Archives for July 2018

July 10, 2018

7 min read

This story originally appeared on GOBankingRates

You work hard but you’re not getting ahead in your job. You’re not making as much as you feel like you deserve. Or maybe you just feel stuck. Does this sound like you? If so, you’re likely wondering what’s going to help you achieve the career and financial success you want.

Related: 12 Expenses Successful People Don’t Waste Time or Money On

The answer is goals. Yes, you need to set goals. “The benefits of setting goals is really to help yourself achieve what you want to achieve,” said Elizabeth Koraca, an executive coach and career strategist. “You have to have clarity on what you want and a clear path how to get there.”

But there’s a right way and a wrong way to set career or financial goals you can actually achieve.

Here’s how your financial future stacks up with other Americans’.

(By Cameron Huddleston)

Figure out what you want

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Before you can set goals, you must figure out what you want. You have to have a vision for your life, Koraca said.

If you’re unclear, Koraca recommends asking yourself what excites you. Think about what you would do if you could do whatever you wanted. When she goes through this exercise with clients, Koraca usually finds that what people want to do is not that unrealistic. And once you know what you want, you’ll have the motivation you need to set and stick to goals that will help you achieve your dream life.

Set SMART goals

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One of the strategies that career and life coach Allison Task uses with her clients is SMART goal setting. SMART is an acronym for the ideal characteristics of goals:

Specific: Goals should be detailed.
Measurable: You should have criteria for measuring your progress.
Attainable: Do you have the ability to achieve what you want?
Relevant: Your goals should be consistent with your values.
Time-bound: Goals should have a timeframe for completion.

“By using this framework, you are more likely to achieve the goal, because you will think through the specifics of what needs to happen for you to do it,” Task said. A bad goal, for example, would be, “I need to lose weight.” Task said a SMART goal example would be, “I will lose 25 pounds over the next six months in time for my best friend’s wedding.”

Write down your goals

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When setting goals, it’s not enough to just think about doing something, Koraca said. “If you don’t write them down, any goal you might have will be swirling around your head,” she said — and you’ll be more likely to forget it.

Not only should you write down your goals, but also you should put that document where you can see it. “If you can have those goals printed out and visible, even better,” Koraca said. Hang up your list of goals in your office, on your bathroom mirror or on your refrigerator as a constant reminder of what you want to achieve.

Related: How Richard Branson Built His $5.1 Billion Fortune

Create an action plan

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Your goals document should actually be an action plan, not just a list of what you hope to achieve. Koraca recommends listing your vison at the top. “Don’t hold back,” she said. “Put what you really want in that vision.” It should be as detailed as possible, and below it, you should list your top five goals for the year to help you get closer to your vision.

To create an action plan, write January through December underneath your goals and the specific steps you want to accomplish each month that will make them happen. By creating an action plan, you can see that your goals are within your reach. “It gives you a sense of feeling in charge instead of frustrated,” Koraca said.

Set a timeline for achieving goals

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Both Koraca and Task recommend setting a timeframe for achieving your goals. Those deadlines need to be realistic, however. For example, if you want to go from earning $50,000 a year to $500,000 a year, you might be setting yourself up for failure if you give yourself only 12 months to achieve that goal. A more realistic timeframe might be at least five or six years to get on the path to riches.

Koraca recommends using a planner or the calendar app on your phone to schedule due dates for your goals and action steps. But don’t try to tackle too many goals at once. “Take your time with it,” Koraca said.

Break goals down into small steps

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When you start to feel overwhelmed by trying to achieve your goals, turn your milestones into “inch pebbles,” Task said. In other words, break down your big goal into small things you can do each week to inch toward it.

“The more we build up successful habits, those inch pebbles build up,” Task said. Your confidence will increase as you accomplish each small task, and you’ll be motivated to keep working toward your bigger goal.

Have accountability

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One of the best things you can do to improve your chances of achieving your goals is to create a method of accountability, Task said. “Whether it’s a professional, best friend or spouse, share your goal with someone and make sure they can help you hold yourself to it week to week,” she said.

Perhaps even more important than finding someone to hold you accountable is being accountable to yourself, Task said. This goes back to your vision and having goals that are relevant. You need to have a reason why you want to achieve a goal. “Tell it to yourself why it’s important,” Task said.

Related: 12 Essential Money Tips for Every Phase of Your Financial Life

Monitor your progress

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Monitoring your progress is part of the measurable component of SMART goals. Track what you’ve done and what you need to need to do to move closer to your goals.

Task said she asks clients every couple of weeks to rate their progress on a goal on a scale of one to 10. That helps them get a better idea of where they stand. Tracking your goals also can help you celebrate your successes and give you the motivation you need to continue.

Let others’ success motivate you

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It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing what you have achieved — or haven’t achieved — with what others are doing, especially considering that most people broadcast their successes on social media. Koraca calls it the black spiral of misery. “If you focus on someone else, that’s where all your energy is going,” she said. “You’re not moving forward to where you want to go.”

