All posts by Steven

Legal Branding

Workers Compensation Injuries- Know The Most Common Ones

Workplace injuries are commonly associated with risky and physically demanding professions. However, injuries can happen in all kinds of organizations and some are more common than the others. Even the employees who work in seemingly the safest places may get injured due to such common incidents. It is significant to be aware that even the most unexpected types of injuries come under the coverage of worker’s compensation and you can claim them from your employer. Here are the common ones you need to know about.

Machinery accident injury

Faulty machinery or equipment or its misuse is one of the leading reasons for people getting injured at workplaces such as factories and construction sites. However, such mishaps can happen in offices as well, with equipment such as copiers or paper shredders being in common use. Burns or scalds are the injuries that employees at restaurants and eateries may come across. If you have sustained an injury while using a machine for your job or at your workplace, you can claim for worker’s compensation.

Overexertion

Surprisingly, overexertion is also covered by worker’s compensation. It usually happens when employees strain or pull a muscle or joint. In worst cases, you may slip a disc, which can be excruciating. Such problems often happen in physically tasking jobs such as factories and construction sites though people in other professions may experience them as well. Overexertion is possible in an office while moving files or even at a restaurant while carrying food.

Slips and falls

Slips and falls can happen anywhere, including your workplace. An employee can trip on a loose carpet, slip on a wet floor indoors or slip in the rain outside. Such incidents can cause minor sprains and bruises or something as major as fractures and traumatic brain injury. Since fault may be hard to prove in such cases, it is best to have an experienced personal injury lawyer handling it. Such incidents are covered by worker’s compensation if they occur during a job task or within your workplace.

Repetitive strain injury

As the name implies, these injuries occur when you do the same motion or action over and over again. Tennis elbow, carpal tunnel, and bursitis are common instances of repetitive strain injuries. Like slip and fall accidents, these may be tricky to prove because they develop over years rather than overnight. You need to be vigilant enough to report the symptoms and associate them with a workplace task that you do as a part of your duty.

Highway accident injuries

People who work as truck drivers, delivery drivers, and police officers are susceptible to highway accidents during the course of their work. Even other employees who have accidents while driving for work tasks can claim for highway accident. As a rule, any injury that happens while you are on job duty, even while traveling or running errands, is claimable under the worker’s compensation law.

With this clear classification of workplace accidents and injuries, it will be easier to decide when you have a legitimate case. Your compensation is something you deserve and you must certainly go the extra mile to get it.

Legal Branding

Shopping Mall Accidents: How Can You Get Fair Settlement?

Accidents can take place at the most unexpected places and a shopping mall is one of them. But you will be surprised to know that you can claim compensation for the injuries sustained during such a mishap. Shopping centers are often owned by commercial corporations that earn profit by leasing spaces. Hence, it is their responsibility to keep the business area safe for the customers who come to shop at stores. Apart from the mall itself, they are also responsible for the upkeep of areas such as elevators, escalators, walkways, restrooms, and parking lots. If you get injured in an accident at one of these places, the owner may be liable and you can claim compensation from their insurance company. Here are some facts that you should know for ensuring a fair settlement.

Common accidents and injuries at shopping malls

First things first, you need to understand when your accident would be considered as a shopping mall mishap. For example, a car accident outside the center or in its busy parking lot is not their responsibility. Rather, a slip and fall accident caused due to slippery floors, uneven floor mats, cracked pavement, unsecured electrical cords, and spilled drinks and food is regarded as the center’s fault. Similarly, you can consider them liable for incidents such as falling debris, faulty escalators, trampling due to inadequate security and assaults, and mugging incidents. The commonly reported injuries include bruises, scrapes, and cuts, leg injuries, back and neck injuries, head wounds, broken bones, and even traumatic brain injuries.

