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In the present time, the importance of online or digital marketing is known to everyone. Without the help of digital marketing it can get really difficult to generate sales from the online market. When we talk about digital marketing, we usually mean the generation of leads. It is the prime purpose of online marketing; the more leads you have, better the sales figure of your business turns out to be. If your website is not getting enough number of hits, it would not be able to deliver the kind of result are hoping for. This is the reason why companies are spending good amount of money in hiring digital marketing experts, and if you want to make a career in this field, it is certainly the best time.In order to be good at generating leads for a business, you need to know about the techniques mentioned below. These techniques have always proved to be quite efficient in enhancing the traffic rate to any website, which in turn also improves the sales figure.So, let us provide you some easy explanations on how these techniques prove to be effective in lead generation.

SEO
We have already heard a lot about Search Engine Optimization. SEO is all about optimizing a website according to the rules or guidelines of the various search engines. However, we primarily mean Google. On daily basis, millions of organic searches are carried out by the online users around the world. It is pretty obvious that most of the users hardly check out the second page of the search result.So, SEO techniques can improve the ranking of your website and help it to grab a place in the first page of the search result, which in turn will bring in more leads for your business. No matter if your company is of B2B or B2C nature; in both the cases, SEO can improve the visibility of your website. In fact, for most of the businesses, SEO accounts for 40 to 60 percent of the total lead generation.

PPC
When talking about Pay Per Click campaigns or advertising, a lot of people seem to underestimate the value of this technique. However, if you take a deeper look into it, you will come to know why it is so important. The value of the leads generated through this method is very high, and most of the leads get converted into sure shot sales. In this technique, Google AdWords certainly rule the world, followed by options like Bing Ads, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

LinkedIn Marketing
When it comes to generated leads for B2B clients then the techniques of LinkedIn Pro prove to be highly useful. At present, the number of users in LinkedIn is more than 400 millions. So, this platform is quite a huge one for the businesses that are looking for clients. Profile optimization is one of the basic techniques involved in this case.Once an effective profile is ready, it is the time to focus on building an efficient group. As an expert of digital marketing, you certainly have to focus on how to build a powerful group through which leads can be generated. Finding the potential customers or clients becomes easier when you have a huge group in LinkedIn Pro.

Social Media Marketing
In today’s time, it is highly crucial to remain connected with the various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Ozone. As per some research, almost 50 percent of the Facebook users and more than 65 percent of the Twitter users get influenced by the recommendations they come across when doing research about purchasing an item. So, if you want to capture a good number of potential customers for your business, you have to remain active on these social networking platforms.As a professional of social media marketing, you have to understand how to earn followers on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and many other platforms. It is one of the best ways of link generation. In addition, it is also important to remain in the mind of your followers, which can be done by posting or uploading relevant and interesting contents on regular basis; it could be text or image/video based.

Lead specific Landing Page Design
Landing page is something that drives an online user or a visitor to a web page, which could be the sales page of your website. There can be different forms of landing pages, such as Facebook ads, Pay Per Click ads, Twitter ads, direct mails, etc. So, if you are able to design highly efficient landing pages for your client’s business, it will surely help in generating some good amount of leads for your client.A landing page and its contents should be enticing enough to compel the users to take the bait. The online users should find the offers irresistible and believable at the same time. In this way, you will be able to get more numbers of sure customers for your clients.

Affiliate ads
For those who do not know, affiliate marketing refers to the campaign in which you offer reward to the affiliates when they help you earn visitors or customers for your business. So, it is a way of outsourcing the marketing part of your business to the affiliates, and in this way the overall effectiveness of your company’s marketing program increases.As an expert of digital marketing, your task should be to come up with a good plan for the affiliate ads related to your clients. Creation of affiliate links is also necessary in this case. The pay associated with the affiliate marketing campaign of your client should be enticing enough. Through this way, more and more leads can be obtained.

Technical Forum Discussion
Discussion is always good, and when it happens on the online platform then the geographical limitations do not apply anymore. More numbers of people are able to join the forum in order to place their opinion or information. In this regard, the online forums for discussion can be a very useful for the experts of digital marketing.They can use the forums to place content in a clever way, so that the content can pull in more visitors to your website. However, the selection of the online discussion forums has to be done in a careful manner, as not all forums feature good number of members or visitors.

Local Listing with white labels
We all know about the local directories which are used for obtaining the contact information of the service provider we are looking for. In the online world also you can come across such directories, and such local listing can be used for getting more leads for your business. But, you need to make sure the contacts in the local listing are from the white labels.

Blogging & Content sharing
Blogging is something we all know about, and it can be a good way to generate leads. Blogs and visual contents are often checked by the online users for obtaining information, and you can provide them the required information by mixing it with the marketing elements.For example, some blogging sites allow the online users to access the content only after completing some easy steps; such as- asking the contact details of the user; asking the user to click on a link; etc. You can also recommend relevant and informative newsletters to the online users. You can also offer them discounts on certain items.

