SD-WAN: No Longer Just a Cheaper Alternative to MPLS

Since enterprise WANs moved away from the traditional hub and spoke model in the mid-2000s and embraced cloud computing and BYOD (bring your own device), there has been a need for MPLS alternatives. The cost and lack of agility with MPLS simply made it impractical. In the past few years, SD-WAN has emerged as the clear winner in the race to replace MPLS. By offering enterprises a cheaper way to provide WAN connectivity, SD-WAN has proven itself as the MPLS alternative enterprises wanted.

However, viewing SD-WAN through the lens of “an inexpensive alternative to MPLS” misses some of the key aspects of the SD-WAN value proposition. Sure, SD-WAN is cheaper than MPLS, but there is much more to the story than that. Modern SD-WAN platforms like SDWaaS (SD-WAN as a Service) not only beat MPLS from a “dollar per bit”, but also offer performance, security, and management benefits.

Below, we’ll explore those benefits in detail and explain why bandwidth costs are only part of the SD-WAN advantage.

The problems with telco solutions

The initial response from proponents of MPLS may be to call out the myriad of solutions telco providers can bundle with MPLS (WAN optimizers, security appliances, etc.). The idea being that these bundles supplement MPLS to the point it is still the most viable option.

However, the problem is that these solutions are simply building on an inflexible MPLS paradigm that was designed for the old hub and spoke WAN architecture. Layering appliances and services on top of that doesn’t resolve the underlying problem. MPLS-based WANs can’t efficiently and economically service mobile-users and cloud apps. They’re also slow in a digital era where speed and agility are table stakes for doing business on a global scale. Deploying new sites with MPLS can take a month or more. Similarly, moves, adds, and changes (MACs) can take over a day to complete.

All SD-WAN isn’t created equal

So, it’s clear there are problems with MPLS. Most of us already new that. In fact, Gartner declared that SD-WAN is “killing” MPLS last year. However, not all SD-WAN solutions are the same.

Appliance-based “Do-It-Yourself” (DIY) SD-WAN solutions enable Policy-based Routing (PbR) giving enterprises access to the flexibility and affordable bandwidth they lacked with MPLS. However, DIY SD-WAN is generally an incomplete solution, lacking many important security features, advanced monitoring, and an SLA-guarantee. This means enterprises need to add more appliances and complexity to their networks to fill these gaps.

Managed SD-WAN from a telco abstracts these problems away from the end user, but doesn’t solve them outright. This leads to higher costs for roughly the same solution as DIY SD-WAN.  What enterprises need is a converged SD-WAN solution that offers a converged approach to WAN connectivity. This is where SDWaaS comes in.

The SDWaaS approach to WAN

SDWaaS provides all the benefits that make other SD-WAN solutions a cheaper alternative to MPLS, while delivering much more value as well. The reason for this is SDWaaS delivers a converged, secure, and global solution to enterprises.

SDWaaS is supported by an SLA-backed global backbone. This backbone includes Points of Presence (PoPs) across the globe. As a result, an SDWaaS provider can deliver the reliability and uptime agreements enterprises demand, while also optimizing performance with integrated monitoring and management software.

Further, the cloud-based nature of SDWaaS means that many of the functionalities that previously required discrete appliances are now baked-in. For example, SDWaaS delivers security features like Secure Web Gateway, Anti-malware, and NGFW (Next-generation Firewall) without the need for 3^rd party solutions or integrations. It’s all inherently part of the network, enhancingsecurity while reducing complexity.

The idea of the enhanced performance with reduced complexity statement holds true when you consider monitoring and management with SDWaaS as well. HA (high-availability) features like active-active failover and dynamic route selection make optimizing WAN performance simple. Further, changes can be carried out in a matter of minutes or hours as opposed to days or weeks and new sites can be provisioned significantly faster than with legacy WAN solutions.

SDWaaS is not just a cheaper MPLS alternative, it’s a better solution

The takeaway here is clear: SD-WAN is generally a cheaper solution than MPLS for most modern use-cases, but SDWaaS can deliver significantly more value than just lower bandwidth costs. While keeping the cost of bandwidth low is important, particularly as high-definition video streaming, videoconferencing, and other bandwidth-hungry apps grow in popularity, there is more to managing a WAN than just that. SDWaaS offers enterprises a converged solution that delivers lower bandwidth costs while also improving performance and security.

The reason SDWaaS is uniquely positioned to deliver this sort of value is because it isn’t simply an overlay like so many other alternatives. SDWaaS includes all the underlying features to deliver a truly converged and secure WAN to an enterprise. This reduces complexity, improves performance, and enables enterprises to focus more on core business and less on WAN maintenance and management.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/tech-and-gadgets/sd-wan-no-longer-just-a-cheaper-alternative-to-mpls/

How to Implement Bollinger Bands

The Bollinger band is a highly useful tool for anyone who trades short-term or uses technical indicators as their primary source of information.

Bollinger bands were invented by John Bollinger in the 1980s as a technical indicator used to determine whether a stock, future, or currency was overbought or oversold. In turn, you can then work out how much volatility there is in a certain market. This can enable you to figure out your next trading position.

So, let’s look at how you can implement Bollinger bands into your trading strategy.

What Bollinger Bands Actually Are

A Bollinger band works like a dynamic support and resistance level. Using these dynamic indicators, you can figure out where something that might be going.

Essentially, Bollinger bands involve a center line and a band above and below it.

The center line is known as an exponential moving average. The bands above and below are known as price channels.

These bands will gradually contract and expand as volatility increases. They’ll contract when the trading pattern remains tight.

As you might guess, the Bollinger bands are a great way to figure out where the price may move next on whatever you’re trading on.

The Bollinger Bounce

You don’t need to understand the mathematical formulas that go into Bollinger bands in order to be a successful trader. What you do need to understand is how they work in practice.

Perhaps the most important action you need to spot is the Bollinger Bounce. The reason why Bollinger bands work as dynamic support and resistance levels is that the price tends to return to the middle of the bands.

So, unless there’s a breakout even a quick price increase or decrease doesn’t necessarily indicate an overall trend.

However, the Bollinger Squeeze can typically occur a few times per week on a 15-minute chart.

This happens when the bands squeeze together. If the price breaks through the top band, it tends to indicate a continuing price increase. Likewise, if it breaks the bottom band it indicates the price will continue to drop.

The Bollinger Squeeze can help you spot trends before everyone else, so you can alter your position before the move happens.

The Bollinger Bands are Not Foolproof

Adding Bollinger bands in modern trading platforms is usually a matter of just pressing the appropriate button.

But you should remember that Bollinger bands are just a part of your trading strategy. They’re a tool and won’t act as a silver bullet for telling you what to do.

They’re helpful, but they should be used as part of other trading indicators.

Last Word – Utilizing Bollinger Bands as Part of Your Trading Strategy

Bollinger bands should always form a part of any smart trader’s strategy. However, you should avoid any total reliance on them. Like any technical indicator, they’re an indicator only not an answer.

Intelligent traders will take the information from Bollinger bands and a variety of other indicators to determine what their next move is.

Have you tried using Bollinger bands yet?

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/business/how-to-implement-bollinger-bands/

How you can benefit from drone business ideas?

The popularity of drones is increasing day by day and they are now used in several industries. Drones are also renowned as UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and they come with numerous features, including high-resolution 4K cameras, built-in autopilotand GPS, Bluetooth capacity, active tracking, collision avoidance, fast-flying ability, terrain following, and much more. With time, there has been a continuous improvement in safety features, control distance, battery life, and reliability. If you are willing to begin a new business, then you should take benefit of new technology. Let’s see how you can benefit from drone business ideas.

• Photography

Taking video or photograph from the air was quite a difficult and expensive job before the launch of a drone. With the help of low-cost drones, you can easily take aerial photos as they are equipped with 4K high-resolution cameras. Nowadays, filmmakers and photographers regularly use UAVs to capture high-quality videos and photographs from the air, like that of:

1. sporting events
2. landscapes
3. wildlife
4. weddings
5. TV and film shooting

• Security surveillance

You can also benefit from drone business ideas for your home and workplace security. Simply use drones for your property and detect any threat such as water leaks and fire. Furthermore, you can also protect your property from intrusions or break-ins. A drone will capture live video footage and send it to a business or home owner’s smartphone, and then to emergency responders or central monitoring facility.

• Agricultural surveys

Drones can also revolutionize the agriculture industry. With the help of an inexpensive drone, a farmer or researcher can gather useful data, such as the information about soil hydration, pest/fungal infestations, and differences in soil compositions. Furthermore, you can conduct crop surveys on a daily, hourly, or weekly basis depending on your requirement. Authentic information makes possible optimal pest control, crop irrigation, and fertilization. So, you can maximize crop yields with optimum utilization of water and pesticides.

