Archives for April 2021

Should You Start a Digital Marketing Business in 2021?

April 8, 2021 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Someone can have the best product or service in the world, but without marketing, no one will ever know about it.

This is one of the many reasons that there has been such a rise in demand for digital marketing.

Companies understand that more consumers are using the internet to do research, evaluate solutions, and purchase from businesses.

Therefore, if you are considering a career change, then digital marketing could be an excellent choice.

The ability to work from anywhere, earn a high income, and ride the wave of digital innovation are all benefits.

However, no business comes without its challenges.

If you are considering starting a digital marketing business in 2021, there are some things you should know.

So, in this article, we will cover various important aspects to help you make your decision and achieve success.

Without further ado, let’s jump in.

Do You Have the Education?

There is a certain level of marketing knowledge you need to have before starting your own business. The best digital marketers never stop learning.

There is a range of online resources that you can use to get a grasp of the basic skills you will need.

In digital advertising, it’s not necessary to get a 4-year degree from a university, although that constitutes one possible route.

This makes it a good course of action if you are considering a change of career.

The key is to make sure you understand the basics of conversions, funnels, analytics, and client acquisition.

You may also want to dive into specific tools that you will be using on a daily basis so that you can deliver your client’s work on time.

Do You Have a Niche Selected?

While the business opportunities in online marketing are huge, so is the competition. Trying to be “all things to all people” is not a winning strategy when you’re starting out.

You don’t want to compete with agencies that already have a reputation with general marketing services.

Instead, start out with a hyper-focus on just one niche.

For instance, instead of starting a generic lead generation company, select a specific industry to serve, such as finance, tech, or home improvement.

You can find details about your target customers by conducting research, for instance, on social media.

This allows you to master your craft faster and build your reputation until you can expand your services and cast a wider net.

Have You Done Competitive Research?

The last thing you want to do is jump into a market without understanding your competitors.

Performing competitive research is essential in identifying what types of marketing campaigns are common in your industry and what is working.

You can also gauge how difficult it will be to enter a market.

For instance, if you plan on starting an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) agency, look at how high your competitors are ranking.

You might think twice about going up against a firm that is ranking for a keyword like b2b software, as their budget will be multitudes higher than yours.

Do You Have Your Business Website up and Running?

Before you start hunting for clients, you want to create a solid online presence. At a minimum, you should have a professional website that explains your services.

A great website should have the following:

Portfolio – This is where you showcase previous work. It might be articles you’ve written, websites you have designed, or links to results that you have achieved for clients.
About Us – Personalize your brand by telling your target audience a little bit about you and your team. What makes you special?
Contact Information – Ensure that you are reachable by email, phone, or some other method. This information should be easily viewable when someone hits your website.
Calls to Action (CTAs) – On every page, you should include a CTA. This tells your visitors how to proceed to the next step in talking to you or hiring you. Examples include book a call, sign up for our newsletter, or even hire us now.
Testimonials – Social proof is extremely powerful when promoting your business. Testimonials or reviews from happy customers will increase the trust that your prospects have in you and increase your overall conversions.

If possible, create content such as blog posts that help convey your expertise or philosophy regarding your niche.

How to Find Clients

Assuming you have everything you need to start your business, you can’t start producing revenue until you have clients.

This is one of the most difficult stages for many entrepreneurs looking to start their own digital marketing company.

Each type of marketing will have its own set of strategies to find clients. Your approach should be adapted to whether you’re looking for SEO clients, AdWords, or Facebook marketing clients.

For instance, a few tips on finding SEO clients are:

Look On Industry Forums – A good deal of potential clients are going to hang out in online forums dedicated to SEO tips and tricks. You can offer advice to get your name out, as well as reach out to clients directly.
Create SEO Content – What better way to demonstrate your SEO knowledge than by creating content on your site to drive organic traffic from potential clients?
Network at SEO Events – There are many meetups and conferences throughout the year dedicated to SEO marketing. Even attending a few could land you new contacts that eventually turn into great clients.

SEO marketing differs from traditional channels, but it has its own set of rewards.

Wrapping Up

Just 20 years ago, digital marketing was still in its infancy.

Internet connection speeds and digital devices were not prevalent enough to capture a large share of the consumer market.

However, today, things have changed.

Businesses all over the world recognize the power of competing for market share by getting their name in front of their audience and presenting their offerings in the best way possible.

