Month: August 2021

4 On-Page Techniques forEffective Search EngineBranding

Don’t Start Your Startup Without These Three Things

Steven on August 26, 2021

Getting your startup off the ground is one of the most exciting times in the life of an entrepreneur. All the dreaming and planning and false starts and failures have finally led to the moment when the proverbial open sign lights up for the first time. You have finally arrived. Or at least, you have arrived at the starting line. The hard parts are still in front of you. But you don’t need to worry about any of that when you first get started. You want to have a smooth opening day and enjoy this moment where all your hard work has brought you. Go ahead. You deserve it.

But before you pop the cork on that bottle of Champaign, make sure you are setting yourself up for success so that you can avoid the mistakes of other startups. Thanks to your business plan, you have clear goals. But you also have to have the fortitude to stick to the plan even when things are taking a long time to develop. You can’t be tossed about by the winds of fate. Your business maturity has to be your anchor in the storm. Don’t start a business without it. Here are a few more things you will need on opening day:

Insurance

Part of your business maturity is the realization that bad things happen at the least opportune times. That is because there are no opportune times for bad things to happen. You just have to be ready for whatever life throws at you. One of the best ways to be ready is to have excellent disability insurance. If you don’t have that insurance on day one, you are putting your new business in jeopardy.

Mishaps don’t wait until you have proper coverage. Opening day is a prime time for mishaps because you don’t quite have everything nailed down. It is more of a shake-down cruise to find where the weak spots are. Once found, you can begin the process of shoring them up. What happens if you find yourself disabled and unable to work at full capacity? What will that do for your income? What if you have to hire someone on an emergency basis to fill in for you? There is no reason for you to panic over every hypothetical situation. But you should be prepared for a few of them. The best, easiest, and most affordable way to be prepared is to have disability insurance before you allow a single customer to walk through the doors.

Backup Funding

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to spend every penny of your initial round of funding when you first open. This is a little like not having insurance. If you do not have backup funding for cash flow, you are one unexpected event from being out of business before you can properly start.

If something catastrophic happens to your office, you are going to have to get the necessary repairs done as quickly as possible. It does not matter that you have insurance that will cover it. You are going to have to wait a while before getting a settlement of your claim. In the meantime, you need money to deal with the problem. Your business will not be instantly profitable. You need cash flow upfront. If it takes longer to reach profitability than you planned, you are going to need a second round of financing. You need to have that source of backup funding on speed dial before you spend a penny of the initial funding round.

The Right Technology

After you open your business is the wrong time to discover that you needed a gigabit connection instead of the cheapest consumer line you could get. You are going to need to start making transactions on day one. You can dig a pretty deep hole if you have to stop doing business and retool your tech. Some changes can’t be made overnight. It takes a while. So get your networking figured out before you bring your startup online.

Not every startup is destined for success. But yours can be if you do the following in advance: Get properly insured, procure backup funding, and settle your technology needs before you open for business.

Personal Branding

Break Diving takes online learning to the next level in a positive social media atmosphere

Steven on August 26, 2021

Online learning communities have been emerging on the internet scene for quite some time now. Even before the pandemic hit, many people joined these forums to communicate updates and queries and provide general encouragement, help, and motivation to achieve their goals.

“Given the growth of technology and the lack of geographic barriers on the internet, online communities are the new hub for innovation and learning. Like “real-life” communities, online communities have shared interests, trust, operating norms, and roles, creating the foundation for effective interactions.”[i]

Some positive aspects of these communities include membership, influence, fulfillment of individual needs, shared events, and emotional connections to a learning community. Membership in a community gives each participant a sense of belonging. This sense of belonging helps to build bonds between members, which results in encouragement for them to stay connected and keep helping one another. Additionally, for a learning community to work well, every member should react and respond to what they see. This requires them to be present not only when there is a debate but also when people need advice and ideas. Furthermore, people tend to participate in a learning community to absorb the material and ask and answer questions. They should have the ability to express their opinions openly. In this way, community members can give and receive.

In addition, members of a learning community must also be able to share positive and negative experiences. Sharing experiences can help people connect, trust one another, and learn from one another. This results in a strong sense of community among the members.

