How 21st-Century Solutions Could Save Your Business

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Owning a business nowadays can be a struggle. It can cause stress, worry and be a financial burden. Today we are going to be looking at how you can alleviate some of those daily stresses just by updating some of the ways you do things.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | How 21st-Century Solutions Could Save Your Business

Outsource

Trying to do everything yourself is something every entrepreneur is guilty of. The result is always the same, exhaustion and burn out which results in a very moody boss.

The solution to this has been made ever more available, especially over the last 10 years. Outsourcing no longer has to be an outside consultant, prancing his way around your offices telling you what you should do.

It is now a fantastic option when it comes to adapting to survive. The key to succeeding in business is simple, it’s all about cash flow. So you can save some money, that’s perfect, right?

You can have your leading expenses outsourced and have all of your IT solutions dealt with from an outside company. You can even have a company operate a customer service solution for you. These companies are great and over the space of twelve months, they can save you an average of around 60% on what you would generally be spending on a salary.

Cloud

The cloud has become one of the most valuable tools we can use as business people. It can offer so many solutions.

Most people still think of the cloud as just a space for storage. In reality, it is so much more. Nowadays we can have cloud-based bespoke customer management systems that we can access on an international level. We have access to cloud-based accounting systems that allow us to manage international finances all in one place. We even have companies like SimplyClouds that will allow us all in one license service on our software.

Turning to the cloud can not just help you as a business, as far as 21st-century solutions go, you should be utilizing it at every turn. It will allow you to operate from anywhere in the world, at any time.

Should you be looking to expand, all of your data is in one place and easy to duplicate to a second or even third location.

Social Media

Gone are the days of expensive, bank-breaking advertizing campaigns. You now have the power of social media at your fingertips.

Social media is so much more important than you think. If we go back 20 years, it would cost huge rates just to reach a few thousand people. Now, with a little bit of knowledge and the right campaign, we can hit millions overnight.

Companies have built their reputation built on nothing more than Facebook videos, vines, and Youtube videos. The perfect thing about these videos, they not only cost nothing, given the right amount of hits, but the videos also start to bring in revenue for you.

Although it is a tough market to hit, you should consider approaching a social media mogul who can push your campaign. One thing you should not do is ignore the power of social media, it could be your winning move.

Why You Should Consider Outsourcing for Your Business

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The key to working harder is to work smarter. Your business depends on you being able to do what you do best without being bogged down by the day to day tasks that can take up some time. Running your business automatically means you have a lot on your plate to manage meaning multi-tasking is the name of the game.

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article | Why You Should Consider Outsourcing for Your Business

But when it comes to the task in hand, you want to make sure your time and focus is where it needs to be and you aren’t tied up with tasks that take up too much of your day and pulling your attention elsewhere.

This is where outsourcing comes in. Regardless of if you have a team working with you or not, there are many advantages in hiring a third party to take care of tasks for you so you know you are getting the job done and done well. So what should you be looking at outsourcing?

Employees.

More specifically, the hiring of employees. you need to make sure you have the right people for your company, however, if you don’t have the time or expertise in interviewing and sifting through CVs, you may find outsourcing this task to a reputable company such as Checkr could be beneficial to you and your business.

Social Media

There is no denying that social is a huge marketing tool for almost every business. That being said, it takes up a vast amount of time to promote your business and create content to attract and engage potential customers across many different platforms. Hiring outside of your company means that not only do you not have to train a staff member or create a department to take from this for you, but you benefit from qualified professionals to be able to manage all of the content creation and promotion too.

Technology Services.

It can be expensive to make sure you are up to date with the latest technology services available. Even more expensive to keep a member of staff on-site to deal with any issues. Taking up a managed technology services package from an industry expert is one less thing you have to worry about maintaining for your business. Take advantage of their expertise and knowledge to keep you up and running at all times and not just when something goes wrong.

Administration

Think of replying to emails, following up on leads, enquires to scout for new business. Maybe you need business meetings transcribing or notes inputting into online files. All of this is something you could potentially hire a Virtual Assistant for.

Virtual Assistant work from remote locations and each one has a different set of skills. Once you find someone who can benefit your company you can work out a package that benefits you and your business with this then freeing your time to focus on areas you need to.

These are just a few areas where you can work smarter to help grow your business and meet your growing demands without pulling yourself in too many directions.

How to Access Untapped Markets to Boost Your Profits

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | How to Access Untapped Markets to Boost Your ProfitsIn today’s globalized business world, you’re no longer selling to just your community or to the people around you who might have a special interest in your products or services: you’re able to take whatever’s special about your company and multiply it across the world. This article aims to encourage you to take your product or service to the international business arena in order to tackle new markets and find new demographics in new countries to sell to – giving a significant boost to your revenue in the long-term.

Establish In-Country Contacts

The simplest way to get into a new market is through a local partner or contact. They will be able to facilitate the kind of groundwork that you’ll need to get your product imported without hassle, and to bring your product into shops and stores that you’d have to work terribly hard to penetrate yourself. With a partner you trust, you’ll be able to outsource all of this work and stress to someone who may have an incentive to make your business success overseas – a win-win for yourself and your in-country contact.

Make Use of International Shipping

If your business is primarily driven by online sales, you may technically never have to sell products to stores abroad. What you should do, however, is make sound use of the international shipping market in order to ensure that your product reaches its destination – wherever in the world that may be – as soon as possible after it’s purchased. Consider the following:

  • Establish a partnership with a shipping provider to get discount shipping rates.
  • Show international shipping options and prices prominently on your website.
  • Ensure that overseas customers can pay with different forms of payment methods so that no one is dissuaded from engaging with your brand.

