Neal Schaffer

Neal Schaffer

Neal Schaffer is a globally recognized digital marketing expert, keynote speaker, and Fractional CMO who empowers businesses large and small to strategically leverage digital, content, influencer, and social media marketing to drive meaningful growth. As President of PDCA Social, Neal delivers practical, results-driven guidance to organizations navigating the digital-first economy. He teaches digital marketing to executives at leading institutions including Rutgers Business School and UCLA Extension. A multilingual professional fluent in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, Neal has inspired audiences on four continents and authored six acclaimed books, including Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth, The Age of Influence (HarperCollins Leadership), Maximize Your Social (Wiley), and his latest Digital Threads, the definitive digital marketing playbook for small business and entrepreneurs. Neal is based in Irvine, California.
How to Use Instagram Collaborative Posts

How to Use Instagram Collaborative Posts

Instagram collaborative posts let you co-author content with other accounts. Both names appear at the top, the content shows up on both profiles simultaneously, and all engagement metrics are shared across collaborator accounts. This feature works differently than simple tagging.…

The Complete Guide to Using Twitter Spaces

The Complete Guide to Using Twitter Spaces

Twitter Spaces, now rebranded as X Spaces, lets you host and join live audio conversations directly within the platform. Think of it as interactive digital radio where hosts control who speaks, listeners can request to join the conversation, and everything…

What is an Instagram Broadcast Channel?

What is an Instagram Broadcast Channel?

Instagram Broadcast Channels are direct communication tools that let creators send one-to-many messages to followers who opt in to join. Unlike regular posts or Stories, only the creator can send messages in these channels, while followers read, react with emojis,…

What is the Best TikTok Video Length?

What is the Best TikTok Video Length?

Most creators obsess over content ideas and trending audio, but they’re missing the most crucial element: timing. TikTok themselves say that the sweet spot for in-feed advertising sits between 21 and 34 seconds. This isn’t just another social media “hack”…

How to Make Money on Pinterest in 2026

How to Make Money on Pinterest in 2026

Pinterest offers multiple ways to earn real income, from affiliate marketing and brand partnerships to direct product sales and traffic-driven ad revenue. The platform’s 600 million monthly active users represent a massive audience actively searching for products and inspiration. You…

How to Make Money with AI in 2026

How to Make Money with AI in 2026

Making money with AI isn’t about chasing shiny objects or waiting for magic to happen. You need specific skills, the right tools, and a practical approach that actually works. The truth is, AI tools can help you earn money through…

The Best Ways to Create Engaging Twitter Threads (for X)

The Best Ways to Create Engaging Twitter Threads (for X)

Twitter threads unlock new potential for marketers. They break free from the character limits of single tweets while maintaining the platform’s quick-consumption appeal. Creating threads that actually engage followers requires more than just hitting “add tweet” repeatedly. The difference between…

Top LinkedIn Live Tips for More Engagement

Top LinkedIn Live Tips for More Engagement

You don’t need a production crew or Hollywood budget to nail LinkedIn Live. After 15+ years watching LinkedIn evolve from a basic networking platform to a powerhouse for B2B engagement, I’ve seen the mistakes that kill audience retention and the…

How to Leverage Pinterest for Affiliate Marketing

How to Leverage Pinterest for Affiliate Marketing

Pinterest stands out in the social media landscape. It functions differently from platforms like Instagram or Facebook. Users visit Pinterest specifically to find products and ideas. This behavior makes it ideal for affiliate marketing. Many affiliate marketers overlook Pinterest’s potential.…

LinkedIn Carousel Posts Complete Guide for 2026

LinkedIn Carousel Posts Complete Guide for 2026

LinkedIn carousel posts let you share multi-slide content that viewers can swipe through horizontally on both desktop and mobile devices. But here’s what most people miss: LinkedIn quietly changed how carousels work. As of 2024, LinkedIn’s native carousel post feature…

Social Media KPIs That Top Growth Companies Track

Social Media KPIs That Top Growth Companies Track

Effective measurement powers smart decisions. In the realm of social media marketing, knowing which key performance indicators (KPIs) to track separates successful growth companies from those struggling to show ROI. The right metrics reveal what’s working, what’s not, and where…

How to Search Tweets History on X

How to Search Tweets History on X

Finding old tweets can feel like searching for a needle in a digital haystack. Whether you’re trying to locate your own past content or conducting research, knowing how to search tweets history on X (formerly Twitter) saves valuable time and…

How Much Does LinkedIn Premium Cost?

