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What to Do When Your (Personal) Social Media Content Has Been Stolen

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Social media has become the top way for brands to increase awareness of what they’re doing, from promoting new products to interacting with customers. Experts encourage entrepreneurs to regularly post high-quality content in the hopes followers will share it across their own networks.

This means spending hours developing insightful updates, linking to your own great blog posts, and sourcing images from stock photo sites.

After putting all of this work into your content creation efforts, it can be even more disturbing to find your information posted on another site. It may even be a competing business’s blog or an industry magazine. Even if the site credits you as the author of the work, using your content without compensating you for it is a violation.

“There are several situations where social media content can be stolen,” says Robert May, founding attorney at The May Firm. “Increasingly publications are using social media posts as part of their news stories, as seen here. When they get permission first, it isn’t a problem.

Unfortunately, less professional sites fail to get that permission. Sometimes a site uses an original photo or copies a blog post that has been linked on social media. In more extreme instances, a business owner may find a fake account has been set up using his own name and likeness.”

Whatever the type of theft, it’s important to act quickly to make sure the content is removed. Here are a few steps you should take if you find your social media content has been stolen.

Step One: Make Contact

Before doing anything, send a friendly email politely asking that the content be removed. Don’t use forceful language in this initial contact. Simply state the action you would like to have taken as a result of the letter. If you want the content removed, ask politely that they do so within a certain number of business days.

If you are agreeable to being compensated for your content, state the price and offer removing the content as an alternative. Hopefully the offender will remove the content and send a letter of apology for the inconvenience. If not, wait the stated number of days before taking further action. If the content was posted on a site by an employee of an organization, take your complaint further up the chain before checking into outside options.

Step Two: Check the Terms of Service

While you’re waiting, carefully review the terms of service on the social media site where your content was originally posted. Facebook allows you to report copyright infringements using this tool, while Twitter’s tool is here.

Both are products of the Digital Millennial Copyright Act (DMCA), passed in 1996 to protect copyright holders from online theft. You may also want to check into the policies of the website where the content is posted, since they’ll have their own copyright infringement notification procedures.

DMCA Takedown Notice

In addition to the tools offered on various social media sites, copyright holders can also have content taken down using a DMCA Takedown Notice. You’ll need to determine the Internet Service Provider hosting the site where the content is posted and direct your letter there.

After an investigation, you’ll often find that the content is removed without having to wait for the person who posted it to respond. DMCA charges for the service through its site, but you can craft a letter for free using the instructions provided on the National Press Photographers Association site.

Contact an Attorney

When other recourse has failed to bring action, it’s time to contact a lawyer. Although attorneys will charge an hourly fee to help with copyright infringement, often content can be removed through a cease and desist letter. Such a letter packs a heavy punch when it comes from a law office.

If for some reason that letter doesn’t achieve results, however, an attorney can go through the courts to have a cease and desist order placed on the content, which requires that it be removed.

Having your content stolen can feel like a violation. Fortunately, there are actions you can take to let offenders know that you won’t allow your photos and text to be used for free. By having tools in place to use in the event your content is stolen, you’ll be prepared to take action if it ever happens.

Image by Pavlofox from Pixabay

9 Practical Work-at-Home Ideas For Moms

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According to the U.S. Census Bureau figures, some 5.6 million mothers, or nearly 1 out of 4, have opted to abandon their jobs to be with their kids. More and more are preferring the stay-at-home option after childbirth.

Women who take care of their kids full-time are more likely to get depressed, however.  While they love their kids to bits, they feel that a life doomed to changing diapers day in and day out is a waste of education and talent. Besides, letting the husband be the sole breadwinner during a shaky economy seems not a wise option.

The solution: Keep your sanity and dignity, as well as the streams of income flowing by being a stay-at-home but working mom. The following are just some of the many work-at-home options you can choose from:

1. Freelance writing. Do you have a way with words? Many businesses pay good money for content writing. There are many freelance writing websites you can sign up for, like Elance,  Odesk, and Guru.

