. Set alerts, reminders for you as well as for others.

MS Outlook has lots of features like, “mark email as important”, “keep an email unread”, “mark done a task”, set up follow-up emails”, and more. It’s all about helping each other - not pressing. Be compassionate.

9. Use the mute button and screen sharing

In a 1-to-1 situation, it’s easy but what about a group chat, or an email to the team, or in audio/video conference call?

Make sure you address who you’re speaking to directly in the group. Why? Because things can get confusing, fast. Avoid using “you” in group conversations, because, on a group call, it’s not clear who “you” is when there are 10 others on the call.

Use the power of mute button - press “off” when you are not talking or talking less so others can listen to the speaker clearly

Use the screen sharing feature during calls when necessary to make your points visible

10. Be a professional

It may sound simple, but working from home presents all sorts of distractions you didn’t have to contend with at the office.

The best advice I can give is to know when you’ll be working and when you won’t. Stay loyal to your duties and responsibilities. Act like a true professional. Also, designate a workspace for you, preferably with a chair and table. Place yourself in a dedicated workspace or home office (if you can) and the chances you’ll be as productive as ever.

Also, eat healthily, drink plenty of normal water, do exercise, and enjoy life.

At the end of the day, a remote worker’s efficiency has to be judged based on productivity. So, look at it as a new opportunity and make the most of working from home while you can enjoy flexibility and freedom.

You never know how long it will last. Stay safe, be positive.

3 Management Tips (From A New Manager)

At times you may feel worried about expectations on you especially when you are replacing a person who came before you and marked his stamp as a good manager within an organization.

In that scenario, my suggestion is you that, get to know your new team members first. Discuss one-to-one with your new boss as well about the goals of your team and your accountability. You need to ensure that you know what is expected of you as a manager and that your boss knows what you're doing to meet the same.

I, from my personal experience, advise you to consider the below ideas when starting any new job and want to make a good impression as a new manager:

1. Create an effective action plan

Share the outline of a plan with your manager as quickly as possible. The documented approved plan keeps you closely aligned with your responsibilities.

The purpose of this plan is to set the goals you/your team need to hit at the end of the cycle.

For example, in a 90 days plan, the first 30 days is about learning the business and collaborating with internal team members as well as external departments, the next 30 days is about starting to contribute to the business as a team, and the final 30 days is about meeting defined goals.

I suggest once you have the final version of the plan (the one which gets approved by your superior), present it to your team members, and set milestones for you/them in terms of achieving set goals.

Alternatively, you may run through the plan with seniors in your team before submitting it to your manager for his review and approval.

By doing this, you not only define yourself to your teammates and boss respectively, you able to build a transparent yet professional relationship with all and keep everyone on the same page in a result-oriented process.

2. Focus on quick wins to stay motivated

Once you have a set plan, it is time to decide what your immediate actions will be. What are the easy opportunities that you can take instantly to prove your value?

Nevertheless, make sure you progress well. To do that, you have to start well, delivers well, and as efficiently as possible. Remember, most of the time we often overlook easy wins and rather focus on hard fights. In many cases, your first impression will be your last, so keep an eye on low-hanging fruits and go for killing them quickly but confidently.

By doing so, you will earn your team’s confidence as a true leader, and your manager’s praise too. This in turn will give you more confidence and encouragement to do even better down the line.

3. Follow meeting best practices

Build a habit of daily (if required) one-to-one discussion sessions with your boss (even if for 5 to 10 minutes) and share updates, talk about new ideas, or only for casual talks. The goal is to set up a fluid communication channel with him. If required, you can share with him the obstacles you are facing and need his intervention.

You can create an online shared sheet for collaboration with your team members, an idea dashboard - keep notes and updates for future reference, etc. to find everything easily if you don't have the time to meet and talk with everyone in your team.

The point is to record important things so that you stay aligned with set goals and stay on the same page with all the stakeholders and ensure that you know, where you are/your team is.

It helps you get the most out of your team, from the decisions made during a meeting with your manager. And the best part is, it helps you the most - keep you stay alert on important things and will never let you distract from your targets.

For example, if any work has to be done on an ad-hoc basis, you can take action accordingly. I personally like to set this up in Google drive - a simple yet powerful free online tool for collaboration.

I also prefer to do stand-up with my senior team members in the morning and talk about the development we made at the end of the day with my boss and get feedback.

On a side note, during the group meetings, I prefer to talk about positives, whereas, in private (one-to-one or face-to-face) meetings, I talked about the problems with individuals from my team. I also carefully listen if they have any issues from my side which I unknowingly imposed on them.

Doing the above things will set you up for a fruitful relationship with your new boss and more importantly will help you wow the new team members.

