Digital Branding

Basic Checklist for Beginners Starting Their Own Blog

on July 18, 2019

So you want to start your own blog? Now is the best time to create your own place on the internet. Blogs have been used for the past twenty years as a way to share your ideas, build an audience, and even earn an income. With some bloggers making over a million dollars a year, it’s no wonder this is becoming such a popular side-hustle or full-time gig. 

If you’re planning to start your own blog, for example a Food blog or some other niche you’ll need to do some preparation. Choosing a food blog names would be the first step. While it might seem as simple as just slapping together a page on a free platform and clicking publish, there’s a lot you need to know, from branding to content creation. In this guide, we’ll go through the basic checklist for beginners starting their own blog. 

1. Self-Hosted Website

First thing’s first: you need a self-hosted website. Why self-hosted? A self-hosted website is one that you own. You own both the domain name and hosting, and that means you’re fully in control. When you host a website on a third-party platform, you’re not in the driver’s seat. 

You can’t control your content, who has access to it, or how you interact with search engines. Ultimately, it’s too limiting. The good news is you can start a blog for just a few dollars a month. There’s no excuse not to make this small investment. 

2. Quality Design

Next, you need a design to make your new self-hosted website shine. There are a number of free templates available, especially if you choose to use a popular Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress. From there, make sure your template or custom design has been fully customized.

Give some thought to the basics of branding. Here are some questions to guide your search:

 

  • Colors – The foundation of any brand should be your colors. Consider the psychology behind your color picks. How do you want your users to feel? For instance, red is shown to make users excited, black is associated with luxury, etc. 
  • Logo – You’ll also need a logo for your blog. If you’re working with a limited budget, you can just start with your blog name as a logo and grow as you develop. 
  • Fonts – Similar to colors, your font choices will help define your brand. However, make sure all of your font choices are easy to read on all devices. 
  • Visuals – Finally, what visuals will you include within your design to make it more engaging to your audience?

 

3. Content Strategy

Now that you have the first must-haves out of the way, it’s time to create quality content. A blog without content isn’t a blog at all. Who is your audience? Who is it you’re trying to talk to? Remember, if you’re talking to everyone, nobody will hear you. You need to be specific with your audience if you want to be successful. 

Today, the best kind of content is long-form content. That means your posts need to be at least 600+ words and offer real value to the users. A lot of new bloggers treat their websites like an online journal. This won’t get you taken seriously, and it’s hard for users to really engage with your content in this way. Focus on content your audience is searching for already. 

4. Social Media

How will you bring users to your blog? You’ll soon learn you can’t just click publish and expect people to pop up from nowhere. You need to promote your blog, and an inexpensive, effective way to do just that is through social media. 

While posting your blog posts and other content on social media is great, don’t underestimate the power of video. A startling 85% of online users in the U.S. watch video content already, so you want your blog to be included in this percentage. 

If you’re not a skilled video editor, don’t worry. You can use a tool like Movavi to do the heavy lifting for you when it comes to editing. Movavi Video Editor Plus is a great tool for beginners and bloggers of all levels. With easy-to-use intro makers and simple design elements, you can have your first video published in seconds. 

Better yet, there are even blogger effects designed for content creators like beauty bloggers, travel bloggers, and so on. Your first video editor shouldn’t be expensive, so this is the perfect choice. Soon, you’ll have endless content to promote on social media and your own blog. 

5. Stay Consistent

Last but not least, you need to stay consistent. Very few bloggers were a major success overnight. It takes time to make an impact, so don’t be afraid to give it your all. Set major goals for yourself as well as smaller goals. See how far you’ve come. 

Blogging is an art form that often seems easy from the outside. Once you’re doing it yourself, you realize just how many hats you need to wear to be successful. As soon as you start building your audience, you’ll realize it was all worth it. 

Get Started Today

It’s never been a better time to start your own blog. Whether you have experience working online or this is your first undertaking, there’s no reason not to get started. As far as investments go, blogging is an affordable undertaking with a huge potential for payoff. 

It’s time to start your own blog and see how far you’ll go. Just keep this checklist in mind to make sure you’ve got everything covered from start to finish.

Legal Branding

Why Must You Not Keep Track of Technical Debt?

on July 16, 2019

Persnickety coding style problems, a bit of copy and paste, incorrect variable and method naming, coding that does not adhere to the standards, and trivial bug issues are irritating. However, these technical debts (TDs) are not worth monitoring. You can take care of such problems in daily opportunistic refactoring. When you code the next time, you should clean up erroneous coding. If you do not, then nobody will. It will not cost you anything. Even if you choose to be complacent and think such problems do not exist, nothing bad will happen to you.

According to an article published on https://www.huffingtonpost.com, focusing unnecessarily on TD affects the product, customers, and engineering teams adversely. However, some TDs are bad. For instance, Heartbleed must not appear even in your backlog. You must fix it right away. Ensure that you can create a patched library immediately. All things other than this are of less priority. If the software has a new version and a few bug fixes, it does not matter. Avoid upgrading for the heck of it because it is a sheer waste of time. There are possibilities that you will come across new issues with no or little result. Read on to learn why you should not waste time tracking TD. 

