This fall’s top ten list cover a variety of bible studies on James. Each curriculum gives you resources to lead a group study, but is also perfect as your own personal study.

This fall’s top ten list cover a variety of bible studies on Revelation. Each curriculum gives you resources to lead a group study, but is also perfect as your own personal study.

Our most popular studies on prayer for fall of 2019.

This fall’s top three list cover bible studies on gray areas of faith. Each curriculum gives you resources to lead a group study, but is also perfect as your own personal study.

Our most popular studies for fall of 2019.

Discovering the sufficiency of Christ.

These were your favorite studies on this topic.

If you are not promoting your business on social media, you are asleep at the wheel. Here is what eight social media masters and Advisors in The Oracles told us about the channels and tactics that impact their businesses most.

complete article

All social media networks are not created equally.

While Instagram might be a powerhouse for one brand, it will do nothing for another – and while one business might have tons of engagement on Facebook, another business will gain more traction on LinkedIn.

With that in mind, how do you choose where to invest your time (and potentially ad spend)?

The best move is to have at least a presence on each of the major platforms, and from there, strategically choose which ones to double down on.

complete article

First off, Meeker looks at the growth of internet adoption, which is slowing as regions work on new infrastructure to facilitate connection. It's amazing to consider that around 50% of the world is still not connected to the internet, which highlights the opportunities for expansion, but also, the challenges now faced in getting the rest of the world online.

complete article

Here is the thing: when you post bad content to your social media channels, you run the risk of overshadowing all the hard work you have put into building your presence, and establishing connection with your online audience.

And because we do not want to let you do that, in this post, we're going to outline nine content types which could be wrecking your social media - and losing you followers.

complete article

When you think about embarrassing social media behavior, you probably think about octogenarians who accidentally post their phone numbers in a Facebook status. But embarrassing social media perils are everywhere for users of all ages, particularly for actors. But it is 2019 and social media is as important to your acting brand as your signature monologue or audition song, so we want to help you avoid these digital landmines and lead with your best online foot forward.

complete article

It is a heady formula. With brands across the globe spending nearly $27 billion on social media marketing, an expenditure estimated to go up 37% by 2020 to reach $37 billion, and 45% of the worlds population actively engaged on social media, one unlikely sector has found a lucrative and free marketing source – college students.

Several universities across the country have begun using so-called student ambassadors or influencers to market their brand on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.  According to a 2018 study by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, social media is the most influential marketing source for potential buyers. Over 70% of social media users hit the college sweet spot: individuals between the ages of 18-29.

complete article

Looking to get maximize your use of Instagram for business?

With a billion users and counting, and with more business options on the way, it makes sense to give Instagram more consideration in your process, and how it can potentially help you connect with your target audience.

To help with this, the team from TechWyse have put together this new infographic overview of Instagram business profiles and ad options, with a range of stats and insights to help you make best use of each.

complete article

Smith had a Twitter meltdown this morning in response to some relatively gentle and polite criticism from me. Smith is a perfectly respectable journalist in his day job — a purveyor of tediously predictable received opinion, to be sure, but there is room for all kinds. Online, he is transformed through the emotional alchemy of Twitter into a deranged, masturbatory, feces-flinging rage monkey straight from Hell’s own zoo. He is, amusingly enough, so enraged that he cannot even get straight what he himself has written.

I hope readers will forgive the brief point-by-point here. I promise it adds up to something.

complete article

Once you have decided to invest in social media marketing, your next key challenge is to decide which platforms you should be focused on.

This used to be relatively easy - you started a Facebook Page, set-up a Twitter profile, and then added others over time. But now, things have changed. Instagram is a much bigger consideration, Facebook's dwindling organic reach means it may be less of a priority, Twitters algorithm changes the equation, and LinkedIn's seeing more traffic. Pinterest, too, is on the rise, while if you're going to create video content, then YouTube definitely should be on your radar.

But you can not be active on all of them all the time - so which platforms are right for your business and marketing efforts?

complete article

Halloween is coming, and that means that brands are looking at ways they can tap into the rising Halloween conversation, and maximize their exposure by latching onto trending hashtags.

And this week, Twitter has provided some notes to help you maximize your Halloween tie-ins on the platform - and within them, there are a couple of hidden gems of information, which likely apply to your tweet strategy beyond the event itself.

complete article

Social media continues to surge as a channel for businesses to market themselves and engage with customers. And with its continued growth and popularity, there is no shortage of social media “how-to” advice out there directed at businesses trying to scale up.

