Recently, a client of mine asked if it was worth being part of the LinkedIn network.
Admittedly, I was a bit dumbstruck by the question. After all, isn't LinkedIn the preferred business-oriented social networking website of the upwardly mobile? As of mid-2013, it claimed over 178 million unique users globally, 65 million monthly users in the U.S. alone, and was heading towards 400 million global members.Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?
See Also: The Best (and Worst) Times to Post on LinkedIn
As I came to learn, he was more concerned about being stretched out over too many networks than with LinkedIn's potential value. Understandable, given the plethora of choices available to online marketers and entrepreneurs today:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Not to mention the thousands (millions?) of micro-niched websites catering to specialized fields.
So, my task was to present convincing arguments for signing up on LinkedIn. Not that I had anything specific to gain, but at the very least it got me to thinking about my own use of the site.
Here's what I came up with.

1. It's All About the Networking!

Regardless of your employment or business status, consider the LinkedIn network as a social equity investment. Being a consistent LinkedIn networker will enhance your standing amongst like-minded people in the long-term.

If you suddenly lose a job, you won't be seen as an opportunist connecting merely to take advantage of people. If you are about to launch a great product or service, it will be seen as par for the course – not a bald-faced attempt to sell.

2. Holding all the Cards

LinkedIn is crawling with recruiters looking to poach currently employed folks with lucrative offers.  Are you an entrepreneur instead? Even if you are fully committed to a nascent business, this is an ideal platform to pick up side jobs that may prove invaluable for income or enhanced networking purposes.

You can stay off LinkedIn if you want, but you will be foregoing many chances to gain valuable contacts and make more money.

3. Niche Networking within LinkedIn

One of the most overlooked and underappreciated parts of LinkedIn are the industry-specific groups that you can join.
Over the years, these groups have evolved into spirited but respectful forums of debate and information exchange, often exceeding the worth of more conventional face-to-face encounters.
Of course, not all discussion groups will be engaging and useful, so you need to use sound judgment about appropriate involvement.
In the end, you should meet like-minded professionals and business people, build alliances, and reinforce your network building skills in the process.

4. A Dynamic and Respected Resume

For most people, a resume or CV is something static, i.e. you write it once prior to your job search, get a job, then forget about it until you decide to change employers.
However, LinkedIn members are subtlety encouraged to update their profiles with important milestones.

This way, recruiters and potential partners already have a good idea about you – and you don't have to frantically scramble to update your accomplishments. A dynamic win-win for all concerned... 

5. LinkedIn Gives You a Trending News Feed

LinkedIn allows you to customize your news feed according to your chosen industry, preferred article preferences, and the interests of people in your network. As a result, you can use it as a customized database of business knowledge – leaving aside extraneous, time-wasting feeds for leisure time, if at all.
Using this aspect of LinkedIn in particular taps you into what is trending amongst your peers, and clues you into what they are thinking about on a near real-time basis.
See more social media marketing tips and strategies here.

In a previous article we looked at 5 Pinterest marketing tips to get more traffic to your website. Pinterest is a website where you can upload and organize images (pins) into grouped collections known as pinboards. Now, we will continue on that theme by showcasing more ways for you to enhance your brand and reputation with effective Pinterest marketing methods.

1. Working Around Affiliate Marketing Limitations on PinterestIn early 2015

Pinterest management decide to ban affiliate links, redirects and trackers on pins. This was done to keep the website's smooth and relatively fast operation, especially with respect to rich pins (see below). In addition, the new policy was implemented to counter spammy behavior, broken links and irrelevant feeds.
Serious affiliate marketers are directed to Pinterest's Acceptance Use Policy to continue monetizing their efforts on the website. However, in the meantime, here are some suggestions:

• Use your blog as an intermediate medium between Pinterest and your affiliate pages. Unless otherwise notified, it should be acceptable to place your blog's URL on a pin. This way, you shield affiliate links away from Pinterest, and can continue marketing as usual without significantly altering your approach.
•  On the blog, write affiliate product reviews, solicit comments and testimonials and include a strong call to action (i.e. salesletter-style “Buy” button).