• Search and rescue

Search and rescue organizations are also getting fruitful results from drone business ideas. Now there is no need to use high-cost helicopters for an aerial search as a drone flies at low-cost and even to the places where helicopters can’t. A drone can also fly at night time as it is equipped with night and infrared vision sensors to help detect lost persons visually as well as by heat emissions. Plus, drones can also carry and deliver the required supplies.

• Mapping and surveying

Drones are increasingly becoming popular among land surveyors to obtain highly-accurate digital survey data via air. This not just saves their time, but also money and energy that will otherwise incur on-ground inspection. Using GPS and base station reference data, drones can collect 3-dimensional cartographic information within 1-2cms accuracy after processing. Many industries are getting benefits from cartographic surveys, including:

1. construction
2. archeology
3. urban planning
4. forestry management
5. oil, gas, and mining
6. pollution and flood monitoring

So, if you’re planning to begin a business in cartography or surveying, then drones are the right choice for you.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/business/how-you-can-benefit-from-drone-business-ideas/

Is it Time to Ditch Tinder and Try a new Dating App?

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3 Ways to Lower Your Car Insurance Costs this Summer

Summer is here, the kids are home from school, and you’ve likely already noticed how your car-related costs are starting to rise. In addition to paying more for fuel and auto maintenance during the summer, your latest car insurance bill included an increase to your premium.

As a money-savvy mom who wants to cut expenses as much as possible, you might be wondering if you can do anything to lower your car insurance rates, or if you’re stuck paying the higher costs and having less money to spend on your kids this summer.

Fortunately, there are several things you can do, starting right now, to spend less on your car insurance. Consider the following ideas:

1. Shop Around for a New Company

If you’ve been with the same car insurance company forever, you might assume you’re being offered the best rates. However, this might not be the case. Knowing that, take the time to review your policy and compare rates with other insurance companies to potentially save money. Who knows? You may discover another company offers lower premiums.

But since you may not have the time or patience this summer to call a bunch of car insurance companies and visit numerous websites, use a quote comparison website to get multiple insurance quotes quickly and easily.

For example, visit InsuranceHotline.com, enter in some basic information and within a few minutes you’ll get numerous offers from many of Canada’s most well-known and reputable insurance providers. With this information, you can then potentially choose a new insurance company that offers lower premiums.

2. Boost Your Deductible

Regardless of whether you stay with your current car insurance company or decide to go with a new one, raising your deductible can save you additional money on your premium. In fact, increasing your deductible from, say, $200 to $500 may reduce your coverage cost by anywhere from 15 percent to 30 percent.

If you’re comfortable with a $1,000 deductible, you might save 40 percent or more on your premium. If you do opt for a higher deductible, work on setting aside this new amount in a savings account. This way, if you have to make a claim, you won’t have to scramble to come up with $500 or $1,000.

3. Ask About Other Discounts

Your insurance company might have a policy in place that rewards safe drivers with reductions in their premium costs. Call your agent and ask if this is the case with your policy, and then inquire about other discounts for which you may qualify.

For instance, if your vehicle has an alarm, you might get a reduction for having an anti-theft device in place. Likewise, if you have a young teen on your policy, you might get a favorable student discount if they get good grades.

Finally, if you bundle your home, car and life insurance with the same company, this often leads to lower rates as well. Indeed, it definitely pays to ask your agent.

Have a Great and Budget-Friendly Summer with the Kids

Summer isn’t the cheapest time of year as it is. With the kids home and wanting to do things, you’re probably spending more money on them and their activities.

Fortunately, by giving these tips a try, you should be able to avoid the summertime boost in car insurance costs and have more money available to keep the kids happily entertained.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/auto-insurance/3-ways-to-lower-your-car-insurance-costs-this-summer/

Advantages of Using Moving Average Indicators in Trading

Used in the trading industry, a moving average indicator, is an indicator that works in the smoothening out of the prices in the market. It achieves this by averaging the individual price fluctuations into a single line as an indication of the trend the product is following. It is mainly based on past prices, and it is therefore considered a lagging indicator.

It may be used singly or in conjunction with other marketing indicators when the need arises.

In the market today, we have two major types; the Simple Moving Average and the Exponential Moving Average. The SMA is an average of price over a specific timeframe whereas the EMA posses a multiplier in its calculation, giving it more weight to more recent data points.

Both indicators use periods of 50,100 and 200 as plotting points, where the traders track the price action for days, months, or even years.

Below are some of the advantages the use of moving averages posses to the market

Moving averages are reliable

Its reliability comes from the fact that they can be used as a conclusive method to indicate market trends. It also functions as the backbone of several other indicators, mostly on the calculations. Meaning some strategies cannot be concluded without the use of these two moving average indicators.

Moving averages are diverse

The moving average indicators can be used in all markets, including stocks, currencies, forex, and cryptocurrencies, just to mention a few. Their diversity makes it a prevalent indicator utilized in almost all industries in the world. As long as you have the basic knowledge, you are good to make a trade that will benefit you.

They are easy to calculate and interpret

Considering moving indicators work best in trend following systems, they are mostly represented on a line graph chart. This pictorial representation gives easy insight into a trend’s direction, its magnitude as well as its rate of change. From a well-labeled diagram, one is able to quickly determine either there is an uptrend or a down-trend or even a lag. The readings on the charts are quite straightforward, and so are the calculations.

Moving averages are stable

Owing to the fact that they use prior price comparisons, for a company that has a constant demand, it offers a stable and reliable trend outcome. It is therefore used by a lot of companies for forecasting goods and commodities where there is seasonality. They give out the constant forecast, hence their stability.

Moving averages are conclusive

This basically means that moving averages make it possible for one to plot several differing moving average lines all at the same time. This gives a trader or investor a broader outlook on the trades they are about to either buy or sell. From these reports, one can conclude whether a trade is worthwhile or not.

They cover both quick and slow showing price actions

The two types, Simple Moving Average and the Exponential Moving average cover a broad spectrum of the pricing system. The SMA caters for the slower ones displaying a smooth chart eliminating fakeouts. While EMA is quick moving and shows recent price swings. By application of both strategies, one gets a broader picture of the trend a specific market follows.

They work as good predictors

Both indicators work to show a trader when the best time either buy or sell. One might use a more extended period simple moving average to determine the overall trend is. And then use the shorter period exponential moving average to find the best and optimum time to enter or leave a trade.

Conclusion

As seen above, the use of the moving average methods does go a long way into helping you differentiate a good deal from a bad one. It is now easier to know when to buy or sell a commodity in the market. But you must first understand what they are about.  They are both instrumental only if adequately understood.  

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/at-work/advantages-of-using-moving-average-indicators-in-trading/

Don’t Get Trapped By a Personal Guarantee in a Lease

How to Write a Letter Of Resignation To HR

Need some assistance to write a letter of resignation to HR? Are you sure that you want to resign from your current job? Because sometimes we regret resigning from our job. If you’re sure, it is not a tedious job to write a resignation letter.

A letter of resignation is a formal note which is mainly written to let the employer know that you are leaving the company or job.

When you have decided to leave, it is suggested that you write resignation letter with a positive and progressive state of mind. It is to maintain a healthy and nice relationship with the employer and to leave as an impressive memory to them. This is also to pave a confident way for you.

As the Human Resource department takes care of all the formalities in terms of joining, leaving, etc. a resignation letter is, hence, written to them.

This means you can refer your letter to the senior member (HR head) at the human resource department of a company.  

Before writing and handing over it to your boss, you must check the date of last working day (that you are expecting to be) and for this purpose, we suggest you use this calendar.

It’s always advisable to inform the employer or boss in advance (say like a month or 2 weeks) as you never know what might be required from your future job prospects.

A few important tips are listed below to write a letter of resignation to HR. We hope that you’ll find them useful.

1. Be gentle and gracious

No matter what the reason behind your resigning, it could be anything. Maybe you’re annoyed with the attitude of people you work with or unfriendly nature of your manager or boss.

Or maybe you have been offered a better profile and package at other company), it is good to be nice, always.

Therefore, we suggest that you write the resignation letter with grace and in a polite tone. This will help you in receiving a nice recommendation letter (if required) or work experience certificate that will be helpful to you in the future.

You must thank your employer for the provided opportunity and for being nice and kind always. You can add a little about the experience you gained and techniques that you learned here, in brief.

Sometimes, people share a bit of some happy moments they spent at their job.

2. Mention important information that HR might be interested in

To make it easier for the HR or current manager or boss, we suggest that you provide all the important information about the work (project regarding, etc.) that will be useful for the company in future.

You can attach a copy of the work strategy that you’ve been working on currently to make it easier for the other employee who might replace you at this current job.

It will show your concern and responsible nature towards your work at the current place.