When You’re Unaware of TD

Do you know which is the scariest of TDs? It is that you are unaware of, which you did take on without knowing. It happens when you do not know about the same. You ended by making some poor design decisions, and you were in the dark as to how to use the software framework in the right way. You did not know how to shield against the major security threats. Such TDs should not be on the backlog. If there are new developments, like someone with more knowledge and experience joining your development team, or facing hacking issues, or you are audited, such debts might come to the surface all of a sudden. Else, TDs keep accumulating behind the scenes without you knowing about them. 

TDs too Big to Manage 

You will find other TDs that are hard to cope with and debt that you took on too fast, making an incorrect guess or decision. It may be possible that you did not know that you were wrong, but now you realized. You or someone else chose the wrong language, architecture, technology stack, and framework. You find that the system fails to scale or has an unreliable under load, rife with security loopholes, which are hard to change. It is not possible to refractor out of this. All you can do is put up with the issues as best as you can, or begin from scratch. Tracking TDs on your backlog is nothing but a futile effort. 

Solve Now or Never 

You resorted to shortcuts to roll out the code for quick feedback such as prototyping and A/B testing. There is a possibility that you will need to write the code again or throw away the same. Therefore, why fret overwriting the code for the very first time. These TDs are strategic ones, which you can take on and at least for some time. If you have more questions about TD, you can visit sites like https://www.nationaldebtreliefprograms.com/. You tried to fix bugs under pressure but failed to do so in the right way. You wanted to get it done quickly, and the results are far from satisfactory. 

Code Works but Hacked 

You find that the code is working fine, but it is hacked. You copied too much and pasted excessively. You did not care to follow the rules, conventions, and guidelines. You did not review the code, did not perform code testing or tried any one of these methods. All you did is leaving the same in some debugging code, and therefore you will have a tough to maintain it. 

Get the Job Done Soon

You need to get the coding right soon, clean it up, and rewrite in a couple of weeks or months. Else, there is a possibility that TDs will never get paid down. The more it stays, difficult it is for to validate or doing anything about the same. Moreover, if it is working fine and all have other jobs to do, why track in the first place? The need for doing something about the same will fail. And if it continues like this, you will eventually forget about the same. Whenever you see it unsolved, you will feel bad, but you will overcome that feeling. 

Fret not. If you are fortunate, the TD will get paid down without your knowledge. An individual may refractor some coding when altering, or may even remove the same because the features are obsolete now. This way, the TD will vanish from the code base, though it is still visible on your books. 

Avoid Monitoring TD, Manage the Same Well

You may feel that monitoring TD is the most reasonable thing you can do. If you fail to track it, you will never know about its scope. However, what things you register in your backlog shall never be correct, foolproof, or complete. You will never know how much TD you have because of some hidden debt that you take in without your knowledge. You can be in the dark if you do not understand the nature of the TD or have not discovered it yet. 

If you are not ready to do some tracking of your TD, it is a sheer waste of time for all. Therefore, only keep track of debt that the product owner and the team agree that it must be paid off. Once you are sure of this, you can pay the same off as soon as possible. Maybe within one, two, or three sprints, you can pay off. If not, choose to ignore the same. Take some time out to refractor instead of creating a huge backlog. It does not mean that you are irresponsible. Instead, it is all about being sensible. 

Conclusion

Now you know that you should not track TD, but make an effort to manage it well. TD is a reality for all application development teams. Ensure that it does not go out of your control.

Legal Branding

Simple Ways Apart From Budgeting And Negotiating To Manage Finance And Debt

on July 16, 2019

Money is an important thing that will help you to buy things that you need and want but it is essential that you save them as well. Since money plays a very significant role in your life, you will need to manage it properly and strategically. This will give you a lot of mental peace, financial strength and happiness as well.

Therefore, if you find yourself in a sticky situation you must know the ways to manage your debts and handle the situation. There are many such ways that are easy as well as effective in managing your money and pay all your debts off easily and quickly.

Budgeting is one such way which is perhaps the most significant aspect of crafting a strategic and proper debt management plan. A proper budget will help you to:

  • Know your source of income
  • Know all your expenses
  • Curb the unnecessary expenses or those that can be postponed temporarily
  • Evaluate your assets and liabilities to find the net worth
  • Consider all your debt obligations and 
  • Create a plan to pay off your debts accordingly. 

When you make some alterations and curtailments in your spending habits, you will be able to save a lot of money and pay off your debts effectively without fail.

Another important aspect of finance and debt management is negotiating with your lenders, especially when you have multiple credit card debts that you want to settle for a reduced amount. However, you are advised to go through several debt settlement reviews to be sure that this is the best possible option as compared to debt consolidation, balance transfer and filing for bankruptcy.

Considering other options

You must look beyond budgeting and negotiating to ensure you have a strategic debt management plan designed for you. You may even consider consolidating your debts. This will help you in several ways such as:

  • You will reduce the number of debts by rolling them into one
  • You will have only one monthly bill and creditor helping you in keeping proper track of your payments
  • It will eliminate the chances of falling behind on debt
  • It will reduce the number of your monthly bills
  • It will have a bigger loan, the lower rate of interest and an extended time period to repay your loan.  

