How to Maximize Your Small Business’s EBITDA Before You Sell

The preparation for retirement is often accompanied by a wave of emotions. If you’re a business owner, it’s a time to take emotion out of the equation and think strategically. Even if you plan to sell your business to a longtime colleague or family member, it’s in the interest of you and that buyer to arrive at an accurate valuation.

You’ll encounter quite a few metrics to measure profitability. The most common among them is EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), which is a company’s net income as indicated on the income statement plus adding back interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.

To some investors, EBITDA is just an accounting metric that doesn’t show true operating performance; others think it’s the only metric that matters. It’s probably somewhere in between those extremes, but it’s nevertheless a concept in which you need to be confident for the sake of your small business’s marketability in a sale.

The Merits of a Metric

The argument against EBITDA is based on the truth that you can’t put EBITDA in your personal checking account — you can only put cash in your checking account. And to get cash into your checking account, you need to pay interest on your loans, pay your taxes, and outlay for capital expenditures. It’s a good argument.

The problem is, it ignores that what one owner pays for “ITDA” may be different from what another owner pays. When valuing any company, EBITDA represents a starting point that allows you to calculate the interest, taxes, and capital expenditures you would pay if you owned the business.

For instance, the way you manage your business could change the amount you pay on your taxes. Will you allocate more toward management salaries? Will you leverage the business and be able to write off additional interest? What does your corporate structure look like? If it’s a C corp rather than a pass-through LLC, under the current tax laws you would pay 21% on federal taxes as opposed to facing personal income tax rates that currently go as high as 37%.

Another common school of thought revolves around depreciation.

Specifically, it’s important in determining value because it ultimately falls on a new business owner to replace depreciated assets. This is true, but it’s also more nuanced.

Asset value will vary depending on the method used to account for depreciation, as will the useful life of the true asset and the amount you’ll have to pay to replace it. Again, if EBITDA is there from the start, you can then add on maintenance capital expenditures to properly assess a business’s true cash flow power. And valuations are all about cash.

The impact of amortization can vary significantly as well. If you purchase a business as an asset sale, your company may have its own goodwill figure that amortizes over a different length of time, which comes with tax implications. EBITDA brings cash flow down to a standard value, and a buyer can add on the hypothetical values that would exist after purchasing the business.

The common thread is that EBITDA is an invaluable building block of a business’s valuation. If you can sustainably improve your small business’s EBITDA, the value of your business will increase for the foreseeable future.

Maximize Your Value

Though cash is king, plenty of factors can affect a company’s cash flow. EBITDA is at the base of it all. Many businesses sell for a multiple of EBITDA, which can be a more valuable metric than seller’s discretionary earnings. It can tell an investor or buyer what it would take to own the business, including the management cost.

Considering how emotional a process selling a business is, it’s beneficial to have standardized figures like EBITDA on hand. It’s a reasonable tool that can help keep both parties — business and buyer — on the same page. Here are a few ways to maximize your company’s EBITDA and showcase its full value:

#1. Make the earnings as pure as possible. 

There are a lot of practices that can make it hard to maximize your earnings. For example, if you’re in the habit of running personal expenses through your business, you’ll struggle to calculate the earnings part of EBITDA.

Likewise, if you consistently invest in the company to drive growth through capital expenditures, then you’ll have to consider how much growth is tied to your spending. Will it come to a halt when capital expenditures slow down? If not, then you have true free cash flow.

On the other hand, if those capital expenditures are necessary to maintain cash flows, then they turn into maintenance capital expenditures. Although it doesn’t impact EBITDA, it will influence your company’s true ability to generate cash flow, and a buyer will have to think about adding those expenditures back.

Institute capital investments now to increase cash flow. The result could be earning two to five times that cash flow number later on in a sale. That, in itself, could end up becoming a significant ROI and boost for your small business.

#2. Take on debt to finance new investments. 

Buyers won’t consider interest payments when valuing your company. Use an influx of fresh capital to supercharge cash flows, then get a multiple in the sale of those cash flows and use the proceeds to pay off the debt.

Just don’t overdo it. Rather than being a positive thing, 100% growth can actually show instability in the business, which naturally makes most buyers nervous. Find a nice middle ground that allows you to build an EBITDA that accurately conveys your small business’s current health and attracts viable potential buyers by being sustainable.

#3. Cut costs and look for recurring revenue. 

Try to determine the current return on all of your existing investments. If certain expenses aren’t generating a required return, it may be time to rethink them. Any expenditure not generating short-term sales or building long-term value for customers should be evaluated closely.

Pay special attention to potential recurring revenue sources, which will generate gross income for a new owner as soon as the deal is finished. Build recurring revenue streams to win lots of new business in the years and months leading up to your exit. This will boost your EBITDA and give potential buyers confidence that they’re taking the reins of a thriving business.

If you’re a small business owner, the sale of your business will be a big part of your retirement plan. Attempting to assess the true value of your business can undoubtedly be stressful, but EBITDA gives you a solid foundation upon which to base your negotiations.

Are you a retiree who has experience selling a business? Are you planning a sale or currently in negotiations? Share your experience below.

The post How to Maximize Your Small Business’s EBITDA Before You Sell appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/smb-ebitda

Step by Step Plan How to Build a TV Lift Cabinet

How to Build a TV Lift Cabinet

Automation lovers always want to have more and more automated innovative twists in their apartments. Some prefer buying automated stuff, others prefer trying to make something automated by their own hands. One of the brightest examples of DIY automation projects that any craftsman can easily afford to himself even in home conditions is the cabinet for TV lift installation. Here we will look through the detailed step-by-step plan of building the TV lift cabinet with the help automated TV lifts of Progressive Automations manufacturer.

Building the whole construction is definitely would be easier to start from the face frame. Poplar wood might be the perfect material for the construction of painted TV lift cabinet face frame as it effectively absorbs pain. To make the frame the craftsman needs four planks. With the help of pocket hole screws, four planks can be connected together into the face frame. As the material for the cabinet housing would be suitable three-quarter inches birch plywood. This wood will provide the whole construction with solidity enough to sustain the weight of the large plasma screen. Than craftsman needs to cut birch plywood material into pieces according to dimensions wanted. These are two sides, the back and the bottom of the future TV lift cabinet. The sides can be attached to the face frame and to the back with the help of an inch and a half nails and the nail gun. This would be enough to hold planks together until the five-eighths screws will fasten wood parts together more tightly. The half-inch MDF material would be suitable to create the flat panels on the sides and back of the cabinet. Making the stiles on the front side of the cabinet the craftsman has to take into account the thickness of the material. If the stiles on the sides have only three inches, after adding the front stiles the width of the sides stiles will be three plus a half of an inch. Stiles must be attached with the help of wood glue and pinned by a nailgun at the top. Then it is time to attach all rails, also with the help of wood glue and nailgun. With the help of three-eighths cord around the stiles and rails, the craftsman can make the cabinet looking more accurate. It also can be attached to the wood glue three-quarter inch nails. After that, the wood molding should be attached to the top of the cabinet around the perimeter to make it look modern. Under the molding at the top of the handmade cabinet, the craftsman should use the same three-eighths quarter round.