How Much Does LinkedIn Premium Actually Cost Today?

As someone who recently upgraded to LinkedIn’s paid version, I know firsthand how LinkedIn Premium provides enhanced features and insights beyond the basic free account. Before you decide to upgrade, however, understanding exactly what you’ll pay for each plan is…

How to Create Content: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

How to Create Content: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Creating content can feel like a daunting task, especially for beginners navigating the digital landscape. Nevertheless, content creation is an essential skill in today’s information-driven world, where compelling content can capture attention and drive engagement. Understanding the foundations of content…

TikTok Green Screen: How to Leverage This Feature for Creative Videos

TikTok Green Screen: How to Leverage This Feature for Creative Videos

TikTok’s Green Screen feature transforms content creation. This powerful tool lets creators replace backgrounds with any image or video without complicated setups. Small businesses, marketers, and content creators can now produce professional-looking videos with minimal effort. Green Screen has become…

How to Make Money Podcasting: 13 Proven Strategies

How to Make Money Podcasting: 13 Proven Strategies

Podcasting has exploded in popularity, with over 4 million podcasts and nearly 600 million listeners worldwide. But can you actually make money podcasting? I have been podcasting with my Your Digital Marketing Coach podcast (which originated as Social Business Unplugged…

The 15 Best WordPress Blog Hosting Sites for 2024

The 15 Best Blog Hosting Sites for 2026

Although blogging may not be the newest trend in digital marketing, it remains one of the most powerful ways to build an online presence. In fact, despite what some may say, blogging is far from dead—it’s evolving. If you’re serious…

The 15 Best WordPress Hosting Providers (2025)

The 15 Best WordPress Hosting Providers (2026)

Selecting the right WordPress hosting provider can make or break your website’s performance, security, and growth. With so many options on the market, it’s essential to choose a host that aligns with your specific needs—whether you’re running a blog, an…

How to Format a Blog Post with SEO and LLMs in Mind

How to Format a Blog Post with SEO and LLMs in Mind

Formatting your blog post goes beyond just creating a visually appealing design. As AI-driven search engines increasingly influence how users find content, blog formatting must cater not only to human readers and traditional search engines, but also to large language…

15 Reliable Ecommerce Hosting Providers (2025)

15 Reliable Ecommerce Hosting Providers (2026)

Finding the right ecommerce hosting solution is critical to the success of both smaller and larger stores. A reliable hosting provider ensures your business website works without a hitch. It reduces load times and introduces advanced security measures, both vital…

Blogging Laws: What Every Blogger Needs to Know

Blogging Laws: What Every Blogger Needs to Know

I have been running a blog since 2008, so I have plenty of firsthand experience in blogging and recognize how excellent a platform it is for sharing ideas, promoting your business, and engaging with a wider audience. To make sure…

Top 7 Ways How to Make Money Blogging in 2025

Top 7 Ways How to Make Money Blogging in 2026

Blogging was once little more than a personal hobby. Over the years, however, it has evolved from that small hobby to a thriving industry, with countless opportunities to generate income. In 2026, the possibilities for making money by blogging are…

The 15 Best WordPress Page Builders for 2025

The 15 Best WordPress Page Builders for 2026

If your website is running on WordPress, you know how hard it can be to customize landing pages and the layouts of other important elements of your website. While many still do hire web developers to customize their WordPress installations,…

19 Email Marketing Examples to Inspire Better Results

19 Email Marketing Examples to Inspire Better Results

Crafting a successful email marketing campaign can be a challenge. Studying real-world examples can help inspire your own breakthroughs in email marketing by helping you gain insight into how leading brands captivate their audiences, drive engagement, and ultimately achieve results.…

Benefits of AI in Marketing: 12 Ways to Boost ROI in 2025

Benefits of AI in Marketing: 18 Ways to Boost ROI in 2026

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing marketing effectiveness, with over 90% of businesses expected to integrate AI into their marketing strategies by 2026. The rapid advancement of AI marketing tools presents unprecedented opportunities for businesses to enhance their ROI through automation, personalization,…

What is the InMail on LinkedIn?