A balance transfer is another way to consolidate your debts, especially credit card debts. However, you will be better off if:

  • You calculate the Annual Percentage Rate or APR before you choose a particular card for balance transfer and 
  • Also, consider the interest-free period to find out whether you will find it comfortable to pay your entire debt within this introductory period. 

You can also take help of the expert debt counselors to decide which method you will follow to repay your debts, snowball method or avalanche method.  The counselors will help you in many ways such as:

  • They will help you to prioritize your debt whether you it will be feasible to pay the high-interest loans first and then the low-interest ones or the other way round considering your financial situation.
  • They will also give you helpful tips about whether or not you should stick to secured loans or unsecured loans when you want to consolidate your debts. Ideally, stick to your secured loans is considered to be the most useful way to improve your credit score as you will have more money in hand to repay your other debts once you pay these off in full.

In short, the debt counselors will help you to get a better idea of debt and finance management, easy and effective disbursement, and to choose the most viable and feasible option.

Different types of debts

When you consolidate your debts it will have a positive effect on your finance and debt management. However, you will need to consider all different types of loans that are there such as:

  • 0% APR credit card
  • Personal loan and even 
  • A home equity loan. 

You must choose the one that will best suit your purpose, financial condition and your ability to repay it on time and on a regular basis. This is another aspect in which you can take help of a credit counselor. 

Suitability of debt and its payment will largely depend on the available cash. It will also depend on other aspects such as:

  • Your financial resources
  • Your credit score and history of payments
  • Your personality and 
  • Your willingness to get rid of your debts. 

Therefore, if you want to make a strategic plan to pay off the consolidation loan, you must first consider your financial strength and then weight it with the pros and cons of each of these available loans.

Take the help of the experts

You will need to choose the right type of loan to repay your existing loans simply to assure that you do not find yourself in further debts. A credit counselor will help you to make such a choice as well as suggest the best and most effective ways to get rid of your debt. 

You will need to know the basics of financial management as well that will help you to create a corpus by curtailing a few of your expenses to repay your debt. Apart from all these, the credit counselors will also help in negotiating with your creditors to reduce the rate of interest or to get some waiver in fees.

The credit counselor will also help you to plan your repayment options which will involve:

  • Analyzing your debts
  • Prioritize these 
  • Plan for your repayment.

Lastly and most importantly, they will be by your side till the time your financial stability is restored. They will analyze the terms and conditions attached to all the different types of loans available. They will make sure that the rate of interest is lower than the average interest rates of all your multiple loans. They can even help you to choose a bank or a credit union to take out a consolidation loan.

Therefore, planning is the most crucial part of the finance and debt management which starts with budgeting and ends with financial freedom.

Digital Branding

How Can a Non-tech CEO Lead a Tech-based Startup to Success?

on July 16, 2019

It is rare to come across a founding CEO of a startup, who also has the skills to be the growth CEO. It can be a dreadful time for a new company to go through so many significant changes at a lightning-fast rate. However, these times become even more confounding for the employees when the new tech CEO of a company does not code or design a code-based product.

Several well-known multi-million dollar startups across the world that heavily rely on tech have non-technical founders and CEOs controlling the operations. Even the founder and CEO of Zillow has had to face skeptics during funding meetings in the past, and informal chats with interns in the present. According to multi-faceted geniuses like Spencer Rascoff, it is indeed a challenge as there is always a gap in the knowledge, but it is not impossible. Where technology is the challenge, it can also become your best friend to help you overcome the challenge. 

How does a non-tech CEO lead a tech team?

There might be times, as a non-tech CEO or team leader, when you won’t be able to argue with the tech team when they tell you that a glitch will take two weeks to fix. However, embracing the limitations of one’s knowledge about the details of the coding and architecture can help oneself learn through practical hands-on training while on the job. Once you learn how long it takes for a team to streamline a new version of the website or fix the bugs in the code, the next time, you will always know when to expect the repairs and installations.

What are the trade secrets of all successful non-tech CEOs from around the world?

Not having enough patience is the key factor that leads to technical debt. It can lead the teams to start a snowball of bad decisions simply because one person in the group is not technologically aware enough!

Here’s what the top non-tech CEOs from around the world believe in to keep their operations smooth –

 

  • Establish mutual trust and respect

 

When your team tells you that your website will be up and running in two months, you cannot challenge their level of commitment or dedication. You can inquire about speeding up the process a bit or inquire about the challenges that may be delaying the process.

Your team is aware of your technological shortcomings, but it is easy to inspire a workplace of mutual trust and respect by not pressurizing them. Do not ask for your team to make the impossible possible overnight. That is the only way to ensure that your team does not cut corners when it comes to quality work. You should remember that it is a two-way road. Your employees will offer you what you offer to them from your first day in the office.

 

  • Embrace new technology

 

Even non-tech CEOs can introduce new technology with the help of their tech team leaders. Certain versions of release management software can make updating, changing, and deploying new company software faster and more reliable than before.