Instead of being jealous, both Koraca and Task recommend figuring out what the person who has what you want has done to get there. If you know that person well enough, ask him or her to share some tips with you.

Learn from setbacks and adjust Your goals

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If you’re having trouble achieving something on your action list, don’t assume that you’re failing. Instead, Task said you should ask why it’s not happening. “Maybe it’s the wrong thing, and it’s not working,” she said. You might need to find a new approach, or even re-examine your goals.

The important thing is to get clear on what works for you because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to goal setting. “You want to change course if something is not working for you,” Koraca said. “I can’t stress that enough.”

July 9, 2018

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Happy customers make for a happy business owner … and on the other hand, unhappy customers can really bring you down.

If you’re a business owner, you already know that the increasing popularity of review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor gives your customers more power than ever. Just one negative review from an unsatisfied customer can cost you a lot of potential business. You might be thinking, “Well, I don’t have any bad reviews, everything’s fine!”

Related: 5 Proven Ways to Get More Customer Reviews On Google and Facebook

But do you really know how your customers feel?

If the answer is no, learning how to determine your customers’ happiness score and improve your customer service will be one of the best time investments you can make.

Why does your customer’s happiness score matter?

According to Help Scout, poor customer service costs U.S. companies more than $62 billion annually. When it comes down to it, unhappy customers can end up costing you a lot of money.

Satisfied customers might recommend you to a couple of people, but generally, you won’t hear from those customers if you don’t ask. If a customer has a bad experience with your business, though, he or she will let everyone know just how disappointing that experience was — as in the number of stars selected:

Google reviews (screenshot). https://www.google.com/

Marketing and sales are much more difficult these days: Customers are smarter about making purchases and are less trusting of companies, making customer retention more essential than ever to growing a business.

Customer retention, in turn, is much less expensive than customer acquisition; and, according to Invesp, the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 percent to 70 percent, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is less: 5 percent to 20 percent. This is why you need to focus on your customer service and ensure you have a good relationship with your existing customers.

To start focusing on improving customer service, here are some simple ways to measure your customers’ happiness score:

Customer satisfaction score (CSAT)

Key to a customer’s happiness score is his/her customer satisfaction score. This basically entails asking customers to rate their satisfaction with your service, product or business, in general. Your score is the average rating of your customer responses. It’s a simple and direct way to gauge the happiness of your customers.

You can make it easier on the customer to let you know how they’re feeling by asking them to click the face that best describes their satisfaction with your service.

Customer satisfaction scale (image), https://www.questionpro.com/article/likert-scale-survey-questions.html

You can send targeted emails to your customers asking for their overall satisfaction rating. Make it simple for them to choose their level of happiness, as in the example above; also consider adding an optional text box to get more detailed feedback.

Net promoter score (NPS)

A net promoter score works to determine how likely your customers are to recommend your product or service to a friend, family member or colleague. Typically, customers are asked how likely they are to recommend you, on a scale of 1 to 10. You can use an in-app survey, where you subtly integrate a feedback bar right into your website, or a slide-in popup that appears for customers and subscribers only. For example, take a look at Asana’s feedback bar: 

Asana feedback bar (screenshot). https://app.asana.com/

This is a great way to measure brand loyalty and to see which of your customers are going to be ambassadors for your brand. Brand loyalty also helps you connect with your customers. Using the word “friend” in your question creates an emotional connection between the customer and your business.

Related: 4 Lesser-Known Customer-Review Platforms You Need to Know About

Customer effort score (CES)

After having a negative experience, 51 percent of people would never use the company again, according to New Voice Media. Customers don’t have a ton of patience, and that means you need to be quick and efficient at solving any problems they have. This is what the customer effort score can help you with.

You can use a tool like QuestionPro to help you understand how easy or difficult it was to use your product or get help from customer service. 

Customer effort score (image). https://www.questionpro.com/customer-effort-score.html

Customers here aren’t being asked for their happiness score but instead for the amount of effort they invested to get a problem solved. The goal is to lower this customer effort score. That way, you’ll know your business is easy to use, and your customers will be more likely to want to repurchase your product or reuse your service again.

Monitor social media conversations

Customers talk about brands on social media all the time. If they have a problem with your business and are ranting about it on social media, you’ve got a good opportunity to improve your customer service. Many companies will reach out to unhappy customers on social media personally, offering their apologies and help in solving their issues. Customers appreciate the convenience this method offers.

You can also use a tool like Mention, to track everything that’s being said about your company online, making it easier for you to manage unhappy customers and see what people are saying about you.

Mention brand monitoring (screenshot). https://mention.com/en/

Related: 6 Ways to Make Online Reviews Work for Your Business

You’ve got to realize, however, that there’s always room for improvement when it comes to your customer service. Constantly looking for ways to raise your customer’s happiness score is never a wasted effort and will help grow your business to new heights.

