3 Ways To Tackle A High Bounce Rate On Your Website

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Bounce Rate|3 Ways To Tackle A High Bounce Rate On Your WebsiteBounce rate is one of the most important analytics that your marketing team needs to consider. It shows you how many visitors to your website are leaving before they explore further. If you have a high bounce rate, that means that people are taking one look at your site and then deciding that they’re not interested, and that’s not good news. A lot of marketing teams focus on conversion rate, which is important, but customers aren’t even getting that far if you have a high bounce rate. The good news is, there is usually a fairly simple fix to a low bounce rate. If you’re experiencing issues, these are some of the best ways to deal with a low bounce rate.

Landing Page Design

When customers click on an ad or a link that takes them through to your website, they’re going to spend a few seconds looking at the landing page before they decide to either leave or explore further and start looking at your products. Often, they choose to leave because the design of the landing page is bad. It might be that it just looks dated or the branding doesn’t really speak to them but more often than not, it’s that the layout is confusing and cluttered and they can’t easily find what they’re looking for. This is a common symptom of websites that have been built without professional help. You can make a half decent website on your own using a free web builder but if you really want quality, you need to outsource to the best web design agency you can find. They will have a better understanding of successful website layouts and they’ll be able to tell you if you’re making mistakes that are likely to cause a high bounce rate.

Targeting The Wrong People

Even if your website is absolutely perfect, you’re going to have a high bounce rate if the people visiting it have no interest in your products. For example, if you’re running a womens clothes company and your marketing efforts are reaching mainly men, you’re going to get traffic from people that assume you cater to men as well, but they’ll soon leave when they realize that isn’t the case. Of course, you’re not going to do this on purpose, it just means that you’re sending the wrong message and attracting the wrong type of customer. It’s important that you identify your target demographic and make sure that your marketing strategy connects with them.

Pop-Ups

People really hate pop-ups, you probably do too, so why would you fill your website with them? If a user goes onto a site and they’re immediately bombarded with loads of pop-ups, it disrupts the user experience and frustrates them, and they’re likely to leave the site immediately. Pop-ups can be good for things like building an email list but you need to use them sparingly and don’t include them on the landing page, give people a bit of time to browse the site before you start asking for email addresses.

These are some of the more common reasons for a high bounce rate and these problems are easily fixed, so you should see a decrease in no time.

Recovering from an Illness or Injury? How to Keep a Business Running in Your Absence

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Running a Business|Recovering from an Illness or Injury? How to Keep a Business Running in Your AbsenceBeing a business owner entails a lot of responsibility: looking after employees, pushing the company forward, and being the head individual for people to answer to. This can all change if you are suddenly ill or have an accident. Maintaining the same equilibrium and productivity can be hard if you’re not yet feeling up to it, and you don’t think you are fully on the mend. Here are a few ways of approaching your day-to-day management while you recuperate.

Take it slow

Don’t rush back into the hot seat as soon as is possible. Being in a hurry to assume control of day-to-day proceedings could cause you to miss vital signals your body is sending out. Hopefully, if a client or employee was keen to come into work regardless of how ill or unfit they were, you would send them back home.

Delegate responsibly

If you are bad at delegating, now is the time to learn how to do it effectively. You can’t always micromanage every aspect of your business – particularly when you’re incredibly unwell. Ensuring that you hand out jobs to the appropriate people will give you some peace of mind that the work is being done in your absence. Staying in touch to see how everything is going will help you feel calmer about being out-of-action.

Get the legal side sorted

If your injury or sickness is due to a major accident, such as a car crash, then you will need to take time off to fix the legal side of proceedings. As well as taking time off to recuperate, you will need to ensure that you get the compensation and justice that is deserved, so you don’t keep mentally re-visiting it after you go back to work. If your business is based in Florida, for instance, finding a car accident lawyer in Fort Lauderdale would help you get local legal help.

Drop in for visits

If you’re worried about being completely absent from your business, dropping in for the occasional visit could be valuable to you. Skype and conference calls could be a temporary solution when it comes to maintaining order and understanding the day-to-day processes. When it comes to showing face, you may just need to pop in every now and then to say hi and tell them how you’re doing – only if you feel up to it, of course.

