Internet Marketing Trends for the Next Year

Internet Marketing Trends for the Next Year

This year, we saw advancements in marketing through handheld devices--smartphones, tablets, etc. We also perceived social media making a strong impact in the marketing scene. When you analyze various things that revolutionized internet marketing last and this year, you may be wondering what may be big next year and beyond. In this article, you will see various trends that you can find in internet marketing next year.

1. Mobile Marketing

Today, more than 75 percent of the world's population has access to mobile devices. People not only consume content on mobile phones but also create and share content. Tablets are also as important as smartphones for today's online marketers. In the last two years, many websites updated their designs to be mobile-friendly. Soon, we will be seeing more companies taking up mobile marketing seriously.

2. Inbound Social Media Marketing

Companies now spend much time on social media sites. They create valuable content that drives traffic to their social profiles and thereby create good business leads. This particular marketing technique is known as 'inbound marketing'. The content provided should be rich with text, audio, video, and interactive elements. Such content can drive organic traffic to the company's website and generate revenue. Marketers will also be using various analytics tools to find effective content markets.

3. Improvements in Visualization of Data

Infographics and such other clever data visualization techniques are highly popular these days. In the coming days, we will see more of such innovative marketing techniques. Many startups have created apps that make complex data easily accessible to consumers. People will be seeing more interactive content that will engage and educate them. When deployed effectively, this will prove to be a powerful marketing technique.

4. Loyalty in Marketing

Good companies have always focused on retaining an existing customer as well as acquiring new customers. Today, this has become one of the most important aspects of doing business as the global competition has become intense. Since more people use social media, they can easily share the details of a particular company with each other. This has made many companies focus more on improving the products, services, and support options, so that people will talk about them more often. Building loyalty to the brand is very important in tomorrow's business world.

5. Invoking Social Changes

Today, some brands have a huge influence on the communities they serve. Social media sites have greatly helped businesses achieve this level of influence. Social media marketers employed by a company should share ideas for social welfare in order to increase the influence of the company. By becoming part of the groups in which people are discussing a brand, the brand can easily contribute quite a bit.

6. The Importance of Design

Web design has become a very important aspect of marketing today. Design and analytics firms provide attractive landing pages and sales pages at affordable rates. Attractively designing apps for mobile platforms will be equally important for the future.

7. Analytics

Companies are not generating leads only through websites these days. There are social media sites, video sites like YouTube, forums, etc., that help in lead generation. Hence, configuring the analytics to track the source of each lead is very important for businesses today. This helps in prioritizing the funding on each opportunity.

Conclusion

Marketing may be difficult, but with the tools available today, it has become quite a bit easier. More than a billion people worldwide use social media sites, and there are opportunities for everyone in them. By being creative enough, you can find out many great marketing opportunities.

Is There an Online Life After Death?

Have you ever wondered what happens to Facebook pages, email accounts, and blogs of people who pass away? Do their online friends ever find out? Do their followers and readers miss them? Does their absence have an impact on the online world watsoever? If you have at least one friend that you hold dear in the Internet world, you probably have.



The tricky part about the Internet is that you interact and often get emotionally involved with people you've never met in real life. These people, no matter how deeply they may care about you, will not typically call you at home or at work to check up on you. Their only way of communicating with you is through the Internet so, when you are no longer able to log on, they are left worrying and wondering whatever happened to you. To make matters worse, if you've kept your login information a secret, they will most likely never know.

Most websites and email services have a strict policy about giving out their clients' information, even long after their demise. Even if a family member manages to verify his relationship to the deceased account holder, he would still need a signed authorization to lift the confidentiality agreement. Therefore, your family will still be unable to access or manage your Internet accounts unless you've provided them with your written permission to do so.



The stakes are even higher when you own a profitable e-store or website. Your loved ones will not be able to collect the profits, and they will have no control over the fate of your online business activities. To prevent this, you can either share your account details with a trusted family member, or choose to include your online assets in your will. While making arrangements for your own death is never pleasant, it will save your family lots of trouble.



Your online friends may be shocked by your absence, and your Facebook page may be turned into a memorial wall for them to share their memories of you. Your email accounts will eventually be shut down, and their content will remain stored safely in your provider's servers. However, unless you make sure your family can access your personal accounts, your Internet pages will continue to float eternally in the endless online space.

How Hackers Use Wi-Fi to Get Your Passwords

With the most recent announcement from Snapchat where millions of their accounts were compromised by hackers, we couldn’t be more cautious in tightening up security measures and giving you tips on how to protect yours.