3. Reason of resignation

A brief mention of the reason for your resignation would be enough and better too. It’s because otherwise, they (HR head) will ask you later. So it is better that you write if before they ask.

It could be anything (higher education, family stuff, new opportunity, etc.). By informing them, you are making a comfortable situation between you and the employer with respect and affability.

4. Do not point out any mistake or make a complaining tone.

There are chances that you are leaving because of the many complaints you have in your mind, but let’s not write them in the letter of resignation.

In such cases, you can just write a short letter with the main things but again, in a polite tone. What has happened has happened, now since you are leaving, leave with not enough hard feelings.

5. Keep it short and check your grammar

Whatever you write, write in moderation. Do not exaggerate, keep it crisp and to the point. Such letters are appreciable.  

Before sending, check the language and grammatical errors, if any. Let’s not give the employer any chance to point a finger at you. Write the best of your capabilities.

6. Don’t forget to greet first and check out sample resignation letters

Greet them with all regards and share a thank you note with respect, for sure. If you’re not sure what to include, there are numerous samples of resignation letters you can check out first.

You can refer them for more or to know the format and language that you can use for this purpose, if required. All samples available online can no doubt assist you in writing a letter of resignation.

Also, as you’re sending it to the HR via a printed hardcopy or an email, it is better that you recheck it and use a calendar to check out all the mentioned dates to avoid any future confusion.

Thank you for letting us help you. We hope this article has been helpful to you!

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/human-resources/how-to-write-a-letter-of-resignation-to-hr/

Genius Examples of QR Codes in Marketing

QR – Quick Response – codes are beginning to gain in popularity as the smartphone-browsing crowd continues to grow. There are almost 2.7 billion mobile users around the globe – a statistic that has marketers brimming with promotions and creative ideas. Although, no one wants to open their smartphone to a clutter of text messages and alerts from QR’s they’ve scanned.

Luckily, there exist companies that have found original and innovative ways to not only get you to scan their code but increase their brand awareness in the process. Here are a few genius examples of QR codes in marketing to get your mind stirring.

Verizon Wireless example

Dating back all the way to 2010 when Verizon staff teamed up with ScanLife to promote a broad range of applications available on its DROID devices. QR codes were showed across in-store displays, print ads, direct mail, and even websites and iPad ads, linking visitors to a particular application on the Android Market for download or a mobile website that displayed some of the top-picks for apps.

Individuals scanning the code with various types of mobiles were directed towards a smartphone website which explained the advantages of DROID and the kinds of apps available. In around three months the campaign received more than 150,000 visits, although at the time it was ScanLife’s best marketing campaign so other companies shouldn’t necessarily expect the same results. Moreover, there were no details of conversions happening from those scans.

All in all, the campaign’s positive effects were attributed to having an integrated campaign across various offline and online channels.

QR codes and business cards

The first thing to determine is where the QR codes are still used. Although the momentum of QR codes since to have slowed down and most industries seem to be searching for the next big thing, you can still find the locations where the QR codes are utilized on business cards. For example, Tech People, We Chat users, and industries in Japan are all still big fans of QR codes on business cards and enjoy the ability to have their clients swiftly scan their card to receive the contact information.

If you want to use them on your business card yourself, first remember to employ professional business printing to ensure that the code is visible and adequately printed for scanning. QR codes give you the ability to keep the contact information on the bare minimum, rather than cluttering your business cards with all your contact info. For instance, you can create a QR code that leads people to your social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Original ads for applications

Even though the popularity of QR coder in advertising is just beginning to grow, there are still businesses and persons making their message loud and clear to early adopters. Instagram and Angry Birds have both used QR codes in the past, through a U.K marketing agency “Made by Stupid”. Both of their QR codes take the individual in question directly to a page for app download and are stunning examples for both ad originality and self-explanatory promotion of the applications themselves.

Homefront

Yet another genius example of QR code usage is the case study dating back to 2011 when video game developer THQ hid ten QR codes within its Homefront video game that enabled players to unlock exclusive wallpapers and videos.

The QR codes were scanned over 30,000 times within the first 48 hours, and it soon clocked 30,000 wallpaper downloads and 19,000 video views. This is, of course, an original case since the codes unlocked materials which enhanced the gameplay rather than acting as an advertising tool. For instance, one of the codes was placed in the extremist’s garage linked to a propaganda video, while another played the government’s emergency broadcast video explaining the national flu epidemic.

Although not a marketing example per se, this shows a very creative use of QR codes and how individuals are willing to scan them after the right incentive is placed.

As you can see, there are various ways to use QR codes to connect and engage with your chosen audience. QR codes are able to provide additional data, including reviews, photos, directions and event dates. There’s a certain amount of surprise and fun with QR codes since you can reap the benefits of “what behind the door number one” mindset.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/marketing/genius-examples-of-qr-codes-in-marketing/

Selecting the Ideal Hosting Solution for your Ecommerce Store

We’re past the days when the person only needed to consider disk storage and bandwidth when selecting the right web hosting service. Nowadays, with so many web hosting services to select from, you might think to go with the first one you see. Although you may find yourself lucky and have no problems with your selection whatsoever, this isn’t a bet anyone should be willing to take.

You will need to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the hosting provider and the benefits available when you choosing the right host for your ecommerce store. Simultaneously, you should understand that various hosting service providers suit different kinds of eCommerce stores.

Self-hosted vs Fully hosted

Fully hosted solutions maintain your store data on their cloud. You won’t have to set up your own server since they’re storing the data for you. On the other hand, with a self-hosted solution, your company is responsible for web hosting. That means you’ll have to set up and maintain an online server – typically in the cloud – and store files and data.

Fully hosted solutions are better known as SaaS products – software as a service – and some common examples for ecommerce include:

• BigCommerce
• Shopify

While self-hosted platforms include:

• Magento
• WooCommerce

Uptime

Since no web hosting can truthfully guarantee they will be online 100 percent of the time, many web hosting solutions boast about 99.9% uptime. Although usually good enough, it’s crucial to note that any downtime has a negative impact on your eCommerce revenue. The difference between 99.9% uptime and 99.99% uptime is a half an hour per average month, which shouldn’t be neglected in an industry like eCommerce – particularly at peak traffic times when issues are more likely to happen.

According to Gartner, the average cost of network downtime is around $5,500 per minute – which is around $280,000 per hour. This number goes even higher when online stores are in question. Consider that several times a year, and you’re losing a rather large amount of possible revenue.

But it’s even bigger – a single poor customer service experience can do far more damage to your branding. When there is a lot of customers who are unable to view a product or complete their order because of the downtime, you’ll be dealing with much more than lost profits.

Customer service

How effective and fast is the web host’s support for technical problems? Technical support is especially important for any ecommerce store since the sheer amount of people visiting your online shop will cause more issues than when running an unknown blog site.

Try to select a host that offers live technical support for C-panel to their clients 24/7 likeBluefishhosting in Australia or international GoDaddy, and also find those with chat support, as well as social media visibility as opposed to support tickets and emails. Prioritize providers with an in-house customer support department. They should have a better grasp of the hosting operations when compared to outsourced customer support service.

The design

Fully hosted ecommerce providers listed above offer a plethora of options for “themes” or pre-made designs to get your website rolling. If you wish to customize the design of your online shop you can do that on a fully hosted solutions just as easily as you can on a self-hosted solution. 

For self-hosted solutions, the customization of the design of your store requires the knowledge of front-end programming – HTML, CSS, PHP, and some JavaScript. Monthly maintenance of your products in your ecommerce store can be achieved with either a fully or self-hosted solution with no issues assuming everything was initially created correctly.

Site Speed

Website speed not only plays a major part in building a positive user experience, but it also influences where the search engines decide to rank your website. While it is only one factor among hundreds that Google utilizes to decide about the ranking of your website, it may be one of the most dominant there.

Search engines have their own end-users, and in order to provide them with the best possible experience, they want to be sure they are sending them to sites that not only have quality content but also don’t irritatingly lag.

How quickly your site loads depend on a multitude of factors, such as the type of files you have, their overall size, your web host, etc.

If you’re considering to run and consistently grow your website into the foreseeable future, try adopting a comprehensive approach to analyzing web hosting providers by looking at all of the factors needed for optimal functionality of your website.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/ecommerce/selecting-the-ideal-hosting-solution-for-your-ecommerce-store/

5 Proven Strategies to Grow Your Ecommerce Business

What Qualifies as Drunk Driving?

Unfortunately, drunk driving remains one of the most common causes of injury and death while driving in the United States. Drunk drivers have slowed reaction times, distorted senses, and are likely to underestimate their own impairment, insisting on driving when they’re clearly unable to do so. But at the same time, if you’ve only had one drink, and it’s been a few hours since then, you should be clear to drive normally.

So what actually counts as “drunk driving,” and how can you be sure you’re okay to drive safely?

