All posts by Steven

Digital BrandingLegal BrandingPersonal Branding

How Can SEO Online Marketing Bring About a Transformation in Your Business?

With the number of marketing strategies that are available for your business, it is probably one of the most difficult jobs to decipher the ones that are going to be the best fit for the organization. Before you decide to spend a bulk amount on any particular strategy, it is a must that you know about all the strategies that are available for your business, especially important ones, which include search engine optimization. Nobody in the business world can deny that SEO is necessary. However, most of them have a similar question, what SEO online marketing is and what is the working pattern? According to https://www.entrepreneur.com, not having a proper strategy for onsite content is not a good idea when it comes to SEO online marketing.

SEO online marketing

SEO is a popular marketing strategy and it is extremely effective as well. The results of search engine optimization can indeed take a little time to show up but it is going to be worth your wait. Search engine optimization helps in improving the online presence of your business, which helps in making sure that you are having a good ranking in the search engines. 

When your website has a high rank in search engines, it is undoubtedly going to yield a lot more clicks from all the users. Based on the clicks that you are receiving, people are going to look at the website, and when they look at the website, they will come across services and products that are going to interest them. 

Apart from that, when your site has a high rank, you are going to come across important revenue and conversions. Online SEO marketing is known to combine both off the page as well as on-page strategies, which work together to make sure that the job is done.

On-page SEO is the change that can be made physically to the website to make sure that the website has a high rank. This includes:

  • Targeting keywords and implementing them
  • Creation of content
  • Optimizing page speed

Off-page SEO refers to the different strategies, which do not take place on the website for increasing ranking. The examples include:

  • Link building
  • Email marketing
  • Marketing on social media

When you decide to hire professionals of online impact marketing, they are going to use both so that you get the ideal results.

Given below is a list of the reasons why online marketing can help in changing the business for good.

Thousands of people are searching in Google constantly

When you are implementing online SEO within the marketing strategy, you are marketing the business to numerous people, and the figure is almost 67000 people per second. When you are using SEO for marketing services and products, you are making the offerings of your company available to a huge user base, which will provide the chance of making sure that customers are interested in your business. This is going to result in better and higher conversions. Without SEO, there is hardly any chance that the target audience is going to stumble upon your website and purchase products.

People ignore paid advertisements

Few paid advertisements indeed provide an amazing way of advertising the business but according to statistics, 80% of the users do not pay attention to paid advertisements that appear within the search results. This means that you have a much better chance of target consumers clicking on the website if it is getting displayed organically within the search results. Organic ranking means that the website has to be there as a result right below the paid advertisements. You will not have to invest money if you are interested in ranking organically, however, one important requirement that you cannot avoid is a great SEO campaign. 

Companies are constantly implementing SEO

If you are interested in staying many steps ahead of the competitors, search engine optimization is undoubtedly a must. 61% of organizations have stated that the biggest priority that they have is growing the campaigns. This is undoubtedly a high percentage and if you are not opting for SEO campaigns, your business is going to fall behind. It is going to be overshadowed by those companies, which focus on SEO strongly. This is why you need to make sure that you have a great campaign prepared. 

SEO helps in boosting conversions

When compared with traditional marketing, the rate of conversion of search engine optimization is extremely high. With the help of any traditional marketing strategy, you are going to see a 1.7% conversion rate. However, when it comes to search engine optimization, you are going to observe the conversion rate of 14.6%. This is a huge difference and illustrates the reason why SEO is a great marketing strategy. 

Local SEO is effective

If you are running your business locally, SEO has to be added to the marketing strategy without any second thoughts. After the users search for a local business, 88% are going to visit the business and make a decision within the next 24 hours. Therefore, to make this happen, you need to ensure that you are implementing a great SEO strategy. 

Can SEO online marketing be done by the business?

You need to understand that there are several dynamic parts associated when we are discussing SEO. Most of the business owners have one question, which is whether SEO can be handled within the organization itself. It is important to know that a single person can handle the campaign but to make sure that the results are coming; enormous hard work has to be put in. SEO is not at all a strategy that you set and forget about, you have to take constant care and monitor the results. Since the business has different aspects to be taken care of, it is always suggested that a professional does the job. However, if you want to do it on your own, make sure that you are focusing on the changing tactics and strategies of SEO constantly. 

Conclusion

Without ideal SEO strategies, your business will hardly get the limelight that you are interested in getting for it. Make sure that you understand all that has been mentioned above so that you can plan your strategies and implement them accordingly.

