4 Top Tips for Using Facebook for Business

Facebook is an important and useful tool for promoting and sharing as your business.  Whether you’re a business owner, post content for other companies, or simply promote your services via social media, using Facebook effectively is key.

Read along for some top tips to ensure that you’re utilizing Facebook in the most effective ways.

Stay consistent

Consistency is key, and it’s the way to keep your readers engaged with your brand and its content.  If you’re posting very sporadically, no one gets to know you.  Try to avoid posting five times per week, followed by once per month, followed by 3 times per day.  Get into a routine that suits your content and schedule, and make sure that it’s realistic.

To start, figure out how much time you have to create content.  If it’s one hour per week, determine how long it takes to create each post.  You’ll also want to factor in consistency here and determine if this will be feasible as an ongoing schedule. From here, create a content schedule that includes the content that will be posted with the date and time.  If you’re able to do this weeks or months in advance – even better! Do what you need to do to establish a routine that is consistent and doable for your schedule.

Visual appeal

Your posts can’t simply be informative, they must also look nice. Articles can simply use the attached photo or a stock image, but your quotes, tips, and customized posts need to look their best and match your branding.  Facebook is a very visual platform, and posts containing graphics often per

You can utilize programs such as InDesign or Illustrator to create graphic posts, or simply use free online tools like Canva, Pablo, or PicMonkey.  These sites allow you to upload images, add text and/or shapes, and so on.  You’re able to create stunning posts in a matter of minutes, and it’s much better than constantly borrowing graphics from others.

Avoid selling

If you have a business, your first reaction in using Facebook for business is likely for sales.  Unfortunately, this isn’t the best course of action for social media.  It’s tempting, especially with a large, engaged audience, but it’s not ideal.  This doesn’t mean you can never feature your products and services, but they should always include the benefits to your prospects.  Additionally, you’ll still want to keep these posts to a minimum.

Your goal, in using Facebook for business, is establishing a presence, as well as establishing yourself as an expert in your line of work.  Provide a generous amount of valuable information to your readers, and they will realize that you have a lot of knowledge in your area.  You can also provide tips, advice, product usage information, benefits of using your type of services, inspirational quotes and information, and much more.  Keep your information varied and interesting, but ensure that 75-80% is valuable versus salesy.

When you do post something that could lead to a sale, your audience will be more likely to receive this favorably, since you are the expert and they’ve valued your free information so much so far.

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4 Tips to Start the New Year with Success

“New Year—a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately we write it. The choice is ours.” – Alex Morritt

Happy New Year! As we embark on this fresh start, it’s clear that everyone has planning, goals and success on the brain.  Whether you’re seeking to find business success, lose weight, face fears, or simply get organized, now is the time to begin a new year successfully.

Set manageable goals now

Use the momentum of this time of year to set goals.  This doesn’t mean you have to (or should) set very daunting goals, but those that are manageable.  It’s typically easier and more effective to select 6-10+ smaller goals and break them into several weeks or months.  It’s much more difficult to focus on a goal that is over a year away, and momentum can be lost almost instantly.

Where do you want to be in your personal life?  Your career?  Your family life?  In your faith or spiritual life?  Think about all areas of your life and set goals in intervals that are likely to be achieved.

Reflect on your accomplishments

We tend to skimp on giving ourselves enough credit for our achievements.  Take out a pen and a piece of paper and really think about the good that you’ve done this year.  Have you been more present in your family time?  Did you earn a raise in your freelance position? Land a client that has been truly enjoyable?  Give yourself these wins, as it’s very encouraging as you start into a new year.

Do an audit

While we already discussed looking at your accomplishments, this it the time to audit all areas of your life from the previous year.  What worked and what didn’t in all areas? How can you improve?  Do you plan to stay in your  job(s)?  This is also a good time to analyze your rates and financial situation as well, and a prime time to consider tax and other filing items.

Refresh your materials

With a new year comes reflection, which can often mean changing of jobs and career paths.  Are you ready to put your best foot forward?  Especially if you’re considering a career change, or simply want to pick up some more freelance work, it’s a great time of year to update your job search materials.  Ensure that your resume and cover letter are updated and edited.  Review your references on file and make contact or select new ones to be sure that you have the best people in your corner.