Now the DIY cabinet is ready for the TV lift installation. The next step is making an inch and five-eighths hole for the power source. Then, the two mounting boards measuring two inches and an inch deep must be attached to the back panel from the inside of the cabinet. They must be placed with the same indent from their corresponding sides to make the construction balanced. With the two screws through the bracket in the back of the cabinet and few screws through the mounting plate at the bottom of the cabinet, the pop-up motorized TV lift of Progressive Automations can be mounted inside the cabinet. After this was made the TV screen can be dropped on to the cross brackets. The top of the cabinet can be opened and closed with the help of the piano hinge attaching the top to the cabinet.

Conclusion

Don’t be shy to make your own experiments and make own improvements to the automated TV lift cabinet design. In the diversity is the verity.

The post Step by Step Plan How to Build a TV Lift Cabinet appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/home-office/build-tv-cabinet

4 Things to Consider Before Moving Your Phone System to the Cloud

Businesses have a plethora of options when it comes to deploying phone services. Many still opt for the traditional landline system, which has been a staple in homes and offices for decades.

But many businesses are transitioning into digital-based phone systems, especially cloud-based phone systems through cloud providers on a subscription basis. Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is the technology that lets you make and receive calls over the internet.

This year will mark the first time that VoIP systems will outnumber on-premise phone systems in American workplaces, according to data from Statista.

Leaving Landlines Behind

What’s driving the transition to VoIP systems? Cloud-based communications offer a number of advantages over traditional phone systems, including the ability to continue using phones in disasters or downtime scenarios.

Perhaps most important, VoIP systems are easy to deploy and can be seamlessly integrated with CRM tools, email, instant messaging software, and many other applications that power workflows.

Moreover, cloud-based phone systems such as Microsoft Teams, which is a part of Microsoft’s Office 365 suite, allow you to access network applications — technology like auto-attendant, videoconferencing, call routing, and other communications tools — that might otherwise be prohibitively expensive.

Cloud-based systems also offer a level of flexibility and mobility that modern businesses increasingly need in order to stay competitive. Today, cloud providers host servers across a number of locations, so geographic redundancy is built into the service. If call volume increases, you can simply add more extensions and then deactivate them if volume declines. Because you pay for only what you need and because cloud providers charge less per minute than landline providers, you stand to dramatically reduce the cost of both local and international calls.

However, a cloud-based phone system doesn’t make sense for every business, and there can be downsides. Connection and call quality depend on an internet connection, so the loss of internet connectivity results in a loss of phone service (though you can adjust your settings so that calls still hit your voicemail or route to a cellphone in the event your internet is down). In addition, not all providers allow for customized features, and add-on services can vary among providers.

The Mechanics of Cloud Calling

VoIP comes in two flavors: Hosted private branch exchange, or PBX, and on-premise session initiation protocol-based PBX.

With a hosted PBX service, your entire phone system — including auto-attendant, voicemail, and any other features — is hosted in the cloud. That means you don’t really have to worry about disaster recovery: Even if your local server goes down because of a nearby disaster, the phone system software in the cloud won’t be disturbed. It also means your staff members can successfully make calls from anywhere there’s an internet connection, which is a huge advantage if you rely on a remote workforce or a team that’s dispersed over a large geographic area.

On-premise SIP-based PBX relies on a protocol that enables VoIP calls to also carry video and other unified communications applications, such as desktop sharing, web conferencing, and shared whiteboards. Whether or not your PBX is hosted on-premise, it uses SIP to connect to the traditional public switched telephone network for making VoIP calls.

On-site staff manages servers for SIP-based PBX. If you take this route, you’ll be responsible for purchasing and maintaining a SIP “trunking” service, which would otherwise be maintained off-site by a hosted-PBX provider. You’ll also have to secure a backup in the event your primary server is damaged in a disaster. That backup can be a secondary on-site PBX, a cloud-based PBX system, or another backup that allows the use of VoIP no matter the circumstances.

What to Consider If You Want to Make the Switch

If you are considering switching from an in-house phone system to a cloud-based service, you’ll have to transition more than just hardware. Work through the pros and cons list to know whether it can make sense for your business. Here are the four most important considerations you should keep in mind as you decide:

1. Cost

A traditional phone system requires phones, servers, network upgrades, and implementation costs, among others. You pay for a lot, and it’s almost inevitable that the system will fail at some point in the not too distant future. All hardware has an expiration date. Still, if your business doesn’t rely on phone or telecommunications, the cost for ongoing services might be minimal.

Consider the expense of replacing the current system against the cost of a cloud-based system. In most cloud phone system installations, the only capital expense comes with purchasing the IP phones. After that, your main cost will likely be a monthly subscription for the cloud services.

Most providers base charges on the number of users and include unlimited local and long-distance minutes in the price. Other variable costs — such as utilization, software upgrades, hardware upkeep, and licensing — usually don’t affect price in cloud-based systems.

If you do decide to go with a cloud-based phone system, make sure that you completely understand your provider’s pricing model. An unanticipated price increase can quickly erase those other cost savings.

2. Your Workforce

Ultimately, your workers will be most affected by your decision to switch phone systems. If you have remote workers, they can easily access a phone system based in the cloud, which eliminates premises-based limitations. It’s just as easy to route calls to an employee’s home as to an office desk. Plus, voice features such as voicemail and call transfers to other business extensions work just as well in the cloud as on landlines.

The rub, though, is that your employees will need to be comfortable and effective at using the VoIP system. You’ll likely need to provide training and support, and you can expect some degree of frustration as employees learn the system.

3. Automatic Upgrades

If you’re interested in upgrades and new feature implementation, a cloud-based phone system can supply them — no effort needed on your part. The service provider is responsible for the maintenance of the software and hardware, relieving you of that burden. Updates and system upgrades take place automatically, and new features are integrated over the air as they become available.

4. Disaster Recovery

When you’re relying on a traditional landline, any local disaster could potentially bring down your phone system — and you never know how long it will take to get your phones up and running again.

When your phone system is in the cloud, the redundant geographic location of your services means it’s highly unlikely that your phone system will be affected by catastrophes that occur locally. However, your office won’t be able to connect to your cloud-based system if your internet line is down, so you should budget for a secondary internet line as a failsafe.

As you think through each of these points, remember that the quality of your cloud-services provider will make all the difference. If you have some idea of what you’re looking for in a cloud-based phone system, a good cloud provider can give you a free or low-cost consultation to help you determine the best solution for your needs.

Have you recently moved your own business’s phone system to the cloud? Share your experience in the comments below.

