Category: Contributed Posts

Seasonal Business and Your Company: Things You Can’t Afford To Forget

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Seasonal businesses are in a class all their own. They have their own unique considerations and rules to think about if you’re getting involved in one. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Seasonal Business and Your Company: Things You Can’t Afford To Forget.

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Everyone in business knows that success levels tend to fluctuate with the seasons. Of course, to make the most out of this as possible it’s crucial that you know what to expect at the different times of the year. Luckily, that is something you can find out by reading the post below.

Spring

For many businesses, spring can be partially busy. After all, it’s past the winter lull brought on by Christmas the New Year and trade should be steadily picking back up again. Of course, there is the end of the tax year to think about as well, which can make the month of April particularly challenging.

Although it’s worth noting that if you get your accounts up to date for all months apart from this beforehand, you can save yourself the April tax rush and make it much easier on everyone too.

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Additionally, spring is the right time of year to start thinking about any possible issues you may encounter some summer. That means not only getting in an air conditioning contractor to service your current units, but also get extra ones installed if you are expecting it to be a hot year.

Additionally, taking some time to check who is off when during the summer vacation is a smart move, as then you can start filling any absences early to be sure that things keep on running as usual.

Summer

For some business, especially hospitality ones, and retail that focus on vacation items, simmer is their busiest time. This means that while many companies are slowing down for the summer vacation, they need to keep their focus on fulfilling orders and keeping things ticking over.

Additionally, any business whose busiest time is Christmas will need to begin thinking about new lines around this time. After all, they will have to be developed and produced ready for the beginning of December, so the sooner that you start, the better.

Autumn

Autumn tends to be reasonably constant for most business news whether they are B2B or retail. In fact, you can often expect a short lull once the kids have gone back to school in September. However, due to all the celebrations in autumn such as Halloween and harvest festival, many businesses can expect custom to rise this season steadily.

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Of course, that means that your business needs to keep up, so be sure that you have the staff and resources to cover any increased demand!

Winter

Depending on the type of business you have, winter can be your most hectic, or slowest time. Companies that sell to other companies tend to slow down around Christmas because of the break that most people take.

Although those in or supplying the hospitality industry will still be busy. To that end it’s important to know your business well, so you are able to predict if you will need to increase or reduce resources and staff.

Additionally, if you are in a location where weather can cause issues with deliveries and people getting into work, then it’s pretty crucial that you come up with a plan B For when the snow starts to fall. Otherwise, even if it’s your burst time customer wise, you may not have anyone to work which can be devastating to your business!

Breaking Away From The Nine To Five Grind

A key focus of my blog is Career Discussions. Something most employees face is deciding whether or not to leave their day job. This can come from outgrowing their current position or just wanting to start his or her own enterprise. There are several options to leaving your nine to five. The following contributed post is entitled, Breaking Away From The Nine To Five Grind.

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Everyone reaches a point in their life when they question their purpose and impact in a professional capacity. The career that you once adored and ran into with open arms, now appears dull, boring and monotonous. The thirst for change can sometimes feel all-consuming, and at other times you wonder if it is just a whim. The lure of something new and exciting can be terrifying. The idea of giving up a steady wage, a decent job and an unchallenging work environment is scary. However, often the most frightening decisions turn out to be the best ones we ever make. Consider where you want to be this time next year and work out whether you want to break away from the nine to five grind.

Become Self Employed

Many people choose to make a break from the traditional nine to five job in an effort to gain more control over their working hours, job remit and work location. If you have had an office job for the past decade and you have spent eight hours a day with a photocopier, a laptop and Janice, the head of marketing for company, you might want to broaden your horizons.

Becoming self employed needn’t mean setting up your own business, although if you do have an entrepreneurial side, you may fancy the challenge. Instead, consider taking up a trade. You could train to become a plumber, undertake a HVAC training programme and qualify to become air conditioning engineer, or enroll in a course to become an electrician. These trades are ideal to empower you to become self employed. You dictate your working hours, where you work, the jobs you do and how much you charge. Gain a good reputation and you will never be out of work.

