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Many business owners assume that the quickest way to grow is to pay to get in front of potential customers (or to do tons of cold outreach). But I never even considered that approach, and I’ve still managed to grow a thriving business in less than two years.When I decided to launch my disability public speaking and DEI consulting business in 2021, I didn’t have any background in the industry. I came from the world of education and nonprofits, but I was spending my free time sharing my own experience with disability on my Instagram page, Blindish Latina. I loved getting to use my voice and story to help create a more inclusive world and started working on a strategic plan for turning my thought leadership into a business.When I thought about what it would take for a client to book a relative newcomer like me for a speaking or consulting gig, I knew they not only needed to know I exist but that they also needed to trust that I could provide value. Therefore, instead of focusing my marketing on building a fast following, I chose to focus on building a reputation. This meant, instead of hoping for the quick sales moment that paid ads offer, I worked on establishing long-term relationships. Instead of constantly pushing my paid offerings on potential customers, I tried to provide immediate value to show my authority. Instead of aiming to get my company in front of as many people as possible, I worked on building a connected community.My organic approach didn’t slow me down either. Within nine months of launching my company I was able to quit my full-time job and go all in, and now, just two years later, I’ve achieved multi-six-figures in revenue. I’ve also grown a serious following of people who see me as an expert in my field; I have over 14,000 followers on Instagram and over 17,000 on LinkedIn, and I was one of 12 people named as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Disability Advocacy in 2022. Plus, with the money I’ve saved from not paying for advertising or marketing initiatives, I’ve been able to make other investments to help my business grow sustainably. Here are some of those investments, and why they’ve been instrumental to my success.I invested in assets that would make me look professionalWhen I was first getting started, I analyzed how professional public speakers had set up their brands and invested in similar assets, including creating a sleek website and having a professional photoshoot so I would have ample brand imagery to work with. I also noticed most speakers had a speaker reel, which is a short video highlighting who they are, their signature topics, and giving customer testimonials. Getting this made cost me about $3,000, which is more than I was expecting, but it was a worthy investment for making me look like a legitimate speaker, nurturing customers by supporting my other marketing materials, and building trust.I’m sure I could have DIYed some of these assets, but I’m glad I paid to have them done, and I know that they are helping make my whole package look as professional as possible. And when I say professional, it’s not about trying to fit into someone else’s box of what a speaker needs to look like, but rather putting the same level of care into my marketing materials as I’ll give to my clients. If my assets look high-quality, I’m assuring my clients that they, too, will receive high-quality work.I invested in consistently showing up on my organic channelsI primarily rely on a mix of LinkedIn, Instagram, and an email list to attract my ideal clients, and my guiding principle across those channels is to add value, engage in relatable storytelling, and prove the specific expertise that I bring to the table. On LinkedIn, that means sharing insights that can provide immediate value to someone’s life even if they don’t book with me, like how to rethink hiring disabled people or how to make LinkedIn posts more accessible. On Instagram, I get a little more personal, not just sharing my thought leadership but also peeks into my lifestyle, such as showing how I travel with my disability or communicate with other deafblind people. I use my newsletter to expand on some of the topics I’m talking about on social, nurturing potential clients by demonstrating even more of what I have to offer and building an ongoing relationship. Part of the secret to my success on these organic channels has been showing up consistently. I post on LinkedIn about three times a week and Instagram about three times (I used to post five times a week but reduced this as my business grew), and I send a newsletter once a week. That consistency helps create traction and allows people to know what to expect from me (I know I’m much less likely to follow someone online if I see they haven’t posted in a while).I also try to engage with every comment on my Instagram or LinkedIn posts, offering truly thoughtful and empathetic responses to drive conversation, build relationships, and create an engaged community. By being truly present for people online, they are more likely to think of me when they need my services, suggest me as a speaker when they get involved in their company’s DEI initiatives or employee resource groups, or refer me when they hear of someone else looking for disability speaking or disability inclusion consulting.Most of this involves a pretty significant time investment; I spend about 10 hours a week planning and creating content, and then engaging with my community after the fact. There have also been some monetary investments. A cheap tripod and a travel ring light make it so much easier for me to create content on the fly. I book a brand partnerships and social media package with a coach each year for about $5,000, which helps me evaluate my social media strategy and plan content for specific events. This past fall, I hired a part-time team member to help create some of my content. While I’m pretty protective of my voice so don’t often outsource the actual writing, they have been helping in creating graphics or repurposing content for other channels.I invested in relationshipsIn case it’s not already clear, building strong relationships has been foundational to my business growth. This is true for my relationships with my clients, but it’s also helped me with new business development. When I was just getting started, I did a lot of networking. I talked to public speakers to find out their rates and learn about their processes. I talked to people who were in the kinds of HR roles I might be pitching to learn more about what they needed from a consultant and how I might reach clients like them. I wasn’t just learning from these people—I was looking for opportunities to join forces. As part of the launch of my business, I did a ton of collaborative Instagram and LinkedIn Lives and asked a few Clubhouse leaders if I could give a talk in one of their rooms. Partnering up with trusted experts who had existing communities proved to be a great way to immediately get in front of new faces.Again, most of the investment here was time and a willingness to put myself out there. But I did spend money on some conferences where I met important connections. I also joined Dreamers & Doers, a membership community for women in business where I’m able to get support and advice from other people in the thick of it, plus get access to growth opportunities like press features and referrals.I invested in myself and my continued growthAt the end of my first year in business, I was still making a full-time salary but planned to quit my job the following year, so decided to treat my business revenue from that year as more of an investment budget. A lot of that money went to pre-booking a business coach to support me as I went all-in on working for myself, and it was one of the best investments I ever made. She helped me stay accountable when I was transitioning to being my own boss. She was familiar with the type of business I was growing and was able to suggest strategies that would help me grow (rather than me having to use trial and error to figure them out myself).But, perhaps most importantly, she was able to help guide me through the mindset shifts required to build a successful business. It’s hard to convert people in sales meetings if you don’t believe you’re good enough or arrive with any other sort of uncertainty. With the help of lots of affirmations and visualizations of what I want to put into the world, I’m able to show up confidently, knowing that my wildest dreams are possible.

