Do MBA programs matter for real estate careers?

How To Get Your Ideas Approved

Making sure that your voice is heard and your ideas are approved is a necessary part of becoming a successful professional, but that doesn’t mean that aspiring young workers always know how to catch the ear of their boss. As a matter of fact, cutting through the noise and getting attention for your stellar idea is oftentimes downright impossible for some, with meeker individuals giving up entirely on the prospect of one day having others pay attention to their insights.

You don’t have to take no for an answer – by relying on a combination of insider tips and common sense, you can supercharge your persuasive abilities and get your ideas noticed and approved in no time.

Understanding the art of persuasion

Getting your ideas approved necessitates that you know how to masterfully sell them to a hostile audience unlikely to be receptive to your message. This may sound harsh, but the truth of the matter is that the modern business world is a cut-throat environment where countess professionals fail because they didn’t take the necessary steps to stand a cut above the rest in order to get their amazing idea heard by those at the top. To really get your ideas approved, you need to understand the art of persuasion and take steps to master your speaking and presentation skills.

You don’t have to be a master of delivering speeches to get your ideas approved, but you must understand how to effectively convey your message to your target audience in a clear, concise manner. If you examine advice for disagreeing with your boss while still coming out on top, you’ll notice that there’s a common refrain; you need to leave emotions out of things and convey a rational, fact-backed argument that’s hard to fend off. You’ll need to be passionate about what you’re presenting, but strive to make your proposal as concrete as possible by including data points and hard facts that bolster your case.

Other expert advice also reminds us that persuasion is made easier when you present your audience with a wide array of enticing options, some of which you’ve primed ahead of time and will be specifically pushing on your targets. As the Harvard Business Review makes clear, it’s imperative to give options when you’re trying to persuade your boss or senior management officials to take a different course of action. Putting someone’s back against the wall and insisting that they pick one of two options is a surefire way to fail, but providing them with an honorable way to retreat from their incorrect position towards a more defensible and viable alternative that you support is a guaranteed way for everyone to succeed.

You’ll need to grapple with rejection

Anyone trying to get their ideas approved should understand that grappling with rejection and the occasional “no” is an unavoidable part of the job. Not every persuasion campaign, even if it’s for something as mundane as wholesale chicken, will succeed, and you’ll inevitably be told that your idea is too expensive, radical, or time-consuming for your business or team to embark upon. Nonetheless, you need to learn that brushing yourself off and getting back up after you stumble is the only way you’ll ever achieve success in the long-run, as even the world’s most persuasive professionals have suffered from the occasional failure or two.

One way to prepare for rejection is to chart out possible courses towards failure ahead of time. Consider the biggest obstacles that are preventing you from turning your dream into a reality and ask yourself how you may mitigate them ahead of time or navigate them in the future when you’re better-equipped to do so. You should always be willing to reinvent your proposal, too, as putting a fresh layer of paint on your idea might be the only thing needed to convince your superiors that it’s the right option for the business to pick.

One of the secret tips to persuading others is that comparison is immensely effective. By juxtaposing your strong, clever idea against a weaker, duller alternative you’ll be selling it to your superiors as the clearly superior option. Give plenty of points for comparison and explicitly drive home again and again the ways that your idea or proposal is superior to leading alternatives. If this route will cut down on the costs of doing business, lead more customers to your doors, or help your brand stand out, then champion those facts and make sure your superiors never forget them.

Finally, always remember that perseverance is key. Overcoming objections is made much easier when you have the will and knowhow to roll with the punches and come back a second time with a bigger, stronger plan that’s more likely to win. Stick to your guns and rely on the power of facts and you’ll soon be getting your ideas approved at a record-pace.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/at-work/how-to-get-your-ideas-approved/

How To Improve Your A/B Testing

Mastering the process of A/B testing is a necessary part of attaining success as a modern marketer, but it’s much easier said than done. Comparing two different webpages, email campaigns, products, or landing pages to one another is never a breeze, but if your company can’t determine what works and what doesn’t before rolling something new onto the market then it’s simply destined for failure. Isn’t there a reliable way to improve A/B testing without breaking the bank?

As a matter of fact, a number of tips exist to help you improve your A/B testing at little additional cost to your business. Here’s everything you need to know about becoming an A/B master.

A/B testing and personalization go hand in hand

A/B testing is immensely useful, yet by itself it seldom accomplishes what most business owners need it to. That’s because A/B testing and personalization go hand in hand, and if your company isn’t combining the two then it’s likely making a deadly mistake that’s going to cost you big in the long-run. Traditional A/B test that compare two different products or options are oftentimes too generic to be useful in the contemporary marketplace, which demands specificity and data-driven personalization efforts in exchange for success. That’s why you should be tapping into the power of modern tech to combine personalization and A/B testing for a whole new sort of testing experience.

You should learn how to incorporate personalization into your A/B testing and begin running more personalized experiments as soon as possible. The real world is simply too messy and complex to act as if it’s as sterile as a laboratory experiment, so a generic A/B test that treats personalization as an unimportant facet of the testing process is bound to fail sooner rather than later. Start by identifying the most important segments of your target audience and running niche experiments that test products or services specifically catered to their whims. If you are doing a local targeted campaign, such as video production Toronto, then focus on one city in your testing. From there, you’ll likely discover new and exciting avenues of exploration for when the time comes to further personalize your testing operations.

Segmentation is often said to be the real secret to success when it comes to A/B testing strategies, so it’s worth pouring over the details of segmenting your audience if you’re unfamiliar with the practice. While A/B testing is no silver bullet that will magically solve your company’s problems, it will go a long way towards determining which strategies you should avoid like the plague. Segmenting also helps ensure that you’re not wasting money but are instead testing with a purpose, as every penny your business spends should be spent wisely.

Know what the experts avoid

Another way to improve your A/B testing is to learn what the experts avoid so you don’t end up making a simple mistake. Using too many variations to keep track of is a common mistake made by newcomers to A/B testing, for instance, and the ever-present error of ignoring cultural differences in markets is something you should know about if you don’t want to succumb to it yourself. Reviewing the common errors of A/B testing is like knowing which stepping stones are slippery and which are safe before you try to cross a tumultuous river.

You should also know that experts avoid generic testing practices that are unmoored from their specific industries. Business owners should be determining their A/B testing durations on the basis of their business cycle, for instance, as knowing when’s the proper time to invest in testing and when you need to hold back is an important part of not wasting your limited capital reserves. Similarly, testing a product too early or late in its development cycle hamstrings its ability to perform well in testing, so be sure that you’re not comparing unripe apples to rotten oranges.

Learn to listen to your results

Finally, it’s important that you actually listen to the results of your A/B testing rather than running an additional test when things don’t go your way. Despite the fact that you may be cheering for a certain product, service, or marketing campaign to perform well on an A/B test you need to understand that personal preferences and gut instincts should bow down before data-driven insights. Refusing to listen to your results seems silly, but countless companies waste money on expensive A/B testing that’s ultimately fruitless because it produces results that management or senior authority figures don’t agree with.

If you’re serious about tapping into the power of data, then commit yourself to listening to it even and especially when it’s telling you that you’re in the wrong. After all, what else are A/B tests for if not to alert decision-makers that they’re on the right or wrong path? Focus on improving your A/B testing and your business will soon be churning our superior products and services that are statistically-proven to succeed with consumers.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/marketing/how-to-improve-your-a-b-testing/

Why Geo-targeted SEO Matters

Damages: How Much Is a Personal Injury Case Worth?

