Big Words start conversations and open doors to new places.
Author: anwaryusef
Anwar Y. Dunbar is a Regulatory Scientist. Being a naturally curious person, he is also a student of all things. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s Degree in General Biology from Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). Prior to starting the Big Words Blog Site, Anwar published and contributed to numerous research articles in competitive scientific journals reporting on his research from graduate school and postdoctoral years. After falling in love with writing, he contributed to the now defunct Examiner.com, and the Edvocate where he regularly wrote about: Education-related stories/topics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Financial Literacy; as well as conducted interviews with notable individuals such as actor and author Hill Harper. Having many influences, one of his most notable heroes is author, intellectual and speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, author of books including Outliers and David and Goliath.
Anwar has his hands in many, many activities. In addition to writing, Anwar actively mentors youth, works to spread awareness of STEM careers, serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium, serves as Treasurer for the JCSU Washington, DC Alumni Chapter, and is active in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. He also tutors in the subjects of biology, chemistry and physics.
Along with his multi-talented older brother Amahl Dunbar (designer of the Big Words logos, inventor and a plethora of other things), Anwar is a “Fanboy” and really enjoys Science-Fiction and Superhero movies including but not restricted to Captain America Civil War, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Prometheus. He is a proud native of Buffalo, NY.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. While businesses and corporations are independent entities which a policed by the federal government, there’s another force which can impact them, and that’s public image and perception. A poor public perception of your business can erode your customer base and profits. The following contributed post is entitled, Corporate Social Responsibility And The Benefits For Your Business.
In today’s business world, there are generally four ways to demonstrate your social responsibility.
1. Environmentally, placing a focus on your carbon footprint and taking measures to run a greener company. We suggested some of the ways you can do this in one of our previous articles here at https://bigwordsarepowerful.com/.
2. Philanthropically, running a business that is either specifically geared towards helping others, as can be demonstrated by the IT company at https://www.itforedu.com/ who work to serve the schools in our communities, or by donating your time and money to local charities and community causes.
3. Ethically, by running a business that treats its employees and customers fairly and responsibly.
4. Economically, by growing your business to profit your employees, shareholders, and customers, as well as yourself. You might also create job opportunities that are available to the local community.
These are the four main strands of corporate social responsibility, and as a business owner, you owe it to yourself and your business to consider each one.
Why?
Well, there are some obvious benefits to your business if you do, and these are outlined below.
You will improve your public image. With a negative public image, your business would suffer. If you became renowned for treating your employees badly, for example, or if it could be proven that your business had a negative impact on the environment, you would receive both public and media backlash. You would then experience financial losses when consumers decided to ditch your business in favor of a more socially responsible company. Turn that around then and think of the improved perception of your business when you start taking steps to be more socially responsible.
You will improve your employee’s morale. Would you want to work for a company that operated unethically? We assume not, and we are guessing neither would your employees. If they had the knowledge that the company they worked for was making active steps to support the local community, they would have greater morale and job satisfaction. Their productivity would then increase, and that would profit your business. You might also attract the best hires, including those millennials fresh out of grad school looking to make a difference in the world.
You will have an advantage over your business rivals. By taking steps to demonstrate your social responsibility, you are going to attract more customers to your business. By doing those things that your competitors aren’t, such as donating some of your profits to a local charity and using more sustainable ways to package your products when shipping, you will establish yourself as a company that cares. If your rivals don’t follow suit, then they will struggle to gain the same public recognition and positive word of mouth that your business will receive.
You will feel happier getting out of bed in the morning. Knowing that you are making a difference in the world should give you an extra spring in your step. And even on your worst days in business, those days when you are tired, and problems seem insurmountable, you are more likely to persevere if you know that what you are doing actually means something to others, as well as to yourself.
Demonstrating your corporate social responsibility is not only good for others, but it’s good for business too. Today then, think about what you could do, and then start to action any plans that could benefit both your profit margin and the local community around you.
Let us know what you think, and if you have anything to add to this article, perhaps in the way of how to demonstrate social responsibility, please share your ideas with us.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and a key focus is Athletics/Sports. While we tend to think of sports in terms of the professional level, there is a lot of knowledge that the they teach people even if they don’t make it to that level. This knowledge transfers into the other areas of life. The following contributed post is entitled, The Knowledge Of Life Sports Give Us.
