Holly Yzquierdo

How to Make Watercolor Text in PicMonkey

December 19, 2016

Thousands of new blogs are created every day. What can a blogger do to stand out in the crowd? Create helpful content that meets a need and is pleasing to the eye. Thankfully, PicMonkey is one tool that can help you create eye catching images that will bring in that Pinterest traffic.

How to Make Watercolor Text in PicMonkey

If you aren’t sure how to use programs like Illustrator and PhotoShop, you might be jealous of the awesome watercolor text you’ve seen floating around lately. Fortunately, PicMonkey makes it super easy to turn any text into watercolor text in just a few clicks!

You will need actual watercolor images to do this, but you can find them for free or cheap on CreativeMarket, the Hungry JPEG, and similar sites.

Log into PicMonkey and choose “Design”. Set your canvas as you would with any design (I just did a square), and then add text.

Next, click the butterfly in the toolbar to add an overlay. Choose your own, instead of using a premade one from PicMonkey. Then, choose your watercolor image from the files on your computer. When you select your image, it’ll look something like this.

Choose “Add” from the drop down menu, and your watercolor image will be added to your text. It’s THAT easy! Remember to use thick, black fonts for best results. You can do this with any pictures, so have fun with it. I’d love to see what you come up with!

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How to Get More Followers on Twitter

August 3, 2016

Twitter is a great way for bloggers and businesses to reach more people. You can use Twitter to promote your business but you have to have a decent following. If you’ve struggled to get more followers on Twitter the following strategies will help.

Create Engaging Content

The best way to gain more followers on Twitter is by creating engaging content on a regular basis. Depending on your strategy, you should strive to Tweet several times a day. Also take extra steps to ensure you can reach a wider audience. One of the ways you can do this is by including current events or trending topics in your Tweets.

Make Your Tweets More Interesting

People are more likely to follow you (and continue following you) if your Tweets are interesting. Pushing out your blog post titles with a link or sales links can be part of your strategy but it can’t be the whole strategy. Post pictures, interesting links, and videos between your text-only posts. Give other Twitter users a reason to want to follow you!

Use Hashtags to Your Advantage

The right hashtag can make all the difference when it comes to connecting with Twitter users. Make sure that your hashtags are focused and relevant. One of the things you may want to do is search Twitter for similar posts and see what hashtags other users have assigned to their Tweets.

Don’t make the mistake of using hashtags that are not related to your content. More people may see your Tweets but they will see them as spammy.

Follow Other Twitter Users

When you are first starting on Twitter you will get more followers by following other users; some may follow you back. If other users follow you first, you may want to follow them back. It’s usually considered a common courtesy to return the follow, you don’t want to appear as though it’s a one-sided arrangement. In some cases it may not be a good fit to follow users who follow you.

Direct People to Your Twitter Account

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to get more people to follow you on Twitter is by asking them to. Include a Twitter icon that links to your account on your blog or website. You can also encourage people from other social networks, such as Facebook, to follow you on Twitter too. Including your Twitter handle in your email signature is another great way to gain more followers.

These are just a few of the ways you can get more followers on Twitter. Keep in mind that gaining followers is only half the battle. Keeping them engaged with new content and adding value can help ensure that you will keep your followers.

How to Become an Amazon Affiliate

August 2, 2016

There are many ways to make money online as an affiliate but becoming an Amazon Affiliate is one of the easiest. Once you become an Amazon Affiliate you earn a commission. The percentage amount depends on what is sold and how much the affiliate amount is.

As you blog and mention items that are useful to your readers you can organically link to Amazon using your affiliate link.

If you are ready to make extra money on your blog follow these steps to become an Amazon Affiliate.

Steps to Become an Amazon Affiliate

First, you just go to Amazon.com and sign in with your account. Make one if you don’t have one yet. Then go to “Your Amazon.com” and scroll down to “Become an Affiliate”. You will find this under “Make Money with Us”.

You will need to fill out the registration form and give them all the needed info. They will ask for the Payee name, the address, and phone number. Then you will be prompted to set up a website profile. You can add other sites later but for now, this should be the main site you plan to use to promote Amazon products. If you don’t have a website, you can actually use your Facebook profile instead.

When all of that is done and you click “next”, you will be prompted for your phone number again. This is done to verify your identity. Put in your phone number and click “Call me now” and Amazon will call you and send you a code to verify who you are. You just input the code and you’re good to go! After you have verified the number, click “Finish”.