Sometimes, you may not be able to drum up the interest in your products in emerging markets that would significantly boost your profits. To achieve this, you’ll need to launch a new, international marketing campaign.

International Marketing

The world of digital marketing is, of course, fairly international in and of itself, given that it takes place on the global platform that is the world wide web. Nonetheless, your marketing campaign aimed at developed nations and western countries is unlikely to communicate the same message to other countries and contexts.

As such, one of the best options you have up your sleeve is to run an international or foreign-local marketing campaign through a third party, promoting your products to new markets. Marketing in China, for instance, will make use of Chinese culture, language and sales tactics to bring your products or services to one of the world’s most thriving economies. The same can be said of other rapidly developing countries, such as India, Brazil and Nigeria.

Network Online

Finally, if you happen to find some local businesspeople and entrepreneurs online who you think may be able to sell your product for you in different countries, it’s certainly worth reaching out with an offer or inquiry. Make a small pitch, introduce yourself, and outline the proposal you have in mind: any canny businessperson in a foreign country will see this is a golden opportunity to make some extra cash – for themselves and you.

These tips should help you access foreign markets that can provide a significant boost to your profits in your online business.

Why No-one Is Visiting Your Company Website

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article Why No-one Is Visiting Your Company WebsiteStruggling to attract any traffic to your company website? There could be a number of reasons as to why your site isn’t getting any visitors. Here are some of the most likely reasons as to why people aren’t visiting your site.

You rank low on search engines

Search engines are the top way in which people find local businesses. Most people rarely look beyond the first page – if you don’t show up until page 10 of Google, you’re unlikely to attract many visitors. You can improve your rankings by investing in SEO (search engine optimisation). This involves using a variety of methods to make your site more appealing to search engines. This SEO guide could be worth reading to give you an idea of some of the tactics you can use. Search engines are always changing their algorithms and adding new features, so it can be worth regularly delving into SEO.

You rarely post new content

Keeping content consistently fresh shows people that your company is active and it can help to encourage return visitors by offering something new. Posting new content regularly is also good for your SEO – search engines tend to rank sites higher that are constantly active. The best way to keep your site constantly fresh is to add a blog. Also consider updating testimonials and offering a calendar of events.

Your website isn’t mobile friendly

If your website isn’t compatible on mobile devices, it could be stopping you from getting a lot of visitors. The bulk of internet use in now from mobile users, which is why it’s essential to have a mobile-friendly site. Most sites are automatically mobile compatible – the only exception may be very old sites that haven’t been updated for a while.

Your website takes ages to load

It’s possible that people may be visiting your website but leaving before it had a chance to fully load. This is likely to be because of a slow loading rate. Sites can load slowly for a number of reasons – it could be the server you’re using or it could be because you’re using lots of plug-ins and high-resolution images. This guide on how to speed up your site could be worth reading to help fix this problem.

Your aren’t advertising your website enough

There are so many websites out there that it can be difficult for people to simply stumble across your site. Advertising your site can help to raise exposure and increase traffic. PPC ads and email marketing are the main way to advertise your site online. As for offline advertising, you should consider printing your website address on business cards, flyers and other physical marketing products. You could even look into using QR codes.

Business Branding Advice – Mobile Apps

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Business Branding Advice - Mobile AppsOver the coming months, an astounding number of businesses are likely to seek the services of a mobile app developer. If you aren’t planning to and don’t have an effective mobile app in place, then you seriously need to consider the prospect of doing so. Mobile internet is literally taking over at the moment and apps are at the core of this. In order for your business to be effective and competitive on all fronts, you need to capitalise on this before it is too late.

Nonetheless, selecting a mobile app developer is not an easy challenge. Firstly, this is likely to mark a substantial investment. Secondly, when you consider how dominant mobile internet is becoming you can see how the app created determines whether you reap a great proportion of success for your business.

When looking for a mobile app developer the first thing you need to consider is the complete service they offer. It is not enough to be able to design a beautiful app and fill it with graphics. The company needs to be trained in all areas. What do they offer in terms of branding and brand protection? You can read this brand protection guide for more details on the latter. They need to be able to incorporate your brand, they need to be able to implement a thorough marketing strategy, and they need to be able to develop an app that is going to be as effective and as impressive across all smartphones. There is a lot more to designing and creating a mobile app than meets the eye. Yours will only be effective if you opt for a company that evidently has a lot of skills and services in their locker.

In addition to this, you should only go for developers who have their portfolio readily available on their website. This shows that they have worked for an array of clients and it showcases that they have nothing to hide either. Look through the portfolio and get an idea of the work they have completed. This will give you a good indication of the level of service they provide as well as if they are capable of generating the sort of app you are looking for.

Aside from this, you need to bear in mind the fact that it is not always the best idea to go for the biggest company you find. Sometimes going for a localised business can be a lot more effective. This is because they have the time and effort to dedicate to your app. Furthermore, big companies often outsource their development work and this is never ideal. You want the same company to work on all aspects of your mobile app and local and somewhat smaller teams can do this.

And finally, make sure the team has some experience too. Don’t go for a company that has merely started up this year. Approximately five years of experience is what you should be looking for. This way you know the company has survived and done well to make a name for themselves yet you know they are fresh and in-tune with the demands of today.

If you consider all of the points mentioned in this article then you should have no issue finding the perfect mobile app developer for your business specifically. Remember to make sure the service is thorough, no aspects are outsourced, their portfolio is flourishing, and they have experience and training to boast.