Hailee Steinfeld is mainly known for her acting chops, but her singing abilities bolster her esteem as a performer and stretch her brand to more audiences and fans. And just like her venture into music, companies often extend their brand to develop new products in industries where they don’t have any market share.
These initiatives are called brand extensions, and they allow companies to leverage their brand awareness and equity to create more revenue streams.

In this article, you’ll learn more about what a brand extension is and see examples of extension ideas that could inspire you.
Skip to:

What a Brand Extension Is
Brand Extension Types
Brand Health Measures
Brand Extension Examples

What is a brand extension?
Brand extension is a marketing strategy that involves a company using its well-established brand name or image to introduce a new product or product categories to its customer base.
This strategy works best when the new product category is related to its parent category and is something consumers and customers want.
Many companies use brand extensions because it allows them to leverage their parent brand’s brand awareness and authority to reach new demographics and open up new sales channels.
One company that does brand extensions well is Apple.
Although Apple started as a technology company that makes only computers (Macs), it soon extended its product line to include music players (iPods), mobile devices (iPhones), and tech accessories (Apple Watch and Earpods). Even though all these new products are different, the extension works because Apple didn’t drift too far from its parent product category. Instead, it leveraged its brand name to make penetrating the market a success.

What are the types of brand extensions?
Depending on the type of customers you have and what you want to achieve as a brand, you need to decide which brand extension strategy is right for your company.
Here are five different extension strategies that could work for you.
1. Line Extension
A line extension is when a parent brand launches a new product line in a category already familiar with its customers. With a line extension, brands don’t have to create new categories.
An excellent example of a line extension is when soft drink companies introduce new flavors to their existing drink lineup. Other examples could include introducing new scents, sizes, and colors to a product line.
2. Complementary Product Extension
Another way an established brand can extend itself is by creating complementary products for its main products.
For example, Nike, a sports brand, creates various equipment, wears, and other sport-related products that complement each other. We’ve also seen toothpaste companies use this type of extension for their original brand by adding toothbrushes and other oral care products as new categories.
3. Customer Base Extension
A company can create a branding extension for itself by launching different product categories for a single demographic.
Procter & Gamble (P&G), for example, does this well with the Pampers brand. Although P&G specializes in various products, the Pampers line focuses on making products like diapers and wipes for babies.
4. Company Authority Extension
Companies with high levels of authority in their sector can leverage this authority to create new products.
For instance, Samsung has a huge brand name in the technology space that allows them to launch different products in related categories with a measure of success. And because of its brand image, most consumers wouldn’t mind using a new product, whether it’s an air conditioner or a mobile phone.
5. Brand Lifestyle Extension
Who would have thought a tequila line from an energy company would sell out within a few hours? Well, Tesla did it. And it was primarily due to the personality and lifestyle of its CEO, Elon Musk.
However, Elon and Tesla are not the only ones to use a celebrity’s lifestyle to extend an existing brand. Other instances include Adidas/Kanye West’s Yeezy lineup and Fenty (a brand under LVMH) with Rihanna.

