Category: 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/

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.

Legal Branding Local Branding Personal Branding

Experts Discuss Small Productivity Tips for That Bring Big Benefits

Steven on June 8, 2021

In everyday work, there are a lot of challenges and sometimes even obstacles that prevent us to stay in focus all the time. It doesn’t matter if you are an entrepreneur, manager, assistant, junior or on any else position, it is important not to lose the thread. Here you will find many useful advice on how to save your time and energy, and at the same time to make the highest productivity.

Productivity in a Nut Shell.

Our partners from Managementguru suggests “Productivity in a Nut Shell”.

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

Productivity can’t be better explained. Productivity is the result of a commitment to excellence, smart planning and focused effort. Remember – Effective people are preferred to, rather than efficient people as the former does the right thing and the latter does things right. Procrastination is like a credit card. It’s a lot of fun until you get the bill. The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action. Managementguru is the number one source for all things business. They’re dedicated to giving you the very best of information, with a focus on social media marketing and strategy.

Be more realistic about what you can deliver as a team.

Our partner Sherene Funk from Rain Retail suggests to “Be more realistic about what you can deliver as a team”.

We recently had a goal-setting session in which we determined that, in order to be more productive, we needed to be more realistic about what we can deliver as a team. It’s always best to under promise and over deliver. Realistic goals prevent overwhelm, increase motivation, and heighten the sense of achievement when projects are completed on time, or before.

Focus on time increments and small wins – Imed Bouchrika, project leader and chief data scientist at the academic research portal Research.com.

It’s easy to lose productivity when confronted with multiple tasks. Doing them all at the same will likely end up in you pouring in lots of initial work across a field of open-ended tasks at the day’s end. In short, you accomplish nothing.

Instead, focus on finishing one task at a time across increments of short periods. You can follow the Pomodoro Technique here, where you break work into 25-minute periods. Or devise your own increments. For example, divide an hour into two 30-minutes or four 15-minutes and allot a period for each task.

The time increments allow you to tune out of the paralyzing thought of needing to finish a lot of work NOW and instead focus on a small win, something you can easily take a good shot at. Achieving small wins will add up to wrapping up the big task sooner than later.

There is a postscript benefit to increments and small wins: It helps you squeeze out more outputs past your highest productivity level in a day. After all, it’s not that difficult to add just… one… more… 15-minute task even in your last hour of work.

Productivity is doing more with the tools and making sure the outcome meets standard of quality.

Our partner Andrea Curry from Zenefits says that “Productivity is doing more with the tools”.

There’s a lot of buzz words that are thrown around when talking about productivity. How many Medium blog posts or LinkedIn articles have you seen about “super-charging” our workday, “hacking our way” through a project, or “tips and tricks” to increase output with minimal input? For me, productivity is doing more with the tools I have and making sure the outcome meets my standard of quality. Honing productive habits help get this done. Step one is to get organized (and that doesn’t mean having an inbox with zero unread messages, though that helps!). Projects can get messy, so be sure that you use a system that helps you keep control and look at the big picture. I love using the online tool Asana for this reason. It helps with capturing my thoughts, outlining workflow, and I can easily update deliverables and due dates. The next thing to understand is that distractions will constantly come up. It takes a lot of self-discipline not to be pulled in different directions. It’s helpful to have an understanding of what is your “north star” — aka your purpose or big picture goal. If people or other projects pop up, ask yourself if this helps you achieve your goal, or if it will derail you. Finally, remember not to burn yourself out. You won’t be productive if you’re running low on fuel. Incorporate the things that help feed your creativity and bring you joy — whether it’s exercising, spending time with family, or taking a walk outside.

Take Charge Of Your Email Not The Other Way Round

Our partner Dr. Anthony Llewellyn from AdvanceMed suggest to “Take Charge Of Your Email Not The Other Way Round”