The Legal Definition of a DUI

Different states have minor variations in how they treat driving while intoxicated, using acronyms like driving under the influence (DUI), driving while impaired (DWI), or operating while intoxicated (OWI). However, in the United States, you can generally count on being over the legal limit if your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is 0.05 or more. This metric calculates what percentage of your bloodstream is alcohol, and is useful for determining how “drunk” a person is. Of course, while this is valuable for legal purposes, just being under the legal limit isn’t a guarantee that you’re completely safe to drive.

When you drink alcohol, alcohol will gradually filter into your bloodstream, where it begins to affect your body. Over time, it metabolizes, reducing its effects, which is why it takes a while to “feel” drunk after drinking, and you can continue to feel drunk well after you consume your last beverage.

Of course, the rate at which alcohol enters your bloodstream, the total volume of your bloodstream, and the rate at which alcohol is metabolized is going to vary from person to person. A short, light woman with a slow metabolism could be over the legal limit after a couple of beverages and a couple of hours, while a tall, heavy man with a fast metabolism could drink more and be completely fine.

One standard drink of alcohol is considered to be about 12 ounces of beer, 8 ounces of malt liquor, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. As a general rule, you’ll need to allow at least an hour to pass after every standard drink you consume before you can safely drive. Some people will need to wait even longer.

Factors That Influence Intoxication

So what factors can influence how intoxicated you are after consuming alcoholic beverages, as well as your capacity to drive?

• Gender. Men and women process alcohol at different rates. Accordingly, women generally have to wait longer for the effects of alcohol to subside, though this is only one of several factors to consider.
• Weight. Heavier people tend to feel the effects of alcohol less. The more body weight you have, the more space alcohol has to diffuse. The lighter you are, the faster alcohol will make you feel intoxicated, and the more drunk you’ll feel overall. The heavier you are, the longer it will take to feel drunk, and the less drunk you’ll feel for the same amount of drinks.
• Metabolism. Different people have different metabolic rates, usually attributable to genetic differences. Two people of the same weight and gender could have very different metabolic rates, with one processing a standard drink of alcohol in 45 minutes and another taking 75 minutes. Some bodies are simply better at converting alcohol and reducing its concentration in the bloodstream. Unfortunately, it’s hard to directly measure this impact. Most people just end up with an innate sense of whether they’re close to the average, or whether they’re an outlier in one direction or the other.
• Personal tolerance. Alcohol is a drug, and like any drug, the more you use it, the more your body becomes acclimated to it. Over time, and the more you drink, the more tolerant you’ll be of the drug, and the more it will take to get you drunk. People who drink heavily and often can therefore consume more drinks before they’re considered too intoxicated to drive.
• Time. No matter what, your level of intoxication will decrease over time. The more time passes, the less drunk you’ll be, and the safer it will be to drive. You can always increase your safety by waiting a bit longer before getting on the road.

Drunk driving remains a serious problem, with 29 people in the United States dying every day as a direct result of alcohol impairment. Understanding how alcohol functions in the body and how DUIs are treated in the legal system can help you ensure you’re in good condition to drive. But if you want to play it safe, always get a designated driver, even if you think you’re safe to drive. The extra caution won’t hurt, and could end up saving a life—including yours.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/uncategorized/what-qualifies-as-drunk-driving/

How to Beat a DUI Charge the Right Way

Getting arrested for a DUI can be a frightening experience, especially the first time. If you’re convicted, your car insurance rates will go up, and you might find it harder to get a job.

Having your license revoked on the spot is unsettling and can make you feel like you’ve lost your freedom and independence. Although a DUI is a serious offense with grave consequences, you can fight a DUI charge.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to do it, however. Here’s how to fight a DUI the right way.

Know your defense options

After being arrested for a DUI, you’ve got options. Believe it or not, there are legitimate ways to defend yourself against a DUI charge.

For instance, the most common DUI defense, according to Raybin & Weissman, is that you shouldn’t have been pulled over in the first place. If the police had no reason to believe you were driving drunk, or they didn’t have probable cause to arrest you, you have a good chance of getting your charges dismissed.

Another defense is to question the validity of any tests you were asked to perform, including blood, urine, and field sobriety tests.

Your plea determines the course of your case

At your preliminary hearing, you’ll be given the opportunity to enter a plea. You can only plead guilty once you’ve been advised of your rights and intentionally waive them.

If you plan to plead guilty, you’ll be given a form to sign that waives your constitutional rights to remain silent, cross-examine witnesses, and request a jury trial. The moment you plead guilty to a DUI charge, you are convicted of the crime just as if a jury found you guilty.

That means any time someone asks if you’ve been convicted of a crime, you must answer in the affirmative. A guilty plea is difficult to withdraw, so make sure to discuss it with your lawyer first.

If you’re being represented by a public defender and you’re under pressure to plead guilty, consult with a private attorney to confirm that a guilty plea is in your best interests.

If you plead not guilty, and the judge doesn’t think there’s sufficient evidence against you, your case will likely be dismissed. Otherwise, it will go to trial.

Don’t count on your test results to be suppressed

If your test results showed your blood alcohol content to be over the legal limit, there are ways to keep those findings from being presented to the jury. Not everyone succeeds in this effort, but it is possible.

Officers must comply with the law; otherwise, your test results could be inadmissible. For example, if the arresting offer failed to warn you that refusing a chemical test would result in automatic license suspension, you might be able to suppress your test results.

Another way to get your results thrown out is if you can prove officers used faulty or improperly calibrated machines. A number of foods and medications can cause a breathalyzer to falsely register the presence of alcohol.

Be careful, however, about challenging the accuracy of chemical tests. It’s not something you can prove on your own by researching the matter on Google. If you go this route, you’ll need an experienced attorney and a forensic chemist to back you up.

It’s possible to beat a DUI charge on the ground that the tests were inaccurate, but don’t count on it happening to you.

Don’t fight a DUI charge without an attorney

Listening to your attorney and taking his or her advice is the only way you stand a chance of successfully fighting a DUI charge. Experienced lawyers know more than you do, and have handled many DUI case outcomes.

If your lawyer says it’s not a good idea to resort to a particular defense, understand and accept that the advice comes out of plenty of experience.

Be prepared to face charges and/or fines

Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Don’t count on getting your charges dismissed completely.

Statistics show the conviction rate for a DUI is generally 90 to 95%. Complete dismissals, when measured, come it at around 1.5%.

If it’s your first DUI offense, you have a reasonable expectation of seeing your sentence and/or fines possibly reduced, rather than having your charges dropped. If you’re facing a DUI, even a reduced sentence qualifies as a victory.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/uncategorized/how-to-beat-a-dui-charge-the-right-way/

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High-Quality Accessories Matter More Than You Think

Subtle or extravagant, accessories can make or break an outfit. Choosing accessories can be a tiring process, nonetheless. From cheap general store accessories to exquisite timepieces, you can find nearly everything in a woman’s arsenal. However, not all those pieces have their place in a classy woman’s collection. To avoid making some flagrant mistakes, women should pay attention to the tips below when choosing their accessories.

Always go for timeless pieces

When it comes to accessories, it’s always a great idea to go for timeless pieces. Watches are a good addition to one’s accessory collection. Choose them wisely and you will be able to enjoy them for decades. A classic timepiece will never go out of style and if you choose an automatic Breitling, let’s say, you can showcase it no matter the occasion or social context. Yes, as a woman you can even go for a gentlemen’s watch. A statement piece that will let others know that you appreciate quality above anything else. Also, you will most likely be able to find affordable watches on dedicated websites. Search for those and choose a good, high-quality watch.

Sterling silver is a great, clean choice

When you don’t know exactly what you should be wearing in terms of accessories, you can always try to incorporate some simple and delicate sterling silver elements into your outfits. These usually look clean and minimalist enough to be easily incorporated in a variety of daytime outfits. Larger statement pieces can be easily worn during those special occasions that may appear in your life.

Never mix different metals

Although this is a recent trend, you should still avoid mixing different types of metals. Most women have a difficult time pulling such looks off and in most of the cases, you will end up looking sloppy and unkept. If you’re drawn to both silver and gold accessories, you should ensure that you wear them in different outfits, separately. Of course, you should ensure that you only invest in real silver and gold elements. Otherwise, they will wear off easily and you will end up looking unprofessional and less feminine than you would like.

Wear occasion-appropriate accessories

All accessories should be chosen accordingly to the occasion or social context you find yourself in. keep statement pieces of special nights out with your girlfriends. For a day at the office, you should, of course, wear your watch and a small pair of simple earrings, maybe a similar bracelet. Classy occasions will allow you to show off your pear and stone collection. However, you shouldn’t go overboard with those, either. When you’re uncertain about your accessory selection, always take off an element or two. Going to an extreme is worse than being under-accessorised.