Launch A Startup

If you have a book full of contacts that you have taken with you, you may be keen to set yourself up as a new startup within the industry sector that you have experience in. This will enable you to hit the ground running as you launch your very own business entity. You can keep overheads low by working from home, you can focus your efforts on networking, conducting market research and formulating your business vision, and you can provide an excellent service or product having learned the ropes in your previous role. Being your own boss and listing entrepreneur as your profession is new, exciting and provides you with the much needed challenge that you yearn for.

Travel

Perhaps the break that you need from your nine to five grind isn’t a permanent one. A change really can be as good as a rest. Instead of resigning from your current job, why don’t you take a sabbatical for three weeks, three months or even a year? You can then choose to go overseas, travel and see the world. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve always wanted to embark on a trek across the outback of Australia, complete the Inca Trail or see the temples of Japan, now might be the time to do it. Traveling can open your eyes to new wonders and leave you feeling refreshed and reinvigorated on your return to work.

Breaking away from the nine to five grind could be just what you need to improve your mood, health and happiness.

Dipping Into Our Mental Reserves: Coping With A Long Hospital Stay

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. It’s difficult to undergo a medical procedure in itself, but it can be more difficult when there is a prolonged stay in the hospital. Long stays in the hospital can create a different level of stress aside from the medical sickness itself and it’s important to understand how to cope under such circumstances. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Dipping Into Our Mental Reserves: Coping With A Long Hospital Stay.

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It can feel like when we spend a long period of time undergoing treatment, or feeling that we are living in a hospital, all self-respect goes out the window. It can mean a long tenure under harsh artificial lighting, wailing patients, surrounded by grimness, and just longing to be home. So how can we build up our mental reserves to cope?

Have A Plan
Structure is the key when we feel any sense of imprisonment. And we can argue that, in many ways, being in hospital for such a long time can result in feeling like we are trapped. But this is why, to ensure that our mental reserves are a strong as possible, that we stick to a structure. Think about things to occupy you during the day, but also, ensure that you address your moments of weakness. By having a plan in mind, this serves you well by occupying your mind, but also gives you the chance to look to the future. You would be quite surprised as to how much a structure can give you a sense of focus.

Seek Support
When we feel guilt, or anger, it’s about ensuring we get some form of outlet. Depending on the situation that you are in hospital in the first place, you may have a lot of resentment because of the situation. It’s important that if you seek closure, or you feel that it’s not a chapter that will close itself, that you seek the appropriate help. This could be legal representation, such as Frekhtman & Associates, or it could be any counselor. Whatever is necessary, you should think about seeking support, because this is what will keep your morale up.

Understanding Your Grief And Stress
In a stressful time, we’re going through periods of uncertainty, and we need to learn that what we’re going through is, although it doesn’t feel like it, normal. When surrounded by people in a hospital environment that are going through life or death situations, and feeling that we are in a warzone of some proportion, realizing that we have these feelings of stress and anxiety means that it’s the first step towards seeking appropriate help and treatment. When it comes to extreme emotions and thoughts, you need to speak to a professional. For those that have depressive episodes, this is normal, and when you feel like this, it’s important to remember that these emotions are fleeting, but what you can do in the meantime is learn to either channel these emotions into something positive or get over the symptomatic feelings of stress. Fight or flight is a very common emotion, especially when faced with our own mortality. And in some respects, this sense of adrenaline can get us through a stressful situation, but as we know, in the modern world, feeling like this all of the time will only deplete our energy stores. And this is where you have to seek out your own form of treatment. A lot of people talk about mindfulness as a very positive practice, as is meditation, but have you ever tried to sit there and think of nothing? When you’re feeling stressed, it’s impossible! So instead, harness the power of deep breathing, because this can give you control over your nervous system, meaning that as you build up your stores, you can learn to tackle all the negativity in your mind.

It’s a veritable collection of ups and downs, and when we are undergoing long-term treatment or spending time in hospital, you can feel like it will never end. But this is where we have to dip into our mental reserves and learn how to build them up.

