Archives for June 2018

June 30, 2018

1 min read

Too much stress can lead to decreased productivity, poor health and burnout. The truth is, however, we usually stress about things that never actually happen. Or, if they do, we end up handling these situations much better than we’d imagined.

Related: 9 Ways High-Performing Entrepreneurs Handle Stress

Research conducted by Happify discovered that a whopping 85 percent of people admit that the things we worry about never actually happen. Not only that, but when our worries do become a reality, 80 percent of people say they handle these situations better than they thought they would. Still, seven out of 10 people say they experience stress and anxiety every day.

So what exactly are people stressing about? The top stressor is money, followed by work and the economy. In the workplace, people admit that workload was the most overwhelming aspect (46 percent), followed by people issues (28 percent), work-life balance (20 percent) and lack of job security (6 percent).

Related: A Brain Surgeon’s Tips for Handling Stress Head-On

The best way to beat these stressors are getting outside, cultivating relationships with loved ones and exercising. To learn more, check out Happify’s infographic below.

June 29, 2018

5 min read

Let’s talk about the “s-word.”

While stress levels among American adults have remained consistent over the last two years (averaging 4.8 on a scale of 1 to 10), but people were more likely to feel the effects of stress in 2017 than the previous year. In fact, 45 percent of Americans reported their stress translated to lying awake at night during the past month, according to the American Psychological Association’s annual Stress in America survey. And about one-third said their stress led to feeling nervous/anxious, irritable/angry or fatigued.

Women have it even worse — they’ve reported higher stress levels than men since the survey began, and in 2017, women’s stress levels increased slightly while men’s dropped.

What we can do to tame those cortisol levels? We’ve got a roundup of five quick exercises you can do anytime, anywhere to tap into your inner zen.

Focus on your breath.

Image credit: Merlas | Getty Images

Our breath patterns are known to change when we’re relaxed, stressed, fearful or excited, so it makes sense that the process often works in reverse — in other words, breathing in a relaxed way usually promotes feelings of calm. Another perk of breathing exercises: You can do them anywhere, and they’re relatively subtle. One of the most common techniques is the 4-7-8 exercise developed by Dr. Andrew Weil, author of Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing. To prepare for the exercise, rest the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and try to keep it there throughout the exercise (some people find this easier with lips slightly pursed). Let your lips part, and exhale completely.

Here’s how you get started: With your lips closed, breathe in through your nose over the course of four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds and, with a “whooshing exhale,” release the air over a period of eight counts. You can repeat the process as many times as necessary — it’s meant to serve as an oxygen boost and a method of slowing down heart rate.

Tense and release.  

Image credit: Seb Oliver | Getty Images

Whether you carry tension in your shoulders, neck, or any other area, a 10- to 15-minute tense-and-release exercise is a prime way to relax. At your desk, systematically tense different parts of your body, hold for a few seconds, then release. Start with your toes and feet, and move all the way up to your neck and face. Each time you release a muscle group, notice the difference in how it feels. People with constant tension can become so used to the feeling that they no longer notice it, so this exercise aids in awareness for tension in the body. It can also help you to cue a relaxed state when you feel yourself starting to become stressed.

Get moving.

Image credit: LeoPatrizi | Getty Images

Try walking around the block to ward off stress. Physical activity — even a brief, brisk walk — amps up the brain’s production of positive neurotransmitters, also known as endorphins. Exercising regularly can help clear the mind, improve sleep and assuage mild depression and anxiety symptoms. Scheduling a half-hour walk amidst a day of calls and meetings can seem infeasible, but even taking three 10-minute walks over the period of one day can bring about similar benefits as one longer stint of exercise, according to the Mayo Clinic. Another perk? A recent TED Talk by behavioral and learning scientist Marily Oppezzo showed that exercising in the form of walking can boost creativity levels. In fact, people who brainstormed while walking on a treadmill averaged close to twice as many creative ideas as their seated counterparts.

Enlist a relaxation playlist.