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Little did you know it, but when you were involved in a sport you were being taught life lessons. Whether you were a football player, baseball player, soccer player or even some kind of racing driver, you were in the school of harsh lessons and personal growth. When we’re young we don’t take it that seriously but as we grow older we see some of the similarities in sport to the thing we go through in life. A double play can be screwed up in a tight baseball game, because someone who was thought to be mentally tough ended up choking under the pressure. The ball might have slipped out of their hand or they perhaps lost their focus. These are things that happen in life to us all but in very different ways. Not folding under pressure at key moments in your life and being mentally ready for hard or intense times is just part and parcel of the lessons we learn.
The style of outlook
All of us in life, carry some kind of style. No we’re not talking about fashion or perhaps the way you walk. We carry a style in life of our approach to situations, we carry a carefree or a cautious mindset wherever we go. In certain situations the people who will think strategically will end up thinking further than those around them. For example, you are trying to out a mortgage. Many banks will actually offer smaller rates for a short term contract that then suddenly rises in price. In sports we learn to not think about how much energy we might have at the beginning of the game, but how much we’ll have at the end of it. Thus our training and our mindset are focussed on the long term goal. Someone with this kind of mentality would rather take a long term mortgage with smaller rates or a short term loan with high rates. This kind of outlook maintains financial independence and self-reliance.
Reading other people
Without a doubt the psychological aspect of sports is coming more and more to the fore. We are now seeing that the most successful players in the world, always engage in some kind of psychological battles with their opponents. Whether it’s Sebastian Vettel from F1, Tiger Woods from golf or Christiana Ronaldo from soccer, they all do it. If you are very in tune with sports you will be able to see which team is going to win even before they play against each other. You can use this knowledge of reading other people to earn a living when you work with a company like payperhead247.com. They can help you set up a business in which you can make money from games and the sport you yourself love and watch. Many other people just like you are know about the teams in depth will also be able to have a chance at putting their money where their mouth is.
Sport always teaches us things we don’t really know about until we are older. Things like reading people and using that to help us in life, or approaching challenges with a long term mindset for example.
Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. An important part of any business today is its Information Technology Services (IT). When thinking about your operations moving forward, it’s important understand if you need those services managed. The following contributed post is entitled, Does Your Business Need Managed IT Services.
Do you often find yourself worrying about problems that aren’t really related to your business, but you think is vital for its success? Are you getting distracted by tech-related problems that you barely know how to fix, instead of giving your 100 percent to running your business? If you can overwhelmingly relate to these scenarios, you need to get a managed IT service soon.
A managed IT service takes care of the tech aspect of running your business. This includes ensuring your business website doesn’t go down with the influx of visitors, your security is up-to-date to avoid any data breach, and you have the best IT support at your beck and call throughout the day. It’s like establishing a whole in-house IT without paying too much for them.
Do All Types of Businesses Need This Service?
Sadly, no. There are a few kinds of business that will significantly profit from a managed IT service provider, however there are likewise some that won’t. Despite the fact that the advantages of having an IT expert do sound appealing – and it genuinely is – you should even now initially assess if your business is a solid match.
Does the Size of Business Matter?
Not so much. Despite the fact that you may feel that the size of the organization is what matters in picking whether to hire or sign up for managed services, the most important consideration in choosing is just the degree of what your business’ reliance is on innovation.
Regardless of whether your organization is simply comprised of ten excited people, as long as that ten can’t work without technology, enlisting this service is crucial. It would be unrealistic, exorbitant, and an exercise in futility to train these people to learn how to troubleshoot IT problems.
How Can I Tell If My Business Needs Manage IT Services? https://mycs.net.au/why-business-managed-services/ You can tell whether your business needs managed IT services or not if you think IT is necessary for your business to function but you don’t have the time and expertise to proactively take care of it. Or if you accept that putting resources into your technology is an absolute necessity and it’s never again a discretionary decision. Maybe cost of downtimes is taking a toll on your business more than employing an IT service provider. In the event that you can identify with any of these, almost certainly, you ought to consider having managed IT services for whatever business you have.