​This is really a best practice no matter where you are marketing. Use the marketing platform to drive traffic back to your website; there you can build your email list, and make a lot more money by following up and promoting multiple products and services to your list.
See Also: 3 Simple Ways to Make Money Blogging

2. Getting Traffic from Pinterest by Pinning Re-shared Pins

Recent changes to Pinterest's “Smart Feed” algorithm has raised fears within the user community that it will become harder to get exposure for their images. However, there are tactics that will continue to work and help grow your list of followers and general audience:
A. Pinning popular images: Do a search within Pinterest in your chosen niche with popular words.  Select the best twenty-five or so images that give your board sufficient breath and creates an aura of expertise for future visitors. Then track their pin count and check if they have active blogs. Choose 5-10 blog feeds to follow and subscribe to, and if possible connect personally with the authors.
By pinning the best and most popular blog articles, your Pin board should be considered “popular” itself by Pinterest and allow you to be found by hundreds if not thousands of visitors every month.
This idea of "social sharing" initially seems counter-intuitive to those who are newer to social media marketing; but when you share other people's content and not just your own, you can actually reach more people and attract more people to your own property online.

B. Keeping your account active: You won't necessarily grow your followers ('Likes') and re-pins at a constant rate, but consistently building up images will enable you to take advantage of other people's success in an ethical way.In addition, tools like LinkWithin and Viralwoot, which will offer users analytics and promotes pins, are starting to appear. 

The more active you are, whether you are promoting your own images or other people's images, the more activity you will see on your own account.
See Also: 5 Steps to Facebook Marketing Success

3. Improve Your Pinterest Pin Board Diversity

Sometimes being too focused on your specific niche can limit your growth possibilities on Pinterest.  Granted, your business-specific channel should promote your brand and display your expertise. However, consider making boards with slightly unrelated topics can draw a more diversified audience that, in the long-term, may also find your main business appealing.
For example, if you are a certified fitness professional, chances are that you have reasonable nutrition knowledge as well.

Therefore, in addition to pins that highlight workouts for various types of goals, physiques, sports etc. you may want to consider creating aboard for pre-workout and  post-workout meals. The synergy between physical fitness and nutrition is well-established, but there are many possibilities with other niche groupings (e.g. visual art and architecture; environment causes and ethical investing, etc.).

Another opportunity is to create boards that are unrelated to your business entirely but reflect your own personal hobbies and interests. This is a good way to put some personality into your marketing and develop a more personal bond with your audience.
See Also: Discover the Most Profitable Niches for Affiliate Marketing

Pinterest Marketing Conclusion

Pinterest's great strength lies with the immediate, positive impact it can make on large numbers of prospects and viewers in a relatively small amount of time. As a relatively new social media marketing medium, members continue to experiment with different approaches within visual marketing.
The bottom line is that people love visual content. It's easy to create, gets a lot of attention, and can drive massive amounts of traffic to your website.
Explore various possibilities to better serve your audience and find more Pinterest marketing tips here.
See more social media marketing tips, tricks, and strategies here.

Pinterest is arguably the premier visual social media marketing website for Internet marketing today. Its simple to use pinning features allows entrepreneurs to build a community of like-minded people by offering them images, photos and infographics that can really make a difference in their lives.

If you are a certified fitness professional or athletic trainer, Pinterest is especially well-suited for you.The health and fitness niche is one of the most lucrative niche markets in the world, and if you can integrate a strong online campaign with your work in the gym, it can mean:

• An enhanced reputation with current clients, colleagues and gym management.
• Growing your personal customer base as an independent consultant (in-home).
• More attention from fitness and health bloggers, traditional media outlets.
• Motivational speaking and other live event appearances.

There is no mystery for succeeding with Pinterest. Breaking down the main components of fitness pins will guarantee you great feedback and inspire you to extend beyond pre-defined job functions.
See Also: How to Enhance Your Business Brand on Pinterest

1. A Strong Goal-Oriented Headline

A successful Pin starts at the top, so think about a short but punchy headline that speaks to the fitness goals sought out by your readers.
“Burn more fat faster than ever.”, “Bodyweight exercises for business travelers”, and “7 Killer Abs Exercises” are examples of goal-oriented headlines that will bring in a targeted audience ready to view your solutions for specific fitness goals.

Once hooked, you can offer people the necessary infographics and images to get them started with building muscle, losing fat, gaining strength or something else.