2. Customer service. There is a huge demand for virtual employees to handle in-bound customer calls which can be routed directly to your computer via the Internet. Virtual customer service agents are paid by the hour and keep a specific work schedule. Training is also paid.

3. Medical transcription. If you type fast and have excellent spelling and grammar, you can try working as medical transcriptionist.  There are training programs available online for this line of work with focus on honing your English skills, knowledge of human anatomy and pharmacology, and ability to take dictation from health professionals.

4.  Data entry. A data entry job usually requires some form of data being converted into another form, like a list of people’s name and addresses in Word document being transformed into entries in a spreadsheet.

5.  Online teaching or tutoring. Online teachers and tutors may teach a variety of subjects, ranging from elementary to college levels. A teaching certification or experience is usually required to qualify for this job.

6. Bridal and wedding consultant. A bridal wedding consultant performs a variety of tasks including planning the schedule for the wedding and the rehearsal dinner,  connecting the couple-to-be with the right vendors, creating the budget and the bridal registry, etc.

7. Selling arts and crafts online. If you love crafting, why not create a website showcasing your creations? Just make sure you have quality photos because your customers will be judging your work based on these images. Try beaded jewelry, hand-sewn bags, dolls, ceramics — the possibilities are endless.

8. Cake decorator/designer. If you have taken a course in baking and cake decorating, this home-based work option may appeal to you. You can start by offering your services to friends, neighbors, or former officemates.  Make sure to make a portfolio of your best designs.

9.  Dog daycare. If you love dogs, this job should come easy to you. You get to pat, groom and interact with multiple dogs at the same time and get paid for it! In the U.S, dog owners pay as much as $30 per dog for a few hours’ stay at the daycare center.

There are many more online business ideas that make money. Experiment! You may even come up with your own idea.

Take the leap!

The first step in building a successful home business is coming up with a solid plan of action.

You don’t necessarily have to develop an actual business plan in the traditional sense (though it would probably help), but it is very important that you have your goals, promotional strategy and costs mapped out clearly for use as a personal reference.

Put away at least three months’ worth of money, and get ready to be your own boss.

Stay-at-home businesses are a great way to transition into self-employment. Just remember that to be your own boss, you also have all of your boss’s responsibilities: you’ll need to keep work coming in, keep pay going out, and keep your clients happy.

Finally, you’ll need to keep yourself happy and stress-free. That’s the most important thing!

Welcome to all and thank you for your visit ! ツ from Pixabay

7 Content Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

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content-marketing-mistakesContent is the bread and butter of any good marketing strategy. While it should never be used alone, it should be one of the primary focuses for any style of business of website.

This is a lesson that most businesses learn quickly, and so they will immediately set out to offer a content-heavy extension of their primary brand.

Despite this fact, many don’t use the technique effectively. In fact, some use it improperly for years before turning to a marketing expert in exaggeration.

I can tell you from experience that clients don’t appreciate being told they have been doing things wrong. But many businesses fail in this regard from the very beginning, and so lose a real opportunity at initial growth.

Here are some common mistakes businesses make in the category of content marketing:

1. Not Knowing The Difference Between Content and Advertising

Obviously, you want to talk up your product at any opportunity given. No one is going to blame you for doing so in your own content. However, there is a difference between mentioning your brand in relation to a genuine topic, and advertising.

You should not be writing up long winded posts that equal to sales copy. Save that for your advertising, and think of your content as a chance too create a larger conversation with customers.

2. Not Knowing The Difference Between Social Media Interaction and Content

Not long ago I was speaking to someone I know who recently opened a small business (in the last year), and was talking about how useless he had found content marketing. It didn’t take long before I got the whole picture: he believed he was generating content by writing daily Facebook posts.

I was flabbergasted, and explained to him that he was thinking of social media marketing… a Facebook status does not equal content. Think of social media as a chance to gain visibility for your content, not generate it.