How Does Managed IT Services Work?
That would depend simply on the terms you, the business, and the supplier concurs on. In general, the service will take care of your business round the clock, monitoring the whole IT side of your company. Commonly, programming, framework changes, and redesigns are done remotely while the hardware side is, obviously, attended to on-site by experts. There is usually a 24/7 hotline or helpdesk that you can contact whenever you encounter any problems. You’re immediately connected to an expert who will guide you through the necessary troubleshooting steps. If it can’t be addressed through that, a repair schedule would typically be set as soon as possible.
Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. When you’re creating a new and novel product, one concern is counterfeit products. Counterfeit products can cut into your profits and also ruin the reputation of you product. The following contributed post is entitled, Counterfeit Products: Advice For Business.
You have worked incredibly hard on ensuring that your business’ products are as good as they can possibly be. You’ve researched how to make your products a success, refined the manufacturing techniques, taken customer feedback into account, and much more besides – and you have built your brand, and a strong customer base, as a result.
When you have gone through the above process, and have enjoyed the rewards, it is fair to say that you will only want your own company to enjoy the success that a great product can provide. It’s your company that has put in the hard yards, so your company should be the one to reap the rewards…
Then you realise: counterfeit versions of your products are now available
There are a few different ways that business owners can become aware that counterfeit versions of their products are being sold. Sometimes, you may notice it yourself – perhaps by browsing auction sites or visiting a competitor’s store. Alternatively, you may notice a sudden sharp intake in complaints from customers who have bought a product from a third-party vendor and are now questioning why the quality has declined.
However you find out about the counterfeits, it’s a problem – and one you’re going to need to take swift action to rectify.
The harm caused by counterfeit products
If counterfeit versions of your products are being sold, your business will feel the impact in two specific ways:
● Revenue. Customers that would once have bought genuine versions of your products are now buying counterfeit goods, often without even realising that they are doing so. ● Reputation. The customers that do buy the fake versions of your products will, inevitably, see poorer performance and lower quality – and if they have bought counterfeit products without realising they are counterfeit (which is incredibly common) then they will judge your company for producing a poor product. In the long run, this could be hugely detrimental to your brand and your ability to operate.
How to address the issue
If you have become aware that counterfeit products are being sold, the first step is to try and stop the sale. If the products are being sold through a third-party (such as an online auction site), then contacting the third party to say that they are selling counterfeits is the best port of call. Unfortunately, you may find that the response is not what you would expect: there are countless examples on online forums of people saying they have reported counterfeits and no action has been taken.
If there is no response from the third-party, or there is no third party for you to contact, then you may need to take further action. You may need to hire an investigator and pursue legal recourse, as well as reporting the counterfeits to the appropriate authorities. Given the risks that counterfeits can pose, drastic action is required to try and stop the problem in its tracks.
Finally, contact your customers and explain that you have become aware that counterfeits are being sold. You can provide a list of “safe” places from which to buy if you sell through third-parties, or simply encourage people to buy directly from yourselves. From a customer relationship standpoint, it can also be helpful to offer to replace counterfeits that customers have bought unwittingly.
In conclusion
If you manufacture your own products, then there is always a risk that counterfeits of those products will be sold. If you encounter such a scenario, you can protect your business by following the methods mentioned above to ensure the problem is dealt with as quickly and effectively as possible.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. When running a business, it’s important to know what’s worth investing in, to make the business grow. Not addressing certain necessary expenses can hurt the business long-term. The following contributed post is entitled, 4 Business Expenses Worth Investing In.
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When you are running a small business, you are often seeking to keep expenses and running costs as low as you possibly can. You need to watch your margins and balance your books carefully, to ensure that you remain stable and afloat. We absolutely understand that and advocate it, however there are a few areas where it is worth spending that little bit more as the return that you get is invaluable to you. We believe that these are 4 business expenses worth investing in.
Your brand and reputation
You will need to build a strong brand in order to stand out in your industry. You might want to invest in the best possible branding design that you can afford and utilise it wherever possible to promote your business. Your reputation needs to be positive and professional so work hard at building this both in-house and with your clients and potential customer base. Invest in customer feedback to ensure that you are delivering an exemplary service time after time.
