One of my favorite gadgets is the 'Breathalyzer in Every Bar' vending machine to use when you are either boating or driving a car during vacation or on a fun trip. You certainly don't want to ruin your Spring Breakwith a DUI, whether you are driving a boat or a car, right? While you enjoy Florida's many waterfront eateries soaking up the sunshine check out the breathalyzer before you get behind the wheel.https://www.facebook.com/Breathalyzerineverybar/
Don't forget, the authorities are out in force during Spring Break, so be safe and blow before you go! https://www.npr.org/2011/11/10/142172649/before-leaving-the-bar-a-chance-to-breathalyze
Another tip for safe boating is to make sure you drive your boat during the day light hours and if you do imbibe,
designate an assistant skipper!
If you are looking for all inclusive resorts in Florida read all about it here: https://bit.ly/2IQPlqY.
Don't forget the Florida Visitor Passes available to residents for Universal, Disney and SeaWorld!
Have fun and be safe!
https://breathalyzerineverybar.com/
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/lifestyles/pro-new-book-helps-readers-find-purpose-through-self-awareness/AFp8q7IzSgzANmtpTFhZuJ/
By Susan Nefzger Posted Mar 12, 2018 at 12:01 AM Updated Mar 12, 2018 at 2:33 PM Why do most authors write a book? It may be due to inspiration, motivation, life changes, contract requirements or all of the above. I wrote a book titled “A Practical Guide to Awareness” because I was led to do so. The book is a step-by-step guide to finding fulfillment through self-awareness. Apparently, I could no longer ignore the little voice in my head. The voice was whispering to me practically my entire life. As a native of West Palm Beach, I grew up knowing I was going to write a book — I just wasn’t sure what it would be about. I went on to a career in public relations, had a family and settled down, thinking that was it for me. Flashback to December 2014: I receive an email with information regarding a “Conscious Writing Retreat” in Glastonbury, Somerset, U.K. The originator of the email was a group I had joined a few years earlier, the International Association of Conscious and Creative Writers, founded by Julia McCutchen. Previously, I did not have time to engage in writing prompts and exercises meant to inspire my creative spark. However, on this day, I was pulled in, and my gut instinct told me to follow through on signing up for the retreat. I followed the inspiration and wound up in England that spring of 2015 participating in what would prove to be a life-changing experience in every way. To describe the process as “transformative” is the most accurate way to understand how the process affected me, my business and my family. IF YOU GO I arrived as one person and left as a totally different entity with a new way of looking at the world. How did that occur? You may be wondering... “Conscious Writing” is a process to help align one’s self with one’s creative consciousness. The purpose: To help you write what you are meant to be right. Maybe that sounds strange, but it works. Trust me. I have explored the principles of self-awareness since the 1980s, when I read Brian Weiss’ book, “Many Lives Many Masters,” and began attending his workshops. I have traveled all over the world as part of my own spiritual practice. On the first day of the writing retreat in England, I wrote the outline for “A Practical Guide to Awareness.” The words flowed easily, and I started writing the book within the gardens of the Glastonbury Abbey ruins. In January, I self-published the book. Want some tips to help you discover your true purpose? Here are a five steps toward awakening from “A Practical Guide to Awareness:” Perceive your perfect world Try to sit in a quiet place and visualize your dreams. See your perfect world. Assemble pictures that depict an ideal world for you. These images represent how you see yourself. They will help you clarify your needs, and once you know what you need, you’ll know yourself better — and can take action to make your dreams come true. Create space Create space in your daily life that brings you to awareness — meaning, create space to pay attention to your thoughts. This can be done through affirmations, meditation or even by the practice of recognizing the commitments in your life. Creating time and space for our thoughts forces us to review our responsibility to ourselves and others with calmness and patience — and before any issues arise. We then see what may cause a problem later on in the day or month, and we can reconcile it more easily. Care for yourself Self-care is most important because in order to care for others, we must be happy and healthy. If not, we cannot fulfill our commitments to our family, friends and colleagues. Put your needs first by recognizing them. Then put