These are some simple pieces of advice that you help you get wiser and more experienced in your accessory choices. A watch is a piece that will never go out of style and women can even wear men’s watches as well. Simple and clean is always great in terms of accessories.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/lifestyle/high-quality-accessories-matter-more-than-you-think/

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If You’re a Beginner, Here’s How You Can Improve Your Marketing Campaigns

Business owners and marketers in general spend a lot of money on marketing campaigns. A lot of these people struggle in the early stages of marketing, because it can be difficult to know not only how to reach a wider audience, but how to attract people and make them interested too. If you’re one of these individuals who are just starting out and you feel you need to improve your marketing strategies, then listen up! These tips could go a long way in helping you get to where you need to be.

Choose Your Target Audience Effectively

In order to market your campaign effectively, you need to know who it is that you’re marketing towards in the first place, and choose a target audience. If you want to be remotely successful, you’ll need to choose people who will actually be interested in what you do, and furthermore who can contribute to the growth of your chosen field, whether that be as an investor or a customer. Having a strong client base is not only one of the most important things when it comes to making your start up a success, but in maintaining its sustainability over a longer period of time also. If you have any past marketing experience or data, it helps to look back at this and see who was interested, and who wasn’t in order to further your niche.

Make Sure You’re Marketing in all the Right Places

One of the most common mistakes with new business owners, is where they actually choose to market their businesses in the first place. Put simply, this is that people choose to advertise and promote their company on sites, or in places that their target audience wouldn’t even be looking. When it comes to marketing correctly, make sure you do it with intention rather than posting wherever you possibly can.

For example, if you were a company promoting the smart way to sell your house fast, where would you conduct the vast majority of your marketing? It would make the most sense to advertise it in places where property is sold, and other places such as real estate blogs and websites. This way, the traffic that you’re so desperately trying to veer towards whatever it is you’re marketing, should stumble across it accidentally, and ultimately it should spark their interest. Search for key words, websites and bloggers whose content is similar and compatible with yours. 

Make Content that Appeals to Your Chosen Target Audience

Once you’ve established who your target audience are and where it is that they reside, you’ll want to tailor your content so that it’s appealing to them specifically. Posting content of a good quality is not only important for attracting the initial attention of the right people, but also for maintaining their interest over time. After all, isn’t that the whole point of marketing? Not only to attract consumers in the first place, but to ultimately keep it going and keep your business afloat for time to come? With this being said, it therefore can’t only be your initial marketing content that’s of a good quality, but it should continue to go that way into the future. You should always be thinking of how you can improve your content and make it more interesting in order for people to keep coming back. A good way to do this is by ensuring your links and sources are reliable, your content isn’t repetitive, and that you are always coming up with new and original stuff.

Never Stop Reassessing

Last, but certainly not least, remember to reassess what makes your marketing campaign either successful or unsuccessful as frequently as you can. You might think that once you’ve gotten your successful marketing strategy down that that’s it and the work is done, however this couldn’t be further from the truth. The most successful marketing campaigns are the ones that metamorphosise with the times, and go with the flow. Imagine if you’d been in business for the last twenty years and you’d never renewed your marketing strategies. This would ultimately mean that you wouldn’t be anywhere on the online sphere at all, and would therefore be miles behind other companies in the current day. It’s so important to keep assessing the most effective marketing strategies that are available, or you’ll find yourself falling behind very quickly.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/small-business-marketing/if-youre-a-beginner-heres-how-you-can-improve-your-marketing-campaigns/

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Starting Your Own Law Firm: What You Need to Know

After graduating, many newly qualified attorneys immediately want to set up shop and start their own firm. The conventional wisdom is that an attorney should try working for someone else before they start their own firm.

If you lack experience, it can definitely be difficult to make it with your own firm. However, it can be done.

With the right preparation, you can give yourself a real shot at making it with your own firm. It won’t be easy, no matter what you do. But if you want to succeed, here’s what you need to know.

Finding Clients is Tough

Something that you need to be prepared for before you open the doors of your law firm is that finding clients is tough. You will always be competing with already established law firms and as the new kid on the block, you won’t have the same network that your older competitors do.

It is, therefore, a good idea to have a solid strategy for lead generation in place before you begin.

You need to know exactly how you will go about finding new clients. Without a lead generation strategy, you will be dependent upon blind luck to bring you clients.

Your Name is Your Brand

It is worth putting some serious thought into the name of your law firm, it will have a much bigger impact on our future success than you might realize.

A strong brand is an incredibly valuable asset for any business. Given that many law firms take the names of their senior partners, the intertwining of brands, business, and personal identity makes it imperative that you take great care with your name.

The right name will instantly make your business more appealing and approachable, so the time you invest in coming up with the right one will pay off in the end.

Your Logo Embodies Your Business

Have a look at the website of Malman Law, who handle personal injury claims. Their logo is an excellent example of the kind of thing you should aim for – simple and elegant.

Your logo should embody the most important traits of your business, so make sure you think about it carefully.

Your Website Needs to be Professional

Just like your logo, your website should embody the best qualities of your business.

Your business website should be both informative and persuasive, it should tell visitors what your law firm does and why they should come to you instead of your competitors.

A shoddy website will make your entire business look less professional and will lose your business for no good reason.

Once again, we would recommend that you invest the money needed to hire a professional web developer to come up with something unique and suited to the purpose.

Every lawyer dreams of one day fronting their own firm. Whether you have just qualified or you already have a number of years of experience under your belt, starting your own firm will present a significant challenge. Make sure that you prepare yourself for what lies ahead.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/law-and-order/starting-your-own-law-firm-what-you-need-to-know/

How To Generate A Retirement Income From Your Home?

Have you left your retirement planning to the last minute, or maybe you’re thinking ahead? Either way, recent figures paint a worrying picture. A staggering 78% of the UK’s over 55s feel that they are unprepared for retirement according to research conducted by the crowdfunding platform The House Crowd. 

If you’re worried about how you’re going to plug your income gap in your later years, you’re not alone. Research shows that people over 50 are looking at an income shortfall of at least £11,400 a year. 

But the good news is that even with an uncertain housing market, if you own property there are heaps of options to boost your retirement savings. 

Sell your home and downsize 

Selling your home and buying something less expensive can help you inject your pensions pot with extra funds. After all, your needs in retirement change. For instance, you might not need as much space now the kids have flown the nest, or you don’t want to the responsibility of maintaining a large garden or you just want to live closer to amenities so you don’t have to use your car anymore. 

So, after years of paying off your mortgage, most people’s money is tied up in their home. In fact, downsizing your home can raise as much as £85,300 shows research conducted by Prudential.

Now the world is your oyster—imagine you can exchange city living for a small cottage in the countryside, move abroad or go on a dream cruise. Or you can invest your money to generate a passive income in your later years. 

Downsize and purchase a buy-to-let

There are lots of benefits of purchasing a buy-to-let—for starters even with a fluctuating housing market, investing in bricks and mortar remains a safe longer-term option. Also, the income you generate from tenants rental fees can either provide you with a lucrative extra income or help you pay of your outstanding mortgage. 

On the flip side, being a landlord isn’t for everyone. From managing the property and being responsible for maintenance and repairs, you also then need to find tenants and have a robust financial plan to cover any period when the property is empty and not generating an income. 

Convert your home

Rather than selling your large freehold family home (depending on the size), instead you can convert it into two properties or even multiple flats. And then you can use the rental income to pay off your own mortgage or live rent free in the building. Make sure you consider the planning regulations beforehand and any tax implications. 

Need to sell your house fast? 

As we all know, life situations can dramatically shift overnight. If you find yourself in a position where you need to either need to sell your home quickly or your buy-to-let is losing you money, House Buy Fast can help you. Through their downsizing home service, they will not only purchase your property but will also ensure an efficient and fast exchange, so you don’t have to wait around for a buyer. If you want to find out more, go here: https://housebuyfast.co.uk/services/sell-house-to-downsize/

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/at-work/how-to-generate-a-retirement-income-from-your-home/

4 Essential Steps To a Successful Website Redesign

For starters, if you are thinking about redesigning your website then know that it’s one significant step that you are about to take and it’s essential for the growth of your business too.

You see, you have a website for your business? Well, that’s great! Did you hire the best designer in town for your website?

That’s even better, but now it’s been years that you’ve made no modification in your web design and this is where the trouble can begin.

The point is that redesigning your website is a must no matter what your business is and the sooner you understand it, the better it will be for your business. 

Now, coming back to the topic of a website redesign. If you are here today, then the chances are that you want to know the essential tips that can help you in redesigning your website successfully.

Well, if that’s the case and this is where you need some help then stick with us till the end of this article because today we are going to jot down some of the best tips possible right in front of you. 