Dr. Anthony Llewellyn is a successful online doctor coach. He writes about the importance of getting in control of your email.
With so many points of contact into your business, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed at times. But whilst email is now considered by many as “low tech”, the “email list” still remains one of your greatest assets. So it’s important to be able to dedicate time to your email management. But that doesn’t mean it needs to always take away your focus.
One great tip I developed sometime ago came out from a bit of frustration. You see I was getting a bit sick and tired of being included as a “CC” into a whole lot of company wide and team email discussions. It often felt like I was being included either on a “just thought you should know” basis or even at times because the email sender didn’t trust the recipient and wanted some witnesses!!
So I went through my email inbox and saw how many emails I was getting on a CC basis. And I thought to myself. Would it be that different if I just chose to ignore these emails? So I set up a bit of an experiment. I set up an email rule to divert these CC emails into another folder before I could even notice them. Strangely enough, the sky didn’t fall in and the world kept rotating. I blissfully forgot about the presence of this folder for a few weeks and then I remembered it.
So I went back in and checked all these emails and to my great satisfaction, I realized that all the issues in these emails had either been inconsequential to me or dealt with in other ways, i.e. someone had come to speak to me about the issue or emailed me directly.
I’ve since used a variety of rules with emails to cut through and focus on what is important.

Recognize Your Strengths

Our partner Lori McKnight from CSI Stars suggests to “Recognize Your Strengths”.

Most people are much more productive when working on things that utilize their strengths. Identify what you excel in and focus the majority of your time on those activities. If you are in the right job, these things will be what most moves the needle and delivers results. The same goes for your team. Spend time getting to know each of your employee’s strengths. It is far more productive to leverage your peoples’ strengths than fix their weaknesses.

Identifying your employee’s strengths and recognizing their contributions will drive higher employee engagement. This, in turn, will boost your own productivity as you spend less time interviewing and re-training. Consider these stats:

Organizations that excel in employee recognition have 12x better business results
High-recognition organizations have 31% less voluntary turnover

Who knows…maybe a team members’ strengths will even complement a weakness of yours!

An organization that doesn’t trust its employees to manage their workload will quickly find itself with “doers” and not “learners”

Our partner Scott from Structural says that “An organization that doesn’t trust its employees to manage their workload will quickly find itself with “doers” and not “learners”

An organization that doesn’t trust its employees to manage their workload while being able to connect with others as needed will quickly find itself with “doers” and not “learners” which is an organizational death sentence in a world where the half-life of skills is so short.

Avoid getting caught up in the work of others

Our partner Clayton Kaufman from My Employees suggests “Avoid getting caught up in the work of others”.

“When you truly believe your work improves the lives of others, the difference you make becomes the anchor of your passion. Make the connection between the work you do and how that work makes life better for others. The decision to become a positive difference-maker for others contributes to a deep sense of purpose, fulfillment, and productivity”.

Plan your days in advance

Our partner Kelvin Mokaya from Fuzu suggests “Plan your days in advance”.

Knowing what you need to accomplish during a particular week will enable you to plan for the week. List all the tasks you’ll need to do in order of the urgency they need to be done and the amount of time it would take to complete each. This will make it easier for you to plan your calendar for the week while prioritizing the work that matters most.

Prioritize actions that will make tomorrow easier

Our partner, Fiona Adler from HR Partner, explains that prioritization is one of the most important, yet overlooked aspects of productivity. Taking the time to proactively decide which tasks are most important will put you streaks ahead. One key to this is acknowledging that you can’t actually do everything – you will always have more ideas and things coming at you than can possibly be done. Once you really understand this, the significance of prioritization is obvious – if you don’t do this, you’ll never get to those most important tasks.

But prioritization is hard, so one thing to remember when putting your tasks in order of priority is to emphasize those tasks that will make your tomorrow a bit smoother and easier. So prioritize things like; choosing a new HR system, posting a job ad for a new accounts manager, setting up a new process, or deciding on a strategic direction.

Invent your personal workflows that work best for you

Our partner Baiju NT from RoboticsBiz says it is vital to create personal workflows to efficiently manage your time and increase productivity. Productivity isn’t just all about checking boxes off your to-do list. It is about making sure you’re getting the right things done in the right timeframe, successfully and effectively. Creating a workflow enables you to train your brain and systematically get into an efficient cycle of executing tasks from the morning till the end of your day. Start the day with easy, regular, and repeatable tasks first, and then you will have more uninterrupted time blocks to accomplish larger time-demanding tasks in a day. Millions of people use productivity tools like Trello to get into personal workflows and achieve more every second.

Infographic provided by Food For Thought

Personal Branding

Trouble Marketing CBD Chocolates? Don’t Worry We Have Got You Covered.