You will be able to establish trust early on and prove that you are the right selection for your decision-making role - show direct results and indirect progress - no matter how many talks against you.

What Soft Skills Should An SEO Have?

Are you an SEO professional? Or want to build your career in SEO? Then consider developing these 10 in-demand soft skills, which employers are looking for in SEO professionals nowadays, which will help you a lot to establish yourself in the growing yet competitive digital marketing job market.

Why are soft skills matter in SEO?

Studies have shown that 90+% of hiring managers believe SEO professionals with stronger soft skills have a better chance of getting hired or promoted than an employee with limited soft skills.

10 soft skills to supercharge your SEO career

Together with technical skills, soft skills are becoming extremely vital for SEO professions. Set yourself apart in the hiring process from the competition and become your boss's first choice consultant by polishing these 10 in-demand soft skills.

1. Problem-solving mindset

Finding solutions for problems. Demonstrate open-mindedness.

Research shows that 60+% of recruiters are looking for SEO candidates who are good at problem-solving during catastrophe circumstances. Showcasing your pinpointing abilities to the hiring manager during interviews will help you to stand out from the mass.

2. Manage time effectively

Time management means knowing the difference between time spent and the investment of time.

40+% of hiring managers feel time management is a key skill for SEOs of use. Starting from being on time at work, prioritizing tasks, completing tasks on time, using the time to help others to achieve common goals (team-based targets), to leave the office at the right time are all welcome attributes in you for your employer.

3. Competence in interpersonal communication

Interacting effectively with colleagues.

Whether writing an important business email or communicating during a social get-together, effortless interaction is an invariable life skill. 35+% of recruiters predominantly look for efficiency in verbal communication skills during the hiring process of SEO positions.

4. Motivated to learn and grow

A willingness to be trained.

As the job market is scaling more, employers want resources like someone who seems more flexible and adaptable to continue learning new skills and perfecting their existing skills side-by-side. More than 20% of Indian talents say that they got a promotion by stretching their skill-sets.

5. Proactive attitude

Do what needs to be done without external influence.

Self-motivation comes with an upbeat and persistent nature at work. Motivated employees are consistent in their job assignments, maintaining optimum results. 60+% of companies hired talents for their positive attitude.

6. Being a team player

Collaboration brings solidarity.

If you work well with teams and in groups, take charge as a leader as and when required, then you are automatically welcome in almost every industry and job. 55+% of candidates hired by demonstrating their teamwork skills during an SEO job interview.

7. Being adjustable

The ability to accept change without making a scene.

45+% of recruiters search for this feature in candidates. Whether you are at your first SEO job or an experienced campaigner in your industry, this soft skill in you can truly help you move ahead in the selection process.

8. Work well under pressure

Manage stress and performing well under pressure.

Can you meet the deadline that comes with targets? Employers look for talents who stay composed and remain focused during emergencies. 35+% of employers look for this skill in an SEO candidate during the selection process.

9. Tech-savvy

Satisfactory knowledge about SEO updates.

Regardless of the experience level and job profile, knowledge of SEO trends and updates, are essential in the modern job market. 50+% of SEO jobs require basic UX skills alongside UI designing sense.

10. Analytical skill

Analyze data and work on a plan. Ability to collect and analyze data, transform data into information, gather knowledge to make decisions.

Working on decisive ideas was once only a must for higher-level executives. Now, with altering work cultures, every SEO professional, regardless of their position in a hierarchy, is expected to think outside the box, to contribute more in the organization aside from their own SEO work schedule or assigned tasks. 25+% of SEO candidates got hired for their data analysis skills.

Whether you are in quest of your first SEO job or looking for a better opening in the digital marketing industry, landing your dream job can be challenging.

Advance with a better understanding of SEO job trends and market demands powered by optimized skill-sets to unlock your dream SEO career.

5 Common Google Ads Questions (& Answers)

In today’s post, I will answer the 5 most basic questions about the Google Ads platform often asked by the new advertisers.

If you search online for information on Google Ads, you'll end up with many conflicting opinions. Some are against the Google Ads platform, and others have opposite views. There are certain pros and cons to using the platform. Before you get confused about whether you should run ads on Google or not, it’s good to go through this post once in which you'll find the answers to 5 common Google Ads-related questions that new advertisers normally check.

1. Do Google Ads really work?

Sure, Google Ads is not for all types of businesses. But it doesn't work either if you don't know how to use it.

To leverage the Google Ads platform optimally, one has to do research data and analyze results to find what works best. If you run a Google Ads campaign without doing the homework properly, then it likely won't perform the way you want it to.