Brand Extension and Brand Health Measures
Before you can think about extending your brand, it’s important to make sure that your brand’s current iteration is in good health. What does that mean? Brand health refers to a brand’s ability to deliver on its value proposition and promise. Before you start launching a new product or service, make sure that customers are delighted with your current offerings.
Next, we’ll dig into what exactly you’ll need to assess brand health.
Brand Health Tracking
There isn’t just one metric available to diagnose brand health. Instead, you’ll need to view a variety of metrics to get a good picture of where your brand stands. Here are a few metrics you should already be tracking that will help you assess brand health.

Net Promoter Score (NPS): Find your NPS by sending a survey asking customers if they’d recommend your service or product to a friend using a scale of 0 (likely) to 10 (unlikely). Customers who rated you at a 9 or 10 are considered “promoters.” Those who rated 0 to 6 are “detractors,” with those rated 7 to 8 considered “passive.”
Customer Satisfaction Score: Similar to NPS, your customer satisfaction score is also a survey question. This one asks customers to rate their satisfaction with your service on a scale of 1 (very unsatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied).
Brand Recall: Brand recall is used to measure brand awareness. Your survey question would ask something similar to “What company/brand comes to mind when you think of ?”
Share of Voice: Share of voice lets you compare brand awareness across several marketing channels against your competitors.
Purchase Intent: This survey question asks customers how likely they are to buy your brand on a scale from not likely to very likely. To find the score, total the number of customers that answered “very likely” and divide that number by the total number of respondents.

The metrics above are key to measuring brand health. With them, you can track your:
1. Brand Awareness
Surveys and focus groups will help you track both brand awareness and brand perception. Tools like SurveyMonkey can make running surveys a cinch, and allow your team to pull much-needed customer insights.
2. Brand Loyalty
Using both your NPS and customer satisfaction score can help you gauge brand loyalty. If your customers wouldn’t recommend your product or service to a friend, it’s a sign you have more work to do in building trust and delivering on your value proposition.
3. Social Media Listening
It may sound creepy but in this instance of social media listening, spying on your customers is a good thing. You’ll be monitoring your brand’s social channels for direct feedback and mentions of your brand to see just what customers are saying about it online. Use listening tools to collect customer feedback or respond directly to people mentioning you online. The more you learn about your customers, the better you’ll be able to serve them.
4. Messaging Targets
Using the metrics above will also ensure that your marketing strategy corresponds to the correct customer segment. Your customers will have different pain points and needs and will be at different points in their customer journey. As such, your messaging shouldn’t be one size fits all. You’ll need to ensure your marketing efforts target the right customers at the right time for their specific situation.
For example, you could group customers by product pages they’ve visited in the past and send them a marketing email mentioning that specific product. If your messaging is not aligned with the right customer segment, you risk providing a poor customer experience — which could derail your brand extension efforts.
Remember that customer experience and brand health are linked. You won’t successfully pull off a brand extension without ensuring both are in a good place.
What separates the best brand extensions from the worst?
Historically, the most successful brand extensions are the ones that closely tie to the company’s core brand or flagship product, like Gerber’s baby clothes and Dole’s frozen fruit bars. By entering tangential markets that can preserve their brand’s unique associations and perceived quality, companies can launch new products that consumers intuitively understand the benefits of, even though they’ve never seen them on a shelf.
On the flip side, a company can also exploit its brand and, in turn, ruin it.
Developing a new product in a market that isn’t closely tied to your flagship product or core brand, like what Zippo did with its women’s perfume, could cause some problems.
It could result in undesirable associations to your brand and weaken its existing associations and hurt your established products’ perceived quality.
So whether you’re a SaaS company or a consumer brand thinking about extending your product line, check out our list of the most and least successful brand extensions to help inspire your own.