If you’ve been involved in an accident and ended up with injuries, your first thought might be that you should file a personal injury case. However, as there are many things to take into consideration, you may be asking how much your injury case is worth.

Usually, there’s no definitive answer to this question. It all comes down to the amount of money your damages will cost you, as well as the physical and mental burden inflicted by the accident. This is why talking to a personal injury lawyer is important.

In this article, you will read about the types of damages that are involved in various cases.

What Are the Compensatory Damages in a Lawsuit?

During an accident, you get damages that you are being compensated for during a personal injury case. Basically, you will receive money according to the losses you’ve suffered because of the incident.

Usually, you will receive compensation for things such as medical bills, property damages and anything of the sort. However, not all damages are a piece of cake when it comes to monetizing, because compensating for suffering and pain can be very hard. So, here is a list of compensatory damages during a lawsuit:

• Loss of Property

For example, when you’re involved in a road accident, your car or motorcycle, as well as any other personal objects will be damaged. So, in a lawsuit, you will be deemed entitled to receive compensation for losing an important belonging, as payment for the reparations.

If your belonging has been too damaged to be repaired, then your compensation will be at market value, so you can get a replacement.

• Medical Treatment

Obviously, you can get seriously injured during an accident, and you will have to pay for medication. Compensation includes payment for your already existing treatment, as well as future treatment.

• Emotional Distress

Besides physical injuries and pain that result from an accident, you will also be emotionally affected. In other words, you might suffer from depression, anxiety, PTSD or anything similar. In this case, you might receive compensation for the psychological distress resulted from an accident.

• Loss of Enjoyment

In case the injuries and pain resulted from the accident won’t allow you to engage in activities you enjoyed before it happened, you might receive money as compensation.

• Suffering and Pain

Obviously, if you’ve been injured, you will be in pain. It’s really hard to give a specific sum for this, but it is possible to be offered compensation for the pain suffered during and after the occurrence of the accident.

How Is Compensation Being Offered?

First of all, an injury case takes place. Once it’s over and everything has been settled, the compensation is being paid to the people who have suffered from the accident and have opened the case. Compensation is being given by those responsible for the accident and the damage associated with it.

After the settling of the case, there will be a negotiation taking place where the parties, attorneys and insurance companies decide upon the sum. Depending on the situation, the money can be paid by the guilty one or by their insurance company.

Before opening a personal injury case, it’s better to know what it involves to have an insight into the compensation you might receive. Hopefully, this article was helpful in that regard.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/law-and-order/damages-how-much-is-a-personal-injury-case-worth/

Society of Spirits presents – The John Barleycorn Awards

Five Convincing Reasons to Buy an Apartment Instead of Buying a House in Dubai

Many people dream of owning property. There’s no doubt that owning where you live comes with many benefits over renting, the biggest being that when you move out, you’ll get your money back.

When most people think about buying a home, they think about buying a literal house. Although it is one option, it isn’t your only option.

In some areas of the world, you can actually purchase an apartment. For example, you can browse available units in Dubai on Bayut. In the United States, this kind of property is almost always referred to as a condo.

No matter what you call it, there are some serious benefits of buying an apartment instead of buying a house when you’re ready to invest in a home.

Amenities, Amenities, Amenities!

One of the most convincing reasons to consider an apartment over a house is the fact that apartments and condominiums come with many more amenities than the average house. Just a few amenities you can find in an apartment complex include:

• Pet-friendly amenities, like a dog park
• Bike storage lockers
• Easy access to public transportation
• Common areas that can be utilized for special occasions
• Workout amenities, like a fitness center or a pool
• Playgrounds for the kids

That just scratches the surface. Some apartment complexes have party rooms, furnished craft rooms, and more!

No Exterior Responsibilities

Owning your own house can be exciting, but it comes with a lot of work. Not only do you have to maintain the interior of a house, you also have to maintain the exterior.

That’s not the cases with purchased apartments and condominiums.

Instead, you only own the interior space. That means you’re responsible for remodeling inside, but you don’t have to worry about outside. The homeowner’s association takes care of driveway maintenance, lawn maintenance, and because they own the exterior of the building, you don’t have to worry about paying to replace siding or the roof either. That means you will have a lot more free time, and a lot more money, to do other things.

You Become a Member of a Built-In Community

Being a member of a community is important. People who feel like they belong are healthier, happier, and live longer lives. By moving into an apartment, you immediately become a built-in member of the community.

When you live in close proximity to other people who are just one or two doors down, instead of one or two houses down the block, you’re a lot more likely to get to know each other.

In addition, many apartment complexes and condominiums have community spaces. Some will even go as far as to plan events and activities that will quickly make your neighbors feel more like friends you can depend on rather than strangers you see out in the yard a few times a year.

You’ll Likely Be Safer

Did you know most people feel safer, and are safer, in an apartment? Burglars aren’t likely to break into a home when someone is there, and in an apartment complex, there’s always someone home.

Because apartment complexes have a community atmosphere, you’ll feel like your neighbors are looking out for you and your space. If there’s trouble, they’ll let you or the authorities know quickly.

Living on an upper floor can make you feel even safer, as the only way in is through the front door. In addition, some complexes have security features, like alarms, keyed entries, and cameras to further deter crime.

Proximity to Work and Other Places

Where you live can have a profound effect on your health and happiness. For example, when you live close to work, you’ll save money on gas. You’ll also spend a lot less time on your commute. If you choose the right apartment, you can actually shave hours off your commute time every week.

It’s not just work you should think about. Many apartments and condo complexes are centrally located, which means going out to eat or getting a drink with friends after work is easy. Most are within walking distance of a grocery store, gas station, and other stores that are frequently visited. With the right apartment, you may not even need a car!

There’s nothing wrong with buying a house, but don’t automatically discount the option of buying an apartment or a condo. Although the space may be a bit smaller, there are many other benefits that will definitely make up for it!

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/house-and-home/reasons-to-buy-an-apartment-in-dubai/

5 Different Types of Personal Loans That Are Available in Canada

Getting Approved for A Mortgage Online

Whether you’re a first-time buyer or moving onto your fifth property, the amount of work that goes into finally owning your own property doesn’t really change. From assessing your budget, to finding the right mortgage product, to making sure you’ve got good enough credit… it can be overwhelming.

Don’t worry. While it can seem like a lot to do, and it is, there are plenty of things you can do to make the whole process a lot smoother. Since we live in a digital age, there are plenty of ways you can help get approved for mortgages online. Whether it’s doing research, using a mortgage calculator or trying an online mortgage broker, you can find the right deal and increase your chances of being approved without having to leave your home!

Want to know more? Just keep reading.

Check Your Credit History

If there’s one thing that can stop a mortgage application before it even gets off the ground, it’s having poor credit.

Many people aren’t even aware of their credit score, either ignorant or just too scared to check. If you aren’t sure, luckily there’s plenty of services online that can give you a thorough report. Websites like Experian and Clear score have their own rating system for credit but will explain to you clearly how good or bad yours is.

This isn’t something you can ignore. A poor or even average credit score isn’t going to look good to any potential lenders. They do such a thorough check of your credit as they want to know that you are a reliable investment. If in the past you have shown that you are able to repay loans on time and are generally good with your finances, then that is a good indicator that you won’t fall behind on mortgage repayments.

If you’re worried about a low credit score, there are things you can do to improve it over time.

• Use your credit card little and often and pay off on time.
• Don’t use too much of your available credit
• Get on the electoral roll to confirm your address and make it easier to verify your identity
• Make sure your name is on your bills
• Fix any mistakes you see on your report. If your credit history is tied with someone else or you see something suspicious make sure to sort it as fast as you can.
• Make sure to have a good overview of your finances. As you get older, you’ll have more monthly outgoings so make sure to stay on top of them.