those needs ahead of any other. What is it that starts your day off on the right foot? A cup of coffee on the porch? A walk in the park? Meditating for five minutes? Do it. Like being thirsty for water, being thirsty in your soul can lead to unhappiness. Consider how your continued unhappiness affects others in your life. This is what it means to be self-aware. Practicing self-care leads to enhanced energy and greater happiness. Practice mindfulness Take a walk. Do you notice what surrounds you? Try describing to yourself what is in the present moment. We can only be alive right now in the present. It is all we have. Being aware of the present allows us to be open to all possibilities. Try it without electronics or technology or being preoccupied by the future, for 15 minutes — then try it for a longer period, and pay attention to everything around you. Note how you feel afterward. Commit to awareness If you feel that something is missing in your life, then begin to apply a few of these practices. Opportunities for awareness present themselves in many forms. Be open to change! Stay alert to what makes you feel excited, happy and grateful. Whatever leaves you feeling positive and contributing to something greater than yourself, pay attention. That is the beginning, and the answers will appear, if you are seeking. Susan’s retreat in England also inspired her to start a poetry blog. To find out more visit snefzgerpr.wordpress.com.Instagram marketing refers to the sum of marketing activities businesses and individuals carry out to promote their products, services or brands on the Instagram platform.
These include using the best Instagram hashtags for likes, posting photos, videos, comments, competitions, giveaways and such like.
The following chart shows how Instagram marketing is trending:
5-Year Google Trends of Instagram Marketing
Between 2013 and 2018 there has been a marked increase in the level of interest in Instagram marketing as seen above.
This past year especially during the holidays we have seen product sales soar over the roof, and one of the biggest contributors is social media marketing, more precisely Instagram marketing.
It has a better reach than most older social media networks and undoubtedly the best engagement among them. It is reported in a recent study Instagram has 15x more engagement than Facebook and 20x more than Twitter.
The new year is around the corner and it provides an exciting new opportunity for businesses to leverage Instagram's marketing potential, but you must know that there are some practices that could undermine your entire efforts.
Here are the top 5 Instagram marketing mistakes to avoid as a business in 2019.
Comments, messages and other simple interactions on your profile boosts your engagement status which results in more followers, more recommendations and better growth.
But that doesn't happen automatically on its own, you need to to be available to answer your followers' questions, reply to their messages and even follow back in some cases.
This will make your followers happy and could, in turn, make them into loyal customers. Besides, Instagram notices your engagement levels and recommends high performing profiles at the top of Instagram Search and Explore section thereby increasing visibility and discoverability.
So stop creating poor audience engagement, start engaging more in 2019.
Showing a little bit of personality isn't bad but as a business, you have to keep things professional still.
You could be funny, otherworldly, corporate etc. Whatever your brand personality is, you should reflect that. But your followers and customers should not feel offended or bashed by your personal opinions.
Don't voice hate, rage or get down to arguing about some petty political issue on your business profile, it will affect your reliability in the eyes of the people, which can cause massive unfollowing.
A lot of businesses treat Instagram like they would a personal profile and that is their first mistake.
People have expectations and if they are not met professionally they will be put off, and run to other businesses to meet their needs and demands.
Instagram hashtags are of great importance in case you are not aware. It serves in place of keywords on Instagram, without it, no one can find your content.
Hashtags for Instagram improve your chances of being found by many folds, if used properly that is, which is simply avoiding overused hashtags such as #love and steering clear of banned Instagram hashtags. Using those will not improve your chances of being found.
Use best Instagram hashtags for all your posts. You may create your own unique hashtag for your business or brand especially if you are running a promotion. Pampers’ #welovemommy campaign is a good example of using custom Instagram hashtags for particular campaigns and promotions.