Bottom line, a learning community becomes effective when it is held together by the right elements. This includes a fundamental goal, where the purpose of the community is defined from the get-go; identity, where a person’s identity is found through belonging to the community as a member; discussion and supportive participation, where members can discuss matters in a mindful, supporting and encouraging way; and shared values, which is the general perspective that members of the learning community share. Having those shared values is what unites them and enables them to promote an evolving discourse.

Much like everything else, therefore, there are pros and cons to the establishment of an online learning community.

The first benefit is improved retention rates. Learning communities have been shown to boost student retention rates. Regardless of age, students who participate in learning communities feel considerably more inspired to study and to keep learning. This is because they don’t feel alone in the process. A community serves as a support system, guiding you through the process and making it less lonely. Furthermore, they provide an effective and safe place to seek assistance. The more community members assist one another, the more empowered they feel to accomplish more in their studies.

Many students benefit from going over class material together through discussion since it helps them remember what they’ve learned. The more that co-learners talk, the more likely they are to remember what they’ve learned and continued learning. Second, online learning platforms are more integrative. Generally, co-learners are viewed as competitors in the academic environment. However, people are considered allies in a learning community. A learning community brings people together to help one another along their path. If someone needs assistance, others will gladly provide it. The third benefit to online learning is that when done right, it provides high-quality education. Online learning communities are seen to be beneficial to students’ learning. In addition to enhancing recall rates and reinforcing information, high-quality learning is facilitated by the abundance of learning chances. Members benefit not just from their study materials but also from each other’s experiences. The ability to interact and discuss with other learners provides opportunities to learn things that weren’t included in the course material. By hearing about other people’s experiences, learners will be less likely to make the same mistakes. This saves time and effort and makes them less likely to get discouraged and stop. Other benefits include collaborative knowledge and practice-based learning.

The most significant concern for educators in learning communities is the temptation for members to lose their sense of motivation. This is relatively frequent nowadays, especially among adult learners who are too busy or exhausted to put in the effort and expect everything to come effortlessly to them. Learners may try to take advantage of others in such situations by absorbing what they share rather than making an effort to find things out for themselves. When a member is too lethargic to put in the effort to participate, other members will be hesitant to share their thoughts. This can lead to feelings of hatred and mistrust among users, suffocating the positive environment. To address this potential problem, educators must make an effort to make sure learners develop both a personal and a group identity. Personal identity refers to how people see themselves in comparison with their peers; what strengths and value do they bring? What unique attitude and personality do they have?

On the other hand, group identity is how people collectively identify themselves, including their shared values, aims, and ideals. Striking a balance between the two identities could help to create a good learning community. As a result, some online courses reward individuals with individual milestones, such as badges when they complete a specific goal. These badges include content mapping, or unlocked content. With this reward system, educators can define and recognize an individual’s achievement in isolation from the group’s achievement.

Taking all of these pros and cons into account, Break Diving has established a not-for-profit social media site (at breakdiving.io) that is dedicated to changing the current social media landscape. The organization was founded on one mission; to increase people’s success, happiness, and friendships worldwide. The team behind Break Diving understands that traditional social media is one of the biggest causes of depression, arrogance, selfishness, and loneliness in the modern world. Additionally, regardless of one’s accomplishments, most people feel like they are still inadequate and cannot shake feelings that they have failed compared to their peers. Finally, despite the Internet offering us better connections to the rest of the world, most of us still lack true friendship and camaraderie.

Break Diving is changing this. The platform has proven to be a force of inspiration and support in the world by: 1) Helping people feel more connected and supported, 2) Building a positive alternative to all other social media platforms that brings people together in harmony, 3) Helping users achieve all their life goals and encouraging them to inspire others as well, 4) Creating a global mentorship program, and 5) Expanding everyone’s global cultural perspective to promote mutual understanding.

Unlike other platforms, Break Diving has regular live events that members can attend. They also offer a “dive certification program” that allows members to get certified in hundreds of “dives” at various levels. Dives are tasks that members can complete to show their skills in particular areas. Additionally, through their peer-networking support groups and events, they offer motivation and support. Finally, through the top-down mentorship and support program infused in their community, they help provide strategy and business sense.

The platform combines the best parts of other social media platforms. Break Diving has a rigorous application process as well as a clear Diver’s Code and Member Expectations. Since they are more than a social media site, they do not just accept anyone. Break Diving cares about its community. For this reason, they only accept applicants who will fit in, enjoy the experience and make the platform better. While their plan is not to exclude anyone, their application process is designed to help people understand what Break Diving is all about so that users can be positive members of the community from day one. The supportive community is filled with coders, writers, linguaphiles, performers, investors, entrepreneurs, travelers and parents from all over the world. While the members come from all walks of life, they’re all ambitious, motivated, friendly, helpful, and committed to helping others succeed.

