10 Undeniable Qualities of an Inspirational Leader

I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people. 

M.K. Gandhi

You’ve heard of the age-old adage “Be a shining light”…

Something that is pretty obvious to us all when we scout for a leader.

But what does it take to be a leader? Who is a leader? Is he someone that brings to light the various issues and solves them? Is she someone that orates the mind and desires of the masses proactively and very well?

Maybe someone that knows what the followers want, and with the X factor helps manifest the norms and decree befitting a civil society?

Leaders are born and made, inherited and natural; here are ten more qualifying traits of inspirational leaders that make the individual a powerful personality.

1. Plenty of foresightedness

Managing a group isn’t an easy task, and certainly not a kingly routine sitting in a plush chair of an organization.

Crisis happens and managing the same should be the forte of a leader; foreseeing such situations hence should be one of the most important qualities of a leader.

Foresight helps a leader make decisions ahead of time and can avoid mishaps, which lead the team towards the path on development and progress.

Citing an example here would be that of Rupert Murdoch. The market monopoly created by the genius was the baby of his foresightedness, making him one of the most successful entrepreneurs in this world and placing ‘News Corporation’, his company, as the second largest media house in the world.

2. Undying hunger to win

Leaders have an undying hunger to exceed expectations and successfully complete their promises and tasks.

They are consistent and ways probe into areas never treaded before. Such leaders have a natural zeal and zest to learn and unlearn, helping them gain more knowledge and information as seen through the behavior of the masses they lead.

A leader with such attributes helps create a well-versed team heading in the right direction.

3. Always committed

Lead by example, is what most world leaders have always sworn by. Motivation comes best when a leader is committed to their promises, duties and tasks, working alongside the rest and showing them that there isn’t a mountain high enough that cannot be conquered. In doing so, leaders earn respect from team mates and motivate them with energy and a zest to win!

Leaders stick to the commitments they make, which makes them fair and reliable, trustworthy too. In turn, their team is motivated to bring more to the table; following the leader.

President Obama with his Obama Care health policies are proof enough on the commitments he made for the general public.

4. Be a source of inspiration

Not just motivation and hard work, leaders across the world understand the importance of getting to the root level and inspiring their teams.

Leaders generate enthusiasm amongst their team mates, which helps focus on future goals and current issues at hand. Acknowledging human behaviors, downfalls and efforts on a personal level, are some of the sources of inspiration every world leader in the past have shown.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, began the Quit India movement and the famous Salt Walk, inspiring Indians to do away with western produce and products and instead honor and promote indigenous handicrafts and products. What clicked in his strategy was the appreciation he let out to the many that worked and toiled for their daily living; he became an inspiring icon.

5. Persistent by nature

One of the best examples of persistency in leadership would be that of Henry Ford’s story, back in the 1890s. This was a time when the Ford Quadricycle was launched with four large wheels meant for bicycles and an engine powered by ethanol.

The quadricycle was never a success, but that didn’t stop Henry Ford from making it to the top charts later on. Ford Motor today is the number one choice amongst the crème-de-la-crème and the who’s who of the motor vehicle world; Henry Ford today is one of the wealthiest and most well-known leaders of the world – persistence got him to where he is!

6. Recognizing true potential

Leaders are those that surround themselves with great minds and people with great thoughts.

Citing an example here would be the life of Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was an icon that looked for talent in unknown places and unique ways. Quite often Steve Jobs when visiting college campuses to deliver a lecture, would notice potential employees participating in the talk, and personally interview them; hiring them thereafter for their unique and very powerful innovative visions and thoughts in his team.

7. Authenticity is their cup of tea

To be etched in the minds of millions, one of the most important leadership traits for world leaders to have is that of being authentic.

No power plays, no muscle pulling and no arm twisting needed, but clear intentions and someone who can be consistent in their words and actions, proves to the world how authentic they are.

Embracing diversity in all forms, being unique by displaying strengths and areas of weakness, understanding their own identity and knowing how to delegate roles and responsibilities, whilst making their own contribution towards success is what authenticity is all about.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is an example of an individual filled with empathy, an embracer of diversity and someone that knows his own areas of improvement and strengths that would help the economy go forth!