Settling Your Fears When Considering Your First Home

One of the key focuses of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. One of the largest investments any of us will ever make is our primary residence. There can be a lot of fear associated with purchasing one’s first home. The following contributed post is entitled, Settling Your Fears When Considering Your First Home.

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Your first home is often one of the largest milestones of our life. Of course, we enjoyed living in our childhood place, but there’s something much more prominent, and something that signifies the next chapter of our lives when we decide to purchase a home. But, like anything exciting and anything signifying wonderful change, it might be that this progression scares you a little. That’s good. It shows that you care.

But too much fear and you’ll neglect making a move at all. Sometimes a nice middle-ground can be found, and might give you more to think about while still helping you structure your cautioned approach. Settling your fears when considering your first home is not an easy task, but it can be achieved if you consider the underlying foundations of why this decision is being made in the first place.

With the following advice, we hope you can move forward, or pause this approach, with a little more surety.

Square Yourself Away Financially

It’s essential for you to have an ideal idea of what your financial limits are when considering a home. If you have slightly less than that you might need to set yourself up ideally? It might be worth waiting just to grow your savings a little more. If now is a fantastic time to invest in a certain area and you can stretch to the cost relatively comfortably? It’s worth considering. This is where SBA loans can come in very handy, as with an excellent arrangement you may not need to worry about staying within too-difficult limits, and instead give yourself that room to breathe.

Longevity

It might be that the idea of signing yourself away to a financial commitment that could last decades is worrying. Well, that’s true. Thinking so far ahead in the future could be a strange prospect to even consider, especially if you’re only just married or have only just brought a baby into the world, and are having to deal with those responsibilities too. This is where considering the current progression of your life is important. Remember, you won’t experience all that time in one fell swoop. You’ll take it one day at a time. If your relationship has been incredibly stable, if you have the support structure in place, if you have job security or alternate transferable skills, it might be that the future is something you know you can deal with. Plus, it will only get easier as you progress.

Jumping In Blind

It can be hard to know if you’re making the right decision. What if the home has hidden damage and rot you miss when inspecting it? What if this area isn’t as nice as it might have been advertised? What if you might not be guaranteed a spot in the best local school when your child grows? This is why it’s best to conduct research as you grow, to prevent jumping in blind yes, but also to give you a competent means of understanding the finer deals. With hired professionals to help you inspect or conducting online research, you will tick off those variables well.

With these tips, you’re sure to settle your fears well when the prospect of finding home ownership comes up.

A Guide To Overcoming Business Relocation Concerns

Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Relocating a business is a big deal and in some instances a major undertaking. If you’re careful and map out the steps, it can help make the transition more seamless. The following contributed post discusses this and is entitled, A Guide To Overcoming Business Relocation Concerns.

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When a business first moves into new premises, there is an inevitable period of mild chaos during the adjustment phase. It takes a while to ensure everything is up and running as it should be, with plenty of hiccups and discombobulation along the way. By the time you and your staff have settled into the new location, you’ve likely promised one another that you won’t ever undertake a move again – it’s too stressful, too disruptive, too complicated.

However, time passes. Your business continues to flourish; you continue to innovate; your staff continue to work at their very best – and your business grows as a result. Yet even as you embrace this new phase of your business, the memory of how troublesome your last move was remains; and besides, your premises – that once felt so alien and unusual – now feel like home, and there’s no pressing need to move.

Until… there is

As your business continues to grow, there will inevitably be a moment when you cannot avoid acknowledging the reality of the situation: if your business’ growth is to continue – which, of course, you very much want to happen – you’re going to need more space. Perhaps you need to hire more staff, or want to start to use a different type of machinery, or your existing location is proving restrictive – whatever the reason, it’s clear that you need to move on.

Yet the memories linger

For many entrepreneurs, the moment they realize they can forestall the inevitable no longer is unwelcome – especially if they have previously relocated a business, and know first-hand how very stressful and all-consuming the process will be.