Even non-tech CEOs can follow the stages of software development, testing, and deployment thanks to releasing management software. Some versions can take you through the different stages of release management including – plan release, build release, user acceptance testing, prepare the release, and deploy release of the new software (version). In one way, release management software is not just another piece of coding tech a non-tech CEO has to learn. It is rather a form of software that will help you understand the flow of work within your team and streamline the operations of your enterprise.

 

  • Don’t micromanage

 

Sometimes, glitches can take several rounds of code inspection, corrections, and failures to fix. Your team and their leaders might already be trying their best to get your software up and running. Micromanaging them or their individual responsibilities will do little to help.

You should instead focus on the macro technical problems the team leaders bring to you. It will give you a clear understanding of the roadblocks and the volume of resources each roadblock might cost your company in the future. Include your team leaders while making the resource allocation decisions and listen to their concerns carefully. Ask questions wherever technical jargons crowd or confuse you. Or, make small notes of facts you don’t understand. Refer to a team leader after the conference for clarification.

Leading a successful company takes a lot more than knowledge. It requires flexibility, humility, trust, respect, and the ability to learn new things within short time frames. As non-tech CEO of a tech-based enterprise, whether you need help from your team leaders or new software, it is your responsibility to ensure that you begin to learn from the employees as soon as you step inside your office.

Digital Branding

What Are the Elements Which Make Big Data so Popular?

on July 16, 2019

In terms of informative technology, big data has clearly defined the collection of the sets of data. Those sets are not easy; they are huge which the data can’t capture easily, stored, shared, analyzed with the help of some tools. In the market, this data mostly comes into view during the attempts of analyzing business trends from current data sets.

In some of the areas in which that data is regularly coming into view, then it includes several fields of research in which we include the environment. Some of the restrictions are there, which is caused by big data, it directly affects our business, the market of finance, and the best result over the internet. If you want to process that data, then it requires the imported software which is capable of processing on several servers. Today, we are here to tell you about the important information about big data. So, if you want to know that, they must read this post till the end and get your answers. 

Narrative of big data

First, we are going to tell a story which helps us in introducing the big data in our country. As we all know that, in ancient times, people were traveling from one place to another by a horse cart. Isn’t it? But as the days were gone, all those small villages are becoming small towns. Due to this reason, the distance is also increased because all people are spread out. 

Then traveling from one place to another along with the heavy luggage is not possible. Then some of the people tell that why don’t we buy more horse? If we think then, we suggest that maybe it helps us in solving the problem. But do you think that horse can be able to carry more luggage as elephants? No, right, to a person suggested that why don’t we use the more horse rather than one in a single cart.  

Then all the villagers think about that and finding this solution right. With the help of this, they can be able to carry more luggage and travel a long distance in very less time. All these things are also applied to big data. In the traditional time or we can say that till today, big data stores the data in the servers due to the reason of because data is limited and we have enough time. 

But, nowadays our data is developing rapidly, and people don’t have enough time to process it. Transfer of data into the server is not possible in today’s times because the speed of the data is also increasing with the time.

Elements of big data which makes it popular

  • Volume

The first one is a volume which considers as the time amount in which our data is developing day by day at a very fast rate. Data size is produced by people, machines on the social media platform, which is huge.

  • Velocity

We know that our data is founded by several sources daily, and this speed is considered as velocity. The flow of the data is huge and constant. It helps to show how rapid the users are developing on the social media platform and how your data is generated fast regularly. If you are capable of managing the velocity, then you will be able to take the entire decision on a time basis.

  • Variety

We know that several sources are there, which contributes to the big data, and then the data which they are generating may be different from each other. The data may be structured, unstructured, or semi-structured. Several types of data are analyzed on a regular basis.

In ancient times, the data used to be derived from excel and databases, but now data is also coming in the appearance of pictures and videos.

  • Veracity

It is the fourth feature of the big data, which is veracity, is defined as the data in doubt present due to the incompleteness of the data. Sometimes the data is presented very hugely, and we can’t make trust in them.

  • Value

As you can see above, all the features of the big data start from” V” and the last one is also the same starting means value. Value is better to have way in big data, but except we can turn the useless value. If you turn the things in value, then you can get enough benefits of the organizations which help you in identifying the data.

Types of the data

There are three types of data we are going to mentioned below:-

  • Structured
  • Semi-structured
  • Unstructured

All of them we are going to discuss in detail one by one. So, look at those and know more about it. 

  • Structured

If your data is stored and processed in a fixed format, which is known as structured data? You can easily process this data because it is fixed. If you want to manage the proper types of data, then you can be able to use the structured query language.

  • Semi-structured

 

It is the next type of the types of data which is known as semi-structured. It has few organizational properties as like some tags and markers for separating elements which make easy to identify.

  • Unstructured

The next and the last one is the unstructured data which is not being identified into the structured format, which considers as unstructured data. Some of the examples are there as videos, pictures, and audio. This type of data is developing very fast as compare to others.

Final say

We conclude that these are some of the things which you should know about the “big data + finance company.” If you are finding any queries related to that, then you can take help from the internet. We are telling you about the official website which helps you a lot and remove all doubts. That one is https://www.libertylending.com/. You must visit the site and know more about it.