Most people walk into a Starbucks or some place that offers free Wi-Fi, open their Windows settings and find any open Wi-Fi hotspot that's labeled with the coffee shop's name and doesn't require a password. The problem with this type of Wi-Fi is that you don't know you're connecting to the free Wi-Fi offered by the establishment or a hacker's hotspot. Hackers can set up a Wi-Fi through their phones or any device with the right software and wireless card.


Unencrypted Data and Passwords


When you don't encrypt your data, the hacker is then able to read the data being sent to the server. This includes any shopping sites, forums or web-based email accounts that don't have "https" as the protocol.

With unencrypted data, the hacker can then see the passwords you type into the website. Most people use the same password across multiple platforms, so the hacker is able to guess your password for other accounts. For instance, if you use the same password for a forum and your email, the hacker can see the password sent to the forum website and then guess that the password is the same for your email.

It gets even worse when the hacker has access to your email. With access to your email, the hacker can then perform password reminders on other website accounts. With password reminders, the hacker can reset or retrieve passwords for other accounts. The end result is that the hacker has several of your passwords, and this can lead to your bank accounts or financial accounts being hacked.


How to Protect Your Data


The first way to protect your data is to ensure that the Wi-Fi you connect to is secure and it's the official establishment's Wi-Fi hotspot. Don't access random Wi-Fi hotspots even if you need to access the Internet from an open connection. If you do decide to access Wi-Fi, ask the establishment for the name of the connection so that you get the right access point.

If you decide to connect to Wi-Fi, protect yourself by connecting only to sites that offer https. Https is the protocol that encrypts data from your computer to the website's server and back again from the server to your computer. With encryption, the hacker is unable to view the data sent back and forth.

Another way to protect your data is using different passwords for different websites. You don't need one password for each site, but you can choose one password for insecure sites and choose another password for more secure, critical websites such as financial and medical sites. This won't stop a hacker from getting your password, but the hacker won't be able to gain access to your more critical accounts if they get insecure passwords such as those used on forums and random content sites.

The next time you decide to access a Wi-Fi hotspot, be careful that the site is not a rogue access point made by a hacker. If you have any suspicions at all, avoid the hotspot and wait to access the Internet.

Sqeeqee.com: How to Negotiate Effectively

Negotiation is not about being forceful or bluffing your way through talks, and it’s definitely not about winning or losing. Negotiation is all about striking the best possible deal between parties without short-changing any party involved in the transaction. However, many negotiators disregard the goals of the process and allow their emotions to take hold of them. This could crash a productive or profitable deal. To avoid such mishaps, here are some strategies to follow that will help you become a better negotiator:



Planning

Start by making a list of meeting goals and items that ought to be discussed. Now make a list of all possible outcomes and try and build up a case for achieving the best result. Make a Plan B just in case the conversation does not go your way. Ferret out your opposite number’s weaknesses and try and capitalize on them as you go about making your plan. Planning for a negotiation is like planning to argue a case in the courts – the only difference is that negotiations are friendlier.

Once your plan is ready, you should have the following in hand:

How your proposal benefits all the parties involved
A list of possible outcomes
The course that you would like to steer the conversation on

This exercise will help you prepare for the negotiation and ensure that the discussion is results-oriented.



Kill Your Ego

The ego makes you do or say things in a way that pleases you and makes you feel powerful. It incites you to tower above everyone else. It makes you a selfish beast and if you allow your ego to rule you at the negotiating table, you may end up killing the deal and alienating people. Leave your ego at home or elsewhere and be neutral while negotiating and you will see the difference. Remember, the negotiation is not about “I,” it’s about “We.”



Discuss Concerns

Don’t be afraid to voice your concerns, but voice them in an affable or jovial manner. Don’t get aggressive or raise your voice while discussing your problems and try and engineer a solution with feedback from the others.



Body Language

Positive body language helps. Use your eyes and expressions to your best advantage. Sit upright with elbows on the table, don’t lean back, don’t grimace, don’t shake your head or fold your arms across your chest, make direct eye contact, pay attention, smile and nod when required, etc. Body language says a lot about you and your attitude, and you must draw attention of others with positive body language and expressions.



No Result?

If the negotiators do not reach an understanding, do not panic or appear anxious. It may be possible that the other party needs some more time to chew over your proposal. Leave the door open for future meetings and sound sincere about it.



Analysis

Analyze what went wrong and what worked during the meeting. Build up on your strengths and correct your weaknesses and get ready for the next meeting.

These tips should help you get the basics right. How you take it from here is entirely up to you. Good luck.