So instead of finding answers to the question like will Google Ads work for me or not, the key is making sure you know how to create, manage, and optimize the campaigns properly.

2. How effective are targeted ads?

Online users typically don't care if the search results are sponsored or not, provided the ad copies are targeted enough to entice a user and encourage them to explore further.

Over the last few years, Google has made changes (visually) to the way their ads appear on search results pages. The aim is to make them more aligned with other elements on the same search results page. On the other hand, Google made a lot of changes (brought automation feature) on its platform to make it easier for advertisers for running campaigns smoothly. So it is evident, ads do work and it works best if you customize it enough to target your audience at the right time and at the right place.

3. Can I make money from Google Ads?

Sure, a lot of advertisers are facing issues with tracking ROI but there are ways for all to analyze results to calculate how profitable Google Ads can be.

When campaigns are set up appropriately on the Ads platform, you can see how each ad and keyword is performing. From that data, you can make changes to when your ads show, who your ads target, or change the messaging in your ad copies to improve outcomes. This can significantly influence ROI.

Google Ads isn't a "set it and forget it" type of ads platform. The power of Google Ads comes from paying attention to the data Google now provides on its platform and then using it to maximize your ROI.

4. Are display ads worth it?

Again, there is no straight YES or NO answer to this question like the first one. The truth is display ads don't work if you show them to the wrong audience. If ads are shown to people who are not attracted to a product or service they care about, they won't engage with it meaningfully.

Display ads (like any other form of ads) do work if you show them to targeted audiences who are interested in your service or product. Simply put, an effective display ad campaign can bring an extra dimension to advertising.

5. Is it worth paying for Google Ads?

Since your competitors are running ads, so you HAVE to think about it too seriously.

With Google Ads, you pay for the number of interactions your ad gets. If you set up your campaigns correctly, then each interaction will bring someone closer to your business. Each interaction will cost you and the cost varies depending on the keywords you're competing for.

This is all about delivering the right content to the right people at the right time. Carefully laying the campaigns with careful targeting is one of the basics behind generating the ROI optimally - no matter how much money you have.

So while you do need to invest some money, if you plan to use Google Ads systematically, your budget doesn't have to be a point of concern.

Need Help with Google Ads?

We can create and manage your Ads campaigns for you.

Dial +91 9748776969 for Google Ads services. Alternatively, you may either write to partha.sdtt@gmail.com or comment on this post. Will get in touch with you accordingly.

Additionally, you may opt for training on Google Ads to do the below things independently -

• Cross-device marketing
• Setup mobile marketing campaign

Join us for the Google Ads training course at your convenience.

During the training, you’ll learn why it's imperative to consider mobile marketing when working on the Google Ads platform. We’ll be sharing the best techniques for creating mobile-optimized campaigns that drive conversions for your business.

When you join, you’ll learn:

• How to use any budget to run mobile optimized ad campaigns successfully?
• How to leverage Call-only ads to reach customers on mobile devices?
• The conversion calculation process for mobile, tablet, and desktop campaigns
• How to measure the success of cross-device ad campaigns efficiently?
• And many more (unlimited Q/A sessions)

To your success!

Partha

4 Ways To Increase Productivity At Work

Whether you’re working in a big corporation, at an agency, or as a freelancer, sometimes being a digital marketer can feel devastating. The role demands you to be dynamic and flexible in how you approach each challenge, as well as a readiness to adjust to changing business concerns of the brands you work with.

Despite the huge responsibilities, we often find that digital marketing teams are under-strength and overworked which means we need to increase efficiency to complete the assignments at hand.

4 ways to maximize your efficiency

Efficiency is frequently used as an excuse for delivering substandard work, but that is not what we are focusing on here. Instead, it’s about finding ways to maximize the quality production of our work while still meeting the deadlines without feeling overwhelmed.

1) Do systematic research

Any kind of thorough and detailed research work is often laborious work. From keyword research to market reports, or even a competitor study, there’s a humongous amount of data available for mining. So how do we smartly complete these tasks?

• Set a scope of work: You need to establish how much research you need to do, where the best places to research your topic are, and how you collate that research so that it actually becomes an actionable insight. The defined scope will help you stay focused and make you more efficient. This also means setting expectations beforehand to bypass unnecessary re-work. By setting a realistic scope aligned with the time frame you have to finish the task accurately, you can avoid project hiccup and maintain efficiency throughout the life-cycle of your work.
  
  
• Effectively divide work in a team: Once you know the scope of the work, are now delivering it successfully. For that, if some help is needed from others, do not hesitate to ask for it, in fact, you should think about delegate some parts to others and then your job is to assemble the pieces to make it whole. Make sure, your team’s load of work has divided fairly among all.
  
