No matter what you’d like to accomplish with advertising and marketing, you won’t do it without a compelling CTA. Almost all of your campaigns and content should have a well-crafted call to action designed to drive action. The calls to action that we use can determine whether or not people do, in fact, take action, along with how many. But first…

What Is a Call To Action?
A “call to action,” also known as a CTA, is a term that you see used all the time in the marketing world. We’re not even sure how many posts we have on our site that include mentions of how important the right CTA is to accomplish your marketing goals, but we know it’s a lot of them.
So what is a call to action?  It's a phrase that's used to tell the user exactly what action to take and how to take it.  This can be as simple as two words ("Buy Now") or a sentence or two ("Subscribe now so you never miss a post!")  and it can be simple text with a hyperlink or a clickable button. 
You’ve sold your product or company with killer ad copy and a great image or video — but now you need to make a sale or persuade your reader to leap into action.
So how do you create a persuasive and effective call to action?  I'll get into that later. First, let’s talk about the importance of CTAs.

Why You Need A Strong Call To Action 
A lot of business simply stick a “sign up” CTA in an ad and hope that it’s enough to drive conversions. They put a ton of time, energy, and money into the creation of their ad, social media, blogging and email campaigns then slap a half-hearted call to action on the end of it. And they fail. You don’t need just any CTA; you want a strong one that convinces people to act. There are two main purposes of a call to action: to tell someone what they should do, and give them the motivation to do so. A lot of people remember to tell people what they should do, but they forget the why part of that equation. Without that, you won’t see the types of conversion rates that you should. While sometimes your content before the CTA will answer this question, sometimes it doesn’t. Even if it does, a quick recap makes the call to action more powerful.
Here to help you out are 20 CTA phrases to try right now.
Gimme
Snag this offer now
Don't miss out
Let's go
I want free_____
Let's do it
Hop to it
I'm ready to roll
Send me the goods
Get the discount now
I'll take it!
Enroll
I can't wait any longer
Join the tribe
Yes, please!
I'm in
I'm here for it
Try it risk-free
Save my spot
Get the tips
Which CTA Copy Change Will You Make?
With so many ideas to choose from, I encourage you to test different approaches. I even have you covered if you're looking for more tips to create killer CTAs for your sign up form or landing page. Click the link below.

*This post includes affiliate links to products I really love and recommend, which means I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you should you make a purchase using the link in this post.*

Job burnout and how to spot it. 
Does achieving the American Dream conflict with work-life balance: The WHO says yes, calling burnout an “occupational phenomenon” that may require professional attention.
Finding a suitable balance between work and daily living is a challenge that many workers in the United States face.
Excelling in the office, exceeding expectations, and climbing the corporate ladder are all a part of the American dream. But many Americans struggle to successfully combine work, family commitments and personal life. And that struggle can lead to an all-too-familiar feeling: burnout.

In fact, occupational burnout is such a problem in the U.S. and around the world that the World Health Organization, the WHO said that “burnout” is an “occupational phenomenon” that could lead someone to seek care although they did not go as far as to call it an official medical condition. In our hustle-obsessed culture, burnout has become a widespread epidemic. The constant state of exhaustion and overwhelm is still somewhat normalized. You wear busy as a badge of honor, and often ignore the early indicators that you're careening straight toward burnout town. 
​
So, how can you tell if you’re actually burnt out? And more importantly, what can you do about it? Let’s dig into what you need to know so that you can kick that feeling of dread to the curb and reignite some excitement about your work (and life).

What Is Burnout? 
Burnout is way more than a bad day or a groan-worthy project. It’s a persistent feeling of disinterest, disdain, hopelessness, and fatigue in regards to your work life.

Here are 13 signs that you're heading for burnout:
Specific symptoms of burnout include:
1.     Having a negative and critical attitude at work.
2.     Dreading going into work, and wanting to leave once you're there.
3.     Having low energy and little interest at work.
4.     Having trouble sleeping.
5.     Being absent from work a lot.
6.     Having feelings of emptiness.
7.     Experiencing physical complaints such as headaches, illness, or backache.
8.     Being irritated easily by team members or clients.
9.     Having thoughts that your work doesn't have meaning or make a difference.
10.  Pulling away emotionally from your colleagues or clients.
11.  Feeling that your work and contribution goes unrecognized.
12.   Blaming others for your mistakes.
13.   You're thinking of quitting work, or changing roles.