Be realistic

As a result of having to delegate and give other employees responsibility, you will have to be realistic about what you personally can achieve. You have to acknowledge that it won’t really be possible for you to get everything done yourself. Being realistic also means acknowledging what your employees can realistically take on, and that it may be a bumpy ride for them initially in your absence.

Running a business while you’re recovering from an injury or illness can come loaded with guilt. Worrying about how your employees are getting on and whether you’re a good boss are inevitable. However, in order to maintain a good relationship, it’s a matter of keeping contact when you can and being pragmatic.

Huge Mistakes To Avoid When Planning A Corporate Event

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Corporate Event|Huge Mistakes To Avoid When Planning A Corporate EventBeing an entrepreneur means making mistakes. A lot of mistakes. Although it isn’t ideal, these situations allow you to learn and grow as a business owner. That being said, there are some errors that you’re better off avoiding. Corporate events are a very important part of business. They provide an opportunity to get your name out there, impress clients, and make money at the same time. The last thing you want to do when hosting an event, therefore, is make a mistake. With that in mind, here are five huge blunders to avoid when planning your own.

Beginning Planning Too Late

Once you’ve made the decision to host your own event, you should begin the planning process as soon as you can. Far too many entrepreneurs underestimate just how much time, and work must go into organizing an event of this size. Many elements of the day will have to be booked or purchased well in advance. If you fail to do this, you might miss out or could be left with a much larger bill. Don’t put your event at risk by waiting until the last minute to get organized.

Hiring Too Little Help

Never attempt to run a corporate event by yourself. With so much to take care of throughout the day, even trying to do so would make it impossible for you to enjoy yourself. There is also a very big chance of you making a mistake, which could cause chaos for both you and the guests. Instead, you should bring in plenty of help. If you can’t spare any employees from the office, then hire temporary workers for the day. You may want to book an event planner to lend a hand too.

Expecting Guests To Show

Putting time, money, and effort into an event won’t make people show. The only way to guarantee this is to promote it. However, you shouldn’t just advertise the event itself. Many guests will come for the local area too, so make sure you highlight that. If the event is in Geelong, for example, you could mention the quality conference centre accommodation within easy reach of Geelong’s waterfront and the Botanic Gardens. Promoting your event at similar ones is also a good idea.

Offering Nothing To Do

Although many people attending your event will be busy with their own stands, most will have nothing of the sort to keep them occupied. The last thing that you want is for these attendees to be stood around bored all day. This wastes your time, as well as theirs, and could damage your reputation. To avoid this, you should organize activities to keep your guests busy. Speakers, contests, bands, and games are all typical ways to pass the time and entertain guests at events.

Forgetting A Backup Plan

There are so many things that could go wrong on the day of your event. While it might cause you stress to think about these potential issues, you can’t afford to bury your head in the sand. If you ignore these risks, you’ll have no way of resolving them if they do happen. For this reason, you should write a list of all of the issues that you can think of and plans to fix them. If a speaker were to not show up, for example, you should have another one waiting in the wings.

Avoiding these mistakes should ensure that your event is a huge success.

“Can I Deduct That?” 8 Must-Know Tax Deductions for Small Businesses

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Tax Deductions for Small Businesses|"Can I Deduct That?" 8 Must-Know Tax Deductions for Small BusinessesThere are over 32 million small businesses operating in the US.

That’s a lot of people working hard to sell their products/services and, hopefully, turn a profit!

Let’s face it, money is the lifeblood of any business. It’s a competitive world. With insufficient capital to hand, it won’t be operational for long.

For that reason, it’s vital that small businesses squeeze as much money as possible from operations.

Tax deductions constitute one essential method of doing exactly that.

After all, paying a hefty tax bill is rarely pleasant. For small businesses trying to maximize their profits, it can even mean the difference between success and failure. Are you looking for ways to save money on your business’ tax bill this financial year?

Keep reading to find out 8 must-know tax deductions for small businesses.

1. Business Supplies

Let’s start with the basics:
You can deduct from your tax bill all of the expenditure on essential business supplies.
It might not seem like much. However, any owner knows how much these necessary fees can stack up. For boot-strapping start-ups, every little bit counts!

