Business

10 Ways to Maximize On Your Social Media Messaging

Published

6 years ago

November 7, 2019

Figuring out what you really want to do with life and share with others is not easy. There are so many options nowadays, and if there isn’t something out there that you want to do, you can create the opportunity. After deciding on your social media messaging strategy, these steps below will help you maximize your reach and spread your message through social skills and social media.

Have a clear message

When it comes to your social media messaging strategy, have a clear message that is short, to the point and simple to understand. Someone who is viewing your content for the first time should be able to know what you are providing them in a couple of seconds. Don’t lose a potential client/follower because they did not know what you are marketing.

Hook your audience in three seconds and keep their attention. People scroll through social media feeds very quickly. Your content needs to stop them in their tracks then have them scroll back to see what you posted. It can be an attention grabbing title, a stunning location they would want to visit, an adrenaline pumping video or an abstract photo that gets them confused and wanting to figure out what is going on.

Once you’ve hooked them, they will now want to check out the rest of your content. Stay constant with your message throughout your content. Focus on one message at a time. What is your core value and the first thing you want your audience to know? Once you have grown your first message then you can expand and pick up another message to share.

Provide value with your content

Now that you have a clear message with what you are marketing, how will it provide value to your audience? Whether you are selling a product or a service, how does it make your user’s life easier? A value doesn’t have to be something monetary or physical. Provide social media messaging that can inspire your audience. Something to motivate them to get up and do something. Believe it or not, envy is also a good motivation. That’s why social media influencers have the job they do. They market their content in a why that makes you want to be in their shoes.

Everyone who is following you is doing so for the same reason, they like whatever you are offering them. That is at least one thing they all have in common. Build a community where they can connect with you and each other on a more personal level than just commenting on each other’s post. Give them somewhere to go to talk about and share similar ideas.

Understanding and responding to your audience

Understand what excites your audience. Understand what made them follow you in the first place. If you can find out what gets them excited and wanting to share your product, you will have them doing half of the marketing for you. Take the Starbucks social media messaging strategy for example. People like personalized things. Something as simple as writing their name on a cup will have them taking a picture of it and sharing it on social media and with friends. Free publicity for Starbucks. Add some hearts or funny misspellings and you’ve got yourself a winning cup.

When you are provided feedback, listen to them. Gather what your friends, family and audience has said and respond if the request or advise is reasonable and in good taste. They will feel like they are a part of your journey and appreciate it. Surround yourself with positive people who want to see you succeed. You don’t have to remove anyone from your life, they just don’t have to be a part of your growing process. There is a difference between people who are shut down every idea you have and people who critique your work. Find people who will provide honest feedback to better yourself and your work. That can be people in your circle, in your interested community, Reddit or Facebook groups. Believe in yourself and your work. Also, you are your hardest critic. So don’t forget to celebrate how far you are come. And don’t forget to celebrate with your audience. They are part of the reason you are where you are. Create milestones and little celebrations.

Making connections

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Sadly, that cannot be true enough. Yes, you still need solid skills and products but the first step is to get in and get noticed. This is why people collaborate. In order to reach the audience of the other group. If you notice, social media influencers, Youtube especially, collaborate with each other through a combined social media messaging strategy. They understand that the audience of the person they are collaborating with are all potential new audience for themselves. When you see a new person mentioned in your favorite YouTuber’s video, you go and check out what they have to offer as well.

Collaboration and networking is very important. It can also be very annoying. If you are an introvert, networking is actually one of the most dreaded task. But not all networking has to be in a conference room. When you chatting and connecting with someone, whether it is your neighbor or the barista, that is networking. Those are the kind of networking that will last longer. They are more genuine. Neither side went hoping to get something out of the situation.

Understanding the different social media platforms and which ones work for you

Anyone who wants to get their message across needs to be on social media. Word of mouth is great but that can only spread so far. Being active on social media will draw in clients from all around the globe. But it’s not good enough to just be on every social platform. You need to be constantly active on each one with a clear social media messaging strategy catered to individual platforms. And learn all the ins-and-outs of what makes each platform unique. That can be very overwhelming. Pick one or two platforms to focus on first. Grow a real following with an active community and get in the swing of things before moving on to the next.

