Top 20 Social-Media Tools to Add to Your Arsenal in 2016

Top 20 Social-Media Tools to Add to Your Arsenal in 2016





Top 20 Social-Media Tools to Add to Your Arsenal in 2016



http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254712







Social media is here to stay in the marketing world and, by all accounts, it will only further penetrate all aspects of life and work. As we enter 2016, many social-media experts are already forecasting the direction of social media in the new year.

To be prepared, it’s that time of year to organize our social-media tool boxes, adding some new tools that can be game-changers in terms of how effective this platform is for certain strategic objectives. Here are 20 recommended social-media tools to add to your game plan, if you don’t have them already.





1. Canva

With the need to include more visual content as part of your social-media posts, you can turn to Canva for high-quality images that fit your budget. They offer numerous templates that help you look like a great designer, even if you don't always know exactly what you are doing.



2. Buffer

Posting your social-media content across multiple social media accounts gets a whole lot easier with this tool. It allows you to create a posting schedule for your Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ pages all in one place, creating a queue and saving you considerable time.



3. Brand24

Rather than have to search around for what people are saying about your brand, Brand24 delivers real-time information on what’s been said as well as what is going on with your competition. This continual insight can help you effectively respond to positive and negative comments across your social-media platforms, so you can stay engaged with your audience as well as effectively gauge any potential sales opportunities.



4. Edgar

It’s okay to re-use old content on social media as long as its relevant, but it is often hard to find that great content among the daily social-media posts. Edgar can solve that by helping you to locate some of that incredible content that many followers may have missed, because they were inundated with the constant flow of information. But they might catch your great information this time around. This social-media tool provides a way to categorize your posts, so you can more easily track down the content that you want to re-post in the near future.



5. Bundlepost

This social-media tool is another option for scheduling your posts but one that comes with features that improve upon other options. One highlight is Bundlepost will replace common niche keywords with hashtags, vastly improving your engagement results.



6. Nuzzel

As both a web and iOS app, this social-media tool helps you organize the stories shared by your Facebook and Twitter friends, aggregating the information into easy-to-read links and providing a way to add influencers that you can leverage for your own marketing needs. You can also go deeper by accessing the stories shared by friends of friends to develop a better understanding of your audience.



7. Cyfe

To understand what is working and not working, it’s important to add many analytics tools to your social media toolbox. Cyfe delivers detailed reports related to SEO, Google Analytics, AdWords and brand mentions that even a small-business owner can afford to use. It also gives you customizable dashboards to store and review this data. Beyond just its social-media application, Cyfe also helps with industry and competitor research as a business intelligence tool that helps turn data and trends into actionable insights.



8. Social Clout

As another analytics tool, Social Clout looks at where you can make significant improvements in engagement, campaigns and keywords. It also delivers reports on demographics and social-media results. All of these reports provide data on multiple social-media accounts to help you track the progress and be able to note the differences in responses across platforms.



9. SecureMySocial

Tracking what is being said on social media goes beyond just looking after your audience. You need to consider what your employees are saying and doing that might reflect on the company. This tool provides a way to get an alert in real time if any social-media posts which others make violates a company policy or the law. It is also possible for you to have the  person posting information get a notification that they are in violation, which could help maintain the reputation of the company when you don’t necessarily have time to track every post.



10. AgoraPulse

If you primarily use Facebook and Twitter for business, this tool enhances what you can do with both social-media platforms, offering customer relationship management software, applications, analytics reports, contests and more.



11. Nuvi

As an analytics tool, Nuvi can see what others cannot see in terms of Facebook conversations, including private and public posts. This means you can get insights into what people are saying behind the scenes that can help you to further shape your social media messages.



12. Follower Wonk

As a Moz app solely for Twitter analytics, Follower Wonk helps you find, analyze and optimize your social-media efforts on this platform. You can get deeper information about your followers, where they are located, and when they tweet plus the ability to locate new influencers and optimize your own tweets.



13. Feedly

To help gauge what others are saying in terms of content and identify the key industry trends in relevant information that should shape your own social-media posts, Feedly offers content curation and content sharing that integrates with Buffer.



14. Inkybee

This social-media tool provides a way for you to locate those influencers who can elevate your brand and attract more potential customers. It provides a way for you to search for bloggers and social-media celebrities interested in your industry, so you can connect with them.



15. Adobe Post

This app is a new to the photo scene app but has become something very near to my heart. I use it for creating stunning photos for my blog and social-media presence. Best part about it is that it's free. You simply choose from millions of photos, and it'll put together what looks like the best presentation in the world.



