It’s an incredibly exciting time to be an author.

People are open to new ideas, readers are consuming content through a variety of media, and traditional publishers no longer stand in the way of releasing a new title.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever considered publishing a book. (Mine is raised right now, too.) Now, keep your hand up if you know how to publish a book. * … slowly lowers hand*

Publishing a book has always been one of those mysterious, cryptic processes reserved for the uber-famous or uber-rich. Books just seem to appear on the bookstore shelves … but they’ve got to come from somewhere, right?

Right. Nowadays, they come from multiple sources, which is good news for those of us who aren’t uber-famous or uber-rich. Regardless of your status, income, hometown, or connections, you (yes, you!) can publish a book.

All you need is a great idea, an even better sense of perseverance and patience, and this guide. Keep reading to learn more about publishing or use the chapter links below to skip ahead.

The publishing industry hasn’t always been so diverse and accessible, though. From the very early days of cave walls, clay tablets and papyrus to the modern era of eBooks, the publishing industry has undergone many major changes.

Here are some highlights.

• 1456: The Gutenberg Press publishes the first book ever: the Bible.
• 1776: Common Sense is written and self-published by Thomas Paine. He sold over 100,000 copies within three months.
• 1800s: The Penny Press arrives in the U.S., making newspapers and news accessible for a penny. Since more people can consume news for less (versus just the rich), letters to the editor increase.
• 1940-1970: The first eBook is published, although historians disagree on which one was truly first.
• 2000s: Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter emerge, as does blogging. Instead of sending letters to the editor, the masses take to blogging to share their voice and opinions.
• 2007: Print on-demand gains traction. Amazon releases Kindle.
• 2009: Self-published titles surge to double the amount of traditionally published titles.
• 2011: eBook sales surpass printed books for the first time in history.

As for 2018, this year has seen an increase in traditional and indie bookstore sales. Audiobooks have also become the fastest growth area in self-publishing. Lastly, most authors are opting to become hybrid authors — meaning they make their books available in both traditional and electronic formats. How do they do this? Keep reading to find out.

What’s the Difference Between Traditional and Self-Publishing?

So, we’ve referenced traditional and self-publishing (or indie publishing) multiple times so far. What do these processes mean? How are they similar and different?

Traditional publishing refers to the process of working with an agent and/or publishing house to edit, release, and market a book. Despite the lack of creative control given to authors in the traditional publishing process, once a publisher purchases a manuscript, they assume all financial risk with selling your book. New authors with little to no audience or follower base might choose to publish traditionally.

On the other hand, self-publishing is when authors assume all creative and financial control of the publishing process. They choose which independent agents, editors, designers, and distributors to work with, and they assume all or most financial risk associated with putting their book out. Experienced authors or people with a large audience (from a blog or social media) might choose to self-publish.

In the next section, we’ll discuss how to publish books via these different processes. Before we dive in, though, let’s define a few other popular terms in the publishing world.

What Does a Literary Agent Do?

A literary agent is similar to a celebrity or sports agent. They act as a liaison between the talent (the author) and anyone who could profit from or work with the talent. Literary agents typically work with authors to pitch and secure contracts with publishers. They also represent authors if their book is sold to film producers or studios.

Traditionally, literary agents are paid a percentage of any book sales negotiated on behalf of their client. How do agents benefit authors? Outside of making sales, literary authors connect their client’s work to publishers, negotiate contracts, ensure royalty payments, mitigate problems, and provide invaluable guidance and mentorship throughout the publishing process. Agents can also help new authors gain recognition and traction in the publishing world.

Authors secure an agent through a process called querying. (We cover this below.)

What Does a Publisher Do?

Book publishers assume all responsibility of getting a book published. With a team of editors, designers, and marketers, publishers do everything (short of writing the book) in order to bring it to market.

Some publishers specialize in a certain type of writing, whether fiction, non-fiction, or a specific genre. Also, depending on its size, a publisher might employ editors to manage the manuscript within each of those categories, thus diversifying the books and authors they represent.

Authors typically secure a publisher through their agent, as most big publishing houses don’t accept unrepresented works. Some smaller publishers accept work directly from authors, though. (We discuss this next.)

Top Publishing Companies

The following publishing houses publish the most books (and control over 60% of U.S. book revenue) and require agent representation to be considered for publication.

1. Hachette
2. Simon & Schuster
3. Penguin Random House
4. HarperCollins
5. Macmillan

Now that we’ve covered the basics of the publishing industry, let’s talk about how to get a book from the pages of your word processor to the shelf of your favorite bookstore.

How to Publish a Book

Because there are so many ways to publish a book nowadays, the “path to published” isn’t a straight line. There are many factors that can change the direction of that path — or put you on a new one entirely — such as book genre, literary agency (or lack thereof), traditional vs. self-publication, print vs. electronic publication … and the list goes on.

Preparing Your Book

The first step in publishing a book can be both the easiest and hardest step in the entire process — writing it. But before you dive in, you must ask yourself: What kind of book are you writing?

• If you’re writing a novel or memoir, you should finish your manuscript before approaching agents or starting the self-publishing process. Regardless of which publishing route you’re taking, make your manuscript the best content you’ve ever written. Hire a proofreader. Attend writing critique groups. Complete a few extra drafts. This will make it 1) more likely to get picked up by an agent or 2) sell well if self-published.
• If you’re writing a non-fiction book, a book proposal should suffice. Consider this a business plan for your book — a document that includes what you’d write about, why it would sell well, any competing manuscripts, and more. (If you’re self-publishing, follow the guidelines for a fiction book. In that case, you’d go straight to the press, so the manuscript would need to be complete.)

Publishing Your Book

This step is where the publishing process could take you in a few different directions. Below, we break it up into two main “paths”, per se.

Traditional Publishing

If you choose the traditional publishing route, you’ll need to either work with an agent or directly with a publisher. In today’s market, the vast majority of books acquired by the top publishing houses (mentioned above) are represented by agents. Imagine walking into a Hollywood audition without representation … that’s kind of like pitching a brand new book to a major publishing house. Literary agents help bridge that gap.

If you aren’t interested in agency, you can work directly with a publisher — albeit a smaller, lesser known one. Thankfully, in today’s publishing world, there’s a good fit for every author and his or her work. It just takes some research.

Here’s a (non-exhaustive) list of where to find agents and publishers.

• Writer’s Market
• Publisher’s Marketplace
• Query Tracker
• Agent Query
• Poets & Writers
• AAR

If you don’t feel like doing your own research, you can also hire help through services like Copy Write Consultants. For a fee, they’ll research agents and publishers and curate a customized, genre-specific list. They also review your queries and proposals.

Pitching an Agent or Publisher

Once you’ve found the agents and/or publishers you’re interested in, it’s time to compile a query letter and pitch your work. Querying is sending an unsolicited proposal for representation, typically including an outline, synopsis, or first few chapters of a new manuscript. From that point, the agent or publisher can either reject or accept the query.

Accepting the query involves requesting a full manuscript … which is why it’s handy to have your whole book completed before reaching out to agents or publishers.

Note: Beware of con-artists posing as agents. Reputable agents never ask for a fee to read your manuscript; they only make money if they sell your book. Visit Preditors & Editors to check agent ratings and reviews.

Signing and Working with an Agent or Publisher

Next, if an agent or publishing house extends a contract, it’s time to sign. Take a moment to research the agent or publishing house by reviewing their past clients and books. Overall, trust your gut. You’ll work closely with this person and/or publisher and share your most intimate ideas and thoughts with them (in the form of your book). Be comfortable with your choice.

Let’s say you sign with an agent. Here’s what that process would look like.

1. You’ll work with him or her to review your manuscript, but at this point, you’ll likely only be making minor changes in preparation to pitch a publisher. These changes might include word count, book organization, or any big-picture plot holes. Remember, the book is still yours — you don’t have to change anything you don’t want to.
2. Once you’re both happy with your manuscript, your agent will take it to various publishers. At this point, the fate of your book is out of your hands … which is why it’s important to sign with an agent you trust. If a publisher is interested, they’ll offer to purchase and publish your manuscript, and you’ll sign it over.
3. Upon purchase, the publishing house will assign its own editor to your book. You’ll work alongside them to continue to tweak and revise the copy, as well as establish the book design, cover art, publishing date, and marketing strategy (which we’ll delve into next). The publisher will have its own team for these tasks, but you’ll likely still be involved.

Now, let’s rewind and say you sign directly with a publisher. This process looks pretty similar, except you’d simply skip to Step 3.

Self-Publishing

Okay. Let’s change directions and explore the self-publishing path. In the previous section, we discussed self-publishing and ePublishing, and we’ll expand more on these below.

First, here are the most common self-publishing methods:

• Independently self-publishing, which means hiring freelance or consulting help as-needed and working directly with retailers and distributors
• Hiring a self-publishing service company, which is akin to working with a publisher

For the sake of equipping you with everything you need to know about publishing, we’re going to dedicate this section to the first method. But before we move on, let’s explore the second … just in case you’re interested.

Hiring a company to self-publish your book is very similar to working with a publisher, except they typically charge an upfront fee, retain no rights to your work, and pass along 100% of your sales. While this method sounds like a great deal, it’s important to note that the best and most notable companies charge upwards of $20,000 … per manuscript. So, if you have a ton of money and no interest in being involved, this might be the move for you.