This opens up a giant opportunity for those looking to start a digital marketing business in 2021.

Still, there are common challenges that you might encounter in digital marketing.

A successful plunge into online marketing requires the right mindset, skillset, and planning to generate successful revenues.

So, review the sections above and ensure you have accounted for the most important aspects before starting your new business.

—Michelle Laurey works as a VA for small businesses. She loves talking business, and productivity, and share her experience with others. Outside her keyboard, she spends time with her Kindle library or binge-watching Billions. Her superpower? Vinyasa flow! Talk to her on Twitter @michelle_laurey.

How to Initiate Money Conversations in the Workplace

April 8, 2021 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

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Talking about money isn’t always easy – especially when you’re at work. It sometimes seems like there is an unspoken rule preventing co-workers from discussing money, and it can be difficult to initiate those conversations even when you want to have them. However, discussing money matters like salaries, raises and expense reports doesn’t have to be painful. There are plenty of strategies you can use to navigate these conversations and ensure that they go smoothly.

If you are considering discussing money with someone in your workplace, read on or skip to the infographic below to learn how to navigate tough money conversations.

Why are Money Conversations at Work Important?

Talking about money at work is important for a few different reasons. You will likely have to negotiate raises with your employer throughout your career, and discussing salaries with your coworkers can help ensure that you are all being paid fairly. Discussing raises also gives you the opportunity to highlight your contributions to the company. If you are considering pursuing future promotion opportunities, bringing your skills and work ethic to the table now could make your life easier down the road.

How to Initiate Money Conversations with Employers

Approaching your boss to discuss raises or fair pay can feel intimidating. To make it easier, try choosing a time when your boss isn’t in the middle of a meeting or another task. You’ll also want to make sure you come prepared. To do this, prepare talking points in advance and compile a list of reasons you deserve the pay you are asking for. If you have a history of subpar work performance, it could be difficult to find the evidence to support your request.

How to Initiate Money Conversations with Coworkers

Discussing salaries with coworkers can feel unnatural, but it is a great way to promote workplace transparency and can help minimize the risk of discrimination. When approaching these conversations, just remember that a person’s salary can be a sensitive topic that involves a lot of emotions. To avoid offending your coworker, you should remain respectful and avoid gossip. Be sure to focus on the numbers and be prepared to explain why the conversation benefits both you and your coworker. If you only focus on yourself, your coworker might be less willing to talk. Money conversations in the workplace don’t have to be painful. If you are looking to talk about money with your boss or coworkers, check out the infographic below to learn how you can personalize your conversation to achieve the best results.

How to Use Myers-Briggs to Navigate Tough Money Conversations

3 Security Best Practices for Organizations Managing a Remote Workforce

April 8, 2021 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

This article is originally posted on Nightfall.ai.

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In response to the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic, an increasing number of companies are urging employees to work from home. Despite the severity of the disruption caused by COVID-19, employees and even companies may find a silver lining, as remote work can have a number of benefits, including increased employee satisfaction and productivity. Although it’s far too early to tell, these benefits may serve to motivate organizations to make a more permanent transition to remote work. As employers figure out the role remote work will play in their organization, special attention will need to be given to how employers will ensure the security of both their workforce and their business-critical data. Security teams can help organizations navigate this transition by putting established security best practices into place. Below are three practices worth considering.

1. Make security part of your organizational culture

Whether or not an organization’s workforce is remote, building a culture of security is integral to strengthening an organization’s security posture. This starts with outlining clear security goals informed by both business and regulatory obligations, as well as your organization’s commitment to stakeholders and any unique industry-related security threats. From there, security teams can develop data policies that inform stakeholders and employees of the processes and practices essential to an organization’s security. Beyond building a data policy, security teams will want to build understanding and support of these policies among employees. Like with your workplace conduct policies, this can be accomplished by including cybersecurity practices in your employee handbook and tying these practices to your organization’s overall vision and values. Cybersecurity training can also cement the types of security hygiene employees will need to exercise to successfully carry out their job.

2. Standardize the tools and processes your remote workforce will use

In our cloud security best practices post, we highlighted that consistency is one of the keys to cloud security. As remote work becomes normalized, this will only become more true. Improving your organization’s security posture will depend on your security team’s ability to create and enforce protocols for remote workers.

What are some of the considerations security teams will need to make?