 

8. Fear isn’t their middle name

Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, in his days as a youngster always was belittled by his aunt for not knowing how to swim when the family met for summer vacations. On his way back home one summer, Richard requested his dad to stop by the flowing river their car was about to cross. The next thing his dad saw was young Richard jumping into the river and swimming away. A bet he took with his relative and won. Cut to the new-age, Richard Branson and Virgin Atlantic are names to reckon with. Being fearless is a trait that those who sit in their comfort zones wouldn’t understand.

9. Understanding and owning up to your drawbacks

In recent times, Amazon was under the spotlight for supplying ‘unauthorized versions’ of famous books on Kindle. Needless to say there was a negative backlash by the masses, which caught the company in the red.

Amazon didn’t shirk away from its responsibilities, but admitted in a press statement its fault. Citing CEO Jeff Bezos, Amazon, the honcho went ahead to personally apologize and make amendments on the same lines calling the incident “stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles.”

Proof once again that no one choked to death on their own pride by apologizing.

10. Outstanding positive behavior

Leaders do what others wouldn’t, and in outstanding ways too. From displaying individualistic traits to personal styles, positive attitudes to being empathic, there is always that X Factor in leaders which makes them stand out.

Leaders stand out to support you when others walk away, or don’t watch your back when the tough times come calling.

Citing Ralph Nader here, “I start with the premise that the function of a leader is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” In short, leaders go the extra mile to make you feel special, wanted and recognize your competency and skill levels that help motivate you to perform better.

Wrap

The world stands in need of liberating leaders and not herds that follow masses.

Be an inspiring leader and start afresh in your own small way – start getting a lowdown of information today by reading some mind-boggling inspirational books. Pages of inspiration that’ll not just infuse you with the right sort of energy, but will also act as a stepping stone towards something bigger in life.

Planning to get your hands on some amazing paperbacks, but don’t know where to search for?

Go ahead and explore the wide section of books at Amazon or AbeBooks – world-renowned platforms that’ll offer you millions of titles across categories like Free eBooks, Audiobooks, Business & Economics, and Literature from both, independent and big publishing houses, all within a few clicks.

And, while you’re at it, if saving handsomely on books is also on your agenda, then look no further than this Amazon promo code to convert your purchase into a great deal or bargain – offers that are certain to leave you coming back for more!

Guest Author: William Busby

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6 Surprising Ways for Growth Hacking Your Digital Startup to Success

There was no turning back. They had little food, disease was taking its toll and the instructions he had been handed were clear. It was a point of no return. Hernan Cortez was on the shores of the Atlantic.

He gave the order “Burn the boats“. The result.

Success.

A start-up can be seen with the same eyes. Give up your job, leap into the unknown and hope that it all works. It’s courage on steroids.

It’s scary and fraught with danger. Broken marriages and other collateral damage can result.

It’s the “do or die approach”.

The other is start a business while you keep your day job. Take that small idea, build the website…a blog, and just start. It’s the bootstrap business with little risk. But it means that to achieve the goal you will have to get up early, stay up late and say no to some of those social events.

There are no right or wrong ways. I know…. because I have done both.

Your risk appetite

But everyone’s appetite for risk is different.

It will vary according to your age, current relationship and circle of friends. It will also depend on the bank balance.

When you are young it is easy to run home if doesn’t all work out. As you get a bit older going back to live with Mum and Dad is a touch embarrassing and also reduces your dating options.

It sort of cramps your style.

Build an audience first

There is a phrase I have grown fond of. “Build an audience before you need them“.

Most of us don’t realise it but in a digital world the options to do this are extensive. It can be as simple as…

Connect on Twitter….

Build networks Linkedin…

Grow your email list….

Then start adding value to those connections before asking for anything in return.

The standard approach by most people is to sell first.

Buy my stuff…..

Order this……

It plain doesn’t work. But every day on Linkedin there they are. Just connected and guess what. The sales pitch is their first muttering.

The rules of the game are not complex.

Add value, educate and “then” sell. The marketing game is 75% education and the last 25% is the selling.

But first you need traffic and that all important online attention. It can be summed up in one word. Traction.

How to growth hack traffic

When I started the blog I decided to test all the shiny new toys for gaining traction.

These included Twitter, Facebook, Google plus, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin and YouTube, email and search engines. I tested re-purposing and re-publishing the posts.

This meant a bit more work.

It involved creating powerpoints for Slideshare and launching a personal magazine on Flipboard. Tumblr was tested and Medium was also used.

What worked for me was Twitter, Facebook and search and email.