3. Lack of Consistency

If you have a blog, you should be updating it regularly. Period. It drives me crazy when I see businesses selling things like apps, and even though there have been changes to the product there has been nothing published to the blog for as much as a year.

Don’t make this mistake, and don’t merely update when you have something that could sell your product. You are supposed to be regularly providing something relevant to the user within your industry, not upselling them.

Here are a few examples of companies being consistent with their content marketing efforts.

4. Failure to Update Information

Again, updates are important. If you have some change coming to your product, company, site or just the industry, you should at least comment on it. Things in every genre change and grown and adapt over time.

You should be taking old posts and writing something to follow up on them on a regular basis. Maybe this is a whole new post, maybe it is an update with reference to the old one. In any case, make sure all information provided on your site is up to date.

Depending on the blogging platform you chose, there are various plugins and modules that make it easier to monitor and fix broken links and keep your content updated.

5. Being Too Technical

Some of the people who hop on over to your blog are going to be experts. Most of them are probably not. You should be trying to break everything down for an easier understanding by the average reader.

There is a time and a place for technical jargon, which you can provide separately. But assume that for the bulk of the post you are explaining it to someone new to the concept.

6. Not Being Technical Enough

While the above rule is true, not being technical enough can also be an issue. I have heard people say that anything published for the purpose of content marketing should be “presented as if to a five-year-old”.

I don’t believe this, at all. There is no need to talk down to the reader, so you can feel free to present the data you need to. Going too far in either direction is a mistake.

UXCeclipse is the perfect example of the right balance: Check out this article.

7. Lack of Engagement With Readers

Content doesn’t stop at the content. I cannot stress this enough. You are not just plopping down some information and bolting. You are starting a dialogue with the people who read it, and as such, you should be encouraging the conversation.

That means responding to questions and comments on the post, as well as on social media sites where you link to it.

Do you know of a common content marketing mistake made by businesses? Let us know in the comments.

How to Use Both Content Marketing and SEO to Amplify Your Blog

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SEO and Content MarketingOver the last few years, it has been drilled into the brains of digital marketers everywhere: content is king and an important part of any search engine optimization strategy.

Consumers are looking for unique information that teaches them something new. The right piece of content marketing can drive sales. However, if your content is hard to find online then, naturally, your prospects can’t convert.

Dominating Content Marketing in 2020

This year, expect content marketing to dominate SEO, but just like Neil Patel wrote in a Quick Sprout article,

Content marketing and SEO go together like peanut butter and jelly… if you are trying to grow your qualified search traffic, you have to combine your content marketing with your SEO efforts

The best way to combine the two effectively is to use the new generation of tools that go beyond keyword matching and assist you in topic and context research. Text Optimizer is one such tool that applies semantic analysis against Google’s search snippets to break any search query into the cluster of related and underlying concepts:

textoptimizer

Use Text Optimizer to create both well-researched and well-optimized content to boost your SEO and content marketing efforts.

Since content marketing is taking over, let’s examine how to get ahead in the space this year.

Blog or Bust

If you don’t already have a blog, you need to have one created and tie it back to your website before you can begin integrating content marketing into your SEO strategy. Here’s a solid guide on choosing the best blogging platform.

You can improve your conversion ratio and SERPs with images and a blog. A business blog is typically the best place to publish your primary marketing content. Put a content marketing plan of action in place, which needs to include developing informational material.

Strategic Content Development

As noted in Pay Anywhere’s article “The New SEO”, a blog is not a place for you to be super promotional. Save the sales promotions for email marketing. Instead, show

how your business is going the extra mile to help the community, or focus on a new product that is unique to your business or area

Search Engine Land suggests, “You’ll sell more by not selling.” Behind every good piece of content marketing is a good brainstorming session. Break out your notebook and some colored pens and consider these suggestions:

  • Feel your customers’ pain.
  • Tune into your customers’ passions and emotions.
  • Take a direct and indirect approach to crowdsourcing.
  • Feed off popular news stories.
  • Eavesdrop on your customers’ and competitors social media channels.

