Archives for June 2021

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The best way to promote your small business in 2021 is to get really good at digital advertising. However, if you’re like most business owners, you have probably discovered how tedious and time-consuming online marketing can be. To that end, meet Business Warrior, a marketing solution that simplifies digital advertising.

What Is Business Warrior?

Business Warrior is a software application that scores businesses in four essential advertising areas: Business Listings, Reputation, Web/SEO, and Advertising Readiness.

The app will walk you through what you need to do to increase your company’s scores in each of these areas. As you do, you will build a foundation in digital advertising that will lead to more leads and more sales for your business.

How Will Business Warrior Improve Your Digital Advertising?

The Business Warrior app gives you daily tips and suggestions about how to improve your digital advertising.

You might only need to do something simple. For example, perhaps you need to list your business on Google My Business or install Google Tag Manager.

But it’s possible your business needs more. In that case the app will guide you toward solutions. Perhaps, for instance, you need to improve your website SEO or upgrade your mobile site. Or you might need to take steps to boost your site’s loading speeds.

Rhett Doolittle, CEO of Business Warrior, says, “To succeed in today’s business world, technology and marketing must work together to create as many positive touch points as possible to maximize new sales opportunities.”

And that’s just what Business Warrior’s software will do for your business. Basically, if you want more sales, you need Business Warrior.

Following are some action steps you can take right now to improve results from your digital advertising.

Target the Right Demographic for More Effective Digital Advertising

If you want to get more out of your online advertising, be precise in your digital aim. More is not better, so avoid the shotgun approach. It’s much better to home in on the people who are eager to know about you.

In other words, target your marketing, whether online or off. That is, take aim at the people who want and need your products and services. Ask yourself, “Whose problems does my company address? Who would be excited to hear about what my company provides?”

Once you understand who those people are, find out all you can about them, then direct your digital advertising their way. You’ll enjoy a much better return on your marketing dollar when you do.

Own Your Reputation

Like it or not, your business has an online reputation. What’s more, your reputation matters when it comes to digital advertising. The factor that is most likely to move the needle with your online reputation comes from reviews. In fact, 90% of customers look up reviews before they purchase anything.

So invite customers to review your business online. Respond to favorable reviews with a brief note of appreciation, and be sure to reply to comments on your blog.

What’s more, never fail to follow up with customers who leave unfavorable reviews. Work to resolve complaints quickly and transparently. No business is perfect. Everyone knows this. So even a negative review can work in your favor if you respond in a positive manner.

When people can see from your online response to a negative review that you’re doing your best to provide good service and a great product, they’ll be more inclined to give your business a chance.

Improve the Quality of Your Ads

Google rates the quality and relevance of PPC ads and their keywords, and this rating determines an ad’s Quality Score. When an ad’s Quality Score goes up, the cost per click goes down and the ad rises in the rankings. Accordingly, the ad’s cost per conversion also goes down.

In short, if your PPC ads are clear, concise, and engaging, you’ll pay less for clicks and conversions. This will naturally improve the return on your digital advertising dollar.

RELATED ARTICLE: BOOST GOOGLE ADS QUALITY SCORE TO MAXIMIZE ROI

Don’t Overlook Free Options

Never forget that you can get plenty of digital advertising at no cost, so don’t let a limited budget hold you back. Take advantage of Google My Business, for example. This is a free Google tool that businesses and organizations can use to manage their online presence. Take advantage of it to attract more customers your way.

And then there’s Yelp. Yelp makes it easy for customers who are ready to buy to find local businesses. Even a free listing can be beneficial. But for even greater visibility, consider upgrading to a paid Yelp listing.

Keep in mind, though, that you will be expected to keep a paid listing for at least a full year. Also, be sure to monitor your Yelp listing regularly for negative reviews. Respond to them positively and as quickly as you can.

RELATED ARTICLE: WHY LOCAL SEO IS IMPORTANT FOR YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

Bump Your Digital Advertising up to the Next Level with Business Warrior

Get smart with your digital marketing and start using the Business Warrior app today. Then get ready to welcome lots of new customers!