In the main it was social media. Bbut if you aren’t prepared to consider other options then you are leaving a lot of traffic on the table.

In their book “Traction: How any Startup can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth“, Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares (The founders behind several successful startups including DuckDuckGo and Opobox) mention 19 different growth hacking categories. Here is the full list.

1. Blog targeting
2. Publicity
3. Unconventional PR
4. Search engine marketing
5. Social and display ads
6. Offline ads
7. Search engine optimisation
8. Content marketing
9. Email marketing
10. Viral marketing
11. Sales affiliates programs
12. Trade shows
13. Offline events
14. Speaking engagements
15. Community building
16. Business development
17. Software engineering
18. Sales
19. Existing platforms

That’s a big list!

The challenge is that for most of us we will go to our comfort zones.

That might be social, selling, email marketing or even public speaking. The reality is that you need to test a bunch of channels to see what works and then focus on the tactics that work best. It will also vary for every type of business.

It is not one size fits all.

It will also change over time as the business evolves.

Successful marketing is not a singularity but the planned testing of multiple channels to market. The social and mobile web has made this possible.

Growth hacking your digital startup

There are no shortcuts. It will take time, persistence and a passionate purpose. Passion is vital as it will give you the energy to sustain the journey.

So what are some ways to build an audience?

1. Guest posting

This is all about adding value first. Most bloggers have a time problem but they have a ready made audience. So offer a guest post for their readers.

So write an awesome article and offer it for free.

Case study: Buffer

Back in 2012 I was approached by Leo Widrich who was one of the founders of Buffer. He asked if he could write a guest post that added value to my audience. The post title “10 Must Have WordPress Plugins Of 2012 Every Blogger Should Know About”

They were wanting to build an audience for their new sharing app and were doing that through approaching bloggers that already had substantial traffic.

But what I thought was  very cool was that they were even willing to mention their competitors.

Today we know how successful that approach has been as a growth hacking strategy. This was done by other influential digital marketers such as Ian Cleary and Danny Iny with great success.

2. Build a big tribe on social media

This is not hard to do when it is done with focus and intention.

Facebook and Twitter were the early targets for bloggers and start-ups as they provided free traffic. Other networks emerged such as Pinterest and Instagram and they also became valuable ways to get attention online.

Today Facebook is harder to get that free traffic for bootstrapping growth but Twitter is still allowing free organic traffic.

Many online video bloggers discovered that YouTube was a great source of traffic that turned up from search and also building a tribe of followers on YouTube.

Case study: A blogger!

Early on in 2009 after launching my blog I went on a hunt to find the best ways to get free traffic.

I noticed that Twitter was able to drive page views for free by sending out tweets with a headline and a link. Hashtags didn’t exist and images were not included. Then we went on a mission to grow my followers.

As this manual task became unsustainable I also decided to automate the tweeting of the content with tools like Socialoomph.com (which I still use today) and today the 450,000 followers are a major source of traffic and discovery. I also discovered that you could also automate the tweeting of other people’s posts that I trusted using Twitterfeed. This allowed me to automate the sharing of great posts to Twitter without having to do it manually.

I explain how to automate the tweeting of your own and other bloggers content at this post “10 Smart Tips for Creating, Marketing and Sharing Content on Twitter“.

3. Relentless content marketing

Creating content around your topic and market is not new but it does work well.

It also has a few benefits.

It creates credibility and trust in your industry, it also improves your search engine rankings and it brings in referral traffic as people discover your awesome content and then talk about it on their blogs and then link to you.

Now you may say you aren’t a writer. But practice will quite often overcome this obstacle. It worked for me.

But if it isn’t your thing then…record videos or start a podcast like Pat Flynn.

Startups and digital entrepreneurs that are now pursuing it include Canva (whose initial traction point for traffic was hiring the digital influencer Guy Kawasaki),

Case study: Hubspot

Hubspot almost invented content marketing except they called it inbound marketing. Attracting traffic (rather than cold calling and paying for it with Google Adwords and other old school tactics) with resource rich content.

Their blog (now multiple blogs for marketing, sales and agency) was their main “go to” platform for achieving this. They have turned this into an art and science and today they attract 75,000 leads a month.

 4. Run a ton of webinars

This piggybacks on the credibility, influence and the email list of the webinar partner. This Joint venture collaborative tactic also allows an affiliate income to be generated by their webinar partner and promoter.

Everyone wins.