If you love to learn from others and share with others, improve your life, develop greater self-esteem and pursue your dreams, Break Diving is the perfect social media platform for you.

If you’re interested in applying for Break Diving, click here to start your application. You can also get more information on these platforms:

Community Site: https://www.breakdiving.io/

Corporate Site: https://www.breakdiving.org/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/breakdiving

Blog: https://breakdiving.blog/

W.Y.S.E Blog: https://wyseguidance.org/

[i] https://trainingindustry.com/articles/e-learning/the-benefits-of-online-communities-in-e-learning/

Legal Branding

6 mistakes to avoid in the early stages of a startup

Steven on August 23, 2021

Most startups fail in the first year. This is simply because this is the most crucial time in a startup’s journey: Moving from the idea stage to the market. To help your startup succeed, here are the six mistakes to avoid in the early stages of a startup.

Developing a technical prototype too soon

Technical prototypes cost money and time. It is something that you will need to do at some point. But you shouldn’t jump the gun and develop one too soon. You need to be really solid on your idea first. Instead, ensure that the financial and marketing sides of your business are in place. Then, start to look at prototyping.

Not having a knowledgeable mentor

Getting advice is crucial to the success of your startup, especially in those early stages. Yet so many entrepreneurs avoid doing this. Mentors offer valuable insights into the field that you are entering and can help to guide you through all the challenges that it presents. If you don’t know anyone who can offer you some guidance, then look online. There are so many startup communities that have forums and groups where your questions can be answered.

Lacking a well-defined business plan

In those early stages, you really need to know what the future holds for your new company. That means having a detailed business plan created that will cover all aspects of your business. It may initially seem like a boring task, but many entrepreneurs fail because they don’t do this. Hence, you should put the time and effort into making sure that you have one!

Outsourcing unnecessarily

While you need to get going, getting everything done for you is rarely the best idea. For example, outsourcing your accounting or bookkeeping can seem like a good idea at first. But in reality, it’s usually not. You really need to know what is happening with your finances if your business is to succeed! So, do as much work as you can. Another example is app-building and website building. With today’s no code technology, you can build most of these things yourself. Here’s a useful guide on everything no-code.

Picking the wrong investors

Another thing that most new entrepreneurs get wrong is who they choose as an investor. That’s because, if it isn’t done right, you could be on the end of some seriously bad advice. When you first begin looking for investors, do so by asking around. See if you know anyone who has money to invest. If not, then start researching online. Look at the Angel Investment Network and see if they can find you a potential investor.

Expanding the team too soon

When it comes to expanding your team, you need to be careful. As the old saying goes: “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” You really need to consider carefully who you bring on board as an employee or a contractor. This is because if that person isn’t 100% dedicated and committed to your company, then he or she could end up causing some serious issues.

Digital Branding

How Managed Cloud Solutions Fuel Business Growth

Steven on August 17, 2021

Even without the current pandemic, the business world would be competitive enough, but the recent global problem has put additional strain on every company around the world. New ways of working and growing had to be discovered and businesses needed to adapt to the new situation as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Naturally, solutions that are both easy to implement and cost-effective were in the spotlight and all eyes turned to technology to provide ways in which companies could continue to work and hopefully prosper. Some examples of such solutions that have witnessed a great increase in use are definitely cloud computing, managed cloud services and open-source platforms. Actually, these are now technology megatrends that drive business growth. We’re going to focus on managed cloud solutions and open source in this text and try to help you understand how you can use them to allow your business to thrive.

Source of growth

All successful businesses utilize managed cloud services and open-source solutions, mainly because the concept allows them to create more agile and flexible environments, achieve more streamlined workflows without spending a lot and, consequently, yield more profit. Namely, open-source technologies feature high transparency levels and are open to inspection, thus enabling you to use and process your own data without being restricted to the capabilities of just one vendor or product. All businesses that want to improve their TTM (time to market), increase revenue and stay future-proof simply have to use such solutions.