The post 4 Things to Consider Before Moving Your Phone System to the Cloud appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/technology/cloud-computing/moving-phone-system

Tapping The Future: 7 Upcoming Trends in E-Commerce Mobile App Development

Today, it’s pretty hard to go a day without a smartphone. We’re so used to these devices, that we’ve started using them for everything, including our daily tasks. If we look at the statistics the number of smartphone users in the US only is over 250 million and surpasses 3 billion worldwide.

A common thing that people use their smartphones for, is online purchasing. Online retailers can’t run their business anymore without having a mobile application. In fact, with all these users, that could be reached and turned into potential buyers, mobile commerce has become the future of e-commerce.

Back in 2017, the number of downloaded apps worldwide was 178,1 billion and when on their smartphones, people use apps way more than browsers. This has made it a common practice to target users with promotions via mobile apps.

The e-commerce landscape is constantly changing though, so if you want to be up-to-date and meet the increasing customer demands, you have to be aware and keep up with all the changes. Many of the trends in the sphere stay on the list for no more than a year.

That’s why we had a slight look into the future to find the 7 upcoming trends in e-commerce mobile app development that would be helpful if you want your app to be ahead of the game.

Augmented And Virtual Reality

There’s no doubt that this trend is here to stay. The benefits of technologies like VR and AR for e-commerce are endless. If you want highly engaged customers then this would be your perfect solution.

With Augmented reality, digital elements come to live just with the help of your smartphone camera. It has an advantage over VR because it doesn’t involve any supporting devices. AR provides the missing piece for e-commerce that used to make customers doubt a purchase – the way it would look in real life. 

Now they can learn about its features and benefits through AR showrooms and consider if it’s right for them. These showrooms are best for companies selling furniture, clothing or accessories.

Augmented reality provides customers with the opportunity to interact with a product. The AR apps are almost unlimited and definitely can tear down barriers of buyer reluctance. Even physical stores now have virtual fitting solutions, which allow you to see the clothes on you, without actually having to wear them. 

E-commerce businesses might like to adopt this technology as soon as possible, while it provides a competitive edge because in the future it’s going to be necessary for sure. 

The Internet of Things

IoT is here to make the world a connected place. It can benefit your e-commerce mobile app by providing personalized data on each customer. The connected IoT devices collect and exchange information. This allows machine learning to determine people’s patterns of behavior accurately. In fact, you’re able to get data not only on their online behavior but also on what they do offline. 

The technology would make your marketing strategy way more efficient, as you provide customers with specific ads and offers based on their likings. The number of IoT devices is expected to grow to over 70 billion in 2025, so you might consider this while creating your e-commerce strategy.

The Internet of Things has massive potential in online retail. Amazon is among the companies that incorporate IoT. They use it for more secure deliveries that don’t expose your packages to thieves, for instance.

Voice Search 

Speaking of Amazon we instantly tough of their Alexa, as it’s now integrated into the IoT on the Echo. However, such technologies show that voice recognition and commands are on the rise. Starbucks, for example, has already implemented this technology into all their online products.

Voice search and commands improve the user experience of your mobile app. Especially if they’re shopping on the go and can’t use their hands to type. This makes more customers gravitate towards voice-optimized apps, so don’t stay left behind.

New Payment Methods

As you probably know debit and credit cards are still the most common payment method when it comes to e-commerce. However, don’t stick to that. The more payment options you offer, the better and more convenient your mobile app is for the customers.

Today, digital wallets and instant lay-by services are also gaining popularity. Such include Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Afterpay. Cryptocurrencies are also becoming a preferred payment method among some targeted groups. With that said you need to provide your customers with different payment options so that they are most likely to finish their purchase.

Chatbots

Chatbots are powered by Artificial Intelligence. They replace some human customer support employees, by helping companies interact with customers. Their main advantage is that they could instantly answer typical questions all the time.

These AI-powered chatbots are able to simulate a conversation with your customers in a pretty natural way and solve their problems faster. There are customers that want their questions answered right away or they won’t finish their order. For such cases chatbots are crucial. They are always a part of the seductive UI design tips for m-commerce.

 Satisfying all customer’s needs is what you want your mobile app to do, so it’s definitely something you can’t skip.

Cloud Integration

Cloud storage is something many people have started looking for nowadays. This has made online retailers host not only their data but their whole mobile apps in the cloud. The approach has a number of benefits not only for mobile e-commerce but for all mobile apps.

The main thing is that it increases your app’s performance. Furthermore, it reduces the costs associated with hosting. We all know the principle – the faster your app is, the better the customer experience gets, so anything that can achieve that should be welcomed.

Better Customer Experience

This one is timeless. In fact, all of the tends ever come to improving customer experience. It’s definitely the main brand differentiator, surpassing even price. If you run a smaller company and can’t afford the flashy trends like augmented reality, just focus on improving customer experience in any way possible.

Simple things like speeding up your mobile app could actually make a huge difference. You could also integrate multichannel customer service so that it’s easier and provides customers with faster and better responses.

A Bright Future For M-commerce

With the constantly increasing popularity of mobile devices, online retailers should definitely consider having a mobile e-commerce app developed. 

These were only seven of the upcoming trends in e-commerce mobile app development. Some of them are slowly becoming crucial to surviving in our technological era. Just like a retailer without an app, maybe someday an m-commerce app won’t stand a chance without AR features for instance. The listed trends can help you boost sales and improve customer loyalty. 

Of course, you would need all the basics first, like seamless navigation and great features, but innovative trends are what make you stand out among your competitors and provide a user experience on a whole new level.

 

The post Tapping The Future: 7 Upcoming Trends in E-Commerce Mobile App Development appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/technology/mobile-technology/ecommerce-app-trends

Section 20’s – What Are They?

A guide about Section 20’s

What do you need to know about section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act (1985)?

When major works on a building are carried out and the cost per leaseholder exceeds £ 250 the leaseholder has certain rights that have to be followed in order for the cost to be claimable from the leaseholder. The basic purpose of issuing section 20 is to put in place a consultation process with which to notify the leaseholders about the major work costs.

Section 20 aims to keep the tenants or the leaseholders well informed of any modification, renovation or repairs being done to their properties along with the consideration of their consent. A three-stage consultation procedure has been set according to the section 20 regulation, which must be followed by the RMC, property management company or RTM if they want to carry out qualifying works to the apartment/building where the contribution (payment to service charges) from any one of the leaseholders goes beyond £ 250 or is exceeding £ 100 in a financial year if they go according to their qualifying long term agreement. Consultation with all of the leaseholders is required if the residential management company (RMC) plans to carry out qualifying works or plans to enter into a long-term agreement, they must also include any Recognised Tenants Association (RTA) if applicable.

A Service Charge Accountant, Service Charge Accounting firm or a Service Charge specialist should be used on all major work projects to help you prepare a detailed CAPEX, help with a feasibility report and correctly record the transactions in the service charge accounts.

What are the three stages of the consultation procedure?