What do you offer on a webinar? Great content….that you have packaged and makes a difference to to someone’s life.

Webinars can be created in Powerpoint and you will need other tools such as GoToWebinar and an email marketing platform to scale your efforts.

Case study: Leadpages

This has become their single most important lead generating tactic.

They have run hundreds of these both on their own and also with partners. Every week they run 2-3 webinars and each generates 100’s of email subscribers.

 5. Write a book

This may seem daunting but it doesn’t have to be “War and Peace” at 1,000+ pages. Something from 50-100 pages can be enough. This can also be done before your day job, on weekends or late at night.

In this digital world  it is also easy to self publish a book on Amazon. I know because I have done it. You can also print books on demand for about $2.50 a copy for paperbacks.

Bloggers and digital entrepreneurs that have done this well include Mark Schaefer, Guy Kawasaki and Mike Stelzner.

Case study: Keller Williams Realty

Gary Keller decided to write a book “The Millionaire Real Estate Investor” His New York Times bestselling books have sold more than 2 million copies.

He also reveals the “One” thing that made Keller Williams Realty, Inc., one of the largest real estate companies in the world.

What was that?

It was writing a book that positioned him and his company as the authority in real estate in the USA.

6. Work with influential bloggers

Bloggers today often have larger audiences and bigger distribution than many popular magazines and newspapers. They also are global and have millions of passionate followers.

Using bloggers has become more widely  adopted in the past couple of years but it has been done for the last 9-10 years by the early adopters such as Buffer, Mint and AppSumo as far back as 2007.

Most digital entrepreneurs develop a product and launch  and then try and work out the marketing later. Business success is in planning and executing the marketing and the product in parallel.

Case study: Noah Kagan

Noah Kagan is the genius behind Mint (sold for $170 million to Intuit) and more recently AppSumo. He started planning Mint in 2007 and wrote the original business plan in 2007. In it he outlined which blogs he was going to target as well as other marketing channels.

Here is the summarized and refined list before he actually launched.

Image source: Growthhero.net

When you are launching your online business you will not know what will work and what won’t. So you have to throw a lot of mud against the wall to see what sticks.

Then you focus on the best performing tactics.

Noah sums it up this way:

• Make your target list prior to launch.
• Figure out your target list through: Buzzsumo, google searches, pick specific niches (at Mint it was Personal Finance, geeks (Paul Stamatiou) and GTD people) and other wild ways
• Track with the Google Spreadsheet to know what’s working and what’s not.
• Consider testing 2-3 different messages to people to see which get highest responses.
• Use new methods to get a hold of people. Don’t be like everyone else
• Oh yeah….have a great product

If you want to find out more there is a great post over at Buffer that covers in more detail how he did it at Mint and again at AppSumo.

How are your ideas panning out for creating the lifestyle and business that you dream about?

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How To Dominate SEO With Data-Driven Insights

Does SEO ever frustrate you?

There are so many things you need to keep track of; content, links, keywords, rankings, competitors… The list goes on.

It is an overwhelming adventure for most of us.

Not to mention the scary truth that Google could change the game whenever they want, and within a heartbeat your rankings could disappear.

It’s happened before.

In 2014 Google released an update to its Panda algorithm that penalized low-quality sites or those with “thin content”.

One of the biggest brand casualties from this update was eBay, who saw an 80% decrease in organic traffic, and an estimated hit of almost $200 million in bottom line revenue.

Google’s Panda slammed eBay for poor SEO practices.

Image Source: Word Stream

What would happen if you lost 80% of your traffic? Would your business stay afloat?

For eBay, turning around this big hit to their SEO wasn’t going to be a quick fix. But the even bigger challenge was making sure it didn’t happen again, because search traffic was at the core of the success of their business. 

How eBay stopped this from happening again and got back on track

The number one thing that made a difference for eBay was accessing actionable insights and data about their performance, and adapting their strategy accordingly.

“Search is an important driver of traffic which can translate into sales. So we need to have an accurate picture of how we are doing in search and how our natural search activity is working. How do we compare against others in our market and what are the latest developments in search? We need to be able to answer these questions.”

Maxime Rauer, Manager Natural Search at eBay.

But they faced the additional challenge of delivering a unified solution for SEO tracking and insights across global teams. This wasn’t a mom and pop store looking to get a bit of extra local search traffic – this was massive.