Image credit: Merlas | Getty Images

Americans spent an average of about 32 hours a week listening to music in 2017, up 5.5 hours from the year before. One of the many reasons it’s a beloved pastime: Music can influence mood quickly and completely — even when it comes to minimizing stress. According to an article published by the Public Library of Science, listening to music before a stressful situation helped the autonomic nervous system — which is responsible for breathing, heartbeat and digestion — recover faster from feelings of stress. Try creating your own playlist to de-stress, or turn to an existing one (for example, streaming platform Spotify has curated options like “Relax and Unwind,” “Nature Noise” and “Calm Down”).

Go for gratitude.

Image credit: spukkato | Getty Images

One of the simplest stress busters of all? Think about what you’re thankful for. Adding gratitude into your daily routine can take many forms, but however you introduce it, it could decrease stress levels and boost your general happiness. Research from University College London suggests that practicing gratitude can increase optimism and sleep quality — as well as decrease diastolic blood pressure. Try incorporating gratitude into your daily routine by thinking up five to 10 things you’re grateful for just after waking up or before going to sleep. If you’re a visual learner, consider investing in a gratitude journal that prompts you to jot down your thankful thoughts.

June 28, 2018

3 min read

The following feature is excerpted from TIME Marijuana: The Medical Movement available at retailers and on Amazon. 

When you are involved in an industry that is exploding with product and profits, important details can get lost in the shuffle.

Details like security.

“Some of these cannabis growers will stick a million in cash in a gym bag, throw it on the passenger seat and drive it down to Salem with a joint in their mouth,” says Garrick Fernbaugh, co-founder of the elite tactical-training and security-service company Red Frog in Oregon. “That’s maybe not the best way to go about that, and that’s where we come in.”

Fernbaugh, a Navy SEAL for 20 years and a former government contractor, is part of a growing trend of former Special Operators who are applying their expertise to the cannabis industry.

Related: Use This Secret Military Trick to Tell if Someone Is Lying

And not necessarily in the gun-blazing manner one might think. “In Special Operations, ninety percent of the job involves analyzing situations and mitigating risk as much as possible,” explains a former Green Beret from California-based security firm Ridgeline OST who requested to be referred to only as Matthew.

Those risks come primarily in two forms: robbery, and businesses failing to keep up with the ever-changing rules and regulations. Operators have ample experience with these two threats, thanks to their work in politically unstable nations.

Billy Tosheff, CEO of Oregon-based Wildcat, which facilitates collaboration between growers and retailers and helps businesses scale, says Special Operators fill a hole. “People who come from a business background are thinking more about financial objectives, so to have people who are focused on potential threats is invaluable,” he says.

Former SEAL Fernbaugh explains that the habits he built up while providing security for the likes of the president of Afghanistan stay with him even while driving to the mall. “When I’m driving, it’s probably a 70/30 ratio of looking ahead and in the rearview mirror,” he says. And this training is coming in handy in the weed world. “There are only two banks in Oregon that are accepting this cannabis cash, so you can imagine the potential for an ambush.”

Is it overkill to employ the skills of the most elite fighting forces in the world? Not when you consider that some marijuana farms harvest one big crop a year, which means that at that moment, they’re sitting on millions of dollars worth of product.

Related: The Green Beret Hotel Check-In Safety List

As the industry has grown, business owners are taking security and compliance more seriously, but Matthew from Ridgeline OST says companies are still going through a learning curve. “My first week full-time in California, I find myself at a shareholders’ meeting sitting across from three Russian guys that looked like they stepped out of a gangster movie: tracksuit, fanny pack, the whole deal. So that was a good discussion with the crew after the meeting. We need to know who the shareholders and investors are. You can have some organized-crime syndicates putting money into your operation, but that’s not good for security—or for when the state legislators look into your finances.”