Steven on April 26, 2021

The demand for health-related products and services has burgeoning now more than ever because of the Covid-19 pandemic. People are a lot more conscious about their health and well-being and are willing to explore and invest in/buy healthcare utilities. Not just this, we have also witnessed the integration of digital media and technology into all areas of business, changing the way they strategize, operate, and deliver their products and services to consumers.

Another trendy news is that CBD has taken over the market with brands offering a great variety of products. Call it a new fad or the need of the hour but, this hemp extraction is the latest uproar. Today the market is flooded with all kinds of CBD-infused products, and everyone wants to add the best CBD Gummies to their carts. Another such unique product is CBD-infused chocolate. This beneficial and delicious edible has become CBD lovers’ new big thing.

With such growing demand, it becomes imperative to keep up with the competition. If you are looking for marketing strategies to promote/advertise your CBD brand, congratulations! You are on the right page.

Why Is Marketing Important?

Let’s make it clear, ‘You cannot sell anything if you can’t tell anything’ – Beth Comstock.

A research carried out by Data Bridge Market Research (DBMR) reveals that the CBD edibles market is forecasted to expand at a CAGR of 25% between 2020 – 2027. It is a fact that the demand for Sunday Scaries CBD products is reaching new heights with each passing year. New brands are rapidly entering the market with fresh and innovative ideas with a zeal to win the loyalty of consumers.

In such a market condition, both the existing and the new brands must strive to establish their goodwill and build a strong relationship with the customers by reaching out to them and telling them about the brand’s purpose. For this, brands need to start right and take the lead to foster growth and customer loyalty by rebranding. Here are some reasons highlighting the need for marketing in such unprecedented times:

1. Smart marketing can help you to stand out

2. Building healthy relationship/connect with the consumers is fundamental

3. Maintaining a positive brand image

4. Creating brand differentiation is paramount

5. Consumers crave a sense of belonging

6. Keeping up with new advancements

7. To earn an edge over the competitors

8. Understand the needs and requirements of the consumers

9. Helps to drive/boost sales

10. To make informed decisions by determining the survival span of the business

Marketing CBD Chocolates

Cannabidiol is not just another member of the cannabis family. It is a medicinal substance that has the potential for treating a variety of ailments and diseases. Its aid ranges from concerns like anxiety, stress, body ache to the rarest of conditions. CBD can cure and comfort a plethora of issues.

CBD is one of the fastest-growing consumer trends, and CBD-infused chocolates are the new favorites of the cannabidiol community. If you own or are a part of a brand that sells CBD chocolates or any such edibles, here is a list of what you should be focusing on while strategizing a marketing plan for your product:

1. Build your social media community

Since social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are widely, frequently, and heavily used by everyone, start building a community on social media by spreading awareness about your brand’s mission, purpose, values, and promise.

2. Try out influencer marketing

Influencer marketing has become quite popular today. This kind of marketing helps in reaching out or capturing an organic audience. It also pushes brands to overcome advertising restrictions on strict social media platforms.

3. Invest in paid online advertising

A little paid promotion killed no one. It will instead boost your online visibility. You have to buy time and space for your ads from paid search platforms to publish on search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.

4. Send marketing emails to customers

Email marketing is an excellent way to stay in touch with your customers and keep them informed and in sync with your new advancements and offers.

5. Publish creative video advertisements

There is no doubting the fact that audio-visual is the most effective and impactful form of communication. Get your creative juices flowing and plan on creating good quality video advertisements. Team up with a professional creative advertising agency if required. Since you are promoting health-related services or products, focus more on informing and educating your target audience.

6. Regularly update your website

Make sure your website is always up-to-date. Publish product-centric blogs on your website regularly. Ensure that your website’s UI is user-friendly and organized. Do not forget to publish relevant images/graphics and statistical graphs (if any) to support the information that you are disseminating through your website.

7. Prepare engaging & informative digital campaigns

Brainstorm and prepare thoughtful and interactive digital campaigns for your social media community and target audience. Good research work, planning, and strategizing will go a long way. Collaborating with experienced healthcare professionals will build trust for your brand, which can further boost your credibility.

8. Switch to location-based SEO

If you are an organization with a local branch, investing in setting up a local listing on search engines will be your best decision. Provide all the necessary details, for example, your organization’s name, address, working hours, contact number, and link to your website backed up with some images to help your customers find you easily.