The consultation procedure can be divided into three stages

1. Sending ‘Notice of Intention to Carry Out Works’

According to section 20, ‘Notice of Intention to Carry out Works’ will be sent to all of the leaseholders. The notice must state and elaborate on the work proposed, the reasons behind the work you are proposing and must include an invitation to the leaseholders to record written observations within a period of 30 days. The notice should mention the correspondence address for observations as well.

Leaseholders are provided with an opportunity to provide the name of the desired contractor with whom the RMC can contact and acquire an estimate for the proposed works.

 

2. Provision of ‘Statement of Estimates

Two estimates should be acquired with one of these estimates given by a person that is completely independent of the residential management company (RMC) or the landlord, after the expiration of the consultation period of 30 days.

However, at least one estimate should be acquired from the nominations, only if the nominations were made during the period of consultation

The residential management company (RMC) or the landlord must list down all the details, related to the estimates that have been acquired along with the summary of observations obtained within the period of consultation, in the ‘Statement of Estimates’ and must ensure its provision. All the estimates along with the estimates provided by the nominated contractor must be available for the leaseholders so that they can investigate if they want to.

Ensure that a ‘Notice to Accompany the Statement of Estimates’ is also sent along with the ‘Statement of Estimates. ‘Notice to Accompany the statement of Estimates includes the details of time and location where the details may be investigated, an invitation to the leaseholders to record written observations made on estimates within a period of 30 days, and the address to which the recorded observations should be sent.

It is advisable to hire a competent service charge accountant to help you through the process.

3. Choosing the estimate:

A ‘Notice of Reasons’ is to be delivered to all the leaseholders if the chosen contractor through this process fails to provide the lowest possible estimate within the period of consultation. ‘Notice of reasons’ lists down the reasons which are given by the residential management company (RMC) or the landlord for choosing the contractor.

Though the requirements of section 20 have been met, it is wise to issue a ‘Notice of Reason’ so that the estimate’s reasonableness could be tested according to the Section 19 of the Landlord & Tenant act by the First-tier Tribunal (FTT)

The consultation procedure is similar for long term agreements except for stage 2 in which ‘Notice of proposals’ is served.

A maximum amount of £ 250 for qualifying works and £ 100 for long-term agreements can be recovered from the leaseholders, only if the consultation procedure has not been pursued properly and the residential management company has been challenged at the First-tier Tribunal (FTT).

The post Section 20’s – What Are They? appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/accountancy/section-20

Top 5 Website SEO Strategies Guaranteed to Work

In the age of internet technological changes, newer algorithms are being generated and implemented; tactics that may have helped your business with SEO as recently as 2018 have become obsolete.

The purpose of SEO marketing is to boost your business and engagement by bringing it to Google’s first page.

In recent years, the dependence on physical directories for products and services has shifted almost entirely to the virtual arena, and businesses falling behind in this area are likely to suffer.

With Google constantly updating their algorithms to check for the quality of content, backlinking, effective use of keywords, and very importantly, distance. Depending on these factors primarily, Google’s algorithms target and filter out businesses. Now more than ever, the vetting process to determine quality content is crucial, and there are things that businesses and marketers need to be mindful of.

An estimated 93% of all internet experiences begin with a search engine. Google is at the top in the market for all search engines, holding about 76% share; about 81% of consumers run a web-search before taking the plunge for a major purchase. With statistics like that, it’s no surprise that user-experience will take precedence over business strategies that were previously effective.

SEO is now more complex than ever, going beyond the typical overuse of keywords and hackneyed marketing techniques. Google’s Panda and Penguin algorithms have made it next to impossible to do well without putting in the right effort.

Now SEO services require a combination of quality content, strategic marketing, and placement of key-words, improved technical support and overall user-experience.

The following are some of the best tips digital and tech experts have recommended for staying up-to-date with SEO strategies:

1. Develop high-quality content

If the website’s content falls flat or is neglected, irrelevant or outdated, it’s unlikely that people will engage with it at all. Visitors and potential customers need to be reeled in with engaging content, whether that’s blogs, images, infographics or articles.

Content quality can make or break a business and Google Panda filters out low-quality content. Poor grammar, off-putting images, and meaningless writing will drive users away and Google Panda knows this.

2. Credibility

Using appropriate backlinks and outbound links is an excellent strategy to show credibility, reliability, and trustworthiness. Why would users consider taking your word and dealing with your business if they’re redirected to dubious websites?

Authoritative and credible sources should back up all your claims. Include links to your own website and business too, otherwise, it will be difficult to actually convert visitors to clients.

Google Penguin is specialized in checking for keyword stuffing and fishy, manipulative links and content. So companies can no longer get away with rehashing keyword after keyword in order to bump themselves up.

3. Local Optimization

SEO is becoming more and more focused on the relevance of services and Google’s Pigeon algorithm ranks businesses and websites based on their proximity to the user.

The closer a business is to a user, the higher the ranking. Simple. But that does not make other factors such as the quality and credibility irrelevant, especially if you’re in a large area competing with several other similar businesses.

4. Readability

The more readable content on a website is, the more organic traffic it draws in. A lot of specialized businesses lose out on potential clients by making their content far too technical and difficult to grasp.

If users in search of information click on your site and are overloaded with information, they are unlikely to follow through with it, let alone take action. Break your content into sub-headings, topics and digestible snippets of information, coupled with images and keep your language plain and simple.

5. Clever CTAs

Be specific but subtle with your CTAs. Customers don’t want to be told what to do, especially in generic terms like ‘submit,’ ‘click here,’ ‘sign-up now,’ but they do want the hook.

Invite them, involve them and make them feel noticed. The user should not feel like their time has been wasted without something that will link them to the service they’re seeking.

The most important thing with SEO is consistency and staying up-to-date to get maximum benefits and engagement for a business.

The post Top 5 Website SEO Strategies Guaranteed to Work appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/seo/top-five-strategies

Various Uses of Garmin Singapore Smartwatches That use GPS Technology

 

 

 

 

 

 

GPS watches have now become a fashion statement and come with a wide range of features that can do so many things that you simply cannot think of. Although people look upon these powerful devices mainly for fitness support and tracking people, it has several other areas of interest including aviation, automotive, marine, wireless applications, and outdoor recreation. These exemplary devices like the reputed Garmin Singapore smartwatches are driven by the principles of performance, convenience, innovation, and value, which are just one of its kind. You can use these watches in many ways, only limited by your power to imagine and think out of the box.

In this article, we will discuss some uses of GPS watches beyond the commonly known uses that rise above its fashion appeal.

Use it for measuring the distance

GPS watches, also known as tracking watches, empower its users to measure distances, which becomes very important when you are following some fitness program. To figure out how much you achieve during a fitness program, it is essential to track the path traversed, and GPS watches precisely does that for you. After covering a certain distance during jogging or running, if you look at your smartwatch, you get the complete tracking record of the path traveled and the distance covered within a specific time. It clearly indicates your performance as it shows how much you could achieve. By using the powers of measuring distance, you can figure out how much time it could take to reach the nearest jogger park by noting the distance captured in your watch.