Apart from Instagram hashtag mistakes, this is another big mistake most businesses make on Instagram. No one has all the time in the world to wait for your approval before viewing your posts and what you have to sell.
For a personal profile, it's okay but business wise this is not a popular move.
Make your profile public, in case you have it on you, can change it in the options menu in the top right-hand corner of the app. Also, make sure that you are using a business profile.
When you share a photo or video on Instagram never leave empty caption fields. Captions can be used to pass additional information like addresses and contact info.
Business slogans and most importantly your CALL-TO-ACTION usually goes onto the caption.
Your audience relates to those tiny short messages in ways you can't imagine. It causes people to interact, one way to make that happen is by asking questions in your captions.
"How adorable are these knitwear? Aren't they just cute." A caption such as this along with an image of some knitted clothing naturally will prompt your followers to respond as long as the pictures or photos are cute.
Other popular unpopular Instagram marketing mistakes include posting random stuff on your business profile, like comedy skits and vines that detract from your core business identity, totally avoid that. Not filling out your bio info, not adding a link to your website, etc.
Social media marketing is evolving more and more every day. You have to learn as fast as you possibly can in order to stay a step ahead of the competition and to avoid making marketing mistakes like the ones listed above.
This year's sales is not over yet, if you happen to be committing any of these Instagram marketing blunders there is still time to redeem your Instagram business profile before the start of a new year.
Author Bio:
Amos Onwukwe is an AWAI trained Business and Ecommerce Copywriter who has been featured in scores of blogs including Huffington Post, Dumb Little Man, Ecommerce Nation, eCommerce Insights, Understanding Ecommerce, Result First, Floship, Successful Startup 101, Small Biz Club, Small Business Bonfire, among others.
Why do most authors write a book? It may be due to inspiration, motivation, life changes, contract requirements or all of the above.
I wrote a book titled, “A Practical Guide to Awareness” because I was inspired to do so. The book is a step by step guide to finding fulfilment through self-awareness.
Apparently, I could no longer ignore the little voice in my head. The voice was whispering to me practically my entire life. As a native of West Palm Beach growing up, I had always known I was to write a book, but little else about it. I went on to a career in public relations and had a family and settled down thinking that was it for me.
Flashback – December 2014 to an email I received containing the information regarding a ‘Conscious Writing Retreat’ in Glastonbury, Somerset, U.K. The originator of the email was a group I had joined a few years earlier, the International Association of Conscious and Creative Writers, founded by Julia McCutchen. Previously, I did not have time to engage in writing prompts and exercises meant to inspire my creative spark. However, this day I was attracted to the information and my gut instinct told me to follow through on signing up for the retreat. I did and was supported in doing so from that day onward. I followed the inspiration and wound up in England that Spring of 2015 participating in what would prove to be a life changing experience in every way.
To describe the process as transformative is the most accurate way to understand how the process affected me, my business, and my family. I arrived as one person and left as a totally different entity with a new way of looking at the world. How did that occur?
You may be wondering…
The process of Conscious Writing is meant to help align oneself with the creative consciousness in order to write what you are meant to write. It works, trust me.
The first day of the retreat, I wrote the outline for the book and started writing the book itself within the gardens of the Glastonbury Abbey ruins. The rest is history as they say and in January of this year, I self published the book.
Why do you need to market your podcast? Well, for one thing, people won't know its there unless you have tons of listeners. So, besides optimizing the podcast episode title and description, consider creating a show summary on a blog or website and embedding the audio file within the page.
1) Create a show summary and embed it on your blog or website.
Google appreciates the added context and will rank websites and blogs that incorporate multimedia higher than those that don’t.
2) Transcribe episodes for the blog or to create additional content to promote the episode on social media or your website. Syndicate the blog or episode summary page via social media in addition to syndicating a link to a podcatcher or host site. For visual platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, utilize behind-the-scenes images or video as teasers for upcoming (and archived) episodes. Don’t forget to syndicate to Google+, as the platform is utilized by Google to inform organic search results. For YouTube, leverage playlists to combine relevant episodes. If your podcast is business-related consider posting teasers and episodes to LinkedIn, as well as support via targeted advertising to maximize listenership.