9. Reach out, connect and gather feedback via online platforms

Interactive disposition adds to the goodwill and credibility of a brand.

10. Do not underestimate the power of going online in 2021. Learn from already established and successful brands and most importantly, “Sell the problem you solve, not the product.” – Matt Mazzie

Conclusion

Since the CBD market is expanding and infinite brands are a part of the race, there exist marketers/brands who mislead the consumers by putting up false information about their products. Either they put way less quantity of CBD in their products than they claim to, or they mingle a high dose of content-rich in THC (which can cause intoxication) instead of pure CBD. Cheating the consumers, especially when the impurity of the product can be harmful to their health and well-being, is probably the worst sin a brand can commit. Be a responsible organization and make sure you don’t hoodwink the consumers into purchasing from you.

Personal Branding

5 Ways to Boost the Appearance of Your Personal Care Business

Steven on March 17, 2021

Being a business owner is an extremely rewarding and satisfactory job, especially if you are passionate about the industry. Personal care businesses are all about self-care and beauty. They give people the chance to treat themselves and feel great about themselves. A handful of examples of personal care businesses include nail salons, hair salons, tanning salons, medical spas, and skincare clinics. If your company falls into one of these categories, you will understand that there is a lot of competition out there. To help you stand out from the crowd and grab people’s attention, here are 5 ways to boost the appearance of your personal care business.

Improve Your Packaging

Whether people are looking for a new haircare or oral hygiene product, it is guaranteed that everyone who enters your personal care business would have seen the assortment of products on your shelves. Making your product packaging stylish, flexible, eco-friendly, and high-quality will draw people in and create a good brand image. To improve your product packaging today, check out the PKG Lab.

Keep Things Clean

Keeping your personal care business clean and tidy is key to maintaining a professional appearance. No one wants to get pampered or receive treatment in a dirty room. Messy and untidy places can also put people’s health and safety at risk. Putting cleanliness first will make your business more organized for employees and relaxing for clients while supporting good hygiene, efficiency, and overall safety.

Maintain Brand Consistency

The appearance of your personal care business will depend on your online presence as well as your surroundings. If you have marketing or social media materials for the company, it is vital that you remain consistent when it comes to branding. If your business is new, then you will need to put some time into creating your brand image. You should then carry out annual reviews on brand consistency.

Spruce Up Employees

In customer-facing environments, it is essential that your employees look the part. They will be key components for representing your brand, so sprucing them up will make your business look good while making customers feel comfortable. Giving your employees regular incentives will help you gain their respect and improve their willingness to work harder, as they’ll be rewarded for their productivity.

Create the Right Atmosphere

Creating a good atmosphere in your personal care business will have a huge impact on your customer and employees. You need to aim for a welcoming atmosphere and adapt it to suit the business you have. This can include adjusting the lighting, playing suitable music in the background, and having complementary extras available. Bringing some nature indoors can also make a significant difference.

Looks are important in the personal care industry, so making your business look good in person and on the internet is essential. It will say a lot about your service and product quality, as well as your company’s aims and values. When your business looks and performs well, you will retain customers.

Personal Branding

Steps on How to Register Your Business in Utah

Steven on February 21, 2021

Are you planning to start a business in Utah? It pays to do your homework! Before you can register your business in the Beehive State, you need to decide what type of business structure you will utilize. Will you go for Doing Business As (DBA), Limited Liability Company (LLC), or corporation? If you decide to have a Limited Liability Company, you need to know the current Utah LLC cost. If you opt for DBA or corporation, then you should also assess how much capital they require these days. Whichever you choose, all these structures have their fair share of advantages and flaws. To help you pick the perfect choice, we did a little research about these three entities.

Basic Business Structures

Doing Business As

DBA is sometimes referred to as a trade name, fictitious business name, or assumed business name. It allows a business to operate under a different name from its legal name. For example, if you want to run your cleaning business as X.Y.Z. Cleaning, you will need to file for a DBA. In most states, business owners file DBAs at the county level, where you can find the business.

Limited Liability Company

An LLC means that your business operates as a distinct and separate legal entity from you (as the owner). While LLCs require more formalities than a DBA, they have fewer restrictions than corporations. A manager or members who must manage a Member-Managed LLC are the company owners, while a manager may or may not be a member. The LLC structure also includes more tax flexibility since it can choose to be taxed as a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietor.