Moving into the new year successfully is all about reflecting on what worked and didn’t work in the past, as well as a clear, thoughtful plan for the future.  Take stock in what has already happened, praise yourself for where you’ve shined, and set goals that challenge and move you forward in this promising new year!

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6 Tips to Successful LinkedIn Publisher Posts

The LinkedIn Publisher feature is a great way to bring blog-type articles to your LinkedIn presence. Before, only brief status-type updates were available, but Publisher posts are long-form and read much more like blog posts.

Although similar to blog posts, there are some tips to ensure that you Publisher posts are being seen and well-received on LinkedIn.

Consistency

Just like you practice consistency in your blog and social media posting, consistency in LinkedIn Publisher posts is just as important.  You can syndicate your content across various channels, but it’s also helpful to create specific content for LinkedIn.

If you blog on a weekly basis, do your best to post to LinkedIn Publisher once per week as well.  It’s helpful to get into a groove that is doable for you and your schedule.  Another tip to maintain consistency is to vary your content by a tiny bit.  If you posted about one topic several months ago, maybe do a Part 2 or more in-depth look at that topic on the Publisher platform.

Short and Sweet

LinkedIn, like other social media sites, is a browsing platform, so it’s not a place for lengthy posts.  However, according to LinkedIn.com, “posts that are best received are more than 3 paragraphs.”

Do your best to find a happy medium of short and sweet mixed with informative and complex enough to hook your reader and bring them along.

Write for the audience

As we all know, LinkedIn is a professional platform with a demographic of professional business people.   With this in mind, save the more personal and irrelevant posts for your own blog.  This is a great place to establish yourself as the expert in your field, which is incredibly helpful for prospects, clients, and future employers to see.

Offer value

When you’re in the professional space, be sure you’re offering value.  Is your post informative?  Does your reader learn something new?  If you’re adhering to posts that establish you as an expert, they should do all of the above.  Once your posts become more and more popular, your audience will know that they can count on you to provide content that is always worth their time.

Photos

Although LinkedIn is for business, visual elements still hook the eye and draw people in.  Make sure to use a visually appealing header and photo in your post.  This also helps to break up text and bring attention to your post in a crowded marketplace.

Share your post

Don’t keep your words to yourself! Share the post among your other social networks and drive traffic back to your LinkedIn Publisher post.  Don’t be afraid to mention these posts elsewhere, especially if you’re doing varied content.  The more content you have out there, the more visible you are.  This is incredibly helpful for SEO rankings, expert status, and helping employees, employers, clients, or prospects to find you more easily.

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HireMyMom Employer Success Story: Kiri Masters

www.bobsledmarketing.com

Tell us a little about your business and how you got started.

Toward the end of my career in banking I started a side-business in the e-commerce space and learned how to launch products & grow revenue on Amazon. When I sought to leave my banking job, I started freelancing for other brands who needed help with Amazon. As we brought more clients on board, I started hiring smart people who were interested in learning new skills and today, just 18 months later, Bobsled Marketing is a full-blown online marketing agency serving 7 & 8 figure consumer brands.

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs and home business owners?

Get your team on an asynchronous chat program like Slack, Glip, or the all-new Facebook For Work. When folks are working across timezones and on flexible schedules, it gets everyone on the same page without endless email chains or scheduling meetings.

What is your top tip for hiring great talent? And when should one consider outsourcing or hiring additional help?

Hire help as early as you can afford it, because it can take months to fully onboard a new person into your company. And for that reason, choosing the right person is incredibly important. Don’t scrimp on reference checks – insist on talking with past supervisors and validating what the candidate told you during interviews & on their resume.

What’s your favorite thing about HireMyMom.com?

The jobseekers on hiremymom.com are very motivated and make a great first impression. It’s rare to get cookie-cutter, copy-and-paste applications. I’ve been delighted to find an enormous range of talent and experience on the platform – everyone from basic administrative support right through to experienced executives are looking for flexible jobs where they can work from home.

What’s one fun fact about you?

I have a weird Australian-American accent after only being in the US for 5 years. As a kid, my Barbie dolls always had American accents though 🙂

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If you would like to be featured as one of our Success Stories, please contact us!