There’s no denying the reality that moving can be crucial, but there’s also no denying that it’s entirely natural to feel a creeping sense of trepidation when contemplating moving your business to new premises. In fact, it could be argued that not feeling a sense of alarm is problematic, and could lead to a sense of over-confidence. Acknowledging the simple reality that moving a business is akin to moving house, only roughly one thousand times more complicated, isn’t weakness: it’s necessary.

Overcoming the hesitation

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The realization that a business needs to move can often be simply the first in a sequence of events: the realization, the decision to move, the process of looking for new properties, and then the move itself. A simple, linear progression that occurs in a timely manner.

However, it’s entirely natural if you – like many of your fellow business owners – do not see the realization that you need to move as a fait accompli. Instead, you may hesitate, perhaps even wonder if your judgment is sound, and if moving really is necessary.

It’s important to remember two things at this point of the process: first and foremost, no one is starting a clock. If you need to take time to prepare both the business and yourself for a move, then that’s okay; there’s absolutely no rush. However, the second point you need to keep in mind is that there’s a reason you realized your business needed to move; acknowledge this as fact, and then work on coming to terms with the process rather than seeking to convince yourself that relocation is unnecessary.

How long should you give yourself to accept that moving is an inevitability and move on to the next stage? That depends entirely on your situation. If your business is managing just fine as it is, then there’s no immediate need to push yourself into starting to look for new premises. However, if your business is beginning to show signs of struggling under a lack of capacity – perhaps you’re having to miss out on lucrative contracts, or can’t hire the staff you need to meet demand – then the situation is more time pressured. It’s still important to let yourself come to terms with the need to move, but try to avoid letting yourself put the matter on the back burner.

Addressing the practicalities

When you’re ready to begin planning the move, it’s important to first reflect on your previous experience of relocating a business – even before you begin browsing for new premises.

The reason past reflections should come first is simple: prevention. By learning from the mistakes that you may have made during the last move, you can address these and put plans in place to ensure the same issues do not reoccur. Perhaps you previously struggled to get your machinery up and running; this time around, you’ll want to contact rigging contractors to ensure all goes smoothly this time; or maybe you struggled to establish the right layout for your office, a problem that can be overcome by working with office fit-out specialists who can create a custom plan that will suit your business perfectly from day one in your new location. Whatever issues you experienced the last time you moved, understanding these problems and then seeking solutions is the best way to avoid a rerun of past unpleasant events.

Anticipating new issues

It is incredibly important to learn from the mistakes of your last business move, but it’s also essential to ensure you don’t rely too much on the past. You have to think about the new problems you may experience, and especially those that could not have occurred the last time you moved; maybe you’ve introduced a new service since you last moved, are using a new piece of equipment, or simply have far more members of staff.

Given the above, it’s helpful to list the ways your business has changed since its last move, and then brainstorm the problems you may experience as a result of these new developments. By doing so, you create a complete picture; a blend of past and present that can help to prevent problems occurring as you step into your business’ future.

In conclusion

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It’s entirely natural to be nervous about the idea of relocating your business, but the key to overcoming these anxieties is proper planning. By examining your past experiences, and then including considerations related to recent changes, you can create a roadmap that forms the blueprint for a swift, smooth relocation process. From there, you can begin to look for premises, think about notifying the right people and companies, and start working on the practical side of the move itself.

How to Avoid Conflict At the Workplace

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and a key focus is Career Discussions. Regardless of whether you’re an employer or an employee, it’s critical to understand how to avoid conflicts at the workplace as they can both hinder productivity and hinder career advancement. The following contributed post is entitled, How to Avoid Conflict At the Workplace.

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If your employees are unhappy and disengaged, chances are that their productivity will suffer, and they will not represent your company and brand as well as possible in front of your customers. This will lead to reputation damage and conflict in the workplace, which can cause long term problems. Instead of dealing with conflict, you might want to prevent it and take a proactive approach to maintaining a positive work environment. Find a few tips below.