Understanding the liability for injuries

If you are injured in a shopping mall accident, you may seek compensation from different sources depending on your circumstances. These include:

  • The owner or management company of the center if you get hurt in a common area
  • The owner or management company of the retail store if you are hurt in a store
  • Manufacturer of defective equipment or machinery such as an escalator company
  • Private individuals

It is to be noted that you may have multiple claims in such accidents, which makes them more complicated than other personal injury claims. This is the reason you must consult seasoned personal injury lawyers while filing a claim. For example, you may have a claim against the shopping mall along with a secondary one against the retail store where the accident took place.

Proving fault for your injuries is the key

Shopping center owners are obligated by state and federal laws to protect visitors on their premises. They are ultimately responsible for customer safety, which means that they hold a legal duty to protect them from injury. However, the liability extends only to the ones that are foreseeable. While filing a claim, you have to prove the foreseeable nature of the injury to make it a valid one. Unless you are able to do so, you cannot claim compensation. For example, failing to maintain the escalators can lead to injuries that owners can foresee and will be liable for. Conversely, they wouldn’t be responsible for the ones caused due to your own negligence.

Being aware of all these facts can make all the difference when it comes to claiming compensation for shopping mall mishaps. At the same time, you must have a good lawyer to help you get the fair settlement you deserve.

Digital Branding

How Cloud Computing protects companies from Coronavirus?

With Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) creating pandemic and more and more deaths since its inception last December, the professional world has tried to make remote network arrangements for the work. The spread of Coronavirus has led all the businesses to work remotely. It shows that most of us are switching to the internet and cloud-based solutions.

  • The organizations which were already having remote network infrastructure are subject to benefits in this situation. They are in the process of updating their existing software services.
  • Other organizations that didn’t have any cloud-based services available for remote work are rushing to build their cloud call center software applications. They are concerned about the future and are preparing for any such pandemic outbreaks.
  • The Coronavirus disease that started in China had created several controversies in the past and today also. But, we must utilize our energy in finding a solution to fight against such disease. For companies, the best solution presently is to shift their focus on cloud computing.
  • Having a cloud application means businesses will have no effects on their work in such a pandemic. Having a cloud application will not only increase the scalability but also have additional benefits listed below.

Advantages of having cloud solution for your business amid Coronavirus

– Reduction in the cost

Businesses will save the necessary money using cloud solutions for their operations. These savings are in the form of a reduction in human resources, an increase in work efficiency, and deploying standard cloud solutions for multiple tasks.

The most significant reduction in the cost is the hardware, software, and additional technology infrastructure you have to purchase to fulfill the needs. Instead, here you need to focus on cloud-based solutions to meet your needs.

– Performance is improved

The cloud-based solutions, for example, S4 HANA cloud solution, and already running on tried and tested internet network.

You don’t have to worry about speed and efficiency. It is regularly updated to meet the requirements of the growing world.

It is best if you focused on how you will improve the solution; performance will increase by default.

– Reliable

When you are running your business operations using cloud solutions, it becomes necessary for you to check its reliability.

Talking about reliability, cloud solutions like S4 HANA cloud provides you the most important features like data backup and data recovery.

These two features are essential, especially when people are working remotely in COVID-19.

– Security

Along with reliability, cloud computing networks use the most critical security features.

When your organization is using cloud computing, be assured that cloud computing is the most secure network.

Your business is not only secured against any potential loss but also protected against all the security vulnerabilities your business will face in the future.

– Keeps you ready for the future

Businesses that were already present on cloud infrastructure are ripping the great benefits in today’s scenario.

They understood the importance of cloud-based solutions, and they prepared themselves in advance for any uncertain situations like COVID-19.

But it is still not late. You can always migrate to cloud-based solutions and be ready for any outbreaks occurring in the future.

Getting ready for cloud-based solutions like S4 HANA Cloud means keeping yourself prepared for any uncertain situation or possible changes and challenges the future will bring concerning our business.

Innovation is the real face against danger. 

 Let us consider the present situation. The companies are not working from their offices on account of lockdown. And employees are working from home.

In such a scenario, you may visualize that the only thing that is positive in such a situation, is the innovative ideas adopted by organizations to fetch the required results to their clients.