The first step of applying for mortgages online is using a credit checking website, so once you’ve done that, you’re well on your way.

Covering All Costs

When applying for mortgages online, one thing you shouldn’t forget is all the other costs that come with applying for a mortgage. It can add quite a lot to your total cost.

From building’s insurance to Stamp Duty, other fees and bills are going to pile up on top of your deposit, so make sure you’re prepared for them. Luckily, there are ways to stay on top.

Checking stamp duty. Stamp Duty is mandatory tax for most homeowners, so make sure not to leave it out of your budget. There are plenty of online Stamp Duty Calculators that you can use to make sure you’re aware of how much you’ll be paying.

Insurance. From Buildings Insurance to Life cover, there are a lot of both required and optional insurances that you’ll want to think about before you put down any money for your deposit. Luckily, as with most things nowadays, there are plenty of comparison websites to compare insurance deals and apply.

Miscellaneous costs. And then there are all the random costs you may not have thought have about. When applying for your mortgage think thoroughly about every step and what is going to cost you money. There are valuation fees, hiring a van and movers, making your old property presentable for potential buyers etc. You need to stay on top of it.

Comparing Deals

There are literally thousands of deals on the UK market, and ideally you want to compare most of them to find a suitable mortgage. While this is an impossible task on your own, this is where mortgage brokers and comparison websites come in.

It’s best to avoid banks and building societies when asking about mortgages as not only will they only show you limited options, they certainly aren’t going to point you in the direction of any better deals.

Luckily there are plenty of mortgage brokers for you to try, many of which are online. An online mortgage broker functions similarly to a comparison website. For most of these services you need to put in a few details like if you’re a first-time buyer, your budget and how many people are applying and then it will list the mortgage deals you could be accepted for. While these services can’t go into too much detail and sometimes won’t work if you’re in a complicated financial situation, they’re always good for an overview.

Online mortgage brokers are usually free, but some will offer to take your application further in which case they usually will charge a fee. While this is optional, you’re paying for the expertise of this company and for the peace of mind to not having to chase the application yourself so it’s worth considering.

When it comes to applying for mortgages online, there is so much you can do from the comfort of your own home. The internet has made finding products and services so much easier and by staying smart and doing your research, it’s a great tool for finding the right mortgage as well. As long as you stay on top of your budget, you should be fine.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/all/getting-approved-for-a-mortgage-online/

4 Tips To Design A Promotional Item People Can’t Resist Using

Promotional items are given out so freely that most people throw them away or give them to Goodwill. If you want your promotional items to be used, here’s how to do it:

1. Start by choosing products people want to keep

No matter how cool your custom hand sanitizer label looks, when the bottle is empty, it’s going into the trash. Chances are, a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer won’t last as long as a magnet or a custom t-shirt. However, if you’re giving away hand sanitizer at an event that doesn’t provide hand wipes or hand sanitizer to attendees, your little bottles of hand sanitizer will be in high demand.

The trick to designing promotional items people want to use begins with choosing products that are appropriate for the event where you’ll be passing them out. For example, if you’re at a convention for beauty products, you might want to hand out tweezers branded with your logo. The trick is to choose items that people will want to put into their pocket, bag, or purse.

Unique but non-functional items probably won’t survive after the novelty wears off. Functional items that people already have – like keychains and pens – need to be high quality to survive the ride home. The moment someone realizes your pen doesn’t have good ink flow, they’ll chuck it in the trash.

2. You don’t always need to give away trinkets

Promotional items that can be printed online are often cheaper than items made from plastic or metal. Items like desk and wall calendars often make the best promotional items because they’re designed to be displayed for an entire year or more. However, calendars need to be sufficiently appealing to make people want to display them for a whole year.

Like any printed product, creating a calendar your leads will use requires following some basic principles:

• Avoid hot topics, unless that hot topic happens to be your specific market. For example, you should only include politics and religion if you’re promoting a specific political issue or religion.
• Using high-quality professional photos that follow a specific theme.
• Adding humor wherever you can. People love humor because it brightens their day. It makes sense to add humor to a calendar people will be looking at every day.
• Avoid making your calendar images overly-promotional. Nobody wants to look at a large version of your logo every month out of the year with an inspirational quote. Instead of using each month as a way to promote your brand, use each month to promote something related to your industry that people care about.

If you want ideas to take your promotional efforts to the highest level possible, check out what Diamond Packaging does each year with their corporate calendar. Each year, the company creates an intricately designed calendar that embodies the very techniques they use in their packaging options. The purpose is to showcase how they can help corporate clients elevate their brand through packaging that includes features like cold foiling and smart tagging.

3. Pay close attention to typography

When printing promotional materials, whether on paper or a physical item, typography can make or break the impression you leave on people. When it comes to printing, everything matters including font color, font face, line spacing, letter spacing, and margins.

4. Hire a professional designer to prepare your files correctly

If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re probably used to doing everything yourself. In most situations, that’s a great strategy. However, if you’re not trained in design, you need to hire a professional designer.

Designing files for print must be learned. Your logo and any other graphics intended for print must be created as print-ready files from the beginning. A professional designer will know exactly how to do this. Even when you’ve trained yourself on how to use Photoshop and can crank out some nifty designs, it doesn’t mean your files are print-ready. In fact, if you haven’t intentionally prepared your files for print, they probably aren’t suitable for printing.

When you create a new file in Photoshop, the resolution is usually 72dpi, which won’t work for printing. The color profile will likely be RGB, which is not a print-friendly color profile. For print, you need to start with a file with a resolution of at least 300dpi and a CMYK color profile. Anything else will generate poor quality results.

What promotional items do you keep?

Avoid buying promo items you consistently donate or toss. Look in the trash cans at events to see what people immediately toss, and be willing to spend a little more for quality items that people will want to keep for a while.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/advertising/4-tips-to-design-a-promotional-item-people-cant-resist-using/

Moving? 4 Things Families Should Look For In Rentals

If you and your family are planning a move, you have a lot of choices to make. Do you want to live in an apartment or a house? How many bedrooms do you need? Where do you want to live? These are all important questions, but when there are kids in the picture, that needs to take center stage – you need to be sure that your new residence is family friendly. With that in mind, though, it’s important to remember that family-friendly properties can take many different forms.

Big Picture

At the highest level, families who are looking for a new place to live should be attentive to the overall location of the home or apartment, as well as what schools and other resources are in the area. You don’t want to move your school-age child from an area with a top-performing public school to one where students aren’t doing well.

Similarly, you don’t want to situate your family far away from central community hubs, such as parks and libraries or your house of worship. Do your homework and think about how the location of your new home would impact your day-to-day life.

Check For Pets

It’s generally acknowledged both by tenants and property managers that pet-friendly properties are more likely to be family-friendly – and there are several reasons for that. First, property managers recognize that a lot of the people who seek out pet-friendly properties are also parents because they want to raise their children with a family pet. These properties may also have more outside space to allow for pet-friendly amenities and services like dog runs or space to let pets out, and added space is also a boon for families.

Another reason why property managers suggest that pet-friendly properties may be more family-friendly is that they have a higher tolerance for noise and may generally have closer relationships between neighbors. After all, if people are outside walking their dogs and chatting or dogs are barking, then children who are outside playing or making noise won’t be considered unusually disruptive.