Image via CMSWire

Clear Policies
To avoid disagreements that are based on assumptions and misconceptions, it is important that your business has clear human resources and behavior policies. If you don’t have one at the moment, chances are that your employees are just guessing which one is the best approach, and this will lead to conflict and arguments. Talk to a human resources professional to get help with developing your workplace policies.

Value Alignment

When you recruit people to represent your brand, you will need to make sure that they share your values and your vision. If your employees couldn’t care less about customer service or quality, chances are that you are employing the wrong people. There are many ways you can check whether or not your applicants’ values are aligned with your company policy and brand philosophy, using online tools and personality tests.

Effective Communication


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If there is a block in the communication channels, you will find it hard to communicate your goals and get your employees to commit to them. Workplace communication should never be flowing in one direction only. If you haven’t studied democratic leadership yet, it might be time to find out how you can encourage debates and discussion and avoid value conflict in the workplace, so your employees can fully engage with your company mission and vision.

Shared Goals

To make your workplace run smoother and to encourage collaboration and support, you will need to create shared goals. If you hold monthly appraisal meetings, take your time to sit down with each individual and find out what their personal career goals and aspirations are, so you can find a common trait and goals you can work towards together.

Conflict Management Frameworks

It is crucial that you have a procedure map in case conflict happens in your company. There is no point trying to deny that there is a problem, and the sooner you deal with it, the better you can handle the situation. Mediation, disciplinary procedures, training, and development, as well as sitting down with a civil attorney to learn about the legal framework of dealing with conflict and ethical problems at the workplace might be some of the best options.

When you have employees from different walks of life, conflict is something that may seem inevitable. Create a company culture that values and respects diversity and find a way to align your mission and vision with your employees’ own aspiration. Open up channels of communication, so you can deal with conflict as soon as possible.

Office Technology that Will Improve Your Staff Productivity

Three of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. A key to running any business/organization today is having the proper technology in place. Doing so will have improve your staffs productivity and your overall efficiency. The following contributed post discusses this and is entitled, Office Technology that Will Improve Your Staff Productivity.

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If you would like to stay competitive in your marketplace without having to invest a lot of money in new processes and procedures, you can rely on technology to help you improve the productivity of your staff while making their life in the office easier. Companies are looking for new ways of providing more value to their customers at a lower cost, and some smaller IT improvements can do just that. Find out more below.

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Customer Chat

It is important that you answer customers’ queries as soon as possible. Today’s consumers’ attention span is much shorter than the previous generation’s and they are looking for immediate answers. You can find a system that will gather all the feedback and pop up on one of your employees’ computers, so they don’t have to stay logged into various systems and get distracted just to provide excellent customer service.

Shared Calendar

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If collaboration is something that is necessary in your business, you will need to allow your staff to work on projects together and collaborate. You can create a virtual workplace where they can share and update projects. While a Google Suite system might do the job in the beginning, you might want to talk to an expert at inc-systems.com/services/managed-it-services/ to find out whether or not your business could benefit from a custom calendar and a CMS system.

Cloud Computing

It is crucial that you encourage the use of cloud computing. You will not only be able to automatically back up your files and take notes, share insights, update your team on the go, but also share information with your customers faster. You will have to install advanced security, though, so you can prevent the accidental disclosure of sensitive information.

Social Media Tools for Scheduling

If you are involved in digital marketing, you might have a member of staff updating your social media accounts and posts regularly. If they have other jobs as well, they will find managing everything very challenging. Instead of giving them half an hour a day, every day, you can allocate a few hours every month when they can schedule the jobs ahead. You can use an advanced scheduling and posting service and a social media calendar to make the most out of your reach and engagement.

Digital Learning Platform and Knowledge Base

It is also important that you empower your staff and help them become more efficient. This is why improving your office technology is necessary. If you have a knowledge base available for staff, they will find the answers without having to speak to a manager, and deal with customer queries faster and more professionally. You might also deliver your regular training or updates using your internal systems accessible any time, so they can complete the tasks when they are not compromising customer service or their own productivity.

Upgrading your office IT system can help you manage the different tasks in your company and improve your staff productivity at the same time.