Technology
The world connects through technology these days and people expect a certain level of service and speed from every business that they use. People would expect to see a professional and easy to navigate website at the front of a business and they would want any services or products purchased there to be a safe and simple process. You need to deliver this to them, consistently.
The back end of your business also needs to run smoothly and this will no doubt include using cell phones and computers at the very least. You need to buy products that are fit for the job that you require them to do and do use experts in the field, such as https://www.ifixyouri.com/ to fix and service all equipment quickly, thereby minimising any downtime.
Your team
Your team will be at the heart of your business, so you will need to invest in them wisely. Make things as comfortable as you can for them so that they can handle their own workload and enjoy their time at work daily. You will want them to remain motivated so do put in place reward and recognition schemes and take the time to personally thank them for a good job well done. Ensure that salaries remain competitive and spend time and money on training the right people. You are seeking to recruit well and then look after each and every employee in your team.
You need to fully understand your obligations regarding your bookkeeping records, administration and the taxes that you are liable for which can be quite a lot to take in and understand and deliver on. This is an area that you simply cannot afford to get wrong as errors could mean the end of your business and even prosecution. This is why this one has made this list as it is worth getting a professional in to handle this area for you, either in house or contracted regularly.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A key aspect to your business growing is its recognition. Getting your business recognized could be the difference between it transitioning from a small business to a big business. The following contributed post is entitled, Two Low Cost Methods To Easily Get A Small Business Recognised.
But as a business owner, it’s common to wonder if there aren’t less expensive ways to promote your business. It’s in our nature to be cost-effective and whether there has just been a launch of a business or when the entity is in the fifth consecutive year of growth, there is always a re-evaluation of how to be more efficient. But the truth is that when you’re a small business with limited means, getting new customer acquisition can become a real challenge. Sometimes the mere thought of getting their business “out there” makes some people worry. The reason for this is because everyone is taught to think that marketing requires a vast investment or budget that to be effective like the big sharks, they just can’t afford right now.
But this is not always the case.
While there are methods that require you to have ample cash, there are many low-cost methods that will get your business in front of the people that matter the potential new clients and customers. Here a few methods.
Try Exhibitions
This method of marketing gives small business owners a really important marketing advantage of interacting one-on-one with your existing and more potential customers. This may seem like a really big investment on your part; the business owners part, but if you do it right, an exhibition show could give the company your building lasting benefits that could potentially give you a tenfold return on your investment.
Research any local venues that have what you are looking for and keep a list of all the upcoming shows in the up and coming year or so, to keep them in one place for easy access. And of course, keep in mind the business annual financial plan so you don’t get any surprise expenses. Try purchase all of your product pictures, stand materials and vinyl banners before attending and practise through your pitches.
Secondly, try to stay away from services like stand carpets offered by official vendors and suppliers of the show organizers. Sometimes these services can be as much as 100% extra than those from local independent suppliers.
The benefits are that If you exhibit at the right show, you can increase your brand awareness, acquire new customers and cement existing customer loyalty.
Referrals and Word Of Mouth Bonuses
Referral marketing, including methods like word-of-mouth marketing, as it is often referred to, is one of the most effective marketing methods for new starters and small businesses. Rather than focusing on and involving traditional mainstream marketing methods, this involves simply spreading the word, but allows your dedicated affiliate to benefit too.
What some small businesses might not know is the kind of boost it can give their business if they started implementing it today.
From statistical research done, nearly 65% of customers buy because someone recommended the product or service. This means that more than one-third of your customers are more likely to come from other customer referrals. You should be convinced by now that if your business does not actively include doing referral marketing schemes then you’re potentially leaving a lot of money on the table.
The first and foremost thing for a small business to do is to ask for referrals from customers and other people you know, have a few feeler schemes out through reliable clients who may be able to help bring in extra custom. Make sure that you mention the referral program to as many of your customers as you come across though. The best time to ask for a referral is when you have a happy customer in front of you. You just need to get used to asking them.
Marketing can come in different forms and methods, it depends on what works for the business owners. If you run a business what methods would you use to get more influence and recognition? Let us know your ideas in the comments below!
