Joyce Chou

Maybe you’ve heard the words “content marketing” recently—what appears to be the latest term being tossed around in the digital marketing space.

Make no mistake, though: “content marketing” is no passing buzzword.

If you created a blog to drive visitors and conversions for your business, you’re in excellent company.

New business blogs are started each day. Many successfully build a loyal readership and increase their customer base, but even more businesses never achieve that success with their blogs. In fact, more than 70% of blogs fail to ever make a profit.

Many people tend to think of search engine optimization (SEO) as simply inserting keywords into your content—but there’s a lot more to it. In fact, it can be divided into two categories: on-page and off-page SEO.

When you think of brands that have unique personalities, what traits come to mind? Do you think of companies that are:

• bold and adventurous like Jeep?
• tough and determined like Nike?
• quirky and entertaining like Skittles?

Chances are that you automatically associate these companies with their signature qualities, and that’s no accident.

Your successes at work stand out to you because of the hard work and late nights you’ve invested in them—but the sad reality is, that effort isn’t always visible to others. In fact, not many colleagues, or even your boss, may recognize the extent of your professional contributions and the labor that went into them.

Few people enjoy doing paperwork, least of all their taxes.

And yet doing your taxes is a must every year. If only they got easier with time! But since our income, filing status, and life circumstances are all apt to change, our tax filings rarely remain the same.

Negotiations: the worst part about an otherwise exciting moment—that is, receiving a job offer.

It feels like playing professional mind games, with the nerve-wracking reality that your salary and work satisfaction depend on the outcomes. But done well, negotiating can double, triple, or even quintuple your income.

When it comes to digital marketing, conversions are everything. Not only are they the key to your revenue, they’re also critical for gauging just how effective your content is.
For those new to the industry, here’s a quick refresher: a conversion refers to when someone completes a desired goal on your website.

Chances are you’ve seen an advertisement for a coding bootcamp in the last year or two. Maybe you’ve even considered one, what with the rising tech industry and growing demand for developers.

Creating content that’s relevant to your users is a big part of what makes a content strategy successful. After all, if you’re writing about something that doesn’t apply to your readers, why would they even click on it in the first place?

One of the scariest parts of adulting is being responsible for your money — in other words, personal finance. With each decade comes new financial milestones, both big and small. But are you prepared to handle them?

If you’re just starting out in digital marketing, chances are you’ve heard of “white hat SEO” and “black hat SEO.” But what are they, and what’s the deal with the hats?

They say the hardest part is getting started—freelance writing is no exception. I know because I’ve been there. My first freelance pieces were published in 2017, and in less than two years, I’ve been published by over a dozen different websites.

Like the Wild West, the world of SEO has both good and bad—and that’s exactly why the terms “white hat” and “black hat” SEO emerged.

Credit card bills, bank statements, and investment options—for anyone just starting out on their financial journey, personal finance can be overwhelming. Coupled with our lacking financial literacy education, it’s no surprise why personal finance statistics in the U.S. are pretty dismal. After all, how are we expected to be able to handle our finances if we were never taught some of the most crucial lessons?