June 27, 2018

6 min read

This story originally appeared on Bizness Apps

Managing your SEO goals on a small budget can be overwhelming, especially if you are only a one-person, two-person or [insert small number here]-person team. With a plethora of options available to choose from, you really need to keep your eye out for those strategies that are easy to implement and yet bring considerable returns. So to make your journey easier, we have listed a number of SEO strategies that will give you a quick and easy start.

1. Optimize for mobile

Mobile optimization is now a necessity, not an option. Mobile friendliness is a ranking factor and hence it cannot be ignored when you are talking about SEO success. Websites designed for mobile screens perform better in terms of ranking when compared to the ones that are not. With Google’s mobile-first index coming to the scene, it makes sense to optimize your website for mobile users.

This takes precedence in our list because, 1) it is an absolute necessity and 2) it is pretty easy to implement. In fact, platforms like WordPress will do it for you. They have a pool of mobile-optimized themes that you can pick from, easy as pie! In addition, read this quick guide to find out how to optimize your site for mobile devices.

2. Build your local presence through local citations

If you own a local business, earning a strong local presence is essential for visibility. With local SEO gaining importance, it makes sense to invest in various aspects of it. One of these includes earning local citations in order to get found online. In the latest Local Search Ranking Factors survey, local search experts rated citation related factors as making up approximately 13.31 percent and Google My Business 19.01 percent of the Top 50 factors.

Local citations, as per Moz, can be built majorly through three gateways: Industry-specific platforms, Local Business data platforms, and the Wider Web. For instance, the Yelp directory helps businesses like restaurants, bars, beauty salons and so on to expand their local listings. GMB (Google My Business) provides a common gateway for businesses in all industries. Apart from these listings, you can also earn local citations through blogs, government websites, apps etc.

It’s important to remember that it isn’t just being present online. Accuracy plays a key role in how you actually show up online. Discrepancies in information across different listings can be detrimental to your business image as it can mislead the audience and create space for bad reviews. Make sure your NAP (aka Name, Address, Phone number) is accurate and updated on all platforms.

3. Create a sitemap

One of the major reasons why websites lose traffic is because of “crawlability” errors. So if you really want to increase your traffic results, you need to address such issues at the start of your SEO journey. A sitemap allows search engines to list all your website pages, so they are crawled effectively.

Generating a sitemap is easy. There are a number of online sitemap generators you can choose from. For sites hosted on WordPress, your sitemap is generated automatically by the Google XML Sitemaps Generator plugin.

4. Focus on making your metadata click-worthy

Optimising your metadata is one of the best DIY methods to get SEO positive results. The major elements in your meta-data are: Title, Meta description, URL.

Start by including your target keyword in the title, as shown below. Then move onto meta descriptions; these are short snippets of information your audience can view from the search results. Effective meta descriptions compel viewers to click on your website link. (Note: The meta description character limit has increased to “320” from 160 characters.) Getting your URL structure right is also a crucial aspect of SEO optimization. Ensure that your target keyword is a part of your URL. Additionally, keep your URLs as short as possible. This can be done by eliminating unnecessary conjunctions.

5. Add a visual appeal to your website

The core motive of any SEO strategy is to enhance user experience and through it, rank higher. When a user lands on your website, the first impression is created by the website appearance. So, it is crucial to leave a good (or better yet, amazing) first impression.

How? Try to enhance your website design visually. Ensure that your blog-posts are “visual-rich”. Articles with relevant images get 94 percent more views. While investing in a video production company to create videos might not be the best thing for your budget, an explainer video can really give you that initial push. If you don’t have it in your budget to hire a designer, you can take a stab at it yourself. There are many free (and fail-proof) design tools out there that can help your brand become more visual.

6. Focus on thought leadership when creating content

“Content is king” still holds true in the marketing world. So when you set out to create your content strategy, always think of generating content that is unique and adds value to the readers. Find pain-points that haven’t been addressed and deliver solutions through your content. Incorporate visuals in your content plan, as mentioned above, to deliver information in a more engaging way.