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5 Tips for Successful Work From Home Meetings

Even though home based employees don’t work in a traditional office, they typically still have meetings just like everyone else.  Whether meeting with co-workers or your boss, clients or potential customers, meetings will still be a key component to your days or weeks.

Working from home can present challenges that aren’t present in a normal office, so read along for some best practices for work from home meetings.

Eliminate distractions

When working from home, there can be noise from kids, dogs, or people knocking on your door, just to name a few.  While these things happen and most people understand, it’s important to do your best to eliminate these distractions.

Can you set up a playdate for your kids during an important meeting?  Is it possible to give your dog a treat outside or in the crate while you chat?  It’s crucial to have some time and space carved out for a quiet, productive meeting when the time comes.

Check technology

There’s nothing worse than a meeting ruined by technology!  While sometimes there’s absolutely nothing you can do with a chosen software service, do your best to access the technology ahead of time.

If you’re going to be using a webinar or conference phone line or software package, try it beforehand and make sure everything has been installed correctly.  This way, you’re able to join the meeting on time and without errors.  If you’re unsure if you’ve been hooked up correctly, ask a friend or coworker to test it out with you.

Have an agenda

Agendas are important for all meetings, not just home based ones.  Especially if you’re the one in charge of the meeting, make it a point to map out a brief agenda of topics to cover.  The typical opinion of meetings can be that they’re a waste of time; don’t let this happen to you!  Ensure that your meetings are productive, to the point, and involve a schedule that can be easily navigated.

Not only will your other meeting attendants be grateful for something to keep them on track, you’ll get out of the meeting much quicker than you would if you went into it blindly.

Take notes

Notes are key to remembering what went on and who is assigned to what tasks.  Whether you’re the note-taker or designate someone else to do so, make sure this is in place before the meeting begins.  When deciding on who should take the notes, it can be helpful to choose the person who might be in more of an assistant role, or someone who doesn’t need to be 100% focused on the conversation at hand.

Treat it normally

Working from home can be an excuse to fall into lazy work habits, but that’s not productive or professional to your employers or coworkers. Treat every single home based meeting just as you would in an office; it might even help to dress up if it’s a very important one.

Set your office for success, eliminate distractions, have everything in place ahead of time, and your meeting will be productive and efficient – the hallmark of a great meeting!

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5 Best Practices for LinkedIn Success

As most of us know, LinkedIn is the social media site for professionals.  If you’ve been shying away from the site, now is the time to join! While the world is becoming more and more social media savvy, it’s important to have a place on the site made for employees, employers, and professionals in general.

LinkedIn does far more than allow you to add connections and show off your work experience; it can be a place to search for new jobs and applicants, as well as offer value to your followers and potential connections.  Read along for some simple best practices to start using LinkedIn to its fullest.

Solid Summary

Do you have a Professional Summary that really stands out? While it can be tempting to just put a sentence or two about what you do or what you’re looking for in a career, truly take some time to make it special.

In addition to writing a few key paragraphs that may include information such as: how you can assist those who work with you or hire you, what measurable results you’ve produced, and how to get in contact with you, you can also add media such as video, photos, presentations and audio.  By taking the time to add a solid, well-written summary (and bonus points for media additions!), you will be well on your way to standing out on LinkedIn.

Adding Value

How can you help those who come to your profile?  If you’re searching for a job, how can you show that you’re the best fit?  You can add value by posting daily or weekly posts, publishing longer blogs or articles in the Publishing section, or simply by posting helpful items of interest for your followers.

If someone is following you, what kind of information would they like to know?  What is your expertise and how can you give some of that away?

Value also comes in the form of showing potential employers, investors, and so on what you can do for them, if applicable.  Measurable results always sell, so be sure to include data, Recommendations, and other information as solid proof of your skills.

Contact Information

Don’t forget your contact information! It may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people forget this.  Yes, you can contact someone through Linkedin direct mail, but someone may want to place an inquiry via email or by phone. Contact information also includes any and all websites that you’re a part of – make it easy for those clients, customers, and potential employers to find you and get in touch!