We are strengthening our toolset and more innovations are yet to come in the coming days.

Organizations have to admit that cloud-based solutions are the best solutions. Also, we always feel that innovation can face any danger that we all come across.

Conclusion

 Day-by-day, we can see that an enormous amount of data is generated. With Big Data, you need big storage. And that is where the cloud computing steps-in.

Cloud applications provide organizations with all the facilities to store, analyze, and extract meaningful information from this enormous data in a scalable and cost-efficient manner.

Legal BrandingLocal BrandingPersonal Branding

Preparing for Job Interviews in 2020

When it comes to interviewing for a new job, some things never change. However, in a rapidly evolving society and work environment, it’s essential to be sure that you’re up-to-date on best practices. As the internet becomes more ingrained in daily life, 2020 promises to be an unusual year for the job market.

Here are some helpful tips to help you prepare for job interviews in 2020.

Review Your Resume

Having an updated resume isn’t just for your future employer. Consider this invaluable document your interview cheat sheet. Take some time before your interview to review your resume and make notes about your experience. These notes could include answers to commonly asked questions or examples of how you made a tangible impact at each job.

Freezing up or rambling during an interview isn’t uncommon. Many individuals experience this as a result of stress or nerves. Having your resume in front of you can help you stay centered and on track.

Know also how to add resume to LinkedIn.

Work with a Coach

Practicing the answers to common questions is a must before a big interview. While working alone in front of the mirror can help you find the right words and responses, working with a coach can take your interview skills to the next level.

A coach can provide live feedback and make helpful suggestions based on industry norms. They can also help you navigate tricky areas, such as employment gaps and terminations. Consider reaching out to a coach as soon as you apply for a job to give you lots of time to practice.

Tidy Up Your Social Media

Now more than ever, recruiters and hiring managers are using social media to vet applicants. While the social media cleaning process should start well in advance of the interview, you should always take another look before the big day.

Remove any photos that could be deemed as unprofessional. While it’s normal to have a few fun pictures with friends, showing images of non-stop partying could be a red flag for future employers. You should also delete and unfollow politically-charged or controversial posts. Freedom of speech is important, but it’s not without consequences. In this situation, it could be the difference between getting a job and not.

Prepare for a Virtual Setting

When you go for an in-person interview, it’s essential to map out the route and parking and get there early. However, 2020 is a unique year, and more employers are moving toward virtual settings now and in the future.

So how does one prepare for a virtual setting? 

First, check and see which platform your interviewer is using for your interview and download the app or check the compatibility with your device. Next, find the right area with a stable internet connection and a tidy background. Be ready to log on five minutes in advance.  

Dress the Part

Whether you’re interviewing in person or virtually, you should always dress the part. Wash your face, do your hair, and put on nice clothing. Do some research on the company to see what their overall dress code and level of formality might be. Even if they’re a t-shirt and jeans kind of business, opt for a business casual outfit for the interview.

By keeping these simple tips in mind, you’ll be ready for your job interview in 2020. We’ve also made a list of valuable resources for the best and up-to-date trends in the market:

PushFar is a world-leading mentoring software and technology company, helping thousands of individuals and organizations with mentoring. We run an open mentoring platform, where anyone can sign up free to find a mentor, volunteer to mentor others, network, connect and develop their career, with a whole host of career progression tools and techniques.

MoneyMow is a blog about Carl and his family’s journey towards financial independence and retiring early at age 33. He writes about saving money, making money, and investing with the purpose of living a more free and happy life.

Amanda of My Life, I Guess strives to keep the “person” in personal finance by writing about money, mistakes, and more. She focuses on what it’s like being in debt, living paycheck to paycheck, and surviving unemployment while also offering advice and support for others in similar situations – including a FREE library of career & job search resources. 