Examples of Good Brand Extensions
1. Michelin
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When you hear the name Michelin, do you think of top-rated restaurants or food? Perhaps both? Michelin built their empire manufacturing car tires. In the late 1800s, the automobile industry was still in its infancy — at the time there were fewer than 3,000 cars in France — the Michelin company’s home base.
In an effort to help drivers plan their trips and boost car sales, Michelin rolled out a guide featuring gas stations, maps, how to change a tire, and other useful information. However, it wasn’t until the 1920s that the Michelin Guide took off. As the guide’s popularity grew, mystery diners were sent to various restaurants to provide reviews and a star rating system was implemented.
Now the Michelin Guide is a must-have reference for foodies and tourists, covering restaurants in roughly 41 countries.
What we like:
Michelin’s brand extensions is one of the riskier ones on this list, but it’s quite impressive. They took two seemingly unrelated industries and made it work — becoming the gold standard of restaurant ratings.
2. Reese’s Puffs Cereal

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Reese’s Puffs was my favorite cereal growing up, so I might be a little biased here. But with all the chocolate-flavored cereal around in the mid-90s, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup’s entrance into the cereal market was smart and natural.
Today, with some ad campaigns highlighting how kids can eat their favorite candy for breakfast, over 6 million consumers eat 1 to 4 servings of Reese’s Puffs per week according to Statista.
What we like:
Reese’s marketing efforts got parents on board with allowing their children to eat candy for breakfast.
3. Food Network’s Kitchen Items

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With an audience of over 13 million people, Food Network remains one of the world’s biggest TV channels.
Considering that many people were interested in what it does, Food Network saw an opportunity to extend its brand by partnering with Kohl’s Corporation to launch its kitchen and cookware products.
What we like:
The partnership was a success because Food Network served a specific audience with what they needed.
4. Gillette’s Razors & Shaving Supplies
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Gillette’s extension into making shaving products alongside its safety razor blades was a smart move. Why? It’s hard to imagine someone shaving without using shaving cream, foam, or gel?
What we like:
It was almost a necessity for Gillette to produce this complementary good for its flagship product.
5. Star Wars Action Figures
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Although Star Wars was popular among adults when the movie was first released in 1977, many children didn’t like it as much.
So how did the franchise become popular today? The Star Wars brand extended into the toy market. With action figures from characters in the movies, Star Wars was able to attract a new audience, build brand awareness and make a ton of sales in the process.
What we like:
Star Wars was able to tap into its dedicated fan base and market toys to not just die hard fans, but attract new ones with the addition of merch.
6. Colgate’s Toothbrush
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Just like Gillette’s razors and shaving products, Colgate’s toothpaste and toothbrush are complementary goods. But unlike the former example, you literally need a toothbrush to use toothpaste. Otherwise, you can’t brush your teeth.
What we like:
In my opinion, Colgate’s decision to enter the toothbrush market was a necessity and one of its best moves, helping it secure the third-largest slice of the oral care market.
7. Honda’s Lawn Mowers
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Honda’s line of lawnmowers might not elicit the most enjoyable memories of my childhood. Still, its entrance and success in a saturated market speak volumes for a company primarily known for selling cars.
What we like:
By leveraging its expertise in small motors to enter the lawn mower market in 1978, it now boasts the seventh-largest slice of market share in the global lawn mower industry.
8. Sunkist’s Vitamin C Tablets