Here are a few reputable self-publishing service companies:

• Mill City Press
• DogEar
• Radius Book Group
• Girl Friday Productions
• Scribe Writing

Now, let’s talk about the first method: self-publishing completely on your own.

This method gives you complete control over your book’s design, editorial process, and quality. Today that’s made easy by the myriad of freelance and independent editors, illustrators, book designers, and marketing professionals that work in this specific market.

The first thing to determine when self-publishing is whether you’d like to publish your manuscript as a print or digital book. This will determine how you prepare your manuscript and who you hire to help you.

Print Publishing

Print production can be done in one of two ways: print on-demand or traditional printing. Print on-demand is printing your book one at a time, as it’s ordered. Traditional printing is typically how major publishing houses produce their books, and to follow this method, you typically have to commit to (at least) 1,000 copies.

Which option is best for you? Ask yourself these questions:

• How do I plan to sell my book?
• Where will my audience discover and buy my book?
• What is my budget like?

Print on-demand is a great option for authors who plan to sell primarily online, such as through a website or Amazon. Traditional printing might be a good fit for an author who has speaking engagements or plans to make in-person sales. If you’re looking to stock your book in bookstores, it’s best to wait for a purchase order or sales contract before investing in a traditional print run.

As for your budget, print on-demand can increase your per-unit cost (and retail price), but if you’re working with a small budget, print on-demand decreases the financial risk associated with publishing. On the other hand, if you’re confident you’ll be able to sell your printed books, traditional printing might be worth the bulk cost … with printing and shipping, it’ll likely be at least $2,000.

Preparing Your Print Manuscript

Traditional publishers have a slew of professionals who take your Microsoft Word manuscript and turn it into a gorgeous book. As a self-publisher, that process is on you.

Before taking your book to print, it must look like a traditional book. Tools like Book Design Templates can help you organize and design the inside of your manuscript. For the cover design, you can use tools like Canva (if you’re looking for a DIY approach) or hire a professional designer. At this stage, you should also consider your author biography and any positive reviews you’d like to put on the cover.

ePublishing

ePublishing isn’t a synonym for self-publishing, but rather one way self-published authors might distributetheir work. ePublishers aren’t publishers; they don’t assume responsibility for the quality or organization of your work, and they don’t assume any rights.

They’re merely distributors or retailers — such as an electronic bookstore or library — that take a portion of the proceeds from book sales. The below image is an example of the retailer fees by price point.

Source

Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is a popular ePublishing option offered through Amazon. KDP is considered an ePub retailer, on which authors can sell their books. KDP doesn’t work with authors beforehand; they simply provide a portal through which readers can find and purchase books.

Preparing Your eBook Manuscript

If you opt to self-publish digitally, you’ll need to tweak your manuscript. This process is similar to preparing your manuscript for print, except you’ll need to add another step: converting your file to an ePub format.

Here are the most common formats:

• EPUB, a standard format for eBooks. You can’t export an EPUB file from a Word document, but you can save your Word document as a text (.txt) file and convert and format it using a special software.
• MOBI, the ideal format for Amazon Kindle (although EPUB files work, too).

PDFs work, too, although they’re not recommended as they are difficult to convert.

If this process intimidates you, companies like Draft2Digital or eBookPartnership can help. But if your manuscript is mostly text, you should be able to handle conversion and formatting on your own.

In terms of cover art, eBook covers will likely be seen in black and white, grayscale, color, high-resolution, low-resolution, thumbnail size, or full size … just to name a few. Digital books sales can take place on desktops, mobile devices, and in all resolutions. Because of this, it may be best to hire a designer who specializes in these formats.

Distributing and Marketing Your Book

So, we’ve talked about how to prepare and publish your book, both traditionally and as a self-published author. At this stage, you’d likely have one of the following:

• A printed book as produced by a traditional publisher (with or without an agent)
• A printed book as produced by print on-demand or a traditional printer
• A digital book manuscript

With the hard part behind you and one of these in-hand (or on your computer), you’re now ready to distribute, market, and sell your book.

Note: If you’re working with a traditional publishing house, they’ll handle most of the marketing and distribution. That’s what your contract entails, after all. But that doesn’t mean you can’t help promote your book, too. Apply some of the self-publishing tips below to maximize your book sales.

For self-published print books, the main success factors are your book quality and your cover. (That’s why the majority of this article is dedicated to preparing and publishing your book.) The main factors for eBooks include pricing (which should be similar to or a little less than your competition) and its positioning on Amazon or other digital bookstores. While you can’t quite control this, you can optimize your marketing description, author bio, cover design, and other components to ensure your book is seen by more people.

There’s one factor that drives success for both print and digital books: audience involvement and visibility. This includes giveaways, reviews, contests, and drumming up interest before the publish date. Authors — especially self-published authors — should have a website, a blog, and social media (for starters) through which they can attract followers and promote their book. Loyalty is an incredibly strong motivator for books sales.

Writer Jane Friedman shares this advice on her blog: “You’ll be far more attractive to a publisher if they believe you’ll be an active marketer and promoter of your book. If you come to the table with media savvy or an established platform (audience or readership), you’ll have an easier time getting that first deal. [Also,] don’t go looking for a publishing deal because you need the authority or platform that a book can give you. Rather, you must already have the platform and authority, and thus be qualified to write a book. YOU bring the audience to the publisher, not the reverse.”

The same goes for self-publishers. Your audience is critical for marketing and selling a book … which brings us to our next section: publishing tips in 2018.

Tips for Publishing in 2018

The publishing world has changed drastically, especially in the last 20 years. Outside of self-publishing, ePublishing, and audiobooks, what else is new? What are some tips for modern-day publishing? Keep reading to find out.

Crowdsource Your Book

Crowdsourcing isn’t reserved for fancy backpacks or new technology. Self-published authors can thrive there, too. Not only does crowdsourcing provide you with an advance of cash that can help with upfront editorial or printing costs, but it can also create a unique audience of people who are both fiscally and emotionally invested in the creation of your book.

It also builds a sense of exclusivity as your supporters are the only ones who’d receive your book … at least in the beginning. Services like Kickstarter and Indiegogo can help host a “pre-book tour” that raises funds and a following.

Start With an eBook, Then Print

Is this your very first book? Well, maybe you should take this guide one step at a time. Given the lower financial and physical commitment of publishing an eBook, many first-time authors use that process as a springboard into the world of authorship.

Publishing an eBook allows you to get your work out there while building up a readership and garnering name recognition. Then, when you’re (hopefully) ready to publish your second book, your readers can anticipate a digital and hard copy.

Better Yet, Start With a Blog

Let’s take a step back. If this is your very first book, and you have yet to write a word much less attract an audience, it may be more realistic to start with a blog. Blogging is completely risk- and cost-free yet attracts a readership and following via email and social media. Once you drum up enough attention, then you can dive into writing a book … with the confidence that your audience will want to read that, too.

Look Local

Just like coffeeshops love supporting local farmers and art galleries love supporting local artists, indie and independent bookstores love supporting local authors. Selling books written by local authors attracts, well, local customers and celebrates the community that the shop is a part of.

Local bookstores (like coffeeshops) are community hotspots — they support the community, sponsor local programs, sell unique content (not found at national chains), and host events. When pitching to a local bookstore, consider how your book supports their mission as said hotspot and how selling your book might bring other locals there, too.

Over to You

From querying an agent to working with an indie book cover designer, there are a myriad of players in the wild world of publishing. No longer are book jacket biographies reserved for the rich, famous, or uber-successful. Anyone and everyone can publish their thoughts and ideas — including you — and this guide can help you do so.

Nowadays, marketers put a lot of emphasis on chatbots, Instagram influencers, and other new opportunities to reach their customers.

But your contemporary communication methods shouldn’t distract you from one of the oldest and yet most effective messaging channels — email.

You might be wondering if email is still a worthwhile marketing strategy. In fact, email generates $38 for every $1 spent, which is an astounding 3,800% ROI, making it one of the most effective options available.

If you’re still hesitant, keep reading — we’ve cultivated a list of email marketing statistics for 2019 to demonstrate just how powerful email can be.

B2B Email Marketing Statistics

1. 93% of B2B marketers use email to distribute content. (Content Marketing Institute, 2017)

2. Active email accounts are expected to hit 5.6 billion by 2019. (Statista, 2018)

3. 83 percent of B2B companies use enewsletters as part of their content marketing program. (Imaginepub.com, 2017)

4. 40 percent of B2B marketers say email newsletters are most critical to their content marketing success. (Content Marketing Institute, 2017)

5. It’s estimated that the U.S. will spend over 350 million dollars on email advertising in 2019. (Statista, 2019)

Mobile Email Marketing Statistics

6. Mobile opens accounted for 46 percent of all email opens. (Litmus.com, 2018)

7. 35% of business professionals check email on a mobile device. (Convince & Convert, 2018)

8. Apple iPhone is the most popular mobile client for reading emails with 29 percent of all opens occurring on this platform. Gmail is a close runner-up at 27 percent (Campaign Monitor, 2018)

Demographic Email Marketing Statistics

9. 73 percent of millennials prefer communications from businesses to come via email. (Adestra, 2016)

10. More than 50 percent of U.S. respondents check their personal email account more than 10 times a day, and it is by far their preferred way to receive updates from brands (Campaign Monitor, 2017).