Local Branding

How to Choose Computers for Your SME

on July 15, 2019

Starting a small or medium-sized enterprise is a stressful process, but people all around the world are still doing it. This could be a way for you to realise all your business potentials and play in the big leagues. So, start your SME right now, but don’t forget to equip it with some new computers too. Choosing equipment can be rather hard, especially when it comes to computers, and most people don’t know what to do. So, if you’re in a dilemma as well, here’s how to choose computers for your small or medium-sized enterprise.

Spend as much as you have to

With so many options out there and more models than you can imagine, buying a computer has never been harder. But, there’s one aspect you can always rely on – the prices. More expensive computers often offer better performance and enhanced longevity, so don’t be cheap when purchasing them. Reliable computers for your business can easily cost anywhere from $200 to $1000, but are an investment worth making. So, be prepared to spend a bit more money than you’ve planned, and you’ll be making the right choice.

Choose a great operating system

Again, there are so many operating systems you could use, and picking the right one might not always be easy. Most people opt for Microsoft Windows or Linux, but you can always go with Apple Mac as well. That’s why thinking everything through is vital, especially for a small or medium-sized enterprise. Also, once you’ve made your decision, be sure to stick with it. Use the same operating system for the entire company and don’t confuse your employees.

Get the right size

This is another dilemma you’re going to face – picking a desktop or laptop computer. In the end, it doesn’t really make any difference, as long as it’s working, but what about the size? Desktop computers are bigger and less discreet, while laptops can be easily stored away in any office space. You can also go with those mini PC’s that are even smaller and more silent. A powerful mini fanless PC is quite enough for your small or medium-sized enterprise, and will get the job done. It’s tiny, powerful, silent, and clean – and these are the things businesspeople all around the world are looking for.

Insist on processors and RAM chips

Whatever model you opt for, these are two things you need to insist on. The processor is the most important component in your computer, and making sure it’s great is crucial. Don’t be afraid to spend more money on that, and you’ll get faster computers that do more in less time. When it comes to RAM chips, the more the better – use every slot your computer has, and boost its power. This will speed it up, which will give your employees a chance to work uninterruptedly on a daily basis.

Avoid old models

Trying to save some money here and there is quite all right for new businesses, but not when purchasing computers. That’s why you shouldn’t buying last year’s models, if possible. These may not be outdated per se, but certainly aren’t the best ones you can afford. All computers have a certain lifespan while buying an old model will put you significantly behind, and that’s never good. So, look into new models, explore their prices, and make a choice you can afford.

Consult your employees

In the end, computers are essential for every SME, and they should be treated as any other tool. This means they’re supposed to be used all day every day, by a number of people. That’s why you might want to consult your employees when buying new computers because they’ll be the ones using them. After all, modern companies are generally spending more money on equipment than workers, and that’s quite dehumanizing for your employees. That’s why you should talk to them and hear them out before getting them a computer. They’ll feel validated and be happier to bring their A game to the office day after day.

 

As mentioned before, buying computers for your small or medium-sized enterprise isn’t the easiest thing in the world. But, if you do your research and take your time, you’ll surely find a model that will work for you.

Legal BrandingLocal BrandingPersonal Branding

Experts Discuss Small Productivity Tips That Bring Big Benefits

on July 15, 2019

As an entrepreneur, you have a lot to juggle every day. What takes more time and energy? Those big tasks that you do once in a while that bring big results to your business, like meeting clients or planning your next venture? Or the small stuff that seems to creep in all day long? If you’re like most entrepreneurs, it’s the latter.

Those small things take our valuable time and energy. In this marketplace, energy is the most valuable resource we have. If you’re wasting this precious energy every day on time-consuming tasks that don’t amount to huge growth for your business, this is something you need to fix.

Luckily, you’re not in this alone. We’ve talked to the best entrepreneur and business experts around to see what they do that makes the biggest difference. Unsurprisingly, it’s not the big changes that add up. It’s those small changes that leave the biggest impact. 

What would you do with 10 more minutes each day? What about an hour? While it might not seem possible, learning to use your time more effectively and to use the right tools will make all the difference. In this guide, we’ll share the top small productivity tips for 2019 that bring big benefits. Some of them might surprise you, but they’ll all make a difference if you give them a chance. 

This isn’t a static list. We plan to keep it growing and evolving as we learn more about what works for leaders and productivity experts across the globe. It’s time to reclaim your lost time to supercharge your day. You have nothing to lose and so much time to gain!

Master Your Scheduling

Fletcher Wimbush from The Hire Talent states that our time as professionals, endless back and forth to nail downtime is super annoying. However, most people don’t approach using self-scheduling tools in the right way. It is critical to use these tools for the OTHER person’s benefit and not just yours. Also, the placement of these tools in your emails matters.

For example, I place this before my signature and salutation after I request a time to meet with someone:

Great I would love to schedule a time to meet with you is there a good time for us to connect this week?

If it is more convenient for you please feel free to choose a time for us to chat using this easy scheduler link.

9.5 / 10 times people use the self-scheduling tool when I do this!

Walking

Our partners from HR Management App suggest “walking breaks”.

Office work is characterized by prolonged and uninterrupted sitting time. This can result in not only physical, but also cognitive fatigue which poses a threat to your productivity levels. Walking is the best way to smash through this fatigue and boost your creativity. The best part is, you will receive benefits regardless of how long you walk for.