Rapid Repairs

Everyone wants their landlord to be responsive to maintenance requests, but for families with children, a small snafu like a plumbing or heating problem can feel much more urgent. With that in mind, look for properties with a good reputation for quick repairs and ask about 24/7 maintenance. While individually managed properties may have limits on how much they can offer, as the property management group Green Residential explains, professional management groups can prioritize maintenance requests and dispatch professionals to fix those problems in a timely manner. They’re also more likely to offer round-the-clock services, even if they have to contract out.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

When Frost wrote that “good fences make good neighbors,” he was talking about maintaining clear boundaries and mutual respect, but for families with children, good fences are a literal concern. When looking for a new home for your family, then, check play areas and other open spaces for proper fencing and other security measures. This is especially important if the property neighbors a busy street or shopping center. A property doesn’t need a playground to be considered family-friendly, but a tidy yard can attract families and makes sure children playing outside are safe.

Don’t let house hunting stress you out. Children are adaptable and as long as a property is safe, they’ll be fine. While everyone wants more than merely safe, the good thing about rentals is that, if you’re unhappy, you can always wait out the lease and move on to something new. And of course, your friendly faces may be just what a property needs to welcome families with children more readily.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/real-estate/moving-4-things-families-should-look-for-in-rentals/

How Micro-Influencers Can Grow Your Business

Even if you are familiar with the idea of social media influencers, you may make the mistake of believing that this is something that only large brands can use. Also, you could attribute influencers to those individuals with millions of followers. However, that’s not always the case.

Instead, I want to draw your attention to something called micro-influencers. You may want to then know how these individuals can help grow your business.

How Does An Influencer Work?

An influencer is someone with a social media presence that has a significant number of followers. They are important for your business thanks to the audience that surrounds them. This is an audience that you can harness under the right conditions.

You must remember that even a micro-influencer has some power over their follower. The people that subscribe to their channels or profiles look to them for inspiration and advice on a whole host of things. An influencer will then open you up to a certain market, and you can see the advantage of doing such a thing.

What Size Is A Micro-Influencer?

As I said at the outset, people often associate influencers with millions of followers. Strictly speaking, a micro-influencer is someone with less than 10,000 followers. In saying that, the potential impact that they can have is amazing.

Finding The Right Micro-Influencer

With them only requiring a few thousand followers, it does mean that you have a huge number of micro-influencers to choose from. However, don’t go for anybody. Also, do ignore the number of followers as there are other important factors to take into account.

When you find someone of interest, look at their posts and see if people are interacting. If their posts are dead, then this is an individual to avoid.

At the same time, you must understand their audience and how it fits into your target market. There’s no point working with a micro-influencer if their demographic doesn’t fit in with your own.

In other words, do your research before making contact with a micro-influencer.

How They Will Help

So, let’s break down how they will help you to grow your business insurance. There is the entire thing about a target market and using their audience to your advantage. People already trust and value what they say. If they then recommend whatever it is that you are doing, then this puts you in a good position.

Of course, they will charge you for mentioning what you do, sharing a Tweet, posting a picture and so on. The good thing is that they charge less than those with more followers or subscribers, so you may get a bargain. The rates of micro-influencers do vary a great deal.

As well as paying them cash for working with you, there’s also the option of providing them with some kind of gift. Some businesses will combine both options especially with those that have a very targeted market that is perfect for their business.

The Collaboration Aspect

When working with a micro-influencer, each thing you do is referred to as a campaign. However, you must look at discussing the campaign with the influencer because of the way in which they know their audience.

They are aware of the kind of approach that works with the people that follow them. They know the tone of marketing that gets better results. Merely telling them what to do and then hoping for the best is not the correct way of going about all of this.

Running Your Campaign

So, let’s say you have selected your micro-influencer and feel that they do indeed have the perfect audience. You then need to run your campaign. After discussing things with the influencer and getting to grips with their own audience, you are then in a position to better judge the impact that they have on your business.

The best part of using this marketing approach is that you don’t have to keep on checking back to see how something is doing. Instead, you can focus on the new leads or sales that happen thanks to the influencer or even coping with the increased awareness of your business.

Compare this to other marketing options where you need to assess how it’s performing. If you track your links and where visitors come from, then you can easily see how effective your campaign with the influencer has been.

So, the way in which a micro-influencer can help you grow your business is by providing you with a platform to market yourself to a very specific audience. Their followers trust them and what they say, so you are trying to jump on that bandwagon whenever possible. In this day and age, the prospect of ignoring potential marketing options with even a micro-influencer is not something that you should ever entertain.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/business/how-micro-influencers-can-grow-your-business/

How To Safeguard Your Best Employees

If you are content with your employees, then you want to keep them with you for as long as possible. Of course, if they also have a reputation for being a valued member of your team, then others may attempt to persuade them to leave you and go elsewhere.

The prospect of headhunting is very real and the damage it can do to a business is often substantial. Thanks to this, understanding how to safeguard your best employees does make a lot of sense.

To help, I have identified several tips and techniques that you may wish to employ in order to make your best employees feel as if they are truly wanted and respected.

Look At The Benefits Of Working With You

First, you need to look at the company benefits that they receive as your employee. Doing so may result in you being rather surprised at the lack of benefits or the way in which they are outdated.

The business world is fast-paced, and it’s all too easy for certain aspects to be rather backdated. Your main aim is to have benefits that promote well-being for your employees. Also, you want things to have some use to them. This is better than having different benefits that aren’t deemed as beneficial by the actual staff.

Ask Them For Guidance

Being their boss doesn’t mean you can assume everything. Instead, it is beneficial to ask them for guidance as to the benefits that they would like to see incorporated into your business.

Doing this also makes your employees feel as if their opinion matters. If they believe that they are in a company that takes that approach, then it does make them happier. However, do seek their advice on a regular basis rather than being a one-off. Also, if they suggest something, then take it on board. If it’s impossible to implement, then explain why rather than ignoring it.

Look At Younger Businesses

Those businesses run by millennials have a different take on the way in which the world should operate compared to the older way of doing things. However, don’t see them as some kind of upstart to avoid as they can offer you some useful tips and advice.

Millennials have a reputation for being less likely to appreciate companies that cannot look to the future, especially with their web application development. Also, they want more care and respect as an employee rather than working for a company that always puts profit and money first.

Those businesses run by millennials have also taken more interest in both the well-being and financial success of their employees. In other words, they see them as more than an individual that they have hired.

Spend time studying the way in which these younger businesses deal with their employees and how happy they are for tips on what you can implement.

Show That You Care

The point regarding people viewed as more than a person that has been hired is more important than you realize. In fact, a Guardian study has shown that employees are over 50% more likely to stay with a company for over a decade if they feel they are cared for.

The difficulty here is in trying to change your own opinion or approach as you never have previously contemplated the idea of caring for your employees. Of course, medical aid, help with certain expenditures, bonuses and a whole host of other things come together to show you care.

Never Take People For Granted

You cannot take people for granted or an employee will feel this and move elsewhere. Be thankful for what they do and let them know that their work is appreciated. If they believe that their work is going unnoticed, then how do you think that will make them feel?

I’m also not talking about acknowledging only the big things. Instead, those small ideas or moments where they showed initiative are also key.

Taking people for granted in life is a horrible thing to do. But when it comes to your best employees, then there’s every chance that you may push them away. At this point, it’s all your fault with something that is so easy to avoid.

Overall, you can safeguard your best employees by treating them as valued individuals rather than a staff number or someone on your payroll. Appreciate them and seek their advice when possible but do keep that line between employee and employer.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/business/how-to-safeguard-your-best-employees/

How To Improve Your YouTube Keyword Research

There’s a whole lot more to carrying out your YouTube keyword research than merely selecting terms that you feel are applicable to your channel or video. Instead, it has been shown that better keyword research does indeed correlate to more views, and why else are you uploading a video to YouTube apart from to get views?