This strategy is employed by Moz and executed well in their “Whiteboard Friday” video series. Another good example of a blog that established authority through content is BufferApp. By writing a series of guest posts which offered valuable insights, they earned 100,000 customers in the first 9 months.

Quick recap

For small businesses, the best way to crack the SEO code is through strategies that offer them an even field with big companies. The first step to doing this is to optimize your website’s metadata and be mobile-friendly. Another great way is through local citations, a good local presence can help small businesses reap great rewards. And the way you deliver user experience also dictates your success. Make sure that you create a visually engaging first impression.

(By Sahil Kakkar. Kakkar is the CEO and founder of Rankwatch, a platform, which helps companies and brands stay ahead with their SEO efforts in the ever growing internet landscape.)

June 26, 2018

6 min read

This story originally appeared on GOBankingRates

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson isn’t your average billionaire. Instead of living in a big city penthouse or a sprawling estate, the fun-loving tycoon makes his home in the British Virgin Islands. He prefers jeans and board shorts over suits and, despite his status as Sir Richard Branson, he’d rather be called Richard.

Related: Elon Musk’s Essential Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Fascinating to say the least, the self-made billionaire behind Virgin Airlines has a sunny disposition that draws others toward him.

Take a look at Branson’s spectacular business success and fortune.

(By Gabrielle Olya)

Richard Branson net worth: $5.1B

Image credit:

Gustavo Caballero / Getty Images

Seemingly born to be an entrepreneur, Richard Branson started his first business, a student magazine, when he was just 15 years old. In 1970, he opened his first business under the Virgin Group umbrella, and the rest is history.

Though perhaps best known for its airlines, the Virgin Group consists of more than 60 companies today. Combined, they employ 71,000 people in 35 countries and bring in an annual revenue of $22.3 billion (16.6 billion pounds).

Richard Branson’s Virgin Records

Image credit:

©Graham Harrison/REX/Shutterstock

Virgin began as a mail-order record retailer in 1970 and became Virgin Records when Branson opened the first brick-and-mortar record store in London. He later opened a recording studio under the Virgin Records label and was able to sign major acts like the Sex Pistols and the Rolling Stones, propelling it to become the biggest independent record label in the world.

Unlike many moguls, Branson truly cares about his companies. He sold Virgin Records for $1 billion in 1992, but instead of celebrating, he famously ran down London’s Ladbroke Grove in tears, distraught over cutting ties with the business.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Unite

Image credit:

©Jon Hrusa/EPA/REX/Shutterstock

These days, the father of two dedicates most of his time to Virgin Unite, the Virgin Group’s nonprofit entrepreneurial foundation. Established in 2004, the charity supports ventures close to Branson’s heart, including advocating for gay rights and speaking out against wildlife poaching.

Related: 15 Weekend Jobs and Side Gigs to Boost Your Income

Virgin Unite’s projects are changing the world for the better. Some of the foundation’s work includes providing life-saving healthcare to people in Kenya; creating the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship, which has helped over 4,000 entrepreneurs in South Africa get their businesses off the ground; and fighting for LGBT rights in Uganda.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Airlines

Image credit:

NextNewMedia / Shutterstock.com

A canceled flight from Puerto Rico to the British Virgin Islands served as Branson’s inspiration for Virgin Atlantic. Then a young businessman, he had a date waiting for him, so he chartered a plane and charged other passengers $39 for a one-way ticket.

Founded in 1984, Virgin Atlantic is an innovative airline with a 2016 pre-tax profit of about 23 million pounds. The Virgin brand also includes Virgin Australia and, previously, Virgin America, which has since been sold and merged with Alaska Airlines.

Alaska Airlines bought Virgin America in 2016 for $4 billion. Despite earning millions from the sale, Branson opposed it and publicly expressed disappointment that he didn’t have enough voting shares in the company to halt the takeover.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic

Image credit:

Ronrosano / Wikimedia Commons

Known for his innate curiosity and sense of adventure, it’s probably not too surprising that space travel is on Branson’s agenda. Founded by the billionaire entrepreneur in 2004, Virgin Galactic wants to make space travel accessible to everyone.