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. One of the most important considerations for your business is its location. In choosing the space, there some important aspects to consider. The following contributed post is entitled, Choosing The Perfect Premises For Your Business.
When you have an idea for a business, the lightbulb moment can send your heart racing as you begin to branch out more and more ideas in your mind. You have the chance to create something and take this project to heights that perhaps you couldn’t have dreamed of before. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility for something like this to take off – those at the very top are just regular people like you, remember.
There are a bunch of aspects in the business world that you must look into and research before committing. It sounds like a difficult thing to approach, but it’s not a terribly challenging task. One of the things to consider is simply where your business is going to operate. Different premises are needed for different types of work, so it’s something that shouldn’t be brushed past too lightly. If you’re currently in a position where you’re looking to get an idea up and running, or you’d just like to be made aware of what’s out there, let’s have a little chat about just some of the avenues you can head down.
Office Spaces
If your business is primarily a sit-down job with lots of administration, then you’ll probably need to check out any offices that are available to rent. You could be a digital marketing company, a law firm or an accountant. Office spaces are typically built with enough space to house a group looking to sit at a bunch of desks all day. Working in a fresh and pretty-looking office also helps with professionalism – it beats working in the back of a store, above a nightclub or something else less fancy.
Factory
Fabricating stuff is a gritty process that can get dirty a lot of the time, so a pretty environment isn’t necessary. Groups, like WES engineering solutions, that are looking to manufacture products and provide similar services will often need factories that will house the appropriate machinery or apparatus. Whatever you’re looking to make, there needs to be clear and safe premises for it to take place.
Warehouse
A warehouse is traditionally a place for companies to store their products or raw materials so that they can distribute them or work on them. Whilst they’re necessary for this kind of work, warehouses are fairly flexible and can be used for multiple ventures. For example, if you want to open up a gym or something similar, then you need a large space to keep the equipment. A warehouse is a perfect place to run one.
Home!
Finally, if you’re someone looking to bootstrap a business and creating something fairly low-key, then there’s no reason why you can’t use your own home as a place of work. Sure, if you’re looking to bring in employees to help you on your journey, then your home office or living room won’t cut it. If you’re a writer or hoping to start a little marketing venture, then creating a professional setting in the comfort of your own home could work wonders.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Blogging and Writing. Blogging and can be a fun adventure for those who choose to explore it. There are some key pieces to consider when starting to write, and before launching off into this area. The following contributed post is entitled, Find Your Voice in The Blogosphere.
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You read them all the time, you know that they’re attached to the sites of many business websites but write a blog for yourself? Why would you? Blogs are what travelling twenty-somethings do or lifestylers write about. How could a blog possibly help your business out?
It’s a great question and one that we’re going to explore in this…blog. We’ll also take a look at what makes a great blog and what makes a bad one. Read on to discover why your voice is important and how to showcase it to work better for your business.
Read Around
You may have a list of your go-to bloggers that tick all the boxes when it comes to what you read online. If you have a particular hobby then no doubt you’ve discovered a blogger who is informative, interesting and whose stories you follow for top tips, advice and discussion.
When you’re looking for specific advice you might use a Google search and find plenty of results that point you towards blogs as well as official websites for organisations.
Take a look at some of the websites you regularly visit and in particular any blogs that you enjoy. Ask yourself what it is about these blogs that make it worth your while coming back to again and again?
You’ll probably decide it’s a mix of great writing style, up to date and relevant content and something that makes it visually appealing. There may be more features but for now we’ll concentrate on these three.
Your business blog is your opportunity to have your voice heard in your industry. This voice has to be your authentic self and it has to show authority and knowledge while being able to connect with the human touch. Think about your style as you begin to write. Focus on sounding authoritative but delivering that message in the way you would talk to a colleague, friendly and in a non-patronising manner.
It can take a while to get this style down properly, so have a friend read over your first few attempts. Don’t worry about the content for now, just write about something you know and see if you’ve got the tone down pat.
You may have heard about SEO writing and keywords. If you are trying to fit keywords into your blog then you must make them sound natural. One thing that is guaranteed to knock your writing style off kilter is a blog that sounds unnatural and forced so be careful about how you use them and if necessary just stick to writing without SEO formats in mind.
