Archives for April 2019

11 Things To Negotiate Besides Salary

April 14, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Negotiating salary and can be a nerve-racking conversation but the sooner you conquer the skill, the better. Keep in mind that the goal of a negotiation is to reach a solution that benefits both parties. Whether it’s your happiness or financial security, you have the right to advocate for what you deserve.

While salary is one of the most common negotiations you’ll encounter, only 39% of people will ask for a higher salary. This could be due to a lack of confidence or a wish to avoid hearing “no.” If you believe you are being underpaid and undervalued, do some research on similar positions and the value you bring to the company.

In addition to salary, there are many other benefits on the table. From work from home flexibility to having a more accurate job title, these conversations could have a huge impact on your well being. There are many financial benefits to negotiating as well. Why pay the asking price on monthly rent if the market value and comparable houses are much lower? This infographic from Self Lender highlights 11 things you can negotiate to bring more savings and value to your life.

Auctions of the Modern Times: 7 Reasons Why Bidding Online Is the Best Way to Get the Equipment You Need for Your Business

April 8, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Selling by auction is a process that has been around for many centuries and the general principle of trading goods and agreeing to sell them to the highest bidder hasn’t really changed much in that time.

However, the platform for selling by auction has certainly changed since the world went online and that means that bidding for items online and place a proxy bid can all be done without leaving your home or office.

Online auctions are understandably popular and here is look at some of the main reasons why that is.

More choice

One of the drawbacks to a traditional auction that you have to attend in person is the fact that you are limited to the lots that are going under the hammer and that means you might not find what you want, resulting in a wasted journey.

With an online auction, you can browse a lot more items in a much quicker time and you can view several auction sites at the same time which improves your chances of getting what you want.

If you are looking to buy a specific piece of business equipment, for example, it is less time consuming to browse several online auction sites and place a bid than if you had to drive to a venue on a specific time and date, only to find that someone outbids you.

With such a large online audience to sell to, online auction sites can afford to offer a decent number of lots in each sale resulting in more choice for bidders.

A strong market

It is estimated that somewhere in the region of 80% of online bidders have actually made a purchase at some point.

That must compare favorably to how many end up making a bid when they attend a traditional auction.

The significance of that trend is that sellers are keen to offer their products via an online auction because they know the market is strong and there should be a number of bidders competing for each lot.

It makes sense that sellers will be keen to go down the online auction if they know that there is a growing pool of committed purchasers who are just waiting to hit the buy button when they see what they want.

Choice of payment options

If you bought an item that was coming under the hammer at a traditional offline auction you would then have to make arrangements to write a check and wait for it to clear before the items are released and become yours.

There is always the possible option of payment using an online escrow service to ensure that the goods are paid for and it is worth remembering that this should prove to be a more efficient way of settling things without the need to use an expensive credit card as the backup plan

Bid with more certainty

It can be really frustrating to bid for an item at a traditional auction only to find that even when you are the highest bidder you don’t get to take the item home with your because the lot is then withdrawn or you get gazumped.

In comparison, if the online auction set up is framed around unconditional online auction rules you know exactly where you stand. In addition, with a conditional online auction, the highest bidder is given a period of exclusivity in which they then have to exchange contracts and complete, when a property is being sold.

Whatever it is that is being sold, knowing that the infrastructure is in place to ensure that online auctions are efficient and lots are sold rather than withdrawn it should allow you to approach the whole process with a degree of certainty.

No geographical restrictions

If an item is being sold via an online auction it doesn’t mean that the item going under the hammer has to be transported to the auction house.

If you are bidding on something that can be shipped with ease, using an online auction site allows you to search out what you want using an online portal and place a bid.

Knowing that an item like business equipment is available somewhere in the country won’t present a problem if it can then be shipped directly to your door.

You can be more price conscious

When you are bidding for something at a traditional auction it can be all too easy to get carried away in a bidding war with a rival bidder and end up paying more than you intended to for the item.

One of the big advantages attached to bidding for something online is that you can easily compare prices online, even while the bidding process is going on.