Benefits

To begin with, there is transparency. The end-user gets full visibility into the code base and insight into all discussions about how the open-source community creates features and solves bugs. Next, there are global communities that unite around improving open-source solutions and achieve much better results than internal teams. In terms of reliability, we can conclude that the levels of overall reliability are higher, since there is more brainpower tackling open-source code development. Finally, when it comes to money, you need to know that open-source solutions don’t require licensing fees, which means the total cost of deploying a solution will be much lower.

Managed cloud open source

Using an open-source solution does come with some challenges, which is why using managed open-source resolves is the most efficient way to deal with those issues. What most managed open-source providers do is handle the implementations, maintenance and security processes, which means in-house developers can focus on more revenue-driving activities. This in turn allows companies to move forward and grow faster. Recent studies show that the key driver for the increases in both open-source adoption and cloud enablement is the same concept – boosted business agility and increased ability to innovate faster. Logically, the most successful companies are those that manage to combine managed cloud services with efficient use of open-source.

The model of future growth

We can see that an increasing number of businesses are moving the majority of their computer architecture into the cloud, as they have become more comfortable with hosting their infrastructure and processes in the public cloud. Cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWB) are dominating the market, which means experts in providing efficient AWS professional services are those who can really help your business grow at a faster rate than ever and you can join many renowned companies already using their services and relying on their expertise.

How does it work?

Typically, open-source companies offer hosting and managing their entire stacks in the cloud, while charging subscription fees to end-users, so they can use their services and access various functionality tiers. The open-source company normally offers the most basic service tiers that include the free open core only, while upsell options are offered for paid tiers with progressively higher functionality levels and additional features. Users can spin up and manage their own environment and mitigate the need for experienced employees who can run and maintain a complex structure.

On the other hand, there are certain challenges when it comes to using a cloud services model, one of which is that an open-source company can choose to contribute its code to a foundation that supports open-source projects, which can help the company in question reach wider distribution. However, this can also cause them to lose a certain amount of control over the way users go from open-source usage to commercial feature consumption.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that cloud-based technological advancements will continue to dominate in the years to come and we can expect that that level of usability will also continue to grow. Otherwise, the adoption would be slow and much more likely to wane instead of increase. This can happen if the platforms used are hard to utilize, manage and monitor. Consequently, we can say that those platforms that are most popular and widely used will continue to develop, since that is the logical result of having an increased number of users (and developers). It seems that managed cloud solutions are the way to go, since they can offer solutions to current challenges and allow businesses to enjoy all the whole range of features offered by an open-source product.

Legal Branding

7 Awesome Automation Tools to Supercharge Your Content Creation Process

Steven on August 11, 2021

Content creation is a key function in digital marketing that demands both time and effort. The content you put out there speaks volumes about your business and your authority in your field. This is why optimizing the content creation process should be one of your top priorities. The more tools and aides your content creators have at their disposal, the more productive they are likely to be.

According to a survey by HubSpot, 68% of businesses use automation in some way. Another report by MarketingProfs says that 92% of marketing agencies are now investing more time and resources into marketing automation. use of automation tools and software has resulted in increased ROI for many marketers who have automated some of their content marketing activities.

If you are looking for the best automation tools that can give you a competitive advantage, here are 7 awesome tools you should know about.

1. Narrato – Content creation and collaboration platform

Narrato is a content creation and workflow management platform that helps you see through your content creation process from start to finish. It’s a great collaboration platform where your entire content team and stakeholders can come together to build great content.

Narrato Workspace can help you:

Collaborate with your content team – You can add your entire content team to the Workspace on Narrato, including your writers, editors, content managers, clients, partners, and other stakeholders. You can assign your team members to tasks and get them to collaborate on any piece of content. You can also share content with partners and stakeholders using public content links.

Manage a team of writers – Narrato is a perfect platform to manage your team of writers – be it your in-house staff or freelance / part-time writers. Content task assignment is super convenient (you can assign multiple tasks to a writer in one go). You can even track work done and payments due for your contract or freelance writers.

Create quality content – Narrato boasts of a powerful content editor, which allows you to optimize your content for readability and gives great content structuring suggestions. You can even run a plagiarism check on content using the editor. What’s even cooler is the ability to create custom content templates to get structured input from your writers.

Organize your content and projects – Narrato offers you a great platform to organize all your content projects in a single place. It’s structured very much like your local or cloud drive with folders and content items. But offers you several other views of your content to facilitate easy access and planning. For instance – a view of all content items without folders and a content calendar view, which is great for planning and tracking content work.