Content
Whoever said content was king was quite right. This is where the war is won or lost. With up to date and relevant content you are going to attract your reader and have them coming back for more. If you’re writing about your business, try and think a little outside of the box. There are only so many times you can tell your customer how great your product is so think about taking it down to a more personal level. How did you get into your line of business? What’s your background? Personalising your blog helps people better connect to you and to your product.
Keep your content updated weekly, do not let it drift and make sure you’re writing around 1,000 words to create a blog that looks serious, engaging and that is worth reading.
Remember The Visuals
You may not need to go down the route of 3D rendering from your blog, thanks to www.gswanimation.com but making sure your blog looks good is vital. A wall of text is simply going to put off a lot of people but great images, an embedded video and so on are what turns good blogs into great blogs. It shows that you take your communication with your customer seriously. That you want to engage with them at the highest level and provide them with information about you and your business that is accessible, informative and simply a good read.
Take your blog to the next level and your business will soon follow. Blog for yourself, blog for your business and get talking to your customers. Find your style, fill your blog with content that sparkles and images that attract your customer to a blog that looks great as well as reads great.
Blogging isn’t just for everyone else, it’s for you too. Find your voice today and get that blog underway.
Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a critical component of business these days as it impacts how easily your business can be found on the internet. As such it’s important to have a concrete strategy for your website’s SEO. The following contributed post is entitled, SEOh-No: Mistakes That Could See Your Business Lose Ground To Competitors.
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Starting your own business is the ultimate form of self-expression and self-assertion in a consumer driven capitalist economy. Think of it! An opportunity to untether yourself from a rat race that seems to sap all of your time and energy yet affords you just a few crumbs from the corporate table as remuneration. If you feel underappreciated, undervalued understimulated and quite simply underwhelmed by your day job, you’re not alone. This Gallup Poll a couple of years ago revealed that as many as 85% of Americans hated their jobs. When you’ve worked hard to gain the education, skills and experience that make you such a valuable commodity to any business, it can be enormously frustration when that business only utilizes a fraction of your potential.
If you’ve chosen to eschew the 9 to 5 and start your own business, you are one of the few who got off the starting block. The rest are still trying to overcome their fear and trepidation. They cling to their job because it offers them the illusion of security. Of course, that’s not to say that the path of the entrepreneur is risk free. Far from it. New startups have the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads from day one. They know that they have a 50% chance of going under within 5 years. But they also know that they can succeed or fail on their own terms.
SEO and the competitive edge
Competition is understandably intimidating to nascent entrepreneurs. Nonetheless, competition should be embraced and relished. Competition provides a framework for operational excellence. It allows you to be the best that you can be. It lights a fire under you to be better and try harder than your nearest competitor. Competitor analysis allows you to take a detailed look at your competitor’s operations and identify opportunities to do better. It also allows you to see what they’re doing well and how you can up your game to match them in those areas and bring greater value to your clientele.
Yet, the sad truth is that it doesn’t matter how much better you are than your nearest competitor if the target market you share have no idea who you are. Operational quality is certainly not an area in which businesses should cut corners, but it needs to be supplemented with savvy digital marketing which positions you ahead of your competitors in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS). The process of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a rich and multifaceted discipline and needs to be applied to every aspect of your online presence. SEO is arguably the key to success in business, whether that business takes place in the online realm or in a physical space. The more you do to bolster your SEO, the greater your potential competitive edge.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding SEO which can lead well-meaning businesses to make poor decisions. And too many of these decisions could see you lose ground to your competitors.
Here we’ll take a look at common SEO and digital marketing mistakes which could damage your visibility and the online reputation of your brand…
You don’t know your needs
When it comes to your SEO and all other aspects of your digital marketing, small business owners are faced with a fundamental choice. Do they build their own in-house team to handle all of their marketing and SEO or do they use an external agency? As you’ll see if you check out this article, one option is not inherently better than the other. However, it behoves you to know your needs before you choose one or the other.
Do you need quick access to the best digital marketing talent or can you afford to wait? Do you have the budget to assemble your own team or would it work out cheaper to go through an agency? Do you know what to look for when recruiting your own team? Is there an agency out there that would fit in for the unique culture with which you want your brand to be associated? Or can you only get this by building your own team from scratch?