Deciding between bring your own device (BYOD) schemes vs IT-issued equipment

One of the first considerations that’ll likely need to be made when adopting long-term remote work is whether employees will conduct their work on their own devices or company-owned machines. Each choice contains a tradeoff, but contrary to popular belief, BYOD programs don’t need to result in chaos and managing IT-issued devices doesn’t have to be taxing.

With regards to enterprise security, the major difference between BYOD schemes and arrangements where organizations have greater control over business equipment — like company owned personally enabled (COPE) and company owned business only (COBO) – is where a security team’s data visibility and policy enforcement capabilities may lie. For company owned devices, it’s far easier to install and manage security tools that provide insight at the network or endpoint level. While organizations using a BYOD scheme can mandate that employees authorize security management programs on their devices, enforcing compliance and ensuring proper installation of these programs might prove to be difficult. There still, however, exist security solutions perfectly suited for BYOD.

Besides cybersecurity, organizations and security teams will also need to concern themselves with the physical security of employee devices as well. What happens when a device is lost or stolen, for example? Organizations will need to understand what types of damage or misuse employees are responsible for preventing and outline these scenarios clearly in employee trainings and handbooks.

Managing an authorized list of resources and deciding how to secure them

Just as organizations will need to decide on the devices employees will use, they’ll also need to decide what resources employees can use, how access to these resources will be provisioned, and what types of security and authentication policies will be in place when employees access these resources. For instance, your company may choose to adopt Slack as a sanctioned SaaS productivity application and use a tool like Okta for provisioning access and enforcing multifactor authentication.

In an era of readily available SaaS tools, this type of sanctioned IT can be difficult to maintain, as data sprawl and shadow IT threaten organizations. Some of this tension can be addressed by outlining sanctioned IT resources during employee training or in other documentation. However, security teams should understand that managing IT resources is a give and take between security and productivity. Although shadow IT shouldn’t be unquestioningly embraced, security teams should be receptive to rather than dismissive of the root causes of shadow IT. This can be accomplished by having security teams create channels to quickly solicit feedback across the organization to determine and keep up with employee needs and pain points, and if possible, by having security teams work more closely with business leaders to assess departmental needs.

Determining which security tools you’ll provide to employees

Employee security hygiene is another critical aspect to secure remote work. Your organization may want to decide if implementing tools like password managers, encrypted chat programs, VPNs or other tools makes sense for your workforce. If you decide to make these available to your employees, you’ll need proper documentation and training to ensure that they make good use of them.

3. Properly enforce data policies across your workforce

For remote work, the vast majority of your workforce will likely be leveraging cloud tools to carry out their day-to-day tasks. In these environments, organizations will need to have the proper visibility to monitor the types of data being stored and transmitted. Data visibility will also be central to establishing the appropriate controls for your data.

The types of solutions your security team deploys will depend on the objectives of your information security program. For example, if your organization operates in a highly regulated space like health care or finance, a COBO device scheme combined with a mobile device management (MDM) solution might make sense as this will let you ensure devices are up to compliance standards. However, while something like a MDM or even a cloud access security broker (CASB) might provide you endpoint or network level visibility, your data policies may also require you to have visibility into cloud applications. Nightfall, for example, provides visibility and data policy automation at the application level, allowing businesses to enforce data policies regardless of what devices or networks their employees ultimately use. Understanding the security layers to which your policies should apply will allow you to make strategic use of the platforms best suited to protecting your data.

About Nightfall

Nightfall is the industry’s first cloud-native DLP platform that discovers, classifies, and protects data via machine learning. Nightfall is designed to work with popular SaaS applications like Slack & GitHub as well as IaaS platforms like AWS. You can schedule a demo with us below to see the Nightfall platform in action.

How To Get Started With Cryptocurrency Trading

April 8, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Unless you have actively avoided all news outlets, websites, and social media for the past few years, you can’t have failed to notice that cryptocurrency is a huge deal. With bitcoin in particular, the headlines screamed that people had become millionaires overnight from their investments, and for once this was no exaggeration; it really was possible.

Although the furore over cryptocurrency has died down somewhat, it is still an exciting way to grow your money, and even if you won’t become an instant millionaire anymore, you can still make a great return. If you’re interested in cryptocurrency trading, here are some tips on how to get started.

Image from Pixabay

How Involved Do You Want To Be?