Introducing 5-minute bursts of moderate intensity walking into your routine will improve productivity, energy levels, mood, and cognitive performance. It requires no skill and can be performed at any time within your office without sacrificing your break time – all you have to do is get up and walk around your office building.

If you’re finding it difficult to solve a problem or are starting to feel a mid-afternoon slump, take longer walks during your lunch break. This will improve your creativity by up to 60%, enabling you to come back to the problem re – energized and with a more innovative mindset.

Prioritisation

Our partners from Ripple CRM suggest “Prioritisation”

It’s an obvious one – we all know we have things todo everyday in business. Most people have a list of things that they need to work through. A long list can become overwhelming if you have a lot to do.

Many people just start with the first thing they put on their list and they don’t think about the priority order of tasks. Also people tend to prioritise tasks on what they think is the highest priority for them and not necessarily for their company or clients.

So when trying to prioritise tasks, think about it in this order and state of mind:

1. What tasks are high priority and must get done today? Or another way to think about it is if these things don’t get done today I am definitely going to get in trouble with my boss or my client.

2. What tasks are high priority but do not need to be done today?These are the things you should be focusing on but are not essential for today’s priority.

3. Low Priority Tasks Things that need to get done but are not as urgent as the two categories above.

Each day spend 10 minutes of your time categorising your tasks into the above categories. You should know how to do your work – otherwise you wouldn’t be good at your job right? But knowing whatto focus on, is essential to any business’ survival. Small changes like focusing on high priority tasks first could mean the difference between achieving a higher revenue turnover this month instead of next month. It all makes a difference.

Take mini breaks regularly

Our partners from Insights For Professionals suggest to “Take mini breaks”.

Working for long periods without breaks can often lead to increased stress and fatigue. So why not schedule mini breaks periodically to stretch, walk around and have a glass of water? In return, you’ll feel rejuvenated both physically and mentally, allowing you to think more creatively.

https://www.insightsforprofessionals.com/management/leadership/10-top-tips-for-improving-productivity

Utilize proper productivity tools

Our partner Mehmet Akyol from Startup Buffer suggest to “Utilize proper productivity tools”.

Being a single founder, maintaining motivation and productivity requires some additional work. Using different products and services, you can increase your productivity. Pomodoro technique is one of the secret weapons that I was using for a long time. Additionally, recently I have discovered Focusmate to find accountability partners for 50 minutes of sessions. So, using both Pomodoro apps and Focusmate can help any other solopreneurs to increase their productivity.

Accomplish more of what’s important to you

Our partner from Lead Grow Develop suggests to “Accomplish more of what’s important to you”.

Investing in productivity in your career will significantly increase your chances of achieving productivity in other areas of your life. If you are living a life out of balance, then you are not living a life of full potential. Someone who plans their day intentionally can get more things done in 5 hours, then someone who works 9 hours without a plan. Without the right habits, you will find yourself returning to the starting line, over and over again.

Write a to-do list every day

Our partner Julia Mankovskaya from Daxx Blog suggests to “write a to-do list every day”.

“It may seem as easy as pie, but I would recommend you write a to-do list every day. This helps you not to forget about something on a daily run. Additionally, it is a kind of motivating stuff to criss-cross every task you did from your list. You can also put some fun and attach an entertaining picture to the tasks you consider the most complicated or difficult. After all is done – rest well.”

Prioritize your activities

Our partner Haley Gray from Leadership Girl suggests to “Prioritize your activities”.

My best tip for productivity tips is to prioritize and do the things that are most important to you, saying “no” to the things that are not important, that don’t bring you pleasure, satisfaction, or move your business or career forward. So many times we say “yes” to too many volunteer activities. It’s how I ended up as a leader to 4 Girl Scout Troops. I loved it, but it was also a huge amount of time for me, taking time away from my children, and other things that I really needed to be doing. When I started learning to say no to volunteer activities, to job opportunities that weren’t a good match, and things that just don’t make sense for me to do, life got a lot easier.

Avoid getting caught up in the work of others

Our partner Dorothy Dalton from 3Plus International suggests to “Avoid getting caught up in the work of others”.

We all know the phrase “If you want something done, ask a busy person”? Don’t let that person be you.

One of the best ways to increase your productivity is to avoid getting caught up in the work of others. Also known as being “dumped on.” Learning to create boundaries in a constructive way to avoid assuming the work of others is vital. It could be taking on the work of a boss or peer or micro-managing a report. For women making sure the office housework such as buying leaving gifts, organising baby showers or setting-up the staff outing is rotated amongst all staff regardless of gender.

Equip yourself with practical skills

Our partner from Jobstore Blog suggests to “Equip yourself with practical skills”.

Working towards learning new skills to improve your expertise and knowledge can lead to enhancing and increasing work performance. Some of the core practical skills include public speaking, writing, self-management and networking. Besides that, decision-making, stress management and basic accounting skills are equally vital and practical to learn. Adopting and exercising any of these skills can bring a measure of the change in your life and what’s more, would turn your career’s to a greater path.