Use Remote Team Lessons With Long-Distance Relatives

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. A major component of life is the relationships with our friends and family. In some instances, career and life circumstances geographically separate us from our loved ones. Thanks to today’s technology though, we can still keep in contact with family no matter how far they are away unlike any time before. The following contributed post is entitled, Use Remote Team Lessons With Long-Distance Relatives.

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Life has a terrible habit; it puts distance between those who used to have a close relationship. Whether it’s your family or your friend, life has more than one way to tear your apart. Maybe you’ve had to leave your best friend behind when you went to college in a different state, and it’s been difficult to keep in touch. Or perhaps you’ve relocated for a job, and your parents now live several hours drive away from you.
Geographic distance used to be an insurmountable obstacle in the past. But nowadays, businesses have long proven that they can create a feeling of belonging with their teams, even though nobody lives in the same town. Indeed, remote teams are proof that you can bypass geography and still bring everyone together. As surprising as it might sound, it’s time for the business world to teach us a thing or two about keeping our family and friends close by.

Make a family t-shirt

Communicate as often as possible
Successful remote teams have understood that communication is vital to creating a sense of togetherness. Indeed, as explained in a previous article of the blog bigwordsarepowerful.com/2019/, businesses need to consider digital solutions to implement a healthy communication strategy. Collaborative tools and chat systems are favorites, as they make sure that everyone is on the same page at all times. Ina private environment, there is no room for collaborative solutions. However, group chats are an option. You can create a private group chat on Facebook, for instance, which can let you share your news and interact with your relatives. Additionally, Whatsapp offers a similar option. As you use online groups, you also need to accept that not everyone might be online at the same time. However, both Facebook and Whatsapp enable all participants to review the messages they’ve missed while they were logged out. In other words, you can get an answer both in real time and at a later point too.

Facebook lets you create private groups

A collective project brings everyone together
Remote teams also share a sense of purpose. They collaborate on the same project. Distant relatives and friends, however, may not have any common objective. But nothing is stopping you from introducing a collective project you can share. For instance, why not plan a big family reunion with tailored t-shirts for everyone? You can use a vinyl cutter – see here for more info vinylcuttingmachineguide.com – to design your family logo, for instance. Make sure, however, to use a heat press to transfer the logo onto the t-shirt. You could also create a party board for your next family Christmas or the next round birthday. Ultimately, you can start a project and assign tasks to each other, so that you’ve got a reason to organize a meetup and share your creations.

Respect each other’s lifestyle
Last, but not least, remote teams value flexibility. Everyone knows and understands that other members may not be available at the same time. But that’s precisely what collaborative tools are about. Similarly, you also need to display the same understanding with your relatives. Not everyone returns calls; not everyone is active online daily, etc. Build your long-distance relationship on mutual respect instead of high expectations!

Modern businesses have a lot to teach us. They introduced a practical solution for long-distance relationships, which can not only help you to stay in touch with your relatives but also build new memories to cherish and remember.

Online Improvements For Hotels

Three of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. The internet has changed the game in terms business and commerce. The Hospitality Industry is no different, and hotels that aren’t properly marketing online stand to lose business. The following contributed post is entitled, Online Improvements For Hotels.

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The Internet is a very useful tool for businesses to communicate with their target market. Almost everyone has access to the Internet these days, and people use it to compare prices and make travel arrangements. Hotels can get a lot of business from their website. However, if your business isn’t employing the correct hotel web marketing techniques, then few visitors will end up converting into customers.

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There is a lot of competition in the hotel industry, so it’s important to do everything you can to attract the right customers. The best hotel website design won’t only attract lots of people to your site, but it will also encourage them to spend longer on there, and potentially make a booking. If someone finds your website online and it’s of poor quality or looks amateurish, then they will often click off and visit somewhere else. If your website takes too long to load, isn’t organized correctly or is difficult to navigate, then people will look elsewhere, as no one wants this sort of hassle. After all, the Internet is all about convenience.