Corporation

A corporation is a separate entity that provides liability protection to the owners and has a structure that includes shareholders, directors, and officers. It is more complicated than a DBA, but startups and large firms that intend to raise funding often choose this.

Now that you know the three structures’ main differences (and we hope that you’ve decided which one is your best bet), it’s time to think of a name for your business. Depending on the structure you chose, there will be different requirements when naming a business.

What to Consider When Naming an LLC

Surprisingly, there are lots of things to consider when naming an LLC. But for brevity purposes, we’ve narrowed them down and listed only the most crucial things to keep in mind.

Include any of these words, phrases, or abbreviations: “limited company,” “limited liability company,” “LC,” or LLC” to your business name.
Do not use words that could confuse your LLC with a government agency, like “FBI,” “Treasury,” and “State Department.”
Avoid the words “bank,” “trust,” “trustee,” “insurer,” or “insurance company.”
Do a name search on the Utah.gov website to make sure the name you want is still available.

Registering an LLC in Utah

Now comes the easy-peasy part: registering your business as an LLC. First, file the “Certificate of Organization” amounting to $70 with the Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code. When approved, you need to organize the LLC by holding an “Organizational Meeting” and crafting the company Operating Agreement, taking contributions from the members, issuing Member Certificates, and more.

Conclusion

We hope this simple guide will give you an idea of Utah LLC cost and help you start your own business. Registering a business in the State of Utah takes time, patience, and a fistful of dollars. While you need to take a lot of steps, they are pretty easy and simple. Just make sure to take one step at a time and do everything you need to. This way, you’ll be able to set up your business correctly and get started making money.

Personal Branding

6 Ways to Boost your QA Team’s Productivity

Steven on February 19, 2021

QA managers and team leads are continuously looking for ways to improve their QA process and software testing processes, but they also need to increase the productivity of their team members. However, during different testing activities and building up bug reports, they do not find enough time to perform these changes. Although increasing the productivity of a QA Team should not be complex, it is easy to create targeted wins, that allow them to implement additional ways to keep the team members motivated. Since there are a number of tasks that QA teams have to handle, and there is a lot on their plate, increasing productivity can boost a company’s sales and revenue. However, when QA teams use test case management software, it helps them in saving time and effort instead of managing all test cases manually.

Following are 6 tips to increase the productivity of your testing team:

Test Automation

A company does not have to break a bank to improve its processes with the help of automation. It is important to automate the test cases that require significant time when performed manually or test cases that need to be executed multiple times during the development cycles. These include the automation of unit testing, smoke testing, functional testing, regression testing, integration testing, etc.

Use Effective Communication Tools

When teams are performing manual testing, they need to collaborate with the team members. Thus it is vital to integrate the communication tools so that they can spend more time on the app rather than turning to their emails with issues or questions that are waiting in queue for answers/replies. Effective communication tools can help in improving the QA process as it speeds up and provides a smooth communication flow between QA teams and the other stakeholders.

Communication is a key to enhance productivity, as communication tools offer chat functionality, group online calls, screen sharing, recordings, document sharing, etc. QA managers also need to observe how often do teams reach out to each other, how they respond to queries and concerns posted by other team members, etc. All these factors are important and should be considered in the QA process.

Test Case Management Software

Writing unique test cases and executing them is a time-consuming job if performed manually. Gone are the days when teams used Excel Sheets to manage the test cases. Software testing teams now use test case management software that offers a wide range of features to assist their testing efforts. They can also integrate this software with other testing tools for boosting the QA process.

Providing the Necessary Information

Another tip to improve QA is to ensure that all proper information is available. This should include the design specifications, documentation, etc. all available at a central location for the entire team. They should pick the right tools designed to keep the teams on track. When choosing a tool, make sure you consider the adaptability, features, functionality, and cost of the tool so that your teams invest more time and effort to improve the QA process. QA teams need access to critical information that is a way to ensure the success of a project.

Start Testing Early

In order to make the most of your QA team’s time during the initial phase, it is important to engage it in requirement review to find the mistakes before they begin the implementation phase. This type of approach helps in reducing the development costs and gives them a deeper insight into the software app right from the beginning.