Legal Branding

Promote Your Business Effectively With Perfectly Designed Outdoor Vinyl Banners 

You can improve the chances of discoverability of your promotions as well as enhance its impact on the passersby when you use vinyl banners. 

  • Your business will be noticed easily and at the same time bring potential customers towards it. The best part of it is that it will become the highlight of a local event.
  • On the other hand, if you use these vinyl banners in front of your storehouse, it will enhance the exterior of the premises and at the same time will advertise your business to the world.

You can make these banners tailored according to your specifications to make it even more attractive and elegant.

Ideally, these outdoor vinyl banners come in a variety of sizes, big or small, in perfect form and color, making these a real asset for business marketing and brand promotion. This is because these banners are:

  • Gorgeous
  • Tough and 
  • Flexible.

It is the sturdy vinyl material that makes it the best option for outdoor advertising as it will withstand the harsh weather conditions, hell or high water, and be intact.

Designing the banner

When you design the outdoor vinyl banner, there are two most important things to keep in mind. 

  • First, you must keep your brand in mind to make your banner effective and stand out in the crowd. It is the message of your brand that you want to convey to the people. 
  • Secondly, you must consider the right color to use in your design. There is no reason that the brightest of colors will fit your design and your existing brand.

Therefore, when you choose the appropriate color or colors for your banner make sure that you consider the different associations that different colors have. 

For this, you will need to consider the types of emotions the colors evoke and what you want from the viewers. You must make sure that the choice of color is on point because it is the first thing the viewers will notice in your banner. Colors are also subjective to different cultures which is why you will need to study your target audience while choosing the colors. 

Here is a list of colors to make your selection process easier:

  • Red
  • Orange
  • Yellow
  • Green
  • Blue
  • Purple
  • Pink
  • Black
  • White
  • Brown
  • Gray

No matter what type of color combination you choose, make sure that you use them all in moderation so one does not overpower the other and your actual message is lost in it.

The banner sizes

Lastly, you must also determine the size of the banner to incorporate all your design ideas in it. To choose the right size you must tape measure the spot you want to put it up. Also, consider the size of the fonts you want to use for the text so that these are not far-spaced or cramped in it.

Sometimes, specific types of vinyl banners will come in specific sizes but when you want to customize it, you will need a much bigger banner than 10 to 12 feet in width and 3 to 4 feet in height.

Legal BrandingPersonal Branding

8 Effective Strategy to Improve Your Business Growth

So you decided to grow your business. But the question is how?

There are a lot of probable growth strategies that are available, everything from exploring new markets, crafting new products, to making an acquisition. Most organizations make their own unique combination of strategies. 

What’s important here is to select the best approach that is well-tailored for your overall strategic plan. 

That’s because it is easy to lose sight of the big picture, especially if you have placed your focus on non-strategic growth opportunities.

In this post, we will explore eight effective strategies in improving your business growth:

1. Invest in systems

If you’re trying to do everything on your own, then chances are, you’ll be limiting yourself to the prospect of growth.

A business that’s powered by systems is one that could handle multi-layered demands of expansion. That’s why it’s crucial to have a solid CRM, as well as a powerful e-commerce software that helps you focus on the important aspects of business expansion and growth. 

Check your current operations and see what elements are repetitive or monotonous. Also, make it your objective to outsource and automate as much as you can. That way you can focus on the growth of your business.

2. Improve your homepage

Apart from improving your SEO efforts, and making purchases and sign-ups easy, make sure that you have a perfect homepage as well. 

A majority of visitors who land on your site aren’t ready to buy anything. It’s also likely that they’ll land on your homepage. If it looks cluttered and difficult to navigate, then they’ll move on to your competitors. 

If your web copy is terrible and it doesn’t show your product’s value, then they won’t be won over. If this something that you can’t do alone, you can tap other agencies’ help by typing something like “outsource website design Philippines” on Google for example.

Sometimes, making a simple change, such as making improvements on your homepage, can boost your revenue tremendously. 

3. Focus on analytics

Large companies and tech giants like Facebook and Amazon have realized the value of using data. You should, too. 

As a business owner who owns a website and social media pages, you can use freemium tools to gather insights from your customers. 

For instance, using Google Analytics helps you gather insights on page visits, average time on site, bounce rate, how an audience arrives on your website, and so on. That way, you’ll know where to focus your marketing efforts

Another analytics tool that you can use is Unbounce, especially if you wanted to know how you can optimize your landing pages and boost your conversions.

