Blog Writer in Essex, UK: July 2015

Wednesday, 29 July 2015

I just blogged at Blog Content Writing || Marie Services - Sidebar

Saturday, 25 July 2015

I just blogged at Blog Content Writing || Marie Services - Top 5 Benefits of Social Media to Small Businesses

In the modern, fast paced world that we live in today, everything is connected through the internet. Even in the online world, a large number of different forums and platforms exist for people to get their message across to the rest of the world. One important online platform for small businesses today that is the most lucrative as a marketing and publicity tool is social media.

Nearly everyone is connected on social media today, its quite rare to find people who donâ€™t use popular social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. However, small businesses today are not utilizing the social media option as an effective marketing tool. Little do such small scale companies realise the immense impact it could have and the jump in profits that they are missing out on because of this.

Here are the top five benefits of social media for small businesses:

Cheaper marketing

What better way to get your message, product information and mission statement, amongst all the other important details about your company that you wish to put out there, than do it in a cheap and cost-effective manner? It involves no investments in expensive billboards or television slots and the marketing value is ideal for initiated small businesses which donâ€™t have large budgets allocated towards advertising and marketing.

Easier to find

Putting information out there on social media also helps your business show up on multiple search engine results which is extremely beneficial to any small business as it loosely translates to better sales of products. Whatâ€™s more, individuals also have easy access to all kinds of information and FAQs answered on one single platform without any hassle.

Direct interaction with clients

One of the best ways to improve your business prospects would be to take in any suggestions and complaints that your clients have. While suggestion boxes might lie unopened and unchecked; with social media, small businesses have the perfect opportunity to directly interact with clients and offer the best kind of customer care opportunities possible.

Give your brand a character

It helps ten fold when customers realise that your business is also created by people like them who understand their needs and requirements perfectly because of a personal connection. Thatâ€™s where social media can be of great value as this is a great platform where you can interact with existing and potential clients and portray the image that you wish your company to have in front of them. In short, businesses can ensure that the customers find the people behind the business relatable and easily approachable, as it ensures brand loyalty.

Expand your customer base

Its impossible in the world that we live in today that customers are able to fully trust in any products or services they wish to acquire. When publicised and vouched for on social media, not only does the brandâ€™s trust build, but clientele also expands.

So should you be using social media more?

Top 5 Benefits of Social Media to Small Businesses

http://marieservices.co.uk

New article (Top 5 Benefits of Social Media to Small Businesses) has been published on Blog Content Writing || Marie Services

Here are the top five benefits of social media for small businesses:

Cheaper marketing

Easier to find

Direct interaction with clients

Give your brand a character

Expand your customer base

So should you be using social media more?

Top 5 Benefits of Social Media to Small Businesses

www.MarieServices.co.uk

New article (Top 5 Benefits of Social Media to Small Businesses) has been published on Blog Content Writing || Marie Services

Here are the top five benefits of social media for small businesses:

Cheaper marketing

Easier to find

Direct interaction with clients

Give your brand a character

Expand your customer base

So should you be using social media more?

Top 5 Benefits of Social Media to Small Businesses

http://www.MarieServices.co.uk

Monday, 6 July 2015

New post (Getting to Know you"re Cat) has been published on Blog Content Writing || Marie Services

Are you a new pet owner?Â If youâ€™ve just made a new addition to your family by the way of a cat, you must be excited!Â After all, you should be.Â It can be a big responsibility to own a cat, but the rewards you receive makes it so worthwhile.Â It can fill your heart with joy to see the love and compassion in the eyes of your cat, although that is not all that you will see.

Each day as you get to know your cat more and more, they will begin to show many traits and characteristics. After all, all living animals have their own personalities.Â In very little time youâ€™ll get to understand your cat just as if they were one of the kids or a friend.

As nice as it is to hear that you may be understanding your pet in no time at all, you may be looking for more information.Â So how exactly do you get to understand your pet? They wonâ€™t respond like a human but there are other signals that your pet may send you to help you understand their wants and needs.Â To be the best pet owner possible and to provide your cat with proper care, itâ€™s important for you notice and take action when these signals are displayed.