  
• Leverage the power of paid tools: If you do have to work alone on the research, then you can employ a few tools. I’d recommend using even a few browser extensions, they can make your effort compact. Of course, paid tools have loads of features that essentially empower you to accomplish your goals with ease.
  
  
• Don't underestimate the free tools: In digital marketing, some research tasks are simply too extensive to carry out manually; keyword research is a prime example. There are free tools available online (besides their paid equivalents) that give you an initial list of topics, from where you have to find out the relevant keywords based on your understanding of users’ search intent.

Needless to say, paid tools offer a lot more (and reliable results too) than their free versions. But it’s okay to start with free tools.

2) Monitoring and performance checks

In digital marketing, and paid ads specifically, there’s a lot of elements that can change daily. Waiting a week to discover and get surprised is simply not viable for most online businesses. This means as marketers we need to be continually monitoring the accounts for negating the unintended aftereffects.

• Reporting: When it comes to measuring progress, automates the reporting process to look at the data independently can save a lot of time. This will also help the client to get updates in real-time.
  
  
• Monitoring: Keeping up to date with the campaigns’ key metrics, it’s also important to monitor the website’s health every day if possible. Carrying out regular/periodic site audits to identify errors and fix them instantly will have a positive impact on business’ ROI. By setting up automated alerts, you can find and fix important SEO issues. As a result, you can protect your team from any sudden backlash.
  
  
• Maintenance: It’s also vital to regularly check and maintain the technical aspects of a website. For this too, there are tools to automatically identifying issues. From updated XML sitemaps to soft 404s, with tools, you will instantly come to know where the problem is lying and how to fix it.

Finally, if something does go wrong and you are managing a large e-commerce site or in charge of multiple sites, you have to embrace automation a little bit to do your analysis.

3) Effective communication

In digital marketing, as it is in all aspects of life, effective communication is essential for efficiency and productivity every day. A lack of communication, too much communication, or poor communication often means an invitation to ambiguity which leads to non-productivity. There are various ways to set up a team to communicate better.

• Communicate with your team: How productive we are in the workplace is directly proportionate to the people we surround ourselves with, and how we are communicating with them. Learn the techniques and best practices for communication from the consistent performers around you. Understand how they organize themselves, their approach to doing work, and how they remove obstacles to achieve their goals. Studying them will help you discover how to be more efficient.
  
  
• Avoid over-communicating: Overusing tools like emails and chats can often hinder time management and efficiency. Also, block you to think rationally to a great extent. Over-communication can confuse your team, and affect their productivity. It is always great to communicate with all the stakeholders, to keep all are on the same page but make sure you don’t spend too much time on emailing and meetings.
  
  
• Written communication: Make sure you’re communicating in a way that reflects both yourself and the agency or brand you work for. It is absolutely vital for you (or your success) to communicate in the most appropriate, concise manner you can. Within corporate communication, written documentation is pivotal, helps you to be more efficient by removing ambiguity at the early stage of any project where many departments are working together.
  
  
• Constructive communication: In an agency, the routine processes can sometimes be stressful. A great way to avoid strain in the workplace is to stay calm and making sure this is briefed precisely to your peers. Panic is like infectious diseases, spread rapidly.

So with a clear mind, optimism and determination, create a better working environment and enhance productivity.

4) Design it like a pro

If you’re anything like me then the design is important to you too. I’m equally happy to write the content of any presentation and making it look professional aligned with a brand. This is an essential part of the marketing we do, as the look and feel of a proposal is often the stakeholder’s lasting impression about you and your work.

• Simplify your design processes: To save you time and money, there are a variety of tools that make designing a much simpler, more efficient task. Whether it is for internal communication, client presentation, or strategy document, both texts and the design together allow agencies and brands to avoid losing anything.
  
  
• Follow patterns when applicable: As an addendum to my last point, investing time in creating templates will save you valuable time when it matters. There may be a time when you need to submit a pitch deck quickly; having a visually appealing ready-made template allows you to focus more time on customizing content.

Similarly, having a standard reporting template for client work ensures consistency for all deliverables, and reduces time spent each time.

Conclusion

These are just a few easy ways that I have applied to improve my efficiency in the workplace and increase my output. Digital marketing can be a challenging industry to work in, and often it feels like the amount of work never decreases, but with careful planning, you can capitalize more on deliverable task time.

Below are three final points to consider:

• Take breaks only when you need them - remember, your creativity will be reduced if you’re overworked or stressed.
  
  
• Always look for automation - this does not mean producing lower quality work at a higher pace, it means leveraging the power of tools aptly.
  