2. Sub-headline Follow-up

Quite often, everyone will come with the same cliched fitness-related headlines re. weight loss, hypertrophy, muscle mass gain etc.That's why a snappy subheading is often the necessary trigger for views, pins, and re-pins.

Let's take one example:
Bodyweight exercises for business travelers
             Forget the gym, lose your gut in the hotel room.
The underlined subheading, “Forget the gym, lose your gut in the hotel room”, reinforces the benefits that people will presumably derive from your fitness pin, namely:

• No need for a gym or gym equipment (other than possibly free weights).
• Time savings.
• Getting lean and toned with the highlighted exercise sequence.

3. Text Descriptions with Physical Illustrations

Do a clear write-up of the exercise and break them up into demo images as required (e.g. Step A, Step B etc.). If part of the exercise requires special attention and deserves to be highlighted, add a separate image to showcase it (e.g. starting position, midway position, ending position).
This presentation technique can be employed for one exercise, a series of related exercises (arms, back, legs, abdomen), or military-style circuits like the famous Spartacus Workout.

4. Attractive Color Schemes

You want to be noticed on Pinterest, and using the right colors can help you in that vain. Black, red and yellow are among the most popular colors used in the fitness niche, but there are no hard and fast rules to follow.Try things out, and remember that plain white can be your best friend if you need to write more detailed exercise descriptions.

5. Link Back to Your Own Website

While some of your pins may be self-sustaining as a workout or workout advice for your readers, you should link back to your own self-hosted blog or website. This gives people further opportunity to judge your expertise and decide if they will know, like, and trust you moving forward. Chances are that they will connect to you in some manner once they see that you are a serious fitness professional. In addition to Pinterest communication, they may sign up for your email newsletter, or bookmark your blog for future reference.
See Also: 5 Pinterest Marketing Tips to Get More Traffic to Your Website

Finals Thoughts on Pinterest Marketing for Fitness Professionals

Pinterest gives both established and upcoming fitness trainers the same chance at online success, provided they deliver advice and exercise themes that relate to their audiences needs' and desires.

Use your creativity and physical fitness insights to expand your audience and grow your personal brand.

See all of our social media marketing tips, tricks, and strategies here.
 

Retirement has traditionally been viewed as a season of life when you can relax and enjoy yourself after a long career in the workforce. For some that vision includes spending time with family and friends, travel, volunteering, or even working part-time. That's the retirement dream.

Unfortunately, a lot of people put off planning for retirement and the possibility of achieving financial independence is difficult to imagine. The retirement reality is that only 69 percent of workers feel that they and/or their spouse have saved enough money for retirement. According to the latest Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Mathew Greenwald & Associates, only about 6 out of 10 workers and/or their spouses have saved anything for retirement.

Retirement can be a very challenging season of life for anyone who fails to save. Without enough of a retirement nest egg, you could find yourself saying "so long" to your dream retirement and hello to an extended working career. Worse yet, you could spend your retirement worrying about money and experiencing financial stress.
The good news is the ability to live comfortably during your retirement years is largely within your own control. With a little planning and a solid foundation of financial wellness, working forever doesn't have to be your retirement reality!
Here are some actions you can take today to make the process of reaching those retirement goals feel a little more achievable:

Set your retirement goals.

In order to set a personalized retirement plan, it is important to create your own unique definition of what retirement means to you. Start by asking yourself the following questions:

• When would you ideally like to retire?
• What do you look forward to the most?
• How many years do you expect to live in retirement (i.e., what is your life expectancy)?
• What lifestyle do you want when you retire?
• What monthly income will you need during retirement to maintain my current lifestyle?
• Which income sources are available (Social Security, pension, 401(k), investment earnings, home equity, etc.) to fund your retirement?
• How many years do you have left to save?
• How will you spend your time in retirement?

When setting your retirement goals try to put them in writing. As you create your written plan try focus on the things you can control such as how much to save and where to invest it. A written retirement plan will help you track your progress over time. But this shouldn’t be a set and forget it process. Be sure to monitor your plan and adjust as necessary.

Figure out if you are saving enough.