1. Identify your goals 

The first thing you need to do is to determine the places on your website that require a change. Or in other words, you need to define your goals first that why are you changing the design of your website in the first place and what are you expecting after the change.

The best thing to do in this case is the first to analyze your website, check your competitor’s website, and then compare both of the sites.

Then check the places that need some change on your website and then make a list of your goals out of it. 

2. Backup your assets 

If your website has been there for years now, then it’s but very obvious that you will have a lot of assets and important content and data that you need to keep and safeguard. Well, if that’s the case, then just simply create a backup for all that data.

You need to make sure to have all the things that were and are bringing you results on your site. The data here that we are talking about includes inbound links, keyword rankings, conversion tools, and content too.

Just create a backup so that you don’t lose your data during the website redesigning.

3. Focus on your content 

Whether it’s a consumer or just a visitor of your site, these people love fresh and unique content, and that’s something you need to be careful about.

While redesigning your website, just make sure to focus on bringing and producing new content that is engaging and that interests the people who are clicking on your website.

You can produce ebooks, you can produce press releases, whitepaper videos, images, and blogs, etc. So, make a strategy for your content and then create it to attract more and more visitors. 

4. Optimize for mobile 

If the design of your website isn’t optimized for the mobile phone users, then know that you are missing on a huge chunk of visitors that could be your customers too.

You need to make sure that your website is completely accessible and useable on mobile phones. We assure you that with just this little change, you will see wonders happening to your website. 

Conclusion

These are some of the best and the most important steps that can help you in redesigning your website successfully. So, focus on all these steps and make sure to stay constant with your efforts, we assure you that with a little investment of time and energy, you will see wonderful results. 

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/website-design/4-essential-steps-to-a-successful-website-redesign/

A Start-up’s Guide to SEO

If you’re one of the many people who decided to take a leap of faith by starting your own business, either as main employment or a “side-hustle,” you’ll have a thousand and one things to juggle.

If you haven’t been fortunate enough to have a huge lump sum of money and a large group of employees to cover for you, you’ll have to take on a few of the tasks yourself.

One of the ever more popular aspects of this is making your own DIY website using WordPress.

This enables those without the knowledge to create a website without many hours of frustration involved in the process.

When it comes to having built a website, many entrepreneurs will find that their website is there, but people wouldn’t even know it was there. This is where SEO comes into its own and where even knowledge of the basics can make a big difference in the starting point of your digital presence.

What is SEO?

Let’s start at the very beginning. If you’re looking for the best places to learn about and discuss SEO, it’s hard to beat the information provided by Moz thanks to their huge network of experts. 

So how do they describe SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.

Hopefully, that was quite a simple explanation. In a bit more detail, SEO covers any changes that affect the quantity of traffic, quality of that traffic as well as organic results positioning.

When you search through Google, there are so many factors behind the results it shows you and they all depend on the individual words and even the order you input them. Some website factors to be considered, among others, are:

Backlinks, “Domain Authority”, Content, Keywords, Traffic, Social Signals.

Why Should I Bother?

If you want to give your business an opportunity to catch a slice of even the smallest quantity organic search traffic then you need to understand and modify your site to take the above into consideration.

SEO can be split into three separate aspects, which all overlap. These are technical SEO, on-site SEO, and off-site SEO. For such an initial and brief article such as this, I won’t go into the technical SEO as it takes a bit more knowledge than your average user.

If you’re curious, however, check out this agency’s description on the process and value of Technical SEO.

What Can I Do to Improve My SEO?

What someone with limited knowledge will be able to do in order to make a difference to their SEO is making edits to the content on their site. Although the level and detail of these changes will vary compared to an expert doing it, it’s always better than not even trying!

Unlike what you might first think, creating content for a website is much more specific than simply knowing “what people say” or copying content from a competitor.

There are many tools out there that enable those new to the game to have a good go at it. For this, you can take a look at this list of free tools curated by Ahrefs.

Another aspect that anyone can attempt is commonly known as “linkbuilding.” This is where you send outreach to sites in your niche that you believe you can share content or by asking for a link back to your site within the content you’ve submitted.

The aim of this is to show Google that your website has enough useful information on it that other websites are happy to reference your page.

There are many versions of this and some are likely to get you penalized by Google (e.g. buying links).

The thing is, manual outreach isn’t an easy task and can be very time-consuming, but as one of Google’s largest ranking factors, it’s certainly worth attempting!

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/seo/a-start-ups-guide-to-seo/

How to Get to Sleep Now

Most of us have had the unfortunate experience of struggling to fall asleep. You might be tossing and turning in your bed for hours, or you might just not feel tired when it’s time to go to bed. There are many strategies you can use on an ongoing basis to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep, such as eating healthier, exercising, and avoiding caffeine and digital screen exposure before bedtime. But you can’t exactly change them in the course of an evening—so what are you supposed to do if you’re struggling to fall asleep now?

Fortunately, there are some strategies that can help.

Stop Checking the Clock

First, stop checking the clock. It’s common for people struggling with sleep to check the time every once in a while to see if they’ve truly been tossing and turning for hours or if it just feels like it. This is counterproductive, however, as the constant checking will keep your mind active, and the longer it takes to fall asleep, the more stressed you’ll feel. Try not to think about it, and if necessary, turn the clock away or hide whatever device is tempting you.

Avoid Digital Screens

Digital screens tend to emit bright, blue-wavelength light, which can trick your body into thinking it’s daytime, making it harder for you to sleep. Even if you use a red light filter, the content you view can keep your mind too active to sleep. If you have to find something to occupy your mind, try reading a physical book.

Keep a Journal

Use pen and paper to keep a journal, writing down your thoughts about the day and summarizing how you feel. This is useful for helping you resolve the thoughts and feelings that might be keeping you up. Plus, if you keep this habit consistently, you’ll be able to detail the issues that are chronically keeping you up, so you can study, understand, and resolve them.

Reduce the Temperature

Most people fall asleep much easier in rooms of a cooler temperature. If you feel even slightly warm, consider trying to lower the temperature. You can turn down the heat, turn up the air conditioning, or use fans and other additions to make you feel cooler. You could also take a cool shower to reduce your body temperature; however, if you do this, make sure the water isn’t ice-cold, or else it could end up making you feel more alert.

Take Melatonin

Melatonin is a natural hormone produced by the body for a variety of functions, but most notably to regulate your sleep cycle. You need melatonin if you’re going to fall asleep, but sometimes our bodies don’t produce it in quantities we need. Melatonin supplements are available over the counter, and while the evidence supporting their effectiveness is mixed, many people swear by these supplements as viable sleep aids. If you can’t get to sleep, try taking a few milligrams of melatonin and go to bed afterward.

Practice Deep Breathing

Focus heavily on your breathing. When we sleep, we tend to take bigger, slower breaths, so doing this while you’re still awake can condition your body for sleep. It can also help you relax, and give you something neutral to focus on (so you don’t get lost in other thoughts). Take a slow, heavy breath in and hold it for a three-count, then slowly exhale and repeat. Controlling this for even a few minutes can make you feel more relaxed and help you drift off to sleep.

Meditate

If you’re plagued by restless thoughts or intrusive, meandering thoughts, meditation can help you clear your mind. The basic idea is to concentrate on something neutral (like deep breathing, which is a good strategy on its own), then acknowledge and let go of any thoughts that enter your mind beyond that neutral focal point. Meditation works best when you practice it on a regular basis, but once you’ve had a few sessions, it can become a perfect way to clear your head and get to sleep. You can also shift your attention to something else, like counting numbers or chanting a mantra.

Changing Your Habits for the Better

If this seems to be a pattern—in other words, if you struggle to fall asleep on a regular basis—it’s in your best interest to adopt better long-term habits to support healthy sleep. That means trying to fall asleep and wake up at the same time every day, making time for exercise on a daily basis, moderating your intake of caffeine, alcohol, and other substances, and watching your consumption habits before bed. In combination with the quick fixes detailed above, this should help you get the quality sleep you deserve.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/health-and-wellness/how-to-get-to-sleep-now/

End Screen Time War With Kids Using The Familytime Parental Monitoring App

5 Ways to Drive More Sales for Your Local Business

Local businesses have the odds stacked against them. These days, competing with the retail giants and online powerhouses like Amazon make it very difficult to keep the doors open, let alone make a comfortable living.

What is one thing that will always help a business in difficult times? More sales.

If your business is in need of a kick-start, here are five things to take into consideration, as they can all help you generate more sales. Not only does this give you the revenue injection needed to survive, but it introduces new customers to your offer, and this can create repeat buyers and lifetime supporters in your local market.

1. Create and leverage a personal brand.

A local business that has a face attached to it will attract more attention than a faceless brand. Get involved and make it a point to show your face. This can be in the form of ads, marketing material or just being active on your businesses social media content.