If you make it a point to keep up with social media trends, you’ve likely found at least some overlap in these tips—but every so often, there are unconventional or uncommon practices that can lead to great results. As experts in social media marketing, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared their most surprising social media tips—that truly work—and how you can take advantage for your business.

complete article

With over 23,000 followers on Instagram, Sam McAllister may not have quite as big of an audience as influencers like Kim Kardashian or Lele Pons. But one of McAllisters major selling points has been his number of likes.

complete article

1. Plan a content strategy and create an editorial calendar for your social channels.
Marketers are sometimes at a loss at what to post on social media.

Successful social media marketing doesn't happen on accident -- there's a strategy in place, just as there is with a blog.

Look at the big picture and come up with social content that will resonate with your audience.

Map out seasonal content, as well as content related to events or launches your company is planning.

Work closely with your editorial and marketing teams to know what's coming down the pipeline and strategize the best ways to promote it.

complete article

A sound, effective strategy involves these four steps.

A whopping 3.2 billion people, or 42% of the world's population, uses social media. On average, people spend over two hours of their day messaging and surfing social media networks.

After having a positive experience with a brand on social media, 71% of people will often recommend the brand to their friends and family. On top of that, 49% of people are taking their cues on what to buy from social media influencers.

Based on these statistics, it's crucial for businesses to have a solid social media marketing strategy in place. Unfortunately, many business owners have no idea how to handle social media marketing.

complete article

When was the last time you watched a video on Facebook? What about Instagram or Twitter?

My guess is that it was probably within the last day.

The reason for this guess is because video continues to be one of the most powerful forms of content on social media. You can not take a digital step without coming face-to-face with a video – and there is a reason for this.

complete article

Social media marketing is a strategy employed by many companies. One of the biggest complaints I hear from businesses is that they're not having much success on social media. The thing is that certain social media marketing mistakes can cause brands to fail. I'll be addressing several issues that may be impacting your social media efforts in this article.

Are you making any of the following mistakes?

Five Social Media Marketing Mistakes You Must Avoid

Michael Bloombergs presidential campaign is hiring hundreds of workers in California to post regularly on their personal social-media accounts in support of the candidate and send text messages to their friends about him.

complete article

Despite what companies like Apple and Facebook claim, you do not need a giant corporation telling you what news stories you should read every morning. Nearly every website (worth reading) still operates an RSS feed. And now one of the oldest and most robust RSS readers, NetNewsWire, is back from the dead and worth your consideration again.

Over the years, NetNewsWire has changed owners a few times, but in late 2018, former owner Black Pixel returned NetNewsWires intellectual property to Brent Simmons, which he now uses as the name for an open-source Mac RSS reader he has been developing for about five years.

complete article

Feedly, a popular RSS feed reader with millions of users worldwide, recently announced the creation of a new AI research assistant named Leo. Their goal with Leo is to create an AI with a set of skills that will enable it to better prioritize articles from news feeds.

complete article

Google has used links to determine the authority of websites since its early days: the idea of webpages casting votes” for other pages by linking to them is at the core of the PageRank algorithm. This led to the rise of numerous manipulative link tactics.

complete article

Are you looking for ways to generate more engagement on social media? Want to ensure you’re posting at the best times for your audience?

While the exact right times to post will vary based on each unique audience group, the team from CoSchedule have put together a guide, based on a range of studies and reports, which highlights when brands in a range of sectors tend to see the most engagement on each of the major social platforms.

Again, there are unique variables for each business, but this overview could serve as a good starting point for planning out your social posting strategy, and maximizing engagement.

complete article

One of the unwritten rules of Instagram management is to create a cohesive feed. The posts you upload on the platform should be logical in terms of visual concept, timing, captions, and hashtags.

But consistency isn’t something that can be accomplished overnight. You need to take time and think through each caption, the relevance of tags, the whole grid layout style and posting frequency. To streamline this process and plan your Instagram posts and stories, you can use Combin Scheduler, a tool for Instagram content planning.

complete article

A few months ago, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales launched a new platform called WikiTribune Social – or WT:Social for short. Unlike Facebook, the Wikipedia social network isn’t designed to generate profit by leveraging user data. Thus far, it has a modest membership, but Wales doesn’t seem interested in jousting with Facebook. Instead, it sounds like he is hoping to offer a refuge from it.

Some critics have highlighted the ways certain social media sites are purposefully designed to be addictive. That can help make them successful, but it can take a toll on users.

complete article

In your personal life, reading peoples minds is a questionable superpower; but the business benefits of being able to listen in on peoples thoughts are infinite. And while social media monitoring is not exactly about reading peoples minds, it is as close to it as it gets.