Digital Branding

Winning Bid Management Strategies For Businesses

The competition in the B2B domain is growing these days and businesses are struggling to stay ahead. The biggest challenge relates to finding the best opportunities and capitalizing on them. Looking at the right places is important and so is using the right approach to get projects for your business. Bid management plays a key role in this aspect as you need to understand what really can make you successful with tendering. Essentially, you cannot follow a one-size-fits-all approach with tenders because they vary in size and complexity. Still, there are some bid management strategies you can rely on for winning the tendering game.

Develop corporate literature

Even before you start exploring opportunities, you need to have well-defined and coherent corporate literature in place. This is because businesses that collaborate with you would want to verify whether your organization holds relevant skills, experience and mindset to complete the projects to the highest of standards. Ideally, your corporate literature should include elements such as policies, licenses, accreditations and case studies. Beyond just having the right elements, it should have consistent, credible and rich content to showcase your achievements, track record and professionalism.

Source the right opportunities

Once you have the corporate documentation in place, you are all set to start exploring opportunities. Sourcing ones that are right for your business is vital. In the current landscape, Online Tenders make a smart approach for the organizations that want to find projects to match their capabilities. Besides capabilities, the other key considerations while assessing the suitability of tenders include domain experience, location feasibility, team skills and financial threshold. If you think that you can deliver to the buyer’s expectation, you can go ahead and bid.

Assess the buyer’s expectations

After ensuring that you can handle a project considering its specifications, you need to assess the prospective client’s expectations as well. They often have specific requirements and tender responses that fail to address these requirements tend to get lost in the crowd. A thorough look at the specification documents is the best way to get started. Further, you should pick the key information pieces, understand how the client’s organization operates and try to reflect the right mindset in your response.

Have a thorough bid management plan

Now that you have a clear idea about the project and client expectations, it is time to get started with creating a proper bid management plan. Creating a hurried response can kill your chances of success with tendering. Outline the key factors such as response to individual questions, documentation to be attached with the response and format of response. Ensure that you formulate the plan while keeping the submission deadlines in mind. Proper proofreading of the response before submission is also an important aspect of the bid management process. Something as trivial as spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, mathematical miscalculations and formatting problems can damage your chances.

An effective bid management strategy can make all the difference between success and failure for your business. So you must go the extra mile to create one and adhere to it as a standard for tender submissions.

Digital BrandingPersonal Branding

How to Come up with Topics for Your New Blog

Starting a new blog can be scary. Terrifying, even. It’s important to note that coming up with topics for your blog doesn’t have to be intimidating. There are a few things you can do to ensure you never have difficulties coming up with something interesting to write about, and they aren’t as difficult as you may think. In fact, they are actually pretty simple.

We’ll be going over some of those tricks in detail, so if you’re ready to start learning, keep reading.

Take Some Time to Brainstorm Ahead!

First, you want to start with a good old-fashioned brainstorming session. This is because taking the time to brainstorm topics is a major must when starting a new blog. With all the fake news out there, you’ll need to have unique ideas and supporting evidence, if you want your blog to stand out from the get-go.

Before you can come up with an entire list, though, you need to get the ball rolling and write down one or two of the topics that are already swirling through your mind. Even if you can only come up with one idea at the beginning, it’s all you need to get started.

From there, you simply need to change scope.

Let’s say, for example, you want to write a blog post about the importance of marketing. This is a pretty broad topic on its own, but if you change the scope, it opens up a world of opportunity. And before you know it, your one idea has turned into 6 or 7.

You can also write about topics like the importance of organic marketing, the most recent changes that have happened with marketing strategies in your niche, the differences between marketing on different social media channels, and much more.

All it takes to successfully change scope is a different perspective, a good brainstorming session, and the willingness to take some time to plan ahead.

Use Content Tools Like Google Analytics to See What’s Working

With that being said, though, you also want to make sure the topics you come up with will work. That means using content tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, and ClickFunnels to keep an eye on how your blog posts stack up against the competition.

When audience members read content, they’re looking for a number of things, including easy-to-read layouts, mobile functionality, engaging copy, and accurate search engine optimization. Having the data from each blog post at your fingertips can give you the ability to analyze whether your topics and overall blog can satisfy those needs.