11. 99% of consumers check their email every day. (DMA Insights, 2017)

B2C Email Marketing Statistics

12. 80% of business professionals believe that email marketing increases customer retention. (Emarsys, 2018)

13. 59% of respondents say marketing emails influence their purchase decisions. (SaleCycle, 2018)

14. The most opened emails relate to hobbies, with an open rate of 27.35 percent. (MailChimp, 2018)

15. 59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI. (Emma, 2018)

Email Marketing Best Practices Statistics

16. 56% of brands using an emoji in their email subject line had a higher open rate than those that did not. (Forbes, 2017)

17. Marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue. (Campaign Monitor, 2019)

When most people think of advertising on Google, they picture the text ads that show up at the top of Google’s search engine results pages. But Google actually has another advertising program that they released three years after Google Ads’ inception. It’s called Google AdSense.

Below, we’ll go over the main differences between Google Ads and AdSense, from whom they’re geared toward, how their bidding works, and how much money they can make and cost you. Read on to learn more.

How Does Google Ads Work?

With over 3.5 billion search queries on Google everyday, Google Ads is one of the most popular and effective types of online advertising.

Naturally, there’s enormous demand for the top ad rankings, so Google triggers an auction anytime there are at least two advertisers bidding for keywords that are related to search queries that users consistently enter into Google.

Image Credit: WordStream

Advertisers can then categorize keywords and their corresponding ad copy and web page into groups, pick the group they want to bid on, and choose their maximum bid. Next, Google will select a keyword from the advertiser’s ad group that they deem most relevant to users’ search queries and enter it into the auction.

A Google auction isn’t like your typical auction for antiques, though. They want to level the playing field when it comes to leveraging the size of their reach, so instead of the highest bidder always winning the auction, the bidder with the highest Ad Rank always wins.

AdRank is calculated by multiplying your maximum cost-per-click bid with the quality score of your ad, which is calculated by measuring your page’s relevance to the keyword, user experience, and click-through-rate. This means organizations can’t acquire the top ranking for any keyword they want just because they have the biggest ad budgets. Their content has to be engaging.

Image Credit: WordStream

Google AdWords wants to incentivize the best advertisers to advertise the best content on their search engine results pages, so they reward ads that have high quality scores with higher ad rankings and lower cost-per-clicks.

In the same vein, they also want to discourage bad advertisers from advertising bad content, so advertisers with low quality scores will usually only acquire a high ad position if they pay a huge cost-per-click bid. If they want to pay lower a cost-per-click, they have to settle with stooping at the bottom of the ad rankings.

If you win a Google auction, your actual cost-per-click is calculated by the second highest ad rank divided by your quality score, plus one cent. The only time you’ll pay your maximum bid is if you’re the only bidder in the auction or if you make the highest bid in the auction, but you have the lowest ad rank. In this case, you’ll acquire the last ad rank.

Image Credit: WordStream

How Does Google AdSense Work?

Just like Google Ads, advertisers bid on publishers’ ad space in the Google Ads auction. They bid on certain keywords, and if a publisher’s content has the same or similar keywords, Google will sell their ad space to the highest bidder and pay the publisher a small portion of the bid whenever people click the ad on their website.

Image Credit: Google AdSense

However, AdSense doesn’t optimize the ads that they display on publishers’ website for a maximum return on investment like Google Ads does for its advertisers when they want to optimize their ad campaigns. So, essentially, the amount of money a publisher can earn with AdSense hinges on how well advertisers can craft their ads.

Publishers do have control over the types of ads that display on your website, though. They can choose from text ads, display ads, rich media ads, and more. They can also customize their ad’s style or create their own, which gives them the ability to change the size, color, textual, background, and border details of the ads that display on their website. Additionally, they can only place three content ads, three link ads, and two search boxes on each of their web pages.

If you want to sign up for the Google AdSense program, submit an application here.

This post was inspired by the video series, 4 Essential Microsoft Excel Skills Every Marketer Should Learn. If you want to become a master of the almighty spreadsheet, watch the full video series here.

I know, “VLOOKUP function” sounds like the geekiest, most complicated thing ever. But by the time you finish reading this article, you’ll wonder how you ever survived in Excel without it.

As was the case with pivot tables, Microsoft Excel’s VLOOKUP function is easier to use than you think. What’s more, it is incredibly powerful, and is definitely something you want to have in your arsenal of analytical weapons.What does VLOOKUP do, exactly? Here’s the simple explanation: The VLOOKUP function searches for a specific value in your data, and once it identifies that value, it can find — and display — some other piece of information that’s associated with that value.

In practical terms, this means you can take the revenue data from your second spreadsheet and integrate it with the customer data in your first spreadsheet in order to reveal the bigger picture about your business’s performance.

Below, you’ll see a five-step guide to performing this VLOOKUP example, followed by a video tutorial for using VLOOKUP to organize a list of blog posts.

How does VLOOKUP work?

VLOOKUP stands for “vertical lookup.” In Excel, this means the act of looking up data vertically across a spreadsheet, using the spreadsheet’s columns — and a unique identifier within those columns — as the basis of your search. When you look up your data, it must be listed vertically wherever that data is located.

The formula always searches to the right.

When conducting a VLOOKUP in Excel, you’re essentially looking for new data in a different spreadsheet that is associated with old data in your current one. When VLOOKUP runs this search, it always looks for the new data to the right of your current data.

For instance, if one spreadsheet has a vertical list of names, and another spreadsheet has an unorganized list of those names and their email addresses, you can use VLOOKUP to retrieve those email addresses in the order you have them in your first spreadsheet. Those emails addresses must be listed in the column to the right of the names in the second spreadsheet, or Excel won’t be able to find them. (Go figure … )

The formula needs a unique identifier to retrieve data.

The secret to how VLOOKUP works? Unique identifiers.

A unique identifier is a piece of information that both of your data sources share, and — as its name implies — it is unique (i.e. the identifier is only associated with one record in your database). Unique identifiers include product codes, stock keeping units (SKUs), and customer contacts.

Since CRMs like HubSpot use email addresses to uniquely identify the contacts in their databases, HubSpot customers can use “email address” as their unique identifier to execute a VLOOKUP.

Take the VLOOKUP example above. Let’s say you’re looking through your HubSpot data and are checking out which of your site pages your contacts have viewed. You’re also paying attention to whether or not any of those contacts have converted into customers.

Then it hits you: In addition to knowing which of those contacts have closed, you want to know how much MRR (monthly recurring revenue) each of them brings in. That way, you can tie your revenue back to your site pages and do some analysis to see which pages are having the biggest impact on your bottom line.

There’s only one problem: Your MRR data lives in your CRM. And while you could manually look up each and every contact in your CRM to find their MRR, and then manually match those values to their corresponding contacts in your HubSpot data, the whole process would be ridiculously time-consuming and impractical.

That’s where the VLOOKUP function comes in. For your reference, here’s what a VLOOKUP function looks like:

VLOOKUP(lookup_value , table_array , col_index_num , range_lookup)

In the steps below, we’ll assign the right value to each of these components, using customer names as our unique identifier to find the MRR of each customer.

1. Identify a column of cells you’d like to fill with new data.

If this data is coming from a pivot table made in Excel, copy the data into a new spreadsheet so the VLOOKUP function can freely read this data.

Then, label a column next to the cells you want more information on with a proper title in the top cell, such as “MRR,” for monthly recurring revenue. This new column is where the data you’re fetching will go.

2. Select ‘Function’ (Fx) > VLOOKUP and insert this formula into your highlighted cell.

To the left of the text bar above your spreadsheet, you’ll see a small function icon that looks like a script “Fx.” Click on the first empty cell beneath your column title and then click this function icon. A box titled “Formula Builder” will appear to the right of your screen.

Select “VLOOKUP” from the list of options included in the Formula Builder. Then, select “Insert Function” at the bottom of this list. The cell you currently have highlighted in your spreadsheet should now look like this: “=VLOOKUP()“

You can also enter this formula into a call manually by entering the bold text above exactly into your desired cell.

3. Enter the lookup value for which you want to retrieve new data.

With the =VLOOKUP text entered into your first cell, it’s time to fill the formula with four different criteria. These criteria will help Excel narrow down exactly where the data you want is located and what to look for.

The first criteria is your lookup value — this is the value of your spreadsheet that has data associated with it, which you want Excel to find and return for you. To enter it, click on the cell that carries a value you’re trying to find a match for. In our example, shown above, it’s in cell A2. You’ll start migrating your new data into D2, since this cell represents the MRR of the customer name listed in A2.

Keep in mind your lookup value can be anything: text, numbers, website links, you name it. As long as the value you’re looking up matches the value in the referring spreadsheet — which we’ll talk about that in the next step — this function will return the data you want.

4. Enter the table array of the spreadsheet where your desired data is located.

Next to the “table array” field, enter the range of cells you’d like to search and the sheet where these cells are located, using the format shown in the screenshot above. The entry above means the data we’re looking for is in a spreadsheet titled “Pages” and can be found anywhere between column B and column K.