Spread Domain Knowledge

Companies create software for a given domain such as finance, medical sciences, healthcare, etc. This is why the domain knowledge of the testing team can be valuable depending on the project in which they participate. It is important to provide them with considerable knowledge in the given area allows testers to better understand the functional and business requirements of the app under test. this type of understanding can have a huge impact on the productivity of a testing team. So the question remains how to spread this domain knowledge to the testers? Well, QA leads should organize a special training session with someone who knows the context provided for a given project. Providing materials among the QA teams can also assist them in preparing for participating in new projects.

Conclusion

QA managers can use these six tips to improve the performance of the testing teams and also help them collaborate between different teams within the same project.

Digital Branding Personal Branding

5 Tips To Choose The Best Shoes For Parkour

Steven on February 19, 2021

You being here shows that you’re in search of the best parkour shoes. Choosing something best always requires some real effort. Especially when you’re purchasing something related to sports. When you’re buying shoes for parkour, you need to be very careful because parkour is an intense sport. As a trained player, you need shoes that will help you run faster and have a firmer grip. Parkour shoes come in many shapes, sizes, and unique features to fit various physical exercise aspects. It is obvious that parkour shoes are costly, but if you hunt around, you can find affordable ones too. You need to be very careful about choosing the best parkour shoes to prevent any kind of injury. Here are some helpful tips you need to consider when buying the best parkour shoes.

1. Flexible sole

The first and most significant thing you should look for is a flexible sole. The sole you prefer must have a one-piece sole. A shoe with two or more soles will prevent you from performing your best, and they don’t tend to last for a long time. Because these shoes are designed in a way that their parts may get separated while you are running or jumping. The thickness of a sole will affect your balance. And for a parkour player, losing balance is injurious. Thinner soles will make balancing easier for you, but they will get worn down quickly. So you must go with a sole that is neither very thick nor skinny.

2. Light-weight shoes

One important thing that must be considered when buying parkour shoes is their weight. Parkour shoes are usually heavier than other shoes. But it would be best if you went for lightweight shoes because they can make jumping, running a lot easier for you. Your shoes must be very comfortable that it makes you feel like they are a part of you. Lightweight shoes will give you the confidence to run as fast as possible and jump as high as you want. Such shoes will be best for you.

3. Strong grip

The grip of your shoe must not be substantial. Friction between you and your body is very important. You must check the grip of your shoe before purchasing it. When you’re jumping and running, friction must be produced; you will keel over while you’re landing. A shoe with a firmer grip is essential for a parkour player.

4. Durability

You should always check the material used on the top and bottom. The sole must be flat because minimal shoes are more durable. Parkour is an intense sport, so the shoes will not last for a year. In fact, if you wear them every day, they will last a few months. It would help if you went with shoes that have a full 7-8 months of durability.

5. Breathability

While choosing parkour shoes, make sure that your shoes are breathable or not. For breathability in shoes, breathable material is used to allow your feet to have good air access. You should buy shoes that have vents in them. These vents will allow the air mesh to go in your shoes and can keep them cool and dry. While running and jumping, air mesh will also prevent the odor from producing in your shoe.

Conclusion

Parkour shoes must have good quality, comfort, and flexibility. It is a sport that can get you injured if you have not considered any tips before buying it. The tips, as mentioned above, are very important tips to consider. If you consider these tips, you will be able to buy the best parkour shoes.

Digital Branding Personal Branding

Top Strategies for Growing Your Retail Business’s Brand in 2021

Steven on February 8, 2021

Many retailers understandably want to turn the page on the tough year that was 2020 and look forward to a 2021 full of growth and other successes. Having actionable strategies for meeting those goals will help put them in reach. Here are some reliable ways to grow your retail brand this year.

Train Your Staff

Your employees are extensions of your brand. If customers walk into your store, engage with workers and typically get bored, misinformed or uncertain replies, they won’t likely have positive impressions of your overall brand.

Explore ways to invest in training so your employees collectively provide excellent experiences. For example, you might require workers to engage with all visitors to a physical store within two minutes of their arrival. That approach ensures people don’t feel unseen or make incorrect assumptions about products or services.

Ensure workers never say, “Sorry, I’m not sure,” and go back to their tasks when customers ask for information they don’t have. Instead, they could be proactive and say, “Sorry, I’m not sure, but let me get a colleague who can answer that for you.” Additionally, teach employees to engage in gentle upselling efforts or suggest alternatives when the products people want are out of stock. Doing that should raise your overall sales.