Considering how huge your apartment building is? Or on the other hand the distance between you and your preferred park? Or on the other hand exactly how close the closest dessert shop is? Well, a GPS device is exactly what you have to discover this data out. Since they can likewise associate with computer mapping programs you can get a bird’s eye view of the distance you traveled.

Embark on exploring any place

Smartwatches with GPS navigation can turn you into an explorer without any fear of losing your way in the wilderness. By using the ability of the watches to set waypoints, you can mark the exact locations of special or remarkable geographical features as you proceed along your journey through some wild or unknown terrain.  By using the feature, you can get an idea about the location with respect to the landmarks that make it easy to get back to the place again and again without any confusion. This can be very helpful to discuss the place with fellow adventurers and encourage better collaborative efforts with a better understanding of the geography of the place. The explorative features of GPS watches are also very useful in urban landscapes as it facilitates better interaction with the environment in any new and unknown place during business trips.

By utilizing way focuses you can give yourself the opportunity to investigate side lanes and back rear entryways that you would typically never consider going down because of a paranoid fear of losing your bearing on where your hotel or hostel is. This should be possible away within the event that you have a GPS watch to point you back home.

Analyze your commute

Another use of smartwatches is the assistance it provides in analyzing your commute. The watch can suggest the shortest route to any destination and predict the possible hold up during the journey that helps to save on gas and work out the expected time it will take to arrive at the destination. The information helps you chart the most efficient route and even track driving so that you can make out how much you waste in traffic snarls and how much time you could maintain the recommended speed.

Also, If these gadgets are paired with a heart rate monitor they can give data about your degree of stress during your commute. Is there a recognizable contrast in your heart rate depending on the speed at which you travel home? Is your commute stressing you out? A heart rate monitor may help you better comprehend this segment of your commute.

As should be obvious, GPS tracking watches have huge amounts of employment in a wide range of circumstances. Their capacity to record a wide range of layers of data is the key behind their versatility.

Some best examples of GPS Running Watches of 2019

• Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR

It is a lightweight, flashy, and built to last, the Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR is both a fashion statement and a highly efficient running watch. The battery life of up to 12 hours (in training mode), this durable, practical watch is perfect for runners and any other experienced endurance athletes.

The Suunto’s impressive features include an outdoor-grade color touch screen, mapping, training insights, and customized sport modes (80 in total!), in addition to 24/7 activity tracking and an optical heart rate monitor.

• Samsung Gear Sport

Trendy, functional, and ultra-luxe, the beloved Samsung Gear Sport can pretty much do it all: This well-designed sports watch provides passive activity tracking, personalized coaching and tips, and a detailed analysis of your sped, heart rate, and other fitness facts.

• Casio Women’s STR300 Runner

If you’re just getting started with running and don’t want to invest in an expensive watch, this basic running watch from Casio is perfect. It is inexpensive and light in weight, also features an auto LED light, alarm, countdown capability, and stopwatch with 60 lap memory.

• Apple Watch Series 4

You may consider Apple products somewhat of a rampage spend, yet the organization’s most recent Apple Watch is justified, despite all the trouble in case you’re a running pro or are training for a race. This do-everything bit of gear has GPS and cellular capacities so you can consistently track your courses and remain over approaching notifications if need be. The watch estimates your rhythm, pulse, pace, and other significant metrics, in addition to you can track climbs and yoga exercises during any cross-training days.

The post Various Uses of Garmin Singapore Smartwatches That use GPS Technology appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/technology/technology-trends/gps-smartwatches

How can be Smart Contracts Beneficial for Insurance Businesses?

What is a Smart Contract?

A smart contract is a program in the computing world that executes the contract established between the parties involved. The self-execution part of the contract comes into play only after specific conditions are met, which have been discussed between the parties involved in the contract.
That is when a condition which has been established previously occurs, the smart contract detects it automatically and brings the corresponding clause into action. Smart contracts have already gained worldwide acceptance and recognition in terms of its convenient use in the business world.

Blockchain Technology

The technology which has made the use of smart contracts possible is the blockchain technology through which the data of the contracts are stored in a distributed manner. This means that the entire transactions that take place between the parties are code-operated without the involvement of any third-party. It offers top-notch security by making sure that every transaction which is executed cannot be changed, which includes the automatic chain follow-up of the previous chain to carry out a transaction.

In simple terms, blockchain uses cryptographic algorithms to record the transactions publically which need no verification from the central authority like banks due to its free and distributed network of intermediaries. Smart contracts, on the other hand, are enforced autonomously and automatically.

Top 5 Benefits of Smart Contracts

Every new technology comes with a lot of benefits and the smart contracts using the blockchain technology also brings along a lot of benefits which are discussed as below:-

Autonomy & Costs Reduction

The smart contracts are always established between two or more than two parties, irrespective of any intermediaries in the form of third parties. A lawyer or any other representative is not required for contract validation. This leads to the reduction and elimination of any kind of intervention by anyone who is not a part of the contract. Apart from this, it reduces the costs of formulating and managing the contracts by a third party, leading to a win-win situation for both the parties involved in the contract.

Task Automation

All the processes of the smart contracts are automated using the blockchain technology and rendered securely. In the insurance sector, the value of mediators and human efforts matter a lot. and this is what the smart contracts eliminate at large, eventually ensuring zero manipulation risk by any third-party. Moreover, the processes and procedures involved in smart contracts can be reviewed by the insurance companies in a more convenient and transparent way.

Risk Assessment & Confidence

With the use of blockchain technology, insurance companies can include standardized models for risk assessment in their smart contracts. An Id system which is based on the blockchain technology provides for the logic behind risk assessment. Ids are verified instantly and filled with new data which removes the time-consuming traditional stages for the verification of identities.

All the information related to the person involved is read by the smart contracts, which further assesses the risks automatically, eventually saving efforts and time. It also helps in building confidence between the parties who do not know each other but are involved in a contract due to the assurance of an efficient risk assessment tool provided by the blockchain technology.

Speed Boost

When the insurance tasks are handled and processed manually, they demand a lot of effort and time. On the other hand, smart contracts, which use the automation technology speeds up the processes through it, along with leaving no scope for human/manual error.

In other words, they replace the claims processing completely, with no predefined rules to follow or any requirement of the documents. This benefits the insurers in a lot of ways as not only they are able to increase the work efficiency and speed, but also save a considerable amount of money on the manual costs and infrastructure.

Enhanced Security

Due to the storage of the smart contracts on the public blockchain, losing out on them is almost impossible. There is no one who can erase it and you can access the data stored in the smart contracts whenever you want to. Manipulation is also decreased at large due to the decentralized nature of the smart contracts. This is the best part of using the blockchain technology as it is an open ledger and everyone can see every single transaction of it. This means if anyone tries to change it, the inconsistencies are not going to be missed at all as everyone is going to see it. Apart from this, the insurers can relax against losing the policy documents due to the technical characteristics of the smart contracts.

Do Businesses Really Need this Technology?