16. Sendible

This is a powerful social-media tool that brings together all aspects of your social-media management responsibilities. This includes pulling all posts and comments into one dashboard for analysis, measurement and engagement. Other features include publishing, collaboration, customer relationship management and mobile tools.



17. Person App

This app essentially puts a face to all those followers and friends in the social-media world. You can also create specific personas that then interact with this audience. Together, social media becomes more personalized and human.



18. Openr

Make the most of your social-media efforts with this tool, which lets you add a promotional message to any message you share on your social-media profiles. The result is more leads and traffic while letting you learn more about your audience.



19. Socedo

Marketing automation is increasingly driving success for businesses in terms of enhancing sales whilst reducing cost and effort. Socedoautomates the lead generation process by bringing in relevant prospects through social media. The platform matches users' interest with your defined criteria and engages prospective customers, automatically using a customizable workflow. In addition, Socedo also provides analytics and insights, so you can fine-tune and tweak the workflow in order to get better quality leads.



20. Babbly

Meanwhile, virality is one of the main goals of marketing through social-media channels. Babbly enables you to amplify your audience by sharing content through its own community of users and influencers. The tool is very simple. You just enter or paste the URL you want to promote, and the platform does its job. Babbly comes in a straightforward interface that's also mobile-friendly, which means you can grab attention for your content across different kinds of devices.



While there are hundreds of apps and tools now available that deserve your consideration as viable solutions to enhance your social-media presence and investment, these 20 social-media tools offer a range in capabilities and costs to appeal to everyone from a growing startup to a full-fledged established company.

5 things that will cost you more in 2016 (and 3 that won’t) - MarketWatch

5 things that will cost you more in 2016 (and 3 that won’t)

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-things-that-will-cost-you-more-in-2016-and-3-that-wont-2016-01-12/print

By Catey Hill

Published: Jan 12, 2016

Hotels

Hotel prices around the globe are poised to rise this year, several research firms reveal. Hotels in the Asia Pacific region will rise an estimated 3%, in Europe roughly 1.8%, in Latin America 3.7% and in North America 4.3%, according to the 2016 Global Travel Price Outlook, an annual research report from the Global Business Travel Association and travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel.

“Globally, 2016 will show an increase in hotel prices because demand is overtaking supply in every major global region,” the report reveals. And the American Express Global Business Forecast 2016 report notes that “limited increases in inventory [will] fail to keep pace with the growing global appetite for travel,” resulting in higher prices.

Even with typically steeper prices, there are still deals to be had, especially since consumers increasingly have options from hotel alternatives like Airbnb and VRBO, and consumers savings expert Andrea Woroch says there are plenty of deals using coupon codes you can find online.

Health insurance

For many Americans, health care premiums will cost more this year than last, according to a government report released in October. The price for the government’s silver plan (this is a mid-range option that is often used as a benchmark plan) in 2016 will rise by 7.5% on average in the 37 states using Healthcare.gov last year, though most consumers (those who live in the 30 largest markets and represent roughly 60% of total enrollment) will see increases of 6.3%. That’s compared with 5% in 2015.

This does not factor in tax credits, which can offset the cost, and for many consumers the plans will still be affordable: “For most consumers, premium increases for 2016 are in the single digits and they will be able to find plans for less than $100 a month,” said Kevin Counihan, chief executive of the Health Insurance Marketplaces, in a statement released in October.

What’s more, those with employer-sponsored plans may also have noticed higher premiums. Aon Hewitt says that average premium hikes this year will be more than 4%.

Groceries

Grocery prices will rise between 2% and 3% this year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture — and that’s assuming normal weather patterns. “Severe weather or other unforeseen events could potentially drive up food prices beyond the current forecasts,” they admit; some experts contend that El Niño could have caused the prices of a range of crops to rise significantly.

On the plus side, for many products, consumers may have already felt the most dramatic of the price increases (at least for the time being). The prices consumers paid for beef and veal will have risen between 6.75% and 7.75% once the final numbers are calculated for 2015, the government predicts; meanwhile, they are only expected to rise to about 2% in 2016. The price of eggs — due primarily to an avian flu outbreak — rose between about 16.75% and 17.75% in 2015, but will probably only rise up to about 1% in 2016.

On a side note, you may even pay more for your Girl Scout cookies in some areas of the country this year, with prices rising 25% to $5 per box. The organization says this is a move to help it offset price increases on everything from raw materials to transportation and so that it can raise more money (troops will now take in an average of 90 cents per box, up from 62 cents).