4. Research the competition

If you’re figuring out what you can offer your target customers, then you have to research your competition.

You can use tools like AdBeat and Similar Web, to be able to gain x-ray lenses to your ad copy, all your landing pages, and other stages in the funnel.

It also lets you uncover the online strategy of advertisers. Search for ads that are running for the longest time, and try to emulate those. That’s one of the best ways to scale your business.

If it’s working for your competitors, then chances are, it will work for you as well. 

5. Always have a backup plan

As your business grows over time and processes become more and more complex, making quick adjustments can be rather difficult. 

Having a backup plan in place in case there are emergencies and unforeseeable circumstances could help you better deal with inevitable bumps along the road.

6. Build an email list

One of the effective ways in growing your business is by building an email list. It means that you need to have a lead magnet. And if you have a lead magnet, it means you need to create a sales funnel.

See companies like GetResponse, Aweber, ConstantContact, Drip, and  ConvertKit to build and manage your list.

7. Form strategic partnerships

Forming strategic partnerships with the right companies can certainly make a difference. It allows you to reach a large customer base quickly and easily.

But identifying the key companies to partner with is often easier said than done.

Here’s a piece of advice: Look for companies that complement your own. Get in touch with them and propose to them opportunities on how you can work together.

8. Host a webinar

Webinars are an effective way to promote a product or a service. It can also help a business scale quickly.

Webinars also have an automated selling tool for taking any service or product in the market and reaching a large audience fast. 

Overall, they’re a fantastic medium for captivating your audience to make a purchase. 

Final Thoughts 

Scaling your business is hard and needs considerable time and effort. You’ll be wearing many hats, and you’ll be interacting with customers regularly. Eventually, all of these would take a toll on you. 

Fortunately, there are ways to grow your business.

There are hundreds of resources about business growth strategies available online. Picking the right ones and applying them to your business will take your business to the next level, as you grow over time.

Mould removal
Local Branding

Top Methods To Clean Mould From Your House

Mould infestation is a dangerous and common problem that homeowners face when water seeps into their homes. Some people ignore small amounts of mould growing on the walls, nooks, and corners but mould is unsightly, usually has an odor, and results in symptoms such as eye irritation; itchy, red, watery eyes, runny nose, nasal and sinus congestion; respiratory problems, such as wheezing and difficulty breathing, chest tightness, cough, throat irritation, skin irritation (such as a rash), headache, and persistent sneezing. If you care about your home and family, you know that you need to remove mould before it reaches toxic levels.

Today we are going to present some of the best and the most effective methods to clean mould from your house. So take notes if this really is a big concern for you and if you don’t want the mould to take over your house.

How To Clean Mould From Your House

Scrubbing mold away

1- Use Chlorine Bleach

When it comes to DIY mould removal, there’s nothing better than using chlorine bleach, and chances are that you already know how effective this can be. This chemical can kill every kind of growing fungus. Especially if you’ve got mould growing on the tiles of your kitchen and bathroom, then use the chlorine bleach without any worries because this chemical doesn’t penetrate through any porous surfaces or tiles etc.

2- Removal With Vinegar

Looking for an inexpensive but effective product to clean all the mould? If yes, then try vinegar because with vinegar there’s nothing left to be worried about. Our suggestion for you is to use the distilled vinegar as it comes with mild acidic properties so it won’t be harmful for your skin etc. Also, there’s no need to dilute it because distilled vinegar works quite well and is safe even when you don’t mix it with water. All you have to do is to spray the vinegar right on the spots where you see mould growing and then scrub it all away.

3- Apply Baking Soda

Just a toothbrush and some baking soda is all that you need to get rid of mould in your house. Just scrub this mixture on the wall or the tile that you see the mould growing on and then clean it with a sponge. The chances are that the mould won’t grow there again.

Molud remediation

4- Call The Pros

If you’ve got a severe case of mould growth in the house, then instead of taking measures yourself, you should call the professionals. For example, if you are in London, call the London Mould Removal Services because these people know how to treat fungus. They have the right equipment, and they have the right tactics to kill all that bacteria. With a mould removal service provider, you won’t have to worry about the mould bacteria particles in the air too. Yes, you read that right! These people ensure that the mould growing on the walls is removed, and above that, they also ensure that there’s no more chance for new mould to grow.