  
• Ask for help - you are a human being, using everyone’s skills when needed. Avoid any needless stress in the workplace - instead share the knowledge and abilities of the people around you.

Good luck!

12 Signs You Need A NEW Marketing Agency

No one wants to set bad examples. However, honestly speaking, as a marketer, from my past work experience in marketing agencies, I have recognized some patterns in all failed digital marketing campaigns.

Now, I would like to share the 12 signs with you, so hopefully, you can avoid common pitfalls and get your online marketing operations back on track.

This edition of my post is for all those who work day-in-day-out in marketing agencies and to their lovable clients. Try to relate to your situation -

1. You think the client "should already know that"

Do not fall into the trap of assuming that clients "should already know that". Instead, consider why your client does not have the information they need and make sure your client knows what they need to know.

2. "Why not?" replaced by "no" or "later"

Saying "no" sometimes is fine but constantly to new ideas; I think that is a problem.

3. The team is work on weekends

Our actions set the tone of our project. When we stay late at the office or work on weekends consistently, not a small thing. It is a statement to team members that you do not value them or their time outside the workplace. Rethink if you are forming the behavior yourself that you would like others to show.

4. You are matchless and above the rest

A mood like you’re untouchable isn’t an honor  -  it can be your greatest downfall as a lead. Why? Because you often micromanage others or don’t delegate works. When you accept that others can do parts of your job with sincerity and maybe better than you, you are more willing to share responsibility, delegate tasks to others as a leader.

5. You think asking certain questions can go wrong

The reality is that clients have feedback for you already, whether or not you ask questions about your work. So by not asking questions, you’re simply inviting a problem faster. If you want to be a real front-runner, you’ll have to gather the courage to ask genuine questions at the right time and hear answers you may not want to hear. It’s better than not knowing the answer at all.

6. You think emotions have no room in the office

It’s simple - the way we feel about our work is directly proportionate to how well we do our work. The workplace is often defying us not to consider people’s emotions since the situations can feel oppressive and complex. But great leaders allow a range of emotions, to do the day-to-day process of working together calmly.

7. You think doing everything yourself is easier

As the popular African proverb goes: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together". So, train/guide others in such a manner so they can help you elevate to the next level of success.

8. You think favoritism is fair

Partiality is one of the few things that turn a manager from good to bad. Knowingly or unknowingly, if you are biased towards some people in your team than others, you are inviting resentment amongst the team. Impartiality is a critical characteristic of the best of the bests.

9. You feel breaks are non-productive actions

You feel comfortable to see an employee in front of a computer, at the office who is taking minimum breaks. That means s/he is working. The definition of productivity is to you that, right? No, it’s complete disgrace.

Watching people get work done doesn’t mean the work actually gets done. Similarly, off-the desk doesn’t necessarily mean wastage of time by a resource. Instead of caring about the result, focus on accuracy. Stop attempting to control others, instead grow the sense of the importance of their accurate work inside their mind or explain to them the aftereffects of delivery of their work within the stipulated time frame in the long run. Your utter desire to see people staring at their computers all the time is a burden to your team’s productivity in reality.

10. You are a great believer in open-door policies

Open door policies in most of the companies simply don’t work - commenting based on my past experience. An employee is concerned most of the time (if not always) with how the managers’ reaction is going to be? There’s no incentive for an employee to be honest with you if especially it’s not what you want to see or hear. So you’ve got to ask what problems, issues, or questions your team is having - you just can’t expect them to come to you always.

11. You "test" your employees’ resilience

You may assign small tasks (in the name of "ad hoc" work) just to make sure your team "is on their toes" always. Don’t do that, please. Trying to "keep busy" your employees always is counterproductive especially when the work is not so crucial. You’re challenging their morale, not constructing.

If you’re ever tempted to try to keep busy with your employees - resist the urge. Instead, encourage them to learn new things or try out experiments. Ask yourself, "Why do I feel the need to keep them busy unnecessarily? What am I not doing to create a situation where they can do their best?"

12. You are not giving people a reason to feel excited about coming to work

As a manager, it’s tempting to focus always on what your employees are not doing. They should stop taking such long lunch breaks, or stop wasting time on social media or attending personal phone calls. Rather, the best managers take the opposite approach. They focus on what they can provide to their employees so they feel motivated profitably and engaged meaningfully.

For instance, instead of explaining to them how many coffee breaks are reasonable, consider, explaining how their work is connected to the bigger picture to them over a cup of coffee.

Many of us have experienced some of these 12 signs at some stages in a professional career. The key is to be aware of it when it occurs. Don’t give yourself excuses for how did it happen? Calmly analyze it, question yourself - why did it happen? Adopt what you’d like to do differently next time if a similar situation will arise, and move forward.