No Need to Look Far: Write About Topics That Concern Your Site!

No matter how well thought out your blog topics are, there’s no chance they will perform well if they don’t fit in with the content on the rest of your website. So if you’re having trouble coming up with blog topics, look no further than that topic! Most notably, your site’s security.

Cybersecurity is a major issue for every website owner, including you, and it can provide a broad range of topics for you to write about. Some examples might be the best way to ensure the backend of your website is secure and the best way to establish strong security initiatives among staff members.

How-To Guides Are Always Great and Really Popular!

If all else fails, you can never go wrong with writing how-to guides! These have been shown to perform well on a regular basis, especially in the online blog space.

Think about it.

One of the most common things people do is Google the answers they’re looking for. Your goal with how-to guides is to walk your readers through a process they don’t yet know how to do and provide them those answers.

Write What You Know

No matter what your blog is about, it’s always going to be possible to come up with topics. All it takes is a little time, a new perspective, and excitement regarding the experience your readers will receive when they click onto your content. What is more, there are plenty of writing and editing tools and services like ClassyEssay which apart from providing academic writing help can also assist you in creating catchy headlines and high-quality content on various topics for your blog.

And if you ever struggle to come up with new topics, just take a moment to breathe and walk through the strategies we outlined above. You know about more than you think, and there are plenty of people out there who want to pick your brain about every aspect of whatever your overall branding focuses on.

So go out there and start writing. You’ve got this!

Digital Branding

4 Web hosting types – Things you should know before going with a plan

For an online business, having a good secure managed WordPress hosting service should be at the top of any priority list they have. With so many types of hosting to choose from and “players” to go with, it might get a bit confusing sometimes. 

Add in the fact that they all use the same terminology like bandwidth, SSD, storage, things can get even more unclear, especially for someone who is not that tech-savvy to begin with.

I want to discuss the main web hosting types in this text. As businesses grow, they may need extra resources which encourage better website speed, more storage space for media and servers that can handle larger amounts of public traffic.

Hopefully, after reading this, you’ll get a clearer idea for what each type is best for in what circumstances and what to go with for your own business.

Shared web hosting

Shared web hosting is best for those businesses who are still in their start up phase, meaning they do not need much extra resources to operate online.

If you need stable shared hosting under $1 with 99.98% uptime guarantee click here →

Why is it shared you may ask?

It’s quite simple. With these types of hosting plans you “share” webspace with others, sometimes, hundreds of websites hosted on the same server instead of having your own set of resources.

This leads to the biggest advantage that a shared web hosting plan can offer – it’s cheap price. The costs usually range from around 3 to 10 dollars per month and is quite obviously, the best choice for businesses who are still small and cannot afford to spend too much money on web hosting.

On the other hand, there are its limitations. 

As you can assume, sharing resources with tens, sometimes hundreds of websites on the same server is not a good idea if you are trying to handle a larger amount of visitors,some may just slow you down.

These things do happen, and if a website gets an increased amount of visitors, not only will it slow down by itself, it will also affect neighboring sites, since everyone’s in the same boat.

In summary: Shared hosting is the least capable type of hosting plan with limited resources, nevertheless, a very good option for those seeking a cheap way to host their website when just starting out.

Reseller web hosting

Reseller hosting is similar to a shared hosting plan in some ways, though, not as quite the same. You see, the idea here is that you buy a hosting plan (similar to the resource capabilities of a shared hosting plan) and resell it to others for a monetary gain.

Basically, you are paying for a hosting plan that has extra administration tools and can be resold for other parties. This way, the parent hosting company gains an extra client and you are making business as being the middleman.

Typically, the prices here range from 15 to around 50 dollars a month, depending what resources are given with the plan that’s resold. 

Apart from a regular hosting plan with a certain amount of bandwidth, disk space and capabilities of handling website visitors, you also gain a set of administrative tools which will let you take care of the people that you sold hosting plans to. 