Track content and project progress – All content tasks run through workflow statuses and you can also track the overall progress of your project using project status bars.

Publish and deliver content seamlessly – Narrato Workspace integrates with WordPress and supports HTML publishing as well.

Create a guidelines and brand assets repository – This is a cool feature which allows you to create a guidelines document with attachments, and you can link it repeatedly to multiple tasks anytime.

Pricing: Free at the moment. May launch paid plans soon.

2. Automizy – Email marketing and automation software

Automizy is an email marketing automation tool that helps you distribute your content and engage with leads at the right time. Email marketing is one of the most important areas of any digital marketing strategy. But handling emails manually can be quite tedious. You have hundreds of prospective leads, each at a different stage in their journey towards conversion.

Email automation allows you to send them targeted, personalized emails at the right moment to increase your chances of conversion. With Automizy, you can build your contact list with the help of sign-up forms you create. The platform has an email automation builder that helps you define the entire process of sending an automated email, based on the actions taken by the prospect.

The drag and drop email editor also lest you create high-performing emails without any additional skill requirements. The AI tool on the platform helps by predicting the performance of your subject lines.

Pricing: Paid plans start at $9 per month for 200 contacts.

3. TubeBuddy – Productivity and SEO tool for YouTube

Nearly 61% of digital marketers say they have achieved better ROI with video marketing than with Google Ads. So you can imagine how important it is that your video content performs well, particularly on platforms like YouTube.

TubeBuddy is a browser extension that helps you get more views and subscribers on YouTube faster. The tool helps you with advanced keyword research, simplifying publishing, optimizing content to rank higher in search results, promoting your videos on social media, and data analysis to identify improvement opportunities.

Pricing: They are offering a free plan with limited features. The paid plans start at $7.20 per month.

4. Typito – Video maker to create videos with text

Another amazing video content platform, with a slightly different use case, is Typito. Typito is a video creation app with an easy drag-and-drop editor. You can customize your videos with your brand colors and fonts. You can also add captions easily that are perfectly synced with the video.

The platform offers more than 20 video formats, over 600,000 free images, and 500+ motion graphic templates.

Pricing: The paid plan starts at $29 per month.

5. Jasper – AI-based copywriting software

Jasper is an AI-powered copywriting software that can create high converting copy for ads, emails, websites, blogs, and more. This could be a very useful tool to create a compelling copy during web design and development work, without having to hire a copywriter just yet. It can also be an invaluable tool for your sales, marketing, and customer support teams, saving them a lot of time on content creation.

Jasper can generate several high-converting headlines with just a little input about the product or service for which you need a copy. You can also set the tone for your copy to go with your brand image. The tool lets you translate your content to more than 25 different languages too.

Pricing: The starter plan is priced at $29 per month.

6. CreatorKit – Video tool for content creators

CreatorKit is a video creation tool for creating social marketing videos. The platform lets you create animated videos, stories, and ads for different social platforms with its easy-to-use video editor. It has thousands of templates to fit various social channels.

You can customize videos to reflect your brand and save your customized templates to use again. You can also add price tags, discounts, and other engaging text to your marketing videos.

Pricing: Pricing information not available

7. Zencastr – Podcast recording tool

According to a research report, the number of podcast listeners in the US alone has grown by 29.5% in the last 3 years. Podcasts are a high-potential marketing tool today, competing with video and written content.

Zencastr is a tool that helps you record studio-quality podcasts from anywhere. It allows you to record a lossless 16-bit 48k WAV audio track with each guest, without any time limits. Since it is local recording, the internet connection speed does not matter and you can get high-quality audio every time.

The tool has built-in VoIP that lets you chat, talk, leave live footnotes, and record at the same time. It also has a Soundboard for live editing of your podcasts and an automatic post-production tool to help you achieve the final product.

Pricing: Free plan with limited features for hobbyists. The professional plan costs $20 per month.

Conclusion

Each of these marketing and automation tools is sure to drive more engagement for your business. Content creating and marketing requires skill and effort. But it also demands the right tools and technology to deliver the best results. Try out these amazing automation tools and watch your content performance soar higher than ever before.

Author bio:

Neelam Goswami is a Content Writer at Godot Media, a leading content writing services agency. Her areas of interest include digital and content marketing. She is also an amateur artist and loves to spend time on creative work.