I hope studying these 12 signs can help you, as much as it did to me.

A Simple Guide To Content Marketing Plan

Whether you're a beginner in content marketing or a seasoned marketer, it never a bad idea to review your content strategy for the web - to make sure it's still effective.

After all, competition is growing steadily.

The first step is to have a manageable content plan for social media in place.

In this post, we'll touch base with:

• Why your business needs a content marketing plan?
• The steps I took to develop a content marketing strategy for a client

But first what is a content marketing plan?

A content marketing plan refers to the management of digital assets that you develop to support your online marketing and advertising strategy profitably.

Now when you are forming a content marketing plan, there are some basic things to consider:

• Who's the target audience for my content?
• How my content is going to solve a problem I know the audience has?
• What makes my content unique?
• Which type of content will comprehend my digital marketing goal optimally?
• What are the channels for sharing content I have to reach out to my target audience?
• How I can follow my well-researched content marketing plan seamlessly?

So, why do businesses need to have a content marketing plan?

Content marketing helps businesses run cost-effective campaigns for generating traffic and leads from the web - which is basically generating ROI.

An effective content marketing plan will allow you to leverage other search engine marketing tactics for generating more revenue, such as paid advertising.

On top of that, your content will not only help attract targeted traffic and generate leads - it will also help educate your target prospects and propel brand awareness.

Now, let's see how to create a content marketing plan.

• Define your content marketing goal
• Conduct research on your target audience
• Run an audit on your old content - identify the gaps
• Set up a content management system
• Brainstorm new content ideas for your next project
• Determine which types of content you want to create for which web platform
• Start production and manage your content database

There are a variety of options out there for content you can create. Also, a lot of free and paid online tools are available to draw ideas from. Similarly, there are many popular social media platforms that you can focus on to share your content optimally.

Your content marketing plan should go beyond creating and posting - it should also cover analyzing the outcome and organizing your content assets for future use.

For that, you should have a content calendar to stay on the right track for publishing content consistently and reuse content smartly.

Most marketers, as a part of their job, collaborating with many, such as designers, copywriters, webmasters, etc. to manage their content marketing efforts according to the set plan, but you don't have to limit yourself to these only. It could be worth reviewing content time-to-time on your competitors’ blogs or analyzing their official social media accounts to take out the positives. Keep an eye on the latest trends and/or upcoming yet predictable changes in your industry when you're developing your own content marketing strategy.

I know there is a lot to do, but the success of any digital marketing campaign lies within the information shared above. It takes time, an organized approach, and creativity to craft a successful content marketing plan. From building the foundation of your content marketing strategy to adding tools to better manage your content, setting up your content calendar to support everything won't be a hassle if you follow the steps and explore the resources here.

For additional guidance, dial +91 9748776969 or write to partha.sdtt@gmail.com to create a formidable content marketing strategy for your business quickly. Else, just comment on this post, will get in touch with you.

Happy marketing!

3 OLD Ways To Manage NEW Ideas Easily

Hi!

If you are a digital marketer like me, then new ideas flash into your mind regularly.

Many times, there is no pattern to it. The ideas suddenly appear while I am chatting with my family members and friends over the phone or face-to-face, walking alone from returning to my office, and even in dreams while sleeping.

Though this steady flow of ideas good, I have indeed noted a point. I often fail to recall them.

Yes. Many of the ideas are lost down memory lane due to my forgetfulness nature. Consequently, I am allowing opportunities to slip through my hands without even a try. It has happened to me, and I am sure it is happening with some of you too.

I am not advocating for trying out every idea that is coming to your mind but if you find a way to prevent ideas from being lost at least, then that would be great - do not you think.

And there are ways actually!

I have applied the below three methods and experienced a significant turnaround in my personal as well as professional life. Mind you, there are several other methods of seizing ideas before they disappeared.

Let us look now at the ways I am following to minimize the loss of ideas.

#1 The oldest yet simplest way - keep a pen and paper near you

Whenever something constructive comes to my mind, I keep recorded in my diary. Be it at home, or be it in my workplace, I am carrying the diary with me to take quick notes for future reference.

The funny thing is I often receive crazy ideas before I go to bed every night. Though they are abstract ideas from my subconscious mind, whenever they come, I do not want to lose them. Therefore, the moment they appear, I just take note as I used to keep my diary and pencil/pen beside my bed.

However, sometimes reviewing the notes later gives me rather a pain, as they are so hazy. Thus, my advice to you all digital marketers, ready to jot your ideas down immediately on a paper is important but take notes in as a meaningful way as possible.