In summary: this type of web hosting is best for those who want to have their own web hosting business, or are looking to gain more hosting perks for themselves, by reselling the services of the parent company. 

Cloud web hosting

Cloud web hosting is one of the latest innovations in the world of web hosting for businesses. Here, companies sell you a plan with the idea that you will need to expand in the future and gain more resources for your usage.

The biggest advantage of cloud web hosting is arguably its capabilities. You see, such servers are made up of smaller individual servers, joining up in one system capable of hundreds of websites with much bigger ease than that of a standard shared hosting plan.

In fact, after going with a shared plan at the start, it is best practice to move on to a cloud web hosting service as the next step. Most hosting companies in this case, offer prices based on the amount of resources you use up, so it’s more difficult to tell the exact price range for such.

In summary: if you want to go to the next level of your business growth after your initial plan, you can do that by choosing a very flexible cloud based hosting plan.

If you have not decided what to choose, give it a shot with web hosting trial offer from Hostens →

Virtual Private Server hosting

Yet another step forward after shared hosting could be by choosing a VPS or Virtual Private Server. It is what the name says – your own virtual private space. The main advantage here is that you also get additional resources when compared to a shared hosting plan.

It’s pretty-much another middle ground between sharing your resources with others, to having your own dedicated server. Even though the resources here are also shared among others, the difference from a shared hosting server is much more prominent in terms of what resources you have.

Here, you are also safe from neighbors, which may slow or even take you down with them as they receive more traffic, while also being a much cheaper option than a standard dedicated server. 

Prices here range from 50 to about 100 dollars a month for your hosting plan.

In summary: a VPS is a very capable option, designed for those who want to maintain their independence from others.

The article was prepared by prepared by Hostens.com team

Digital BrandingLegal BrandingSaaS Branding

Global E-Commerce Usability Errors

If we talk about global errors, it is only one – the unwillingness to understand that there is a usability online store. Among businessmen, it is considered that this is a set of standards to follow. And rare owners know the truth: usability – an individual complex, which is determined only through regular testing.

Let’s analyze the most common mistakes that arise from a lack of understanding of usability and lack of testing.

No information about the product in the shopping cart.

There’s a problem. The customer puts the goods in the basket. And when he wants to re-examine the features, he finds neither an enlarged image nor a link to a detailed description. The only thing available to him is the price of the goods. To reread the specifications and check whether the product is selected, he will have to go back to the catalog. And then the buyer leaves.

The solution. Give the customer access to complete information about the product from the shopping cart. Some customers prefer to put all the products they are interested in in the cart, and only then get acquainted with the characteristics of the product and select it. This behavior is often found in spontaneous purchases and sales.

No information on product availability

There’s a problem. The customer puts the product in the basket. He fills out a special form and at the end of the procedure he finds out that the product is over. This can make him angry, which will significantly reduce his loyalty.

It’s a solution. Inform about the presence/absence of the product in time – in the product card or shopping cart. This way the customer will be able to replace one type of product with another or will not fill out the form at all, which will save his time and save your reputation.

There is no option of auto storage of selected products in the shopping cart.

There’s a problem. The client formed a shopping list in the shopping cart and accidentally closed the page. After re-entering the site, he finds out that the selected lots from the shopping cart have disappeared. This is one of the typical usability mistakes on the site that scares away most customers.

The solution. Use the option to automatically save a list of selected items. The connection between the site and the customer can be interrupted for completely different reasons. These are both technical problems during payment and bad internet connection. If you do not take care of auto-preservation, the customer either refuses to buy or significantly shortens the list by reviewing its appropriateness.

No indication of changes in the order amount

There’s a problem. The customer chooses a product, goes through registration and finds out that the original order amount has increased for a reason he does not understand. The shop does not report that the chosen method of payment or delivery adds a certain percentage to the final amount.