For starters, do you know when your cat may be ready to fight?Â Whether your cat is ready to attack you, another person in your home, or another pet, this is a sign that you need to look out for.Â Cats, like humans, can develop a wide array of emotions, including anger.Â If your cat has their head down and is in a crouching position, they may be ready to pounce.Â Many cats will also try to hide behind an object so that they canâ€™t be seen and they will move their tail back and forth in a horizontal pattern.Â Some cats will also deal with their anger by hiding or retreating to an area that they feel comfortable or safe in.

However, some cats will also pounce with the intent to play and display other playful signals.Â A happy cat and one who wants to play is usually very active.Â Your cat, when happy and excited, may always be on the move.Â He or she may be extra cuddly with you, hoping you will give them the extra attention and playtime.Â Another sign of a happy and excited cat is one whose head, tail, and ears are straight up.

Seeing love and compassion in your catâ€™s eyes as mentioned earlier, may actually not be as difficult to see as you think. Itâ€™s been said that when a cat squints whilst looking at you, itâ€™s their way of saying â€œI love youâ€.Â Itâ€™s also been said that biting and licking are other ways that cats show love and affection.

These are just a few of many ways to understanding your cat. All of which should not be rushed. Just give them the proper amount of love and attention, watch their reactions, and make note of any habits your new friend may develop.Â In time, you and your new pet will know each other inside out.

Getting to Know you"re Cat

MarieServices.co.uk

Look at my new article - 8 Easy Ways to Effectively Manage Your Time

Effective time management can often be the difference between succeeding at something and coming up short. Studies have shown that those with effective time management skills are eight-times more likely to reach their goals on time than those who are unable to use their hours efficiently.

Time management is more often than not a learned skill. Students, business people and even those with busy social lives are required to learn how to prioritise, delegate and navigate the clock effectively in order to reduce stress and fit everything in.

To help you juggle your daily activities better, here are 8 great time management tips for you to follow:

Create a plan - The time it takes to do something will often increase or decrease depending on how much time has been allotted to it. A plan will not only encourage you to stick to your agreed time limits, but will also prevent you wasting time pondering what to do next.

Be strict with your time limits - If a task naturally takes longer than planned, that"s ok. Otherwise, be strict about meeting your own deadlines. A plan isn"t worth much if you don"t take it seriously.

Use proper planning equipment - Whether you intend to use an organiser, a dedicated piece of software or the calendar function on your phone, make sure you"re able to access your plan at all times and understand what you need to be doing and when.

Know your deadlines - Knowing what needs to be done, and by when, is essential if you"re going to create a well-functioning plan. Prioritising is important (as you"ll see in the next step). That becomes harder if you"re performing tasks in the wrong order.

Learn to prioritise - Sometimes prioritising means rearranging the order in which you do things. Sometimes prioritising means saying "no". Each day, you have a finite amount of time and energy. Using that time and energy to get the important stuff done first is critical. Whatever you have left can then be used on lesser activities.

Keep a clock handy at all times - Whether you"re working or just on the move, having a clock handy at all times will ensure you"re able to stay punctual. This shouldn"t be difficult. Wearing a watch or carrying your mobile phone will mean you"re never caught short.

Eliminate time wasters and distractions - Successful people squeeze every drop of productivity out of their time. Less successful people spend their day wasting theirs little by little. Gossiping, Facebook, online games and web-browsing are all fun, but are some of life"s biggest time wasters. When you have free time, feel free to engage in them as much as you"d like. When time is tight, reduce them to a minimum.

Don"t be a perfectionist - Number eight on this list may not feel like much of a time management tip, but it is. A surprising amount of people spend more time than necessary doing something simply to correct insignificant details. Working on the colour scheme of a document, for example, may feel like it"s important, but in all likelihood, you"re most probably spending time playing with an already completed project.

In Conclusion

Michael Alshurler famously said, "Time flies, but the good news is you"re the pilot". If you"re currently looking to get more out of your life, getting more out of your time is the best way to go about doing that. Time management skills are essential to everybody, whatever their goals are. With a little dedicated effort, you"ll find yours improve quickly, and with it, so too will your productivity.

8 Easy Ways to Effectively Manage Your Time

www.MarieServices.co.uk

I just blogged at Blog Content Writing || Marie Services - How to Nail that Audition!

As more and more people are now auditioning for TV shows such as the "X Factor" and "The Voice", you can be pretty certain that the amount of competition is increasing. This means that when you walk into that audition, you have to be fully prepared to show exactly what you are made of. Confidence is key!