The privately funded company received $600 million from Branson, the Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments PJS as of 2014, the Financial Times reported, and in 2017, the company announced that it had received an additional $1 billion investment from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. So far, approximately 700 people have paid a full-price deposit of $250,000 to become a Virgin Galactic future astronaut.

Sending humans into space has been a challenging process — a pilot died during a test flight of the company’s SpaceShipTwo in October 2014 — but Branson believes his company is finally almost ready to launch. Branson hopes to be among the first passengers, with a launch by May 2019, Fortune reported.

Richard Branson’s Island

Image credit:

cdwheatley / iStock.com

Located in the Caribbean, Richard Branson’s island doubles as his home and a posh resort. He purchased Necker Island in 1978 for a modest $180,000, according to Forbes.

If you want to visit his British Virgin Islands paradise, be ready to pay up. The cost to book the entire island — which accommodates up to 34 people — was $80,000 per night in 2017. Individual rooms can be booked from October through November in 2018, which start at $31,675 per couple for a seven-night stay.

In early 2017, former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama vacationed on Necker Island as Branson’s personal guests. Photos revealed a playful friendship between the former U.S. president and billionaire, which included kitesurfing.

Necker Island was heavily damaged by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. It is scheduled to reopen in October 2018.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Hotels

Image credit:

©Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Branson opened the first Virgin Hotel in Chicago in 2015, and a second location will be opening in San Francisco in summer 2018, with future hotels planned for Dallas, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City, Las Vegas, Silicon Valley, Palm Springs and Washington, D.C., Travel + Leisure reported. The brand will also be opening its first European location in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2020.

Related: 13 Million-Dollar Businesses That Turned Down ‘Shark Tank’ Deals

As with his airline, Branson built his hotel model on the idea that people shouldn’t be nickel-and-dimed during their travel experiences. His hotels offer free WiFi, free late checkout, minibar prices set at “street level” and no fee for room-service delivery.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Hyperloop One

Image credit:

©Kamran Jebreili/AP/REX/Shutterstock

If Branson’s plans pan out, time-sensitive goods will be able to travel at speeds of 620 mph in technologically advanced transport pods to ensure a timely delivery. The entrepreneur is now the non-executive chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, which plans to harness Elon Musk’s proposed hyperloop technology — using rails within low-pressure tubes — to transport freight at ultrahigh speeds at costs similar to trucking, the Daily Express reported.

Branson foresees the technology being used to transport fresh food, medical supplies and goods for delivery at speeds that were previously impossible. He hopes to launch Virgin Hyperloop One by 2021.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Voyages

Image credit:

©Virgin Voyages

Branson already has plans to tackle land, air and space travel, so it makes sense that sea travel would be his next undertaking. In May 2018, Branson announced his plans for Virgin Voyages, an adults-only luxury cruise line that will launch in 2020 with inaugural seven-day cruises traveling from Miami to the Caribbean.

“At the core of our epic sea change for all is ensuring that the spaces on our ships are well-styled, distinct and reflective of the dynamic experience we want to bring to our sailors,” Tom McAlpin, president and CEO of Virgin Voyages, told Forbes. “Our design partners together with our internal design team have dreamed up eye-catching, intimate and alluring spaces that we can’t wait to see come to life.”

June 25, 2018

6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

As a business owner, growing your company is one of your top priorities, but as a small-business founder, you know what a challenge it can be: You may lack the budget for big marketing campaigns or the time to focus on growth, when there are so many other aspects you have to manage.

Related: 3 Growth Strategies From a Tech Company Trying to Disrupt a $325 Million Industry

So, if you’re a founder in this position, how do you boost your sales and grow your business?

The answer is growth-hacking. The term refers to the process of experimenting with marketing, product development, sales segments and other areas to determine the best way to grow a business.