3) When syndicating each episode on social media, leverage hashtags, especially for Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Beyond industry-specific language, consider podcast-specific terms like #podcast, #podcasting, #podcastguest or #instapodcast.
For visual platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, utilize behind-the-scenes images or video as teasers for upcoming (and archived) episodes. Don’t forget to syndicate to Google+, as the platform is utilized by Google to inform organic search results. For YouTube, leverage playlists to combine relevant episodes. If your podcast is business-related consider posting teasers and episodes to LinkedIn, as well as support via targeted advertising to maximize listenership.
To maximize reach and rankings, boost posts on platforms like Facebook and consider testing a targeted ad campaign to grow your subscriber-base. The added benefit of advertising is that you can grow your listenership quickly, and influence visibility on podcatchers. Generating significant listens in the first 24-48 hours can help earn a spot on iTune’s New & Noteworthy section, for example. Speaking of rankings, the best way to maximize visibility on podcatchers is to maximize downloads, subscribes, ratings and reviews, so remind listeners to support you with calls-to-action. For podcasters looking to grow a large following and revenue, explore a pay-per-conversion affiliate program for referring site traffic resulting in listeners. Also consider expanding advertising to Google with text and display ads.
Don’t forget marketing fundamentals when promoting your podcast. Incorporate a link to your latest podcast or episode page in your email signature file. Promote episodes in your newsletter and on your home page. Provide pre-made promos to guests and partners to maximize reach. A more advanced strategy is to identify and engage superlisteners (evangelists). Bonus marketing ideas include leveraging timely news and media outlets and exploring cross-promotional opportunities with other podcasters/shows.
Creating a podcast doesn’t have to be daunting, but it does require a reasonable investment of time and money to do it right. The investment is typically much less than video and other form factors, and podcasts have the added benefit of expanding into a relatively under-appreciated but fast-growing format: audio branding. Take advantage of the current excitement and growing consumption of podcasts to build your brand.
Podcasting is a growing medium for marketers to tell a brand’s story. The numbers are astounding, and reflect similar growth in video over the last few years. Recent research by Edison Research shows that 11% more Americans listened to podcasts in 2016 when compared to the prior year. Over 110 million Americans listened to a podcast at least once in 2016, and 67 million Americans listen to at least one podcast a month. Phones and tablets are the preferred device to listen to a podcast with two-thirds being accessed through those devices.
If you are marketer, you have to pay attention to podcasting. The phenomenon is only expected to increase as Google moves into the space. Currently 500,000 active podcasts exists, and Google predicts that number will double in the next few years. Google is paying attention to these statistics and is moving toward incorporating podcasts into search results — much like it does with video where search results are broken down into separate boxes at the top of the screen.
Leaders at Google understand the power of podcasts, and they know that podcasts can do what Google is designed for — answer a query. Podcasts contain large amounts of information on a particular topic, and Google wants to make it easier to access that information through search.
“Right now Google is really good at giving you text and video related to your search query,” said Google Podcasts Product Manager Zack Reneau-Wedeenin a recent interview with Pacific Content. “With all the amazing work podcasters are publishing each day, there’s no good reason why audio isn’t a first-class citizen in the same way.”
Google has already started to incorporate podcasts into search results on Android and Google Assistant. On an Android device, a play button appears for several different podcast after a search is done. That gives the user several options on a podcast that answered the query. The user is also given the option of subscribing to the podcast.Google's Reneau-Wedeen says the strategy right now is partially to increase podcast access on Android devices. Currently 10 times more people listen to podcasts on an iPhone compared to Android devices.
The easier access to podcasting has been positive, as more people are listening to podcasts on the Android, according to Reneau-Wedeen.
