Surprising Ways To Build Wealth

Everyone is looking for the key to build wealth. Problem is most people are looking in the wrong place. You can build wealth right from home by starting your own home business. In fact, tax benefits for home businesses are the bridge from poverty to wealth!

Home Office-You can deduct some, even all, of the expenses of having a home office. This includes the square footage of the space as well as a portion of the utilities. Here are the qualifiers: You must have an area that is set aside as the main place where you conduct business-and that's how it must be used. So if you're looking to build wealth through a home business, set up a home office and dedicate the space for business use.

Mortgage Interest, Property Taxes & Insurance-Got a mortgage? Great! It can cut your tax bill and build wealth for you by reducing your tax burden. How much it lowers your taxes depends on the size of your home office-specifically, the percentage of the total space of your home. That percentage of your mortgage interest can be deducted from your taxes. And that same percentage comes off of your property tax and insurance bills, too, in the form of a federal tax deduction (Cha-ching! More wealth for you!).

Building Expenses-Any repairs and/or improvements you make to your home office can be deducted from your taxes (Do you hear the cash register ringing? Your wealth is growing!). Let's say you want to paint the room or put a door on so you can hear yourself think. Something like that is deductible in full!

Utilities, Phones & the Internet-For home utility bills, you can write off your home office's percentage of the total square footage of your home as a tax deduction (can you hear your bank account screaming "more wealth"?). With additional (not the first phone line, only subsequent ones) landlines and cell phone lines, 100% can be written off. As well, a percentage of your Internet service can be deducted also, leaving you with even more wealth!

Meals & Transportation-Business meals can be deductible if you take a client out and business is the topic of the conversation! If you have to travel for business, your meals can be deductible as well as your transportation to get there. In fact, traveling from your home to a client's location is a tax-deductible expense (the IRS has a per-mile reimbursement rate). If you are looking to build wealth using this tax deduction, keep good records of your car's odometer readings, where you went, and why. Always better to have too much documentation than not enough!

Other-A percentage of the cost of installing a security system-as well as the ongoing fee for having that protection-can also be deducted from your taxes, staying in your pocket and contributing to your wealth. Use the same percentage you used in figuring your mortgage interest, property taxes, and insurance. Also, a portion of your moving expenses can be written off, too.

As you can see, a home business allows you tax breaks that can act to seriously build wealth for you and your family. Do your due diligence, and get an accountant's advice when you file. There may be even more tax benefits than there was space to list here. And of course, you can't deduct more than the net profit of your business!

How to Build Wealth in a Bad Economy

We had tried Multi-Level Marketing before. Even with all the struggles of building a downline and leads list in the past, we were still open to finding a great business opportunity. After all, having your own business is still one of the most sure ways to take control of your financial situation. It's tough when you first join an MLM company and don't have a team that will help guide you. You're excited at first and ready to share it with everyone you know but you can't find the right people that will have the same enthusiasm. No matter how many people you talk to, they either never sign up or you can't find anyone that can duplicate you. That's something we've found to be the most difficult in any business but very lucrative if successful. You want to find business people that are just as enthusiastic about it as you are. That's one reason so many people fail in MLM and write if off as a failure business model. But hey, we've been there. Trust me.

We knew if we're going to ever give it another try we needed an exceptional product and marketing plan. Something special too, not just the typical lotion and cream products. We started hearing buzz about MLM gold and silver coins opportunities. The idea of combining the precious metals coins industry with MLM was definitely new to us. We had never seen anything like this before and were sold that it was unique and the first of it's kind. It definitely piqued our interest and we wanted to know more. So we spent some time looking at several companies.

We are interested in not only building a lucrative business but preserving wealth for the future. And now we know there is no better way to do this than with precious metals. It's like having a savings account that isn't subject to the rise and fall of the dollar, the economy, or interest rates. And we are building up our net worth at the same time with each coin that we purchase. We like to buy the American Silver Eagle ungraded and also the MS70 (MS70: which means it's graded mint condition, never touched by human hands. Comes sealed in a plastic case). You've got to remember. We're talking about buying solid one ounce U.S. Mint silver coins. You just want to be sure to lock these up in your safe.