If you have your eye on something specific it could be money well spent to shop around and research how prices are holding up overall so that you have a clear idea of what you should expect to pay.

Bidding online can make you more cost-conscious and you can always check out other rival sites and see what they are charging to confirm that the price you have bid is very competitive.

Save time and money

The real no-brainer advantage that online auctions enjoy is that by bidding over the internet for a variety of household items, for instance, you can quickly compare what others are selling the products for with just a few clocks.

All things considered, there are numerous compelling reasons why an online auction site wins the day when compared to a more traditional auction at a physical location

Not having to travel to bid or collect your auction item is a big advantage and puts you in greater control over the bidding process, so if you want to save as much time and money as possible it seems that the online argument wins the day in comparison to an offline alternative.

Modern commerce has greatly evolved in line with the growth of the internet and many businesses operate almost exclusively online. Online auctions are part of that story and if you want to bid for something it is much easier to find what you want and bid for it online in comparison to spending valuable hours visiting numerous auction buildings in an attempt to source the item and then go through an auction process that could easily last a couple of hours, without the guarantee of being the successful bidder.

Here’s how your Website could be Hurting Your Business

April 5, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

If your site is not everything that it should be, then it certainly won’t be doing your business any favours. In fact, in some instances, it may actually be hurting your business and this is the last thing that you need when you are trying so hard to convert your leads into loyal customers.

Unresponsive Design

If you are yet to optimise your website design for your devices, then there is a high chance that you are losing out on a ton of traffic. Local mobile searches are now surpassing desktop searches, so you have to make sure that you are targeting this audience. Your site needs to operate seamlessly across multiple devices if you want to compete in the industry. Another thing that you should note is that unresponsive sites make navigation much harder for your customers and this can lead to a lot of frustration as well. The more intuitive you can make your design, the higher your conversion rates will be and the more your customers will come back to your site. It doesn’t take a lot to convert your design into a responsive alternative either, and with a little work, the results will speak for themselves.

Slow Loading Times

They say that time is money, and this is very true. Internet users are incredibly impatient, so if your page does not load up in a couple of seconds then you could be missing out on valuable traffic. A one-second delay could cause you to lose out on traffic up to 7% and this is the last thing that you need when you have so much on the line. There are a couple of ways that you can improve your loading time, and this could include minimising HTTP requests and even by optimising any images that you have too. If possible, you should try and compress any bigger pages that you have, and combine CSS sheets. Studies have shown time and time again that 47% of customers expect a site to load up in 2 seconds or less, so don’t make your business lose out on customers just because your site is a little slow.

Hosting

Website hosting packages come in a huge range of shapes and sizes. It doesn’t matter whether you choose to have a shared server, a dedicated server or even something in-between because your website host should always be able to provide you with 24-hour support. They should also be able to guarantee a certain degree of uptime. Protecting your data is also crucial. A lot of hosts will backup your data on a completely separate server, and this will protect you in the event of a security breach. Of course, they should also be able to scale their services, so that as your site grows, you can stay with the same service provider. If your host is unable to provide you with this basic support, then you may want to think about finding someone who can. This even applies to hosting for resellers too.

Call to Action

If you want to turn your website visitors into repeat customers, then it is so important that you add a call to action to your site. This will give you the chance to thank them and it will also help you to connect with them as well. Invite them to like your page, or even sign up for a newsletter. This will help you to keep appearing in front of them when they are browsing the internet and it will also encourage them to get in touch with you should they ever need anything.

Optimisation

It’s important to know that you cannot rely on branding alone to help you to generate online leads. Charts have found time and time again that customers use online searches to find reliable companies. If you want to be one of those companies then you need to make sure that your site is visible. You also have to put the work in to try and optimise it as well. If people cannot find you on the internet then they certainly won’t purchase from you, so this is very important for you to keep in mind. There are a lot of things that you need to think about when you are setting up your own SEO strategy, but in general, you need to think about including the right keywords. You also need to think about optimising your meta tags, title tags and alt text. It also helps to add some relevant information to the posts that you have as well.

