Preparing Your Online Business For The Inevitable New Year Boost

 

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Let’s face it; 2020 has been an immensely difficult year for businesses across the board. However, the silver lining is that the festive period has sparked an economic boost that looks likely to last into the new year. 

Nevertheless, with social distancing in place, the battle for online success will be greater than ever. Now is the time to put the preparations in place ahead of the January flurry. Here are five steps that will lead you to success.

Work Out How You’ll Gain Visibility

The first challenge facing any business is to gain awareness. After all, it will be impossible to sell anything if clients don’t know of your existence. The battle for online customers is fiercer than ever, but many will let themselves down by focusing solely on organic methods. If you want fast results, partnering with an effective PPC ad agency is vital. Effective display ads that get your brand in front of the right people within a matter of hours will send traffic through the roof.

Understand Consumer Intent

In an ideal world, all customers you reach would be ready to complete a purchase there and then. In reality, the majority won’t be at that phase of the consumer journey. The average person requires seven interactions with a brand before buying your products. Building a sales funnel that can collect new leads at every stage of intent is vital. When you do this, it will be far easier to answer their pain points and lead them to a sale.

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Check Out Your Hosting Packages

The last thing you need in January is to miss out on sales due to a lack of web bandwidth. Therefore, an understanding of your current package is vital. On a similar note, you must connect with a payment processing partner that will allow you to gain sales from the biggest audience. This could also include using credit plan firms that allow your customers to use monthly repayments. Sadly, obstacles with traffic and transactions would be the equivalent of shutting your shop doors.

Let Visuals Count

Shopping is supposed to be an enjoyable experience. Sadly, reading through pages of unnecessary info won’t go down well with many consumers. Therefore, it’s vital that you use visual content to your advantage. In addition to the graphics used in display ads and social posts, you should consider testimonials. Seeing a verified five-star rating instantly inspires trust. Likewise, stills and videos that give an insight into the brand will work wonders.

Look For Long-Term Success

Whether we regain control over the pandemic in the coming months or not, online business is now king. Consumers that had previously resisted it are now huge advocates, leading to a permanent shift in shopping habits. Therefore, a strong SEO strategy and content marketing plan are vital. The results won’t necessarily show in the early parts of the year, but it will keep you on the right track into Q2 and beyond. When supported by the insights you can gain through social media, your future will look far brighter.

The Challenges Faced by Female Entrepreneurs

 

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There is a perception these days that the world has changed for the better and that women now have an equal stake in society. This perception is wrong. The pay gap still exists and women face a stack of challenges that men simply don't have to consider. There are the social expectations, funding issues, networking issues, and family issues to overcome. Despite this, more women are stepping into the world of entrepreneurship and successfully growing their businesses. 

Defying Social Expectations

In general female entrepreneurs are fewer in number than their male counterparts, this can lead to stereotyping and social expectations placed on women that can be detrimental to their reputation and to grow their business. Of course, this situation exists in society at large, but in the world of entrepreneurship, where there is a need to carve out a niche, the stakes are higher.

Let's say you walk into a room for a networking event. You look around and the first thing you notice is the lack of female entrepreneurs. There are some, but they are seriously outnumbered. This creates an issue. If you want to network effectively should you adopt a male standpoint and interact with them as they might expect, or do you embrace your own personality and confidence? 

The answer is the latter. While adopting a male attitude to business might help to influence some men in the room, owning your gender and presenting an authentic image is far more powerful and will make more of an impact. In a challenging situation like this, you need to remind yourself that you have come this far on your own and you can go further by being yourself. 

Accessing Funding

It's true that female investors have a harder time accessing funding than their male counterparts. There are some reasons for this. Typically, those with venture capital tend to invest in entrepreneurs who are part of their own tribe. That means a University investor is more likely to fund a startup with links to that university. Since most VC companies are run by men, female partners are less common. 

There are ways around this challenging situation. Female entrepreneurs are not just up against the nepotism of the industry but also the male-dominated world of entrepreneurship. The first step is to build confidence in your team by getting the right people involved and developing an excellent business plan. Investors generally look for businesses that can grow in valuation so consult the experts and ensure you have a good market fit. 

Another way to confront this challenge is to encourage more female investors to support one another and send money to Vietnam. Female VC company owners and managers need to make more effort to inspire and support female-led ventures with funding and educational workshops. 

The Struggle to be Taken Seriously 

Many women entrepreneurs struggle to be taken seriously in the industry, it is partly due to outdated attitudes that suggest they don't have what it takes to be top dog, but the struggle is also an internal one. Many women are affected by wider attitudes about their capabilities that create negative self-talk and make things harder.

The reality is those female entrepreneurs are just as capable and worthy of praise, but they have to fight harder for their place at the top table. In a male-dominated industry where reputation counts for a lot, women have to overcome the psychological barriers to entry and believe in themselves more strongly. 

The good news is that this form of social conditioning can be a powerful motivator and catalyst for success, not that it should be. As more women stand up to these challenges and face them down, the idea of a male-dominated business world will eventually be a thing of the past. What is needed is for more women to break through and lead the way. 