And as you may know, precious metals prices keep rising in this economy. We're trying to buy as much as we can right now before the price of silver is out of reach. Like Robert Kiyosaki says, gold and silver is God's money. It truly is the only real currency in the world and the most stable. One tip: When purchasing numismatic coins in the hope of having an asset that increases in value, it is safest to deal in coins that are pure gold or silver. Numismatic coins have 3 layers of cost built into their pricing. 1) the metal content, 2) The numismatic premium, and 3) The dealer profit. It is best to minimize the second one and eliminate the 3rd. If you know how and where to buy at wholesale, you can do that.

7 Tips For Writing A Start-Up Business Plan

Please raise your hand if you've ever been frustrated about what to put in a business plan? What will convince an investor to give you money? We've all been there. And it seems like the answer keeps changing depending on who you talk to.

The problem, or rather the truth, is that there is no "one fit all" solution. So the bad news is: even a step by step guide to writing a business plan won't really make your plan "good". The good news is, you really don't need a step by step guide to make your plan compelling enough to close investment.

There are many different formats and there really isn't a "universal" length for a perfect business plan. Depending on your product or industry, it can range anywhere between 10-100, and sometimes more, pages.

The question you should ask yourself is: what stage is my company at? If you are already generating revenue and are looking for a second or third round of financing to expand, the business plan can get much more elaborate and detailed, especially on the financial analysis and projections side of things.

But if you are just starting a business, don't have established revenue yet and are simply looking to attract investors to get started making money with your products or services, keep on reading.
Most important to understand in this case is that it all comes down to one simple thing:
telling a great story!

This does not mean you shouldn't present accurate facts, be transparent, and most importantly tell the truth; but it means that you need to package all those facts into an interesting, exciting, and fascinating story so your readers (potential investors) keep on reading and don't get bored by page 25. It's a lot to ask someone to read an entire business plan, so the least you can do is make it fun and interesting.

I have had the pleasure to be on both sides of the table (both writing and reading business plans), and here are the 7 things that are often forgotten or done wrong:

1. Get To The Point Quickly
We all get excited at the prospect of starting a new business... so going on and on about one or more aspects that really cause you to be enthusiastic is great when you sit over a cup of coffee with your friends or colleagues.

But when it comes to reading something on a digital device or piece of paper, without your enthusiastic voice, endless chatter can get old very quickly.

Think of your potential readers as the most impatient individuals you will ever meet. How would you structure your sentences when talking or writing an e-mail to them? Now add just a hint of enthusiasm and relevant information to that, and you should be close to getting their attention.

2. Move Most Compelling Facts To The Top

In addition to keeping things "snappy", prioritizing information and structuring the business plan around the importance of each element can help move the reader along.
The format that I have found to be effective is:

1- Brief Executive Summary
2- Company Description
3- Market Analysis
4- Product and/or Services
5- Marketing Strategy
6- Sales Strategy
7- Company Goals & Objectives
8- Management and Operations
9- Competitive Analysis
10- Financial Projections

Some entrepreneurs include a request for funding at the end, and some create a separate document (mostly with their attorneys) called "Private Placement Memorandum" (PPM). The advantage of not including a funding request in the business plan, is that you can stay flexible in terms of who you are sharing this business plan with and how much money you end up asking for. It's easier to change the short PPM rather than going back into the business plan every time you talk to a different investor.

The main thought behind the structure I suggested above is that every section sets the stage and builds up to the section right after. Again, there are many different formats, and you can really change this format up to whatever suits the story you are telling. You might for example have a big name on your team that has significant weight in your industry, so moving the "management" section up (maybe even to the top) can make sense in some cases. It's all about getting the reader excited, and the prospect of working with a celebrity might just get that job done for you.

3. Create Transitions

This is a mistake I see happening time and time again. Creating transitions between the different sections of the business plan is a really simple trick that makes the overall experience more pleasant, while "tricking" the reader into continuing to read.

Many business plan authors think it's enough to just "compile" all the information relevant to their business in form of one continuous document - no matter how.