July 7, 2018

2 min read

No matter what business you’re in, social media is a necessity. And when you’re spending time and money building your brand’s social presence, it’s important to know whether these efforts are making an impact.

Related: 6 Social Media Monitoring Tools for Managing Your Online Presence

Of course, social media can be tough. But the good news is you’re not alone. A number of professionals admit they don’t know if their social media efforts are actually paying off. According to research by MDG Advertising, 44 percent of CMOs admit they have not been able to measure the impact that social media has had on their business. Not only that, but only 36 percent say they have a good qualitative sense, but not a quantitative one, and a mere 20 percent say they’ve actually managed to quantify social media’s impact. Given these numbers, it’s no wonder marketers say their top challenges are social media related, including difficulty measuring ROI, publishing content and developing a social strategy.

Related: 5 Social Media Tips to Help You Drive Sales

However, with the help of digital tools such as Hootsuite and Google Analytics, tracking social media is a little easier. These tools make it simple to measure engagement, likes and comments. Where people run into trouble though is measuring the actual sales that come from social media. In fact, a whopping 58 percent of brands say they measure engagement but not actual conversions; only 21 percent say they measure conversions.

Related: 4 Tools for Automating and Recycling Social Media Posts

Don’t let these number discourage you though. From increasing exposure to building a loyal fanbase — your social media strategy may be working, but the actual numbers are not quite clear. However, with the right investments, platforms, employees and data, you’ll be well on your way to understanding social media’s full impact on your business.

To learn more, check out MDG Advertising’s infographic below.

July 6, 2018

4 min read

This story originally appeared on Due

What does it mean to be “rich?” Does it mean an ability to afford basic needs like a home, clothing and food? Is it an arbitrary earning rate, like $100,000 per year or $1 million per year? Is richness measured by how much money you have in the bank? While there may not be a clear answer to what makes someone rich, many people do try to categorize us by earnings, assets and other measures.

One common way to look at your wealth is to compare yourself to others. That often comes in the form of “keeping up with the Joneses,” or feeling bad if you can’t. Some recent studies showed the average income in some of America’s biggest cities, and where the top and bottom incomes are found in the United States. Let’s dive in to see how you compare and the answer to the pressing question: are you rich?

Top 50 percent income rates

Depending on where you live, the mid-level income varies widely. The highest average income in the country is Silicon Valley, with a top 50 percent threshold of $110,000 per year. That’s right! You need to make six figures just to reach the median income in The Valley. Nearby San Francisco has the next highest average income at $96,700 per year, according to Census Bureau data.

But if you can live anywhere on your income and want to feel rich, consider a move to America’s Southeast. In New Orleans, you only need to make $48,800 per year to join the top half of incomes. Nearby Memphis is another city where you can be in the top 50 percent below $50,000 year, with a $49,800 income putting you square in the middle.

Those are the extremes of metro areas in the United States for 2016. The infographic compiled by how much shows that the vast majority of cities require an income in the $60,000 to $80,000 range to reach the top half of incomes.

This income breakdown also helps to show why some cities are more attractive than others. Why would someone move to Washington D.C. where you have to earn over $95,000 per year to join the top half when you could move to Atlanta, not far away and a lot more affordable? In Atlanta, $62,600 per year puts you in the upper 50 percent of incomes.

Compare your total income to the chart above to see if you land in the top half of income earners in your city, or if you need to hustle to earn a little more to join the top half.

Can moving make you rich?

Here’s an interesting question to ask yourself. If you are not self-employed, could you move to a new city in search of wealth? If you make the average income in a low paying city, would moving to a higher average income city lead to a raise? The answer is maybe.

In my own experience, I was able to move to a new city and get a 40 percent raise in the process. Much of that, however, was due to a new MBA, working with a high-quality recruiter, and changing from a low paying industry to a highly profitable one. But in some cases, if you have the right skills you can absolutely do the same. Just keep in mind that you may be able to get a raise in your current hometown before you uproot and move to a high-income city that may also cost a lot more in comparison to where you live today.

Are you rich already?

Nearly a decade ago, I had a lively debate with another personal finance blogger about what makes someone rich, or at least upper class. He argued that a $100,000 income in San Francisco does not mean it is easy to get by. That may be true, but it could just be a matter of how you are trying to get by. Perhaps you have let lifestyle inflation take you into a more expensive living situation than you can really afford, but that does not make you poor.

Maybe you are rich. Compare your standard of living to that in other parts of your city, other parts of the country, and other parts of the world. If you have a high income and still struggle with the bills, stop looking at your neighbors and start looking at your budget. If you manage your money right, you may be able to live a rich lifestyle on what you make today. If you can find happiness living within your means, you are on the right track for a lifetime of happiness and success.

(By Eric Rosenberg)