In the past eBay’s marketing team had relied on a set of separate tools across multiple regions to track this important data. They soon recognized that to avoid disasters like this in the future and improve their performance, they needed a consistent and unified view across the whole organization.

After running an in-depth product search including pilot trials and evaluations, eBay chose to go with the Searchmetrics Suite.

What is Searchmetrics? 

The Searchmetrics Suite is an enterprise level product that automates many of the time-consuming aspects of SEO analysis, monitoring and reporting.

It helps you monitor keywords, evaluate links, compare domains or identify what your competitors are doing.

“We use Searchmetrics to monitor rankings for our chosen keywords in the various regions, and to benchmark against competitors.”

Maxime Rauer, Manager Natural Search from eBay.

Searchmetrics became like a low-cost insurance policy for the huge online retailer. Organic search traffic is the lifeblood of their business, so protecting that traffic was essential.

What happened next for eBay?

Almost a year after the initial Panda 4.0 updates, eBay started to see a positive turn around in their organic traffic numbers.

Their investment into performance monitoring, competitor analysis and data-driven insights proved to be the right one. Without an all-in-one software like Searchmetrics, it could’ve taken eBay much longer to see a turn around in results.

This data also provides piece of mind for the future, knowing that their finger is on the pulse when it comes to good SEO practices.

So why should you care?

One of the refreshing things about the Searchmetrics platform is it eliminates the overly complex side of SEO and helps you find the information you need to improve your performance.

If you run a global enterprise that needs organic traffic to survive, and are juggling the challenges and headaches of multiple teams, domains and geographies – Searchmetrics is worth a look.

How are you managing the risk associated with an online business and the reliance on organic search traffic? 

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for Searchmetrics. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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10 Powerful Visuals That Will Pump Up Your Content Marketing

Do you want your visual content to touch the hearts of people far and wide?

Of course you do. Who wouldn’t want something they put up to get liked and shared within hours?

But it takes more than simply uploading and crossing your fingers. It’s about sharing images that make people care. Images that showcase what you and your business stand for.

Don’t worry if you’re not a professional graphic artist. I’m not either – far from it, actually. As long as you understand what makes people tick, you can use visuals that get shared and promoted by your audience.

Let’s get started.

Are you using any of these 10 visual strategies in your business right now?

1. Motivate using people in action

There’s more to an image than simply picking one that looks nice.

If you want people to feel or act a certain way, you need to pick an image that will influence them to do so.

Want people to cooperate with others? Show an image of people connecting. Photos affect how people behave in a subtle, yet powerful manner.

I shared a post on Elite Daily recently about how I become productive in the mornings. Elite Daily typically uses a high quality photograph at the beginning of each post, and this was no exception.

Notice how the image sets the stage for the rest of the article?

A person concentrating intensely on her laptop with a cup of coffee in her hand lets readers know it’s time for business.

Depending on what you’re writing about or trying to promote, use an image where your advice is being put into use.

2. Simplify with charts

Sometimes it’s difficult to explain a concept clearly with words. Visuals, however, can cut through the clutter and instantly make a strong impression.

Since 40 percent of people respond better to visual information than plain text, it makes sense to supplement explanations using graphs or charts.

On the Mirasee blog, I wrote about the process of finding your ideal client in order to save time and increase revenue. While I could have spent a long time describing in detail what steps to take, a chart simplified the whole concept by showing the key takeaways of my message.

I have a confession to make, by the way: I created that chart in Microsoft paint.

See? You don’t have to be a professional artist to make charts and graphs. I’ll share some tools to make it easier for you to create professional-looking images later in this post, though.

The point is that if you have a concept that is difficult to explain, consider including a chart to help others understand.

3. Maintain a theme

In your business, visuals should share a similar vibe. Do you want your brand to be known as friendly and approachable? How about edgy and rebellious?

Whatever it is, the images you share on your social media accounts should have a similar format so that your brand is consistent. When people see your profile, they should know what type of message to expect.

Wistia presents itself as fun and friendly. Its Instagram profile shows smiling employees enjoying themselves, alongside a mascot that’s the epitome of warmth: an office dog!

Just look at Lenny, with his pensive eyebrows and serious demeanor. Who can resist?

Every time I use Wistia, seeing their tutorial videos with Lenny makes me smile.

4. Create funny brand-related memes

A lot of marketing sites use boring and lackluster photos in their posts (Jeff Bullas’ site being an exception, of course!). But you can stand out from the sea of blandness by using images that are funny and memorable.