What is the InMail on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn InMail is a powerful messaging feature that allows users to communicate with professionals outside their direct network. It is a valuable tool for recruiters, salespeople, and job seekers. Unlike standard LinkedIn messages, which are restricted to your 1st-degree connections,…

Essential Email Marketing KPIs: 15 Metrics for Success

Essential Email Marketing KPIs: 15 Metrics for Success

Key Performance Indicators are the guideposts by which you design and alter your email marketing efforts, and putting an email marketing campaign into practice without developing KPIs significantly decreases your ability to achieve email marketing success. From development to evaluation…

TikTok Stories Explained: A Complete Guide

TikTok Stories Explained: A Complete Guide

TikTok Stories have quickly gained popularity on the platform. This feature lets users share temporary content that vanishes after 24 hours, similar to what’s available on Instagram and Snapchat. Like those platforms, TikTok’s Stories feature provides a dynamic way to…

13 Recommended Social Media Search Engines

13 Recommended Social Media Search Engines

Given the importance of social media, companies have developed search engines that would allow you to browse through these platforms more efficiently than you could do directly in social media. With these unique search engines tapping deep into the APIs…

How to Sell on Instagram in 7 Easy Steps

How to Sell on Instagram in 7 Easy Steps

Although much of the advice involving Instagram accounts focuses on follower counts and growing popularity, an Instagram shop is increasingly popular and important to use the platform to make sales. Instagram shopping is no longer reliant on links embedded in…

What are LinkedIn Impressions, and Why are They Important?

What are LinkedIn Impressions, and Why are They Important?

Whether you’re trying to attract job applicants, increase brand awareness, or boost sales, LinkedIn is an important place to start. After all, it’s the most professionally-focused social media platform, and nearly everyone is looking for information relevant to their industry.…

Brand Storytelling: The Definitive Guide

Brand Storytelling: The Definitive Guide

Brand storytelling is often seen gracing the headlines of business articles, urging businesses to develop their own unique version of brand storytelling. A quick glance at a headline, however, is not usually enough to detail exactly what brand storytelling is,…

8 Best Ways How to Detect AI Generated Content

8 Best Ways How to Detect AI Generated Content

Until ChatGPT went mainstream, AI-generated content was mostly a novelty. While marketers and other niche users could leverage relatively crude algorithms for simple texts that defied the ordinary, the crafting of blogs and other long-form content was impractical. However, the…

13 Customer Testimonial Examples to Emulate

13 Customer Testimonial Examples to Emulate

Happy customers are some of the best marketing experts out there. When a potential customer sees countless reviews and positive feedback, they are far more likely to give your brand or product a second look. How can you effectively leverage…

15 Powerful WordPress Ecommerce Plugins

15 Powerful WordPress Ecommerce Plugins

While there are many ecommerce platforms such as Shopify that exist, but what do you do if you want to maintain your WordPress site and simply add or augment its ecommerce functionality? The beauty of WordPress’s extensible architecture is that…

How to Use TikTok for Beginners: Get Started Today!

How to Use TikTok for Beginners: Get Started Today!

TikTok is a short-form video-sharing app that took over social media platforms in what has felt like a storm, going from a relatively unknown app, to one that dominates numerous industries. Unlike many other platforms that allow you to share…

How to Make Your First TikTok Video: For Newbies Only!

How to Make Your First TikTok Video: For Newbies Only!

TikTok is just about everywhere, from your 10-year-old niece to your 80-year-old grandmother. The social media platform has truly taken the world by storm, and there is no shortage of video ideas to draw in even the least experienced social…

How Does the TikTok Algorithm Work: The Definitive Explanation

How Does the TikTok Algorithm Work: The Definitive Explanation

Algorithms are often top of mind for marketers intent on reaching their target audience. Although learning Google search practices is often a simple matter of engaging standard SEO practices, other platforms are not quite as straightforward–including TikTok. Although there are…

The Top 31 LinkedIn Statistics for Business in 2025

The Top 31 LinkedIn Statistics for Business in 2026

A lot of ink has been spilled over the value of advertising on social media platforms like Facebook & Twitter, Instagram, and, even the newest of shiny objects, TikTok. After all, these are among the largest online forums for social…

15 Best Blogging Platforms to Consider in 2025

15 Best Blogging Platforms to Consider in 2026

Blogging platforms are a must-have in this day and age, given that companies need to share their message online to connect with their audiences. Blogging might also provide SEO perks, allowing you to increase web exposure and boost your lead-generation…

20 Easiest Ways How to Go Viral on TikTok

20 Easiest Ways How to Go Viral on TikTok

You probably know this by now, but TikTok continues to be the hottest place to see and be seen among Generation Z. In fact, this platform has one of the youngest user bases among social media sites. One reason for…

80 Awesome TikTok Username Ideas to Go Viral

80 Awesome TikTok Username Ideas to Go Viral

Although a few social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn assume that you’ll use your actual name, many of the others encourage you to create an alias for yourself. For instance, YouTube and Instagram expect that you’ll use something Creative as…

12 Best WordPress Maintenance Services for 2024

12 Best WordPress Maintenance Services for 2026

If you’ve never thought about subscribing to WordPress maintenance services, imagine this true story of what recently happened to me. I was updating one of my blog posts when all of a sudden, I realized that it was saving the…

What is LinkedIn and Why Should You Join?