Also, please do not forget to visit and revisit your notes, or else the whole idea behind taking notes will become meaningless.

For the extremist, you can carry your diary even in toilets as that is another remote place to think quietly and confront your ideas.

Personally, I find carrying a pen and paper on my trips very useful to continue with ideas. It is probably the best way to found an endless amount of ideas.

Live example: Most (if not all) of us are following several blogs and news sites to stay up-to-date. We are literally flooded with information covered by marketers around the world about the latest developments happening in our digital industry. Not every time everything cannot read instantly or memorize accurately for the future. So I usually either bookmark it or take notes in my diary for reviewing later.

#2 Use your Smartphone as a digital notepad

A notebook and pen are not always seemly to carry everywhere, but if you have a Smartphone (who do not have in today’s world connected someway with digital marketing), then you will need not to.

There are many apps available online for free, allow me to quickly write down my thoughts, even if I do not have the internet.

For many especially tech-savvy people, this is the convenient way to detention of raw ideas before they are gone probably forever.

On top of this, I am used to synchronizing my online and offline notes and store everything in the cloud, a central repository of my ideas - accessible anytime anywhere. This also minimizes the risk of data loss, clutter, and repetition of work.

So if I lost my diary or damaged my phone, no more worries now!

Live example: I have an idea board on Google Drive so to access my notes anytime from anywhere.

#3 Organize your mindset and trying to free yourself from unnecessary worries

This is true that the majority of my ideas rarely come on their own.

In most cases, I form quite a lot of related ideas too. And when this occurs, I often influenced by:

• Ease of execution
• How important I see them
• Their visible value to achieve my goal

The problem I faced with this approach is that it slows down my ability to work on my ideas. This ultimately led me to abandon some of my ideas.

If you are inconsistent during sorting out your thoughts, you may fail too to achieve your dreams. So proper planning is essential.

For the same reason, the most crucial thing is to visualize your ideas quickly and as far as you can. If you practice this, you will have ample time later to ready yourself in advance.

Francis of Assisi once said: "Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

So shape your future by shaping and prioritizing your ideas today.

The flow of ideas means we are thinking. We are alive. We are trying. And that is a good sign. All we need to do is let the flow coming in, take the best out of it, and work hard on them.

I would love to hear any ideas you have for improving other digital marketer’s life. Be it professional or personal - please share your thoughts in the comments.

Cheers!

How Do I Start A Career In SEO?

Hi!

I believe you're having a fantastic week so far.

Today, I want to share 3 principles through this post that form the backbone of your search engine optimization (SEO) career. Mastering them can make a notable impact in your professional life (and personal too), and I tell you why to apply these 3 principles throughout this journal.

I'm going to talk about each of them now one-after-another because I believe they're so essential regardless of how many years of experience you have in SEO.

Principle #1: SEO is a flow

Like life, SEO is a flow. It's in constant motion - evolves but never pauses or stops.

Often, we tend to stay stuck inside a mind-frame as if SEO is static. This has a huge impact on your SEO viewpoint, especially on your creativity.

For example, let's take the concepts of "white hat SEO" and "black hat SEO" in the context of Google’s BERT update! Within the last few years, content marketing has become popular and is considered as "white hat" tactics in SEO, and if rightly done, bring "success".

Content marketing is used to be a critical part of every marketing (both online and offline) strategy. It's also important for marketers to evolve their content marketing technique aligned with Google’s updated EAT and quality guidelines for content.

Unfortunately, a lot of SEO masters (or webmasters) look at "success"/"failure" through a static lens. And it doesn't only apply to ethical SEO/unethical SEO. This is why it is always advisable to embrace the changes (means, understanding Google's or other reputed search engines' definition of quality for webpages and content) during low points or high points even though things looks stable.

SEOs need to know how to think freely, stay motivated, focus, and even how to be creative. Apply and you'll find how this perspective can completely change your outlook towards SEO and actions.

Unlike others, you actually have a way to influence what happens next in the SEO industry. What you do now, will affect what is going to happen as Google keeps updating its search algorithm. So for example, if a content marketing team decides to stick to the same old paid PR submission tactics as part of the promotion and consider it as a "white hat SEO" marketing technique, they'd probably face backlash from search engines like Google soon. But if they see SEO as a flow, then they might do something about it and change the way they used to do paid PR submissions. This leads us to -

Principle #2: Matching inputs and outputs in SEO

We're in a results-oriented industry. We look at SEO theories that have already been established and define ourselves and others by them. Now, look at social media, where everyone primitively shares and compares their best sides, like our schooling system where we concentrate so much on grades and test results.