Digital Branding

Smart ways for start-ups to get rid of mistakes

Steven on August 10, 2021

One needs to identify what hinders him and his organization from succeeding and think of smart ways that can avoid such mistakes. In this post, we will study a few of the smart ways that can help startups from making mistakes.

The mistakes in business are inevitable but a few of the mistakes can lead to a downfall for the company. Sometimes it only takes one wrong move to destroy the hard work of years. Due to pandemics, many companies have filed for bankruptcy and hence it has become crucial to stay prepared. One cannot afford mistakes in the business. This time we will look into the smart ways that can avoid the mistakes.

The smart ways here stands for measurable, specific, relevant, and achievable and time-based ways that can be accepted by any organization. It is the outline to achieve the business goals and ways to reach them. Learning from the mistakes is one of the best terms and generating smart ways to avoid such mistakes is the best idea.

Stick to the plan

A lot of business people or startups tend to skip the major work of creating a plan for the business as they feel that they can go with the flow. The business plan indeed needs to have the flexibility to be changed with the growth and direction of the business unit but still, it is important to have a major plan ready from the beginning. The business plan includes the business goals and ways to achieve them. It works as the blueprint of the business for the employees and partners.

Even though the plan is flexible and keeps on changing with the circumstances and activities of a business, it is suggested to stick to the major aim and working plan to get successful. If the original plan keeps on changing again and again it becomes difficult for the employees and partners to understand it well. Lack of understanding plan can result in irrelevant work.

Setting better goals

While running a small startup or a basic structure, one needs to articulate the goals. One of the common mistakes made by entrepreneurs is not setting clear, specific and feasible goals. One can never settle with an idea of “making a profit” as a goal for the business unit. One needs to focus on the required activities and decide the goals accordingly to get successful. Failing to set goals and going without them can result in the downfall of the whole unit.

Asking for support

It becomes easy to reach the top and achieve the desired goals when you have people to support you. Many startup owners tend to believe that they are enough to succeed in the business, but it is not so. Every owner requires employees and a team effort to achieve success. Running a business unit is a complicated process and can result in getting overwhelmed. Hence, one must never hesitate to ask for support, assistance and mentorship. It is suggested to surround yourself with experts to learn business strategies.

Use of the latest technology

With the development in technology, the way of working in businesses have drastically changed. To adapt to the changes, you need to reach customers online. Traditional businesses fail as they cannot adapt to the digital era.

One needs to stay updated with the time and technology and take the advantage of the new tools out in the market. One must opt for creating a new website, modernizing the daily operations, building an online presence and much more as the benefits of technology.

Staying updated with market

Regardless of the products, it is more important for the businesses to have people knowing them and their products. To stay competitive in the industry, one need to edge over the other existing brands. The digital marketing help to broadcast the business assets to lure customers. Contrary to the belief, marketing is not at all expensive. One can simply use social media and its likes to promote the business. It is about being creative and putting efforts to make people talk about your business and its products only by using social media accounts.

Conclusion

There are a lot of factors that contribute to the success or failure of the business unit. The failure is majorly a result of combined wrong decisions and lack of planning. Whereas success can be a result of appropriate planning and measures to achieve the decided plan.

To prevent the business from getting failed, one must control how to react to the internal and external problems faced in future. Many startups fail as they are now aware of how to respond to such a crisis. We shared a few of the smart ways especially for the startups to get rid of the mistakes that lead them towards failure.

Author’s Bio

Jui Bhatia is a Software Analyst at Techimply, India. With the experience in technology-driven field, she has mastered her knowledge on How(s) and What(s) to be done for a business. Also, she’s keen to share her knowledge on a few technology-related topics with readers that can assist any kind of business.

Digital Branding

A Brief In-sight into Cyber Security Trends

Steven on August 10, 2021

Cyber-crime stories are making at the top of news headlines across various industries. Whether it is a start-up or an enterprise, all businesses at vulnerable to cyber-attacks at any point. These breaches are increasing at a fast-pace. From 2005-2021, there have been many data breaches that have affected millions of users. Cyber-attacks are the fastest growing crimes and they end up increasing costs for businesses. The only threat is that cyber-criminals are smarter and more sophisticated than before. A cyber-security testing company can help in overcoming vulnerabilities along with providing protection.