What is LinkedIn and Why Should You Join?

As my children are now of the high school age, and they themselves are starting to create their own LinkedIn profiles, I continue to be surprised by the very few number of people that are on the platform. While I…

When is the Best Time to Post on LinkedIn in 2025?

When is the Best Time to Post on LinkedIn in 2026?

If you’re a professional or represent a B2B brand, chances are LinkedIn is important to your job effectiveness. After all, LinkedIn is the place to see and be seen by businesspeople. Recruiters, job seekers, sales professionals, and marketers all need…

The Top 31 Business Blogging Statistics for 2025

The Top 29 Business Blogging Statistics for 2026

If you’re looking for the blogging statistics to help you improve your content marketing, you’ve come to the right place! Blogs are increasing in popularity with businesses because blogging is increasingly critical to marketing success and it gives your brand…

19 Famous TikTokers to Follow and Learn From

19 Famous TikTokers to Follow and Learn From

Whether you’re a TikTok newcomer or can’t live without the platform, you probably want to know who’s “TikTok famous.” After all, social media is a great place to share your talents without the challenges of traditional publishing or hiring. But…

The 16 TikTok Stats Your Business Needs to Know in 2025

The 16 TikTok Stats Your Business Needs to Know in 2026

There’s no question that TikTok is a major trend, especially with young people. In fact, more than with many other networks, TikTok is making big tech CEOs in Silicon Valley lose sleep. This relatively young and fast-growing social networking platform…

15 Definitive Facebook Marketing Tips for 2025

15 Definitive Facebook Marketing Tips for 2026

Facebook advertising is very competitive, especially in the era of people staying home most of the day. Now, even with stores reopened and most pandemic-era restrictions being lifted, relationships and virtual advertising remain important. In particular, Facebook is a major…

Why and How to Change Your LinkedIn URL

Why and How to Change Your LinkedIn URL

Unless you run a website, the chances are that you’re used to a URL, or Web address, being something you simply get by default. After all, in most situations only the website administrator can set them. All you can do…

How to Hire Influencers for Your Business

How to Hire Influencers for Your Business

Unless you’re seasoned in influencer marketing, you may not know how to hire influencers. Given that there are so many influencers out there, and with so little standardization, it is hard to know where to start. Previously, I have published…

What is a LinkedIn LION?

What is a LinkedIn LION?

LION, in the LinkedIn world, stands for LinkedIn Open Networker. LIONs are basically open to networking with people that they have never met before, and they can help you be successful on the site because they bridge networks of closed…

15 Best Blog Writing Services to Consider

15 Best Blog Writing Services to Consider

Some of you might have looked at this title and thought, “Why would a blogger even be considering blog writing services?” If you’re a business you’re probably already outsourcing some or all of your content writing, and if you treat…

How to Do A Giveaway On Instagram in 12 Easy Steps

How to Do A Giveaway On Instagram in 12 Easy Steps

Every brand is striving for the attention of consumers on Instagram. Small businesses, influencers, restaurants, stores, bloggers, beauty brands, clothing lines, etc. often struggle and feel stuck due to a lack of followers and low engagement. Hosting a productive sweepstakes…

My LinkedIn Profile: Does My Employer Own It?

My LinkedIn Profile: Does My Employer Own It?

The following story of LinkedIn account ownership is a true one, and as with my other blog posts, I am hoping to get your feedback as to what the “right” answer to this question should be. Are You Using a…

How Do I Send a Complaint to LinkedIn?

How Do I Send a Complaint to LinkedIn?

Social media changes a lot. Some functionality is here today gone tomorrow. Your LinkedIn account might face restrictions today but I might never. Below is an incident detailing one of those incidents that happened to me several years ago but…

HOW TO: Connect with Barack Obama on LinkedIn

HOW TO: Connect with Barack Obama on LinkedIn

I recently got asked this question about how to connect with Barack Obama on LinkedIn, and because I had a little trouble doing so myself, I thought I would let anyone know who wants to get connected with him on…

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