Poor Navigation

Sure, having a lot of pages might work well for your SEO but if you do not try and make your layout as simple as possible, then you will almost certainly lose customers as a result. If you want to help yourself here then you need to try and set up your site so that everything can be found with ease. Have a footer on your page with a site map, and also have dropdown menus. When you implement things like this, your customers can have access to nearly every page on your site as soon as they land, and you also don’t have to worry about them navigating through everything either. Of course, having a site map can also really help search engines to find the right pages as well so there are numerous benefits to having this done.

So, making your site everything that it can be doesn’t need to be difficult. In fact, if you follow the above strategies then there is no reason at all why you can’t go on to experience a ton of success. If you are concerned about making site changes then it may be a good idea for you to hire a professional to take care of them for you. When you do this, you can then get everything you need done without worrying about messing with code or disrupting the flow of the site in general. A lot of professionals can even help you with your SEO too!

The Pros and Cons of a Mobile Business

April 1, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Thanks to the huge popularity in food trucks, which have sprung up to great success in recent years, many businesses, even those not in the food industry, have started to think about the prospect of taking their businesses mobile, and many have done so successfully from mobile barbershops to dog groomers, and even mobile party buses.

If you run a business, or you’re thinking of starting one, you may yourself be thinking about taking your operation mobile Before you do though, you should take some time to think about the pros and cons because although it can work well for many businesses, it certainly isn’t for everyone.To help you do that, here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of taking your business mobile:

The Pros

Low Startup Costs

One of the biggest benefits of starting a mobile business is that it typically costs less to do so than setting up in a bricks and mortar shops. So, if you’re just starting out, or you’re looking to expand into new markets, it can be a good choice. Your average mobile more trailer or truck will set you back between $5000 and $20000 size, condition and finish and this is far more affordable in the long-term than the $10,000 per year that it would cost to rent just 1000 square feet of commercial space. That’s before you take into account other property fees and taxes that you may be liable to pay in your area.

More Potential Customers

If your business is based in a single location bricks and mortar unit, then you clearly have a limited number of potential customers. Only those people who live or work close by, and potentially tourists if you’re based in a popular area, will come into contact with your company and maybe pop in. If, however, your business is mobile, you potentially have an infinite number of people to entice in. You are only limited by your own efforts and how many locations you choose to take your company out to. If you don’t get much interest in one area, you can simply move and try somewhere else – you can basically find your target market instead of having them find you. This could save you lots of money on marketing dollars apart from anything else.

Smaller Inventory

Mobile businesses can typically get away with stocking a smaller selection of products because customers are well aware that trucks and trailers have a limited amount of space. This means that you can save money by not spending so much on stock in advance. Even more importantly, it gives you the opportunity to curate a really good selection of stuff. If you do this well and appeal to a particular niche, you could have customers queuing up to get their fix every single time you’re in town. Just make sure that you ask for and listen to customer feedback so that you DO stock the things that they really want to buy or your small selection could backfire on you and make your mobile business less appealing.

Payment is Easy

A lot of mobile businesses deal in cash, but these days, all you need is a card swiper and you can take credit and debit card payments on the go too, which means that you will never have to turn any customers away.

The Cons

Local Laws

One of the potential sticking points with a mobile business is the law. The laws and regulations that apply in one town or state may be very much different than those that apply in another area, which means you will have to do a lot of due diligence to ensure that you can, for example, park in a particular area or sell a certain product where you are.

Marketing

Since you won’t have a permanent location, you won’t be able to list your business space on Google Maps or similar tools that make it easy for customers to find you. This means that you may need to do a little more marketing to ensure that the right people can find you at the right time. This could be a headache, but with social media, it is getting much easier to market your company locally to the right audience, You will need to do this diligently to see results though, so hiring a social media manager could be a good idea. You need people to know when you will be around if you want them to pay a visit and spend some money with you.

Would your business suit going mobile?