The first question you’ll need to ask yourself before you can move forward with your cryptocurrency plan is how involved do you want to be with your cryptocurrencies? In other words, do you want to be there right at the start, mining the bitcoin and other currencies? Or would you rather just buy and sell them?

There are advantages and disadvantages to each idea, and taking a look at My Blockchain Life might give you a little more information about mining your own; it can be the best option for many people, and with the right advice, you can do very well.

Choose A Simple Strategy

No matter where you want to start with cryptocurrencies, the market is a potentially confusing one, which is why having a simple strategy to help you see your way through and make gains whenever possible is important. There are many complex strategies that you can find online, but the best thing you can do is work on a much simpler one; one that you can continue to use whatever the situation might be and that you won’t have trouble remembering when you need to.

The truth is that there is no magic strategy that will give you good results every time. What there is, however, is a strategy that works most of the time, and that works for you. Don’t worry about what other people are doing; choose the most straightforward system that does what you need it to do.

Automate

Cryptocurrencies are bought and sold 24 hours a day, and the market doesn’t close for holidays either. This means that unless you want to be glued to a computer screen or smartphone forever, you’ll need to automate your trading. If you don’t, you’ll find that trading takes over everything in your life when it should be something that doesn’t take up too much of your time, especially when it’s not your primary income.

If you tried to monitor the market, you would become exhausted, and you would probably fall out of love with trading cryptocurrencies – or trading in general. Automating your strategy means that you can just ‘set and forget’, returning to check on your trades just once a day or so. This can be hard to do at first, but it’s for the best, and if your strategy is one that works, you shouldn’t have any problems.

3 Ways to Optimize Your Website UX in 2021

April 8, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

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When it comes to any business, customer experience is one of the key factors that drive most companies since a happy customer is more likely to return and tell others about the great products and services that you offer. But developing a good customer experience isn’t something that is done overnight, rather key steps must be taken in order to identify and resolve issues regarding your business.

One of the sore concepts of online business is the customer experience or UX, and a negative UX with a website will almost certainly see a particular customer never return to your site again, and while UX is an ongoing development there are some relatively easy steps you can take to optimize it right now, including:

Customer Communication
Device Optimization
Quality Web Design

Communication is key and a customer will always look for the easiest method before calling at their own expense while device optimization is essential in today’s multi-device world and the design of your site should be a priority and reflect trending attitudes.

Customer Communication

Every business whether a traditional establishment or entirely online needs clear communication channels with its customers or audience. For half a century the telephone dominated the customer service industry but advances in technology made it possible to develop quicker and more efficient methods of communication.

Some of those methods involved email, ticketing systems, and more recently, Live Chat. Email communication works well but is slow and while ticketing is excellent for handling large volumes of queries can be even slower, but Live Chat offers a huge advantage in that it is instant. Companies such as click4assistance offer excellent Live Chat features that save time and money while offering very quick customer resolution.

Device Optimization

No longer is web access limited to the home desktop computer since the invention of the tablet and smartphone has boosted internet access on mobile devices to massive proportions, as recent data suggests that 45% of internet access now comes from mobile devices. As such, your website should be optimized to display correctly on these devices as a full-sized desktop version can look strange on a mobile device with tiny text being just one issue.

Fortunately, it’s easy to optimize a site for mobile devices. You can first check what needs to be done using Google’s Mobile Friendly Tool and following that make any necessary changes. The most common change that you might need to make is switching to a mobile responsive theme or if you don’t use themes then your web designer can code responsiveness into your site. Responsiveness automatically changes how your site looks when it detects a mobile device and displays your content accordingly. The use of mobile-friendly versions of your site can now affect your site’s ranking in SERPs so should be a priority.

Quality Web Design

A responsive site can go a long way to providing a better UX but the overall design of your site needs to be taken into account. Like everything else, web design trends change but the public nature of websites means that it is almost always the users that dictate the changes in trend when it comes to the web. As such you should take the time to check on current trends often such as whether videos are being used on landing pages, how sidebars are structured, and which colors are relevant.

Currently, a Brutalist approach to web design is being adopted as a retrospective attitude shift towards how websites are presented appears to have taken hold. This current design trend is essentially a bare-bones approach that offers quick and relevant information in an easily accessible form with only necessary colors and media being used. To adopt this trend, it might be a good idea to remove any extraneous media from your site that doesn’t directly relate to what your users actually come to your site for. The specifics will vary between sites so it isn’t viable to go into it here.