Conclusion

These are some of the best things you can do to clean mould from your house. So use these tips because we assure you that they will work effectively for you. In case you don’t have the kind of time to try these tips, just hire a mould removal service and then let them take care of everything for you.

If you try these tips, do let us know the results!

Personal Branding

Branding An Engineering Firm

Branding engineering and related architectural and construction firms take more than having a good logo designed and deciding on a mission statement that summarizes the aims and values of the company.

Good branding goes hand-in-hand with marketing strategies and will ensure that people recognize who you are and what you stand for. It represents a promise to your clients that tells them what they can expect and differentiates your firm from others operating in the same engineering niche as you. 

Your brand will emanate from who you are, what you want your engineering business to be, and the way your clients and potential customers perceive you and your firm.

But one of the greatest challenges is that engineering firms, like architectural and construction companies, don’t offer products for sale. Rather, they are service-based and so their offerings are intangible and based on experience rather than physical performance or functionality. 

Additionally, any business that offers services may have diverse offerings with multiplex values. All of these need to be associated with the brand and highlighted in some way. 

Branding Tips for Engineers

1. Role of a Good Logo

Having said that branding is more than having a good, identifiable logo and mission statement, it’s important to recognize that both these elements still form a vital part of the branding process:

  • A good, well-designed logo will reflect both the name and mission statement of your business in a simple visual manner. If the color is used, this must be carried through all visual branding for consistency. 

  • The mission statement will define the fundamental purpose of the business and identify the services offered. When engineers formulate a mission statement they need to know who their potential clients or customers will be. 

Visual elements make any brand recognizable, which takes us back to the logo and colors are chosen if any. You will use these on letterheads, corporate communications, brochures, and possibly clothing or giveaway items like pens or caps. With reference to the two logos above, people will immediately recognize that you represent a business called Altitude Branding or New York Engineers. 

But that is just the beginning. You also need to have a vision of where you want the business to go and what you hope to achieve. 

2. Defining the Brand

Engineering is a broad field and many firms specialize. Perhaps you want to brand your company as a mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering firm or perhaps a business that offers top-quality heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) engineering services. Maybe you want to focus on mechanical engineering services or fire protection services including sprinkler design.

Alternatively, you might want to brand the firm as a business that offers a wide range of services that all embrace energy-efficiency and sustainability. 

Whichever emphasis you choose, successful branding will ensure that your company’s name is commonly associated with the top services you offer. 

Once you have identified where the business is currently positioned in the marketplace in terms of both goals and competition, you can define the brand and the promise it offers. The definition should also identify the values the business incorporates. 

3. Manage the Brand

Most successful brands are properly managed, and an engineering firm’s branding should be no exception. A brand management team, either employed or out-sourced, will (or should) keep the identity of the brand alive and on track. 

While recognition of visual branding will be helpful, it’s what the brand stands for that is important. One way to share the brand voice is to make sure that when the business communicates on any level it sends out a consistent message. Another way is to encourage and empower those working within the firm to integrate the values of the business into their daily lives and the way they operate independently and with the rest of the team.

Make everyone – employees and members of the management team – feel as if they are ambassadors of the brand and know how to communicate the message of the brand in a positive way. 

Managing the brand will also require regular evaluation to ensure the business stays on course and achieves its goals. There will likely be a learning curve and goals might change. But when branding is successful, customer loyalty will increase and the business will start to demand a higher market share of its particular engineering niche within its physical area of operation, Chicago or New York for example. 

Updating Branding

Your engineering firm may already be branded, but is it still working for you? The truth is, it’s not unusual for businesses to need revamping and refreshing every three to five years. 

A fairly quick assessment will tell you if it’s time for renewal or a revamp. Consider if:

  • The existing branding is outdated. Just updating your logo might make a huge difference.
  • Your services have changed or you might have shifted to a different engineering niche. If so, the branding message must change too. 
  • Your branding isn’t achieving the response you anticipated. Start by redefining your target market and then adapt your business image to match. If this doesn’t work you might have to start afresh. 
  • Objectively assess whether branding is consistent through all elements of the business from business cards and your website, to the office environment. Inconsistency can be confusing and it tends to look unprofessional. 

Updating branding is much like the buildings that engineers help to renovate and restore! Everything needs a change from time-to-time. Don’t feel bad – just do it. 