This then begs the question as to how you can improve on this area, and that is what I am here to help you with. In all honesty, this is no different to keyword research for your website or anything else online. If you have done this kind of thing before elsewhere, then what follows should not pose any problems.

Use YouTube Auto-Complete

YouTube is good in that it wants to help with your SEO. After all, the more views you get then the more money they make as well, so it’s in their best interests to help.

Due to this, they have the YouTube Auto-Complete tool, and I would recommend using this every single time you either upload a video or are creating your own channel. You don’t even require that much knowledge of SEO as YouTube basically does everything for you.

With this, YouTube offers you examples and ideas of search phrases that others have already used on the site that links in to the keywords you have already entered. It’s common to discover ideas that you would have never even contemplated before when you use this tool.

The other cool thing about this tool is that it does give you ideas for other videos due to the suggestions that pop up. Make a note of them since you will have the chance to go back and create videos along those lines in the future.

Study Your Competitors

With SEO, the aim is to surpass what your competitors are doing. The best way of doing this is by knowing how well they are performing. This is something that you can also do on YouTube. But then, you do need a couple of tools to make the entire process a whole lot easier.

My recommendation when it comes to these tools are Tags For YouTube and TubeBuddy. The cool thing about these tools is the way in which you can search for tag ideas from your browser. If you then add in the free version of vidIQ. This allows you to follow three competitors and get a better understanding of their keyword usage.

The idea here is to work your way into a position where you can formulate a plan according to your competitors. Remember that video is a powerful media source. You want people to check out your video rather than anything else. If the best way to do this is by studying your competitors, then go for it.

Take The Best Tags From The Best Videos

If a video in your particular niche or category is doing well, especially if it’s for a Toronto family lawyer, then there’s no harm in checking out the tags they use to draw in the views. This leads to the theory that if it’s good enough for them, then why can you not also adopt it into your strategy?

To help with this, you may want to use the TubeBuddy tool I mentioned in the previous point. This makes it easier to identify the tags that are used which then allows you to incorporate them into your own videos.

Even though this will help, don’t overdo it with the number of tags. You should never swamp your video with too many keywords.

Consider Using Free Tools

I accept that not everyone is willing to spend money on tools to help them. This is fine as there are also a number of free tools available. If I’m honest, they do a good enough job for most. Also, it will provide you with a clearer picture of what people are searching for on YouTube.

One tool that can offer keyword suggestions is Kparser. They do also provide information on the volume of searches, but you need a premium version to unlock this.

Another option is the straightforward Keyword Tool. This is cool as it does allow you to focus on YouTube alone so you can eliminate any distractions.

Turn To Your Analytics

Finally, I want you to pay close attention to your own analytics for your YouTube channel. Most people check them out due to the analytics telling you how well your videos are performing along with subscribers, but there’s more to it than that.

Instead, look more closely at how people are finding your videos. Scroll through the data and you may get a shock at how people get to your channel. Do this with each video and you will then build a better picture of phrases or keywords that are working without you even being aware of it.

Getting a better understanding of your YouTube keywords is easier than you think. All it takes is some practice on your part and a willingness to take some time studying it all for it to make a difference.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/youtube/how-to-improve-your-youtube-keyword-research/

How To Find The Right Niche For Your Business

Are you aware of how to find the right niche for your business? Jumping in without giving too much thought to your industry doesn’t even make sense. This is especially true when there are so many niches to be exploited.

But then, how do you make this decision to begin with? To help, I have several tips and steps that you may wish to consider following.

Understand Your Own Potential Business

To find the right niche you must understand your own potential business. What kind of areas or industries do you know about? Where are your own individual strengths or weaknesses?

Being aware of your own individual knowledge may help guide you towards certain niches or industries. Delving into something you know little about will only increase the chances of running into problems.

Before finding that niche, look within your own self and your capabilities. It will make the rest of the process a whole lot easier.

Study The Possible Market

Any business must understand its market. This is no different when it comes to identifying your niche. Of course, as we are talking about a potentially smaller market, you cannot allow yourself to feel disappointed that the market is incapable of setting the world on fire.

Instead, you must look at it from the perspective of a more targeted audience or customer base that often has a better knowledge of what they seek. Can you provide them with this and meet the standards they expect?

How Easy Is It To Get Started?

Even though delving into a niche is attractive, you still need to know how easy it is to get started. As an example, you may find a niche with something such as vegan birthday cakes. However, do you understand the concept of veganism? Do you know how to make birthday cakes? Do you have the equipment and ability to produce the goods?

Further to this, you must also determine if there are any additional requirements on your part to start this particular business. If we use our vegan birthday cake example, then you would need to look into food hygiene laws and whether you require any specific qualifications or insurance.

A niche is useless to you if you cannot get everything that you need to get started.

Understand The Demographics

Along with understanding the niche, you must also understand the demographics associated with the market. This information allows you to shape your entire approach. You will also become aware of the cash that the market may have available to spend.

There’s no point creating a niche service or product if the demographic is too young that they cannot afford it. Also, spend time getting to grips with the likes and dislikes of the main demographic. Knowing as much as possible about them allows you to further tailor your business to meet their needs in a more specific manner.

This is something no business should ignore even if they are not delving into a niche, such as a tax lawyer Canada. However, when you are dealing with a smaller size of market, then the potential for making a mistake is greater should you fail to understand exactly what’s going on.

What Are The Long-Term Prospects?

A business that seeks to survive on short-term advantages will run into problems in next to no time. When looking for that niche, you must also become aware of the long-term prospects prior to moving into the market.

This may involve determining if people would use your services or buy your products as a one-off purchase or if they can become repeat customers. It may also include whether or not you are dealing with some kind of craze or fad that will die down at some point. Are you willing to invest the time and energy into launching your business in those areas knowing you have to look elsewhere in a short time?

The main thing I am trying to help you with is to understand that identifying a potential niche is only part of the story. Instead, you need to also look at the bigger picture before you make your move.

A niche is wonderful for any business as long as you deliver on your promises. Remember, a smaller market also means it is easier for bad news to get out if you screw up any aspect of your service or product. Fail to do things correctly from the outset and it may take you a substantial amount of time to rectify the negativity that then surrounds you and your business.

Take your time identifying your niche and then prepare to reap the benefits, but only if you do things in a succinct manner.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/business/how-to-find-the-right-niche-for-your-business/

Top 7 Leadership Courses to Help You Improve in Your Career

Nowadays, leadership courses are increasingly becoming popular among those who want to boost their leadership ability and skills, looking for a change in career and seeking leadership positions. Thankfully, several courses around the world provide the students with many options in a variety of places that can boost their personal growth and professional development. These courses range from a few days to several months depending on the requirements and specific programs. Here are some of the best leadership courses that one can take:

Emotional Intelligence

Apart from your skills, as a leader, you also need to sharpen your interpersonal skills. After numerous studies in the workplace, it has been revealed that EI is currently getting more attention. An emotionally intelligent leader is committed, happier, and able to achieve more success in the workplace. Apart from studying Emotional Intelligence, there are also several ways that leaders can use to manage their stress levels.

Communication Skills

Irrespective of your role, taking communication skills as a course is very important. Unlike before, the modern workplace has become very dynamic. You would have to send out a memo, an email or a report at least once a day. For you to be on top of things, you should be able to communicate your thoughts both verbally and in writing. You, therefore, need to take writing and language courses to enhance your skills. These little investments are some of the best things that you can do to revamp your career.