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Featuring orange juice as its flagship product, Sunkist’s brand has associations with oranges, health, and energy. Sunkist produced vitamin C tablets that spawned an entire arm of business dedicated to vitamins and supplements to both bolster and leverage this association simultaneously.
What we like:
Sunkist was able to parlay their brand notoriety for orange juice into vitamin C supplements. It’s an extension that is on brand since oranges are a great source of vitamin C.
Examples of Unsuccessful Brand Extensions
Not every brand extension can be a hit. Here are a few examples of brands that have made brand extension mistakes — and the lessons you can learn from them.
9. Cadbury’s Instant Mashed Potatoes
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Cadbury is known for making high-end chocolate and candy. When it started producing low-end food products, like instant mashed potatoes, it’s not surprising to learn that its association with the finest chocolates weakened.
Smash, its instant mashed potato brand, actually reached mainstream success, but it was at the expense of lowering its flagship product’s perceived quality. Cadbury eventually sold Smash in 1986, over 20 years after introducing its instant mashed potatoes to the world.
What went wrong:
Cadbury’s food products were not up to the same high-quality standards as its candy and lost customer trust in the brand.
10. Levi’s Tailored Classics
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When Levi’s introduced Tailored Classics in the early 1980s, it already owned a large share of its target market, so it wanted to enter some new markets to sustain its high growth rate.
One of these markets was men’s suits, but since its brand was heavily associated with a casual, rugged, and outdoorsy lifestyle, Levi’s new product line conflicted with its core identity and failed to catch on.
What went wrong:
Consumers trusted Levis to produce durable clothing that could endure the wrath of mother nature, but, for that very reason, they didn’t trust them to deliver high-end tailored suits.
11. Pillsbury’s Frozen Microwave Popcorn
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Even though Pillsbury is known for producing foodstuffs, its frozen microwave popcorn couldn’t compete with Orville Redenbacher or General Mills’ Pop Secret because its product positioning of being “frozen for freshness” didn’t offer enough value. Sure, sticking your popcorn in the freezer is convenient (I guess), but that benefit pales in comparison to enjoying a better-tasting popcorn.
What went wrong:
Frozen popcorn was a hard sell — especially when consumers had better-tasting popcorn options from competitors.
12. Samsonite’s Outerwear

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While Samsonite’s outwear is more fashionable than Levi’s Tailored Classics, it still suffers from the same problem as Levi’s failed product line — the brand extension doesn’t align with Samsonite’s core identity.
Samsonite is known for making high-end luggage, suitcases, and business bags. So unless it thinks its flagship product’s elegant traits can transfer to a completely unrelated product line, its venture into the clothing industry could diminish its brand equity. This is most likely the reason Samsonite doesn’t list outerwear on its website anymore.
What went wrong:
Samsonite was unable to transfer its reputation for creating sleek luggage to clothing.
13. Arm & Hammer’s Underarm Deodorant Spray

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Arm & Hammer has successfully extended its brand from an odor-neutralizing baking soda to laundry detergent, carpet deodorizer, and even cat litter. But one product line that isn’t the best fit for its brand is an underarm deodorant spray. Applying a product that shares an ingredient with heavy-duty cleaning supplies to such a sensitive part of the body doesn’t jive well with consumers.
What went wrong:
While Arm & Hammer is known for making excellent cleaning products, customers just couldn’t picture themselves using its products on their bodies.
14. Colgate Kitchen Entrees

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Although Colgate did well by extending its brand and creating different oral care products, it failed to enter the food space.
This brand extension was a failure mainly because selling frozen food was in sharp contrast with Colgate’s brand identity. Since its audience already associated the brand name with dental care, it was hard for them to see the company differently.
What went wrong:
Pivoting from oral care to food was not a switch that got buy-in from customers.
Grow Your Brand
While a brand extension has its benefits, you also need to know that extending your brand into unchartered waters would also come with challenges.
So before you implement any extension strategy for your business, ensure it’s in line with what your ideal consumer wants.
Does it make any logical sense to start marketing a new product to my customers? What benefit would a consumer derive from this new brand or product? Have I done enough research to know how a brand extension would affect my original brand?
Once you answer those questions, then you can start thinking about effective ways to grow your brand.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in June 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. 

We all know the frustrating feeling — you’ve collected all the images you need for your next campaign, but when you go to press “Send” you’re told, “Sorry. File too large.”
Figuring out how to send large files on the fly is a pain. Unfortunately, our email accounts can’t carry as much storage as you might think. Gmail, for instance, can only hold files up to 25 MB.

Additionally, large files can eat at your storage space, even if it’s just sitting in your Sent folder. If you’ve got a file you can’t send the traditional way, don’t worry — we’ve got several alternatives (some free), to ensure the largest of files can be sent to whoever, within minutes.