Effective hotel marketing will give your hotel the right image. All hotels, even small bed and breakfasts need to have a professional website that shows off their brand well. When it comes to getting people to visit your site, there are a few different options. Since most people will find websites using a search engine, hotels will benefit from using SEO strategies. SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the process of making your site more attractive to search engines. When done properly your site will appear higher up in the results listings and stand a greater chance of getting clicked on. The best hotel website will also load quickly, contain lots of useful information and be very easy to navigate.

Is Your Hotel Suffering From A Lack Of Repeat Business?
Repeat business is imperative in the hotel sector, and while you may deliver a fantastic stay to your guests, this doesn’t mean they are automatically going to book again. Therefore, if you are suffering from a lack of repeat business, read on for some advice on hotel marketing online that can help to rectify this problem.

The first thing you need to do is get to the bottom of why customers are only booking one stay at your hotel and then not returning. Nine times out of ten this is because you are failing to follow up on their experience to build a loyal connection with your customers. You need to build an authentic relationship if you are to generate the loyalty that encourages customers to come back to your hotel again and again.

This is where hotel Internet marketing comes in. There are three keys aspects of hotel marketing that can help to ensure you benefit from repeat business – social media marketing, your online booking system, and email marketing. How easy is to for customers to book again? What appointment booking software do you use? Do you provide discounts for loyal customers online? Is their information remembered?

Email marketing is imperative for keeping your customers up to date with your hotel and everything that is going on. One of the best ways to increase your chances of repeat business is to offer voucher codes and special offers via email to your customers.

Aside from this, social media provides the perfect platform for customer engagement, as it allows your customers to get as close to your brand as possible. You need to post regularly on your social media accounts, and you need to ensure you are communicating with your customers, rather than merely posting a string of in-your-face advertising messages.

Feeling Inspired? Some Of The Things That Can Help

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success. To do anything of meaning in life, having a sense of inspiration is important. Individuals are in fact inspired by different things. The following contributed post discusses ways to find inspiration and is entitled, Feeling Inspired? Some Of The Things That Can Help.

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Often to do anything in life, we first need to feel inspired to do it. This might be inspired to start a business, motivated to make some changes because you have been inspired by somebody else, or generally wanting to make a difference because of somebody else’s actions. Inspiration is something that we all need throughout our lives in order to do things, but often, seeking out the inspiration to get started can often be harder than you think? So if you are actively looking to feel inspired in some way here are some suggestions.

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Attending events or seeking our past speeches

One of the biggest ways that we can often feel inspired when it comes to our business or the direction we want to take in life is attending different events and listening to their guest speakers. This can be very insightful, and often very specific information being shared. Of course, not all of us can attend, and sometimes you may need to look for past events. Especially when you are looking for a specific guest speaker, such as Burkitbayev who specialises in chemical faculty and science based exploration. Finding past speeches could even open your eyes up to other people that you find inspiring, and knowledge you never knew was available to you.

Looking online for videos and articles

Thanks to the internet, we have a wealth of information online these days. Platforms like YouTube will be full of videos of either famous talks and speeches from the past and even video footage of conferences and events you may not have been able to attend. This is when you can really start to get into the depths of things. Further to that, you could also look for articles online where specific people have shared their words and knowledge through a different creative outlet.

Using social media to feel inspired

Social media is one of the best ways to feel inspired these days. Visually you have Instagram full of amazing pictures, for news and up to date information you have Twitter, and Facebook is great for a mixture of the two. This is why social media can be a great way to feel inspired and you can follow specific people as well. Many people share what they are up to day to day, from pictures and captions, to insights and knowledge. You never know what you will be able to find out simply by following someone you admire and feel inspired by.

Surrounding yourself with positive quotes and affirmations

Finally, the last thing you can do to help you feel inspired is to consider surrounding yourself with positive quotes and affirmations. These things can really help you when it comes comes to how you feel, and remind you why you might be doing something? It could be a simply “go out and get it” style quote or something more insightful with depth. Positive affirmations that you tell yourself can also help you to be in the right mindset with a positive outlook on life.

Let’s hope this has help you to feel more isnpired.