About the author

Michael Tobias is the founder and principal of Nearby Engineers and New York Engineers, an Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Company in America. He leads a team of more than 30 mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineers from the company headquarters in New York City, and has led numerous projects in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, and California, as well as Singapore and Malaysia. He specializes in sustainable building technology and is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Digital Branding

Top 5 Website’s Features to Become Mandatory in Following Years

Internet marketing is the most important way of reaching new customers today. Web design is the presentation of your expertise, the way you approach new users or clients, so it is indeed extremely important that quality your website is optimized for your target group. Before we go deeper into the most influential aspect of Internet marketing – features for your website, let’s discuss how a good website is different from a great website.

Is Your Website Good or Great?

Today, it is way easier than 5 years ago to design and develop a decent website within a few days. Progress of different tools made it now, more than ever, possible to launch a fine looking website with less coding than before. Website builders, templates, themes, and layouts are there as well to help you upgrade a simple site to the professional one. Plus, with improving your website you are enhancing your business opportunities!

Considering all listed above, and the fact that internet users are accustomed to seeing websites all the time, on all their devices, it is necessary to have a superior quality website in terms to keep your customers interested! Everyone browsing the internet today can draw a distinction between cheap (PBN, community) site or custom and highly efficient one. Aesthetics have been improving over the last few years, so now we all want impressive features and super cool design.

Besides visuals, a “great” website provides smooth handing – what is also important nowadays to point out: “user friendly experience”. There is no space for a great site to “fail to perform” – it has to keep going on any task with no glitch.

Here are the 5 features we found extremely important to keep implemented and up-to-date to your site in order to rock it up on the www:

1. Invest in your site – chose features smart!

One of the main issues a lot of small or new businesses face at the first stage of developing their online appearance is – lowering the cost for the website in terms of having more budget for the following stages. If you really want to offer tangible value to your visitors and potential shoppers, then don’t hesitate to invest in certain features for your website. Your website should offer tangible value for visitors – so use interactive features to utilize the services available on the site. Customers love to create a sense of interaction, so think about the optimization of emails and offering them the news they are really in need of! Browse for the best WordPress web-design company which can help you with a custom website with totally unique features!

2. Keep in touch – chose the right and unique contact forms

Let’s not keep in look at how your content should be relevant and awesome in terms of visitors to assign to your contact forms. Also, let’s imagine that you did your homework and almost everyone wants an update from your awesome website!

Contact forms are there to help you get through your audience, and keep them informed. You should use them to introduce on-trend new features, frequently asked questions, personal touch or some “unique” offer for loyal customers!

3. Everybody loves Polls!

Here human nature already played a big role! All of us love to participate in discussions. More than ever, on the internet, those discussions can be “anonymous” – well not quite anonymous but you can “hide” under some pseudonym if needed.

Your site is there for people, so what people need- you provide! Make amazing polls from time to time or some other interactive features where people can vote or choose and that way feel needed from your site. Make people more involved in your business and they will come back to you!

4. What is going on behind the scenes?

No need for explaining this in detail – everyone loves to gossip and to see what it is “really” like to do something. So for having people more interested in what you do, a smart move is to do behind the scenes videos or blog posts or images, where you can share some of your funnies and fails. We are all human beings, we all fail – so why not share your weak spot with others?

It can only make you stronger 🙂 Also – don’t forget to add value to those videos, for instance why you chose to do that type of business and what exactly inspired you.

5. Reveal-Based Features

Sometimes we are attracted to things we can’t have. These characteristics are of great value when we talk about customer engagement and online marketing. One way to use this for your business is to introduce a sense of excitement among the visitors. For this purpose, you could try introducing reveal-based features. For instance, you can add games that require all the users to do a certain action prior to accessing the promotion.

Maybe those certain spots made you think more about why is it mandatory to have a super great and highly effective website, in the ocean of average or decent sites. Measure pros and cons and get into the game of “how to engage more”! Many Software development company in Houston follow the above mentioned principlesin roder to attract the visitors.

Digital Branding

How Business Branding Affects Talent Recruitment

There is no doubt that as an employer, you want to hire the greatest talent from the pool of job seekers. This may seem an easy task on paper, but finding the right talent is easier said than done. Now, did you know that branding affects talent recruitment? Yes, you need to present to prospective job seekers the best image of your organization through active branding. Let’s expound more on how fine-tuning branding can help improve your talent recruitment.

How Branding Affects Recruitment

Talent attraction

For starters, branding is a valuable strategy in conveying that ubiquitous experience to clients, employees, and even job seekers! Branding announces to everyone your identity as a business, your mission, and your vision. Your brand also expresses the qualities you uphold, your workplace culture and what makes it great to work in your organization.