Often times you can connect with your audience and create a relationship that then converts them into customers. If an audience likes your personality and how you conduct yourself they are going to be more inclined to support your local business.

2. Be found on all directory and review websites.

When someone is looking for a product or service locally they turn to the internet. You need to make sure your business is listed correctly on Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, YP.com, etc. These are the main directories consumers turn to when they need a local option.

You also want to make sure your customers are leaving reviews. This shows potential patrons your business is active and has happy customers.

3. Build a special offers newsletter.

Collect the email addresses of all customers and send out special offers to them. A slow sales day can turn around quickly if you send out an enticing offer. A local restaurant can send out an offer for a free appetizer that can pack the place at a very minimal cost.

Don’t spam the list. Make sure what you are sending out is something they will truly appreciate, or they will unsubscribe and disconnect from your business.

4. Run targeted social media ads.

With Google, Facebook and Instagram ads you are able to target your ads to specific locations. Run ads within a small radius of your business highlighting special offers. You can do this during off-peak hours to drive foot traffic.

If your product or service caters to a younger demographic you can also try Snapchat ads. They are very affordable now and offer some very creative geo targeting and geo fencing options.

5. Don’t ignore traditional marketing channels.

With so many people focused online, it’s important that you don’t ignore traditional channels entirely. Some businesses can still do very well from radio and TV ads, or even print ads in niche specific publications.

You never want to put all of your eggs in one basket. If traditional advertising and marketing still produces a ROI then keep in in your lineup.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/local-marketing/5-ways-to-drive-more-sales-for-your-local-business/

How to Generate More E-Commerce Sales Using Instagram

As an e-commerce store owner you want more sales, right?

Well, there isn’t a more lucrative social media platform than Instagram these days. With so many active users and their targeting options, you are leaving money on the table if you are not using it as one of your main promotional outlets for your e-commerce website.

Here are some simple yet effective ways to use Instagram that will result in more exposure and sales.

Use Professional Quality Images

Look at some of the top e-com brands on Instagram and you will see that their feed looks like it was professionally done. Well, that is because it was. They use studio quality images and often maintain brand colors or a specific theme throughout their feed.

You don’t have to break the bank and hire a professional photographer, but you do need to spend time creating great images rather than just snapping and uploading. You can take great quality images with an iPhone and then use free editing apps to make them pop.

Write Compelling Captions

Aside from the image that does the initial attracting, the caption is what does the selling. You have to be creative. There are dozens (or more) sites like yours. Why should they shop on your website?

Use humor. Let personality shine. This is what helps to create an e-commerce brand that is memorable and not one that just looks like a generic drop shipping website. You have to build trust, so put an effort in and make your captions compelling.

Post Images and Stories

If you are not posting images and stories you are missing a lot of impressions. Instagram’s feed continues to go through changes and not everyone of your followers is going to see your content. They did this with Facebook before. What? They want you to run paid ads of course.

Posting a story as well will help you get more exposure. There are going to be some followers that don’t see the image post but will see your story. If you are strapped for time you can repurpose the same content for both your feed and story.

Use Influencers

If your budget allows, find some niche relevant influencers and pay them (cash or free product) to promote your offer to their audience. They key is to make it look and appear as natural as possible.

The easiest way to accomplish this is to let the influencer have control over how they introduce you and your product to their followers. They know their audience better than you do, so giving them creative control is going to benefit you more than having them post something that looks like a blatant ad.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/instagram/how-to-generate-more-e-commerce-sales-using-instagram/

How to Drive Traffic to Your Online Channels

In this day and age, more and more people are opting to purchase from online channels such as e-commerce websites, Facebook marketplace, Instagram brand pages, Etsy, Shopify, Amazon, and many more platforms. With the many and continuously increasing options, does your brand have what it takes to actually stand out from the rest? Well, you do not have anything to worry about because it is actually just a matter of pushing the right online marketing strategy for your business to blossom. One of the most effective ways to drive and boost traffic to your online channels is through search engine marketing. When you want to look for a place to buy a specific item or a place to have dinner, you go to your favourite search engine and scroll through the results, right? Do you go through any of the links provided in the results page 3 and up? You do not, right? That is the power of search engine marketing. It gives your website or your link the chance to be in the first top three pages of a search result. In simple terms, it allows for your link to have better visibility and a greater online presence that more people would likely click on the link to view it.

Earning vs Buying Traffic

There are actually two ways in which you could squeeze out the potential of search engines. One is through search engine optimisation (SEO) which is free, and second is through search engine marketing (SEM) which comes with a price. Now, it seems like SEO is a better route to go through right, most especially because it is free but free does not always guarantee results in the end. SEO may be a free marketing strategy to implement but it does not mean that it does not come with a value or a cost. Of course it does. There is value and cost to creating (great!) content that would be able to earn you the traffic that your website deserves. It may come with a great price in the end because it may take you a longer time and so much content before you could actually bring good traffic in. On the other hand, with SEM, there is an upfront cost that you would have to pay, but that cost would immediately equate to an increase in traffic right from the start.

Online Traffic Worth Every Penny

Getting a good digital solutions agency that would give you the lowest Cost-Per-Click (CPC) value for your business would really do your business and online channels good. You can work with your preferred budget per month for you to Pay-Per-Click (PPC) in ads to keep your link on top of search engine results. The conversion to actual traffic to your online channels would solely rely on the effectiveness of the content, keywords chosen, and ads bided. You should get a trusted agency so that your CPC would still be relatively low despite having high conversion and quick yields to boost your business. Money spent for SEM strategies should be worth every pence of your hard earned capital, after all.

Visible Results with Data

With traditional out of home marketing strategies such as billboards or print ads, it would be very hard to quantitate the actual traffic it brings to your store front or to your other channels even if it is online. It would require so much work and monitoring to actually have significant and 100% accurate data to prove and back-up the results and the effectiveness of such strategies, which eventually would also cost your businesses a lot of miscellaneous expenses. With search engine marketing strategies, you would be able to gather data with so much because all of the traffic and organic clicks will be accounted for and measured. What more if you have an agency do all of the work for you, of course there would also be an added in-depth report at the end of each month that would help you see if this type of marketing strategy is actually paying off in boosting your sales and building your brand up.

Building a Consistent Branding Through Great Content

In optimising search engine marketing strategies, you would also be able to focus on continuously creating great content so that your brand identity would remain consistent throughout all of your online channels, whether if it is your e-commerce website or social media platforms. Content plays a great role in getting your money’s worth for every pence you spend on search engine marketing. The greater your content, the higher the chances that it would remain in the top pages of search engine results. With consistent and well-though of content, you are not only taking advantage of your paid search engine marketing outlets, but as well as search engine optimization techniques. Combining the two to drive traffic to your online channels would guarantee positive results, especially if you do it properly.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/at-work/how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-online-channels/

How to Secure My Data When Browsing Using Public Wi-Fi?

Branding’s Impact on the Value Chain

A company’s value chain is set in motion well before the first sale. However, it’s not something that many entrepreneurs revisit. Most business owners will hardly ever evaluate their value chain. Break that mold and reconsider your value chain. As your brand grows, the everyday duties that relate to your customers should change as well.

Creating Value That Matches

Are you striving towards becoming a luxury brand? Perhaps yours is fun and trendy. Whatever adjectives that describe what you’re going for, the value should match.

A primary example of how a disjointed brand and value chain led to the destruction of a company is K-Mart. Although recent changes in an attempt to revitalize have led it to the slogan of “love where you live” it still doesn’t fit. K-Mart is regularly associated with low and middle-income families, and the value chain hasn’t been able to accommodate that market for years.

Consider things from a customer perspective. How can you provide the best value, with what you’re working with daily? Your value chain consists of ways that you can meaningfully impact your customer while matching your brand. “Modern” brands should embrace technology, while those that are easy to communicate with should implement sales and support initiatives.

Adapting to The Customer Mindset

Customer-based branding is substantially more effective, but it may not be the vision you had of your company. Take a bottom-up stance in developing your brand and value chain together. Look at what your customers are expecting from you.

First stop, awareness. Can your customers remember yours without an ad flashing on their screen? Working with your marketing and support teams, you can develop quick recognition.

Second stop, engagement. Aside from making purchases, how do your customers interact with your brand? It’s possible that your customer base doesn’t want to communicate and that can become part of your identity. “The company that doesn’t bother you,” is a very real possibility and can cultivate a lot of engagement through social media with a cunning marketing plan. Consider out of the box approaches to promote engagement.

Changing Marketplace Environments

When first starting your company, you likely underwent a SWOT analysis and took a hard look at the current marketplace. Why does this habit stop? It’s highly recommended that you regularly audit your value chain processes and your brand. You can do these two things together on a high-level. Identify key areas where you can take on a competitive advantage without compromising value to your customers.