Offer Branded Items

Anyone who’s been to the Big Apple has almost certainly seen shoppers carrying Bloomingdale’s brown shopping bags — the containers are instantly noticeable with their thin, rounded letters. Each one has the size printed on the front, such as “Big Brown Bag,” with the store name on the side. The simple design is so iconic that the department store sells reusable vinyl zippered totes featuring it.

This example proves that branded items keep companies in customers’ minds. They’re also appropriate for organizations that are much smaller than Bloomingdale’s, too. You can give the items out as freebies if your retail brand has a community event presence. Alternatively, keep the goodies near the cash register and give one to each person who buys something.

Consider which items people will most likely use and enjoy. For example, pens and notepads are handy things recipients will need often. Also, products such as keychains and magnets are practical items that keep your company’s name in frequent view.

Provide Accurate Stock Information If Possible

Most people can’t help but feel disappointed if they arrive at stores and find the products they want are not available. Investigate whether your inventory management system could enable launching a feature that lets people instantly check stock levels on a website or app before arriving at a store.

When shoppers want items you don’t have, give them immediate options. For example, you might give them real-time updates about shipments on the way. Alternatively, if you operate more than one store in a consumer’s area, let them check stock at a different location. You can also give employees easy ways to special-order the products customers request. Then, shoppers will realize workers are doing everything they can to assist.

Maintaining reliable on-shelf availability (OSA) poses challenges for many retailers. If it’s a persistent problem for you, get to the bottom of what’s happening and fix it. For example, does the issue occur because you wait too long to place orders that replenish the shelves? Perhaps stock levels are too low because of incorrect forecasting that failed to anticipate demand.

Help Consumers Save Time

Price is not necessarily the top priority when people choose where to shop. A recent survey found 53% of people intend to shop in ways that save time, even if they don’t provide the lowest prices. Another finding that supports the time-saving trend was that 56% of people would keep shopping in convenient, easy stores.

You can strengthen and grow your retail brand this year by highlighting how your store facilitates efficiency. Maybe that means letting people reserve products online and pick them up at the retail outlet. That’s an appealing option for individuals who know what they want and don’t need to browse. If people learn your retail brand lets them make the most of their precious time, they’ll want to keep supporting it.

Helping people save time could also mean changing how and where you stock items. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some grocery retailers created dedicated aisles of the products people wanted most — from soap and hand sanitizer to shelf-stable foods. That was a smart and effective strategy that let frazzled shoppers go to one place and find many of the items on their lists.

Cater to Shoppers’ Omnichannel Preferences

Despite the ongoing rise of e-commerce, many people still buy what they need in physical stores. Retail analysts point out that the lines between physical and online retail are increasingly blurred. This transition has led to a rise in omnichannel marketing, whereby people expect to shop on numerous channels and get an integrated, smooth experience each time.

For example, even when consumers visit physical stores, they often use their phones while inside, relying on those devices to steer their purchasing decisions. Other shoppers let specific product needs influence whether they shop in a store or online. Someone might prefer to buy a new pair of jeans in a store but go to the same retailer’s website within a month to buy a scarf.

The main takeaway is to avoid focusing too much on a single retail channel. People often switch between several, and they appreciate high-quality, customer-centric experiences regardless of which ones they choose. Providing those for them will grow your brand and give people more opportunities to interact with it.

Consider Investing in Augmented Reality

Experts remain unsure to what extent COVID-19 will continue affecting retail in 2021. That’s why it makes good business sense to evaluate how you can help people feel safe, no matter what the future holds. One way to do that is with augmented reality (AR) tools that help people shop for things with safer processes.

For example, Ulta Beauty’s GLAMlab allows people to virtually try different hair colors, brow shapes and makeup as they shop in the stores. The brand does not offer tester products during the pandemic. However, the technology provides a safe substitute and drives sales by removing the uncertainty of buying beauty products blindly.

Laura Kohl, the company’s senior vice president of applications, data and integrations, explained, “What’s fun about going into an Ulta store is actually trying on some things or smelling the products or feeling the product, that just can’t happen right now. So at least with this virtual try-on, it quickly shifted into that … It complements the store experience.” Also, AR is increasingly accessible to small businesses. Shopify has an AR tool specifically geared toward smaller companies.