Your main mission when you"re in front of those judges is to always walk away with a date in the diary for the next round, however the reality is that this is much tougher than we realise. This means that practice and prepration is vital to get the absolute best reception from the judges possible. In my opinion,

one of the best things you can do to prepare yourself for a career in singing is to use a vocal coach and take vocal lessons(www.singloudandproud.com offering online vocal lessons to anyone in the world). Even if you think you don"t need lessons there are always new skills to pick up and areas of your vocals or performance to improve upon. Even the professional singers all work with talented vocal coaches. Great skills to learn are diction, breathing correctly, controlling your voice, and generally improving your skills on a continual basis. It would be a rarity to find a professional singer who does not continually work with a vocal coach. So as an amatuer, to always work on building vocal skills is crucial.

Another great tip to follow is to select your song months in advance and practice, practice, practice! Practice until you know the words backwards, forwards and everywhere in between! Don"t be the one that forgets the words! Stress is one of the most likely causes for you to forget the lyrics when you"re in the audition so practice as much as you can to be super confident. An additional benefit to practice, practice, practice! Is that you will be comfortable with the flow of the song, and have loads of time to pick a different track if you feel your first choice isn"t working for you.

Which brings us nicely on to song selection. Its a good idea to have at least two songs that you are prepared to sing on the audition day. This means knowing two full songs inside out and not just one song that you know fully and another one that you know a little, winging it on the day. You need two songs that you know fully so that you can properly perform the second song if you"re asked to.

There are times, particular with these TV talent shows, when the contestant is asked to perform a second song so being prepared for this situation will ensure that you can sing that song with the same confidence as the first one.

Moving on to your final tip! Which is to pick a specific style. It would be way too hard for one person to be the master of all musical styles so pick the one that you most enjoy singing and that represents you as an artist. Do you like folk? Are you a rock chick or rock god? You might even discover that you enjoy to sing classically or in an R&B style or even like to rap a bit!

Which ever style you"re most comfortable with you need to find it so experiment first of all with different styles and play around with your voice. From tone, to flow, to song selection, you are creating an entire package, creating a recording artist so remember to be true to yourself.

Also remembering to stay modest will help you in the audition process. You tend to find people that shout about how good they are and how "they"re the one to beat" let their huge ego get in the way of progressing further. No one wants to work with an ass! Most who are truly talented know just how stiff the competition is and they go in ready to work towards their goal. If you are certain that singing is that one thing that makes you get out of bed in the morning..... practice, be humble, learn and listen!.

P.S. Good luck ðŸ˜‰

How to Nail that Audition!

MarieServices.co.uk

New blogpost (Top tips to build your self confidence) has been published on Blog Content Writing || Marie Services

Self-confidence is a doorway to many great things. Without it, a person may struggle to find a fulfilling relationship, or even get the type of job they want. Few would deny, having an adequate level of self-confidence is crucial to living an accomplished life.

But what if you don"t have much self-confidence, what then? What if, during a job interview for example, your throat closes up, your voice squeaks and your mind goes blank? Thankfully, self-confidence can be learnt. If you"re looking to learn it, the advice given in this article should start you on a journey of self-discovery.

Embrace Relaxation

A relaxed body goes some way to creating a calm mind. Self-confidence, you see, begins long before you sit down in an interview chair or go out on a first date. It begins at home, and starts in your mind and body. Progressive muscle relaxation, a type of yoga discipline that focuses on calm, will lower your levels of anxiety when practiced daily. A calmer you is a more confident you, making this a fantastic way to spend 10 minutes of your day.

Celebrate your Accomplishments

Pessimism is one of the most common reasons for suffering from low self-esteem. Focusing on your shortcomings will do nothing other than make you feel inadequate and less able. Before any kind of big occasion, remind yourself what you do well. Keeping a list of your achievements is a great way to refresh your memory in an instant, and banish doubt for good.

Keep Things in Perspective

You are constantly changing. Every day, you learn something new and perhaps even achieve something new. One-off events, such as interviews, don"t define you. Failure doesn"t mean you"re incapable. It can arise due to a myriad of reasons. Understanding this should take some of the pressure of off you. Confidence comes from surviving. It comes from growing. Knowing you can do both makes you a winner before you"ve even stepped out of your house.