The sheet where your data is located must be within your current Excel file. This means your data can either be in a different table of cells somewhere in your current spreadsheet, or in a different spreadsheet linked at the bottom of your workbook, as shown below.

For example, if your data is located in “Sheet 2” between cells C7 and L18, your table array entry will be “Sheet2!C7:L18.”

5. Enter the column number of the data you want Excel to return.

Beneath the table array field, you’ll enter the “column index number” of the table array you’re searching through. For example, if you’re focusing on columns B through K (notated “B:K” when entered in the “table array” field), but the specific values you want are in column K, you’ll enter “10” in the “column index number” field, since column K is the 10th column from the left.

6. Enter your range lookup to find an exact or approximate match of your lookup value.

In situations like ours, which concerns monthly revenue, you want to find exact matches from the table you’re searching through. To do this, enter “FALSE” in the “range lookup” field. This tells Excel you want to find only the exact revenue associated with each sales contact.

To answer your burning question: Yes, you can allow Excel to look for an approximate match instead of an exact match. To do so, simply enter TRUE instead of FALSE in the fourth field shown above.

When VLOOKUP is set for an approximate match, it’s looking for data that most closely resembles your lookup value, rather than data that is identical to that value. If you’re looking up data associated with a list of website links, for example, and some of your links have “https://” at the beginning, it might behoove you to find an approximate match just in case there are links that do not have this “https://” tag. This way, the rest of the link can match without this initial text tag causing your VLOOKUP formula to return an error if Excel can’t find it.

7. Click ‘Done’ (or ‘Enter’) and fill your new column.

In order to officially bring in the values you want into your new column from Step 1, click “Done” (or “Enter,” depending on your version of Excel) after filling the “range lookup” field. This will populate your first cell. You might take this opportunity to look in the other spreadsheet to make sure this was the correct value.

If so, populate the rest of the new column with each subsequent value by clicking the first filled cell, then clicking the tiny square that appears on the bottom-right corner of this cell. Done! All your values should appear.

Alright, enough explanation: let’s see another example of the VLOOKUP in action!

In the video below, we’re taking the pivot table we made in video #2, pasting the values into a new sheet, and using it as an example report. We then use the VLOOKUP function to match blog post authors (from our second data source) to their corresponding post titles. In this instance, we’re using post title as our unique identifier.

Author’s note: There are many different versions of Excel, so what you see in the video above might not always match up exactly with what you’ll see in your version. That’s why we encourage you to download the written instructions and demo data so you can follow along.

Download demo data | Download instructions (Mac) | Download instructions (PC)

Want to learn to do more in Excel? Download the full video series, 4 Essential Microsoft Excel Skills Every Marketer Should Learn.

Some things you think will be simple actually end up getting really complex. Google knows this all to well, which is why it recently rolled out a brand new Google Calendar — and plenty of nifty features to go with it.

While a few features in the latest Google Calendar aren’t new, they have changed somewhat. Still other features you might not know exist at all. Let’s go over all of them to make your life a little easier.

Your Google Calendar comes with your personal Gmail address, and you won’t believe how simple it is to use and set up. But if you work at a company that uses its own Google Calendar, you suddenly have to find out how best to integrate your personal calendar with your weekly meeting schedule.

Google Calendar can start to feel a lot less simple the more events you have on your agenda. Luckily, there are some cool hacks and under-the-radar features you can use to make your life in Google Calendar much easier to organize.

Below are 18 of our favorite tips, tricks, and features available in Google Calendar.

18 Google Calendar Features That’ll Make You More Productive

1. Create new calendars for different parts of your life.

When you first start out on Google Calendar, you’re given one calendar to start with — it’s the one with your name under “My calendars,” as shown in the screenshot below.

So, if you want to use your calendar for multiple purposes — like managing your actual schedule, planning periods of focused work time, and scheduling repeating reminders — you only have one place to do it. But when you’re only working with one calendar, all of those things get treated equally — meaning you can’t quickly and easily pull up the non-repetitive, important tasks you have for the day.

To combat this, just create a new calendar for each part of your life you’d like to keep track of on your Google Calendar.

How to Use This Feature

To create a new calendar, click the little plus sign (+) next to “My calendars,” and you’ll see the option, “New calendar.” Select this option, name your new calendar, give it a description and time zone, and voilà — you’ve got yourself another calendar.

Pro Tip: You can even color-code each calendar to make it easy for you to pick out what you’ve got to do each day.

2. Schedule meetings with groups using “Find a time” or “Suggested times.”

Do you ever need to arrange a meeting with several people who have busy schedules? It can be really annoying to try to figure out when you’re all free. Thankfully, Google Calendar actually has two features that can do the heavy lifting for you: “Suggested times” or “Find a time.”

How to Use This Feature

To use either of these two options, first make sure you’ve added everyone to the event who needs to attend. Then, if you’d like Google to suggest a time for you to meet, simply select the “Suggested times” link below your guests’ names. A dropdown window will appear with a list of times when every meeting guest, including you, is available with no conflicts.

“Find a time” is the other way to quickly find a time that works for every guest included on the meeting invitation. To use this feature, choose the tab next to “Event details” called “Find a time,” and you’ll see everyone’s schedules side-by-side for the day of your intended meeting. When you see a time when none of your guests have conflicts, click this line of the calendar to highlight the time and press “Save” at the top of your Calendar.

Pro tip: you can also use a free product like HubSpot Meetings to easily schedule meetings without back-and-forth emails.

3. Hide your event details.

Sometimes, the meetings you host or attend are sensitive in nature. Keep in mind, however, that a closed door isn’t the only way for others to know what’s going on inside. The event’s details in Google Calendar can also reveal more to the rest of the office than you’d like.

To ensure you have as much privacy as you need during more sensitive meetings, set your event to “Private.” This makes it so nobody viewing your weekly schedule sees the details of the event — meeting name, attendees, attachments, and so forth. By default, the public label on the event block will simply be, “Busy.”

How to Use This Feature

To privatize the details of certain events on your calendar, click the event from your calendar view and select the pencil icon to edit the event’s details. In the window that appears, find the briefcase icon just above the event description field.

With the first field set to “Busy,” click into the second field and select “Private” from the dropdown, as shown below. Hit the blue “Save” button at the top of your screen and you’ll be all set.

4. Add a Google Hangout to your event.

Need to easily set up a face-to-face remote meeting? Just click the link to “Add video call,” and Google will set up hangout for your event attendees to use. (Learn more about Google Hangouts here.)

5. Add attachments.

I don’t know about you, but I often find myself attending meetings that require me to reference a relevant document. Maybe we’re all working off one Google Doc, or perhaps we’re pouring over an intricate spreadsheet.

Regardless, it’s best to make sure all meeting attendees have the materials they need before the meeting begins so they don’t have to go hunting in their inboxes for it. Google Calendar can help you do this, allowing you to attach documents directly to the event for guests to open and review.

How to Use This Feature

To attach a document to your event, click on your event block from the calendar view and select the pencil icon to edit the event, as shown below.

Once you’re in the event’s edit screen, look for a paper clip icon right above the description section, as shown in the screenshot below. Click this icon and a large window will appear where you can upload files to attach directly from your Google Drive.

Pro tip: When you reach the upload window, you can toggle to the “My Drive” tab to attach Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides that already exist in your Google Drive. Or, you can click the “Upload” tab on the far left of the window to attach offline files from your computer.

6. Enable your world clock.

Do you work with teammates who live around the world? You might find it’s difficult to figure out what time is appropriate to schedule meetings with them. Fortunately, you can — by enabling “World Clock” in your Google Calendar settings.

How to Use This Feature

To quickly check multiple time zones when arranging meetings, click the gear icon on the top-righthand corner of your calendar view. These are your settings. Then, navigate to the “World clock” section, check the first blue box, and select the time zones you want to see from your calendar view.

Once you’ve chosen the time zones you want, return to your calendar view and you’ll see the following on your Google Calendar’s lefthand sidebar:

7. Enable working hours.

Not everyone is a 9-to-5 worker, but they might work quite a bit with those who are. If you have an unconventional work schedule that none of your colleagues seem to remember, this feature is for you.

“Working Hours” is a setting that alerts people if they try to add you to a meeting that lies outside a range of hours set by you in Google Calendar. Hey, it beats having to hit “Decline” and then follow up with the meeting organizer to remind them you’re unavailable during that time.

How to Use This Feature

To enable specific working hours on your Google Calendar, click the gear icon from your calendar view to access your settings. Navigate to the “Working Hours” section, as shown below. Here, you’ll be able to specify when you’re in and out of work each day of the week.

8. Email event guests.

Remember the time you tried to email a large group of people about an event? Maybe you were trying to coordinate a team outing — or just let everyone know they should bring their laptops to the all-hands meeting. Regardless, I’ll bet it was annoying to figure out who was actually going to the event and ensure you didn’t forget anyone.

Well, this Google Calendar feature will come in handy next time.

How to Use This Feature

As long as you’ve added everyone to the event that needs to go, you can easily email everyone in the group by clicking on the event block from your calendar view and clicking the envelope icon.