As per Market Research Future, the data collected during the Smart Contracts Market Research Report states that the worldwide worth of the smart contracts by the end of 2023 will reach a staggering $300 million, with a 30-32% CAGR in between this time period.

These stats clearly explain the importance which the smart contracts are getting in the insurance sector, and there is a definite reason for it too. They are providing the insurance agencies with a remedy to face multiple challenges of the past in a more convenient and cost-effective way. If we talk about the trust which the people have in the insurance industry, it is a mere 47% in the USA!

One of the biggest challenges which the insurers face is nothing but false claims, with trust lacking on both the ends. The blockchain technology helps in the elimination of intermediaries and re-establish the lost trust, eventually making the insurance sector boom.

How to Implement the Smart Contracts Use in an Insurance Company?

It is important for the insurance companies to understand the following technical development phases for incorporating the use of smart contracts if they are looking forward to creating products that are customer-centric:-

Token Designing

In order to execute some specified functions, the network of Ethereum permits users to develop their individual token while creating smart contracts. The functions to be executed and business logic to be included are determined during this phase.

Smart Contracts Implementation

The solidity programming language, a high-level and object contract-driven language, is used to build Ethereum smart contracts, and implement its use in the insurance processes.

Testing

There can be certain difficulties if the insurers try to test the smart contracts on the blockchain itself. Using Autotests is a good option as it provides a real environment to test and fix the issues if any.

Approval and Review

Although there aren’t any standardized verification methods for smart contracts, the developers can verify their logic and coding through result visibility and with the help of many reviewers.

Deployment

To deploy the smart contracts for everyone to use it in the Ethereum blockchain, the engineers have to, first of all, submit the code of the contract to it, and wait for the transaction to be minded. If all goes well, the contracts are deployed successfully.

Support

It is vital for the insurance companies to have their own infrastructure in place for managing the smart contracts or outsource the same when using the blockchain technology.

Conclusion

The above-post clarifies the importance of trust between the parties involved during the formation of the insurance contracts, which is met exclusively using the blockchain technology for making the smart contracts. By eliminating the role of the third-parties, the insurers are able to prevent risk-fraud, along with improving work productivity and reducing costs. It is imperative for the insurance firms to incorporate the use of smart contracts in their insurance processes due to the plethora of benefits associated with it or reap the same benefits through an outsource insurance service company.

Smart Contract – Deposit Photos

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source https://tweakyourbiz.com/technology/technology-trends/smart-contracts

Know, How SEO & PPC Are More Valuable to Your Business

Search engine optimization and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns may work together to attract more traffic, increase your prospects, or increase your earnings? Is there a connection between PPC and SEO, or are both entirely irrelevant?

Let us take how SEO and PPC work collectively, understand these two marketing approaches can be combined to boost your site and deliver much better outcomes. Search engine optimization is the process where a site is enhanced to rank better in hunts for targeted keywords or phrases. PPC advertisements normally represent an inexpensive means to get new clients.

Technically, the solution is no, using PPC advertisements cannot impact your website’s rank, and your website’s rank cannot impact your advertisements. There are ways SEO and PPC can work together to create your total marketing strategies better even though there are not any search engine optimization advantages to getting PPC advertisements, there are additional advantages that could negatively impact how well your site performs.

PPC is a type of paid advertising approach online during PPC; you need to pay for directing visitors to your site with the support of the search engines on the internet. The sponsored results SERP show your advertisements and you have to pay a predetermined fee which is calculated dependent on the essence of your keywords every time a visitor clicks on your ad to visit your site.

PPC campaign is part of your internet advertising strategy raise to your businesses

• Better advertisements with PPC

You may take a world of choices in regards to PPC advertising. In reality, it’s amazing to get control of the positioning of visual content like movies or graphics for your services or products via PPC.

• Attaining best places in SERPs

When your clients search for something about a normal search engine they get to find at least three to four advertisements on the peak of the SERP, way ahead of the natural links or articles rank begins.

• The Subject of visibility

When you purchase advertisements to appear on the peak of the SERP, then you receive an opportunity of being noticed by the ideal type of folks who can help you create your company grows.

• Alternatives for targeting

If you would like to hit the target audience, then PPC is the ideal platform for you. It is possible to connect to several customer demographics individually through a good PPC effort, and it’ll also enable you to handle the advertising budget of your organization to a fantastic extent.

 • Faster conversion rates

Since PPC puts your ads right on the peak of the SERPs, it leads to much faster conversion prices for your company. The chance of consumers seeing exactly what they need on your advertisements is elevated through PPC, and so they’ll have the ability to see your website and buy your merchandise quite easily if you’ve got a fantastic PPC plan working for you.

When it’s a brand new product you need to try a new type of services you would like to present, you’ll have the ability to get it done using PPC. It delivers a more agile kind of promotion on account of the variables of laser and visibility targeting your audience, so it contributes to greater conversion prices.

• Stable Type of advertising

Overall, since cash is demanded, PPC claims to become a more secure type of internet advertising. In the long term, PPC conversion rates form the foundation of owning a steady client base and accepting brand visibility into another level. Search engine optimization is for driving targeted visitors to your site, and while attaining the topmost position from the SERP to your business may look quite good in marketing strategies come hand-in-hand with this kind of content-driven internet advertising.

Organic traffic comes via the SERPs and SEO sets your company out there in front of possible clients at the opposite end of the display. Hence, SEO plans work in a way that produces brand awareness concerning the numerous services and products which you need to offer you. It doesn’t cost you a chance to have a successful search engine optimization strategy in place. But, SEO doesn’t come for free. In general, employing SEO approaches for your online advertising effort is going to be a cost-effective procedure since it will create a whole lot of leads.

• Targeted Visitors to your sites

Driving business consciousness becomes a great deal simpler with SEO when you’ve targeted audiences coming to your website. They get to know about the variety of assortment of goods and services which you provide and are consequently more inclined to purchase while they’re browsing through your SEO-optimized site.

Studies indicate that the proportion of customers clicking on natural outcomes is more than individuals who click on sponsored advertisements on the SERPs. Analyzing such customer behavior tendencies on the internet, the entrepreneurs can create better SEO approaches that enhance your CTR or click-through-rates, and also you don’t need to pay for every click with PPC.

Since PPC only runs on the cash that you keep rolling to them, it quits functioning the minute you give up dishing out the money. With SEO, you don’t need to be concerned about such problems as traffic generation, and retention occurs through these plans also. In reality, the durability of these search engine optimization strategies as successful internet or social marketing and advertising tactics makes it a much more sustainable alternative for medium or small business ventures.

The Concluding Word

SEO and PPC are equally smart internet advertising methods, and it’s a tough call when it comes to picking between them. Considering that the two of them provide many advantages leading to fantastic conversion rates, it’s ideal to get an exceptional marketing plan combining the best practices from the SEO and PPC for ensuring that booming business but market survey and a careful analysis of the internet trends reveal an integrated approach to internet advertising through SEO and PPC. It is the perfect thing to do.

