Archives for December 2020

Dealing With Job Search Depression

December 20, 2020 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

When looking for that next job, many individuals have a difficult time competing with others to stand out. Sometimes, this can lead to job search depression, which can take many different forms and thinking patterns. Below we’ll cover what Job Search Depression is and how you can take steps in avoiding it.

Job Search Depression | What Is It?

Job search depression can occur when you are looking for a new job earnestly, but are unable to get hired — sometimes due to circumstances outside of your control. While it is known that it can take a decent amount of applications to different companies before getting a job, at some point though, people can start to feel like their luck is running out. More than ever, job search depression is becoming increasingly well known among individuals due to the pandemic — a huge number of people are trying to compete for jobs that aren’t normally that hard to get. This leads to applicants thinking they aren’t good enough and slowly leads to depression. Listed below are some great tips to not only avoid job search depression but how these tips will lead to better success when applying for jobs.

How To Avoid Job Search Depression

Maintain an Active Lifestyle

For many people, keeping an active, healthy schedule gives you that time to decompress and do something to move your body. When sitting for long periods of time, people usually get more stir-crazy and irritable. Sometimes the best stress reliever is exercise. It is shown that exercise pumps up your endorphins (the brain’s feel-good transmitters) which ultimately leads to a reduction in stress. This reduction of stress comes from when your body during exercise imitates the effects of stress and helps the body and the related systems work together to overcome the effects (known as the fight or flight response).

Create a Daily Routine (and Stick to It)

When applying for job after job, some of your routines throughout the day tend to fall at the wayside, especially if you are currently unemployed. The key to staying as productive as possible is by setting a daily routine to keep you on track with your goals. There are many daily routine applications out there to keep you hitting all of these goals.

Use a Job Search Journal

Keep a journal to track all of your job search details such as application approvals/denials, interview dates, contact details, etc. This will keep you organized and will allow a great outlet for you to vent out your frustrations in a healthy way. Also, you should get in the habit of writing things down. This can be another great tool to critically think out specific problems.

Take Breaks

Lastly, take breaks! Sometimes the best remedy to get your head right from job searching is to take some time to do an activity that you enjoy. Whether that be watching tv, going outside for some Sun, or simply just closing your eyes for a quick reboot can do wonders for your mental health.

Conclusion

While job search depression is becoming a huge issue among many new job seekers out there, it doesn’t have to be the answer. The tips that are listed above cover additional ways for you to maintain your mental health while looking for the job you love. Check out the infographic below to learn more on ways to cope with job search depression.

How to Manage A StartUp Through Troubling Times

December 8, 2020 by Ritu Singal Leave a Comment

“You need three things to create a successful start-up: to start with good people, to make something customers want, and to spend as little money as possible.”

― Paul Graham

Entrepreneurship is not a theory; it is an experiment. It is a sum up of a business idea, a great business plan, manpower, finance plus consumers.

Everything was going up so smoothly. I could see everyone growing and flourishing their businesses. There was a tremendous boom in all the business industries. So many start-ups with innovative ideas were surfacing all over the world.

I could see so many products and services coming into the market that were aimed at making our life convenient and interesting as well.

Seriously, this Covid is a big shock. Apart from the existing business giants, the start-ups have also been deeply affected. The entrepreneurs have so much unpredictable loss. Industries are facing serious recession and the stress associated with it.

But here, I just want to say to you it is not the time where you can dream of growth and development. Rather, your efforts must be directed to achieve stability and continuity. Your focus ought to be directed towards maintaining stability while maintaining the safety of employees and self as well.

However, this is a very crucial time for start-ups. These fresh investors had just recently formulated and executed their business ideas. The start-ups are already at a struggling stage especially concerning financing aspect and customer base. After so much effort and collaborations, the business had just picked up its pace until the pandemic hit and destroyed everything.

But nothing to worry about. This problem is not as big as it is appearing. With efforts and intelligence, everything can be put back to normal.

Your job isn’t about finding the best option anymore — it’s about finding the least bad option. Through this post, I have tried to enumerate some points that will considerably help start-ups.

Tips for Start-ups in the time of crisis:

Dump all your plans for 2021 and start with a new draft:

New realities call for alternative plans. No one ever imagined this global pandemic. Thus all the plans were made keeping in view the normal situation that existed then. As the business plans do not include any such contingency, one will have to discard all its plans for 2021.