This is an important decision which should not be made arbitrarily. It could see you lose your edge to competitors or bury you in overhead costs without due consideration.
You’re doing content marketing… But your focus is all wrong
Many entrepreneurs are aware of the inherent value in content marketing. They know that it can be a great way of both building their brand and climbing up the rankings in SERPs. It can showcase your skills, knowledge and expertise and build value in your brand. Search engine crawlers love big websites which are regularly updated and filled with high quality content. However, to assume that more content = success in SEO can be a gross oversimplification.
Many a well-meaning entrepreneur has unwittingly sacrificed quality for quantity to the detriment of their SEO and their business’ image.
Don’t fall into the trap of writing for algorithms rather than actual readers. Yes, keywords are important but they are by no means the only metric by which your pages are judged by search engines. Crawlers value measures of quality engagement like hit counts, time on page, scroll depth and navigation to other internal links within your site. And this only happens when you create content that users actually want to click on.
Always approach content creation (whether you outsource it or do it yourself) with a customer-first perspective. Create content that is of value to them. If it helps them to overcome a problem they regularly encounter or makes their lives easier they are much more likely to engage with it, leave a comment or share it on social platforms. And those are all big ticks for your SEO.
In a world of text, don’t neglect your images
The quality and uniqueness of your text is vitally important for SEO but that doesn’t mean that you should neglect your images. Images are another useful way to drive traffic towards your pages. However, if you neglect to add alt-text to your image it will be invisible to Google and therefore won’t show up on any image search pages.
We now live in an era where the majority of users will access your website and its constituent pages through a mobile advice rather than a desktop computer. And if you have yet to make your website responsive (optimized for mobile consumption) this could cause your online presence to be overlooked by Google. As of July 1st 2019, the search engine giant will use Mobile First Indexing. This means that competitors with more responsive websites could gain a leading edge over you if you let them.
If you aren’t sure how mobile-friendly your website is, these checks can give you a pretty reliable overview;
• Does it change shape when you resize your browser window?
• Does the source code contain the word “responsive” or “@media”?
• What does Google say? Using Chrome’s developer tools can help you to identify whether or not your site is mobile-ready.
Your web design is slowing your site down
In the mobile age, your target audience has less time and attention to spare you than ever before. They’ll be accessing your site from a mobile device and consuming your content on the go in small, bite-sized chunks. Speed is of the essence and if you can’t offer them a website that is readily accessible and responds promptly to commands on a mobile device, they won’t stick around to wait for it.
Page load times has always been a factor in bounce rates, but today’s consumers are less forgiving than ever. In fact, a page load time of just 5 seconds can increase your bounce rate by almost 40%. Since search engines value time on page and scroll depth, a slow website could prove a real impediment for your SEO.
Fortunately, a few changes at the back and the front end can help to make your page faster and less sluggish to navigate on a mobile device;
• Optimize your code. Minify scripts and get rid of unnecessary characters.
• Optimize your images. Make sure they’re not too big or unwieldy. Use an efficient format like PNG for graphics and keep them at 16 colors or less. It’s also a good idea to use CSS sprites rather than PNG graphics for icons, buttons etc.
• Make sure that your server isn’t bottlenecking your time to first byte.
• Reduce redirects and use a link reclamation service to ensure that your links are healthy and working.
There’s a lack of housekeeping
Finally, simple poor housekeeping can result in issues which are anathema to SEO. Broken links are the most obvious which spring to mind. These imply to search engines that the website is poorly maintained and they will penalize you accordingly. Duplicate content is also a no-no and could land your business with a serious black eye if you are caught plagiarizing content. Keep your content up-to-date and ensure that your links are working and free of redirects.
And don’t be antisocial! Sharing your content on social channels whenever you’ve updated it or posted something new and fresh is a great way to drive traffic.
Avoid these mistakes and you can ensure that your SEO is on top form and that you remain one step ahead of your competo=itors.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Health/Wellness. Everyone wants to be happy in life. Some of us however do things at times inadvertently do things to hurt their qualities of life. The following contributed post is entitled, How Do You Live Your Best Life?