Businesses dedicate their investments for cyber-security

Cyber-criminals carry out attacks much more fiercely than ever before. According to different researchers, these numbers ought to increase with time. Even though companies are investing huge amounts in cyber-security compliance, there is no perfect strategy for businesses. Even huge businesses that have made huge investments in cyber-security are still vulnerable to cyber breaches. Similarly, the failure of businesses in dealing with cyber-security faces huge losses due to major breaches in their systems.

Companies keep cyber-security issues on top of their agenda

When businesses hire a cyber-security testing company, they expect protection from any cyber-attacks. Imagine if the top businesses are investing so much to improve their security, how it would be impacting the small businesses and startups. According to Wipro, an IT firm, 65% of organizations globally now track and report security regulatory compliance to ensure the data protection practices meet all the cyber-security guidelines. Additionally, 49% of C-level executives who participated in Deloitte’s Future of cyber survey 2019 bring up their cybersecurity issues on their agenda once a quarter. Whereas, 70% of CIOs report that these issues are discussed in their agenda on a quarterly basis.

Companies should avoid breaches to remain protected

All security researchers are vigilant to avoid such breaches. Companies that ensure they are prepared for an attack always stay ahead of time. It becomes important for companies to employ external experts to test both external and internal firewalls and assist internal compliance too. Businesses should also provide a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) and key risk indicators that enable them to quickly asses the security within their organization. The board plays a vital role in recording and defining a company’s cyber defenses. Companies are also coming up with what the level of involvement is for the board with respect to cybersecurity.

The technological changes with present opportunities and pose threats for organizations. Since 5G mobile technology is growing, it will transform internet communication and also allow billions of devices to come online. 5G is more likely to be a hit for consumers and businesses. With cybersecurity being the main concern, organizations will have to restructure their strategies according to the present situation. Moreover, software testing companies can contribute to improving security checks and protect sensitive information. It can also help in reducing the number of cyber-attacks in the future.

Infographic created by Donnelley Financial Solutions, an ESG data management company

Digital Branding

How To Avoid Cliches When Branding Your Business

Steven on August 9, 2021

It’s effortless and stress-free to do what the masses and others in your industry have done regarding branding.

Going down the ‘blend in with the crowd’ route means your potential customers will clearly understand the purpose of business, as they’ve seen similar elsewhere.

But not only is that route unoriginal and unmemorable, but you’ve also become part of the generic content that gets thrown onto the internet daily.

When branding your business, it’s vital to remember that being different and unique is more important than being better. That’s why so many new startups will outsource their branding needs to a web development agency to ensure that their brand is unique to their business and caters to their ideal customer base without falling into the all-too-common cliches of branding.

Here are some branding cliches we say to avoid when branding your business.

Jargon

There’s nothing more off-putting for a potential customer than being bombarded with a dictionary’s worth of jargon and industry terminology that they’ve never heard of and have no care for.

Those who aren’t as familiar with the jargon will feel irritated and even isolated, meaning they’ll be less likely to make a purchase or return to your business. The use of too much jargon can be detrimental to your business when used in a way that adds no qualifying value to the services or products you provide. There is, of course, a need for industry terminology when it is distinguishable as either a USP, benefit or specific issue or problem that your brand can solve. For example, if you specialise in medical products, then you need to use the correct terminology.

Jargon becomes jargon when it inflates a brand, product or service into something unnecessarily uncomplicated.

The truth is that many people who don’t understand the subject they’re speaking about often use complicated jargon to hide behind. Einstein once said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

So a true expert can describe/explain a topic or idea without jargon, which comforts your customers and is something you can capitalise on.

Give a coworker a quick review when you’ve finished a bit of content, whether an email newsletter or a blog post. Or better yet, send out a test run to people who aren’t part of your industry to see how they feel about the information. Another set of eyes is great for spotting things you may have missed or overlooked.

Those who don’t have access to the second pair of eyes take a break from writing and come back to it with a fresh mindset, then give it a read over to see if you’ve fallen into the jargon trap.

Consider your content from your audience’s perspective – does it read in a way that’s clear, consistent with regards to your tone of voice? Does it explain how you can solve their pain points without assuming they have prior knowledge of your service or product?

Offering the solution vs the actual solution

Who isn’t intrigued by a business that offers you the solution to your problems? However, promising to be the solution can be one of the worst marketing cliches ever – primarily if you can’t deliver.