 

SEO – Deposit Photos

The post Know, How SEO & PPC Are More Valuable to Your Business appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/seo/business-value

UK Gov’s Big Projects Under Threat

Concerns over UK.Gov’s Big IT Projects

HMRC’s flagship programs such as ‘Making Tax Digital’ and ‘Customs Declaration Service’ along with a list of other IT projects are in danger. According to the Annual report presented by the Infrastructure Projects Authority (IPA), the authority highlighted nine government (ICT) projects that are raising doubts on their successful delivery due to the high-risks associated with some of their aspects or areas.

What do you need to know about ‘Making Tax Digital’?

‘Making Tax Digital’ is one of the game-changing initiatives, introduced by HM Revenue & Customs, to help businesses get their tax right and to help them stay on top of their finances. It is aimed at making the tax system more efficient, more reliable, more effective and more simple for businesses that are struggling to get their tax right.

According to the program, businesses generating taxable profits that go above the VAT threshold will be required to use this service in order to store their records digitally and submit their VAT returns through an MTD compliant software. If you think MTD is applicable to you and you are not sure what to do, speaking to a VAT accountant will help.

What do you need to know about ‘Customs declaration service’?

Customs declaration service, introduced by HM Revenue & Customs, was intended to replace the current ‘Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system over a period of three phases between August 2018 and beginning of 2019.

CDS is aimed at revolutionizing the existing system of customs declaration that has to be completed and filed by importers and exporters, whenever they are trading outside the European Union (EU). If you are an Import and Export Business you should speak to an Accountant or an Accounting firm to make sure you remain compliant.

What are the highlights of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s (IPA) report?

The report has flagged the projects that are amber-red, red is when the successful delivery of the project appears impossible and amber-red signifies the success of its delivery is in doubt.

The report also highlights the Cabinet office’s ‘Digital Identity Project’, as the only project to be marked as red by the watchdogs.

There are 27 out of 133 government projects, with a combined worth of about 10 billion, that have been categorized as Information and communication technology (ICT) projects. The other 106 projects fall under different categories with most of them having considerable digital characteristics as well.

Out of these 133 projects, 38 have been flagged as amber-red, 66 flagged as amber and 18 have been rated as amber-green. Amber means that the delivery seems possible but there are genuine issues to resolve, and finally amber-green means the probability of successful delivery of the project, considering its time, budget and quality is very high.

Why were ‘Making Tax Digital’ and ‘Customs Declaration Service’ flagged as amber-red?

As the report suggests, ‘Making Tax Digital’ was flagged as amber-red last year, due to issues and doubts that were arising due to the challenges in delivering the correct functionality, however, further complexities were raised due to concerns with planning in parallel for VAT accounting if Britain exits the European Union without a deal.

On the other hand, ‘Customs declaration service’, that was aimed to replace the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF),  faced IT related issues due to which it has also been flagged as amber-red. This came in response to the issues that have been repeatedly raised because of the deadline imposed by Brexit- 31st October this year.

Which other ICT projects have been flagged as amber-red?

Following is the list of the other ICT projects that have been flagged as amber/red.

1. The Home office’s METIS program
2. The DHSC’s Health and Social Care Network program
3. The DHSC’s IT Infrastructure Sourcing Programme.
4. The MOD’s New Style of Information Technology (base) program
5. The MOD’s Future Beyond Line of Sight program
6. The Home Office’s National Law Enforcement Data program

 

Even though these programs are at the risk of failing, it doesn’t mean that there will be any excuses permitted if compliance requirements are not met as required by HMRC. It is therefore advisable to find an accountant, accounting firm nearby, online accountants or chartered accountants who can help you with compliance and the required growth solutions.

UK Government – Deposit Photos

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source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/accountancy/uk-govs-projects

10 Tips on Opening an Ecommerce Store

So you are getting all set up to begin your own business online. Now that you have the legal side covered and are all set to begin crafting your website, where do you go from there? At this point it is great to have an experienced ally to point you in the right direction, provide some helpful advice and even warn you of a few pitfalls often encountered. 

With this in mind, allow me to share some of my advice and experience collected over being in this very spot before. 

Following are 8 of my very own business tips that will allow you to get your e-commerce business off the ground. 

1. Determine your niche.

Finding the niche that is just right for you is important for the passion and determination you will need for pushing your business forward. This is something that can’t be emphasized enough. I know for a fact that if I hadn’t had the inherent interest and passion about my products, I’d never have made it as far as I have. But, here I am three years later business and passion still going strong. 

2. Find suppliers for the products that you want to sell.

The best provider would be a specialty provider that doesn’t operate on Amazon. By locating your very own niche market you will not have as much competition and your customers will be able to find you better. Furthermore, you will want as many suppliers as you cannot just the one supplier. 

Despite their immaculate reviews and the great trust you have for your suppliers they will eventually run into a hiccough and you will be met with fulfillment issues. This is where you will be grateful for the backup plan in the form of a secondary supplier. 

3. Set aside plenty of time to work on your business.

The results that you can expect from your ecommerce business will be directly related to the amount of time you spend learning your trade and investing in your website. I laugh when I think that my initial idea was that my own work was going to allow me the freedom to work when I please and travel all the time –– major misconception!

Your time must be consumed with researching important trends and ways to make your ecommerce look and function better. Keeping ahead of the competition is an all-time task. Look to your big fish competition for solid strategies and proven techniques, then look to the smaller fish for clever innovative ideas that you can improve on. 

Then if you are ever in doubt and have questions about what you are doing, take them up with the Google. There is always something more to learn and new questions to ask.  

4. Choose a platform with great customer service.

If you have enough funding, go all out and get your own personal custom made web page complete with a team to maintain it. If you’re like most others starting out in this game you will probably have plenty of other things to do than figure out how to build from the ground up. A tool like Shopify. I chose this service on the basis of their impressive reviews and 24/7 customer service. 

If you are anything like me, you will put their service to the test with important questions at all hours of the day and night –– questions they will have to call their superiors for help with. If I dislike any details of the page I am free to navigate the sites back areas to make the changes I deem necessary. 

Furthermore, there are a whole slew of features that can help out with important aspects of ecommerce. If you’re wondering about what platform to choose – compare – look at this Shopify and Wix comparison for example.

5. Choose apps based on their reviews.

Be sure to check out supporting apps like Abandoned or Persistent Cart once you have accrued a greater quantity of traffic. There are actually hundreds of such sites and you should select those that will fit you needs the best. This may require some experimentation but it is definitely worth it once you find a winner. Find reviews made by those with similar situations as yours and contact the Apps customer support. 

If an App has poor customer support, they are no good. No matter how enticing the features they offer, eventually they will be nullified by downtime and other errors. 

6. Find the right influencers.

Once more this will be very dependent on the specific niche you re in. But you can often find considerable support by connecting with the right influencers and providing them with free stuff in return for their help. This should only be done if you have already researched how influencers will work in your niche and understand how to spot the real effective ones from the fakes. 