Email Marketing
This is one of the most effective ways for the businesses to get more customers for their business. There is email marketing software available, and with the help of them, you can target hundreds of potential customers on daily basis. Email marketing is about getting in touch with the people by shooting emails, but in bulk amount. As per some report, for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you can get up to 40 dollars of return. So, it is certainly a very good kind of investment.As a professional of digital marketing, you have to learn about the different dos and don’ts of the email marketing campaign. By choosing the right application for email marketing you can provide more leads to your client’s business. Through email marketing, you can keep the customers updated about the new offers from your business, which in turn will entice them to visit your website.So, those were some of the lead generation techniques you can implement as an expert of digital marketing. There are many ways to learn these techniques and turn out to be an expert in these methods. Before taking up any course, it would better to make sure about the reputation and value of the digital marketing course. In addition, you also need to have practical knowledge of these techniques before using them for your client’s website. So, spend some time on these methods and make yourself more skilled in the same. You will surely have a great career ahead.

Investing Wisdom from Howard Marks of Oaktree CapitalMy regular listeners probably heard one of my earlier segments where I spoke about Howard Marks, the 67-year old billionaire who co-founded investment management firm Oaktree Capital which now manages about $84 billion in assets and is a publicly-traded company with ticker symbol OAK.Oaktree focuses its investments on high-yield bonds, distressed debt and private equity, and has delivered a whopping 23% average annual return over the past 25 years… so Marks has rightly earned his fame and fortune. To give you an idea of just how much a 23% rate of return is: If you invested $10,000 25 years ago, it would be worth $1,769,000 today.And, like Buffett, Marks too sends out folksy memos to Oaktree clients where he outlines his views on investing, the markets and the economy that are insightful, direct and sharply written. And today, I’m going to share a few insights from Marks’ latest memo – morphing his thoughts so they apply to individual financial planning. I’ve decided to break this up into a two-part series – with the first half of Marks’ memo today, and the rest to follow next week.Key Questions to Ask FirstSo in this latest memo, Marks first addresses philosophical questions on what to consider in setting up your investment portfolio. Once you have a clear idea on what your investment goals are, based on your retirement needs, Marks says you should discuss the following questions with your advisor:- Is it possible to build a retirement portfolio that can beat the market? If yes, then how, and to what extent can we beat the market?- What’s the best way to manage risk?- How do we define success, and what risks are we willing to take to achieve investment success?Then, as you build your portfolio, you’d want to balance it out between index investments (where you should not expect market-beating returns), individual stocks such as dividend payers, and perhaps some alternative investments to a smaller extent. If you’re closer to retirement, you might also want the safety of inflation-protected bonds. And for the safety of bonds, index investments and dividend stocks, you should be willing to accept “average” performance. But for the alternative investment portion of your portfolio, you should expect above-average or superior returns, as Marks calls it.Pick Funds that Dare to be DifferentFor your alternative investments where you’re seeking superior returns, look for funds that are backed by a strong track record, and where fund managers dare to be different. You see, if you pick a mutual fund that’s run by a manager who is essentially following or mimicking what others are doing, you’ll just end up paying high fees without getting any real bang for your buck.So for this alternative portion of your portfolio, look for managers that are courageous enough to be different and open to being wrong… managers who assemble a portfolio that is different from those held by most other funds. As Marks puts it, to be a top performer, the fund manager has to “escape the crowd” by being active in unusual market niches, buying things others haven’t found, don’t like or consider too risky to touch. A good alternative fund manager avoids what the market considers to be a darling, or all the rage, and engages in contrarian cycle timing, and concentrates heavily in a small number of things that he thinks will deliver exceptional performance… everything that personifies great investors such as Howard Marks and Warren Buffett.As Marks puts it “the cautious seldom err or write great poetry” in referring to fund managers that follow the herd.So look for fund managers who dare to be different, have a consistent history of market-beating performance and are transparent with their investors. That said, you also need to recalibrate your expectations with such alternative funds because their investments often could take longer to bear fruit… so only invest a small portion of your funds that you’re not planning on touching till you reach retirement… because if you picked the right alternative investment fund, those superior returns could compound very nicely over time.Now I know that it’s near impossible for most individual investors to really evaluate alternative investment funds, so this is where a good, qualified advisor can offer advice and help kick some of your returns into high gear.And as I mentioned above, Marks’ company – Oaktree Capital – is publicly traded with ticker symbol OAK, so you can buy shares to participate in Oaktree’s success; When you invest shares in OAK, you are not buying into Marks’ portfolio, but rather participating the company’s profit from its portion of the investment it takes for itself and the fees that are generated from his clients. Oaktree shares also offer a pretty compelling 7.7% dividend yield at current levels… but this is not a recommendation so please do your own research should you consider buying Oaktree.Most great investments begin in discomfort.Most people feel good about making investments where the underlying premise is widely accepted, where recent performance has been positive and where the outlook is rosy – but such investments are high in demand and are unlikely to be available at bargain prices.Bargains are usually found among things that are controversial, that people are pessimistic about, and that have been performing badly of late – investments that generate discomfort for most people. And this is where good alternative funds excel. For example, Oaktree Capital focuses on distressed debt – bonds issued by companies that are on the ropes in some way or another, bonds that are priced at pennies-to-the-dollar… bonds that comfort-seeking investors would not even think about. This discomfort is what causes distressed debt to be priced cheaper than it is really worth, and it’s one sector that has helped fuel Oaktree’s outsize returns. This area of investing is practically impossible for the typical investor to get into and one has to have superior skills in order to avoid being burned badly if things don’t work out.Marks also says; Dare to Be WrongMarks also reminds us that with courageous, discomfort-generating investments, you must also be prepared for failure as an inescapable potential consequence of trying to do really well. In other words, be prepared to lose money on this alternative portion of your portfolio… it’s not something anyone wants, but get into alternative investments with the understanding that non-mainstream investments could be harder to liquidate and have greater risk, and while your fingers are crossed for the upside, be aware that you could also lose money. That said, a good alternative investment fund should protect you significantly on the downside too.So look for alternative funds that invest judiciously, have more successes than failures, and make more on their successes than lose on their failures.Alas… No Magic FormulaMarks also cautions us that there is no easy formula to produce superior risk-adjusted returns – because if there were, everyone with a positive IQ would be rich.Or, as good ol’ Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet’s Partner bluntly puts it, “Investing is not supposed to be easy. Anyone who finds it easy is stupid” and does not understand investing’s complex and competitive nature. Hardly the words of someone who wants to be politically correct, but he makes a good point. Why should successful investing be so easy that the uneducated and lazy investor achieves superior rate of return? It just doesn’t happen that way.Superior investment results can only come from a better-than-average ability to figure out when risk-taking will lead to gain and when it will end in loss. And this is not easy task. So it’s good to look for fund managers that ideally have a strong background in economics, financial math, accounting and investment analysis.Okay, I’ll wrap up here for today, and continue with more on Howard Marks’ thoughts on investing next week.