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It’s a cliche to say that you only live once, but it’s important to keep in mind that, like most cliches, it’s also true. There is, we imagine, no sadder feeling than reaching the end of your life and understanding that you didn’t quite do things as you intended, that you didn’t quite reach your full potential. The best remedy for this is, of course, to make sure you don’t end up feeling that way. Live your best life while you have the chance! But of course, that’s something that’s easier said than done. Fortunately, us humans have acquired plenty of nuggets of wisdom that can put us on the right path towards a happy and fulfilled life. We take a look at some of the key areas and actions to focus on.
You’re pushed into a system that encourages you to get a job, buy a house, have a family, and all-around stay on the well-trodden path. However, there’s still a lot of freedom within the system! To live your best life, you’ll want to be aware of the rules and your limitations/possibilities, and out your own spin on how things are done. Everything is possible. If you don’t feel like the path you’re lead down is the right one for you (say, all the talk is of an office job when you want to work outside), then go your own way.
Your Immediate Surroundings
You’ve got to be happy where you are! If you’re not, then all the professional and personal success in the world will be unlikely to make up for the plain and pure fact that you don’t enjoy your surroundings. By this, we mean the place where you’re living (the house, the apartment), and also the area of the country. If you’re struggling to identify with the interests and way of life of people around you, or you feel like you can’t be yourself for whatever reason, then take a look at moving. Millions of people move to a new state each year: it’s not as momentous as a decision as it’s sometimes made out to be. While it might take a little getting used to, in the long-term you’ll be grateful that you made a move if it allowed you to flourish.
Who You’re Hanging Out With
People tend to think that they’re independent folks, and they are to an extent, just not to the extent that they believe. We’re all much more influenced by the people we spend the most time with than we realize! Indeed, they say that every person is the average of the five people they spend the most time with. So take a look at who that would be in your case, and figure out in which direction they’re taking you. If they’re pushing you to be the best that you can be, then there’s no problem. If they’re pulling you down, then that’s another matter. It’s important to be loyal to the people in your life, but equally, you have to know when to cut the cord and look after yourself for a while.
Your Work and Career
If you asked people what would be the one thing in their life that they’d love to give up, the majority of answers would be “work.” And that’s understandable, because most people dislike their jobs. However, there isn’t the option of simply waving goodbye to employment — only lottery winners get to do that. So if you’re going to spend decades working, then you may as well take some time to find your calling. You’ll enjoy your job much more if it involves doing something that you inherently enjoy. Plus, weekends become a whole lot more when you’re not battling that Sunday feeling because you dread going to work on Monday.
Giving Back
It’s not all about you. Your hopes and dreams and happiness will be your main priority, but it shouldn’t be your only priority. You’ll feel more fulfilled if you help others in one way or another. While it might not seem like something that’s traditionally fun, Keep in mind that studies have shown that doing charitable work and helping others has a noticeable effect on our happiness levels. It feels good to do good, basically. It doesn’t really matter what it is, either — so long as you’re engaging in a selfless act for the benefit of others, then you’ll feel good. Plus, it’ll be pretty special to look back on your life when you’re older and know that you did something to push the world in the right direction.
The Basics
We tend to complicate our lives. If we break our needs down to the basics, then you’ll see that we don’t need all that much — but we do need them, especially if we’re going to go on and do more important things. The basics, which can include exercise and eating well, will provide the platform from which everything else can develop. It takes next to no time to prepare a healthy, tasty meal in the evening (check out some twenty-minute recipes), while exercise doesn’t have to involve spending an hour in the gym: it can be whatever you want to be, be it squash, cycling to work, climbing, or kayaking.
You might think you’ve got everything figured out, but the truth of the matter is that you, well, don’t! Because no-one does. Many people spend the bulk of their first two decades in education, and when it’s over, seldom take the time to learn some more. There’s a lot of value in taking a course, reading, or simply staying curious throughout your life — you never know what pearl of knowledge will come your way.
Act Like Good Things are Coming
Life can be hard, there’s no doubt about it, but it’s important that you’re not getting too down when the low moments arrive. They will just breed more low moments! Whenever possible, act like good things are coming. They probably are.