One of the most effective ways of doing so is by creating memes. That’s right. Memes have long been used to present humorous, yet true statements. Applying the concept to your business makes people see you as personable and unique.

Kevin Duncan makes good use of memes on Be A Better Blogger when he shares advice on making a post memorable. His meme definitely made me laugh.

Memes are easy and quick to make. By using a meme generator such as Imgflip, you simply need to find the right picture (or upload your own), and type in the top and bottom text.

5. Celebrate your off-work moments

Let loose and have fun. In a world of solemn corporations and grey suits, a company with a bit of spontaneity and goofiness is like a breath of fresh air. Pulling back the curtains and letting your followers see you having fun helps them connect with you more.

Taco Bell is known online for their fun, quirky sense of humor. Their Instagram features bright colors, cheerfulness, and good times all around.

Whoever is behind Taco Bell’s social media deserves a gold star. Or maybe the whole enchilada.

6. Hop onto the selfie trend

There’s no denying that selfies are one of the most popular trends to hit social media. As we speak, there are nearly 300 million Instagram photos tagged with the selfie label. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, there is reason to the madness.

It’s been said that selfies are a way of projecting an identity of ourselves onto others, whether we want to be seen as glamorous, fun, adventurous, or any other characteristics.

Selfies can also help you become more popular on Instagram. Researchers have found that pictures with human faces are 38 percent more likely to receive likes than photos without faces.

Before you think that selfies are used only by self-obsessed teens and celebs, check this out. John Kerry snapped a selfie with an orphaned elephant while he was in Kenya learning about conservation efforts. Even the coldest heart would thaw a little.

7. Reference pop culture

Pop culture is exactly that: popular. And what better image is there than one that’s instantly recognizable?

Besides being familiar, shots from hit movies or TV shows increase the chance that your blog will show up when people are searching for images.

I wrote up a post on the psychology behind why we don’t follow through on our goals. In the post, I included a shot from the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. The image wasn’t completely related to my post, but I thought it would be a fun touch.

Surprisingly, readers have found my site through the image.

While an image and the article are not always a close match, people online get sidetracked easily. This can be a good thing because they get drawn to an image they recognize, and then end up discovering your content this way.

You just might be able to catch a fan for life.

8. Show off your original drawings

Putting up images or pictures that you created is a strong way to stand out from everyone else. Followers come to associate you with the type of images you put up and can remember your work more.

Sometimes I see the same stock photography being used over and over, so a brand new image draws my attention and makes me more attentive to the message.

There are a lot of great illustrators out there who create amazing designs, but like I said, you can make unique visuals at any skill level.

Just check out Hurrah For Gin’s Facebook account, where the mom of two kids shares her life as a parent in humorous ways. She draws out stick-figure cartoons and pictures, and people love them.

If you are going to create original visuals to share, make them consistent no matter what your style is. The aim is for people to see your illustration and know immediately where it’s from.

9. Break it down with infographics

Explaining a concept to readers by using large chunks of text can be overwhelming and time-consuming.

Infographics, on the other hand, are the perfect blend between visual information and supporting text. They’re fun to look at and are often valuable enough to stand on their own, making them easy to share.

You can make one on your own with colorful templates from Piktochart, which I enjoyed using. I made an infographic about the lead conversion funnel and shared it on Duct Tape Marketing.

10. Whisk ‘em away with beautiful landscapes

Beautiful images enhance our mood. When people see pictures of exotic locales and scenery at their desks, it feels almost as if they’re traveling there.

Not all landscapes are the same, though. Depending on the colors and brightness, your followers can be left with feelings of excitement, serenity, pensiveness, or wonder.

What emotions do you want to evoke? Look at a picture and reflect on how you feel. See how those emotions align with your message.

This one makes me feel adventurous and optimistic. You too?

Go forth and visualize

While these images have worked well for other businesses, there isn’t a one size fits all.

It’s up to you to decide what type of images work well with your vision. After all, you’re ultimately in charge of the direction that your business takes.

Are you ready to promote yourself and make an impact? Then start by letting me know what type of images give you the best results.

I look forward to connecting with you!

P.S. After you leave a comment, grab my guide to increasing your productivity here.

Guest Author: Melissa Chu helps bloggers get the most out of the content they create. For more ideas on achieving success and making an impact, join the newsletter (with a productivity guide included)

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