Sqeeqee.com Explores History’s Innovators were Lifelong Learners

Technological innovation didn't begin in the Silicon Valley, and the people responsible for many of the creations and processes we take for granted never went to college. Some barely made it through high school, either due to extreme poverty or what would today be diagnosed as ADHD. However, those people most renowned as innovators were lifelong learners, both in terms of technology and market demands. The most innovative people in history were avid learners. They absorbed information that they incorporated into their innovations from several sources: the library, which offered an untrammeled learning experience unlike that obtained in a classroom; from working at odd jobs; and through association with others who had specialized expertise.

Both Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Edison were library junkies. Carnegie had access to Colonel James Scott's private library when he worked as a bobbin-boy in a textile factory. His inquisitiveness led him to read about and learn American history and the ideals of freedom and democracy expressed by the Founding Fathers. He internalized the American ideal of individual liberty and the Jeffersonian ideal of every person being a free agent in a free market and these two concepts ignited his empire-building dreams. Edison was forced to learn independently; as a youngster, he was thrown out of public school by a teacher who labeled him "addle-brained" - a perjorative term that today would translate to "learning disabled" - because of his overwhelming inquisitiveness and imagination. His mother first hired a private tutor, but when Edison's reach exceeded the tutor's abilities, he chose the path of independent learning. Many innovative people feel restricted in a formal educational setting; with the availability of not just books but digital information today, there exists ample opportunity for any person to access information about nearly every subject.



Innovators also learned from other people who were more experienced in their fields. Henry Ford was determined to learn more about mechanics, physics and the basics of engineering, so he apprenticed himself to the Michigan Car Company, a firm that assembled railroad cars. When he wanted to learn about electricity, he did the same thing with the Detroit-area Edison Electrical Works. During his tenure, he met and made friends with Thomas Edison, who remained a friend throughout his life. Andrew Carnegie learned the basics of business from Thomas Scott, division manager for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Mentorships, apprenticeships and networking in general are still valid means by which to learn new skills, processes and gain new ideas. "Master Mind" groups were used by the business titans of the Industrial Age and championed by Napoleon Hill as a way for every member to increase his or her knowledge, abilities and eventually, net worth.



The idea that learning stops with a high school or college degree is one that promises a life of mediocrity. Today's technology and global marketplace demand that everyone involved in commerce - whether as an employee or an owner - stay engaged in learning what works, what fails and what an ever-changing marketplace demands. Questions often open the door to new opportunities, and for the innovators of our generation, to the creation of new industries that meet the needs of the market.



About Sqeeqee.com

Sqeeqee.com, which is free to join, is a social commerce platform designed to enable its members (non-profits, students, business companies, individuals, celebrities, and startups) the ability to monetize and generate ad revenues from their profiles, socially interact, market to niche demographics, search for data, expand their wealth, and increase their overall net worth on the Sqeeqee platform: the only website in the world where social networthing™ is what users do. Sqeeqee differentiates itself by creating a new action-oriented online platform that unites worldwide users through a single hub. The site's innovative system allows users to make money doing what they already do online: building a network of associates, post status updates, share pictures, host videos and browse pages in line with their interests. Sqeeqee is the first platform to integrate the best features of numerous world-renowned websites and allow its users to monetize their daily social networking. The website is now available in eleven languages, including English, Russian, German, Italian, French, Dutch, Simplified Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, and Spanish. Sqeeqee provides weekly giveaways for new registered users and access to financially rewarding experiences. Seven unique monetization features exist, including an eCommerce marketplace, 50% profile ad share, 30% referral ad share, 70% mobile download profit share, 30% mobile ad profit share, 30% media ad share, and 70% game development profit share. Sqeeqee makes it possible for users to monetize their social networking experiences each day.

Sqeeqee: Our Status, 3 Months After Coming Out of Beta

How time flies when you’re having fun, right? It certainly has for our Sqeeqee team, and sometimes 24 hours in a day just isn’t enough!

We have been crazy busy enhancing our platform, and we would like to share some of those enhancement features with our users in this blog post:

Customized Background

Users can now customize the background to their profiles with any colors, images, or videos by using one of Sqeeqee’s licensed images or videos or using one of their own.

Privacy Settings

We have enhanced our privacy settings where we are putting our users in the driver's seat. Users can choose to open their entire profile (including postings on walls, photos, and videos to the world) or be selective and only share it with buddies. Users can choose to allow all photos and videos to be public, allow only certain photos or videos to be public while keeping the rest private, or simply keep everything private. Users can also be selective and allow photos and videos to be viewed by only those who are following them or those they are following as well. All of these options are available, and it’s up to each individual to choose what best fits his or her needs.