Solution. If the increase concerns payment, it should be indicated at the stage of choosing the payment method. If delivery is made for a fee, it should be indicated when choosing a delivery method. The buyer can get information about additional payments with advanced product options extension.

Conclusion

These are the rudest and common usability mistakes. As you can see, they are quite simple and obvious. However, their presence can significantly reduce sales and spoil the reputation of the online store.

Solving such errors does not require huge investments and special technologies. You need to conduct internal testing, to understand the problems and start fixing them!

Legal Branding

How to Maintain the Cash Flow to Run a Business Successfully?

A report released by the International finance corporation (IFC) indicates that up to 35% of Indian businesses receive payments after 90 days of delivering their services/goods. A majority of the revenue remains inaccessible in the form of receivables. Partly down to the logistic and bureaucratic issues, these not only postpone critical business ventures but also affect its expansion.

To maintain positive cash flow, the ratio between the gross working capital and current liabilities must be greater than 1.

Here are a few ways you can maintain the required cash flow that is necessary for a successful business:

Break-even point

The break-even point does not directly impact your cash flow. Nonetheless, experts state it is a way to set up goals that help you better manage your investments.

Knowing your break-even point allows you to strategize your budget accordingly. Top entrepreneurs consider it an optimal way to improve their cash management skills, enabling a better cash flow in the future.

Maintaining a cash reserve besides gross working capital

A cash reserve ensures that a business has necessary funds to rely on during shortfalls. Experts have stated that every company faces specific financial challenges during their lifetime.

Having proper financial support ensures that your business is not affected by any monetary requirements. Also, any gaps in your cash reserves can be easily overcome with the help of a simple business loan. This not only allows your business to grow freely but also ensures you have steady cash flow even during a crisis.

An early collection of receivables

In order to maintain the cash flow, business owners are advised to shorten their average collection period. Here are a few possible ways to collect receivables –

  • Issue a dunning letter which is a reminder sent to the customer/dealer stating their payment is overdue.
  • Divide the total number of overdue cases. Prioritise on the ones with the most amounts and focus your efforts on collecting them first.
  • You can even dispatch someone to approach them directly and ask for payments.
  • You can withhold the next set of services/goods. Nonetheless, experts suggest you inform them beforehand.

In most cases, it is observed that the key to collecting receivables is to be proactive and continuously following-up on your customers.

Partial payments

It is advised that you ask your customers to make partial payments if they are unable to pay you the entire overdue amount at once. Understand that your net working capital never needs the entirety of current assets available for the transaction into cash.

Partial payments are considered as one of the key cash management tips for seasonal business owners. Top entrepreneurs even ask for partial payment as a security deposit in order to maintain the cash flow. They state that it also encourages them to pay in parts since they do not have to pay a considerable amount of money all at once.

Offer discounts

Business owners are known to offer attractive discounts to customers who are willing to pay before the pre-decided term.

Hire an expert

Large-scale businesses appoint one or multiple accountants to look after the cash flow. Hiring a CFO can become a significant liability for individual small scale businesses. Nonetheless, an experienced CFO does not only with managing the cash flow. They can also help you avoid the common cash management pitfalls occurring in businesses.

Extend payables

When working with your suppliers, it is advised that you decide the longest payable date possible. Consider your current financial situation and contingencies together to decide on such a payable date.

If your gross working capital to liabilities ratio is close to or lesser than 1, the cash flow of your business may not be sufficient to manage future contingencies. In such a scenario, you can consider business loans offered by financial institutions.

Opt for additional benefits that can help you avail the loan with more ease. For instance, Bajaj Finserv brings pre-approved offers that make availing loans quick and simple. These offers are available on business loans as well as on personal loans, home loans, etc.

Top business owners focus on their cash flow as they are aware that it is a critical factor in ensuring the success of their organisation. The points mentioned above are some of the most practised methods by experienced entrepreneurs.

Digital Branding

How to Use Digital Marketing in 2020

Digital marketing is an industry where everything happens with lightning speed.