According to a recent survey from Financial Finesse, only about half of workers have taken the time to calculate how much retirement savings they will likely need in retirement. You can use your retirement goals as a guide to determine if you are saving enough. If your planned retirement age is more than ten years away, it’s okay to simply target a percentage of your current income as a retirement goal. Many financial planners recommend trying to replace around 80 percent of your current salary to maintain the same comfortable lifestyle during retirement.

As you get closer to retirement, use the Budget Planning for Retirement worksheet to estimate your retirement expenses. 

To determine if you are on the right track to meet your retirement goals, use a retirement calculator. In order to make sure you aren't missing any important details you should gather the following information:

• Most recent statements and/or current account balances for all retirement accounts, including employer-sponsored retirement plans (401(k), 403(b), pension plans, etc.) and IRAs.
• Total planned contribution amounts to be made each year into your retirement accounts.
• Anticipated inflation rate and average annual rate of return expectations that will be used in the calculations.
• Desired and acceptable income levels during your retirement years.
• Estimate your future income from Social Security (Social Security retirement estimator).

A variety of retirement calculators and estimator tools are available to help you figure out if your retirement plan is on the right path or if there is a shortfall.Just remember that if your results aren't exactly as you planned there are steps you can take to improve your outlook. The key is to at least have the awareness of where you stand today. It's also a good idea to run another retirement estimate at least once per year.

Choose the right type of accounts to save for your retirement (and help your money grow).

Asset “location” is an important aspect of the retirement planning. There are a variety of retirement savings options to help you save for your dream retirement. It is obvious that saving for retirement is so important that Uncle Sam is willing to provide tax advantages for saving in specific retirement accounts (like IRAs, 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans). Here is a brief summary of the main type of retirement accounts to consider.
Employer-sponsored retirement plans (401k, 403b, 457, etc). Many financial experts suggest that your company retirement plan can be one of your best investments. There are some valid reasons why this should be the first place to begin your retirement savings journey.

1. Contributions are made on a pre-tax basis so they directly reduce your taxable income. And they also grow tax-deferred, meaning that you won’t pay taxes on the gains until you are ready to withdraw the funds.
2. It is rarely wise to leave behind any free money so don’t miss out on employer matching contributions! The majority of companies offer matching programs that can enhance the return on your money. To benefit from an employer match, make sure you are contributing at least up to the company match, but don’t feel like you must stop there. The average employer contribution amount is around 3 percent. However, is generally recommended you should strive to save between 10 and 20 percent of your income for long-term goals like retirement.
3. Employer-sponsored plans are becoming more portable. This means they can be transferred without tax consequences into an IRA or to a future employer’s retirement plan through a rollover.  
4. Roth account options are becoming more prevalent within employer-sponsored retirement plans. If you do not need to lower your taxable income or see yourself being in a higher income tax bracket during retirement, consider making Roth contributions.

Check out Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). If your employer does not offer a 401(k) or similar retirement plan, you may be eligible to fund a deductible traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Whether or not your employer offers a retirement plan, it isn’t your only investment option when it comes to saving for retirement. You may be eligible to fund a tax-deferred traditional IRA or a tax-free Roth IRA. IRAs are another great way to sock money away for the future. Some income limits and other restrictions apply in order to deduct the contribution or to contribute to a Roth IRA. So make sure that you are choosing the best IRA for your situation and remember you can always contribute to both if you are not quite sure.
Consider Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Health savings accounts provide excellent tax benefits for out-of-pocket health care expenses. They may also be used as a supplemental source of retirement income.
Discover retirement plan options for entrepreneurs and the self-employed. If you are self-employed or own a very small business with a few employees, you have the ability to setup self-employed retirement plans that could make it easier to save for retirement and reduce your taxes along the way.

• SEP IRA
• SIMPLE IRA
• Solo 401(k) Plan
• Keogh Plans

Insurance and Annuities. A variety of different insurance and annuity products exist these days that can be used as part of a well-structured retirement income plan. For example, annuities offer tax-deferred growth and income.
Taxable investment accounts. While tax-deferred investment accounts are usually the first place to start with tax-smart investing, taxable accounts have some benefits. The flexibility to use funds for a variety of reasons is one benefit. Another is the ability to take advantage of tax loss harvesting and low capital gains rates when using tax efficient investments. You can also look at municipal bonds for tax-free income.

Review how your money is invested.