Professional Photo

While you don’t need to go so far as to hire a professional photographer just for a LinkedIn photo, it isn’t a bad idea.  If a professional photo isn’t in the budget, have a friend stage a nice area, put on a nice, professional outfit, and take a few photos.  LinkedIn photos should be headshots that are done in nice lighting, appropriate for the professional world, and include a smile.

Use it

LinkedIn won’t be much help to you if it’s never used.  Utilize the capabilities included on the site, add connections, and use it as your professional face to the world. Business people – whether that’s a potential client, employer, or employee – will look at your profile, so it’s important to put your best face and experience forward.

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4 Top Tips for Work From Home Employees

Working from home presents a unique set of challenges and perks, but the common theme is that things are simply different as a home based employee.  From finances to taxes to workspace, these things must be considered by you in most cases, versus relying on an employer.

Read along for some best tips and practices to ensure that you’re ready to work from home successfully.

Stay financially savvy

It’s important to keep track of financial records, expenses, and tax items when you work from home.  Often times, you’ll be a 1099 Independent Contractor instead of an employee, which can come with unique tax structures and filings.

Look into some of these structures before beginning your home based career, and advise your spouse of the differences in filing. You can also set up a consultation with an accountant to ensure that you’re keeping tabs on the right items and have your employment set up correctly.

Create a space

As we’ve said time and time again, make sure that you have a specific space set up for work.  Not only can this be important if you have a business for expense purposes, but it’s key to staying mentally healthy and organized in a home based career.

Set aside a room or section of your dwelling that’s just for work – and keep it that way.  When work becomes everywhere, it can be very tough to turn it off at the end of the workday.

Turn it off

Stop working at some point in the day! Whether you choose to work at night or during the day, be sure that you’re logging a normal amount of hours on a consistent basis.  Of course as with any job, there may be stretches of overtime, but this can become more prevalent working from home.

Set office hours just as you would at a traditional job, and really be home when you choose to finish work for the day.

Use the right tools

The right tools are incredibly helpful in keeping you productive in a home based career.  While an office job typically has these tools built in, you have to set them up for yourself to ensure success.

Working from home typically requires more planning and thought than a typical job, but with the right tools, space, and forethought to ensure that everything is working smoothly, you can enjoy the vast benefits of productivity and flexibility that a home based career can provide!

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6 Tools for Work From Home Teams

 

Working from home comes in many forms, and one of those includes working on a team.  While some of us may just do freelance work for various clients, there are times when we might land a part-time or full-time job with a company that has other virtual (or in-person) employees.

While it’s no secret that working from home boosts most people’s productivity, adding a team into the mix can be challenging.  Communication isn’t as simple as walking into another colleague’s cubicle, and keeping files and conversations in one place can seem tedious.  Read along for some of the top tools for work from home teams and co-workers.

Basecamp

Basecamp is billed as the “leading web-based project management and collaboration tool,” which manages files, to-do lists, schedules, and much more.  When you join as a team, you can create separate folders for each client or project, and within those folders, you can have conversations, exchange files, keep information, utilize checklists, and more.  

This is an excellent place for collaboration, and it keeps everything from each team member in one place – no searching through zillions of emails, Google Docs, or other word documents that are just disorganized.

Basecamp begins at $29/month and you can learn more about it here.

Skype

Almost all of us use Skype for personal use, but did you know that it can be great for teams?  Not only do you get face-to-face interaction, but you can hold mini meetings throughout the day.  Phone calls are helpful, but seeing each other brings a new level of professionalism and accountability.

If your team is up to it, suggest that you keep Skype up and running on a daily basis.  You can call each other when needed, or use the chat feature to communicate quickly.

Skype is generally free to use.  Learn more about it here.

Free Conference Call

FreeConferenceCall.com is a completely free conference call service that allows you to host online meetings and record and share any call.  This is great for group meetings, as well as client calls that you need to hold with your whole team.

To host basic conference calls, simply sign up on their website and you’ll receive a conference number along with an access code.  You can send this information to your co-workers or clients to meet you on a call without having to fumble with three-way calling.

Learn more here.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a “social media management tool created to help businesses grow their social media presence.”  Simply put, it allows you to schedule all of your posts on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn business and personal pages, and so on.