Once you click on the envelope icon inside the event block, an email compose box will appear. Simply type in your message, type in the email addresses of the people you want to receive it, and hit send.

9. Add specific meeting locations.

I wish I’d known about this feature the last time I got coffee with a someone in downtown Boston. We agreed to meet at Starbucks … but thanks to the multitude of Starbucks locations in Boston, our conversation went something like this:

“Okay, so let’s meet at the one on State Street,” I said.

“Oh, the one by the Court House?” he asked.

“Well, it’s kinda by the Court House, but further down State Street,” I replied.

“Oh, you mean the one by Downtown Crossing?” he clarified.

How to Use This Feature

The logistics of a meeting can get fuzzy without a specific address or conference room. Thankfully, Google Calendar has a feature that’ll fix all that. Instead of having the back-and-forth, I could’ve just sent my friend a calendar invitation with the specific address in the “Where” box. It integrates with Google Maps so it’s super easy to figure out where you’re meeting and how to get there.

10. Use desktop notifications.

As you probably can tell by now, I love Google Calendar … but there is one feature of which I am not a fan.

If you have your Google Calendar open as a tab in your browser when it’s 10 minutes before your next event, the 10-minute warning interrupts everything you’re doing and takes over your screen. Forget about what you were working on — Google Calendar will suddenly surface its tab with a big pop-up alert coupled with an annoying sound. It’s the worst.

Luckily, there’s a setting in Google Calendar that you can use to make notifications much less annoying: “Desktop notifications.” Rather than interrupting your work, you’ll see a much gentler box slide in from the top-righthand corner of your computer screen, displaying the name of the event that’s 10 minutes away.

How to Use This Feature

To enable “Desktop notifications” in Google Calendar, click into your settings using the gear icon on the top-righthand corner in your calendar view. Scroll down to “Event settings” and click the “Notifications” box, as shown below.

By default, your notifications might be set as “Alerts,” causing each event’s 10-minute warning to hijack your computer screen. Instead, select “Desktop notifications,” return to your calendar view, and you will have successfully enabled gentler meeting notifications.

11. Change the event notification time.

In the previous tip, you learned how to soften the notifications you receive in advance of a meeting. But did you also know you can change the number of minutes before the event you want to be notified?

How to Use This Feature

By default, Google will notify you 10 minutes before the event’s start time. To change this warning time for a particular event, click on the event from your calendar view, and select the pencil icon to edit the event’s settings.

In the event details, find the bell icon just below the video conferencing line. Hover your cursor over the box listed “10” and toggle up and down using the small arrow keys that appear to the right to change the number of minutes in advance you want to be notified. As you can see below, you can tell Google to notify you hours, days, or weeks in advance, too.

Pro tip: To the left of the “10,” you can change “Notification” to “Email” if you’d rather be told about upcoming meetings via email instead of a desktop notification.

12. Arrange appointment slots.

Ever thought about incorporating “office hours” so other folks in your company can book time with you? Maybe you’re a part-time consultant with limited hours to book meetings, or want to limit the times your team can book time with you to certain times of day.

If any of the above scenarios resonate with you, think about using Google’s Appointment slots.

Google’s Appointment slots allow you carve out specific times of day on your calendar and then share these times with select people via a private calendar link. When these people click the link, they can schedule meetings with you at any of the times you carved out for them.

If your link recipients find a time they like, all they have to do is select it to book a private event with you, including all the information they’d need for the meeting.

How to Use This Feature

To set up your own Appointment slots, start by clicking anywhere in your calendar view to create an event. When the event options appear, click “Appointment slots,” as shown below at the very top of the window. Set the date range of the slots you’d like to open up for appointments, as well as how long each appointment should be by default next to “Slots with duration.”

If you’d like more control over your Appointments, click “More Options,” and you’ll be taken to the window shown below. Click “This calendar’s appointment page” for the link you can then share with those whom you’re willing to arrange appointments.

13. Browse calendars of interest.

Want to make sure you’re keeping track of holidays in other countries, your favorite sports team’s schedule, or just the time the sun rises and sets each day? You’ll find these calendars (and more) on your Google Calendar’s lefthand sidebar.

How to Use This Feature

To browse and add interesting calendars, click the plus sign (+) next to “Add a coworker’s calendar.” Then, choose “Browse calendars of interest.” From there, choose the calendars you’d like to subscribe to.

14. Implement a custom view.

When you first set up your calendar, you’ll have the option to view it as a week, month, the next 4 days, or as an agenda. That “4 days” option? You can switch that out with a different interval in your “Custom view” options.

How to Use This Feature

To adjust the number of days you see in your calendar view, click into your settings using the gear icon on the top-righthand corner of your screen. Scroll down to “View options.” Click “Set custom view” and select how many days you want to see at one time from your calendar view, as shown below.

You can also make quicker, more general adjustments to your user interface right from your calendar view. Next to your settings’ gear icon, you’ll see a box that, by default, might say “Week.” Click it to reveal a dropdown menu where you can customize your view further, as shown below.

15. Share your calendars with others.

If you’re using Google Apps for your company, you can also control who sees your calendar, what they see, and whether they have permissions to edit it. (If you have an assistant, this tip will be very important to remember.) You can also make your calendar public, if you wish.

How to Use This Feature

To change your sharing settings, click on the plus sign (+) next to the preferred calendar and choose “Settings and sharing,” as shown below.

Then, you’ll be taken to the page shown below. Here, you can choose to do any of the following:

• Make the calendar public.
• Choose to show event details to everyone in your company, or just free/busy information.
• Add someone to your calendar and choose their individual permissions (see all details, make changes to events, hide all details, etc).

When you’re done, click the back arrow on the top-lefthand corner of your screen to return to your calendar view. Google will automatically save your new calendar settings.

16. Use keyboard shortcuts.

Are you looking to really streamline your Google Calendar efforts? Google Calendar’s got a ton of keyboard shortcuts to use, such as:

• t = Move your calendar view to today
• c = Create an event
• q = Quick Add an event

Check out the full list here.

17. Sync meetings with your CRM.

Use a CRM daily? It can be annoying to back and forth between your Google Calendar and your CRM. Instead, dive into your CRM settings to see if there’s an existing integration with Google Calendar.

HubSpot CRM users, you’re in luck — it’s quick and easy to set up this integration. Learn how to do this here.

18. Sync your calendar with your marketing software.

And if you want to make your Google Calendar align even more with your marketing activities, you can even integrate it with your marketing software.

For HubSpot customers, you can use Zapier to set up some pretty nifty workflows, such as creating a social media message every time an event starts. Check out this page for more on how you can set up that integration, as well as some ideas for ways you can integrate the two.

Whether you’re a full-time graphic designer or simply someone who’s interested in dabbling in design as a side project in her free time, it’s critical you create a sleek graphic design portfolio to showcase your work to potential clients.

A graphic design portfolio is typically the only element a client needs to see when choosing a graphic designer — which means a portfolio is vital for proving your skill as a designer.

Additionally, a graphic design portfolio, much like a resume, provides necessary contact information, and any case studies you care to include from past employers.

Simply put, a graphic design portfolio can establish your legitimacy as a designer worth hiring.

With all that said, you’re probably thinking — gee, thanks, no pressure or anything.

Fortunately, we’ve cultivated a list of 12 impressive graphic design portfolios, followed by instructions on how you can create your own. Keep reading to get all the tips you need to curate the perfect space to showcase your work.

1. Heather Shaw

2. MDZ Design  

3. Nicolas Paries

4. Gleb Kuznetsov

5. Chris Tammar

6. Stefanie Brueckler

7. Mingfei Yang

8. Chip Kidd

9. Kate Moross

10. Brook Perryman

11. Tobias van Schneider

12. Ling K

1. Curate your best work, and show a wide breadth of skill.

Lindsay Burke, a HubSpot Product Designer, emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity when it comes to curating a graphic design portfolio. She says, “I recommend selecting your strongest projects and making these the primary focus of your portfolio website.”

Ideally, your portfolio will feature your sharpest, most impressive 10-20 designs — undoubtedly, someone pursuing your portfolio won’t have the time to look at more, and if your first couple projects are impressive enough, they shouldn’t need to. However, it’s equally critical you show potential clients your versatility. If you’ve dabbled in logo design as well as video animation, it’s good to include both kinds of projects in your portfolio.

2. Choose the right platform to showcase your work.

Investing in a quality website with a custom domain URL will pay-off in the long run by demonstrating your professionalism to potential clients. Having your own website helps you organize your portfolio to suit all your business needs — for instance, perhaps you’ll include ‘Projects’, ‘About Me’, and ‘Contact Me’ sections, so visitors can peruse your content and then contact you without ever leaving the site.

Take a look at 7 of the Best Website Builders for 2019 if you need help choosing the best platform for your portfolio.

3. Include a professional case study, or client recommendations.

Lindsay Burke told me it’s incredibly valuable to write out a case study to complement any website visuals — “Through a written case study, your site visitors can get a sense of your project’s background, the problem you were aiming to solve through design, and the process you took to arrive at a final deliverable. A lot of time, effort and iteration goes into design solutions, and a written case study will help communicate your unique process.”

To cultivate a strong case study, consider including the background of the project, the problem, the process, your deliverable, and any next steps. In the process section of your case study, Burke suggests including research, experience mapping, persona development, wire-framing, sketching, usability testing, and iteration.