Social listening gives you access to what people are saying about your brand, industry, or competitors across social media and the web – often without them being aware of you listening. If you know how to word your queries and filter the results, you will end up with the most authentic, unbiased insights you can get as a business.

complete article

A new service called Mailbrew is live that lets you created automated email newsletters. You can set them up from multiple sources including Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, RSS feeds, and more.

Mailbrew aims to save you time by rounding up the news and updates you care about from a variety of sources and popping it in a daily, weekly, or monthly automated email newsletter.

To start, you can create custom brews, choose from pre-made ones, or make use of both. You even get to choose the layout you’d like to use for the newsletters.

complete article

As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the world, more and more governments are imposing lockdowns on their citizens. As a result, reliance on digital tools has increased significantly to maintain social and professional relationships. Notably, usage of video conferencing app Zoom has spiked, and not just for professional purposes.

But what about the social media tools we were already using to connect with people on a daily basis? How has their popularity changed so far in these trying times?

complete article

A 2019 study by the Pew Research Center showed that 51% of the people surveyed said they were uncomfortable with being tracked and categorized by Facebook.

complete article

For many beginners (and, heck, some mid-level and even advanced SEOs), the line between search engine optimization and social media can sometimes blur.

~ Does your social media support or even help your search engine rankings?
~ How does optimizing for search on social media affect your profiles chance of showing up to new users?
~ And what does it mean that my tweets show up in search results?

In the past, the difference between SEO and social was fairly stark.

complete article

Self-quarantining during COVID-19 has caused some, especially those in the travel industry, to take a bigger hit than others. Those who usually work from home have had to make less of an adjustment, though booking paid partnerships is a struggle industry-wide.

As a result, many influencers are getting creative with their social strategies. Those who are multiplatform and have more than one revenue stream are coming out on top.

complete article

Feedly, a popular RSS feed reader with millions of users worldwide, recently announced the creation of a new AI research assistant named Leo. Their goal with Leo is to create an AI with a set of skills that will enable it to better prioritize articles from news feeds.

Our stress levels are at an all-time high right now, which means our attentiveness to our own self-care should be, too—especially those of us with wanderlust. Traveling from the living room to the kitchen and back is no one’s ideal of a vacation, yet here we are. On top of that, our social media platforms seem determined to remind us of better days: Hey, look where you were a year ago today! blares Facebook, serving up a photo of a gorgeous beach or other getaway spot much more alluring than the permanent butt-groove you have formed in your couch.

For many of us, looking back on our travels past is not doing us much good at the moment. Luckily, there are a few methods to keep them from showing up in your social media feeds.

With most Americans under orders to stay at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, many people are turning to social media for a fun distraction. Taking a Facebook quiz about how well you know a friend or what character from your favorite TV show best matches your personality may seem like a harmless way to pass the time while quarantined, but it could also give scammers your personal information for nefarious purposes.

Not all social media quizzes are data collection scams, but some quizzes collect personal information by asking questions like: What is your mothers maiden name? or What is the name of the street you grew up on? These are common security questions for banking and credit card accounts. Sharing this information can lead to your accounts being hacked and your personal and financial information being stolen. It also can enable a scammer to impersonate you to your friends and family.

Tips to avoid social media scams:

• Be skeptical. Before you take a quiz, figure out who created it. Is it a brand you trust? Just because something appears to be fun and innocent, doesn’t mean there isn’t an inherent risk.

• Adjust privacy settings. Review your social media accounts privacy settings and be strict about what information you share — and with whom you are sharing it.

In Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures, Tama Leaver, Tim Highfield and Crystal Abidin elaborate on why Instagram is more than just a social media platform: instead, it has become an icon that has altered understandings of visual social media cultures. By doing so, they focus on different aspects of Instagram, such as its aesthetics, cultures, ecologies and economics, supported with real-life examples and cases.

Instagram has tried to keep itself distinct from Facebook and other social platforms.

While usage of most mobile apps has remained neutral during the coronavirus pandemic, social media app usage has exploded during the lockdown, according to new data from Nielsen.

Why it matters: Prior to the pandemic, consumers and tech companies were both becoming more aware of the overuse of social media and actively trying to limit it. In a time when people can not connect with friends and family in person, companies have put these efforts on pause.

By the numbers: Prior to the pandemic, social media usage for most of January, February and early March remained relatively flat at around 20% of total mobile app usage, according to Nielsens data.

But beginning in mid-March, when statewide stay-at-home orders went into effect, social media app usage began to increase significantly, and now consumes around 25% of all mobile app usage for U.S. adults.

Other media app usage, like video, lifestyle, and finance apps have mostly remained the same, in part because consumers are now leveraging other devices, like desktops and television screens, for more activities while home.