Page Customization

Sqeeqee’s “page customization” is an enhancement dedicated to some of our early users who gave us their opinions—and we’re letting them know that we’re listening! Some of our users wrote to us asking if certain features could be customized so that they wouldn’t be shown on their home wall until they need to utilize such features. Given the gazillion unique features Sqeeqee has to offer, we do understand how overwhelming things can be for first-time users. While we believe our default settings for the home wall are best suited for our “networthing” model, as it offers all of the tools one would need to maximize one’s potential to build income and wealth, we also understand not everyone may need all of these features. Some may want crowdfunding but not fundraising. Others may simply want a cleaner home wall where they can post conversations with friends and share photos and videos. The options are endless, and our Sqeeqee team totally gets it.

With “page customization,” users are in the driver’s seat to rearrange, add, or remove any of the features shown on our default home wall according to their own desires. We respect our users; and therefore, we have made the necessary enhancements to give them full control of their profiles. After all, one has to be comfortable with his or her own profile in order for “social networthing” to be in full swing and effective. At any time, users can always choose to return to our “default” settings, and Sqeeqee’s original look will reappear.

Photos and Videos

Sqeeqee's platform was originally a closed platform where photos and videos could not be shared with other social media networks. However, our users asked that we enable photos and videos to be shared with friends, family, and followers from other social media networks, so we have granted this request. With our enhancement to photos and videos, each given photo and video on Sqeeqee’s platform will now have its own individual unique URL. With this unique URL, users can choose to share with any other social media platforms and/or the world. Just be sure to update your privacy settings allowing you to do so. After all, our users are in the driver's seat, so they are free to do whatever they wish with their photos and videos.

Mobile Apps

As we are making much progress with our enhancements above, this has taken a slight toll on the development of our mobile apps. Oh, don't get us wrong; we ARE going to roll these out soon enough, but we’re just a bit behind schedule. Sqeeqee’s social commerce platform is intricate, and if certain areas are being enhanced, this is bound to affect other areas like our mobile apps. Therefore, to our many fans and users, thanks for your patience. Our apps will be rolling out before you know it. 

Remember one of Confucius’ most famous quotes: “It doesn't matter how slowly you go—so long as you do not stop.”

We don’t believe we’re moving slow at all. Given that we’ve only come out of beta just three months ago, we’ve made so much progress. Just take a look at our “press” page and you’ll see.

Think we're done? Far from it! We're just getting started!

Blogs for Bucks: 5 Ways to Monetize Your Blog

Having a blog is only half the battle. Once you have achieved the readership you desire, it’s important to actually monetize your audience. Monetization is the act of leveraging a successful blog to actually make money from it. While the process of monetization is often difficult and time-consuming, but it pays off in the end. Time is money, putting out a bit of time you can eventually attain passive and consistent income that will steadily grow. You can always start by blogging on Sqeeqee.com. Let us know how we can help you get your blog rolling!!

1. Begin with the Banner Ads
While pay-per-click advertising networks may not be the most exciting or unconventional method of monetization, it’s still very important. The major advertising networks today include Google and Bing. When your blog is just starting out, you may only make a few dollars on pay-per-click revenue a month. However, if your blog suddenly receives a tremendous amount of hits you could strike gold. This type of windfall can be unpredictable: a single link could be posted to a major site and increase traffic by a hundred-fold.

2. Market Associated Products
Affiliate marketing through third-party sites such as Amazon is a fantastic way to make money. You can write product reviews or simply link to related products and the third-party merchant will do the rest. Any time someone clicks from your website to theirs and purchases a product, you’ll receive a certain percentage as commission. As your blog grows, this can be extremely lucrative.

3. Sell Your Posts
There are many websites that allow you to get paid for posts on certain topics. You don’t necessarily have to hawk products: you can simply give a balanced review of a product with the requested keywords. These posts can pay anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars depending on how comprehensive the post needs to be. Usually you can command more money depending on the audience of your blog.

4. Get Sponsorship
Many sponsors will pay to get their name on a well-trafficked site or to re-skin a site in a certain format. You can get ads directly in this fashion and you can usually charge much more than ordinary banner ad rates. As you get more popular, sponsors will contact you directly. However, you should also feel free to contact companies you think are a good fit and ask them if they might be interested.

5. Sell it All
A surprising amount of blogs simply sell out entirely. Once you have amassed a significant enough readership in a niche topic, it can be come easy to sell your blog for thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. Sometimes selling the domain name alone is enough to make you a considerable amount of money. If you’ve tired of your blog, or simply feel that you don’t have the time to devote to it, this can be an excellent option.