Skip to:

How to Send Large Files in Email
How to Send Large Files Over the Internet
How to Send Large Files via File Sharing Service

How to Send Large Files in Email
1. Upload your files to a cloud storage space, and share them or email them to others.
Pros

Easy to use
Great for internal company sharing

Cons

Limited to your service provider

Using a cloud storage space like Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive is one of the easiest and most popular methods for sending large files. Depending on your email provider, you’ll likely be able to use corresponding cloud storage — like Google Drive for Gmail, or OneDrive for Outlook.com.
If you’re sending an attachment within a provider like Gmail, you’ll see the Google Drive button already integrated. Simply press it, choose your file, and then send it like a regular attachment.
Alternatively, Dropbox allows you to upload large files and then send a web link via email or text to your recipient. With Dropbox’s free tier, you’ll receive 2 GB of storage space. For $9.99 per month, you can increase your storage to 1 TB.
Best for: Ease-of-use when sending attachments through your email provider. Most likely to use when sharing files internally with colleagues.
2. Use WeTransfer, a free online service.
Pros

Free
No download required
No install required

Cons

Limited file size for free version (2 GB)

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WeTransfer is one of the simplest ways to share files online with the added bonus of not having to register to use the service. Once on the website, all you need to do is upload your file (up to 2 GB), enter a destination email, enter your email, a title, and a message and you’re all set. 
Best for: Emailing large files without having to sign up or download anything.

How to Send Large Files Over the Internet
3. Use a VPN.
Pros

Sends files securely
Keeps sender’s location private

Cons

Could slow connection
Requires tech savvy to install

A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is a service that protects your data and provides you with more privacy when you’re online by routing your internet connection through a server. A VPN can protect you from hackers, or even online ads, and is a secure option, particularly if you’re often using public wi-fi.
Some internet service providers (ISP) use broadband traffic management to moderate upload bandwidth — if this is the case for your ISP, you can use a VPN, which will prevent your ISP from recognizing how large your files are, enabling you to send them.
However, this isn’t the best option in our list for two reasons — one, the large file could slow down your VPN connection, and two, your files aren’t guaranteed to be intact upon delivery. To ensure a high-quality delivery, you might want to try an alternative option, like a Zip compression.
Best for: If you’re using public wifi and you’re sending private documents, this is a good option for increasing security measures. However, this may not be the best option if you need to ensure high-quality delivery.
4. Use FTP via FileZilla
Pros

Fast transfers
Simple to use

Cons

Unencrypted

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FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, is an option for transferring files online by uploading a file to your hosting server. FileZilla is a free FTP tool you can use to transfer files.
Once installed, users can easily select the files to be transferred with FileZilla’s two-pane display by clicking and dragging them into place. It’s great for sending files greater than four gigabytes. The software is frequently updated so if you encounter any bugs, changes will be resolved quickly.
The few downsides to using FTP is that files are not encrypted and with FileZilla, the free version also includes adware but upgrading to the paid version will eliminate this issue.
Best for: Using FTP software is best for transferring large, non confidential files that don’t need to be encrypted.
5. Transfer files using SFTP.
Pros

More secure than FTP
Speedy file transfers

Cons

Requires tech savvy to install

FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, is an option for transferring files online by uploading a file to your hosting server. However, the disadvantage of FTP is that it isn’t that secure — which is where SFTP comes in.
SFTP — or Secure File Transfer Protocol — is a protocol that works in a similar way to FTP, except it uses secure shell for encryption. This is a good option for limiting accessibility to those outside your recipient list. Some of the other options in this list, including file transfer options that rely on email, are likely less secure than an SFTP.
Best for: A more secure option than traditional online file-sharing, to be used when sending highly classified files to colleagues or clients.
Other Ways to Send Large Files
6. Use file compression software, like 7-Zip.
Pros

Eliminates storage obstacles
Quick transfer time

Cons

You have to manually compress files
Recipient must know how to decompress files

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If you have multiple files, you might consider using a free compression software like 7-Zip, which can compress an entire folder of files at once. Zip files in general support lossless data compression, and are good for saving time and space while ensuring your files remain intact. Most operating systems can extract Zip files easily, without additional software.
7-Zip is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. You can also provide a password for your files with 7-Zip, to ensure they’re safe to send online.
Best for: Sending a folder full of files at once to a recipient.
7. Purchase a USB flash drive.
Pros

Simplest way to transfer files
Portable

Cons

Data is gone if you lose it
Not ideal for time-sensitive deadlines

If you want to collaborate on a project or video with a large storage size, you might consider uploading it to a USB flash drive, which can range in size from 2 GB to 1 TB. This might allow you to pass your files more easily between coworkers, or back your files up for additional protection.
Best of all, if you use a USB you can take some strain off your computer, extending its data storage.
Best for: If you’re interacting with your team in person, a USB flash drive is a good option for physically handing files to team members, and takes some of the storage strain off your devices. Alternatively, a USB flash drive is safe to use as a back-up, so if your computer crashes you don’t lose access to your files or folders.