For further inspiration, check out one of the case studies Lindsay Burke uses for her personal website.

Additionally, it will impress future clients if you can include recommendations from prior employers, which allows you to demonstrate a level of professionalism.

4. Integrate your personality.

As the examples above indicate, each portfolio is drastically different depending on the artist’s unique style. Someone checking out Tobias van Schneider’s portfolio will expect something vastly different than someone looking at Ling K’s site. Ensure your portfolio — including layout, background, and website title — reflect who you are as a designer.

5. Describe the creative process.

Each designer has a unique process when working with clients — and the sooner a potential client can learn about your process, the better. It’s important you include context, so visitors can get a sense for how you handle challenges, and how your designs solve real-world problems.

Plus, including a description of your creative process can help a potential client determine whether you’re capable of handling the scope of their project. For instance, they might be unsure of your ability to handle graphic designs for mobile until they read how you single-handedly brainstormed and created the designs for another client’s mobile site. In this case, context is critical.

6. Show non-client work, or side projects.

Amanda Chong, a HubSpot Designer, says, “side projects are a great way to demonstrate your will to take initiative and your ability to balance multiple things at once. They’re also a great way to show some of the more experimental, creative ideas that you might not be able to show through your day-to-day work.”

If you’re just starting out, it’s acceptable to include side projects or non-client work so potential customers can get a sense for your ability and style. Consider incorporating school work, a logo you designed for your aunt’s company, or an internal design you created for your current company — ideally, your designs will negate any concerns potential clients have over your lack of career experience.

1. Reach out to local businesses or start-ups and ask if they need help with a marketing campaign or packaging materials.

One of the easiest ways to begin building your client base is by reaching out to non-profits or local businesses in your area. Consider implementing mock-ups or sketches in advance, so you can give these businesses a sense for your skill and vision. Perhaps you think a local restaurant needs a new menu logo, or want to help a gift shop with their online marketing materials. Ideally, in exchange for your services, these businesses will offer to leave a testimonial on your portfolio.

2. Create content for your own personal brand, and ensure that your content is cohesive across all your personal marketing materials.

Take the time to ensure your own marketing materials are cohesive and sleek. Create a unique design for your website, and implement that same design or logo across various materials, including your business card and resume. A client is more likely to work with you if they can see the type of high-quality work you’re able to create for yourself.

3. Implement a mock website redesign for a brand you love.

If you’re still waiting for the day LuLuLemon gives you a call to redesign their website, well … why wait? Consider creating a complete website redesign for a well-known brand to demonstrate your skills to future clients. This is a well-known strategy already implemented by plenty of designers — just take a look at some of the impressive Behance mock-ups for designers like Michael Kors.

Additionally, Amanda Chong told me, “If you’re creating mockups for established brands to use as part of your portfolio, it’s important to pair this with a case study or description of the process that helped you arrive at your proposed design. Talk about what you think wasn’t working with the existing design, some of the constraints that you think the designers were working with, and why you made the decisions that you did.”

Chong added, “Mockups are great at showing your visual design skills, but don’t necessarily demonstrate your ability to work in a real-world context, so you’ll want to take the time to explain how you would have approached it in a true business setting.”

4. Put together a creative brief for a fake website, and create graphic design materials for the fictitious company.

If your designs are impressive enough, potential clients won’t necessarily care whether you created them for a fictitious company — and, in fact, they could be impressed with your innovativeness and creativity. Consider demonstrating your skills by putting together a creative brief for a fake company, complete with wireframes and sketches. In due time, real companies will take notice.

5. Design a logo for a brand you love.

Stick to the type of content you enjoy designing. If you’re particularly adept at creating logos, and are often inspired by the logos used by real brands, consider designing an alternative logo for a brand you like. Just take a look at some of these inspiring potential Uber logos — while they ultimately weren’t used by Uber, they’re nonetheless good examples of the designers’ skills.

6. Create a stock theme for WordPress.

WordPress, a popular content management system, allows users to develop stock themes for WP — best of all, if your theme is approved, you can sell it as a premium theme for extra cash. Begin by studying WordPress’s most popular themes, and considering how you can create an impressive alternative. Take a look at WordPress’s Theme Review Requirements to learn more.

7. Participate in a design challenge.

To get inspired, practice your skills, or interact with other designers in a community and build your portfolio at the same time, you might consider participating in a design challenge. Design challenges can also help you uncover skills you didn’t know you had by forcing you to step outside your design comfort-zone. There are various daily, weekly, or monthly challenges which will send you prompts on things to design — for instance, try checking out Daily UI Design Challenge.

Users, visitors, prospects, leads, and customers.

What do all these words have in common?

They’re how we, as marketers, classify the people who engage with our brand — humans with needs and desires. Yet, as we lump them together in analytics dashboards, based on view time, country of origin, bounce rate, and countless other attributes, it’s easy to forget that they’re just like you and me.

Human needs and desires create demand for your business. They’re what your product or service aims to fulfill. But, in order to fulfill these needs and desires, your business needs more than just a good product. You also need a solid grasp of design.

Design, more than anything else, is understanding what drives people’s behavior. What do they want? How do they want to receive it? And how can you deliver it to them? In other words, you need a firm grasp of psychology.

Fortunately, when you optimize your website design for conversion, you can leverage psychology everywhere: in colors and numbers, shapes and taglines, and even the serifs of letters. And knowing how psychology and design intersect is key to guiding prospects toward conversion.

Below, we’ll take a look at four foundational principles that will help you marry psychology with design, as well as some little-known phenomena that can give you an edge in your design and conversion rate optimization efforts.

How to Convert With Psychology: 4 Design Levers To Pull

1. Beat the curse of knowledge.

From the moment you set out to design any form of marketing collateral — an ad, email, or landing page — you’re cursed. Cursed with knowledge, that is.

To explain further, you obviously know your product well. Your audience, however, does not. So, even if you’ve created a new and innovative product, its benefits won’t register with your audience if you can’t explain it in simple terms. This phenomena isn’t limited to new and complicated products, either. A lot of times, simpler products require the simplest descriptions.

Take bed sheets, for example. Bed sheets are an ubiquitous product that everyone knows how to use. We don’t need to read a manual to understand how to stretch them over our mattresses.

All bed sheets aren’t created equal, though. For instance, you could sell bed sheets with microfibers, high thread counts, or distinct material types. And when you’re writing descriptions of your bed sheets’ features and benefits, it’s natural to think everyone else has the same knowledge about microfibers and thread counts as you do.

What you may not realize, however, is that most of your target audience won’t have your level of product expertise. Consequently, in your attempt to convey a unique selling proposition, you could’ve filled your product description with jargon, which actually makes its selling point harder to understand.

This is the reason the curse of knowledge is so hard to beat — even if you know it’s impacting your ability to write clear, concise, and compelling copy, you can’t really pinpoint the curse’s degree of affect on you. Try all you want, but it’s almost impossible to truly imagine what it’s like to be in your prospects’ shoes. You can’t “unknow” what you know.

So, how do you beat the curse of knowledge?

Consider testing your ad, product listing, email, or landing page on members of your target audience who haven’t been exposed to your product yet.

During your test, try to figure out if they can immediately understand why your product is better than your competition. If they can’t, ask them to explain why, and use their feedback to optimize your marketing collateral in the future.

2. Channel your inner city planner.

Nowadays, attracting attention is a huge challenge and retaining it is even harder. But, in order to convince a visitor to convert on your website, you must be able to do both.

To help you attract and retain your target audience’s attention, let’s go over some findings from a branch of social science founded in the early 1900s — Gestalt Psychology.

Most people are familiar with Gestalt psychology through the phrase, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,”, which, today, can be translated to “Rather than perceiving all things equally, we perceive them in the context of their whole.”

For example, image you’re driving through a bustling city. When you’re behind the wheel, what are you paying attention to? Most likely your surroundings, like the cars around you, lights, signs, pedestrians, and bikers, right?

Well, that’s not because there’s nothing else to pay attention to. There’s much more to pay attention to in a busy city. Your brain is just focusing your attention on the most relevant stimuli in your specific situation, like other drivers, pedestrians, and signals, instead of irrelevant stimuli, like restaurants and barber shops (unless you’re looking to grab a bite to eat or get a haircut). 

Now, this isn’t happening just because of your amazing prioritization skills. It’s also happening because most cities are designed relatively well. For instance, one way signs show you which streets you can’t turn on, yellow lights warn you to slow down, and red octagons tell you to stop. These indicators have been reinforced as important signals in your mind ever since you started driving.

In regard to digital marketing, a similar process takes place when visitors consume a web page. Our visitors are like drivers in a city, and as marketers and designers, we need to effectively guide them toward the most important parts of our web pages. To learn how to do this, check out the following principles from Gestalt psychology:

The Law of Similarity

Humans tend to group similar things together. Due to this tendency, we also notice things that stand out from the crowd. For example, in the image below, clustering the yellow flowers around the red one makes it stand out.

When it comes to guiding visitors toward certain elements of your web page, the law of similarity is the most important principle to leverage. Any contrast in size, motion, color, and weight will attract people’s attention.