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About the Author

Carrol Strain is a Top Rated Plus copywriter on Upwork. She is also an editor and on-call writer for the Business Opportunities blog.

Featured image by Nathana Rebouças on Unsplash

In the article here, we share some online business ideas for beginners, many of which have low start-up costs. Keep reading to find out more.

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In this pandemic, many people learned how to do their jobs from home. In the process, we dealt with distractions and difficulties that we never had before in a traditional workplace.

This experience may have inspired some of you to be a bit more entrepreneurial. After all, if you’re going to be working from home, your thought, why not be your own boss?

What’s more, with all of our modern technology, this year is a great time to start a business online and start making money from home.

Keep reading to learn about online business ideas for beginners, most of which have low start-up costs.

1. Monetize Your Blog

If you love to write and share your opinions, monetizing a blog might be the perfect way for you to make money from home. However, keep in mind that the key to making money with blogging is to create as much quality content for your site as you can.

Then, once you have built up your backlinks and written guest posts to bring in new readers, you can start monetizing your blog through affiliate marketing and ad space. This is one online business idea that can really grow over time.

As your blog grows, you can hire a company that offers E-commerce Digital Marketing Services to help you improve your SEO and draw in more viewers for your content.

2. Become a Virtual Assistant

Here’s another idea: You can make an online business out of helping other people with their business ideas.

Virtual assistants are in high demand these days. VAs often perform tasks like scheduling and emailing. However, there are many virtual assistants who write copy, create graphics, or do online shopping or styling.

Basically, if you are very organized and you have good people skills, this can be a great job!

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3. Teach Others Online

This online business idea can take a couple of different forms. If you are an experienced teacher or you have a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Certification, you can teach English online on a variety of different websites.

Another option is to sell your expertise.

For example, are you a carpenter? Or have you spent decades designing book covers? Do you love gardening more than anything else in the world?

In short, you can create online courses on just about anything. In the era of social distancing, there is a lot of opportunity for people who want to get involved in online learning.

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4. Get Crafty

When looking at online business ideas for beginners, you might think that you have to have a lot of technical knowledge. However, nothing could be further from the truth. For example, if you like working with your hands and creating new things, you can start a business, even an online business.

Products like t-shirts, jewelry, and candles are popular on online marketplaces like Etsy. These products can often be made at a low cost, too.

RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO START A CANDLE BUSINESS

5. Sell Your Art for Commercial Use

If you are a visual artist, musician, or writer, your art can lead you to an online business idea: Your art is your work is your money!

For instance, visual artists can sell their photography to stock photo companies. Additionally, they can sell their graphic designs to businesses that need their work.

Musicians and writers can also sell their art for use in advertisements. Creating a strong social media presence can help drum up business for you and bring attention to your talent.

Start Making Money with These Online Business Ideas for Beginners

These are just five online business ideas for beginners. The truth is that the possibilities are endless. What will your next business be?

Want to learn more? Check out our Online Businesses category for more ideas.

Featured image by StockSnap

In the modern world, teams are an essential part of any successful business and are the backbone of any organization. If you empower them to be more productive, they will reciprocate that empowerment and go above and beyond what is expected for a job well done.

Unfortunately, many companies struggle to get their employees motivated. In order to be productive, it is vital for individuals to feel appreciated and supported at work. When it comes to empowering teams, there are countless ways in which you can do so. 

This article will cover a few ways on how to empower your employees to become more productive and help you achieve the best results possible from them!

1. Create a Safe Workplace 

It’s crucial for your employees to feel safe at their workplace. One of the best ways you can do this is by being open and honest about what’s going on in the company.

Communication is key when it comes to creating a safe environment. So, make sure everyone knows how they’re feeling or what changes are coming up that will affect them.

Additionally, you should also get essential business insurance that covers workers’ compensation. This might sound like it would take up too much time or money but taking care of your employees is essential. Workers’ compensation covers your employees’ medical expenses and lost salary if they get hurt while on the job, which can also save you from potential lawsuits.