Fulfilling Promises

Brand promises is a big one, and it plays a vital role in directing your value chain. For example, if you run a beauty business that promoted completely vegan products but didn’t keep that promise you’d be in trouble not only with your customers but with the FTC for deceptive advertising.

What your promise, your customers expect. It may seem like the answer is to avoid promises, but that leads to distrust and a rather undeveloped image. Make promises only on what you can create and deliver consistently.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/branding/brandings-impact-on-the-value-chain/

Some Mind-Blowing Website Design Tips to boost your Website Conversion rate

Starting an online business is easy, but to keep it open is hard. When you’re running an online business,its goal should be to drive traffic and generate revenue.

There are many ways in which you can increase traffic on the website, but if you’re a startup, you have limited resources, and you need to act smartly instead of wasting money on unnecessary things.

However, you need to understand that not all the people who visit your website are willing to buy from you. It is a sad fact about digital marketing that people rarely buy from websites which do not engage them in the first 8 seconds.

It is concluded that out of 100 visitors, only 2 to 3 people convert. If you want more conversions, you need to apply some tricks on your visitors and see them convert.

Is there a negative space? Use it!

In website design, all the space which is used is known as positive design while space which is left unused is called negative space or white space.

When we design a website, the amateur website designers leave little space for each other. This leads to noise for the user.

To much noise will confuse the user, and they will shift to another website without saying a word. You don’t want users to do the same with you.

You can use white space by giving users some room to read and make a better decision. Break the paragraph, make text in bullet points, and use rich media to express your points.

The right combination of colors

Sadly, colors are something which is mostly ignored by many people. If you’re choosing a color, you need to use a combination which is loved and appreciated by people. You cannot choose colors which are driving people away.

As a website design agency in Toronto or a digital marketing agency, it is your job to test various color combination and see how people are responding to it. There is no one-size-fits color combination which can help your website to increase sales. However, if you use the color combination,it will help create a reputation of your brand and people will start trusting your brand.

The main point here is to use color combinations in CTAs and even in the background of the website in a way that people can feel about the website.

Simplify your navigation

What most of the website owner ignores is the complexity of the website. If the website is complex, it gets difficult for the users to come and find what they’re looking for.

Whether it is driving users to a landing page or driving them to a product page, if the navigation is not simple, it gets difficult for them.

Too many choices can confuse users. People love simplicity. If you give them a few options, it will be easy for them to choose from it. If you provide more options, it will be difficult for them to choose and pick what they want.

Free templates are killing it

Whatever CMS you use, there are free templates with it. Do not go for these templates. These templates give a feeling that they’re giving so many options to you, but, they are taking some things away too. For instance, a free template will provide an opportunity for the spammers to commit on your blogs without any obstacle.

Therefore, you need to choose a template which is a paid one. It is a one-time investment, but it will reveal things you cannot imagine now. However, keep in mind that the investment is right for you in the long-run.

Use animated CTAs

One of the essential things that the website design need to have is a clear-cut CTA button. Enough of the simple CTA buttons. Now is the time to use animated CTA button, which will gain more attention.

To wrap it all up

It is not just about creating a website which can generate orders and keep doing it. Every website gets old, and therefore, you need to keep innovating the design elements of the website.

The things mentioned above are easy-to-follow and will make your life easy as they are quite basic but contain a considerable impact on the overall conversion rate of the website. If you use these, you will inevitably boost your conversion rate and if you do so, feel free to let us know.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/website-design/some-mind-blowing-website-design-tips-to-boost-your-website-conversion-rate/

When You Should You Invest in a Property?

If you’re considering property investment, you may have a lot of burning questions, and It can be an exciting yet confusing prospect for anyone researching both the benefits and negatives of investing.

While it can generate a sizeable ongoing income in the long term, there are times you will have to face hurdles, and you need to make sure you are prepared before going further in the process.

You may need to put down a significant amount of money upfront, but similarly, it might be that you don’t need to pay anything for a while. Certain types of people succeed in investment better than others.

This is down to two significant factors: the background knowledge of the industry they have, and their determination to make their property the best it can be. Here’s what you need to know about investing in property and how to see if it’s the right choice for you.

Does your investment knowledge cover properties?

Investment isn’t suitable for everyone. For example, if you’re not aware of how to do something, you would typically call somebody to do it for you. The same logic applies here as not everyone is suited to be a landlord or investor.

Property owners have an extensive amount of knowledge around their property and will often be the handy type too. However, the more you invest, the more you will learn.

While this is true, it’s essential you know the basics before investing. Researching online can be a great tool to help you get to grips with a potential investment since it allows you to gather more knowledge along the way.

Property experts like RW Invest can help you with the process of investment. Their knowledge and expertise are highly thought of, and many investors put their trust in them to produce results. With a great property company by your side, property investment will seem like a breeze.

Do you have stable finances?

Savvy investors will have stable finances, as they increase the likelihood that you will get reasonable interest rates. If you have student loans, car payments, or any other type of funding need, paying the debt down before proceeding.

Having a savings fund is also essential, as it will mean you’re covered if anything goes wrong with your rental property and you have to pay for maintenance.

A top tip that new investors are often given is to put the rental income into a savings pot. This way, you’re protected.

Are you prepared for potential extra costs?

It’s tempting to look for a property with damage that is significantly cheaper than newer developments. However, if you do this, you should be prepared for the extra cost.

Despite whether it’s an older or more damaged property, there will be costs you need to factor in, such as damage to kitchens or annual safety checks. It’s also essential to invest in an area you believe will do well after you invest.

Therefore, you should factor in how much your margins are as rental yields differ across the country. North West city centre properties are popular with buy to let investors as they provide high rental yields and are in demand by young professionals.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/real-estate/when-you-should-you-invest-in-a-property/

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Realistic Ways to Help You to Fund your Small Business Startup

When you’re hoping to get your small business start-up on the go, there are a lot of different things that you have consider. Of course, before anything, you need a unique business idea that can be well maintained and be received effectively by your target audience.

Likewise, you need to know the ins and outs regarding what sort of business it is, who you’ll be trading with and above all, how it is that you’re actually going to be funding this.

You can be the most knowledgeable person in the world and have some of the most unique and interesting ideas, but without the funding, you really don’t have anything.

If this is an area in which you’re struggling inspiration, then here are the top realistic ways to help you to begin to fund your small business start-up.

Seek the Help of Those Close to You

A lot of people don’t like asking for charity, but if you’re serious about your new business venture, then pitching your idea to friends and family and asking to borrow some money off them isn’t a bad place to start.

In fact, so many businesses, even some of the most famous ones were started exactly by doing this.

While sometimes getting banks and investors on board can be a little difficult, but because those who love you most are likely to believe in what it is you’re doing and hope more than anything for you to succeed, they’re likely to wish you well and loan you the money if they can.

The downside is, you’re mixing business with personal relationships here, so if it doesn’t work out then your friendships or family relationships could soon turn sour. This is something important to consider before you choose this path.

Sell Something of Value

Depending on what your priorities are, you might want to sell some of your stuff in order to fund your business startup.

One of the most common things that people sell clothes and furniture on online sales website such as eBay, but if you’re really serious about getting enough money to fund your startup, you may think about selling one of your assets.

For example, a lot of people if they don’t need them or own more than one, but you could even consider selling your home on and renting for the time being when you’re just starting out.

The selling of your home can turn out to be a very expensive process, so if you need a quick influx of cash, going with a quick sale company such as https://speedpropertybuyers.co.uk/ could be an option for you.

Again, it’s risky and something you’d have to think about very carefully before taking the plunge, but sometimes the biggest sacrifices reap the biggest rewards.

Crowdfunding

Another option if you’re struggling to find the funds yourself is setting up a crowdfunding account. This will require you to be great at social media, but these days just about everybody is and chances are you are if you’re business-savvy, so it should be fine!

Websites such as GoFundMe are so popular nowadays for if you’re looking to raise cash quickly.

If you’ve got a great business proposition, then why not share it online with your friends, family, and other acquaintances in order to see if they’re interested in putting some of their own money towards it? No matter the size of their contribution, every little thing helps!

The downside to this is that a lot of companies use crowdfunding in order to fund their startups, so you’ll need to set yours apart from the crowd.

In order to see a difference in your cash influx, you’ll really have to create a buzz around what it is that you’re trying to create in to grab the attention of other people.

Look into Small Business Loans

Last but not least, research into what business loans you can apply for and how they could help you. Certain banks actually offer loans specific to the start of small businesses, but they can be a little cautious about loaning their money out to small businesses.

There are other alternative companies that could be better to help you get your business off the ground, but make sure you do your research.

Some of these companies can be predatory when it comes to people new to the business world, so make sure you do your research and only go through reliable lenders.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/startups/realistic-ways-to-help-you-to-fund-your-small-business-startup/