Using Affiliate Links

As an affiliate you can use affiliate links to earn money by linking to anything that Amazon sells. For example, you might promote some great books that match themes you are talking about on your website or in a blog post. You might review a cell phone or a computer and then post the link for people to buy it in your review. There are endless options.

Strategy, Proper Use and Disclosure

After you are signed up as an affiliate, it’s important to have a strategy for success. Don’t stuff your blog or social media posts with affiliate links; you’ll lose your readers and it’s bad form. You can create a solid presence with good, useful information and add your affiliate posts and links were it makes sense. When writing a post where you plan to include affiliate links, you should also include all of your own opinions and other valuable information for the reader. Don’t just say, “Buy this!”

As an affiliate you MUST let your readers know that you make money from these links. The SEC has rules that require disclosure. On social media you may add “affiliate link” to the post or in a blog post you may use the phrase, “this post contains affiliate links.”

Before you can create a steady stream of affiliate income you must create quality content that will bring more traffic to your website. A loyal following will click on your affiliate links because they trust you and value your opinion.

Use Pinterest to Drive Traffic

July 31, 2016

Pinterest has long been known as a great way to organize ideas but if you know how to use it to its fullest, you’ll be able to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your blog or website.

Pinterest is a powerful traffic generator that can easily help you go viral and gain more customers.

The thing about Pinterest, that really applies to all social networks, is that you can’t just do it sporadically here and there and expect to get results. Instead, you need to have a plan and a strategy in place. You also need to have the proper tools and setup ready to get the best results.

Optimize your site for Pinterest

The first thing you should do is make sure your site is properly optimized for Pinterest. You should use the Pin It button and also make it very easy for people to pin images from your site. Always use images that are sized properly for Pinterest as well. Use keywords and phrases in your image titles for maximum benefit.

Pin at the right times

Timing is also important to the success of your pins. Some stats show the best times to pin are between 2 and 4 in the afternoon and also between 8pm and 1am at night. This seems to be when many people are browsing the net. That said, you might find there are different times specific to your niche that work better.

Use awesome images

Sure, it seems obvious but what even makes an image awesome? Pinterest is all about visuals and the images with the best look are going to get the most attention. You want professional-quality images that look clean and crisp to the human eye, and also images that look good in a variety of sizes. You also want to use images that are optimized for Pinterest specifically, as these will show up the best in people’s Pinterest feeds.

These are just three ways to use Pinterest to drive traffic but the truth is, there are many more ways. The more you use it and the more familiar you get with how things work on Pinterest, the better the results you will see. Another great thing about Pinterest traffic is that it is not just short-lived. You will get a boost from traffic right when you first pin and then again and again over time as people continue to re-pin your great posts.

If you need more help getting traffic to your website let me help you. I can recommend personalized strategies designed for your business.

Can a Social Media Manager Grow My Business

July 3, 2016

You’ve worked really hard to build your business, don’t let a lack of skills hold you back. Many small business owners fall into the trap of trying to do everything themselves. Knowing when to add people or skills will help your business grow to the next level. Read on to see what a social media manager can do for your business.

Outsource with a Social Media Manager

Maybe you’ve never thought about using a social media manager for your business but there are many situations where it might be helpful. If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your social media, or if you just don’t have the time to manage it yourself, you might consider hiring a social media manager to help.

Here are some things a social media manager can do for your business:

Create content and post to your social media channels.
Reply to messages and provide social customer support.
Help you track conversations about your brand online.
Help you define strategies to build and enhance your fan/follower base.
Work to create promotion campaigns, paid advertising, events and more.
Select tools and apps that can be used to help manage your social media.
Building, managing, and administrating your social networks.

Sometimes there are other roles that a social media manager will do and sometimes the SMM takes on more of a community manager role in addition to these tasks.

Multiply Your Time By Hiring a Social Media Manager

Think about how long it takes you to handle all of the social media platforms, review sites and customer questions online? Does it add to your bottom line? Hiring a professional that specializes in social media will lighten your load and give you a better return on your investment. How much is your time worth?

Is it Time to Hire?

It’s all about your needs and requirements. You might want someone to help you with strategy and advertising, or just someone to post replies and create new content. You might want a manager for just one network while you handle the others, or someone to handle all of that completely for you.

If you never thought about hiring a social media manager before, now you have some basic reasons to consider it. You could allow a professional to focus on the social media while you get back to the things you do best – running your business.