A whole new plan has to be drafted in the response to this emergency. As there is no clarity about the upcoming situation the plans have to be flexible and the forecast has to be adjusted as paper the changing situation. The planning has to be done on a daily basis regarding liquidity and continuity and stability. Steering your ship in times of crisis will require a lot of course corrections and smaller manoeuvres. No single robust plan can be made, but many small achievable goals have to be made and implemented from time to time.

Don’t feel alone:

At this time of crisis and sudden setback, the entrepreneurs have got shattered and have been affected majorly but we should not take this as the end. Get up and start from scratch with full enthusiasm. Instead of fighting alone communicate with the associated investors, friends, board members, Co-founders, and mentors.

Taking advice from everyone helps in better decision making and implementation. Also, staying with positive people keeps you motivated and energized all the time.

Don’t ignore:

Sometimes we don’t realize the reality and keep on moving just blindly. Instead, be practical and take the right decision at the right time. After examining the condition of the business and how much the crisis affects it, the entrepreneur ought to change his action plan. Ignorance can prove destructive especially to the start-ups.

Manage your expectations:

The entrepreneurs are deeply affected and disappointed when a start-up cannot do well. The large expectations and the dreams lead them towards disappointment, they start valuing themselves low and the self-confidence and self-image decline considerably.

However, this should not be the case. The present condition is beyond our control, and we have to fight against it and survive with full confidence and zeal.

Don’t let the stress rule over you. Accept the situation and work aptly so that not only you but others associated with you can also trust you.

Explore other options:

It depends upon the product or service you are dealing with. If your business is ruined totally and there is no scope shortly, diversify. Try and think about other new ideas and experiments that can be done with the resources. The diversification should be such that it is safe for human resources. Also, it must be workable and promising as per the changing needs and circumstances. I can relate this to the famous saying “try and try until you succeed”.

Learn how to manage stress:

This is very stressful, especially for start-ups. IT is always a “fight and fight” situation for them and a sudden impact on the economy turns against it, the survival seems to be very difficult. The procurement of additional finances and revenue generation through the consumers has considerably reduced because of this pandemic. But the most important thing to be done is stress management and maintaining the balance of mind. Losing self-control and overstress can cause wrong decisions and inappropriate planning. Thus, you must learn to manage stress before going into any business. Panic and acting in hassle actually can increase the adverse effects of the crisis.

Create a safe working environment by working from home:

Everyone has already switched over to work from home. This is necessary and optimal currently. It is very important to keep yourself and the workforce safe. Only if you are physically fit, you can prosper and manage your business. Being an adaptive entrepreneur is very necessary for the growth and stability of the start-up.

You must be able to test the economies of working from home and plans that will aid in more smooth functioning and increase the productivity of employees working from home.

Create a cost conservation plan through cost-cutting:

Analyse the different aspects of profit-and-loss statements. The start-ups have to struggle for finance and revenue generation at the start. So, the best idea to survive is to cut expenses. Unnecessary expenses should be recognized and reduced as much as possible. This will help you survive and run the operations more smoothly.

Pull in cash from all sources:

Finance is a major area of concern for start-ups. They have to struggle for liquidity in the early years of operation. Particularly because of this crisis the start-ups are in a serious deteriorating condition. The only way to come out of this and survive is to collect money as much as possible. This cash can be realized by taking loans from banks, tracking the various schemes laid by the government, receiving all the credit receivables, and decreasing excess inventory.

Conclusion

There is nothing to fear if you have confidence in your skill and mind. With proper planning and management of resources, one can pass over this turbulence successfully. Don’t panic and maintain your peace of mind. Take advice and communicate as much as possible with their peers.

This too shall pass.

We’re all hoping the current situation will not be as harmful as it could be to people’s health and nations’ economies, but we also know that as entrepreneurs, we are a bit overly optimistic. Be optimistic always and be ready to face reality as well. You have the dual responsibility of growing the business in this crisis and taking care of yourself and your colleagues. Thus, be cautious and move ahead steadily. Better safe than sorry. Because “it’s better to be late, then never.”

The Best Tips and Tricks for Online Advertising

December 8, 2020 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Online advertising is something that many businesses nowadays will be aiming for. Why? Because not only is it lucrative to advertise to thousands of potential clients, but it is also technically free advertising. You’d be crazy if you think advertising online isn’t a great help to businesses of all shapes and sizes. But to be able to effectively advertise online, you have to have many techniques and strategies that work.