In other words, branding gives prospective employees a reason to yearn and desire to join your organization. Branding inspires people to want to work for your organization.  As such, when you put up an opening, you will have top talents eager to join your team.

Quick employee referrals

Branding also involves developing and providing the best work experience for your employees. This is to say that branding starts internally from within the organization. This is achieved through rewarding the talents that are already working in your organization by compensating them satisfactorily, providing a humane working environment, and also creating deep and necessary interpersonal skills and networking. This affects the recruitment process in a straightforward albeit interesting way: when a position opens up, the employees are confident in recommending and making referrals to the best talent for the post, as they understand the culture of the organization and also the capabilities of the prospective employees so that they know he or she is a great fit for the position. This makes the process of recruiting new hires less tedious and saves on time and money that could otherwise have been spent on advertising and conducting the interviews.

Easy to reach potential candidates

Now, having a great presence on social media in this time and age is a great way of branding an organization. This is also a nice way to attract top talent. Why? Well, most job seekers have social media accounts these days. They can interact with your brand directly through them and that desire to join your team can sprout from what they see in your profiles.

You will even attract a lot of applications from which you are likely to get great talent. Of course, this can only happen if you can sieve through a large number of applications that might come through, to find the right fit. As a recruiting HR team, find out what an HRIS is and how it can assist in handling the recruitment and onboarding process. Basically, this is one useful system that fine-tunes human resource functions in a centralized paradigm. With An HRIS tool like this one, human resources management can be much more efficient and streamlined.

Creating industry networks for more accurate hiring

Part of branding also involves attending events related to your niche. This is important in giving your company visibility. You get to interact with other industry players, create personal contacts and connections. It is obvious that with subsequent follow-ups, you get to create great relationships and relevant information sources that have the power to build both the corporate and employer brands. Well, inter-organizational networks can also prove very resourceful when looking for top employees in areas that you will find it hard to recruit.

Candidate Job readiness

On the part of the prospective employee, branding affects them in the sense that they get to know what exactly is needed for one to work for the organization they desire. This means that when an opening comes up, they are already in line with the right documents, skills, and experience to translate to their workplace. It also means that the employees know what to expect in terms of perks, compensation, and the kind of culture to find ahead.

As such, they are not only driven by the colossus salary or monetary value, but by their passion to be part of the organization. Research has shown that people are driven by passion work more efficiently and post greater results than those working for money. It will, therefore, be a win for your organization as you are bound to recruit employees eager to be part of your team.

Final word

In a nutshell, branding can help in refining the hiring process. It does so by attracting the best talent to work for the company. Having a good image out there can help you attract passionate employees, thus translating to productivity.

Digital Branding

Social Media – Use And Abuse with Anonymous Blog “The Doe”

When people hear the term “fake news“, their usual first thought is about those social-media posts that contain inconceivable and bizarre stories. While the posts that are shared on different social media channels happens to be an aspect that is most visible, there is a lot more to “fake news” than an exaggerated article title on a social media feed. The Doe is an anonymous newspaper that provides a safe space for honest, straightforward thought-provoking news and is central in the fight against fake news. They discuss the use and abuse of social media in the world of news at the moment.

Cyber Propaganda And Fake News

Fake news often appears to be new. However, it usually just the platform that has been used that is new. Propaganda has been in use and around for hundreds of years, and the Internet has become the most current form of communication that is abused to tell lies and spread misinformation.

A Fire Triangle is a representation of 3 elements that are needed for a fire to burn. This includes fuel, heat, and oxygen. In a similar way, “fake news” needs 3 items in order to succeed. These items combined represent the Fake News Triangle. When one of these factors is missing, the misinformation and lies are not able to reach targeted audiences and spread.

The Fake News Triangle

The initial requirement includes services and tools to spread and manipulate a message across specific social media platforms or networks and many of these are sold across several online communities all over the world. There is a wide range of services and tools available, with some that are somewhat simple (paid followers/likes, etc.), while others are a bit more unusual, with services that promise to overstuff online polls. There are even services that force the owners of websites to remove stories. Regardless of what tactic is used, the services and tools for social media promotions are available from outside and the inside of the underground scenes.

In order for these types of tools to become useful, social channels need to be present as the platforms to spread propaganda. With more and more people spending a lot more of their time on such sites to gather information and to keep up-to-date with the current news, their importance when it comes to spreading fake stories and news should not be underestimated. However, there are differences between just putting up a propaganda post and turning the post into something targeted audiences consume. We give information on the types of techniques that spammers use to attract users into watching or reading their stories.