Netflix subscription

Americans who are hoping to cut the cord this year will likely still save money over their hefty cable bills, which can easily top $100 a month, but they should take note of this: Netflix (NFLX) is raising its prices for new subscribers. The price increase is $1 a month (to $9.99 a month for new subscribers of its standard plan — which gives you the ability to watch TV and movies on two devices simultaneously — in the U.S., Canada and parts of Latin America), and is the second increase in less than two years (the last — another $1 a month increase — was announced in 2014). (Current subscribers get a grace period before their rates go up; some accounts say that the period ends this May.)

Now this $1 increase is a small increase (only an extra $12 per year), and many consumers can appreciate Netflix’s rationale in doing so: “To continue adding more TV shows and movies including many Netflix original titles, we are modestly raising the price for some new members in the U.S., Canada and Latin America,” a Netflix rep wrote in an emailed statement at the time of the announcement.

College

For the first part of the 2016 school year, the average cost to attend college (this includes tuition and fees) at a public four-year in-state school will rise 2.9% as compared with a year prior to $9,410 a year; those hoping to attend a private nonprofit four-year institution should prepare for even heftier hikes (3.6% to $32,405), according to the College Board. The costs for room and board are up more 3% in both cases.

This follows a decades-long trend of increased tuition costs: Over the past five years alone, the tuition and fees at public four-year schools have jumped 13% and at private nonprofit four-year schools 10%. Meanwhile, the average student with debt now graduates with more than $30,000 in debt.

However, most students still do not pay the sticker price for college. Roughly two-thirds of full-time undergrads received grants to help offset the cost of college, according to the College Board.

Housing

Whether you’re planning to buy or sign a lease, prepare to pay more: Though home price appreciation is slowing, experts say there’s still more growth to come. Realtor.com predicts that home prices will rise roughly 3% in 2016, as do other experts. (Realtor.com and MarketWatch are both subsidiaries of News Corp.)

Meanwhile, Rent.com predicts that rental rates could rise 8% over the year, thanks to increased demand for apartments and homes and low inventory. “Rising rents won’t let up in 2016, and will continue to set new records,” Zillow notes in its 2016 Housing Market Predictions report. “The next year will bring the least affordable median rents ever.”

Airfare

On the flip side, you may pay less for some things this year — especially if you’re savvy about when to buy them. Consider: In January 2016, airfare will “bottom out…at a historical three-year low of about $210 per round-trip,” airfare research firm Hopper reveals; that’s 14.2% lower than airfares were in January of 2015. Some of the destinations that may have especially large drops include Honolulu, Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Houston, the firm notes.

Airfares will likely rise from those lows after this month, thanks in part to seasonal variation. But some sources predict that they won’t be much (if any) above last year’s rates when they do. “Airline prices are set to be nearly flat on a global basis due to significantly lower energy prices, a steady increase in capacity and stable demand,” the 2016 Global Travel Price Outlook reveals.

Winter clothes

Savings expert Woroch says that winter clothing is likely to be a particularly good deal this year as compared with past years, thanks to a “mild start to the winter and warmer than usual temperatures” along the East Coast. This has led to a lot of unsold inventory in many stores (data from Planalytics, a weather intelligence firm, notes that sales of boots, hats, gloves and scarves are all down, and that stores have lost millions thanks to this warm weather), which will very likely get discounted deeply, she says.

Retailers admit that the weather is hurting their sales. After reporting sales declines, Art Peck, the CEO of Gap Inc.GPS, -0.93%  , told investors “Not to make excuses, but October was the warmest October ever…and we’re still seeing the temperatures in the Northeast stay pretty warm, which obviously means people aren’t ready to buy into sweaters and outerwear.” And Macy’s M, -2.60% CEO Terry Lundgren says the store has a “buildup in inventory” of some winter items.

“2016 is going to have particularly deep discounts on cold weather clothing, as this inventory sold so poorly earlier in the season,” says Benjamin Glaser, the features editor at DealNews. In the first 11 days of the year, we’ve already seen a 64% increase year-over-year in the number of deals on coats.”

Gas

Helped in part by significant drops in oil prices, gas prices were low in 2015, and some experts think they will be even lower — at least in some months — in 2016. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that while gas prices averaged $2.43 per gallon in 2015, they will average just $2.36 per gallon in 2016.

While the prices for December 2015 and January 2016 are projected to be the same ($2.04 per gallon) and the lowest in both 2015 and 2016, summer travelers can take heart in the fact that their road trips may be less expensive this year. Prices for gas in June, July and August 2016 are projected to hit $2.56, $2.56 and $2.54 per gallon, respectively, compared with $2.80, $2.79, $2.64 over the same months last year.