One thing you should remember when doing online advertising is that the internet never forgets. Any mistakes you make online will stick around until the internet shuts down, which can be a very long time from now. So, making use of the right online advertising techniques and strategies that won’t stain your reputation is important.

Optimize for Your Target Audience

Every business’ goal online is to make sure that they sell their products. However, if you’re going to sell something online, you have to make sure that your site is optimized to cater to your target audience. You might be thinking that reaching out to as many people as possible is the best way to go. Plain and simple, it isn’t.

The main reason that trying to reach far and wide isn’t a good strategy is that search engines will have a difficult time categorizing your site. This is a big problem because if your online marketing campaign tries to overreach, it’ll be at the bottom of search results and will be beaten out by more specialized campaigns. So try to build an online marketing strategy with one audience in mind.

Make Use of Good SEO

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is one of the most used tools when it comes to doing business online. Everyone on the front page of any search engine will be using it. The ones at the bottom of the pile don’t. You might be wondering why we’re using “good SEO” instead of just plain old SEO. This is because there are several types of SEO that are considered unethical and even illegal.

They might be able to boost your business to the top for a few days or months. However, these types of SEO will destroy your reputation and can ruin your online business. This is especially true now that search engines have started getting smarter and more vigilant when it comes to abusive SEO. These bad types of SEO are one and done deals. Once you use them, it can be nearly impossible to recover from the damage they can cause.

Use Social Media

You might be wondering why using social media is a technique here, especially since its main use is connecting with friends and family. However, what you don’t know is the fact that a large portion of the population worldwide use it for many other things. One of these is purchasing products.

Social media is something almost 80% of the USA’s population uses daily. That is a large market that’s just waiting to be tapped. Any aspiring business will want to start using social media to get their names out to billions of people.

Adjust for Mobile

Mobile devices have evolved over the years that they’ve been around. The first generation was large and clunky with very few features other than making calls. Nowadays mobile devices are at the peak of usability and functionality. Some are even comparable to fully-fledged personal computers because of the wide range of features that they have.

These features are great for any business looking to do business online. It’s great for your team as a whole because it lets you communicate from anywhere in the world. It even brings its suite of tools like spreadsheets, calculators, email and word processors that can all easily fit in your pocket. Online advertising is easy with a mobile device in hand.

Another thing to note is that you aren’t the only ones using mobile devices. Your clients and customers will all have these devices as well. So making sure that your site is well adjusted to catering to these people is as important as using these tools yourself.

Remember to Have a Blog

A blog might seem like a waste of time when it comes to online advertising.

“Sure, you get to write things about your products and services, but is it worth it?”

You bet it’s worth it. Remember that attracting customers that have an interest in your products isn’t going to be easy if they don’t read about it. So having a blog helps with that problem. Another thing to note is that your customers aren’t the only ones trawling the internet for things to read.

Search engines tirelessly scour the internet for the right page to show your customers. Search engines will review your site daily. With a blog, you’ll be able to convince their search algorithms to put you out there in front of your customers.

Hire a Team of Specialists

Doing all the online advertising yourself can be difficult and time-consuming. This is especially true if you aren’t certain of what you are doing. One great option that you have instead of toiling away yourself is to find and hire a team of specialists that can do the job effectively for you.

Remember how any mistake online can be fatal for your reputation or business? With a team of experts who have years of experience in the industry, you won’t have anything to worry about. They’ll bring their years of experience and also the tools of the trade that will help them do their job for you while you focus on other things.

There are also some ways you can find the best of the best. You can either look for them yourself or hire a staffing agency like Global Personnel Inc to do the hiring for you. Doing it yourself can be tedious and problematic because it requires a whole new set of skills to figure out which of your candidates are the best fit. Hiring a staffing agency, on the other hand, is quick and easy as they’ll be doing all the filtering and identify the best talent that will fit your business.

How to Create Engaging and Evergreen Content for a Virtual Event

December 1, 2020 by Joe Peters Leave a Comment

Virtual events are the new big thing in digital branding and promotion. After 2020 made us rethink how brands and customers interact, virtual events became the most effective way to share helpful knowledge and gain customer trust.

By providing the right online experience, organizations can demonstrate leadership in their chosen industry and attract new customers.

However, it’s important to consider how evergreen your event should be to get the best return on investment.

Evergreen content is the kind of information that remains relevant and useful to your audience year after year. It differs from “trending” topics that might be hot right now but lose appeal over time.