8. Use Jumpshare, a free online service.
Pros

Free
Get up to 2 GB of storage space

Cons

No client side encryption

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There are plenty of free online services that make uploading and sending large files both easy and incredibly quick. Jumpshare, for instance, lets you send up to 250 MB worth of files with a free account — simply upload a file or folder, and Jumpshare provides you with a link to share the files.
Plus, you can download the Jumpshare icon to your desktop. When you drag-and-drop files onto it, a link will be copied to your clipboard, which you can send to anyone, even if they don’t have their own Jumpshare account.
Best for: Easily, and quickly, sending files via links to colleagues. Best used for files or folders for which there aren’t too many privacy concerns, since the link is shareable with anyone.
9. Try Rakuten Drive Pro.
Pros

Secure password protected
Send files up to (50GB)

Cons

Free version has ads

Rakuten Drive, formerly Sendy, provides 1 TB of cloud storage and unlimited Cloud storage to transfer large files. What sets this tool apart from the rest is the ability to send your files using a password with recipients, so you can share files without needing access to everyone’s email addresses. Alternatively, you can send a link through email or a company messenger, like Slack, when you don’t need to transfer the files in real time.
Rakuten Drive enables you to attach big files using Chrome Extension, Outlook add-ins, and Send Anywhere’s website. It’s $7.99/month for the PRO version — or you can try the free version if you don’t need the PRO features.
Best for: The password enables you to quickly message or send files to anyone, without needing an email address. This might be good for quickly Slacking files to colleagues, or texting a file to a friend.
10. Upload the file and generate a link to share via MyAirBridge.
Pros

Free version
Share up to 20 GB

Cons

Password protection only for the Enterprise version

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MyAirBridge is a free tool that enables you to upload and share up to 20 GB through an email, shared link, or downloaded to your own storage space. You can use your own mobile device to upload files. For larger files the uploading takes a while, and it may not be the cleanest interface on the receiving end (the link your recipient receives takes them to direct download), but it gets the job done for personal or small team use.
MyAirBridge also offers plans ranging from Basic ($2.99/month) to Enterprise ($65.99/month). With the Enterprise option, users have access to 15 TB of storage, unlimited uploads of up to 100 GB, and the option to password-protect files for extra security.
MyAirBridge is a good option if you want to download various files (including music or video files, game applications, or documents) to your own storage space. For instance, you might use the tool to download music from your mobile device to your computer.
Best for: Downloading files to your own storage device, or use when downloading music, gaming, or video files.
11. Share a collection of assets to your team via Brandfolder.
Pros

Stores all files in one place
Sets user-level permissions

Cons

No free version

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Consider sharing brand assets, or a collection of assets, with your team, partners, or customers using Brandfolder. Brandfolder lets you use tiered access to share files with intended individuals, and even measure performance of each asset using Brandfolder’s Brand Intelligence feature.
Used by major brands including Slack, Bumble, and Hotels.com, Brandfolder enables you to store all brand-related assets in one place. Brandfolder is cloud-based, and uses user-level permissions to ensure employees and clients only have access to the appropriate files and folders.
Brandfolder offers Premium and Enterprise options. Request a quote to learn how much it would cost for your team to implement.
Best for: A more professional-looking option when sharing brand-related assets with clients or agencies, and a good long-term solution for storing all major files in one place for your team to access easily.
How to Send Large Files via Email Attachment
While you can’t send large files via email attachment the traditional way, there is a workaround using a cloud storage device. Start by storing your files in a cloud storage provider like Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive.
When you want to send the file, simply share the file with someone, and then notify them via email that you have done so. For example, if you’re using Google Drive, simply click share in the top right corner of the document you’d like to send. From there you’ll be prompted to enter the recipient’s email information and select whether or not they should have editing permissions. Google Drive will automatically send them an email notification or you can choose to send them a link instead.
Another way is to utilize built-in integrations with Gmail or Outlook. If you use Gmail or Outlook.com, you’ll find a Google Drive or OneDrive integration. When attaching your file to an email, you can click the Google Drive or OneDrive button to share the file.
When the recipient receives your email, they can download your file to their computer, or open it online through the cloud storage service you used to send it.
Sending Large Files Made Simple
Sending large files doesn’t have to be an obstacle in your workday. By using the methods above, you’ll be able to share large files with ease and collaborate with your team seamlessly.
Editor’s note: this article was originally published in June 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Heat maps are a game-changer for marketers who want to optimize their website and blog for better engagement and conversions.
By mapping out where users click, hover, and scroll, heat maps can provide powerful insights into what your visitors like, what they don’t like, and what they’re ignoring.