Start a time-use journal

Our partner Eric Taussig from Prialto suggests to “Start a time-use journal”.

Begin 2020 by starting a time-use journal, logging any activity that you repeat daily and noting how much time it takes you. If/when you find that a combination of any three of these activities requires 2.5 hours or more of your time, look for ways to automate these tasks. If they can’t be automated, hire an administrative assistant to whom you can delegate this work.

Stop multitasking

Our partner Alan Hosking from HR Future suggests to “Stop multitasking”.

Stop multitasking and do one thing at a time – properly. While multitasking sounds like the right thing to do to cope with increasing work pressures, few realise that it simply results in a number of things being done only half as productively as they should be.

Learning To Say No and Mastery of the 95%/5% rule

Our partner Cavakia from Infooomph suggests to “Learning To Say No and Mastery of the 95%/5% rule”.

My best tip for boosting productivity in my personal and professional life is learning say no and mastery of the 80/20 rule. Coming from a low conscious country like Haiti, I was programmed to say yes to everyone and every demand I perceived to have authority over me. Luckily things change when I met two mentors who raised my consciousness. One mentor thought me that NO was the most important word  in the universe, and that I should develop the courage to use it more in order to achieve high levels of success in life.

The second mentor thought me the 95%/5% rule. A method of devoting your precious time to only perform the 5% task that requires your physical presence while delegating the 95%. I used to implement this concept to get amazing result with clients when I was a trainer. Instead of limiting my potential to the amount of clients I could train in one hour, I started saying NO to one on one traditional personal training, and graduated to group training to help more folks in that single hour. From there, I started teaching and delegating the 95% by hiring other trainers.

Plan your days in advance

Our partner Kelvin from Fuzu suggested to “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.
Digital Branding

Enjoy Great Difference in App Development when Working with Salesforce DX

on July 12, 2019

Why is salesforce DX such a hit and why it has enhanced the performance of app developers who had been using Salesforce developing platform till date? Well, there certainly are some great features in the Salesforce DX tool, which helps in enhancing performance. Features like static resources, aura definition bundles, lightning web components, etc., and the management of conflict resolution amongst the components will help you enhance the speed and quality of app development no doubt. Add to it version control with the native release feature and also easy user interface with cloud-based operations, and any developer would really feel pampered with the lovely solution.

How revenue and production in release management get maximized with DX?

Being in a business, your primary focus would be to maximize production and increase revenue. The same focus stays in an app development business too. If you can increase the quality and speed of release management, then things already get better in many ways. And to do this, you can integrate Salesforce DX in your Salesforce platform. Since Salesforce DX is not software in itself and just a set of tools and features which you may use on the existing Salesforce UI, hence you can actually increase the efficiency of lifecycle management and quicken releases with its integration. The UI remains the same, and no extra infrastructure or storage is ever needed. All you have to do is add up the power of DX. You may get great help in doing this by using experts who are already masters in implementing DX. Solutions like Flosum.com can come to great use for this.

No learning is needed

The absence of the learning curve is a great advantage of Salesforce DX. If you are already working with Salesforce, then just some enhancements will be added to the work environment through the integration of the feature-rich DX tool. The interface remains the same. But with added features, you can customize many things and enhance the speed of deployment and accelerate deliveries.

Add custom features to previously existing processes

Customizations can be so well integrated with existing Salesforce platform through the integration of DX that, you will see you can add custom fields, reports, approval processes, change the screen layout, and do so much! Adding DX simply means adding more power to the existing Salesforce platform that you have been using for developing apps. And the beautiful part of this is, you need not use codes to customize things. All customizations can be added with clicks only. Hence it’s easy to learn and implement. 

Finally

With great security features which get added to your app development process, Salesforce DX can be an extremely beneficial add-on to your system of work. Not only will it enhance the speed of work and deliveries, but would bring much more control and authority on the processes and operation, thereby making the developers more confident about the processes. Now is the time you start with DX to feel the difference and enjoy the speeding deployments.

Legal BrandingLocal Branding

Investment Plan when Building a Home 

on July 12, 2019

While most people prefer buying a fixer-upper and then renovate it, others don’t mind building homes from scratch. This gives them a chance to build their own dream home, and that’s something you can’t put a price on. Still, this sounds like the hardest thing in the world, but it’s really not as complicated as people generally think. It’s all about making a plan, defining your budget, and trying to stick to it as much as you can. So, if you too are building a new home, here are a few financial tips you should follow.

Invest your time in your budget

First, you need to figure out how much money you’ve got and how much you can really spend. Going broke and spending every cent you have is never fun, so avoiding that situation is a must. That’s why you have to define your budget first and know how you’re spending every single dollar. After that, you need to try to stick to your estimate and not spend money you don’t have.

Hiring designers and contractors who understand your budget and respect it is a must. These people will help you save money, if possible, during every step of the process. Also, think about using second-hand materials and resources that are more cost-effective. Finally, don’t forget to create a contingency budget too, in case something bad happens. Unexpected situations can’t be avoided, so you’d better be ready for them. Anything from weather disasters to soil quality could set you back and cost you money, so get prepared in advance.

