Inbound and
Digital Marketing Insights

Blogging is hard work.

If you agree, then chances are you part of the growing community of online scribes who wake up each day instantly regretting that light bulb moment when they decided to start a blog.

Do you spend hours every day churning out content you aren’t happy with and which never gets posted? Find it hard to carve out the time to write your best work? Frustrated by the constant demand for new ideas and subjects? Depressed that you don’t post as often as you want or feel you should?

Sound horribly familiar? If that’s you then this blog is for you. And the first thing you need to do is take a deep breath and chill. You are not alone.

A TOTAL of twenty-two typhoons this year along with the more recent 7.2-magnitude earthquake in the Philippines serves a timely reminder to Filipinos to be prepared for all and any eventualities.

Typhoons (or hurricanes as they known in the Western hemisphere) are, of course, nothing new – in any one year the Philippines can expect to be battered by up to 25 extreme weather events, methodically counted off on the letters of the alphabet through successive male or female names.

In the last game of the North American football season, the dynamo running back added 22 yards in four catches. With a quick grab of the ball upfield, he was able to jet sweep away from the opponents, spelling victory for the Arrows!

It may not sound as fun but, the life of an Online Community Manager isn’t so far off from this.

Having good eyes, sure hands, quickness and agility, a running back is crucial in any gridiron team. He performs a wide range of tasks on the field, from blocking to rushing in support of the quarterback.

Owls -- in the Harry Potter series, they’re used as pets and couriers. In social media marketing, the owl icon leads you to a user-friendly and almost magical dashboard called HootSuite.

Social media management dashboards like HootSuite allow you to schedule your social media posts in a little over 10 minutes. This makes it easier for your brand to establish and maintain an online presence. It will help you apply your strategies on who to reach, what to post for them and, how often. It has been so hassle-free and reliable that HootSuite now boasts of having 7 million users in over 175 countries, including 237 of the Fortune 500 companies with top brands like PepsiCo, Virgin, Fox, and Sony Music.

The growing popularity of social networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, has given companies, especially small businesses, an amazing opportunity to expand via affordable advertising.

Business owners have seen the value of services like Facebook. But, what a lot of them don't realize is that Facebook is quickly evolving from a mere social media site to a very efficient advertising tool. Large companies like Ford, Samsung, Nike, and McDonald's have invested heavily in promoting their products/brands on Facebook and the social media site actually earns $1 billion per quarter from these.

But, even if you don't have mounds of cash allotted for advertising you can still take advantage of Facebook's services. You can refer to Facebook’s guide to using its advertising tool. There, you can see the powerful targeting options that lead to a greater ROI.

Quick question: Where are you reading this blog post? Are you using your laptop at home or your desktop in the office? Maybe you’re reading this on your smartphone or tablet at a café or in the car.

Pete Cashmore of Mashable predicted 2013 to be the year of responsive web design. While majority of websites have yet to go responsive, businesses and designers are beginning to understand the need for it.