Eye tracking studies also show that we “enter” web pages through its largest elements, like its image or headline. Then, we consume the smaller elements, like its subheadings, bullets, bolded and italicized words, and then finally its copy.

In a nutshell, if an element is larger than its surroundings, like a headline or featured image, it will draw more attention than its surroundings. If an element is a different color than its surroundings, like a call-to-action button or a form, it will also draw more attention than its surroundings. And if elements look different, like bolded or italicized words, they will draw more attention than the text around them. These are some principles to keep in mind when you’re designing content for consumers who have a fleeting amount of attention.

The Law of Past Experience

The Law of Past Experience states that visual stimuli, under certain circumstances, will be categorized according to past experiences. For instance, consider the standard website design. The internet has been around long enough that certain designs have become so common that they’re an industry standard now.

Navigation bars will always be at the top of websites. Site links will be at the bottom. And since humans have been reading for such a long time, a headline will lead to a subheading, which will then lead to body copy. Breaking this fundamental structure by aligning your text to the right or moving your navigation bar to the left sidebar will only create confusion.

The Law of Pragnanz

Our brains prefer simplicity. Whenever possible, we will simplify complex visuals to comprehend them in an easier, quicker fashion. So don’t over-complicate your web pages. Unless you’re writing for industry insiders, eliminate jargon from all your content. You should also stray away from huge blocks of text. If you need to write longer body copy, separate it into digestible chunks of information, like small paragraphs or bullet points.

The Law of Proximity

When perceiving a group of visual stimuli, we group things that are close together. For example, below, you see two groups of dots, one set of 18 and another set of 12, as opposed to one set of 30 dots.

So whether you’re labeling form fields or creating icons with descriptive text, your visitors should instantly understand what belongs where.

3. Leverage the decoy effect.

If your landing page features two pricing options, and your goal is to subtly guide visitors to choose one option over the other, consider including a third, decoy option, which is an asymmetrically valued option that taps into our natural desire to get the best deal possible.

One of the most well-known examples of the decoy effect comes from a famous pricing experiment conducted by Dan Ariely, a behavioral economics professor at MIT.

In his study, he asked 100 MIT students which of the following subscriptions they’d rather purchase.

The print-only subscription was the decoy option, since it was the same price as the print & web subscription but offered significantly less value. After he took his poll, he discovered that 84% of the participants selected the print & web subscription, 16% of them selected the web-only subscription, and none selected the print-only subscription.

According to these results, The Economist would have generated $11,444 in revenue from these students.

In another poll given to 100 different students at MIT, Ariely removed the “print only” option and asked them which subscription they would rather purchase. This time, the results were the complete opposite of the first experiment — a measly 32% of the participants chose the print & web subscription and a whopping 68% of them chose the web-only subscription.

Without the decoy option, which made the most expensive option seem like a better deal, significantly less people bought the priciest subscription and significantly more people bought the cheapest subscription.

According to these results, The Economist would’ve only generated $8,012 in revenue from these students, which was nearly $3,500 less than the experiment with the decoy option.

In sum, to successfully use the decoy effect, you have to make sure that your third option is asymmetrical in value to the other two options. Put simply, the decoy should make the option you want to nudge your visitors toward look like the best deal.

In the experiment above, most participants choose the print & web subscription because they thought they were getting something that was worth $185 for only $125. But, if you think about it, is the print-only subscription really worth $125? Most likely not.

When the print & web subscription was priced this way, though, the participants thought they were buying a print subscription and getting a free web subscription. As a result, they perceived this subscription to be the best deal and couldn’t help but choose it.

4. Minimize user stress as much as possible.

Imagine you’re trying to register for an account on a popular discussion forum so you can post a pressing question. However, there’s an issue with your form.

You’ve hit “Register” twice already, but the page has reloaded with an error message at the top of the form that says “Sorry, there was a problem with your registration. Please make sure all fields are accurate.” This form is also fifteen fields long, and there’s no indication of what you’ve exactly done wrong.

Needless to say, you’re frustrated. And this stress greatly impacts your biology, triggering the release of the stress-inducing hormone, cortisol. In a blog post for ConversionXL, Alex Birkett elaborates on cortisol’s effect on your target audience:

When users feel frustrated, they get stressed and cortisol starts to build up. If it hits a certain threshold, users will give up and go to your competitor’s site. Life is too short to go crazy trying to deal with crappy form design as well as unhelpful error handling.

Most of us can relate to this kind of experience — attempting to solve a problem once or twice and then giving up and going somewhere else.

This is an unforgivable way to lose conversions. Think about it — these visitors want to convert. In fact, they’re so eager to convert that they’re trying to do so a second time. But, unfortunately, you weren’t clear about the error they made. So they left to find another website that didn’t make converting so hard.

To combat this issue, you should write descriptive error messages next to the field where the error was made. And make sure these messages don’t just say “Error”. They should describe the exact steps the user must take to correct the problem.

An even better thing you can do is to clearly label each form field. This will decrease the likelihood of user error because, sometimes, designers overestimate their user’s ability to remember things.

For instance, imagine you’ve arrived at a form that has placeholder text inside each field, like, “Enter age here” and “Enter email address here”. You begin to fill it out, and once you’re four out of six fields through, one of your co-workers walks up to your desk.

A few minutes of small talk later, you return to the form. But you’re having trouble recalling the information you’re supposed to enter in the current field. Even though you just have to delete the text in the field, it still frustrates you, triggering the release of cortisol in your brain.

Brands need to consider this small yet potent problem when building their forms. And according to Katie Sherwin of Nielsen Norman Group, it’s especially important they do so because of how distracted people are today.

If the user forgets the hint, which people often do while filling out long forms, he has to delete what he wrote and, in some cases, click away from the field to reveal the placeholder text again. In an ideal world, users would be entirely focused when filling out a form. But in reality, users multitask. They have different tabs open, or they might be pulled away by an email or phone call. For complex tasks, they might have to stop and go retrieve a document or order number. From our research on mobile usability, we know that mobile users are also frequently distracted and interrupted while using their devices. So, it’s important to help users pick up where they left off.

The best way to help users pick up where they left off is by placing clear, permanent labels above or next to each field, like this: 

And for those wanting to remove nearly all friction from form completion, consider a one-click sign-up through Google or Facebook. 

Converting With Psychology

The list above is just a few examples of the countless psychological phenomena that impact user behavior. When you better understand how the human brain operates, you can apply some proven principles in all aspects of web design to win conversions.

Now the only question is, will you?

If you’re anything like me, you take about four minutes choosing a filter for your Instagram photo, and about four hours deciding on a caption.

Worst of all, after much creative effort and advice from friends, I’m usually barely able to write a caption that goes beyond, “Had a fun day with friends!”

And I’m a writer — go figure.

Next time you’re contemplating a caption to go with your Instagram photo, take a look at our complete list of captions for any mood you need to evoke or audience you want to connect with.

You can incorporate many of them into an Instagram business strategy (just make sure your audience would indeed find your caption funny, clever, or the right amount of savage.) 

Click one of the following links to jump to a section:

• Funny Instagram Captions
• Clever Instagram Captions
• Savage Instagram Captions
• Song Lyrics for Instagram Captions
• Business Instagram Captions

Funny Instagram Captions

1. [Employee]’s favorite exercise is a cross between a lunge and a crunch … S/he calls it lunch.
2. I need a six-month holiday, twice a year.
3. We tried to be normal once. Worst two minutes of our lives!
4. There are 16-year-olds competing at the Olympics and some of us still push on “pull” doors.
5. Namast’ay in bed.
6. That awkward moment when you’re wearing Nike’s and you can’t do it.
7. I’m just a girl, standing in front of a salad, asking it to be a cupcake.
8. What if we told you … you can eat without posting it on Instagram?
9. We know the voices in our heads aren’t real, but sometimes their ideas are just too good to ignore.

Clever Instagram Captions

1. Patience — what you have when there are too many witnesses.
2. Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s the Clarendon filter.
3. “Life is short.” False — it’s the longest thing you do.
4. Happy Sunday! There may be no excuse for laziness, but [I’m/we’re] still looking.
5. Better an “oops” than a “what if.”
6. You have stolen a pizza our hearts.
7. The world is changed by your example, not your opinion.
8. Seven billions smiles, and these are our favorite.

Savage Instagram Captions

1. What’s a queen without her king? Historically speaking, more powerful.
2. Be a little more you, and a lot less them.
3. We’re an acquired taste. If you don’t like us, acquire some taste.
4. Well-behaved people don’t make it into history books.
5. Be sunshine mixed with a little hurricane.
6. Sometimes you just need to do a thing called “what you want.”
7. It’s not called being bossy, it’s called having leadership skills.