Have a unique offering

What makes what you are offering better than what is already out there? Like Apple, you do not have to be the first at something but you have to be better. Whether you are marketing a lifestyle or material goods, add your personal touches to it. People get tired of seeing the same things over and over. That makes social media messaging boring for you and your audience. Everybody is unique and different. And people get bored of the same old thing. So if you add a bit of your personality and style into your work, that will shine brighter and market better than if you were to stick with the standard.

But be ready. Have something to showcase your work whether it is a website or a media kit. You don’t want to throw something together last minute. The quality of a last minute project will never be as great as something well prepared and thought out. And make sure to keep it up to date. When the opportunity arises, you have to be prepared.

Quality over quantity

People like high quality things. This is why new models come out every year and video quality keeps getting higher. The quality of your content needs to be your best work. Make sure the photos you are sharing vibrant, your videos at the highest quality. Make people want to share your content on their site or tag a friend. Give them a story they want to be a part of.

Keep an idea or inspiration board to pull from for days you need a little motivation. Also, think about what made you inspired by their content. Did it invoke a feeling? Was it something you always wanted to do? What was it about the photo that made you want to save it? Keep those things in mind and think about how you can bring those feelings to your work.

Make it searchable

If you were to Google something related to what you are marketing, what phrases would you search? When creating social media messaging content, keep in mind the phrases or words you yourself would search for. Have a good caption or description. Use keywords. There are tons of resources online that provide you with a list of words to make your content more searchable. A good course to learn more about this is the Google Adword course. You can read more about that course here.

Spend money to make money (not just literally)

Invest in yourself. Invest in your hobby and your passion. More importantly, invest in your business. Investments are not just material goods but also skills as well and marketing social media messaging tactics that will help maximize your reach and impact.

Yes, you still need to have proper gear whether it is a tripod if you are a photographer, software or hardware if you are a designer, a good blender if you are a chef. Do your research based on your budget and availability.

If you are providing a skilled based service, take classes and attend workshops. You can practice, network and get fresh perspective from people in your class. Sometimes, the newbie asking the “dumb” questions will actually be the one with the most out-of-the-box brilliant ideas. They are not used to what the “standard” is so they will have a different frame of mind than what you are so used to.

Once you have some solid content, you are ready to start marketing. Along with marketing through social media, friends, family and your network, look into paid marketing. Think about how much big companies pay for ads. They would not be spending that kind of money if it did not work. You probably don’t need a big billboard on the side of the highway but you will benefit from ads and marketing on social media. Do your research on what social media platforms your target audience would most likely be on, what time of day they are most active, what other things do they follow.

Timing

Time your content to coincide with special events or holidays. Is there a random holiday that you can work your content around? National llama day is coming up, December 9th. If the holiday is big enough or silly enough, social media accounts have special features on them. Work your content around those holidays to get your content featured on the main page.

Keep an ear out for what is trending at the moment? Get into high school gossip mode! What are people talking about? Whether it is good or bad, how does your content apply? Get creative but always make sure you are true to your message.

Related Topics:featured growth hacking marketing social media

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Design Hack Your Office For Maximum Productivity

Published

19 hours ago

February 13, 2026

Yvonette Sanchez

Beautiful startup office designed for efficiency and productivity

Did you know that your workplace design can impact the productivity of your employees? Aside from this, office design also affects employee safety and health. A study by international architectural firm Gensler in the US states revealed that only 38% of employees strongly agree that their workplace currently provides a great experience, highlighting a major gap between what offices offer today and what employees actually need to perform at their best.

So how does the environment impact the health, safety, and productivity of employees?

Design To Encourage Movements

People walking down stairs of an office — *Photo by Proxyclick Visitor Management System from Pexels*

Our work has a big impact on your health. Most of the time employees spend a lot of time on their desks, so they are becoming sedentary. As we all know, sitting down for long periods of time has adverse effects on our health. In addition, movement offers instant benefits, including cognitive performance boost.