Following are some simple growth hacks small-business leaders should know to help them grow their companies in a short amount of time.

Prioritize content marketing.

According to DemandMetric, content marketing costs 62 percent less and generates approximately three times more leads than traditional marketing, making it a valuable strategy for small businesses.

Having a blog on your site that offers engaging and useful content presents your business as an expert in your industry and can help you build a trusting relationship with your audience.

Blog posts can also generate more traffic to your site, improve your SEO and convert visitors into customers. Research high-volume/low-competition keywords for your blog posts to attract more of your target audience to your site and grow your customer base.

Use Facebook and Google customer-retargeting.

According to Digital Strategy Consulting, the average customer makes nine visits to a website before purchasing, so retargeting is a valuable growth hack to get those purchases you might have otherwise missed out on. Facebook and Google retargeting involves a pixel you add to your site that then enables you to show targeted ads to users who have previously visited your website.

Related: 7 Key Steps to a Growth Strategy That Works Immediately

While previous visitors to your website are browsing other sites on the web, they’ll see ads for your business encouraging them to return to you.

In this Expedia retargeting ad, customers are enticed to return to their site for a tempting last-minute deal:

You want all your visitors to be return visitors, right? So make sure you’re at the top of mind for them by coaxing them back using Facebook and Google retargeting.

Use exit-intent coupons.

Offering visitors a coupon in exchange for their email address is a great way to build your email list and encourage people to make a purchase. People love getting a deal, so not many will pass up the opportunity to save.

Home Fabrics Online uses an exit intent popup to offer a coupon and encourage people to make a purchase:

Using an exit-intent popup is also a great way to grab your visitors’ attention, as it can track when a visitor is about to leave your website, and offer a coupon at exactly the right time. Overall, it’s an amazing tool for boosting your conversions and improving your bounce rate.

Show social proof.

Most consumers look for reviews before they make a purchase. In fact, BrightLocal conducted a survey that revealed that 84 percent of people polled trusted online reviews and testimonials as much as they would a personal recommendation. So, make it easy for customers: Show social proof right on the pages of your website.

Slack’s website lets visitors know how many amazing companies are using its product:

Displaying comments from some of your satisfied customers on your website can help push visitors who are on the fence into making a purchase. People buy from companies they trust, so adding social proof shows you to be a trusted brand in your industry.

Use content upgrades.

Providing content upgrades on your blog posts is a great way to grow your email list rapidly. A content upgrade is essentially a freebie offered within the post that’s related to the blog post topic.  

Here’s an example of a content upgrade popup that encourages visitors to click in exchange for their email:

For example, you could offer a free, downloadable PDF to your readers in exchange for their email address. If you’ve crafted an informative blog post that already has your readers engaged, they’re likely going to be interested in the extra content you’re offering and will wclick that download button.

Use calls-to-action across social media.

Want your followers to do something for you on social media? Ask them! By using calls-to-action across your social media accounts, you can increase your views, likes and shares. You can even direct customers to your website to join your mailing list or sign up for your course.

Hubspot Academy uses its Twitter account to let followers know about its new course.

Whether you’re asking your audience to share, like or sign up, make sure your call-to-action is easy and clear. The easier you make it for them, the more likely they’ll take the action you want them to.

Ask for feedback.

There’s no better way to figure out what’s working in your business and what’s not than by asking your customers directly. There’s always room for improvement in your business and of course improving your customer service or user experience can really boost your sales.

Kennedy Blue uses a popup on its site to ask customers for feedback.

Another hack: Consider using a popup to ask for feedback, or sending an email to customers who have recently purchased. Being aware of all the issues your customers might face will help you ensure that future customers have an even better experience.

Related: 10 Marketing Strategies to Fuel Your Business Growth

So, those are a few advantages growth-hacking can offer: Instead of wasting your time with ineffective marketing, these strategies are a smart way to scale up your business. Using these tips, your small business can compete with the bigger players, and you won’t have to spend a fortune.