Here are some tips to help avoid burnout, stop and be:
Make time for doing nothing, and do it with purpose. Figure out when you’re most productive and creative, then notice when your mind starts to shut off or you start performing tasks just for the sake of doing them.  That’s when you should go for a walk or take a break. The intention behind the decision is what counts.
Mr. Kets de Vries said. “I know that without breaks I cannot be effective.” Prioritize the things that are important to you and the things that bring you pleasure, and outsource everything else when possible. Focusing on the truly relevant parts of life can help you build free time in your schedule. And take advantage of convenient opportunities to practice idleness, like when you’re standing in line or waiting for the children to come home from school.

Reorganize your environment.
Your surroundings can have a major impact on how much nothingness you can embrace, so consider the physical space in your home and workplace. Keep your devices out of reach so that they’ll be more difficult to access, and turn your home into a niksen-friendly area. Add a soft couch, a comfy armchair, a few cushions or just a blanket. Orient furniture around a window or fireplace rather than a TV.
“If those spaces are present, people will use them,” Ms. Dodgen-Magee said.
Think outside of the box. If you can’t sit still in your home or workplace, go to the park or read a book. 

If you're still uncomfortable with the idea of 'doing nothing’, try tricking your mind into thinking that you're busy by using toys and games like Kinetic Sand, Marble Run or Baoling Balls and such.

What steps are you taking to avoid burnout?

What Great Brands Do - 7 Highly Successful Brand Habits
#5 Great Brands sweat the small stuff. Smart brands concern themselves with packaging, since that reflects what Procter & Gamble calls one of the first moments of truth with consumers. They also obsess about every point where the company connects with customers – touch points, as they are known – to ensure the brand is what they mean it to be.
6. Great brands commit and stay committed.
Top companies know what they are about and remain ruthlessly focused, not pursuing every possibility that might lead them astray.
7. Great brands never have to ‘give back’
Companies such as outdoor apparel company Patagonia carry out their operations with a sense of social responsibility, so they don’t need to develop “giving back” programs. “Giving back suggests that you’ve taken something that needs to be paid back to balance out your karma,” she says. Great brands are in balance with the world around them.
In the end, the premises she presents aren’t all that startling. But they do run counter to practice in many companies. By telling stories of successful organizations that apply the rules she offers, Ms. Yohn challenges readers to recalibrate their brand marketing.​

Is your campaign irritating subscribers more than connecting with them? It could be if you're making any of these following mistakes. It's time for email marketing couples therapy to save you from turning off your subscribers.

• Don't use 'Info' as your from name..  Who are you trying to kid? Info’s not your company’s real name! Why don’t you tell me who you really are? Otherwise, you’re just like all the other generic marketers out there. Don’t be like them. Connect with me using a legitimate company name. It makes you look more trustworthy.
• Just as bad a the 'info' faux pas, don't constantly be changing your 'From' name.  Stick with a simple company name instead. Otherwise you risk confusing your subscribers and having your messages deleted – or worse, marked as spam.
• YOU'RE YELLING AT ME IN THE SUBJECT LINE!!! ....Seriously, why the all caps? I get that you’re trying to stand out, but there’s a difference between building urgency and being obnoxious. Typing in all caps and using excessive punctuation falls into the latter category and makes me want to delete you so I don’t have to listen to you.
• Use the subscriber's first name.  If you ask for first names, use them. None of this impersonal-but-trying-to-be-personal “friend” stuff. Avoid using Dear Friend, Dear Customer or Dear Member.
• Sending a Blog Post broadcast email with no content. Emailing just to say you have a new blog entry is like calling just because you wanted to hear my voice, then hanging up. It’s weird. The point is to push your content into your readers’ inboxes. Give them a reason to open your emails. Include some pictures and a teaser for your post. Something more than just a link and the title at least.
• Avoid mistargeted Messages. Don’t clog your subscribers’ inboxes with emails that aren’t relevant to them. If you segment your subscribers by location, interest, gender or anything else, use those segments wisely. They’ll feel misunderstood and unloved if you don’t. 

What Kills It For You?  Confession time: What are your pet peeves when it comes to email? Dish about the email marketing mistakes that really get your goat. Are these buzzkills enough to make you unsubscribe from a list? Where do you draw the line between “irritating but excusable this once” and “so maddening that I’m going to unsubscribe?”