2. Encourage Creativity 

Creativity is the driving force behind innovation and progress. It helps employees think outside of the box to generate ideas for improving processes, products, or services. It also encourages open-mindedness among other team members. This can help develop a productive company culture by increasing understanding amongst differing opinions on a subject.

In order to be the most productive, it is important for employees to feel that they can freely express their creativity. This will not only help them work better and more efficiently but also allow you to experience less frustration from miscommunications or missing tasks.

To encourage innovation at the workplace, you need to make it a priority and have the resources available to do so. This means removing any barriers that may prevent employees from expressing themselves, such as deadlines or insufficient technologies.

3. Provide a Space for Healthy Competition

Employees sometimes need an outlet in which they can be competitive and feel encouraged. Competitive environments, such as office sporting events or competitions for sales leads, will incentivize employees to work harder in order to win the competition.

To provide a healthy space for competition at your workplace, you need to be careful not to focus on bad aspects of competitiveness. Those usually create an aggressive environment rather than a positive one. Healthy competition helps employees blow off steam, increase motivation, and make new connections in their workplace.

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4. Implement a System of Rewards

An incentive is a reward, such as an award or bonus that will encourage employees to maintain their level of productivity and work harder to make the company successful. Additionally, incentives can also help motivate them to improve their performance, thus be more productive.

This can be in-kind rewards (such as gift cards) or cash bonuses, which are given at predetermined intervals. Normally, these are offered annually where performance has been satisfactory. You can also use incentives to reward employees for meeting specific goals to encourage them to continue striving.

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5. Offer Feedback

Feedback is a process of providing information about one’s performance. It’s an assessment, evaluation, or appraisal on how well they are doing their job and whether the company is getting what it needs from that person.

It is important to give feedback in a timely and constructive way. This means that you should be giving employees regular performance reviews, at least annually or quarterly, depending on the nature of their work. You should also provide them with more immediate feedback when necessary (such as during an appraisal). 

Feedback should also have specific examples about where the employee went wrong or could do better next time to make sure all feedback is constructive. When you give feedback, it is essential to be open and honest with the employee about your thoughts on their performance. 

This means that if they are doing well in certain areas but not others or have good work habits overall but need some improvement in one area, you should let them know to improve upon these aspects of their work.

6. Prioritize Their Needs 

It’s important to prioritize the team’s needs because when they are happy. Your organization will thrive as a result. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should be their friend. However, it does mean being respectful and fair to everyone else in the company.

You should also make sure your teams have a healthy work-life balance. This means having a work schedule that doesn’t make it difficult for them to balance their personal and professional lives.

When your teams feel respected, they’re likely to be more productive. They’ll also want to stick around more, which might mean you’ll have a higher retention rate in your company.

7. Create a Collaborative Environment 

Teams should be encouraged to take responsibility and work together. Collaborating as a team can only make you more productive and help your company succeed.

To encourage collaboration, you can first create a workspace that is conducive to creativity. You can do this by giving the team space where they feel comfortable being creative and taking risks. Then, add tables, chairs, and plants to the workspace to create a more creative environment.

Final Thoughts

Team members are more productive when they feel valued and have a sense of purpose. Therefore, companies should take the time to understand what motivates their employees individually and provide them with opportunities for growth and development throughout their careers. 

Motivated teams can help your company be more successful, and everyone will benefit from an environment where team members feel valued. No matter what your team is working on, these tips will help you empower them to be more productive. 

RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO IMPROVE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN YOUR COMPANY

Featured image by Mohamed Hassan

The terms curriculum vitae (CV) and resume are often used interchangeably. So, it’s easy to think that these documents are the same. However, in fact, they’re not.

But, they are quite similar and hard to distinguish unless you know the difference. Knowing the difference is essential because sometimes your entire future career may depend on how accurately you choose the type and format of your job application document. So, let’s dive into the topic. In this article, we’ll explain:

• What a CV is.
• What a resume is.
• How a CV and resume differ.
• How to pick which one to use. 