See Life as a Challenge

Low self-confidence can arise as a result of unmet expectations. When you aren"t quite where you want to be, it"s natural to feel down about yourself. Then, you start feeling like you"re fighting against the tide. Success becomes difficult, and the process unenjoyable. Viewing life as a challenge makes it fun again. It negates the fear of failure. When you fail, simply get back up and try again. Doing this a few times will free you from the weight of assuming you have to succeed first time.

Set and Achieve Goals

There"s no denying it, success breeds confidence. Another reason why some experience low self-confidence is they set unrealistic goals. Their goal may simply be to succeed, which is abstract and absolute. Break your goals down into smaller parts. Focus on achieving each part, or at least getting closer to achieving it. Feeling yourself become victorious and improving constantly will banish your anxiety for as long as you can keep it up.

In Conclusion

Ultimately, self-confidence is about your relationship with yourself. The nicer and more forgiving you are of yourself, the less you"ll feel nerves and apprehension.

Learning to love yourself more isn"t always easy, which is why certain things such as those mentioned above can be done to make the process easier. Once you discover how effortless life can be when you fully respect yourself, though, you"ll never want to go back.

Top tips to build your self confidence

www.MarieServices.co.uk

Look at my new blogpost - Why is SEO so important for your business?

SEO is a buzzword that gets thrown around a lot. You"ve probably heard one of the many marketing gurus rave on about how it should be put above all else when it comes to online marketing. If not, you may have read about it in an article or someone you know may have mentioned it in passing.

However SEO was brought to your attention doesn"t really matter. What"s important is that it has been. The process of optimizing a site for the search engines can be the difference between web success and web failure. Here, we"ll take a closer look at what it is, and just why it should be one of your top marketing priorities.

What is SEO?

The word SEO is an acronym for the phrase Search Engine Optimization. It describes the process of making a website appealing to web-crawlers responsible for ranking sites based on their value to users.

SEO is an umbrella term that includes within it various techniques for ensuring a web page ranks highly. These techniques can vary from the simple, to the highly complex.

The Advantages of SEO

To say that SEO is one of the most important marketing strategies around wouldn"t be an overstatement. Properly performed optimization campaigns can be the difference between making a huge profit and going under.

Some of the advantages of SEO include:

More web traffic, specifically organic, targeted web traffic

More public interest in a certain brand, product or cause

Reduced advertising costs

Increased sales, higher conversion rates and more leads

More exposure on social media

A better business reputation

How Important is SEO?

While the advantages of optimizing a site for the major search engines are clearly attractive, as you can see above, you may be wondering whether the process is worth it for smaller businesses, ones without access to huge budgets and marketing teams.

The answer to that question is still yes. As a marketer, you"ll be well aware that the success of a venture does sometimes depend on the amount of money invested into it, but when it comes to SEO, even small changes can work wonders.

Benefits You"re Likely to See

It"s great talking about the benefits some sites see from running a search engine optimization campaign, but that doesn"t help you, and it certainly doesn"t put money into your pocket. You"re probably wondering what benefits you"re likely to see yourself, and how soon you"re likely to see them, before you think about investing time into the optimization project.

How do these sound?

An easier to use site, resulting in a reduced bounce-rate

More traffic to your site or blog

More links to your site from other businesses

More attention on social media

Less need for paid ads

A noticeable increase in revenue

You will of course see the above benefits begin slowly, but over time, they"ll compound. SEO will soon become one of, if not your main, marketing strategy.

Getting Started With Your SEO Campaign

Getting started isn"t as difficult as you may think. Usually, the best place to begin is with your own website. Fixing old or outdated code is one way to begin your journey, as is analyzing your site"s meta-data.

If you"re looking for a more comprehensive approach, having your site audited by a professional is likely to reveal many pointers on how you can improve it for the better. Some think of SEO only in terms of backlinks and blackhat techniques. While these have their place, search engines value site usability just as highly as popularity.

Such professionals will also be able to help manage your campaign for you. Though, some choose to run theirs alone.

Why is SEO so important for your business?

http://www.MarieServices.co.uk

I just blogged at Blog Content Writing || Marie Services - Healthy Eating on a Budget

Eating a healthy diet doesnâ€™t have to be expensive. By making a few, small changes to your shopping and eating habits you can improve your diet and still stay within your budget.

Buy Frozen Vegetables

Many people who are watching the pennies avoid buying fresh vegetables because they soon go off, and this can lead to large quantities of food being thrown away: in the UK the average family with children disposes of around Â£60 of food every month! Frozen vegetables are just as good for you as fresh, providing many of the essential vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy, and whatâ€™s more they come chopped and ready to use. They will last for months in your freezer and are often even cheaper than their fresh counterparts.