“Since our first launch, we’ve seen a surprising number of people return through search day in and day out,” he said in the Pacific Content interview. “That’s why we felt the need to build out a full-featured podcast player and make the experience easier to access.”
Marketers must prepare for this new reality, as Google will mostly likely make podcasting search results available to all users, not just those with an Android device.Consumers are looking for information on entertainment and education, and they will be able to find that information more easily in podcast format through Google. A brand can fill that need if it finds the right way to tell a story on a podcast.
James Shea owns Media Lab, a search engine optimization agency in Richmond, VA. He writes about trends in digital marketing.
Pew Research has released a new report summarizing social media usage and found, of the 68 percent of Americans using Facebook, 74 percent check the site daily and 51 percent say are on the platform several times a day.
Conducted over the phone during a three-day period early in January, Pew polled 2,002 US adults age 18 and over about their social media use on the following eight platforms: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter and WhatsApp.
For the most part, Facebook usage has not changed dramatically since the research firm’s April 2016 report. Facebook is still the most popular traditional social media platform for all the respondents.
YouTube is also attracting a large segment of users, even though Pew admits it’s not necessarily considered a traditional social media site. In fact, it had higher user numbers than Facebook, with 73 percent of all respondents saying they use YouTube (The report did not have numbers for previous YouTube usage as this was the first year it was included in the survey questions, along with Snapchat and WhatsApp).
Pew’s data showed the typical — or median — adult reports using three of the eight social sites included in the survey. Same as Facebook’s numbers, most of the usage for these sites has remained relatively unchanged since the firm’s 2016 report.
The biggest jump Pew saw in usage was on Instagram, with 35 percent of respondents now using the site compared to the 28 percent who reported using it two years ago.
When looking at usage numbers by age group, Pew Research reports 88 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds are using some form of social media. The report broke down the social media usage for this age group into categories: 18- to 24-year-olds and 24- to 29-year-olds. Here is what they found:
This age group represents the largest share of Snapchat users of the various age groups. Among the 78 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds using Snapchat, 82 percent say they open the app daily, and 71 percent say they use it multiple times per day.
Instagram is getting slightly less use by this group. Of the 71 percent on Instagram, 81 percent say they visit the site daily and just over half (55 percent) are going several times a day.
This slightly older age group of 25- to 29-year-olds have similar usage patterns for Facebook and YouTube when compared to the 18- to 24-year old crowd.
The numbers differ more widely between the two age groups when looking at Snapchat and Instagram, with this older age group of 25- to 29-year-olds less likely to use either of the two platforms.
Per the report, 84 percent of the 30- to 49-year-old age group is visiting YouTube, and 80 percent are on Facebook.
Social media usage numbers for the 30- to 49-year-old age group drops significantly for Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter — with 40 percent of this population active on Instagram, and less than 30 percent on Snapchat or Twitter.
For the 50+ age group, usage numbers are even lower across the board: 56 percent on YouTube and 55 percent on Facebook. These numbers take a nosedive from there, with 16 percent on Instagram, 14 percent on Twitter and only seven percent on Snapchat.
According to Pew’s research, 59 percent of all the social media users surveyed said they thought it would not be hard to give up social media (with nearly half of the 59 percent claiming it would not be hard “at all”).
The only age group where the majority (51 percent) said they would find it difficult to stop using social sites was the 18- to 24-year-olds.
With so many people admitting they check their preferred social media sites daily, the responses given for how easy it would be to quit feels doubtful at best — especially when considering the percentage of users who admit to going to social media sites several times a day: 51 percent of Facebook users, 49 percent of Snapchat users, and 38 percent of Instagram users.
Voice Specific Mobile Search:
To begin with more people are searching on their mobile phones using voice activated technology.
So that means when you are using keywords in your SEO plan, think of how we talk, not type. It translates to longer key phrases and tags.
For local businesses, be extremely specific with the category of your business on Google My Business or whichever search engine you choose. Keep your pages updated with photos and specials as frequently as possible, at least weekly so people can see what you are up to.