Analyzing social media provides us with more of an understanding of relationships that occur between bots and recipients of a social media promotion when it comes to platforms such as Twitter. This offers us a good idea of the organization and scope of these campaigns that are attempting to manipulate the opinions of the public.

Finally, propaganda campaigns are also always accompanied by the question: why? We talk about the motivations and goals behind these fake stories and news. In some cases, it is simply the desire to make profits through advertising. While in other situations, the goals may vary from political to criminal. Regardless of what the motive might be, how successful the propaganda campaign will be is based on the way that it has an impact on the “real world”.

Users, companies, and governments, have started to become more aware of the seriousness of manipulating public opinion, which has manifested in the form “fake news”.

Governments have started to realize that propaganda and “fake news” is something that needs to be dealt with. Many different government agencies have now started to set up services that are focused on exposing these stories, that they believe are false. Some government entities have even started to consider imposing regulations along with punishing and fining websites that have published this misinformation.

There is plenty of room for opinion-based reporting without it becoming fake news. Thedoe is a great source for this.

Some of the targets linked to the latest regulations include social-networking services. This will make misinformation and fake news extremely bad for businesses, and this is why they have taken the necessary steps to avoid it. These steps include suspending suspicious accounts/bots, adding in features that allow their users to file a report on fake news, and hiring additional personnel to assist with handling such reports.

However, at the end of the day, users need to become more informed and educated. In our paper, we go over the main signals to look out for when it comes to fake news, which will help readers to determine whether the posts they are reading are real or fake. We also go over the psychology linked to fake news in the way of explaining what makes these types of campaigns work, along with how they convince readers. When readers are aware of these techniques we hope that it will empower them to resist these misleading stories and information.

Legal Branding

4 Benefits of Putting Property In a Trust

If you are considering your options for when you pass away you may have put some consideration into how your property is handled. A trust, or a legal document that outlines how your property and assets are distributed after you pass away, may be your best option.

Compared to a will, putting your property in a trust offers several distinct advantages which you’ll learn about below. But before we dive into the four benefits of putting property in a trust let’s explain the two main types of trusts that exist.

Revocable & Irrevocable Trusts

Revocable, or living, trusts give you full access and ownership of the trust until you pass. 

Irrevocable trusts, on the other hand, put a trustee in charge of the trust even while you are still alive. Another advantage to irrevocable trusts is that your property is removed from the value of your estate, saving money on taxes after death.

This is just one benefit of having a trust in place, here are four others:

1. Avoid the Probate Process

If you put a trust in place in lieu of using a will, you can avoid probate. If you don’t put a trust in place and leave your property in a will, your family will have to go through the court-supervised process of distributing assets, paying taxes, paying bills, thus delaying the time in which your beneficiaries can claim your property.

2. Avoid Probate Fees

If you leave your property in a will, the above logistics will require legal counsel. This will add additional costs to your family and may result in the family having to pay up to 3% of your asset’s value in probate fees. 

3. Avoid Public Record

If you’d prefer to keep the delegation of your assets private and free from public records, trust is the way to go. Probate is a public process and allows the will to become public records after your death. This means disputing family members may be able to see who got what and cause inheritance issues.

4. No Delays in Property Transference

Probate is often a lengthy process that has to be wrapped before assets are transferred. Alternatively, a trust will allow your beneficiaries to receive their property immediately upon your passing. They can also sell the property immediately if they choose to do so.

Cons of a Trust

Of course, anything that has this many benefits also has a few negatives you should be aware of. 

For starters, setting up a trust is a much more involved process, resulting in additional upfront attorneys fees. Expect the fees to increase the more properties you have to transfer.

Other logistics will have to be factored in as well, including the retitling of assets for the trust to ensure they’ll be inherited as intended. For example, your homeowner’s insurance may need to be updated, as will any other related service-based companies that are connected to your name.

Finally, sometimes a trust alone will not cover all the assets of the deceased so a will may still be necessary. This is why it is important to consult with an attorney or financial planner to determine how your estate will be handled once you pass.