All About Videos

At one point, adding an image to a piece of content marketing was good enough. With the recent explosion of video marketing, images alone are not going to cut it.

While videos deployed on YouTube or Facebook can be considered a form of content marketing alone, kick things up a notch by embedding videos right into your blog posts. Did you know?

  • 78 percent of people watch videos online every week
  • 55 percent of people watch videos online every day
  • By 2017, experts believe that video will take up 69 percent of consumer Internet traffic
  • 52 percent of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI

Source: HubSpot

Quality Beats Quantity

Last year Google released its Quality Update. The update rewards websites that have quality content and punishes those that do not. Google update or not, it’s always best to focus on delivering quality content. In assessing whether or not your content is up to par, consider what Forbes Contributor Jayson DeMers suggests:

  • Use an appropriate length.
  • Supplement with videos, images, infographics, and other media.
  • Be sure to use proper grammar and spelling.
  • Format pages and text accordingly.
  • Achieve an appropriate readability score.
  • Tie back to a qualified professional in the space — expertise matters.
  • Integrate content marketing with social media.
  • Utilize good internal and external links.
  • Provide value.

Marketing for Your SEO and Content Marketing

Your job as a content creator does not end after you create a piece of content. Content marketing is one part content creation and two parts content distribution and promotion.

You already know you should be sharing your content on social media, but what are some other places to promote it? Try using these locations:

  • Email communications
  • Email signatures
  • Search engine advertising

If you want to dominate in 2020, you need both SEO and Content Marketing.

Filed Under: SEO

How to Build Income with Your Blog

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passion into bloggingAre you passionate in one topic and want to spread your passion to others? Do you want to make money from your passion?

You can do it simply by starting a blog.

Yes, blogging can help you to turn your passion into cash. Follow these tips carefully:

1. Share what you know

Sharing information is what blogging is all about. If you have something to share with the world, blogging is one of the best platforms for you to simply share what you know.

Remember that everyone is an expert at something. Some people may not know about what you’re sharing, and they may need that information. When you are blogging, simply tell people about your passion. You will be able to naturally attract readers with similar passion as you.

Content marketing only works as long as you love what you are writing about.

2. Write only what you’re deeply interested in

You should write about what you know, not about what you don’t know. Writing about something that you enjoy will add more power to your writing. If you write about something that you know, what you write will naturally become persuasive.

When you’re able to persuade people with your writing, you can easily make some cash from your writing. Remember that the key to cash in with your blog is persuasive writing. It can be obtained only if you write about what you’re deeply interested in.

3. Help your readers wholeheartedly

Aside from sharing information about your passion, blogging can become your channel to solve their problem. You can only make money with blogging if you’re able to help your readers to solve their problem.

After all, most products that are sold on the market are products that can help their buyers in some way. Help your readers wholeheartedly with your blog writing. Recommend products that you think can help your readers to solve their problem.

4. Install advertisements only if you’ve made your blog popular

Although you can change your passion into cash with blogging, most people are quickly switching their gears once they start to make some money with their blog. They will start cluttering their blogs with advertisements and lots of pop-ups. You should avoid doing this. You can monetize your blog through advertisements, but you can’t install those ads right away.

The best timing to start monetizing your blog through advertisements is when you’ve made your blog popular. What’s the measurement of popular blog? You can assume that your blog is popular enough when you see regular daily traffic of 1000 visitors or more.

Many bloggers choose not to use ads to monetize their sites and depend on donations. You can invite your readers to send you gift cards or cash gifts (through PayPal, for example) or encourage them to become your recurring sponsors. This method makes you independent of any third-party platforms which is pretty cool but you need to build a strong community of followers in order for it to work.

5. Make yourself an expert

The last thing to make sure that you can cash in your passion with your blog is to make people notice that you’re an expert in your field. Through your passionate writing, you can make it.