Owning Your Accomplishments 

In the same way, confidence and negative self-talk are major factors in the success of female entrepreneurs, owning our accomplishments is also vitally important. There is a tendency in women to be self-deprecating when it comes to what they've achieved in life and business. It's a not-worthy attitude that feels like modesty but looks like failure. 

The idea of blowing your own trumpet, however, can seem counterintuitive to women who have been raised to embody consensus-building qualities that downplay their own position and self-worth. In the business world, the qualities of individualism are praised and good ideas to build and sustain reputations. 

There are many situations in the business world when you have to blow your trumpet and praise what you do. Situations where you have to stand apart from your team and use the "I" pronoun instead of "we". There are times when you need to stand up and claim the praise for an idea because it was you who was behind it and that matters. 

Building a Support Network 

An excellent social and commercial network is vitally important to the success of women working as entrepreneurs. The distinct lack of these networks, however, is a stark reminder that women have a long way to go to find parity in the business world. The trouble is that most of the influential networks are also male-dominated. 

This goes back to the old adage that it's not what you know but who, and this still rings true in the world of entrepreneurial business. It isn't easy to forge a path for yourself when so many doors seem to be closed to you, simply on the basis of nepotism and in-group mentalities. But like other challenges in entrepreneurial life, this one too can be overcome. 

The way to do it is to get involved in female-focused networks and support groups that are not only lively and informative forums but also hubs where connection can be established. You might also attend women-focused networking events and online forums. These are spaces where you can interact with women on the same journey as you, it's a place to learn, to grow, and to succeed. 

Plan the Perfect Party With These Tips

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Weddings, birthdays, graduations, retirements and other major life events deserve to be celebrated in style! Events like these are often long-remembered for two major things: venue and food. These two big-ticket items are typically at the forefront of your guests' minds as they enter into the party, so be sure you know how to choose the right options before signing on the dotted line!

Picking a Venue

When picking a venue, you may want to consider hiring a planner that focuses on event management. These professionals often know the ins and outs of event planning, which event spaces are open and affordable in your area and how to help orchestrate your entire event. If you are looking to do things on your own, thoroughly research each place prior to making any commitments — monetary or other. Your space should be able to house the correct amount of people and then some; always plan for a few extra folks who did not RSVP or for those who decide to bring along a friend or two. 

Deciding on Catering

Catering is a key factor in the success of a properly thrown party! If you are in need of special event foods, like birthday catering New Glasgow NS, make sure you pick a place that takes care of all your food and service needs, like set-up and supplies. The last thing you want to think about on the day of your big event is making time to put together tables, linens and more when you have so many other things on your plate to deal with. 

Planning your next big event doesn't have to be so intimidating! With these tips, you're on the right track toward finding and creating an event space that will blow your guests away and have them talking for weeks to come.

How Do Horses Jump So High?

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If you have ever watched a horse competition on TV, the jumping may have looked so smooth that you thought it was natural. If you are a long-time horse owner though, you know horses are not born with a gift for competition-winning jumps. For a horse to jump fences the way you see on television, horse owners need to gradually train horses to build that skill. There is special equestrian equipment to do this. If you are a horse owner who wants to train your horse to jump like you see on TV, it is best to start with easier obstacles and work your way up.

Ground Poles

If your horse has no experience jumping, it is best to start with ground poles. First, gently train your horse to walk over one pole. Then, as your horse gets used to this, add more poles. Build this exercise up to where you can put poles five feet apart from each other in a straight line. Trotting over the spaced poles will teach the horse how to coordinate its steps depending on the distance between obstacles.

Cavalettis

Once your horse has mastered trotting over the ground poles, you can use cavalettis to teach it how to jump higher obstacles. You can create a horse rail with some bends and place the cavalettis 20 meters apart from each other along the rail. Learning to trot and jump over the cavalettis will teach your horse how to have smooth rhythm with higher jumps.

Roll Tops

When your horse feels comfortable jumping higher obstacles, you can add a roll top to your horse trail. Facing a roll top will teach your horse how to jump and land elegantly. Horse jump roll tops allow horses to use their backs, hips and legs in an aerobic and athletic way. Place roll tops 25 meters apart from other obstacles to give your horse the chance to take impulse.

Jumping high is not a natural talent for horses, but it is one that can be gradually accomplished. Remember to be patient and careful. And do not forget your helmet! 

3 Tips to Prevent Illness This Winter

 

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It’s winter again. It’s the time of year when you are increasingly susceptible to nasty colds and other viruses that can ruin your Christmas. The cold weather plays havoc on your immune system, making you and your family significantly more likely to catch one of the many diseases that spread easily in the winter months. 

The last thing you want is to spend your festive period sneezing into tissues or confined to your bedroom with a hot towel over your forehead. Your ability to avoid illness will depend largely on adopting good habits and taking precautions to keep yourself safe.

To help you avoid getting sick this winter, here are some handy tips for staying well.