The problem, however, becomes that sometimes jumping thoughts can be jarring and confusing.
Go back to thinking about your business plan as a story you would tell around a campfire. You wouldn't reveal the big twist right in your first sentence, would you? And the way that you would go from one character and plot-point to the next, is how you should think of every segment in your business plan.
Don't shy away from creating cliff-hangers at the end of some sections. For example, if your market analysis concludes that one specific age group and gender has an urgent need that no product in the market is currently satisfying, you can end this section with a question like: So how doesaddress this urgent need and turn it into profit? And then go right into your products and services presentation.

4. Don't Be Too Flashy

In my experience, there is a huge difference between sounding professionally enthusiastic and self-promotional. Using too many flashy buzz-words and too much promotional language throughout the business plan can get irritating to read and mostly comes across as insincere. It also raises the question if the authors of the plan are hiding the fact that they might not have figured "it" out yet.
Trying to be flashy simply distracts from the real, hard facts and dilutes the value of your presentation. The old saying, "when in doubt, keep it simple", truly applies here.

5. Use images And Graphic Examples

This speaks to the "making it fun to read" - part. No, no... making it fun doesn't mean making it flashy. It simply means you should also not try to achieve the opposite of flashy - which I believe to be "boring".
Images and graphic examples should be relevant to the information you are presenting. The goal is to give the reader's eyes a break here and there to keep the flow going. Think of it like visual potato chips... but the good, organic kind that is fun to eat, while still staying relevant to your healthy diet. This can include images of your product(s), website screenshots, industry statistics, charts, etc.

6. Attachments

Sometimes there are amazing articles or entire studies on specific industry developments that support your case. Instead of copy-pasting and quoting the entire article, though, attach it to your business plan as a separate document labeled "Exhibit a)", b), c), etc. (one for each document) and reference the exhibit with a short quote or summary inside the business plan. That way you are giving the reader the choice to check out the attachment or to continue going through your presentation.

The goal here is to avoid unnecessary "inflation". More pages is not always better! Sometimes 10 pages that knock it out of the park are better than 100 pages that are overwhelming with too many industry stats and lengthy paragraphs that you didn't even write yourself.

7. Try Putting Yourself Into The investor's Shoes

It's hard, but when reading through your finished business plan, try to distance yourself and read it from the perspective of an investor. Ask yourself very honestly and harshly: would I put money into this? Imagine putting everything on the line; your car, your house, your life's savings.
You would be surprised how many times you will cringe and realize that it's simply not good enough yet; that some of the language you don't even buy into yourself; that you might have to do a lot more research and planning before taking it to an investor. In the end of the day, you are not just putting their money on the line, but also your own time and resources, which could be devastating.

Online Business Secret - How to Succeed

The basic tenet and secret of succeeding with an online business is one's knowledge of internet marketing. No matter how good the products you sell, or the opportunity you offer, you will not sell if you do not have the knowledge to market online effectively. Those who have succeeded acquired the knowledge of internet marketing first then looked for opportunities afterwards. For people who have failed the reason is lack of internet marketing knowledge.

The key to succeed online is in driving traffic to your website. There are various methods of driving traffic to your website to succeed online. Some of these are article marketing, pay per click ads, banner ads and search engine optimization.

Article Marketing

Article marketing has the power to drive tons of high quality traffic to you website. The key is first of to identify your niche market, and discover the keyword phrase for your target market. This keyword phrase should be included in the title and several times within the content of the article. One of the things to consider when you want your online business t succeed through article marketing is writing relevant articles. This will result in optimizing the article so that it can be picked by the search engines and ranked high.

Pay Per Click Ads

Pay per click ads are ads you pay the clicks that accrue to your ads. These are ads shown on the right hand side and sometimes at the top of search engine results pages. The good thing about these ads is that you only pay when you have visitors to your website. And also the ability to use targeted keywords enables targeting the ads to the interested people.

Banner Ads

It can be seen that a lot of innovation has been experienced in banner ads creation. These are becoming important tools in effective online marketing for one to succeed. The whole objective is to grab attention of visitors within the first few seconds they visit the website.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization produces greater online business success results as compared to pay per click ads. It has been discovered that more traffic is generated by high rankings on the page than from an ad. Optimization is to do with the density of keyword phrases. These are the keywords people type when they are searching in the search engines. The trick is to place a reasonable number of the keyword phrase within the content of the website. What is the reasonable number? It has been said that about 7% of the content is the reasonable number. More than the 7% you get penalized by the search engines.