Mobile First Indexing:
Every website should be mobile friendly by now. User experience is important here. And as Google moves to mobile first indexing, it will rank your site as it relates to the mobile search experience.
Artificial Intelligence or RankBrain:
Yes everything is going artificial intelligence, virtual reality etc.. etc... what does that mean for you as a small business or a large business for that matter? It means that you need to keep viewers or readers on your site as long as possible. Google is giving Dwell Time more and more significance. To capitalize on Dwell Time, you need engaging content. Content marketing must keep in mind your target audience.
That takes us to Click Through Rates and how you can get better CTR. Update titles and page description tags with some of these:
- Best
- News
- Reviews
- Right Now
- Simple
- Step-by-Step
An SEO plan must fit in with your overall marketing plan, as it involves all aspects of content marketing, social media, PR, community outreach, offline campaigns and etc..
In other words whatever you are developing for your SEO efforts must be included in all aspects of your content marketing. Its like leaving the yeast out of the bread or whatever you are baking right? So make a comprehensive effort to move your search rank ahead in 2018 by planning ahead.
Any questions or needs we can help send an email to susan@snefzgerpr.com
Brand Look and Feel means colors, fonts, top line verbiage.
Choose 2-3 colors that you want to use to communicate the look and feel of your brand.
Fonts are the same idea, when choosing it, think about how you and others feel when seeing the fonts and how they impact that feeling.
Verbiage is everything. From advisors to board of directors, ask others to define your service or brand in an elevator pitch or two sentence description. Then you can compare how you the founder sees it vs. how the people who are helping you see it. It can bring diverging thoughts together and create more consistent messaging.
Invest the time to clearly articulate a set of standards for every message that leaves your office. No point is too small — even the order of the words you use in your tagline matters.
Make sure the internal message is the same as your external message. When employees, counselors, Board of Directors members, family and friends define and describe your brand, try to provid them with a two sentence description that is easy to remember.
Boilerplate messaging is the utmost communication of your brand, much like your mission statement.
Using the boilerplate at the end of letters, emails, press releases, all communications is the way to enforce the brand consistency.
So you can see how every detail counts when you are starting to market your brand, this will paint a clear picture of what and who you are. If you have trouble doing this, include your staff, team, and advisors to help smooth out the inconsistencies. For more details read this great article from First Round.com.http://firstround.com/review/this-brand-strategy-can-make-your-startup-look-bigger-than-it-is/
If you need help with your brand, email me at susan@snefzgerpr.com
http://firstround.com/review/this-brand-strategy-can-make-your-startup-look-bigger-than-it-is/
If you want to hear how to shake up your life and go for it, listen to Katerina Cozias on "Life After 40"her talk radio show featuring people from all walks of life who pursue their passion after the traditional life of college, working and raising a family, or pursuing a conventional career instead of their dream on http://latalkradio.com/content/la40 on Thursday, July 13th at 2p.m. EST.
I will discuss my upcoming book, "A Practical Guide to Awareness", which I created during the last two years after attending a Conscious Writing retreat in Glastonbury England. The founder of the International Association of Conscious and Creative Writing, Julia McCutchen, is the leading figure behind this pioneering movement.
It was there during the retreat that I began writing the book, and have since finished and am almost completed with editing to publish. I also began writing a blog, Seeing Beyond the Ordinary, which features my poetry and my photography, which is www.snefzgerpr.wordpress.com.
The transformation has been integrated throughout the last two years in my business practice, my personal relationship and how I choose to align with people in my life including family, colleagues, and all. Conscious Writing, the practice, is about aligning with the creative consciousness to discover your true voice with which to write. Everyone has a unique story to tell. Staying in alignment is the way to continue being creative but also being happy and having a happier life.
You'll find out how I have navigated the changes on Thursday at 2 p.m. on LA40. Tune in!
http://latalkradio.com/content/la40