7. Get everything in writing.

While this should go without saying, it is not unusual for certain things to slip by and this can lead to regrets later. But, you should always end your business negotiations with a clear outline of what the terms of the agreement are and get that signed too.

8. Put More Focus User Experience 

The first step to creating and running a successful e-commerce business is building an e-commerce website. When making the site, your focus should be primarily on the user experience. Considering that customers cannot walk into a virtual store and physically touch and see the products you are selling, it is essential that you make up for this by ensuring your site is easy to navigate and enjoyable to use. 

There are several things to consider when building a user-oriented e-commerce website. They include: 

Mobile-Friendliness – A lot of people today shop for things they want online through their tablets and smartphones, so it is essential to ensure that your site is mobile-friendly.

Easy Website Navigation – Ensure that site visitors have an easy time finding their way around the site from perusing products to checking out. 

Visually Appealing – Ensure your site is visually appealing by using high-quality, eye-catching product images. You could use one of WordPress’ professional themes to give your site a professional touch. 

Fast Page Loading Times – 53% of internet users will leave a website if it takes more than three seconds to load. Consider boosting your website speed for better results. 

Websites that internet users enjoy visiting are more likely to see them return again and again. A good CMS can help massively with this and this post on Supplygem.com comparing two of the largest is worth reading. 

9. Drive More Traffic to Your Website

Once you have built a unique e-commerce site that you believe future consumers will love, the next thing you need to do to ensure your e-commerce business is successful is to drive more traffic to the site. If you don’t have people visiting your website, you will not have any customers.

There are several ways that you can use to drive traffic to your e-commerce site. However, for beginners like you, there are two easy and quite cost-effective strategies that can be used – these are creating content and optimizing your e-commerce site for SEO. Optimizing a website for search engine optimization helps it rank higher in SERPs and creating blog posts for use as site content will also help with that. Make sure that you craft entertaining, useful blog posts such as gift guides that include some of the keywords your potential consumers might search for. Doing so will increase the chances of your site being found by people searching the internet for some of the things you have to offer. More traffic equates to more customers for your business.

10. Get Social 

Another great way of driving traffic to your website is by becoming more social. A lot of people (potential clients) are on social media, so it is essential to ensure that your e-commerce business is there too. Promoting your business on the different social media platforms available is one way to get more traffic flowing to your site and to introduce yourself to new audiences. To get more traffic, take full advantage of the different social media platforms available. 

Share high-quality photos of your brands and products on Instagram and make use of all the relevant hashtags to widen your reach and more people to view your posts. Do remember to add links that link to your e-commerce site in your bio. You could also create social advertisements that are specifically aimed at your target audience.

 

The post 10 Tips on Opening an Ecommerce Store appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/ecommerce-store

A Guide to Creating a Career changing CV

It can be challenging to write a CV, but it can be even more challenging for a person who is changing their career.

There is a good chance you will go through a career change at one point of your life. This could happen as a result of long-held aspirations or discovering a new dream. It can also be because of logistical or financial reasons.

Whatever the reason for changing your career, you will need to have a killer CV. Below are nine tips from Exceptional Resume Writers that will go a long way in helping you with writing a good CV that will impress potential employers and get you your dream job.

Starting afresh

You should start a new CV because you are getting into a different career.

People usually make some changes to their CVs before they apply for a new job.

If you are changing your career, then you will need to do an overhaul. This will provide you the chance of reanalyzing your experiences and skills and make it a fresh beginning.

Making a great first impression

You should take some time to write a compelling and engaging cover letter that you are going to accompany the CV with. A cover later provides you the opportunity to sell yourself and impress recruiters.

It can be obvious how past experiences will be relevant in your new position, but don’t assume that the recruiters are going to see the connection.

There will be many other candidates with even more relevant backgrounds that you are going to compete with, making it important to spell out how the skills and experience you have will help with the new role.

Start with an opening paragraph and ensure you have used the new job description.

Make sure it has an opening summary when writing a CV when changing careers. This will help in highlighting the connection between your past achievements and job description. 

You should use keywords from the job description then link them to the relevant experience and skills from your previous roles.

Choosing a mixed format

If there is a lot of difference between the old and the new career, then it might be the best of ideas to choose a chronological CV format.

Instead, you should have your career goals and qualifications on the first page, then have categories that show relevant skills and experience.

The second page should cover your work history in a chronological format.

Knowing what to leave out

While you should share your accomplishments and skills, you don’t have to share every minor achievement you have had in your career.

You should be focusing on the ones that will show you are a fit in your new role.

When you use the chronological format when listing your work history, have job descriptions that have the same skill requirement for the new role. You should not fill your CV with irrelevant roles.

Highlighting valuable experience not related to the work

The professional experience might be unrelated to the new role, and this is why extracurricular activities might have some weight.

You should have relevant education, volunteering, internships, or training you have undertaken.

This is going to help in demonstrating skills that can be used for the new role and also show that you are dedicated, passionate, and enthusiastic about the new career.

Using numbers to show your value

When listing accomplishments, add bullet points showing the contribution you made to the bottom line.

Numbers show the contribution and achievements you got, regardless of the field you worked in.

Numbers are important when it comes to making a CV because it lets recruiters relate to unfamiliar work history, and can picture the things the candidate is going to do for them.

Finding natural crossovers

There are some skills and accomplishments that are same across different management structures or even industries. You should for some aspects from previous roles that can be significant for your new role.

Things such as social media marketing, project management, and securing sponsorship tend to be the same no matter the organization or company you are working for, making it important to have them on your CV.

Regularly Monitor Your Progress 

You can call it anything you like, but keeping track of your progress can serve many purposes. For starters, it can be a source of motivation. And if you are going to be your own career coach, maintaining motivation is critical. But you also take note of mistakes and breakthroughs, which can give you more insight into what you are doing wrong.

While it just sounds like an unnecessary obligation, over time, your notes can be invaluable. And whether you believe it or not, they will teach you many things about yourself you probably didn’t realize. Ultimately, they can lead to making the best decisions for your career.  

Don’t bother with gaps in qualifications

When changing careers, there are some qualifications you will have to deal with, especially when the professional background is not related to the new one.

You should not be discouraged when this is the case. You should always keep in mind that not all the candidates are going to have all the desired qualifications.

Employers are usually okay with hiring a person meeting 80% of their criteria, but this happens when a person has drive and enthusiasm. 

You should focus on selling your abilities and skills, but you need to keep in mind that your decision to change careers is a show of passion, motivation, and confidence.

All of this will help you to change your career and in doing so create a better and happier work environment for yourself as well as more opportunities for you and your family. 

In the end we all spend a lot of time at work and in our jobs and as such we need to ensure we are happy and can enjoy the thing we do. These tips will help ensure you can do this and this will make you a better person.

The post A Guide to Creating a Career changing CV appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/career-changing-cv