Here, we’ll take a closer look at heat maps, how they work, and the different types of maps you can use to optimize your website for more conversions and less friction.
Table of Contents
What is a heat map?

How do heat maps work?
Different Types of Heat Maps [+ What They Can Tell You]
How to Use Heat Maps
Imagine a marketer is re-designing a landing page and wants to position a call-to-action in a high-traffic area. Instead of taking wild guesses on where it should go, she generates a heat map of her website, allowing her to see where visitors are most engaged.

This is what makes heat maps so effective. They allow marketers to visualize, understand, and interpret complex data at a glance.
By identifying patterns in movement and behavior, marketers tailor their websites to improve user experience, increase conversion rates, and even reduce bounce rates.
How do heat maps work?
A variety of color schemes can be used in heat maps — from grayscale to rainbow. However, rainbow-schemed maps are typically preferred because they enabling you to interpret data points more easily.
The “hot” sections of a heat map — typically represented by warmer colors — are most popular with users. Alternatively, the “cold” sections — typically represented by cooler colors — are less popular.
There are two main categories of heat maps:

Interaction heat maps are used to identify how users interact with a website or blog. They do this by tracking clicks, mouse movements, and scrolling behavior.
Attention heat maps are more complex, leveraging eye-tracking technology to record the movement of a user’ eyes as they scan a webpage.

Next, we’ll discuss the different types of heat maps and the benefits of each.
Different Types of Heat Maps [+What They Can Tell You]
1. Scroll maps
Scroll maps show you the percentage of visitors who scroll through each section of your webpage. The hotter the section, the more visitors have viewed it. This data can help determine where to place CTAs or important information on your webpage.
For instance, if your visitors only scroll down 50% of the page, placing a CTA closer to the top — rather than the middle or bottom — would make sense.
Remember: When using scroll maps, always look at metrics on different devices, including smartphones and tablets.

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2. Click maps
As the name suggests, click maps identify the parts of your page that visitors click on the most. The hotter the section, the more frequently your visitors click on it.
This data can show you if visitors care to click on your CTAs or other buttons that allow them to take a desired action. It can also show you if they’re getting distracted by non-clickable elements or experiencing navigational issues.

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3. Hover maps
Hover maps, also known as mouse-tracking heat maps, show you where visitors hover their cursor while reading your webpage. The hotter the area, the longer they hang their cursor over it.
This data can help determine how visitors actually navigate your website, so you can place important elements in a location where they’ll receive the greatest amount of attention possible.
For example, a marketer can track the hover patterns on a checkout page to see where customers experience the most friction.

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How to Use Heat Maps
Analyzing the heat map of each type of page on your website would be ideal, but, unfortunately, it isn’t efficient. The most effective way to leverage heat maps is to analyze the pages that influence your website’s conversion rate the most: your home page, landing pages, and high-conversion blog posts.
Home Page
Your homepage is an introduction to your brand. If you constantly monitor which sections visitors are scrolling through and whether they’re hovering over key information and clicking on CTAs, then you’ll know exactly where to place the most important elements of your homepage, reducing your bounce rate and increasing your conversion rate.
Landing Pages
Your landing pages are the last step in turning visitors into leads. If you can analyze your users’ behavior on these pages, then you can implement the optimal landing page design for generating the most amount of leads for your business.
High-Conversion Blog Posts
Your CTAs placement on your blog posts can heavily influence their conversion rate. For instance, at HubSpot, even though our end-of-post banner CTAs are visually engaging, we found out that they only generate a small fraction of our blog leads.
After analyzing our heat maps, we discovered that our anchor text CTAs, which are just hyperlinked blurbs of text located after each blog post’s introduction, actually generated the majority of our blog leads because most visitors saw the CTA at the beginning of the post and not the one at the end.
Back to You
Whether you’re A/B testing your website design or figuring out the best place to put a call-to-action on your blog posts, heat maps are your best tool for measuring attention and designing content that connects with your audience and converts them into leads and customers.

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