You can link all of your accounts in Sprout and choose which profiles will receive the post(s).  You can schedule posts as far out as you’d like, making it easier to manage multiple clients.  This is an excellent tool for teams, as many times several people are managing social media profiles for one client or employer.  This keeps things organized, and you can easily see which posts are scheduled for when.  You can also easily export reports and data to share with clients and/or team members.

Check out Sprout Social and its capabilities here.

Go To Webinar

Go To Webinar is an affordable webinar service that’s helpful for larger teams or those with clients.  It’s incredibly helpful if your whole team is virtual, as your boss can give presentations or teach concepts via a webinar.  It’s also an excellent tool for communicating with numerous clients on a larger scale.

You can record your webinar, receive analytics and data, and add numerous features to your presentations that make them memorable and easier to use.

Learn more about Go To Webinar here.

Calendly

Calendly’s tagline says, “Say goodbye to email tag for scheduling appointments, interviews, calls, demos and much more,” and that’s just what it does.  If you’re tired of email tag to make a simple appointment, Calendly is for you.

You can utilize the free version with fewer features, or upgrade to the paid version starting at $8/month.  This is an excellent tool for teams, as you’ll likely be scheduling team calls and client calls frequently when working from home.

Keep things streamlined by sending a simple link to your colleagues and clients to pick a time to speak or meet with you.  Since it connects directly to your Google calendar, It gives the other person the option of choosing a time, while also giving you the accountability of keeping your calendar updated – a plus for your team and your productivity!  Learn more about Calendly here.

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HireMyMom.com Business Interview: Tim Francis, ProfitFactory.com

Company: ProfitFactory.com
Job Position: President

What’s your company and/or job position?

My consulting company is called ProfitFactory.com and I am the President.  I am also a speaker on the topic of how to streamline and scale your business. We’re basically a managing consulting company for internet businesses, which helps them with systems, procedures, hiring, and gamifying their businesses.

How did you learn about HireMyMom?

I was frustrated – I had tried hiring in the Philippines, India, Jamaica, on eLance, and through many other international contractors and websites.  One night, by chance, I stumbled across HireMyMom.com on a Google search.

What’s your success story with HireMyMom? 

My biggest success story is my own Executive Assistant, Sarah, who I found through HireMyMom.com. She’s been with me for almost 3 years now, and because of how I’ve hired Sarah, how I’ve delegated to her, and because of her commitment, passion, and hard work, I’ve been able to increase my own personal consulting rates all the way up to $500 per hour.

I’ve directly hired for myself and clients – probably around 30-40 candidates from HireMyMom.com.  I developed something called The Perfect Job Posting, which we use every time we go to hire a mom from HireMyMom.com.  It might seem kind of funny because when applicants see the job posting, it asks them to send a specific email to a specific email address with a certain subject line to apply. In the body, one of the paragraphs has to be in red font, 12 point, and “Courier” font, while another has to be blue font, 10 point, “Arial” font.  All these really specific specifications are in place to make sure that we’re attracting applicants that have really good attention to detail.

Because that’s been so successful for me and I’ve talked about the process at live events  and featured podcasts, HireMyMom.com has hundreds of entrpreneurs using the site – and they’re also using this Perfect Job Posting. I once received a screenshot from your team showing the daily email going out to all the moms, and no kidding, of the 12 job postings that I could see, 10 of them were all internet business owners using my Perfect Job Posting.   Literally, most of the subject lines were all along the lines of: “Slightly OCD Tech-Savvy Mom Saught for Internet Marketing Company.”  This felt like a success story for me, as I’ve been able to share and they’ve turned around and used the method. I don’t know exaclty how many people I’ve influenced in this way, but at least 50-100 entrepreneurs have found assistance through HireMyMom.com because of the help that I’ve offered to the world.

What kind of employees were you seeking to hire?

I was seeking an Executive Assistant with great attention to detail, looking to work between 5 and 15 hours per week on a flexible schedule from home.  Something specific that I was looking for and loved was that HireMyMom.com is all Canadian and US moms, which means similar time zones, similar culture, and most likely native english speakers.  Because they’re moms and their #1 passion is to be able to be with their kids, I knew that by helping them build their dream of being home with their kids, that they’d be really committed and passionate about helping me build my dream, which is my business.