Innovative Thinking

Innovation and leadership are some of the things which come hand in hand. If you are creative, you’ll be able to find the solutions outside the box. Innovative leaders will not only help the company to soar high but also put some thought before making a decision. While being a creative thinker is not easy, through training and practice you can slowly become someone who can deal with workplaces issues.

Project Management Courses

If you are looking forward to a higher level position, then one of the leadership courses you need to take is project management. As a project manager, your primary goal is to display leadership skills and facilitate teamwork. It does not matter what you do or where you work; your employer is only going to love you if you have the best leadership skills. A project management course will teach you the necessary skills to manage the people and procure new business projects. This could then lead to several promotions that will, later on, increase your responsibility. Consequently, you secure a competitive edge in the industry.

IT Courses

One of the primary concerns of business is security. Since hackers are continually coming up with innovative techniques, and businesses are always on the watch for any breaches, getting IT certification can be one of the best things to do. Although people will come to ask you questions, you’ll be getting something in exchange. By taking an IT course as a supplementary, you’ll be indispensable in your field of work.

Leadership Development Program

This course is an intensive five-day program designed to boost your managerial and leadership skills. Ideal for juniors and executives, this short course will provide you with the techniques and knowledge that you can use to support organizational changes and lead teams successfully.

Teamwork Course

Any company’s success is rarely dependent on one person. Success is the result of many employees working together toward a significant goal. When employees merge their different talents, then everyone in the company wins. While teamwork can be learned in the workplaces, there are several organizations which teach it as a course.

If you have an open mind and willingness to learn you can be successful in whatever thing you decide to pursue. Although being a good leader takes time, if you want to improve and position yourself well for a promotion, you need to start honing your skills now. If need be, make sure you take the above leadership courses.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/careers/top-7-leadership-courses-to-help-you-improve-in-your-career/

3 Things Recovering Addicts Should Know About Sober Living Homes

Sober living homes are meant for addicts, both drug and alcohol, who have been treated in a long-term rehab facility. These homes are designed to be supportive of the person’s sobriety, and they act as the final step in an addict’s road to recovery.

The goal after entering a sober living house is to reenter mainstream society.

A few of the key points that addicts don’t know, but should know, about sober living homes are:

1. Sober Living Homes Are Not Free

Someone has to pay the bills when entering these homes, and it’s the responsibility of the addicts to help pay:

• Rent
• Utilities
• Food bills

But there’s a reason for all of these payments, too. Addicts have to reenter society with the responsibility and ability to pay their fair share. The sober living house provides this opportunity, teaching recovering addicts how to be responsible once again.

Some homes are free or provide a free period of weeks or months, but these homes are becoming less popular.

2. Strict Rules and Regulations Are in Place

Sober living homes have strict rules and regulations in place, and these rules are meant to provide all residents with the best chance of remaining sober. While the rules may seem strict at first, they are for the betterment of everyone that lives in the home.

There are rules for:

• Curfews
• Visitation hours
• Visitors

Visitors have to be drug-free, and if a person that is staying in the facility breaks this rule, they jeopardize their ability to stay in the home. Breaking curfew or visitation hours may be less serious of a consequence, but if it’s a recurring issue, then the person may have to find another place to live.

3. There Are “Exclusive” Sober Living Homes

For the majority of the time, the rich and famous are not staying in the same sober living homes as a person that lives an ordinary lifestyle. These wealthy addicts are often in exclusive sober living homes where rent can be $1,000 – $2,000 per week.

Keeping these homes exclusive means that there are a lot of amenities offered, and privacy is of the utmost importance.

Stricter rules may be imposed in these homes, such as not being able to bring a smartphone into the facility. News outlets would pay a lot of money to have inside footage of these homes, and that’s where the high rent price is justified for many celebrities.

Exclusive homes allow the rich and famous to maintain their image.

Women who want to find a home will find that it’s a major challenge. The majority of homes, nearly 75% of them, are men-only facilities. While the separating of gender is justified, it’s also very difficult for women that leave long-term rehab to find a facility.

Mothers that want to bring their children into these homes will also find that there are far fewer opportunities available. And if the home does allow children, there is almost always no childcare provided, so it makes it very difficult for the mother to work.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/life-style/3-things-recovering-addicts-should-know-about-sober-living-homes/

Why is Register important when translating?

Professional translators need to take register into consideration when translating. It is not the same if a translator is translating a novel for children, a scientific article or a poem. It goes without saying that every audience is specific and the texts need to be adjusted to the audience’s professions, levels of maturity and needs.

If you are a translator or need to get some documents translated it is important to know what register really is and how it affects the quality of your translation. The register, or the tone of the language, changes as you change the purpose of your writing or translating and it depends on who you are writing to or translating for.

Translators at TheWordPoint company are well versed in translation, so using the right register comes naturally to them. Obviously, years and years of translating various texts and applying the knowledge they gathered about translation at universities paid off in the end. Now they are professionally trained experts who don’t use machines for their translation, just the knowledge and experience gained throughout the years.

When it comes to register, different registers are used on a daily basis, depending on the social setting we are in. If we talk to our parents, we will probably be respective yet friendly, however, when we talk to our boss, we will probably try to use fancier words to sound smarter. All people are aware of the fact that first impression does matter.

All these unwritten rules apply to translation. Earlier, formal register was the only register that was accepted and appropriate, so the translators had to modify the texts so they sounded more formal and ceremonial. Nowadays, the situation has changed to a certain extent. Sometimes, it is crucial to stretch the rules, and go with the flow. In modern times, not all businessmen wear suits, ties and briefcases, but are more modern and follow the trends. This is a great metaphor for how translation evolved over the years.

A professional translator needs to emulate the register of the original text and the author’s style, and at the same time, adapt it to the target audience. When a translator gets a large chunk of text, which needs corrections, editing and polishing, the first thing he needs to ask himself is – Who is going to read this? If the answer is doctors, lawyers, scientists, the obvious thing is that the translator will use terminology, specific terms, the text will be without idioms or collocations and will focus more on facts or statistics. If a text is going to be read by a child, the translation and the text needs to be simple, engaging and fun to read.

A translator needs to have a good grasp of both languages so that he manages to adjust the formality, technicality and difficulty of the text to a specific target audience. Also, the type of the text plays a great role in choosing the appropriate register. Depending on the purpose of the written text (to inform, to promote, to persuade, to invite) the tone of the translated text has to change. The intention of the text is important in the translation process. Appropriate register is like a mediator between language and the situation.

For instance, when translating a literary text, the translator encounters two dimensions of language. The first dimension is the information about the language user, so a professional translator has to obtain information about the writer’s life.  It can make a difference when deciding what register to employ. It is useful to know whether he was born into wealth or poverty so information about social class, whether he suffered from any disease or mental illness or if he was addicted to medication, drugs or alcohol. The next dimension is the translator’s ability to be consistent in using register. This is a tool all writers need to master. One rule that has to be followed is to never mix formal and informal register and try to be as convincing and realistic as possible when translating from source to target language.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/news/why-is-register-important-when-translating/

4 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2019

Digital marketing is constantly evolving, but in 2019, we’re seeing a transformative shift. Technologies that were once dismissed as “far off in the future” are quickly becoming the standard.

Here are four digital marketing trends to watch out for in 2019.

1. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is making its way into nearly every facet of our lives. Digital marketing is no exception. Whether you’re doing digital marketing in Toronto or London, there’s a good chance that AI will make its way into your strategy this year.

AI can be used to analyze your customer search patterns and behaviours. We’re now at a point where Facebook messenger bots can automate and optimize your customer service.