Business Strategies to Preserve Wealth

Preserving wealth is one of the most important business strategies for any investor. Whether you are risk averse or a risk taker, the bottom line is the same. You want to produce positive cash flow with your investments. There are several business strategies to preserve wealth. These include, but are not limited to, real estate, small business ownership, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.

Real estate can be a key business strategy to preserve wealth. Not only does real estate increase in value over the years, but it builds equity and can produce a positive cash flow-for not only you but your children as well. So how does this work, and is there significant risk involved?

The answer to this is simple. Real estate has a proven track record over the years. Although, like any investment, there are lows and highs, real estate will increase in value if the property is held for a long-enough period of time. Unless you practice the business strategy of "flipping properties," then you should plan to be in this for the long term.

Purchasing a property for the sole purpose of renting it out is a great business strategy to mitigate market exposure-meaning that no matter what the market fluctuations are, you and your investment will remain safe. Remember there are always going to be individuals looking for rental properties. The key is to find an area that you yourself would be comfortable living in. Being in a safe environment with a good school district will appeal to almost any family. The proper marketing and having a good product-two key business strategies-will ensure success.

Owning and operating a small business is another way to preserve wealth. Many individuals dream of owning their own business, so why not make this a reality. Of course, this does not come without its own set of risks. Being properly educated in all aspects of running a business is a must. Opening a franchise can be a good alternative for someone with little knowledge in business operations and strategies. This, of course, will limit the owner's opportunities for business creativity, and some of the profits will be handed over the franchisor. The benefits of a Franchise are a proven business strategy, existing business model, recognized brand name, and consistent product quality.

Whatever it is, if you do decide to open your own business, make sure it is something you have a great passion for. Findings show having a passion for something generally leads to success. An individual will work harder for something he or she enjoys.

Make sure you employ trust-worthy individuals who have your best interest at heart. This is why so many small businesses employ family members. Most businesses do not turn a profit in their first year or two so make sure you have enough capital to sustain the life you are accustomed to. Do not over extend yourself-and most of all, enjoy your business.

So where do stocks, bonds, and mutual funds fall in a business strategy? The answer to this is simple. Keeping the profits from your income-producing business in a non-interest bank account is like keeping your money in your sock drawer. Investing your profits in mutual funds, stocks, and bonds can be a great way to produce more wealth and portfolio diversification. If you are risk averse and do not want to lose money, a mutual fund is a great way to create a diverse portfolio for those with little market knowledge. Remember the key is letting your money work for you, it's a business strategy that's worked for years!

Keys to a Successful Viral Marketing Campaign

Viral Marketing, there's no doubt that this is the buzz phrase being thrown around by internet marketers and businesses and is only going to become more sought after as a service.

But what exactly is Viral Marketing? Why is everyone looking to make their business go viral? And more importantly, how do you go viral?

Basically, Viral Marketing or making something go viral will see a huge increase in traffic. Whether that traffic is for a business or individual, the essence of something going viral is to have it explode online and have millions of people see it within a short period of time.

So what makes something go viral? The real power behind making something go Viral is with the everyday people surfing the net. They are the ones that are going to decide whether or not something is worth "liking" or "sharing" on Facebook or YouTube. They are the ones that will be tweeting about you and telling all their friends.

An effective Viral Campaign will use this to its advantage and take into consideration what are the types of things that people are most likely to pass on when planning their campaign. History shows that comedy works really well with an Online Marketing campaign, as do things with some sort of charitable "cause" that pulls at the heart strings. If you own a business, providing some type of crazy deal could do wonders in helping you go viral and attract 10,000's more visitors.

Your Viral Marketing Campaign needs to make sense to you, your business and what you represent. If you're not too sure about how to get started with a Viral Marketing Campaign, then you can always take on the help of a professional team.

One of the beautiful things of about something going viral is, nobody really knows exactly what will and what won't go viral. There is a certain mystery that no one will ever understand about viral marketing.