Designing office spaces that encourage movement or walking can help curb these problems for employees and employers alike. There are workstations that are designed to be used in either sitting or standing positions. An open space design also encourages employees to walk from one section of the office to another. Sometimes something as basic as an ergonomically correct chair can help prevent ailments like backaches.

Natural Lighting > Fluorescent

Open office with abundance of natural lighting — *Photo by Marc Mueller from Pexels*

Good lighting can help people see details clearly and increased visibility can help increase productivity. But, this does not mean to say that you can skimp on lighting in the office because a study from Cornell University shows that poor lighting is connected to low production levels and social satisfaction among employees. Many offices are composed of cubicles to give employees privacy to do their work. However, the cubicle arrangement also blocks natural light, which means that some employees are not exposed to natural lighting during an entire work cycle.

Humans are wired to seek natural lighting. In fact, many buildings in Europe encourage exposure to natural light. Employees who had the best views were the most productive and were most likely to describe themselves as healthy.

Dedicated Noise-Isolation Areas

Quiet area of office where people can concentrate — *Photo by Startup Stock Photos from Pexels*

Acoustics is another key contributing factor to productivity. To achieve acoustic comfort, the office must have appropriate acoustic support that is conducive to interaction, confidentiality, and concentrative work. If it is too noisy, workers will not be able to communicate with each other let alone concentrate.

Design your office to have multiple quiet areas where employees can migrate to in order to make calls, have private meetings, or to focus on their work.

Designed With Health In Mind

Office workers enjoying a healthy environment — *Photo by CoWomen from Pexels*

Aside from these factors, employers should also provide workers with suitable ventilation, access to greenery and the gym to help encourage a healthy lifestyle. Even something as basic as giving them access to increase or reduce the temperature in the office can impact their productivity. Employers should also encourage employees to personalize their workstations so that employees are happier. Workspace design should allow employees to socialize with each other easily while at the same time giving them access to views and privacy so that they can work properly and productively.

Good lighting, comfortable furniture, pleasant color schemes, and access to views or natural lighting can help generate positive energy in the office and employee mood. In fact, 8 out of 10 employees said their working environment affects their mental health.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by CadoMaestro from Pexels

Business

Tips For Starting A Profitable Business

Published

22 hours ago

February 12, 2026

Yvonette Sanchez

How many entrepreneurs do you know start a company with the intention of failing? We hope that this number is zero, but fail can be the result of a business even if it is unintentional. Serial entrepreneurs know many different ways to fail. This is because success in not guaranteed no matter what business you get into. They also share their tips to avoid failure to help you start a profitable business.

Surround Yourself With The Right People

The phrase “It takes a village to raise a child” also applies to a profitable business. Without talented individuals working for you, it will be very hard to survive. Surround yourself with amazing friends and successful business owners so that you can have access to different skills and knowledge that can help you grow a profitable business and make it thrive.

Build a Strong Foundation

Before starting your business, ask yourself why you’re starting it in the first place. How is your product or service going to help your target audience’s lives better? How does this idea align with your core values? Do you have a solid profitable business plan to make this dream a reality? The answers to these questions will help your business have a strong foundation.

Perfect Your Pitch

You should be able to describe your company in 3-5 words. Think of AirBnB: a place to stay. Describing your business concisely will make it easy to understand. If it is easy to understand, it is also easier to sell. When working on your pitch, stay away from mistakes like using industry jargon that is hard to understand for the layman, asking the wrong questions to those who listened to you, not making the pith relevant to the listener or only talking about yourself.

Know Your Competitors

Keep your enemies close and your competitors closer. They are not the enemy but not knowing what they’re doing could be harmful to your company. Don’t hesitate to use tools to analyze your competition. Tools like SEMrush, SimilarWeb or even Google Alert can help tell you what your competitor is up to and increase your chances of survival.

Build a “Must Have Product”

Sites like Hacker News have a ton of really cool startups ideas. However, if you really want to increase your chances of survival and success, build a must-have-product instead of a nice-to-have product. The difference between the two is easy to spot. The former is a product that is hard to live without while the latter is more disposable.