Look around you. It’s possible to claim for almost anything you’ve bought for the purpose of doing business. Stationary (pens, pencils, paper, staples…), printers, cleaning materials, desks, chairs, sofas, whiteboards, projectors…The list goes on.

You can deduct any and all of them.

2. Travel Expenses

Business travel isn’t cheap.

It’s also essential for many companies. Business travel is commonly a vital aspect of creating leads, meeting with investors, attending conferences, generating interest, and so on.

There is all manner of opportunities to travel for business purposes.

Nicely, almost all of it can be claimed for. Often, entertainment costs can be claimed for too.

All of those flight tickets, bus tickets, train fares and so on are all deductible. Likewise, certain related expenses such as meal costs, room service, dry cleaning and so on can be claimed.

Of course, keeping a solid record of each transaction is important. Equally, certain limitations apply too. You can’t claim for absolutely everything! You must understand your tax obligations in full to be successful in any tax preparation.

3. Personal Vehicle Expenses

Many small business owners use their personal car for work purposes.

The money spent on this process is often tax-deductible. Note that only the business side of things can be claimed for! It’s crucial to separate the business from personal usage.

Granted that’s possible, then you can claim for everything from mileage to parking fees. It’s often tricky to ascertain true mileage for a trip. Be sure to record mileage by referring to the odometer, or a GPS system.

Don’t forget to deduct expenses for insurance and maintenance costs too. Owning a vehicle isn’t cheap. Using it for work can only exacerbate that. Be sure to leverage the tax deductions available!

4. Necessary Overheads

Look at what you fork out every month to keep your business operational:

Rental commitments, utility payments, internet costs, and phone usage are all crucial costs. They’re all unavoidable expenses. You couldn’t do business if you didn’t pay for them all.

For that reason, it’s possible to deduct it all from your tax bill! This can make a big difference at the end of the financial year. Again, accurate record-keeping throughout the year is essential.

5. Software & Equipment Costs

Almost every business has specific demands.

Industry-specific equipment and software is often a necessary expense. Likewise, updates and new installs are vital to staying up to speed.

These costs represent another worthwhile deduction on your tax bill. You can claim for each and every one of them, up to a certain amount of money. That means your actual computers, and all computer software can be claimed for.
Other essential equipment (such as equipment for manufacturing) can also be deducted under this bracket.

6. Your Home Office

Most people think of business and conjure images of swanky corporate offices in the city.
And, of course, that’s often accurate.

However, many small businesses are operated straight out of the family home. If that’s your set up, then you have the benefit of claiming for the costs of your home office.

That said, it must be wholly business-related. You can’t work from your kitchen and claim it’s your office! Instead, a designated space from which you operate is required.

Tick that box, and say hello to deductions for internet, insurance, rent, phone bills…and so on. Likewise, furniture and supplies can be claimed for too.

7. Outsourced Professional Services

It’s rare for someone to actually enjoy the tax process!

Consequently, many business owners opt to outsource the process. All bookkeeping and tax returns are completed by a professional.

Nicely, their fee can be deducted from your tax bill at the end of the year. Even better, it’ll be their job to work it out and complete the forms for you!

It doesn’t stop there. You might work with lawyers and consultants as well. It’s possible to claim for the money you’ve paid them too.

8. The Interest Payments on Debt

If you’ve gone into business, then chances are you’ve taken on debt to fund it.

Leverage, in the form of bank loans, is often an essential means of getting it up and running. After all, almost every business needs upfront investment to become a success. This start-up capital is used for all sorts of reasons. It can amount to a significant sum.

The burden of debt is rarely fun. However, it’s possible to claim for some of it.

Unfortunately, the loan itself is off-limits. But the interest payments are entirely tax-deductible.

Final Thoughts on Tax Deductions for Small Businesses

There you have it: 8 essential tax deductions for small businesses to know about.

Millions of small businesses are currently operational in the US. It’s guaranteed that profit maximization is a priority for every single one of them.

Indeed, the ability to cut expenses and turn a profit is vital to remain in business. Cutting costs wherever possible often comes into it. Tax deductions are an easy and essential method of doing exactly that.
Hopefully, this post has highlighted the main sources of tax deduction out there.

Five Tips for Small Team Management

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StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article |Small Teams|Five Tips for Small Team ManagementIt is tempting to think that more manpower equates to more productivity at work. After all, jobs tend to get done right away when many working pieces are involved, right? That is not always the case.