AI can also provide tips and information to users through chatbots (more on that soon). In fact, Gartner says 25% of all customer service will be using chatbot technology by 2020. That’s up from less than 2% in 2017 – a huge leap.

2. Personalization

Personalization is the key to standing out with your marketing efforts. From your products to your emails, content and everything in between, you need to be focused on personalization.

Thanks to big data and AI, it’s easier than ever to offer a personalized experience. You have data purchase history at your fingertips, you can analyze consumer behavior, and you can see which links customers are clicking on. All of this information can be gathered using simple, inexpensive analytics solutions.

Evidence of personalization is everywhere. Just look at Amazon and Netflix. Both offer product and content recommendations based on your past purchases or other shows you’ve watched.

Personalized content maximizes enjoyment and minimizes search time.

3. Chatbots

Chatbots will continue to play an integral role in digital marketing in 2019. Chatbots use AI-based technology to chat with customers or prospective customers in real-time – day or night.

About 1.4 billion people are interacting with chatbots. About 80% of businesses are already using or planning to use chatbots by 2020. It’s estimated that these bots will save businesses $8 billion per year, particularly in the healthcare and banking industries.

Many customers actually prefer working with chatbots because they’re responsive, answer questions promptly and never lose patience.

With their accuracy, efficiency and improved customer satisfaction, chatbots save businesses time and resources so that they may focus on other more important things.

4. Video Marketing

We’re at a point now where video marketing cannot be ignored. About 72% of businesses say that video has improved their conversion rates, and 52% of consumers say watching product videos makes them more confident in making their purchases online.

Video marketing goes beyond YouTube. Businesses are using Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn to post their video content. Live video on Facebook and Instagram also gives businesses a chance to interact with customers in real-time to answer questions or demonstrate their products.

Live video can also be used to give consumers a glimpse of special events.

Film equipment is more affordable than ever, and in the case of live video, using a mobile phone is perfectly acceptable. With cost no longer being a problem, there’s no reason for small businesses to ignore video marketing.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/seo/4-digital-marketing-trends-to-watch-in-2019/

4 Tips for Writing an Effective Research Paper

Research papers are par for the course when you’re in college. Virtually every class requires you to write one at the end of a semester. These assignments come easy for some students, but others lose sleep and stress about having to write such a lengthy paper.

While intimidating, research papers aren’t all that complicated to write – if you know which elements to include and create a plan of attack. Here are four tips for writing an effective research paper.

1. Choose an Engaging Topic

The first step in the writing process is to choose a topic. Find one that’s engaging and that you’re interested in.

If you don’t choose a topic you’re interested in, you’ll get bored of your research work and may fail to finish the paper. Of course, the topic has to meet the assignment’s guidelines, but do your best to find something that fits the assignment’s parameters and your interests.

Because you’ll have to study different hypotheses, approaches and techniques, you’ll want to make sure that you choose a topic that other scholars have also investigated.

2. Find Reputable Sources

When writing any research paper, it’s important to use reputable sources. Your argument and research must be based on statistics and facts that should be cited in the body of your work. Using verified sources of information is crucial. As most instructors will tell you, sites like Wikipedia are not considered reputable sources.

If you’re not sure where to find sources, you can try Google Books, Google Scholar or Microsoft Academic. These services will allow you to find scientific articles, books, journals and other types of research material.

You can also find information at:

• National Science Digital Library
• The National Academies Press
• Encyclopedia.com
• Infoplease.com

When creating your list of sources, be sure to include short notes next to each one that states exactly how you’d use the source.

3. Craft a Precise Thesis Statement

Once you’ve chosen a topic and gathered a list of resources, you can start working on your thesis statement. The purpose of a thesis statement is to explain your entire research paper in one sentence.

The statement should answer the following questions:

• What is the subject of your research?
• How will you reach your goal?
• Which methods will you use to prove your point?
• What do you expect to gain as a result?

Your instructor may have to approve your thesis statement, so take your time when crafting it. Use your instructor’s feedback to tweak your statement as needed.

Think of your thesis statement as a mini-guide that will help you create a rough outline for your paper.

4. Create a Rough Outline and First Draft

It may be tempting to skip the outline step and move straight to creating your first draft, but your outline is a crucial part of the writing process. It will serve as your guide, and make your life easier when you finally start writing.

If you want, you can include subheadings in your outline to make it even more precise.

Keep in mind that your first draft is just your rough draft. You should proofread and revise several times before turning in your paper.

Don’t forget to cite your sources properly and to format your bibliography appropriately.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/writing/4-tips-for-writing-an-effective-research-paper/

How Strong SEO Boosts Website Conversions

It’s easy to lose the forest for the trees in the world of online marketing. The business owners we work with sometimes tell us they can feel as if they were running through tasks and campaigns just for the sake of it.

However, it’s important to remember that your business website doesn’t exist to show off your artistic instincts (or ours). It’s there to help you generate new leads, sales, or even walk-in visits. Likewise, the point of search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t just to improve your visibility on Google.

Instead, the goal needs to be improving conversions on your pages. Otherwise, how would it ever be worth the investment of time and money?

When you’re in the process of researching search terms, developing content, and working on the technical aspects of your website, that perspective can be hard to maintain. So today, we here at Maxburst, a New York-based Digital Agency, wants to give you a handful of concrete ways that a strong SEO effort can boost conversions and put more money into your pocket.

Here are a few of the most important business-level benefits…

Better SEO Means More Traffic to Your Website

The biggest payoff from embarking on a successful SEO campaign, of course, is that it can mean bringing more visits to your website. Most online marketing industry experts agree that having a top-five position on Google (for a targeted search term) can increase web traffic by as much as 500% from a second-page ranking.

That means that even if all other things were equal, using smart search visibility strategies could give you five times as many chances to win new customers… or more, if you don’t currently have a strong search position to start with. That kind of improvement can only mean good things for your bottom line.

It should also be pointed out that we don’t think you should ever settle for just increasing the amount of traffic to your website. You should be looking to generate a higher percentage of conversions, too. By making that a focus of your SEO strategy, you might be able to see even bigger gains.

When you have more buyers than you used to that are arriving on your website, a higher percentage of them convert into leads or sales and great things happen.

With Strong SEO, You Can Attract Better Leads or Buyers

Another reason to love search engine optimization is that it can give you better leads or customers than you have gotten in the past. That’s because your strategy shouldn’t focus only on volume, but also quality.

Too many business owners – not to mention the web designers who advise them – only look at raw traffic numbers when trying to determine the effectiveness of a search or social campaign. However, because conversions are the ultimate goal, it pays to take a step back and see the bigger picture. That means researching keywords and search word combinations that signal buying intent or a preference for a certain type of product or service.

When you can follow a narrower approach to SEO you can often weed out searchers who might not be a good fit for what you have to offer. That means less time spent chasing down sales opportunities that aren’t as strong and fewer returns and negative reviews.

Additionally, the more targeted you are with your search visibility plan the easier it is for you to stay ahead of your less-focused competitors on Google, even if they are spending more time and money on their websites.

Better Search Visibility Means More Market Awareness

You have undoubtedly heard that it takes an average of 7 to 10 impressions before a new potential customer will actually notice your business. With a strong SEO plan in place, you can get those repeated opportunities to get visitors to your website and win the sale.

Targeting your search strategy carefully means narrowing in on a specific type of buyer and demographic, not just paying attention to a slim set of keywords. As a result, you can often get your best prospects to return to your pages again and again as they research ideas and start to identify potential solutions.