Today, we’re going to look at what you can do to create more engaging and exciting evergreen content for your virtual event.

Know Your Audience

The first thing you need to create the right content for a virtual event is the knowledge of your target audience. The better you know your potential attendees, the more you will be able to adapt your content to answer their most pressing questions.

If you haven’t already got one, now’s the time to start building effective user personas for your most common customers.

These personas will detail your customer’s demographics (age, location, even their gender), as well as their likes and dislikes. Use your personas to effectively step into your target customer’s shoes and figure out what they need to know most about your brand.

If you still need a little inspiration, consider looking through previous interactions with your customers for guidance.

Your sales and marketing teams should be able to give you a pretty good idea of the topics and issues that usually arise with your audience. By addressing issues or topics that come up time and time again, you can create content that the audience will come back to often and that will remain fresh and timely no matter how much time has passed.

Pick a Topic

Once you have a selection of topics your audience will be interested in, it’s time to choose the focus of your online event.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to choosing the perfect topic here. You just have to figure out what’s important to your target audience.

For instance, if you see that users tend to search for answers on “How to start email marketing” on your website, you know that’s a good starting point.

You can also look at Google Trends for an insight into what people are looking at when they’re browsing for information in your industry. Google Trends will likely show you spikes in interest for particular seasonal topics or current trends. However, to create evergreen content, your best bet is to focus on topics that have a steady search volume year-round.

Another way to improve your chances of making a good decision is to check out what your competitors are talking about.

If you can see that your audience responded particularly well to a specific event hosted by a similar company, there’s a good chance they’ll appreciate the same type of events from you.

Just make sure that anything you create is unique and specific to your brand. Don’t copy/paste what other organizations are doing, or your reputation will suffer.

Do Your Research

It’s always a good idea to host a virtual event about a topic that you already have a good knowledge of. Before you begin creating your content, make sure that you know your subject inside-out.

Extensive research will help you to gather useful information in the form of unique insights, statistics, graphs, and more.

Consider creating some of your own statistics by evaluating your own company and gathering details that no other business has access to.

Remember to research your keywords, too – these are the terms that people are going to be looking for when they’re searching for your event online.

For your experience to be both engaging and evergreen, it also needs to be easy to find.

Choose long-term keywords that are easier to compete for. “Email marketing tips for startups” will be easier to rank for than “email marketing”.

You can use tools online like SEMRush and Ahrefs to check the search volumes and competition levels of each term you want to rank for.

Create Your Own Content

Once you’ve collected all the information you need, it’s time to create immersive content.

Remember, this is your chance to really make your brand stand out.

While you can use quotes and statistics from other companies if you reference them properly, remember to include plenty of your own unique insights too.

It’s also helpful to experiment with different kinds of content in your online event.

For instance, you might have a segment that allows attendees to flip through a slide show at their own speed. At the same time, you can show videos from keynote speakers on your event website.

If you know that some of your audience members would prefer to read about your insights, offer exclusive access to unique guides and downloadable material for attendees.

Remember to check through all of your content before you publish it to ensure that it is 100% accurate and easy to use, and that it speaks your audience’s language.

Also consider how you can repurpose or reformat the content after the event. You can create a series of shorter, bite-sized and concise episodes or transcribe live streams into a series of blog posts and create a hub page on your website.

Creating downloadable presentations, white papers, infographics etc. is also a great way to offer diverse and evergreen content that your audience will want to share after the event.

Remember to Promote Your Event

Finally, after you’ve built the perfect virtual event experience, make sure that you regularly promote it.

This will help to attract new customers and leads. It should also maintain a consistent buzz around your brand so that you can gain more reach.

There are plenty of great ways to promote your event. Create a landing page for customers to visit and collect information about the experience, register their interest, or buy a ticket.

Send announcements about the upcoming event to customers in your email list and share details on social media with a branded hashtag.

Don’t forget to get other companies that are working with you on the event involved, too. Sponsors and speakers can share quotes and links that entice their audiences to find out more. This gives you quick access to new potential leads.

Keep Your Events Evergreen

As the demand for digital content continues to grow, it’s important to ensure you’re squeezing as much value as possible out of your virtual events.

By creating evergreen content, you boost your chances of becoming a go-to thought leader for your customers and a crucial resource for those hoping to learn about your product or industry.