Build A Company That You Can Scale Independently of Your Staff

It’s better to grow a company that can be scaled using technology and automation. Take Groupon for example that did the opposite. They have a massive staff because they need it to keep new deals flowing everyday and to service their customers. Their company is not scalable because their growth is dependent on the number of staff their hire. This is why their balance sheet is awful.

Find Ways To Keep Costs Low

You can think of cash as your company’s lifeblood and high cost is equivalent to a hemorrhage. Remember that all the cash in the world is not worth anything unless it’s a positive cash flow. Find ways to keep your costs low like going directly to the supplier or negotiating for better prices. Find better ways to finance transactions and ways to work out deals.

Focus on Sales and Marketing

Nothing happens in business unless a sale is made. From the start, find ways to get leads and ways to convert those leads into sales and make sure you are getting repeat sales from your customers. To do this you need an effective sales and marketing funnel that you can work, test and measure.

Always Find Ways To Increase Profits

Don’t rest on your laurels yet. Don’t just be happy with getting customers and making them buy from you. Always find ways to get them to buy more.

Embrace Creativity

Brands like Apple and Ikea stand the test of time because they have followers who are loyal to them. They also differentiated their companies from their competitors by embracing innovation and creativity. Reach out to your employees and don’t be afraid to use their ideas. Launching new products and developing a clever marketing campaign is a good way of retaining that competitive edge your company needs.

Test and Measure

Are your marketing campaigns increasing sales? Is your social media presence helping drive traffic to your website? Testing and measuring everything gives you perspective especially if you want to find ways to increase traffic and keep costs down. Use tools like Google Analytics and Unbounce to help you test and measure marketing campaigns.

Empower Your Staff

No matter how big or small you are, empowering your staff by letting their voices be heard can help boost your profitability. When they feel that they are contributing or when you give them freedom to work, you are making them feel wanted which can greatly affect their productivity and self confidence.

Business

Top 8 Small Business Inventory Management Software for Growth

Published

1 day ago

February 12, 2026

Jeffrey Davidson

Small business owners have a lot on their plates, having everything working as efficiently as possible. When reducing costs while increasing sales is a priority, you need all the help you can get. This is why a small business inventory management software is a necessity. Here are the top 8:

What is a Small Business Inventory Management Software?

Have you ever found it frustrating to track items or parts throughout your supply chain? Handling the storage, inventory, and sales from manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer can be a Herculean task. This is where small business inventory management software comes in.

This is a tool that automatically tracks how many products or items a business has in stock. It also records and helps monitor how many were sold, returned, or when you should reorder. The most basic software may include accounting tools and point-of-sale systems suitable for small businesses.

The Best Small Business Inventory Management Software

1. Zoho Inventory

A popular choice for small business owners, Zoho Inventory is great value for your money. It allows you to handle multiple ecommerce stores and warehouses. You can check stock levels, manage warehouse items, and fulfill orders.

It features order management, analytics, reporting, and barcode scanning capabilities. It has a free plan with limited features, so if you want to make the most out of the software, the paid plans are highly recommended.

Pros

Can handle multiple warehouses, currencies, and channels
Comes with bundling, kitting, and composite tools
One of the least expensive options

Cons

No return management feature
Limited POS integrations

2. FreshBooks

Primarily an accounting software, FreshBooks also has the capabilities of an inventory management software. This is an excellent option for small businesses with fundamental inventory needs. Not only does it enable you to track your items, but it’ll also make accounting easier.

It integrates with many assets and transportation management software, such as 2ship and Barcloud. If you sell in different channels, FreshBooks will come in handy. It automatically gathers data from Shopify or Squarespace for effortless management of your inventories.

Pros

Easy to navigate user interface
It comes with excellent invoicing features
Superb customer support

Cons

Limited users and clients
Tier-based pricing is confusing to some users

3. Agiliron

This small business inventory management software is truly cost-effective. Agiliron lets you manage multiple channels with e-commerce, social media, retail, and wholesale features. It will also provide you with comprehensive B2B and B2C inventory, kitting, and many other unique features.