People will regard you as an expert in blogging if you can solve their problem and share valuable information to them. Once you’ve build good reputation as an expert, it will become easier for you to make money with your blog. People will just start to call you and offer some gigs to you.

6. And finally, Get Consistent!

Consistency is key in making your blog a success. When preparing for a trip, or planning a vacation, always include your blog editorial as your high-priority. What’s going to happen with your blog while you are away? Think this through!

Also be sure to grab yourself a copy of Social Media Promotion Guide to find some tools and scheduling tips to keep your channels active while you are away.

If you have a passion in any field, don’t suppress it. Start by creating a blog about the topic that you’re passionate about and follow the tips above. Within short amount of time, you will be able to turn your passion into cash with blogging.

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How to Relieve Stress and Learn to Enjoy Life

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The modern world is a lot of hard work. Money troubles, family issues, work problems are just some of the issues people have to face all of the time.

No matter if you’re a stay at home parent or a complete workaholic, the common pitfalls of everyday life can leave you feeling angry, worn down and frustrated. And don’t get me started on the feeling of guilt that never leaves a mom’s brain.

Long term stress can be seriously detrimental to personal well-being. It can be the cause of regular migraines, muscle tension, heart disease, insomnia, ulcers as well as major contributor to a host of psychological illnesses.

Dealing with anxiety and stress doesn’t have to be difficult. Some of my favorite ways of combating stress are:

Pick up a Pen

It’s been said that writing in a journal can help free your mind from the tangle of constant thoughts, as well as helping to naturally organize them. If analog pen and paper aren’t your style, there are a few great journaling applications out there. Day 1 has a seamless interface but is only available for IOS. Journey is a great alternative for Android.

You can also set up a blog to keep your journal there. It gives you a great feeling of accomplishment. Here are best blogging platforms for you to choose from.

Whatever your method, the act of putting your thoughts on paper will leave you feeling freer and lighter as the days wear on. And if the thought of journaling is too much to bear, for even a few minutes a day, try an adult coloring book.

Get in Your Cardio

Or really, any exercise, as long as it gets you moving. Your body functions in such a way that exercise helps to release dopamine into your system, stabilizing mood and increasing focus.

You don’t need a gym membership to get this going, a quick turn around the neighborhood for a half hour is enough to help boost. This has more long-term effects than immediate benefits, but the longer you persevere, the greater the effects.

Find Some Hobbies

Everybody needs to have interests outside of the work and family. Making sure some parts of your life are totally separate from other parts will help in those times when you need a refuge from the outside world. If your time is only spent thinking about the things which (can) cause you stress, then you are far more likely to remain stressed all of the time.

I like to read a lot of fantasy novels and then argue about them online. Hobbies don’t have to be physical activities, they should just be something you are really passionate about.

Try Meditation

Meditation for stress relief is available in many different forms. Guided meditations, hypnotherapy, mantra meditations, silent meditations and whole host of things that come somewhere in between. With all of them the main point is to find thirty minutes to an hour each day, where you can just sit back, let go of all your worries and just relax.

Daily meditation rituals help your body and mind remember what it is like to be content and relax. In time you will be able to use that feeling to help overcome stressful situations as they occur throughout the day, just by closing your eyes, taking a deep breath and remembering what it is like to be calm and relaxed.

Setting aside time to relax is very important, as if you don’t you’ll run the risk of getting physically, mentally and emotionally burnt out, which will only result in misery and failure. So allow yourself personal time, but make sure you plan out when that time will be, so that for the rest of the day you’re focused on your  work.

Remember you can remain productive even when you are bored and tired. It’s not about doing work all the time: Being productive is all about spending every minute of your life with purpose, even if that purpose is to relax and de-stress.

Those are the ways I like to relieve stress and anxiety on a daily basis, if you’ve got any good tips I’d love to hear what you’ve got to say.

Image source: Pixabay