But we must not forget that results are just outcomes, which may come from nothing, which may consequence of lots of different inputs. By focusing predominantly on the outputs, we're actually missing the point. If you want to have the same output or outcome from your SEO work, there's no point in comparing! How about figuring out what SEO inputs were invested instead?

The fact with outputs is that they've already occurred and we can't change them. Outputs are not actionable but can be influential in terms of influencing the present. But inputs, on the other hand, are.

Let us flip output-oriented thinking inside our heads. And use outputs as signs of what inputs to capitalize next. By changing the focus, a lot of things you used to be stuck on, will also change your SEO work process. You might suddenly see new routes to take while doing SEO.

We're mentally so programmed to aiming at outputs that it takes conscious practice to move on. So constantly practice this principle, which helps you to integrate it into your SEO methods systematically. By NOT blindly following the methods we teach/read or others (namely our competitors) are doing, you'll automatically be redirected towards the inputs. It will naturally become your own SEO principle and a part of your thinking!

Imagine how much more positive your life as an SEO would be if you can apply this to your digital marketing profession.

Principle #3: SEO is a step-by-step approach

What stops you from accomplishing marketing goals that you believe you can achieve? Is it when something seems non-computable? Or a problem too big and complicated to resolve within a stipulated time frame? Or an objective that seems too scattered to process? Or anything else?

Besides being focused on outcomes, we're also in an impatient society nowadays too! Most if not all the people in the SEO industry are driven by instant gratification.

And this is not good for SEO professionals, because it makes us give up too soon and too easily on things. The more you become impatient, the less creative you will come to be. If an easy way isn't available at first glance, we lose motivation to move forward. To overcome this, we either follow the shortcuts or bypass the problem. For example, "organic SEO" is largely based on consistency and tenacity. It takes time - a hell of a lot of time - almost everyone knows that. But since everyone is focusing on "results" "impatiently", SEOs often forget about "ethics" (a.k.a "white hat SEO") and tend towards "effective" (a.k.a "black hat SEO") routs - even though the effect lasts only for a short time. This is how, eventually, a profound PR marketing tactic becomes a blatant effort to drive attention towards your website.

If you are unknowing/accidentally locked yourself in "black hat SEO" techniques, then okay (because with a mindful mind, you can surely overcome). But knowingly/consciously following and/or misusing SEO (tweaking them dishonorably - especially for YMYL content) can be detrimental from all perspectives.

Here comes the third principle we should consider - is a step-by-step approach. Everything can be broken down if you apply logic in SEO. By breaking things down into bite-sized actions, you can actually measure what is working and what is not? Then all SEO goals seem achievable. Each bite-sized action you take builds momentum and it is what helps you step forward.

In this post, I do not show you exactly how to do this, but with a revised mindset, you can thrive. All you need to use your "TRUE" passion for SEO, for building new habits, learning new skills, and more.

Connecting the 3 SEO principles together -

Joining these 3 principles are essential for making a powerful difference in your SEO job. Let me give you a simple example that I encounter almost daily in my life.

We all know, Google always recommends producing (or focus on producing) "good quality content". Content that gets lots of positive feedback and attracts back-links naturally. But taking this as a goal, how can I help someone to produce that? For example, a "good quality blog post" is just an outcome. It's got no obvious actions to take - besides "do my best to write it".

So instead, I try to focus on the inputs. By breaking the writing process down into bite-sized actions I can follow/manage/track, which align to produce the outcome I want. I start by figuring out what topic inputs result in a quality blog output.

For example, some inputs are -

• What to share? For example, summarizing a complex concept into a few bullet points
• Why share? For example, find at least a reason - in this case, it feels good to contribute something sensible to the SEO community
• How to share? For example, write a blog post - use some relatable metaphor, visuals, employ real-life scenarios to relate the concept with context easily

These are just a few possible input actions we may start with, which ultimately become recyclable skills that we use in the future repeatedly in the SEO work process. The more inputs we can think of to capitalize, the higher the chance of "success" in SEO projects.

In this case, "success" would be any form of engagement from as many readers as I can reach ethically. When I publish a post, it doesn't just end there. I see it as a flow. So an article may end up immediately doing well (or not), but I keep my focus on adding more inputs to improve my SEO thought process instead, deciding what to do based on the latest results.

You can see how these 3 SEO principles are interdependent and work together as a whole. This is just one example of how we can create positive change in almost any area of our SEO life! I'm pretty sure that these principles will integrate well through practice into your own SEO value system too.

Regardless of whether you agree with me or not, I hope this blog post gave you some insight into how these 3 SEO principles can change the paradigm entirely!

Do you have any questions I didn't cover in this post? Feel free to comment!

Cheers! :-)