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.
* * *
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.
* * *
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.
* * *
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?
* * *
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.
The first principle of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. A major component of everyone’s personal finances is their utilities. Depending on where you live, keeping your dwelling at the appropriate and comfortable temperature can be costly. It’s important to know how to control this cost. The following contributed post is entitled, Best ways to save money through efficient heating and cooling.
When you think about saving money, heating and cooling for your home would probably be the last things in your mind. It’s really hard to save money if you have your AC running during hot, humid days, or your heater going on cold, winter months.
But what if there’s a way for you to save money, even when you’re not depriving your home of heating and cooling?
The key to substantial savings is to keep your heating and cooling systems efficient, so even with prolonged use, there won’t be any wasted energy, and you’ll only get the right amount of coolness or warmth that you need.
If you’re really keen on saving every cent possible for your home’s heating and air conditioning, start by ensuring that your hardware is up to the task, and that it’s not wasting energy due to dirt build up or presence of leaks. Regularly checking the system that you have will save you a lot of money from repairs in the near future. Keeping them in top condition saves you more by ensuring that they don’t deteriorate with every use, thus the need for new units.
Here are some of the areas you need to consider if you want to see substantial savings.
Right-sizing the heating and cooling systems for your home.
This is easily one of the most overlooked factors when buying a new HVAC unit for your home. Instead of thinking about the size of your home, you were easily swayed by the price, as well as the big savings when compared to competitors. The right size will save you a considerable amount, especially if you’re using them regularly. You can also have an energy audit or calculation from your local dealer. With that, you’ll know exactly what you need for efficient cooling and heating.
Bigger is not better when it comes to heating and cooling systems.
As mentioned earlier, getting the wrong sized heating and cooling equipment would be wasteful and inefficient. They’ll cost a lot more to operate and maintain, so aside from the initial purchase price, you’ll also be dealing with the maintenance cost. Think about how energy efficiency in schools works, they are big buildings and getting a unit that’s too small for your space drives up the utility cost as it will struggle to heat or cool your home. Overexerting to produce the necessary heating and cooling can also be taxing to the hardware, thus effectively reducing its durability.
Regular cleaning and maintenance is a must.
Now that you have the right size heating and cooling units installed, you’ll slowly begin to reap the benefits of what you’ve sown. You can also focus your savings efforts on properly maintaining your hardware. For example, by regularly cleaning the vents and filters of your HVAC, you’re able to prolong its life and keep it working optimally. Always follow your manufacturer’s maintenance schedule, so that you’ll have it cleaned and maintained accordingly. The vents and piping of your HVAC unit are always clean and ready for anything. Any obstruction or dust build up in these can cause the efficiency of your hardware to drop.
Two of the focuses of my blogs are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Management of yours and your employee’s workload is critical in growing your business. Having the proper workload in your business will encourage that you and your staff will continue to happily produce. The following contributed post is entitled, Lighten The Load For Your Employees – And Yourself.
* * *
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to make life a little easier for yourself and your employees, and this is something that most business owners will be keen to do from time to time. The truth is that once you start to look into it, there are many ways in which you can hope to lighten the load in the workplace. That can have many enormously positive effects, from generating more time to reducing stress in the workplace and improving the health and safety aspects of working in your workplace. So clearly, it is beneficial to be able to lighten the load from time to time – but how can you actually make sure that you do this? In this post, we will discuss a number of the things you might consider in order to ensure that you are making life a little easier for your employees, and for yourself.
Most businesses today engage in a little outsourcing here and there, and it’s easy to appreciate why that might be. After all, you can’t be in charge of absolutely everything, and if yours is a small business with limited resources then you will simply need some help for certain tasks that need doing from time to time. There are a few things which tend to lend themselves particularly well to outsourcing, such as marketing and financial analysis, and even your answering service and email replies too. Outsourcing such tasks will mean that your employees have much more time to do their own work, and that the feeling in the office is just generally much less stressed on the whole. That is clearly hugely beneficial, and it will mean that everyone enjoys and appreciates their job so much more because of it. Outsourcing is very often the way to go when you want to make things better for your own employees in a number of ways.