The issue comes when using the term ‘solution’. It’s an intelligent way to attract customers but comes with the risk of falling short of this claim. This leads to negative feedback and a lack of social proof.

Instead of being vague and using the umbrella term ‘solution’ or ‘problem solver’, you should instead highlight the tangible, solid benefits and advantages that your business and brand have to offer.

Discuss the specific problems your target customers are dealing with, then clearly state how your business and product/service can help rectify them. Be explicit, straightforward and transparent, and your customers will appreciate your brand so much for it. That appreciation is shown through their loyalty to your brand.

You should back up any claims and promises you make on behalf of your company with evidence, data and customer reviews. If anything, it saves your putting your business at risk with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) with any false advertising and claims.

One-Stop-Shop

One of the most criminal cliche to avoid when branding your business is ‘one-stop shop’. Even though your business might genuinely be a shop that does everything, the phrase has become overused and overlooked.

The term means that customers ignore the content and creatives. Realistically, only a few companies can honestly claim that they provide everything, one of them being Amazon, which literally does everything.

This cliche is slightly redundant as it doesn’t offer much value to your customer’s experience. In recent times people have moved away from general shops that claim to do everything. Customers prefer niche-specific products/services to meet their needs.

There’s a demand for quality (that niche-specific company should provide) over quantity (that one-stop shop’s offer).

A famous quote states, “If you stand for everything, you stand for nothing.” Your business and brand will benefit from having a niche to perfect and focus on.

Ways to avoid the ‘one-stop shop’ temptation is to use phrasing and slogans that show off and emphasise the uniqueness of your products/services.

Conclusion

Cliches can be very useful and sometimes funny, but using too many, can result in uninspiring, boring and unoriginal advertising.

Fortunately, by concentrating on your marketing objectives and business ethos, you can brand your business in a unique and captivating way that will entice and directly target your customer base.

Personal Branding

How To Keep Track Of Your Expenses And Profits

Steven on August 8, 2021

A successful and profitable business ensures timely tracking and accurate accounting of expenses. Cost-saving measures and proactive approaches yield good profit. Scrutiny of monthly expenditures and profits is the essential element of adequately managing your business.

A standard bookkeeping practice is tracking business expenditures. Salaries, utilities, commissions, advertising are a few examples of business expenses that require diligent accounting. Attention to detail in profit and loss performance ensures a healthy and thriving business. It pays to make it a habit to track expenses and profits.

The process can be less complex with the appropriate tools. Tracking your business allows you to take a closer look at spending that leads to increased profitability. Below are steps on tracking expenses and profits to financial literacy.

Open business financial accounts

Designate financial accounts solely for business. In this way, the personal expense does not meddle with the business-related.

Open a business checking account, savings account, and business credit card to take care of bills and purchases. Take advantage of cash backs and rewards by placing purchases on credit cards, partner with the best business credit cards to reap maximum benefit.

It is best practice to use credit and debit card transactions for your business purchase. A digital footprint is better with the card as a mode of payment. Cash transactions are volatile, difficult to track, and inconvenient to record.

Proper documentation

Proper storage of paper and digital receipts effectively tracks expenses and profits. Envelopes, file folders, and binders are tools that can assist in expense filing. Also, pay attention to the business calendar documentation attachment on receipts.

Some applications store receipts digitally to track profit, such as the Shopify profit tracker. This app lists and tracks all expenses in one place and shows the business’ profit in one go.

Profit and loss spreadsheet

For small businesses and start-ups, spreadsheets can record income and expenses and manually generate a profit and loss report for your business. In setting up an accounting system for your business, there are two options. Cash accounting records transactions as they occur. Therefore, income and payment recording are real-time when it is made and received. A more in-depth approach is accrual accounting. It is beneficial for growing businesses to apply this method.

A profit and loss spreadsheet reflects the financial performance of your business. In this way, an owner can assess and evaluate spending to improve the quality of profitability.

Cloud accounting software

Recently, more business owners are transitioning to cloud accounting software due to the accessibility of their business accounting data on their phones. This software offers mobility to users. They can easily manage the business finances on their mobile phones through digital transactions. The software carries out income and expense transactions. It also operates through a cloud; in this way, records and documentations are more secured.

In the digital age, managing finances is a walk-in-the-park process. Resource tools are available, and some are free of charge and customizable to your business needs. It is imperative to track expenses and profit because it depicts the overall financial health of your brand.