Why some songs/film clips explode online, why some funny videos get passed on more than other videos that are just as funny, why some businesses ad campaigns get better results than others. There certainly is an aspect of randomness and luck when it comes to going viral. But if you take a look at what has been successful in going viral previously and think about how you can manipulate human emotion into your favor, then you could quite possibly be sitting on the next big viral marketing campaign.

Tips to Boost Your Visual Marketing Strategy

The majority of marketers would admit that creating visual images is not a strong suit for them.

The good news? Creativity is learned, so you do not have to struggle with visual marketing ever again.

Do you want to improve your social media strategy by including more visual content? Visual marketing is much more than finding an inspirational quote on Google and re-posting.

But, you might be asking yourself, how do you go about creating an attractive and shareable image? Something that people want to interact with and then share with their audience?

There is a ton of reports and information on how to create visual marketing images. But this information can take weeks to get through, then put into practice for your business.

That is why we have done the work for you. This article presents tips on how to create visual content that gets more engagement.

The Science Behind Visual Marketing

The Content Marketing Institute reported that 70% of marketers are producing more visual content.
Ask yourself, are you producing enough visual content? If you are not, it may be because you're intimidated at the word 'design'. Do not fear, these tips can help you.
In this article, we present many tips to support your goal of creating more visual content. Mastering these tips will make your visual message stick with web searchers.
Creating visual content is the #1 goal on marketer's lists for skills to learn and it should be yours too.

Your Audience Responds to Visual Cues

Video and infographic responsiveness is at an all-time high. Are you using these strategies to interact with your audience?

In 2014, the use of video marketing increased by 8% and the use of infographics increased 9%. (Source: DemandGenReport)

As a home business owner you must dedicate more time and resources to creating visual content. Facebook posts that contain photos or videos account for 87% of increased interactions. (Source: EMarketer.com)
What does this mean? Facebook users are looking for so much more than just blatant calls to action to buy products. They want posts that share ideas, make connections, and avoid using too much text. Now is the time to switch to visual marketing if your posts have been heavy with text. You can start today adding photos or images to your posts.

What makes a shareable social media image? Why should we care about people sharing our images? Good questions. Every time a person shares your image, you just received free marketing. They are opening up your message to their audience. This helps you achieve more with less!
Let's look at what makes a shareable social media image:

1. Emotion: When your readers feel it, they'll share it.
2. Relevance: Your image should fit your audience, and their audience too.
3. Colors: Use the right colors to fit your audience's personality and you will get more shares.
4. Typography: Choose fonts that look good and pair well with each other. Choose fonts your audience can read.
5. Hashtags and Text: Choose the right words to encourage your audience to interact.
The most important way to optimize social media content is with images and photos leading the way. Focus on creating great visual content to engage your audience and put them into a sales funnel. On the back end, you will have detailed information to separate the lookers from the buyers.

Serious buyers will always be looking for more information to use in their life. These types of information include webinars, case studies, and reports (or white papers). Visual content opens the 'door' for serious buyers to access your back-end detailed information.

Tip # 1
Creating a Title for your Visual Image

Titles are a feature element of your visual content. You want them to stand out!
Let's go through a couple factors that will help you choose the best titles for your visual marketing.

1. We live in the age of people scrolling through a social media feed at record speed. An amazing title helps your visual content stand out among the "noise" in a news feed.

2. Your image has a split second to grab the attention of your audience. But your title (or main goal in the image) must speak to them as well.

3. If your audience finds the image to be pause worthy, make sure your title keeps them even longer. If you fall short in any aspect, they will not click on your call to action and will keep scrolling to the next thing.
4. Your back end offer will be the ultimate information that solves their problem. But the title should be crystal clear and provide a front line answer to their question.

Your image title appears everywhere. So, choosing a visual image with a strong title is critical, it will be visible in many different places. Every time you make a piece of text content, be aware that the different versions of it will show up as "title only". This is visual marketing, it is the only chance you have to grab your audience's fast paced attention.

Tip #2
Color: The Psychology of Colors in Visual Marketing
For decades there has been a debate about color and how it relates to persuading your audience to buy.
A great example in today's color marketing is a well known, high end, coffee retailer. They use the color green as their primary visual marketing color. When you look at a color chart you see that customer's associate green with wealth and relaxation.