The 11 Best Natural Cures For A Sore Throat - Medico Journal

The 11 Best Natural Cures For A Sore Throat - Medico Journal

The 11 Best Natural Cures For A Sore Throat

1. Sage

Think of sage as a super multipurpose herb: It’s been used as an herbal remedy for many ailments. And while we’re not sure it’ll help in the baby-making department, it can soothe that nasty sore throat thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties. Try using it as a tea; the warm liquids will help too.

2. Licorice Root

While Twizzlers and Red Vines may not keep the pain away, the root of the licorice shrub has been known to alleviate pain and even treathealth issues like heartburn, cough, and infections caused by viruses. There are a ton of recipes for licorice root tea worth sipping on, and it’s been proven effective. One study even found that it soothed the throats of patients after surgery if they gargled with it before going under .

3. Honey

This sore throat remedy has been in rotation since ancient times and with good reason. Adding bee’s honey to warm water or tea is considered a steadfast treatment for a sore throat. Even better, you probably already have a jar kicking around in your kitchen. So dig out that squeezy bear bottle and add a dollop to your mug, as science supports the use of this throat coat .

4. Echinacea

There’s a reason echinacea is all over the pharmacy in multiple forms, including extracts, tinctures, tablets, capsules, and ointments: A variety of studies have shown it boosts the immune system and relieves inflammation. Herbalists recommend echinacea to shorten the duration of the common cold, including easing symptoms like cough, fever, and, you guessed it—sore throats.

5. Marshmallow Root

While not exactly a prescription for s’mores—we wish!—the mucilage in marshmallow root has been a proven remedy for sore throats. In fact, it’s been soothing sore throats for thousands of years. There are few studies conducted on marshmallow root’s effect on humans, but years of history and traditional medicine say it’s worth trying this remedy, according to the Mayo Clinic. And in addition to being a sore throat champ and in our favorite campfire food, the herb hasbeen reported to help everything from asthma to skin inflammation. Kumbaya, indeed!

6. Slippery Elm

The bark of the elm tree has been used as an herbal medicine in North American culture for hundreds of years. It’s especially helpful when it comes to soothing the throat because it also contains mucilage, a substance that becomes gel-like when mixed with water. You probably won’t have slippery elm lying around the house, but it’s worth hitting a health or convenience store to keep a supply handy when a scratchy throat persists.

7. Humidifier

Liz Lemon knew the virtue of a humidifier, and experts agree: It helps add moisture to the air, which can soothe a swollen nose and throat tissue that often accompanies a cold. No humidifier nearby? Close the bathroom door and take a long steam shower—make sure you breathe in deeply.

8. Ice Cream, Fro-Yo, and Popsicles

Oh happy day! Health experts suggest eating soft cold or frozen foods to help ease the pain of scratchy throats. Now, that doesn’t mean you have cart blanche to down a quart of mint chocolate chip, but, hey, it’s rare to hear the advice that ice cream will do you good, so you might as well take advantage with a few scoops.

9. Gargling

According to the American Cancer Society, rinsing your mouth on the regular with a salt and baking soda mixture (1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt mixed in 1 quart water) will help prevent infections and help your throat feel better. Or you can gargle withsalt water multiple times a day—try a mixture of 1/2 teaspoon and 1 cup warm water.

10. Whiskey

Shots! Just kidding. But not entirely: Adding water to whiskey and gargling has been known to numb the throat and sooth irritation. And if you end up swallowing some in the process, well, it can be our little secret.

11. Rest

This cannot be emphasized enough. Taking a break and resting your voice is one of the best ways to feel better faster. Instead of chatting on the phone to a friend, try silent meditation or a nap. Let your body come back from whatever infection it is fighting, and you can get back to being your best self. (Bonus: This remedy is 100 percent free!)

History of Boston's transportation infrastructure in a film of the city from 1906

History of Boston's transportation infrastructure in a film of the city from 1906





Boston Traffic, As Filmed From a Streetcar in 1906

This map will change how you see Africa - Agenda - The World Economic Forum

This map will change how you see Africa - Agenda - The World Economic Forum





For most of us, our image of Africa is shaped by what we see on maps. And that image is completely inaccurate.

Poppy Barley: Custom-made boots and shoes

Poppy Barley: Custom-made boots and shoes



Sisters Justine and Kendall Barber talk about their company Poppy Barley and getting the perfect fit.

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