You should also make a point of determining with each individual in your business what it is that they are capable of doing, and what they might find a little more difficult or challenging to be able to do. That doesn’t mean that you should never push them to their limits and a little beyond – of course you should, as that is how everyone does their best work. But you might want to make a point of trying your best not to overburden them with too much work which they find too stressful. In many cases, that basically means leaving the harder work for those who have been at it longer and can do it much more easily. However you approach it, it’s important to appreciate that each employee has their own limits, and that to a certain degree those limits need to be respected. That will ensure that you are going to get the most out of them that you can, without causing burnout along the way.
Grow It Slow
Although it is often tempting to grow a business as fast as you possibly can, you don’t have to approach things this way. If you prefer, you can instead think about trying to grow your business in a much slower and steadier manner, with a view towards ensuring that you are not going to cause yourself too much stress in the process. This is something that more and more entrepreneurs are turning to as they realize that the old idea of constant ongoing progress doesn’t have to be quite so gung ho. You can, instead, simply ensure that you are always moving forward in a steady, easier manner. That will mean you still advance as you wish to, but you are making life so much easier for yourself and your employees by not expecting too much in a short frame of time. You will find that that makes things so much easier for everyone, so it is absolutely the way to go. It could be all you need to do in order to make sure that you are lightening the load for everyone.
There are many processes in your business, and you should ideally be aiming to make them as simple as possible. The simpler you are able to make your processes, the more likely it is that you will be able to keep your employees happy and that they won’t feel overworked. It will mean that what they do is more efficient, which makes it clearer how much progress is being made – and that in turn means that they will feel much happier about the work, and more able to put their all into it. Making processes simpler will absolutely add up to make a huge difference overall.
Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. In today’s digital age, it’s not enough simply to have a website for your business. You have to make sure that it’s a smooth-running website and that compliments your overall strategy and is friendly for your customers. The following contributed post is entitled, Why Simply Having A Website No Longer Cuts It.
* * *
Years ago, the race was on for businesses to get online and creating a website was a big achievement for your brand or company. Flash forward to today and it’s not only a given that your business would have a website, but that it should be able to offer an amazing experience to the visitor.
Elements like design, accessibility, and features are important, and you’ll need to make sure that you stand out from your competition. Not only that, but being able to find your website easily needs to be a big consideration, given simply how much stuff there is out there online.
If you want to impress with your website, you need to get things right from the beginning. Take a look at some of the following tips for making sure your website makes the cut and impresses and visitors who come your way.
Sometimes it’s difficult to see flaws in something until you take a step back and give things an honest review. When was the last time you analyzed your website? Believe it or not, not all businesses do this. It’s easy to see why – small businesses don’t always have the capacity for analysis, while others can take for granted that their website is performing well.
Analyzing your website traffic is important to tell you how many people are visiting and give you further insights into who they are, how long they’re staying for, etc. This will help you to understand more about your website’s performance, and help you identify some areas for improvement.
Give simplicity a try
Your website doesn’t have to have bells and whistles to make an impression on visitors. Some of the world’s most successful websites like Google and Apple thrive on a minimal design that helps give the visitor what they need. The benefit of having a simpler website layout is that it loads quickly, which is great for keeping people on your website. Check out some minimalist web designs to give you some inspiration for stripping back and enjoying making the most of the basics.
Focus on the UX
People have a short online attention span, that’s something that many people have come to learn over the years. So in order to hold someone’s attention on your website, you need to make it worth their while, and that’s where the User Experience (UX) comes in. Using a UX testing platform can help you make more informed decisions about your content and how your website is used to help you offer the best experience for your visitors. It’s worth checking out what similar businesses offer on their web pages to help give you an idea of what visitors want and to make some key changes.
Is your website mobile-friendly?