Would you agree or disagree that this coffee shop got their marketing correct? They encourage people to stop in and relax with a $5-$8 cup of coffee. In fact, many people will tell you they cannot start their morning without a trip to this coffee house. Pretty ingenious, right?

Color studies show that different colors have an impact on a customer's purchasing decisions. Marketing departments have been using this knowledge for generations. Recognize the power behind color and make conscious choices for your visual marketing.

According to a B2B study, 85% of customer's claim that the color of an ad was what made them buy.
Please note, color alone does not induce someone to buy or not buy. But, when done correct, color influences your products and branding. And how long a customer stays around to learn about your products.
So how can you use this for your visual marketing strategy?

Start with a specific color theme. The right color theme depends on your niche audience's demographics and your ultimate message. Next choose the right text, font, shapes, and photos for your social media pages.
How do colors affect purchases?

There are many factors that influence what consumers buy. Yet a large amount of their decisions rely on visual cues, such as color. It is vital that your color choices support the theme of your message. Continue to refer to a color chart to double check that your color choice supports your message. Plus the call to action you want your customers to act on.

Tip #3
Choosing the Right Font
It's easy to think that your font is a simple design choice. But the truth is that font is the body language of your image. It says a lot to your reader without you even realizing it. Different fonts you choose dictate how long someone reads your article.

The previous tips discussed the importance of your visual content being inviting and shareable. Did you know that the font choice you make will impact the number of shares (attention) that it receives? How? Let's take a look.

Different fonts create different emotions.
· Font's will encourage readers to complete your desired action
· Drive decision making
· Encourage them to share with their audience

What is the take away? Consider the message you're putting out and the emotions that you want your audience to feel from it.

There are 3 steps to selecting your ideal font, your choice will support or detract from your message.
When creating your visual images, make sure that you think beyond the words that you have written. A good example here is a quote. Your goal is to select a font that matches the meaning behind the message. The goal is to think beyond the words you've written. While this sound complicated, it isn't.

3 Steps:
1. Decide on your emotion: Are you a fun loving brand? Or are you more serious, like an institution? You can be artsy and easy going or you can be serious and stoic. But mixing the two together rarely results in a unified message.

2. Choose 3 variations: Decide on 3 font you feel fit your brand's message. Design your visual image 3 times using a different font each time. Walk away from the project and come back later. When you have 'fresh' eyes you will be able to immediately see what font best suites your message.

3. Nothing is worse than a font you cannot read: You have been a victim yourself right? You see a visual marketing attempt, but you cannot read the words because the font was a wrong choice. Just because you feel a font is 'pretty' does not mean the audience can digest it. As we learned in the past 2 tips, if your audience does not digest the message fast, they move on.

Tip #4
Choosing Appropriate Images
A study performed by Trend Reports found that 65- 85% of people say they are visual learners. Visual learners prefer to look and study as opposed to read and comprehend. Marketers need to optimize images to accommodate the majority of visual learners.

Accommodate visual learners and you stand apart from competitors who only use text. When you are choosing images to tie in with your colors, titles, and fonts, you must keep relevancy in mind. Does the image you're choosing fit the audience you're choosing it for?

Visual learners process information using the part of the brain associated with vision. Which is 60,000x faster than the part of the brain that processes written information.

Visual learners look at your image and decide if what they are seeing matches up with what they like, etc. They use the part of the brain that tells them to stop and investigate or keep moving because it is not the right fit.

When you choose images ask yourself these 3 questions "does this image fit my":
· Brand
· Audience Niche
· Important News Feed Update
If they answer is yes, your next goal is to transition your audience from the image to your call to action. Getting your audience members to complete a specific action is your main goal.
With each image you create moving forward you must ask yourself:

"Does this make sense for my audience to act it?"
Not sure about the best interaction from your audience? Start looking at the leader's in your industry. What does their visual marketing strategy look like? Find posts getting a ton of interaction and you have found a winning combination for yourself.

Capture the Audience's Attention
Most people are completely overwhelmed in this information age. When we talk to the majority of people around us, we hear that all this data has become overwhelming. This is why the majority of people on social media skim and scan at rapid speed. The key to visual marketing, is to cause skimmers and scanners to look at your post while avoiding the rest. Most visitors have lost the patience to read through consuming social media posts. They want images that grab their precious attention.