Invest your money in a proper kitchen

While most people think the living room is the center of every home, the kitchen actually receives more attention. This is where you’ll spend a few hours of your day, preparing healthy meals for your family. It’s also space where you can hang out with your loved ones and even receive your guests. In short, this is an area that makes your house a home, and it deserves a ton of attention.

When it comes to creating a perfect kitchen, it’s all about maintaining the balance. Make sure your cabinets aren’t too huge but are still big enough for all your essentials. Also, pick the right pattern for your countertop because it could easily turn into the focal point of your kitchen. Finally, invest in some new appliances that will make your cooking process easy, enjoyable, and successful every single day.

Invest your energy in the design

Building a home for yourself and your family is something you’re probably going to do once in your life. Therefore, you should make sure this home has everything you need and is perfect in every sense of the word. This means it has to be practical, functional, and, above all, visually appealing. That’s why the design is so important, especially if you’re planning on spending the rest of your life here. Homeowners all over the world, from Australia to the USA, know that and pay attention to their home’s visual appeal.

Creating the perfect design isn’t that easy, though, and you need to get inspired. Follow the latest trends, talk to designers, or consult your friends who have already gone through this process. You could also look into project homes, which is quite a popular idea with the aforementioned Australian homeowners. They could get explore ideas presented by those creative project home builders from Sydney who know everything about building homes. Checking their floor plans and solutions could help you define a design of your own, so look into them ASAP.

Invest your patience in the project

Unlike purchasing a turnkey property that you can move into straight away, building your own home takes time and patience. Houses can’t be built in a day, and the entire process might end up taking several years. This will test your patience in more ways than one, but you should stay cool and committed to your goals. 

Building a home from scratch involves a number of different projects, from designing to decorating it, and everything in between. Depending on the size of your construction, you could even be done in a matter of months, if you’re lucky. If not, you could run into problems and holdups, and waste weeks dealing with them. This is why being patient is so important – otherwise, you’ll be under a pile of stress all the time. 

Building a home of your own is a big, serious, and complex project. It’s a dream project for people around the world, and something that will give them a home they deserve. However, it’s a project you should definitely not try to complete on your own, especially if you have no experience. But, if you invest your time, money, energy, and patience into this project, it will surely turn into a success!

Digital Branding

Valuable Information On How To Grow Your Instagram Account

on July 9, 2019

If you want to make your brand more popular on Instagram, you need to have a good marketing plan. The six tips below will help you take your Instagram account to the next level.

Get To Know Your Target Market

If you want to succeed with online marketing, you need to be able to reach your target market in the most effective way possible. In order to accomplish that, you need to learn as much as you can about the types of people who follow you. The better understanding you have of your followers, the easier it will be for you to create content that they love. Some of the factors that you should consider include the following:

– Demographic data such as how old they are and where they are located

– The highest level of education they have completed

– How much money they make on average

– What they value the most in life and what they are the most passionate about

It is a good idea to add new content to your Instagram account during the busiest times. While some companies do best posting between 2 AM and 5 PM, that particular timeslot may or may not work for your business, depending on when your followers are the most active. Pay attention to when your followers are online. What times of the day do they interact with your content the most? Once you gather this data, you can then time your posts accordingly, as per the advice from auto IG likes – visit the website.

Post A Mixture Of Different Types Of Content

Consistency is important when establishing your brand on Instagram. At the same time, however, if you always post the exact same type of content, your account can be a little bit boring. To add a sense of authenticity and to make it more interesting, try mixing different types of content together. EssayOnTime.co.uk recommends posting a combination of Instagram stories, carousels, videos, and images. Even if all of these media types relate to the exact same theme, they will come across as being different since they are in different formats. You can also try mixing up the content itself, posting plain photos, photos with quotes, or even sharing content created by your followers.

Tag Your Posts With Hashtags

If you want your posts to get discovered on Instagram, you need to include hashtags. In fact, this is one of the only ways that new followers can discover your content through the Instagram platform.

Including relevant hashtags with your posts helps you connect with people who are interested in that particular type of content. Instagram allows you to include as many as 30 hashtags with each post. As a general rule of thumb, however, it is better to use fewer than that.

If you add too many hashtags, people might think that you are trying to spam the platform. Usually, it is better to focus on anywhere from 5 to 10 hashtags that are closely related to the topic of your photo. Although you will need to experiment to see what works best for your account, including popular hashtags from your industry and lesser-known hashtags that are closely related to your brand is usually the best strategy.

Try To Get Your Followers To Engage

If you want to form a deeper connection with your followers, you may want to try sharing content that they create. To make this work, ask your followers to create photos or videos of themselves using your products. Then, reward the ones that are the most innovative by sharing them with your audience.

This type of marketing is extremely effective. Not only does it help you increase brand awareness but it also allows you to reward your most loyal followers.

Anytime you share content that is generated by your followers, it lets them know that you truly appreciate them. This can make them more loyal to your brand.

Getting them to engage isn’t as tricky as you might think. In fact, all that you need to do is ask them. Consider holding a contest where you reward the post that is the most popular. Everyone is always on the lookout for ways to get something for free. Contests also tap into people’s competitive nature. That means that you shouldn’t have any trouble getting a lot of people to participate.

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