Succeed With Brand Building in 2021

Building your brand should be a methodical process. Following the tips here and abiding by other best practices does not bring overnight results, but you should see gradual improvements. If possible, use metrics to track how well different approaches work after using them for at least a few months. Then, it’ll be easier to justify investing more time and money into those approaches for the future.

Author:

Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the creative director at a digital marketing agency before becoming a full-time freelance designer. Eleanor lives in Philly with her husband and pup, Bear.

Digital Branding Personal Branding

What are 3 Instagram tools you need to keep up with trends?

Steven on November 9, 2020

If you use Instagram not just for sharing your images with a close circle of friends, you need more than just the app itself. Having an engaging IG page is a perfect opportunity for a business to attract new audiences and interested clients. Do you know that in 2020 Instagram hashtags work similarly to SEO keywords that help get your content exposed to more people? It takes some time to research these words, but if you know what Instagram hashtag generator to use, you can easily find the best hashtags that work for promotion.

The point is that discovering new Instagram tools will help you better your content strategy and make the most of your online business. In this article, you will find out more about tested Hashtag finder, Instagram font generator, and Profile analyzer – keep on reading to learn why these tools are useful.

3 tried and tested Instagram tools you need in 2020

#1 Toolzu Hashtag generator

If you try google hashtag tools, you’re gonna see many options on the web. But when you start using them, you realize that most of the tools are not convenient.

Toolzu is a handy tool that lists over 12 million hashtags, and new ones are added regularly. This tool lets you discover hashtags by keyword or with the help of AI-algorithms. You can simply paste a link to any post or upload a picture.

In front of a hashtag, you can see how intense the competition will be if you use it (the graph Difficulty). For example, if a hashtag is used in millions of posts, the content is saturated, and your post will be among the recently added for just a couple of minutes. That’s why it’s worth to include in your set medium and more niche-specific hashtags.

The main upper hand of using a hashtag generator instead of the in-app search is that you can copy them instantly. The app does not allow you to do that to click on a hashtag and view the content.

What are other benefits:

The option of mentioning 5 keywords per search
Looking for hashtags in any languages
Deep analytics on hashtags including top posts

If you haven’t been using hashtags because you were lazy to discover them via the app, use the effortless yet effective way – the Toolzu hashtag finder. The 7-days trial period is free of charge.

#2 Fonts generator by Bigbangram

It is getting more and more trendy to use other than IG default fonts. Bloggers who write long captions tend to organize their texts better – with bold headlines, highlighted words. Hence, an IG copy turns into a meaningful article. It’s also helpful to add various fonts into your bio description and IG name.

If you think that to type in a different font, you need to hack the IG app; you are mistaken. The only thing you need is a proper Instagram fonts tool, and I recommend you to check the one by Bingbangram.

You need to insert or type any text in the Latin alphabet, and it will be immediately converted into a style you choose. The library lists dozens of fonts in various moods – classical, romantic, minimalist, gothic, etc.

I like most of all that it is possible to preview how a style will look from a phone screen. There is a simulator, and I advise you to check it if you are looking for a fresh font for your name or bio.

Try fancy characters for your page – the tool is forever free.

#3 Profile analyzer by Ingramer

Finally, I number 3 on my list is the Analyzer of profiles by Ingramer. This tool will be helpful for those who are growing and looking for some ideas on the accounts of their competitors. Sometimes, spying on strategies of successful accounts helps to get insights.

What info will you get:

Reals stats, like the engagement rate, to see if the followers are active and the content is interactive
Best-performing content that will help you to get what kind of media your audience consumes better
Top hashtags that you can also try in your captions
Posting schedule that you can consider when deciding what time is better to post to get more interactions

All in all, you need to collect the list of the popular accounts in your niche and paste their names into the Analyzer tool. After, you can use the data to adjust your IG posting and content strategy.

Conclusion

Having all the mentioned above tools at your fingertips will help you expand the reach of your content, create more eye-grabbing text, and apply some of your competitors’ techniques. You may always apply different techniques to get more followers from Italy and other countries. Services like Toolzu, Ingram, and Bigbangram are widely used by influencers, digital marketers, and business people. Do you want to try them too? Hurry up – more people want to see your content.