Using a computer is no longer the only option for browsing the internet. In fact, more than half of website visits last year came from mobile phones. People can now browse the internet on the move and carry out most of the functions that used to only be possible from a computer. Therefore, your business needs to be able to provide the same offering by phone that is does through a desktop or laptop.
The good news is that it can be easy to make your website more mobile-friendly. A responsive layout that uses a variety of image sizes, loads quickly and integrates with applications like Google Maps, etc. can all help make your business’ website shine on a phone, tablet or other types of device.
Be clever with your use of media
Images are a powerful website tool. They help to draw the eye, which makes them good for holding a web user’s attention, but they can also help break up your layout to make it appear cleaner and less wordy. Using a single hero image on your front page is a popular trend at the moment, as well as using ‘real’ imagery, shot of real people and places in natural situations (no stock footage!) to sell your business well. Video also does well on websites because it grabs people’s attention. Audit your website’s current media library and work out what types of media you can use to boost your website.
Stay up to date with your SEO strategy
If you want people to find your website, then you’re going to need to work on your SEO. SEO helps to get your page to the top of the search engine rankings – it doesn’t just happen on its own. Whether your business has a lot of competition or you’ve got a niche brand, it’s still important that you use SEO to help people find you. SEO is largely about keywords, so if you can work out the keywords that people would associate with your business and use to search for you, you can start working them through your content. You should review your SEO strategy regularly to help make sure you’re staying up to date with the latest search terms.
Protect your visitors
Security has become one of the most important elements of business websites. Data protection is not only important for protecting your users’ data, but also your own. Keeping your website secure involves adding secure protocols and features, as well as making sure that you stay up to date on the latest online security issues. Many security and data breaches can happen as a result of human error, so it’s also important that all of your employees receive training in protecting data online to prevent mistakes that could cost your business money.
With the right website, your company can attract new business and help you on the path to success. When used to your advantage, the internet can give your business a competitive edge and ensure your business’ longevity. The sooner you get started with making website upgrades and changing your online strategy, the sooner you’ll be able to experience the benefits. Think about your websites and how you can make those much-needed improvements in 2019.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Many would argue that your business’s marketing strategy is its most important component. The following contributed post is entitled, Marketing Tips For Your Small Business.
If you’re running a small business already, or are even thinking of starting one, then you know that marketing is going to play a large role in the success of the business, but you may also be finding that you don’t really know where to start with it.
Well, luckily, we’re going to share with you some practical tips that you can use when it comes to marketing your business, so check them out below.
Blogging:
When it comes to running a business that has any kind of online presence, then content really still is king, and it’s important that you understand the value good content can have in your business in the long term.
Setting up a blog also isn’t as difficult as many people would have you believe, and the good thing about it is that it can be mostly automated once you actually have your content plan set up, so this means that you’re not having to worry about running out of content ideas or not having posts go out on a consistent basis.
Social media:
Everyone who runs a business nowadays will likely have heard at some point how powerful and important social media is in their business, but that doesn’t mean they know how to use it properly, because although it’s not overly complicated once you have a plan, you do have to understand some things before getting started with it, such as understanding your ideal clients and really having a solid marketing strategy and plan in place before you start posting on social media.
Live events:
Although live events may take some work to get set up, they can truly be one of the best ways to market your business to both a new and existing audience, and in fact they can be so lucrative that some business owners will rely on them for most of their marketing because they just bring in so much new customers.
Getting things set up of course will require a bit of advanced planning, and you can look at places like a Mesquite Sign Store for ideas on what kinds of things you could have at your event in terms of promotional material.
Networking:
There are often a lot of people who claim that in-person networking is no longer useful for business owners, but this simply isn’t true and it’s not so much about what you’re doing, but how you’re doing it, so if you’re looking to get away from things like social media and prefer a more direct in-person approach, then networking could definitely be something to consider.
Even if you’re using online marketing techniques, offline marketing such as networking is something you should be doing alongside.