The more someone finds you on Google and engages with your content, the more likely they become to ultimately decide to do business with you. One of the key steps to making a sale in any business is being in front of your customer at the right place and the right time. A strong SEO strategy makes that easier to manage.

A Smart SEO Strategy Helps You Find (and Fix) Website Problems

Although business owners understandably tend to focus on certain aspects of SEO like keyword research and analytics reports, it’s important to remember that priming your pages for search visibility involves looking at the technical aspects of a website, too.

In other words, if you want to rank well in Google you had better ensure your website loads quickly, that your layout is mobile-friendly, and that you don’t have broken links or duplicate content for automated search software to find (as examples).

As it turns out, these are issues that will hurt your credibility and marketing power when it comes to real-life customers, as well. So, discovering and repairing any issues with your website as part of the SEO process can be beneficial to all of your online marketing efforts.

What’s good for SEO is good for your website and internet marketing strategy as a whole. You might say the fact that you’ll get more visits, better leads, and an increased flow of conversions to your website just makes it an even better investment.

Is Your SEO Campaign Delivering the Results You Expect?

As we mentioned at the start of this article, strong search engine optimization isn’t just about having more people see your website on Google. That’s the first step, of course, but the real idea is to increase the number of conversions coming to you through your online content.

If those aren’t the kinds of results you are getting from your organic search engine optimization campaigns already, now might be a good time to start looking for better advice.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/seo/how-strong-seo-boosts-website-conversions/

4 Essential Tips for Scaling Early-Stage Startups

Launching a successful startup is hard work.

In fact, 50% of small businesses fail in the first four years, so there’s no guarantee that all that hard work will pay off, even if you manage to start turning a profit relatively quickly.

That’s why the name of the game for startups is ensuring consistent growth.

In fact, if you’re like most startup owners, you’re probably always looking for ways to skyrocket your company and achieve a rapid growth that provides more security or allows you to sell your website at a huge profit.

The problem is, trying to scale comes with its own risks, and if you make the wrong decisions, it could end up costing you the entire business, even if it was showing promising results.

That’s why, to help you scale your early-stage startup more effectively, here are a few tips that will surely come in handy.

Know If It’s the Right Time to Scale

One thing that separates the truly successful startups from those that overstretch themselves and start losing the appeal to their customers is knowing when’s a good time to scale in the first place.

Although rapid growth is the dream of any startup founder, and we all know the overnight success stories that launched some of the biggest tech companies we know today, for every success, there are hundreds of failures that didn’t time their scaling efforts and spread themselves too thin in the process.

In fact, a hard truth that a lot of startup owners need to acknowledge is that some startups are just not very scalable in the first place.

Whether it’s because of a specific niche with a limited audience, or that it just doesn’t have the possibility for rapid growth at the moment, sometimes the best approach is to allow for slower, organic growth.

But at the same time, it’s important to know the signs when the best move forward is to scale quickly, as you don’t want to miss a unique opportunity to expand and carve out a much larger share of the marketplace.

Keep Your Team Nimble

Many startups are able to achieve success early because they have a small and motivated team that can quickly adjust to a changing environment and get a lot done in a short amount of time.

Sure, a smaller team of four or five people has their limits in terms of how much they can handle, but that doesn’t mean that increasing the team’s size always leads to a productivity increase – a bigger team requires much more efficient processes for sharing information and managing workflow, and early-stage startups don’t always have the knowledge how to manage all these processes efficiently.

Sometimes a bigger team may end up getting less done simply because meetings and coordinating efforts will take a much bigger part of the available time. That’s why, in some cases, the best way forward for startups looking to scale is to opt for a smaller team and add team members gradually and on a per-need basis only.

You also need to consider the time it will take to onboard new staff members and get them familiar with how things work and the strengths of the team members.

Even if additional team members will make it easier in the long run, if you don’t time the onboarding right you may end up with employees who aren’t yet ready to perform while simultaneously having to deal with the overstretching of your resources that rapid scaling can cause.

For instance, sometimes hiring an outsourced CFO or getting Excel consulting to train your current team may prove a much more efficient decision, which will not only cost less but will also be less disruptive to the workflow.

Streamline Everything You Can

As we already discussed, most early-stage startups have smaller teams that share a significant workload between just a few people.

And while that certainly has many benefits in terms of operational efficiency, it also means that each team member will likely be overstretched and have to handle multiple responsibilities on a daily basis.

Therefore, if you don’t want your startup to reach its output ceiling before you can achieve significant scaling and growth, it’s imperative that you free up your employee time by taking away as much of the non-essential tasks as possible.

Basically, that means that anything that doesn’t require creative input or unique specialization that only a staff member can do should be either automated or outsourced to save the most precious resource of young startups: time of key team members.

Luckily, there are plenty of solutions available that can make the process much easier.

In the most basic form, automation should at least include your billing and payroll, as otherwise, labor-intensive tasks will take away a lot of time that could be otherwise spent on much more productive activities.

You can also make onboarding and education of both team members and customers easier by setting up a centralized system for tutorials and FAQs, as well as a knowledge base that can be used as a reference without the need for manual supervision.

And those tasks that cannot be automated can usually be outsourced at a very affordable price.

Today, it’s possible to automate or outsource almost anything, with tasks ranging from helping to find which traffic source generates the most revenue or to monitor competitors, to using the right dimensions for Instagram stories or discovering actionable email marketing statistics that you can use to improve your conversions.

If you take steps to free up your team from time-consuming tasks that they don’t need to be doing, you’ll allow them to focus on efforts that directly impact growing your startup, which will allow you to keep your team smaller for longer and achieve growth quicker.

Broaden Your Marketing Efforts

No matter how well you operate your business and how many processes you’re able to streamline, attracting new leads will always be the underlying driving force behind all of your scaling efforts.

Sure, referrals and word-of-mouth are important and always contribute to growth, but they have a clear limit to their potential that directly correlates with your current user base.

Therefore, to maximize growth, you must have a comprehensive marketing strategy and make sure that you’re getting in front of your target audience wherever they like to hang out.

But what marketing approaches should you focus on for best results?

Well, the quickest way to reach new prospects is to use paid advertising on social media and the search engines. With a big enough budget, you can start getting leads as soon as today and grow your startup at a rapid pace, but for that to happen, you need to have a strong message and a pitch that is proven to convert well, because otherwise, you probably won’t be able to keep the campaign profitable.

Another approach that many startups use to increase their visibility is Search Engine Optimization. While it does take more time to implement, combining SEO and content marketing to get an influx of organic traffic through SERPs and guest posting opportunities can be a great way to not only scale your business but also grow your authority status in the industry.

Finally, one of the most promising ways to generate leads and gain access to a broader audience is to use influencer marketing. By leveraging the authority and following of prominent social media figures in your field, you can instantly gain credibility and visibility in your niche and start luring away users from the competition.

One reason why many early-stage startups are afraid to use influencer marketing is the potential costs – getting a relevant A-list influencer with millions of followers to promote your products or services can cost a hefty sum, which is not something many startups can afford.

However, that’s not the only way you can use influencer marketing to your advantage.

Instead of going after the big players in your niche, you could target micro-influencers that have anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of followers.

Even though they have a smaller following, the fans are usually much more engaged and responsive, so if you can develop an appealing and relevant message, you could see terrific results, while not having to spend nearly as much, as smaller influencers are more eager to work with startups and are likely to have a lower asking price.

A great way to persuade influencers is to use affiliate marketing software to set up a customized affiliate program that automatically rewards the influencer based on the number of sales that he is able to generate.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/business-start-up/4-essential-tips-for-scaling-early-stage-startups/