In fact, studies now show that a smaller number of members in a team is linked to more engagement and accountability. At work, small teams tend to be more productive because leads can focus their time and attention to fewer members.

However, spearheading a small team is still no easy feat. Just like any organization, small teams also have their fair share of challenges. And it is in everyone’s best interest to keep even a small boat floating.

Here are five strategies on how you can bring in the best out of a small yet effective team:

Use time tracking tools

You can use a free time clock software to set deadlines and objectives to manage project time more effectively. Time management tools can assist you to keep track of your team’s work and any project advancement.

It provides you monitoring tools that can be used to record the time that is spent on assignments and projects, such as timesheets and project trackers. You no longer have to wonder where time is wasted and which projects are receiving a disproportionate amount of attention. This time, you now have objective evidence.

Communicate with the team effectively

Having effective communication skills is one of the key ingredients of a team with good governance. When you communicate well with your teammates, you minimize misunderstandings and encourage the exchange of ideas that can propel your team to success.

For first-time managers, this might be easier said than done. To start with, you must create a welcoming atmosphere where your team knows that their feedback and opinions are all valued. Encourage them to open up. In that way, no one can feel as though they do not have a chance to express.

Staff meetings are a good way to build an open communication line in your team. During assemblies, convey the messages that you want to impart with confidence. Your audience will not only hear what you are saying, they will also see and feel your enthusiasm.

Having a proactive behavior in every discussion will help your teammates retain the discussion better. And with better retention, you possibly get more valuable inputs from them.

After you have established good communication in your team, the process of setting expectations and goals in your tasks will most likely go by smoothly.

Encourage teamwork and collaboration

Teamwork or collaboration has a dramatic effect on organizational performance.

Just like establishing good communication, teamwork is not something that just appears out of thin air. It is hard work and dedication that create a culture of teamwork in the workplace. When there is collaboration, the tasks at hand become more fun and uncomplicated.

Effective collaboration does not mean delegating an equal amount of work among the team. It is about knowing and sorting out tasks properly according to the skills, interest, and availability of the members.

Here are a few things to keep in mind about teamwork:

  • Be informed about the team’s common goal and objective.
  • Learn when to ask for help, especially when you are in need of an inspiration or support.
  • Let your team know about the progress you are making.
  • Encourage the team to question things from all angles.
  • Appreciate the efforts of the team and celebrate achievements together.

Set realistic deadlines

It is easy to postpone work when you think you have all the time in the world to finish it. Without a sense of urgency, you can always switch to things that are more enjoyable than the work you are avoiding to get done.
To stop the team from postponing and avoiding work, set a realistic deadline that is near to the present. If you firmly believe that a task can be done in a week, direct the team to get it done in a week’s time. This will keep the team stay driven throughout the process.

Before you set deadlines, it is necessary that the team knows what is expected from them. Explain the objectives and goals in mind clearly so that you are on the same page with everyone in the team. Make sure that the team agrees to the deadlines that you set so that they would have a sense of accountability in everything they do.

Evaluate your team regularly

Most of the time, it’s pretty easy to identify whether or not a team is successful. But how do you repeat those successes?

Giving room for feedback can help you measure the effectiveness of your style of leadership. It will also give you the privilege of knowing if this specific leadership is well accepted by everyone in your team.

For personal and career development, it is important to regularly know each of your member’s strengths and weaknesses. An age-old aphorism goes, “a team is only as strong as its weakest link.” The team can either be brought down by the actions of an individual or be brought up by a particularly strong contributor.

Take the time to determine if a person is raising up or bringing down a team. Once you have identified the individuals, see if you can coach the other members of the team to take some of the same attitudes and practices.
Lastly, establish a baseline and clarify your definition of success so you can better judge and provide feedback on how successful your team is. Conducting regular evaluations significantly determines how great a team will be moving forward.

Final thoughts

The fundamentals of succeeding in managing small teams lie in the knowledge that managing these teams is just as hard as managing mid-sized or even bigger teams. People often believe that managing a small team is easier, but that is hardly ever the case.

At the end of the day, the success of a team is only just a reflection of the combined efforts of each individual in a team.