Tip #5
Use Filters to Get More Likes
Instagram gives more than a dozen filters to customize your photos. Gone are the days when you chose a filter because it made your picture look better. Now you choose a filter based on scientific research to make your image perform better. Again, the whole reason we are studying visual marketing, right?
Once you take a photo, you can edit it by applying filters using the steps below.

1. Tap the filter you'd like to apply.
2. Tap the filter again if you want to adjust filter strength up or down using the slider. Tap the check to save your change.
3. Tap Next to add a caption and location and to share your photo.
Filters make your photos feel more refined. Studies show filters plus editing results in more views, comments, and shares.
We used to use filters because they made us look better. Now we understand that filters enhance our content. So what can you choose if you want to work with filters off of Instagram? There are 2 options to enhance your images without going through Instagram.

1. The Wix Image Editor
If you use Wix, you can also use their image editor to enhance your pictures.
Wix's image editor allows you to enhance your images while working on your site. Wix's image editor rivals Instagram in ease and options.

2. Online Photo Editing Tools
Looking online you will notice that there is a good variety of image editors. These tools give you complete control over your final image feel and look.
Some of the online editing tools are:
· Befunky
· Canva
· Ribbet
These are reliable photo editors, all available online and for the most part, with no or small cost.

Tip #6
Graphics
1. How to Use Quotes (the creative way) for Visual Marketing

Where do you fall on the social media timeline? Do you prefer the days of using social media to make friendships and build relationships?
Or, are you the newer generation who loves quotes and not so funny memes of babies with grouchy faces?
There is nothing wrong with whatever group you fall into. When you are surfing social media for your personal time.

But, there is something missing if you want to build your business only using memes or cat videos.
As a visual marketer you cannot afford to miss your goal 100% of the time posting to social media. If your images are not supporting your branding message then you are failing in business.

Sure you can build up likes, shares, and comments on your latest baby meme. But ask yourself, "Does this make my audience want my product"?

Let's look at graphics and how to make them resonate with your message to hit your visual marketing goal.
· You have spent the better part of an hour creating an image. It is quirky, it is sarcastic and you think witty!
· You post to social media and expect an outpouring of comments and questions about your business. But the quote had nothing to do with your home business. So, you hear crickets, not a single follow up question. Sure maybe a 'like' or two. But not a single sale. So what went wrong?

The question you should be asking yourself is: did my effort investment fit in my sales strategy?
If your quotes do not support a larger goal on the back end (to take your call to action), then your effort failed. Be careful of creating and posting visual content without knowing why you're doing it. And how every single post fits in your sales strategy.

2. Infographics: Explain Complex Topics by Using Infographics
Do you remember Tip # 4 about choosing the right image? And how we discussed your audience is 65% - 85% visual learners? This is the exact reason why infographics are so popular. And so effective!
You might be dealing with an industry that has complex topics (or even boring topics). When you try and explain them in text form to your visual audience, it is not received well.

Spend your time creating an infographic that delivers your complex message through an infographic. Now you have made it easy for your audience to understand. Successful parts of infographics are the 'visual pathways' that lead your audience. The end of the infographic will stop right at the invitation to learn more, or any other call to action.

The call to action gives the reader somewhere else to go, ideal is your own website. Your infographic goal is to create a visual pathway to lead the reader to your call to action.

Distribution Map Infographics are another great example of making a boring topic fun.
Here is an example: global economic productivity landscapes. Pretty boring topic right? Unless you are an economist, and in that case, my apologies!

Yet, you could create a distribution map infographic using a great palette of colors. With gradations of light to dark, you can produce an effective way to display a boring topic. Another way to standout is to present the statistics in an organized, 3-D form. Looking from a distance, the viewer engages with this arrangement because of its uniqueness.

Conclusion:
Visual marketing is a 'must-have' to attract your target audience and grow brand awareness. As you move forward, put into place these elements for your visual marketing strategy. Remember to follow up your designs with an examination of results. Make correct conclusions and then make the right modifications.