Every year new trends appear while others pass into history. There is hardly a company that does not invest in marketing activities today. Software development agencies, eCommerce and even your favorite coffee-house at the corner, all use different means to promote their businesses.

Today, it is important to build a whole digital marketing strategy to maximize performance and minimize expenses. Let’s jump right into juicy details and learn what it takes to build successful marketing activities in 2020.

What is Digital Marketing and Why Use It?

Digital marketing encompasses all marketing activities performed on the Internet. Today, it consists of a wide range of marketing efforts and includes content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, paid to advertisements, etc.

Consumers spend a lot of time on the Internet surfing social media, looking up information and entertaining. In most cases, if you need to reach the target audience, the online world is the best place for that. 

Digital marketing forms the basis of all marketing activities for a company. Embracing it, you will be able to stay competitive. Moreover, customers expect companies to invest in marketing so that they have the ability to interact with their favorite brands online.

Main Types of Digital Marketing

As was already mentioned, digital marketing consists of different activities that companies engage in to attract new clients and retain existing ones. Let’s take a look at the main types of digital marketing that can be applied in 2020.

Search Engine Optimization

You’ve probably heard a thing or two about SEO. During the process, you need to optimize the website and its content to make it rank higher in search engine results.

Search engine optimization includes both on-page (you perform directly on your website) and off-page activities (one that you perform outside your website but in relation to it). The first type of SEO usually includes working with keywords, meta tags, etc., while the second encompasses link building, guest posting, etc.

Content Marketing

Content marketing directly correlates with SEO. The main purpose of this marketing activity is to improve brand awareness with the help of content, including blog posts, ebooks, whitepapers, infographics, etc. For example, if your company provides software development services, you can write an article “How much does it cost to develop an app? explaining to the readers of your blog how your company approaches app development.

Social Media Marketing

The promotion of brand and content through social media channels is a common practice both among big and small companies. Based on the type of business you are running, you might need to engage Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, etc. Content that your share on social media should be fun, interesting, and created with less formality. Often, companies show the behind-the-scenes life of their companies and people that back-up all their operations.

PPC

Pay-per-click ads are thriving and bringing great results for companies that utilize them wisely. Aside from the most famous Google Ads, almost every social media offers such services. You can set up paid campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even on Quora.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the type of marketing activity when you pay other people or companies for promoting your services and bringing new customers. It is based on providing your affiliate partners with links that direct users to your website. You either pay some percentage from the sales generate from a brought customer or operate on the per-customer-based basis.

Email Marketing

Even though some say that email marketing will be dead soon, today it brings no less significant results than it brought a few years ago. Companies use email marketing as a way to communicate with their audience, promote content, offer discounts, tell about holiday sales, invite to events, and much more.

Influencer Marketing

In 2020, the number of social media users worldwide has surpassed 3.8 billion. For some companies, including eCommerce, fashion, and lifestyle, there is no better way to reach a target audience.

While the creation of your own dedicated group of followers on Facebook or YouTube can take a lot of time, you can speed up the process of building brand awareness with influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing entails cooperation with influencers, people or organizations that are widely known for having an expert level of knowledge and social influence in some specific field. When choosing such influencers, it is important to pay attention to their target audience and whether it relates to your target audience and niche.

Digital Marketing in 2020: Final Thoughts

With thousands of companies offering the same services and products, the need to invest in marketing activities has never been so pressing. There is a saying that if a business is not online, no one will know about it.

Digital marketing is a complex approach to business promotion that requires the participation of a whole group of specialists. Still, for small and medium businesses, it is possible to select up to three types of activities and concentrate all the efforts on them and later move to others.

Author’s Bio

Ana Lastovetska is a technology writer at MLSDev, a custom software development company in Ukraine. She has been researching the field of technologies to create educative content of distinct topics including app development, UX/UI design, tech & business consulting, etc. The opportunity to deliver information for people who want to understand more about IT and app development processes is something that inspires Ana. You can get in touch with her on LinkedIn or reach her at ana.lastovetska@mlsdev.com.