When we’re finished, you’ll know everything you need to apply for your dream job and really get noticed. 

What Is a CV?

CV stands for “curriculum vitae”, Latin for “course of life”. As the name implies, this is a long document. It’s typically, 2-3 pages long, or even longer. This in-depth document describes a person’s full career course in full detail. It also provides comprehensive information about:

• Education
• Research
• Publications
• Grants
• Skills

A CV also typically contains a short summary at the top of its first page and is usually accompanied by a cover letter unless required otherwise. It can be quite difficult to write a CV due to its length, level of detail, and strict formatting requirements. So, sometimes it can be best for an applicant to hire a professional writer to handle this daunting task in such a case one can turn to Skillhub. 

What Is a Resume?

The word “resume” originates from French (résumé) where it stands for “summary”. This document is a condensed version of a CV. A resume is typically one to two pages long. It only contains the most important and relevant data about the applicant’s work experience, skills, education, training, and accomplishments. 

There are a number of popular resume formats, each focusing on either work history, skills, or accomplishments. The most common types are:

• Chronological (or reverse chronological). The most widely accepted type focusing on work experience. 
• Functional. Another popular format used to highlight one’s skills and qualifications over work experience. 
• Combination. A fine blend of both chronological and functional types. it underscores skills and accomplishments, but gives a full overview of employment history as well.    

A resume may seem easier to write than a CV, but this is not always the case due to the multiple ways the information can be structured. If you’re unsure if you can make the most of your skills and experience in one short document, there are resume writing services ready to help. 

What’s the Difference? 

Length

A CV is much longer than a resume. It’s typically, three or more pages long, whereas a resume is around two pages.

Level of Detail 

A CV is more detailed. It should contain full comprehensive information about education, publications, research, and grants, as well as work experience and skills. 

Format 

Curriculum vitae has strict formatting requirements: information is structured in reverse chronological order only. A resume can be formatted in a variety of ways. It’s possible to highlight the most relevant data to get the recruiter’s attention. 

Purpose 

There are certain situations where a curriculum vitae is a preferable choice, and sometimes it’s better to choose a resume instead. The choice depends on the job description, location, specific career field, or even specific positions. Read more about that in the next section.  

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How to Choose One? 

Now that you know the differences between the two documents, it’s time to learn how to choose between them. 

The first, and most obvious, factor that influences the choice of the document type you should use is the job description. The exact demands are usually outlined there. Most recruiters specify whether you should send a CV or a resume and if you need a cover letter or not. 

However, in some cases, job descriptions don’t help. Then, there are some common guidelines that will help you decide. If the type of document is not specified in the description, you should make your choice depending on the location and the industry, career field, and type of position.

Location 

This factor really matters as each country has its preferences. In the US and Canada, a resume is the default format for most industries. While in the UK, Ireland, and most of Europe, recruiters usually ask for a CV. What is tricky is that the European curriculum vitae format is not very different from an American resume.

In Germany, the main job application document is called Lebenslauf (equivalent for curriculum vitae). But, it’s only one of many papers that an applicant in Germany needs to land an interview. 

In countries like Australia and New Zealand, the terms are used interchangeably and usually mean a short document equivalent to a resume used in the US. 

In Asian countries like India or Bangladesh, the format is different altogether. There, recruiters usually require a paper called “biodata”. This document should contain lots of personal data such as marital status, ethnicity, salary, and more. If you’re applying for a job in Asia, clear out the details about the required application type with human resource managers.   

Industry and Position

It’s also crucial to keep in mind the industry and job type when choosing between the two documents. A CV is the default choice in academia, and you’ll definitely need it if you apply for positions like professor, lecturer, researcher, etc. It’s also mandatory for those applying for grants. 

As for other industries, a resume (or its equivalent) is usually preferable, unless specified otherwise.    

Wrapping Up 

Although the terms “CV” and “resume” are often used interchangeably, there are still quite a few differences between them. It’s not always easy to choose one. When you have any doubts, use the article above for reference. Bookmark for instant access! 

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