You're not going to get too far with your savings plan if you put your money into a savings account, money market fund or other "safe" place than you would if you buried your money in the ground or hid your cash under a mattress. In fact, these supposedly safe options are actually subject to a significant risk known as inflation which will put a major drag on the purchasing power of a dollar over time. In other words, after taxes are paid on your investment earnings, you'll be able to buy less with your money when you retire than you can today.
How you choose to allocate your assets across different investment types can significantly impact your ability to reach your retirement goals. You have to do some self-assessment to determine what asset allocation works best for your particular situation. For example, you could start by assessing your investor risk tolerance. You can compare your current asset allocation with asset allocation models consistent with your risk tolerance and time horizon. Then, you will want to determine if you prefer a "hands on" or a more "hands off" approach to investing. Hands-off retirement investors may prefer the ease and convenience of target date retirement funds or pre-mixed asset allocation portfolios. Another important decision is whether you prefer an active vs. passive style of management.

Make it easier by creating a plan you can easily follow.

Saving for retirement isn’t a one-time event, it’s a lifelong process of creating good habits. The more you can do to simplify your retirement plan the easier it will be to stay on the right course.

The Periscope apps for iOS (Apple) and Google Android were released in spring 2015, ushering in a new era of accessible video streaming, live broadcasts via mobile, and social networking. Or as they say, seeing the world through someone else's eyes.

After inventing the Periscope concept and raising the money to develop their ideas, founders Kayvon Beykpour and Joe Bernstein sold their company to Twitter in January 2015.A few months later, Periscope announced that it had over ten (10) million accounts (“Scopers”) and was responsible for forty (40) years worth of video being viewed on a daily basis.

What are the implications of Periscope use for your traffic generation and social media marketing strategy? In this article, we explore some of the most relevant ways business can use Periscope.

Promoting Your Business on Periscope

The Periscope application is slowly gaining traction with online entrepreneurs looking to add 'Likes', followers, and prospects. Some simple tips to implement include:

• Adding your URL in your profile or bio. Make your URL easy to remember, because it will be easier to promote – even beyond Twitter!
• In your Periscope bio, mention what you intend to scope about, so that visitors can easily judge if you'll have what they are looking for.
• Link your call-to-action (CTA) and/or offers to each individual scope. Don't forget to mention free downloads or your latest blog title, not simply a request to visit your website.

• Direct people to yourwebsite.com/periscope so that visitors can easily follow your scopes on a regular basis.

Embrace the Concept of Social Media Sharing

Periscope presents entrepreneurs with a whole new way of sharing that's quite frankly revolutionary.  Present your video content in an appealing manner, one that is authentic and transfers useful information and knowledge to your visitors.Like rival Snapchat, Periscope video uploads only stay uploaded for a maximum of twenty-four (24) hours.

Since scopes are real-life events, you can easily inspire complete strangers to latch onto your voyage of discovery, and subsequently you gain prospects, customers, and even friends.
Full integration with iOS within Twitter
On December 9, 2015, Apple gave Periscope a huge boost by naming it its iPhone App of the Year.  Thanks to its parent company ties, a user can watch streamed video or broadcasts without leaving the Twitter application (note: ideally, online broadcast capability should soon also be coming to Android soon).
This opens up possibilities for traffic generation that rival opportunities on far more established platforms. Broadcasters can now reach Twitter audiences with real-time streaming video, and visitors to your feed can eagerly look forward to rich home timelines, search results, and even friends who are willing to share “Periscopes”.
Tell Your Business Story as it Evolves!
Periscope gives you the opportunity to take storytelling to a whole new level. Instead of being restricted to static forms of communication like plain text, standard tweets, salesletters,and images (or even emojis!) take advantage of short video clips to highlight relevant aspects of your business activity.

Depending on your ideal target audience, you can fine tune your message and accept near real-time feedback to get a better sense of what viewers want.
Final Thoughts on Periscope Marketing Strategy
Entrepreneurs from a variety of fields can use Periscope to brand themselves and their company with novel postings that make them appear more alive from a distance. People who have signed on cannot help but marvel at the organic nature of its traffic-generating capacity.
Although real-time streaming can be (and has been) abused in some cases, Periscope via Twitter remains another vital step in the user-driven digital revolution that is breaking down technological, social, and even economic barriers to change.