What makes rich people rich? Looking at the spending pattern of various income groups in the U.S. makes it clear: Savings. The real difference between the rich and the poor is that the rich spend a larger share of their income on savings (pensions and insurance) and education.Source: WSJ, Labour Department,When building wealth, preserving wealth, and passing it to the next generation is the formula for financial success it is surprising that less than 20% of Americans do have a written plan when it comes to investing and even retirement [1].The paradox in human behavior is that we are perfectly rational and capable of planning for a major event in our lives, but this is usually forgotten when it comes to investing. In fact, you will find that only a third of investors have a written plan guiding their investment strategy and retirement plans.Why is a plan needed?
The investment world is a harsh jungle, a world of murky waters where the smartest and the most organized survive and become successful while the rest are gobbled up. A written plan short circuits our normal response to something as emotional as money. It prevents us from resorting to our gut feelings and emotions. Instead of following the herd mentality that may prompt you to make unwise investment decisions, a plan will force you to stick to a rational strategy that is underpinned by fundamental investment principles. Some of the difficult emotions that you will have to overcome while investing include:
1) The fear of failure
2) The tendency to continue with a certain approach just because you started it
3) Personal matters such as relationship issues at homeIt is also important to point out the main reasons why investors fall prey to the market and lose their precious funds:
1) Omitted facts and figures mislead investors into investing in a structurally unsound company or financial instrument
2) Overconfidence makes some investors think that they are invincible and that they can always beat the market.
3) Everyone wants to be seen as a champion, the successful general capable of leading an army to victory. This can make you make investment decisions that are not based on rational thinking but rather the desire to impress your friends, co-workers or family membersBy having an investment plan written down and actually following what it says, you will have dramatically increased your chances of winning and increasing the size of your nest egg or investment portfolio. The following are simple steps in creating a plan and avoiding the herd mentality and instinctual impulses that turn us into fools when investing:1. Set up specific and realistic goals
For example, instead of saying you want to have enough money to retire comfortably, think about how much money you’ll need. Your specific goal may be to save $500,000 by the time you’re 65.2. Calculate how much you need to save each month
If you need to save $500,000 by the time you’re 65, how much will you need to save each month? Decide if that’s a realistic amount for you to set aside each month. If not, you may need to adjust your goals.3. Choose your investment strategy
If you’re saving for long-term goals, you might choose more aggressive, higher-risk investments. If your goals are short term, you might choose lower-risk, conservative investments. Or you might want to take a more balanced approach.4. Develop an investment policy statement
Create an investment policy statement to guide your investment decisions. If you have an adviser, your investment policy statement will outline the rules you want your adviser to follow for your portfolio. Your investment policy statement should:Specify your investment goals and objectives,Describe the strategies that will help you meet your objectives,Describe your return expectations and time horizon,Include detailed information about how much risk you’re willing to take,Include guidelines on the types of investments that make up your portfolio, and how accessible your money needs to be, andSpecify how your portfolio will be monitored, and when or why it should be rebalanced.A smart investor with a written down plan and strategy has already won half the battle without making a single financial decision. By implementing the plan and adhering to laid down rules of operation, the smart investor will avoid the pitfalls caused by human emotion and behavior and end up winning big.