Eat More Pulses

Pulses are low in fat and calories, but contain high amounts of fibre, vitamins and minerals. Pulses such as beans, lentils and peas count towards your â€˜5 a Dayâ€™. They are also cheap, so you can use them to replace chicken and meat in dishes such as curry and chilli con carne. By eating a few vegetarian meals every week you can really cost costs, and eat a healthy and nutritious diet at the same time.

Buy Cheaper Meat

If you simply canâ€™t face the thought of giving up meat altogether buying cheaper cuts of meat is a great way to save money. Braising steak, shin or shoulder, cooked slowly to break down the fibres, makes a healthy and delicious meal.

Chicken is good for you but it can be expensive. Avoid buying pre-cut pieces, such as chicken breasts and instead buy a whole chicken. It will prove to be a much cheaper alternative, as with a whole chicken you will get two breasts, two drumsticks and two thighs plus wings and a carcass which you can then use to make stock. Yummy!

Healthy Eating on a Budget

www.MarieServices.co.uk

Look at my new blogpost - How to build popularity for your website with a Subscriber List

Generating an audience is vital to the life of your website. Great content and amazing graphics are of no value if no one sees your page or if they visit once and don"t return or purchase. Keeping customers on your website and making sales requires engaging them in a personal way. Social media and banner ads get lost in a flurry of overcrowded streams of information. Your goal should be to reach out to prospects who have an interest in your industry and send them personalized content straight to their email.

An email is more personal than an ad or social media post. It is a message just for them and a call to action -a recommendation from a friend. People tend to be naturally more receptive to things in their inbox because they tend to guard that address from spam and feel a sense of privacy. This is a more intimate medium of communication that leads to honest decisions to purchase your product. A targeted email list allows you to reach prospects with similar interests by providing them with information and offers in order to eventually turn them into a customer by following these steps.

Step 1: Create useful content that your website visitors are searching for. Then provide a comment area where they can interact with you. Once you have visitors to your site using content and engagement, provide an opt-in to your email marketing list to convert your visitors into subscribers.

Step 2: Every website should have a corresponding blog that is accessible from each page of the website. Regular and fresh content gives your visitors a reason to return to your website, and each time they visit is an opportunity to get them to join your email marketing list. Avoid content that is self-promotional and looks like an advertisement. Readers will return only for informational and entertaining articles.

Step 3: Advertise your blog posts on Social Media, not your product. The goal should be to drive visitors to your website to read the content that will ultimately convince them to buy. Your website content is intended to build a relationship with the customer.

Step 4: Use give-aways to not only prompt visitors to your site but as an incentive to subscribe. You can use free reports, how-to guides, or anything else that your fans will view as useful. In order to send this prize, you"ll need their email address. If the information is enticing and deemed valuable, your website visitors will have no problem exchanging their information for your offer.

I just blogged at Blog Content Writing || Marie Services - Gorilla Perfume Event

We were so excited to be invited to the gorgeous Gorilla Perfume store in Islington on Monday. Not only do we love a bit of Angel, Islington but we got to make new friends, listen to exclusive tracks by Broken Forest and smell all sorts of delightful pleasantries. Hereâ€™s what happenedâ€¦â€¦.

So we arrived on that gorgeous sunny Monday, only knowing that Gorilla Perfume was a side project to the amazing Lush owners. (Love those bath bombs!) and errrrr obviouslyâ€¦.they sell perfume! We left knowing so much more thanks to the amazing staff showing such pure passion for the brand and products!

The store itself was such a relaxing place to be with really cool, up cycled furniture and design.

So every single product they sell on line and in store is absolutely cruelty free, here here! Â They have created such a vast range of perfumes for both men and women and have created them with a personal touch in mind. When you smell one it could take you back to a memory of that camping trip, that beach holiday or your Grandmaâ€™s house! The different scents definitely conjured up some great trips down memory lane for us!

Our faves were Furze and Staying Alive, gorgeous!

The Gorilla Perfume team also collaborate with talented singer/songwriters. They take the specific scent of one of their perfumes, take a songwriter, mash them together a voila! You get a fantastic, meaningful song inspired by the scent of the perfume. The fantastic Broken Forest did just that and we were lucky enough to watch them perform acoustically.