What’s your favorite thing about HireMyMom?

First of all, the concentration of my ideal candidates being Canadian and American based, home based workers.  I would say I’ve been delighted, because the name HireMyMom.com it sounds almost folksy and very casual, and I wasn’t expecting the caliber of applicants from there. I’ve had multiple MBAs apply and my own assistant is a former legal assistant.  I was just amazed at the caliber of the talent, especially given the fact that the name of the website is so casual.

How do you feel that HireMyMom is different from other hiring sites?

I am all for multiculturalism in the broader sense, but just based on my experience when talking about work cultures, I found that there are some significant hurdles working with dramatically different work cultures. It was significantly easier to work with someone who is used to the professional American work culture already.  Things got done implicitly without me having to say them, with one being timeliness and a commitment to deadlines, which is a really big deal in corporate america. All the moms I’ve hired have had an implicit understanding of that without me having to explain it.

I’vee been really amazed with the affordability of the assistance that I’ve found on HireMyMom.com as well.  I’ve also been amazed with the “one step at a time” approach. Most of the moms have been okay starting out at only 5-10 hours per week for $15  per hour USD, and that makes it far, far, far easier for smaller businesses to take advantage of the amazing world of virtual executive assistants, instead of having to take on a $40,000 salary right off the bat.  A small business can start paying $300 per month, and by being able to get in the game of the world of having an assistant, the entrepreneur can now start the virtuous cycle of getting a few hours off their plate and onto higher level tasks.  It’s kind of like Google Docs, where you can “find and replace,” so to can an entrepreneur do the same with tasks on their to do list. I watched how I was able to climb from somewhere around $40 per hour all the way up to $500 per hour as a consultant, just because I was able to find and replace those tasks and start small.

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How to Create Visually Appealing Social Media Posts

Social media is a great place to share information, establish your status as an expert in your field, and interact with fans and customers.  According to Hubspot, content with visual images receives 94% more views than content without visual images!  In addition to this, visual content is 40x more likely to be shared than text content.

These stats are very important, and show the importance of visual content in your marketing campaigns.  From your blogs to your social media posts, be sure you’re including visually appealing images as much as possible!

Use a program

You don’t have to use fancy programs to create catchy graphics! Try easy-to-use graphic design programs such as Canva.com or PicMonkey.com to edit photos and create images.  Simply select the image or type of post you’d like to create and follow the steps.  Canva includes numerous images and layouts that are ready-to-use, and you can also upload your own images.

These programs offer extensive font libraries, the ability to add text, photos, layers, and colors, which add depth and dimension to your graphics.  It can be a bit of a learning curve at first, but after your first few images, you’ll begin to learn what works!

Space it out

Make sure your images are well spaced and have a good balance of color.  When we create images, it can be tough to replicate the depth and scope that we see in more professional graphics.

Between using varying colors to your benefit to limiting the fonts per graphic, this article is a helpful glance into the most important errors to avoid (and tips to include!) in your next image.

Click here for Graphic Design Tips for Non-Designers.

Choose a color

Choosing a color that evokes a certain emotion, if that’s important to your product and/or service.  Colors have meanings, which can be used to your benefit in logo and graphic creation.

When you’re trying to portray the enthusiasm in your brand, you might choose yellow.  If you prefer to give a calm vibe around your inspirational quote graphic, green is your best choice.   Click here for an infographic of color choices of some of the world’s most popular brands.

Brand it

At the top or bottom of all of your graphics, be sure to include your website URL written out (for example, www.hiremymom.com) or your actual logo.

This shows that your graphic was created exclusively for your use, and it also allows people to learn more about you if the image if shared.  Since sharing images makes them seen by a much greater audience (think hundreds or thousands more!), it’s important that you’re giving yourself credit.

When creating graphics, consider the traditional design elements while creating something original.  Your images should reflect your brand, image you’d like to portray, as well as visually appealing design.  The more your image speaks to your audience, the more likely it is to be shared – helping your organization be seen across a much wider scope!

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