It integrates with QuickBooks, Amazon, Shopify, PayPal, and many other e-commerce-related software and platforms. All its subscription plans offer unlimited orders and 24/7 customer support.

Pros

Has customer-specific price settings
International capabilities
Wide ecommerce applications

Cons

High learning curve
Only one user per plan

4. Veeqo

Built explicitly for ecommerce businesses, Veeqo has many features that make inventory and shipping a breeze. It has purchasing, reporting, shipping, and order management tools, whether you have one warehouse or more. Its straightforward platform is centralized to make tracking and management simple and uncomplicated.

One notable feature of Veeqo is its shipping integrations. This includes major shipping couriers such as FedEx and UPS. It has a limited-time, 14-day free trial that lets you try out its service without making a huge commitment.

Pros

Shipping discounts
User-friendly interface
Multi-channel inventory management

Cons

Some reports of software bugs
So-so customer support

5. Lightspeed Retail

Most popularly known as a point-of-sale software, Lightspeed Rail also has impressive inventory management features. It allows you to conduct sales online or in-store while tracking your inventory levels in real time. This is a very helpful software to have if you’re in the retail industry.

This small business inventory management software lets you select from a wide array of business types, such as apparel, home and gift shops, and many others. Lightspeed will then show you how it can work in your precise retail niche.

Pros

Offers seamless integration with ecommerce and in-store POS
Provides advanced reporting on CRM, vendor, and granular inventory
Unlimited entries across all plans

Cons

Has no free plan
No options for managing perishable products

6. Sortly

Small non-retail businesses will find Sortly an excellent inventory management software, thanks to its free plan. Well, it’s not only that, this software has many more amazing features to its name. Its intuitive functionality helps new business owners get the hang of tracking inventory and other minute details about their products.

Sortly can help you with warehouse management, inventory control and reports, and barcode scanning, among others. It also enables you to keep track of stock levels and returns through its alerting feature.

Pros

Reasonably priced premium plans
Ideal for those starting a new inventory
Easy-to-use interface

Cons

Integrating with other apps is for paid plans only
Customer service may be hard to contact

7. CIN7

With its robust inventory and multi-warehouse features, CIN7 has become small business owners’ favorite. Among all the small business inventory management software on this list, CIN7 offers the most integrations. It has a return management feature that is essential for ecommerce business owners.

This software offers advanced options for purchase orders, which include duplication, custom fields, and importing and exporting features.

Pros

Multi-channel, centralized inventory system
Great workflow automation
Gives detailed real-time data

Cons

No free plan
Android-only mobile app

8. Katana

Specifically created for manufacturers, Katana will help you track all your products and supplies at every level of the manufacturing process. Its automatic workflow lets you concentrate on manufacturing. Aside from inventory features, this software will help you with scheduling, production planning and control, and many other tasks.

It has a very low learning curve; you’ll quickly know how to keep track of sales and purchase orders, production receipts, warehouse statuses, productions, and many others.

Pros

Has inventory control and optimization tools
Has comprehensive manufacturing shop floor control
Allows tracking by the expiration date

Cons

Only has email support
No mobile app

Honorable Mention

The eight small business inventory management software listed above are our top choices. But there is one outstanding brand that we can’t ignore, so we added it to our honorable mention list:

Megaventory

Suitable for small and medium-sized businesses, Megaventory is a cloud-based order and inventory management solution. Its key features include order fulfillment, invoicing, reporting, and manufacturing management. It also offers comprehensive customer support that will help you provide better customer experiences.

Pros

Alerts you when you are running low on stocks
Provides automatic calculation of the inventory’s value
Handles customer and vendor returns without human intervention

Cons

The dashboard can be hard to navigate on small screens
The item editor has a high learning curve

Final Thoughts

To find out which small business inventory management software is the best for you, you need to know your inventory tracking needs quite well. After doing so, you can choose from the list above and get the most suitable one for your brand.