Legal Branding

How to Keep Yourself Moving If You’re Feeling Stuck at Work

It is easy to get stuck and feel bored at work. This is likely due to the fact that you’re not encountering any challenges enough, not having proper work to do, or just getting tired of doing the same mundane tasks daily. Regardless of how the issue could be, boredom at work can lead to negativity, lack of inspiration and effort which is something you don’t want to put yourself in. Here are some essential ways to get rid of the agonizing feeling of boredom and make your working life exciting again!

1. Visualize Success

Visualization has been adopted by people to imagine their desired outcomes and successes. This exercise allows one to achieve their task or goal with complete focus and confidence. Mastering this skill will help you and the professional CV writing service you team up with demonstrate all your strengths and achievements on your CV if you decide on a career change. Visualization assists in developing a creative subconscious which promotes generating unique ideas. Take for instance, while sitting down with your colleagues for a brainstorm session, encourage everyone to visualize to develop a theme for a marketing campaign.

Practicing visualization is a straightforward method. Sit in a comfortable spot, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and let your imagination take its course. Construct a visual in your mind that represents the dream or your goal that you want to accomplish. Maintain your focus on the imagery and affirm yourself that you can attain it. Keep practicing it twice a day as part of your daily routine so that you can accelerate your achievement of those goals and dreams.

2. Talk to your boss or supervisor about the problems in your job

The best way to resolve this issue is to go directly to your superior so that they can help you out. You can discuss handling more challenging work or tasks, preferably that fits your interest. This approach would certainly benefit both sides as you get to improve and learn more while helping the company by filling up the gaps in areas that require more support.

This is your opportunity to exercise your ability and time to its fullest by going beyond your boss’s expectations. Once you have completed the repetitive and mundane tasks, invest your remaining time on duties that are beyond your job scope. Over time, your boss will recognize your work ethics and commitment. The opportunity to climb your career ladder would be within your grasp.

3. Pick up new skills when you have downtime

If you have plenty of spare time during or after work, take this opportunity to expand your knowledge and learn new skills. Arming yourself with new knowledge can be beneficial to you as well as getting rid of the sense of feeling stuck at work. If you are looking for resources, here are some of the best e-learning platforms to pick up any skill that you need.

  • Skillshare: platform focused on creative education. Topics covered from graphic design, music production to fine art and cooking. Other technical classes include data science, analytics, and e-commerce as well.
  • Udemy: over 80,000 different courses, Udemy is one of the best online learning platform marketplaces. Not only it covers professional skills, but Udemy also covers hobbies as well ranging from growing plants to playing video games. That being said, there are not many well-known instructors that use Udemy as the main learning platform.
  • Coursera: an online course marketplace that is mainly catered for professionals. Coursera features some of the world’s best companies and universities in the world. Courses include arts, humanities, sciences, business, IT, languages, personal development and many more.
  • LinkedIn Learning: platform tailored to business professionals. There are over 1,000 courses on topics such as project management, web development, and digital marketing. It’s also one of the best platforms if you’re looking at your skill up-to-date. LinkedIn Learning also provides certification for you to include in your profile, displaying your expertise and improving your online resume.

If you are still unsure of what to learn, general skills can be fun and useful to learn at making you a more well-rounded person. Some of the best general skills that you should consider picking up include:

  • Speed reading
  • Learn a new language
  • Learn how to draw
  • Learn basic photoshop
  • Photography
  • Gain the ability to be humorous

4. Find positivity in your job

Regardless of what your job is, there will always be a positive side in your profession. Whether it’s being helpful and supportive of others by creating value in their work or just being able to engage with people, you will find something that you enjoy doing with your career. Another approach is to volunteer to lead in a project, instead of waiting for work to be assigned to you and get stuck with the same mundane task. In this way, you can have more freedom over your work and establishing a better impression of your superior for your willingness to lead projects.

Most importantly, surround yourself with positive people at the workplace because they can provide you with the motivation to achieve your goals, empower you to make the changes to succeed and cheer you on your success.

5. Build momentum through achieving small success

No matter how mundane your job is, obtaining success is still a catalyst that provides joy when you completed tasks and being recognized by your peers. Appreciating your small successes and the small steps you take can be the tipping point between failing and succeeding. The lack of appreciation and gratefulness can also lead you down the path of not being able to see the significance of your own small successes. Last but not least, reward yourself for achieving your small goals. This could be anything from treating yourself to your favorite meal or a drink. Always having something to look forward to is the best approach to train your brain into creating motivation.

About the Author

You Jing is a content writer who writes about career and lifestyle topics to inspire job seekers and employers alike on their journey to work-life balance, empowerment, and transformation in their career path.