Song Lyrics for Instagram Captions

1. “I’m gonna live like tomorrow doesn’t exist.” — Sia, “Chandelier”
2. “I live for the nights that I can’t remember, with the people that I won’t forget.” – Drake, “Show Me a Good Time”
3. “I hope you never lose your sense of wonder.” — Lee Ann Womack, “I Hope You Dance”
4. “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” – John Lennon, “Imagine”
5. “Feeling good living better.” — Drake, “Over My Dead Body”
6. “Say oh, got this feeling that you can’t fight, like this city is on fire tonight” — OneRepublic, “Good Life”
7. “Time makes you bolder” — Fleetwood Mac, “Landslide”
8. “If I fail, if I succeed, at least I’ll live as I believe” — Whitney Houston, “The Greatest Love of All”
9. “The rest of the world was in black and white, but we were in screaming color.” — Taylor Swift, “Out of the Woods”
10. “Lightning strikes every time she moves” — Calvin Harris, “This Is What You Came For”
11. “We aren’t ever getting older” — Chainsmokers, “Closer”
12. “Sing with me, sing for the years, sing for the laughter, sing for the tears” — Aerosmith, “Dream On”

Business Instagram Captions

1. Good evening, [city]! We’re in town for [event] at Booth [#]. Stop by and say hi!
2. Our [#]-person squad completed the [road race name]! And we did it all for the post-run sneaker selfie. 👟
3. We got product in the pipeline … check back for an exciting announcement on [date]!
4. Spot the CEO. 😉
5. At [company name], our best asset is our people.
6. We had a great time with our customers at [meeting/event]! @[client/partner], you guys rock.
7. [Company name] is off for [holiday]! We hope you all have a safe long weekend.
8. “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” -Herman Melville
9. How many [company name] employees does it take to spell “TEAM”?
10. Want to work with these awesome people, working on a lot of awesome things? We’re hiring! Click the link in our bio to see our current openings.
11. Check, check, one, two … is this thing on? [Company name] is now on Instagram! Follow us to learn about our (awesome) culture, product, and (awesome) people. 

If you’re anything like me, you take about four minutes choosing a filter for your Instagram photo, and about four hours deciding on a caption.

Worst of all, after much creative effort and advice from friends, I’m usually barely able to write a caption that goes beyond, “Had a fun day with friends!”

And I’m a writer — go figure.

Next time you’re contemplating a caption to go with your Instagram photo, take a look at our complete list of captions for any mood you need to evoke or audience you want to connect with.

You can incorporate many of them into an Instagram business strategy (just make sure your audience would indeed find your caption funny, clever, or the right amount of savage.) 

Click one of the following links to jump to a section:

• Funny Instagram Captions
• Clever Instagram Captions
• Savage Instagram Captions
• Song Lyrics for Instagram Captions
• Business Instagram Captions

Funny Instagram Captions

1. [Employee]’s favorite exercise is a cross between a lunge and a crunch … S/he calls it lunch.
2. I need a six-month holiday, twice a year.
3. We tried to be normal once. Worst two minutes of our lives!
4. There are 16-year-olds competing at the Olympics and some of us still push on “pull” doors.
5. Namast’ay in bed.
6. That awkward moment when you’re wearing Nike’s and you can’t do it.
7. I’m just a girl, standing in front of a salad, asking it to be a cupcake.
8. What if we told you … you can eat without posting it on Instagram?
9. We know the voices in our heads aren’t real, but sometimes their ideas are just too good to ignore.

Clever Instagram Captions

1. Patience — what you have when there are too many witnesses.
2. Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s the Clarendon filter.
3. “Life is short.” False — it’s the longest thing you do.
4. Happy Sunday! There may be no excuse for laziness, but [I’m/we’re] still looking.
5. Better an “oops” than a “what if.”
6. You have stolen a pizza our hearts.
7. The world is changed by your example, not your opinion.
8. Seven billions smiles, and these are our favorite.

Savage Instagram Captions

1. What’s a queen without her king? Historically speaking, more powerful.
2. Be a little more you, and a lot less them.
3. We’re an acquired taste. If you don’t like us, acquire some taste.
4. Well-behaved people don’t make it into history books.
5. Be sunshine mixed with a little hurricane.
6. Sometimes you just need to do a thing called “what you want.”
7. It’s not called being bossy, it’s called having leadership skills.

Song Lyrics for Instagram Captions

1. “I’m gonna live like tomorrow doesn’t exist.” — Sia, “Chandelier”
2. “I live for the nights that I can’t remember, with the people that I won’t forget.” – Drake, “Show Me a Good Time”
3. “I hope you never lose your sense of wonder.” — Lee Ann Womack, “I Hope You Dance”
4. “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” – John Lennon, “Imagine”
5. “Feeling good living better.” — Drake, “Over My Dead Body”
6. “Say oh, got this feeling that you can’t fight, like this city is on fire tonight” — OneRepublic, “Good Life”
7. “Time makes you bolder” — Fleetwood Mac, “Landslide”
8. “If I fail, if I succeed, at least I’ll live as I believe” — Whitney Houston, “The Greatest Love of All”
9. “The rest of the world was in black and white, but we were in screaming color.” — Taylor Swift, “Out of the Woods”
10. “Lightning strikes every time she moves” — Calvin Harris, “This Is What You Came For”
11. “We aren’t ever getting older” — Chainsmokers, “Closer”
12. “Sing with me, sing for the years, sing for the laughter, sing for the tears” — Aerosmith, “Dream On”

Business Instagram Captions

1. Good evening, [city]! We’re in town for [event] at Booth [#]. Stop by and say hi!
2. Our [#]-person squad completed the [road race name]! And we did it all for the post-run sneaker selfie. 👟
3. We got product in the pipeline … check back for an exciting announcement on [date]!
4. Spot the CEO. 😉
5. At [company name], our best asset is our people.
6. We had a great time with our customers at [meeting/event]! @[client/partner], you guys rock.
7. [Company name] is off for [holiday]! We hope you all have a safe long weekend.
8. “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” -Herman Melville
9. How many [company name] employees does it take to spell “TEAM”?
10. Want to work with these awesome people, working on a lot of awesome things? We’re hiring! Click the link in our bio to see our current openings.
11. Check, check, one, two … is this thing on? [Company name] is now on Instagram! Follow us to learn about our (awesome) culture, product, and (awesome) people. 

Before you dive into this blog post, I want you to watch this video.

Now, if you laughed at this ad because Danny Tanner’s obsession with cleanliness ruined Uncle Jesse’s romantic moment, then this commercial is just for you. But if you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you’re not in Dannon’s target audience.

You see, Danny Tanner and Uncle Jesse were two of the main characters in Full House, a hugely popular family sitcom that aired from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. And it gained even more popularity when its reruns were syndicated during the mid-to-late 2000s.

When the creatives at Dannon were brainstorming their Oikos Greek Yogurt commercial that would air during the Super Bowl in 2014, they knew they had to resonate with as much of their their target market as possible, which was most likely young-to-middle aged adults.

So, to avoid bombing on the biggest advertising stage of the year, they decided to sneak a bit into their commercial from one of the most beloved TV shows that their target market watched as kids — Full House.

Now, if Dannon’s target market consisted of young kids or older adults, they probably wouldn’t have went this direction. But since their target market was packed full of Full House fanatics, Dannon was able to craft one of the best Super Bowl commercials in 2014.

Dannon’s Oikos Greek Yogurt ad was such a hit because they were able to figure out which age groups comprised most of their target market. In order to uncover this information, though, they had to do a lot of market research. Fortunately, they had a powerful tool at their disposal — demographic segmentation.

Demographic segmentation can also optimize your resources and time because distributing personalized marketing messages to each slice of your target market will resonate with more people and lead to more conversions than spraying a generic message to your entire target market.

To learn how most brands segment their target market, check out the five main demographic attributes they use.

1. Geography

Geographic segmentation slices up your target market based on their geographic location. Since people have different needs and interests across geographies, like the need for cold weather outerwear in Minnesota or the demand for swimwear in South Florida during the winter, it’s important to understand exactly how your target market’s different climates, landscapes, and cityscapes impact their preferences.

2. Age

Age segmentation slices up your target market by specific age ranges or generations, like Generation Z, Millennials, and Baby Boomers. The people in each of these groups grew up during the same time, encounter comparable experiences today, and share similar traits, habits, and opinions, so it’s crucial to distribute personalized campaigns catered for each generation.

For instance, targeting Gen Xers with a nostalgic ad about The Princess Bride might receive an outpour of praise, but targeting the same ad to Gen Zers might not even get a mention on Twitter.

3. Education

Education segmentation slices up your target market by school, area of study, and degree. A lot of brands target by education because most people have deep feelings of loyalty for their alma mater.

In fact, BuzzFeed leverages education segmentation to write articles about a specific college’s tidbits that only their alumni would know. And by writing these types of articles about almost every college in the United States, they can relate to the majority of people who went to college in the country.

4. Occupation

Occupation segmentation slices up your target market by job function, job seniority, and job title. A lot of B2B brands target their audience by occupation because they need to attract specific types of professionals who have the authority to make buying decisions on their team or at their company.

5. Income

Income segmentation slices up your target market by income range. By knowing how much discretionary income your potential customers have, you can market to the people who can actually afford your product or service, set your prices according to their income, and design pricing tiers for each slice of your target market.

Getting Personal

Nowadays, generic, spray-and-pray marketing campaigns don’t fly with consumers anymore. If you can’t relate to each segment of your target market, then you might as well pause all your campaigns.

However, if you can harness the power of demographic segmentation, you can create personalized marketing campaigns for each slice of your target market and resonate with them as much as Danny Tanner and Uncle Jesse did with Dannon’s target market.