—

Joe Peters is a Baltimore-based freelance writer and an ultimate techie. When he is not working his magic as a marketing consultant, this incurable tech junkie devours the news on the latest gadgets and binge-watches his favorite TV shows. Follow him on @bmorepeters

Financial Considerations for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs Navigating Uncertainty

December 1, 2020 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

Over the last few months, there has been a major shift to remote work and technology adaptations as businesses have been forced to close their doors or change operations due the global pandemic. Not only has this time been mentally taxing for business owners and entrepreneurs, but also stressful when it comes to the financial side of managing a business.

No matter the circumstance, without a consistent flow of money coming in it will be difficult to maintain business as usual, pay employees, and keep up with the bills. As you learn to navigate this new normal and find solutions to further your business during this uncertain time, there are some financial considerations to help keep you protected and moving in the right direction.

1. Prioritize Your Spending

As a business owner, you’ve likely had to reevaluate your finances due to income fluctuations as a result of the pandemic. That being the case, it’s a good idea to streamline and prioritize where you are spending your cash in order to best serve your needs. Areas that should be focused on include your employee’s paychecks, bills and utilities, and any necessary service that keeps your business operational. Consider cutting back on purchasing new inventory, expensive travel, leased equipment, or making new purchases that require long-term payments. At this time, you need to make sure you have the money to support yourself and your employees immediately. Once you have a detailed financial plan and know exactly what allowance you have to spend, you can then allocate that towards the areas you initially cut back spending. It’s important to be detailed and strategic during the coming months to ensure nothing falls through the cracks and you’re able to maintain your financial standing should there be another spike.

2. Prepare for an Uncertain Future

The world is more unpredictable than you might often realize—in the matter of a second, life can change forever. From an economic shutdown, a family illness, or a global pandemic, you begin to realize that nothing is invincible, including your business. With that said, there are ways to prepare for the what-ifs in life and maintain peace of mind knowing your legacy and your loved ones are protected no matter the circumstance. You should consider setting up a life insurance policy to protect the future of your business should something unexpected happen to you. Doing so can ensure that your family is protected, and they’re not faced with a financial burden during a very difficult time. Take some time to review options and inquire about the cost of life insurance in order to determine a policy that is right for your situation.

3. Get Creative to Earn Additional Revenue

Hopefully the pandemic has helped you learn something new about your business and you now realize the importance of being adaptable, strategic, and multifaceted. Oftentimes, a forced change is an opportunity to reevaluate the way things have been done in the past and allows you to determine if that is the most effective way to serve the business and customers. If you’re currently facing some setbacks or feel at a standstill, take a moment to think outside the box. Get a little creative as far as new ways to leverage technology solutions to advertise your products and services during the pandemic. Think about how you can provide value to individuals during this time or ways to make their lives easier.

4. Prioritize Financial Management

Being an organized business owner has many advantages and can set you apart from your competition. By improving your organizational skills, you can think clearly, act as a valuable resource, and set an example for your employees. When it comes to financial management—being organized is key. If you don’t have a clear understanding of your business finances, or someone else is in charge of the bills, it might be a good time to educate yourself. Even if accounting isn’t part of your job as a business owner, you’re still responsible for all the moving parts of your business and therefore need to understand where your money is coming from, and where it’s being spent. This way, during times of crisis you know how to adapt and be conservative if necessary.

5. Determine if You Qualify for Relief Programs

As a small business, don’t forget that you might qualify for relief programs during the pandemic that might help your financial situation. Take some time to look into debt relief programs, small business grants, paycheck protection programs, and other coronavirus relief options that might be helpful during this time. If you do qualify, it might be the difference in keeping someone employed so don’t discount financial aid.

6. Keep Your Business and Personal Finances Separate

Although you might be willing to do anything you can to keep your business operating as normal, sacrificing your time and money may not be in your best interest. It’s very important that you don’t dip into your retirement account, personal savings, or credit. Should you draw money from your personal accounts, or if your business fails, you run the risk of being in serious debt or not having a retirement plan. It’s never a good idea to put your personal finances in danger so make sure you keep your business acquisitions separate from your personal finances. Even amidst challenging times, the same rules apply when it comes to protecting your financial future.

If you are like most business owners and entrepreneurs navigating this pandemic, you might be feeling overwhelmed with the various information, news, and changes happening around the world. Although it’s challenging, it’s important that you focus on things you can control, like getting your finances in gear to set yourself up for a promising future. Getting through this economic crisis will not be an easy task for any small business owner or entrepreneur, however, it will help you grow as a leader and be better equipped to handle adversity in the future.