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Determining Your Objectives In Digital Marketing

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article | Determining Your Objectives In Digital MarketingThe world of digital marketing is full of terms, some that may sound completely alien to those who are not used to the jargon of this world (such as, for example, KPI). Others may come from everyday language. If you personally saw a phrase like “SEO Austin,” you would know right away that it has something to do with digital marketing. However, you may think everyone knows what they mean, but many people don’t really understand it completely. This can lead not only to misunderstandings in conversation, but also totally wrong communication policies. That is why today, we want to talk about the differences between the concepts of objectives, strategy and tactics.

Quantitative Objectives

The first thing to be clear about is the objectives. There are two main types of objectives; the first is ‘quantitative objectives.’ Quantitative objectives are always measurable since, as their name indicates, they are set in quantities.

  • Increase our blog traffic by 20%
  • Increase web traffic by 100,000 visits per month
  • Get 1000 followers per month on Twitter
  • Make 200 monthly conversions
  • Increase 25% in annual sales

Qualitative Objectives

Qualitative objectives are more subjective and therefore more complicated to measure. Whenever possible, set quantitative objectives (since they are easier to measure) and use qualitative ones in a complementary way.

For example:

  • Improve public perception of our brand
  • Increase brand awareness on social media
  • Improve the image of our product or service

Establishing Objectives

It is essential, to establish our objectives, to have a great knowledge of your business and its environment (the market, the potential client, and the competition). For this, it is essential to carry out an internal and external analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis).

Smart Goals

These objectives should be divided into small intermediate goals, which are known as SMART goals.

Specific: clear and concrete, all members of the team must understand and be on the same page.

Measurable: it has to be measurable, even qualitative ones. If it can’t be measured, it can’t be reached.

Achievable: if we set ourselves an unreachable goal, the team may fall into frustration.

Realistic: in addition to being achievable, it must be realistic with the means at your disposal and considering the current situation of your company.

Timely (limited in time): you have to set a deadline to reach them.

For example, if you want to reach 30,000 visits to your store per year, they could be divided into 10,000 each quarter. This makes it easier to evaluate the results and maintain or correct the course if necessary.

Conclusion

When you work with SEO and marketing professionals like MOTOZA Digital Marketing, objectives are essential to control and measure both strategy and tactical actions and allow you to achieve larger goals. For this reason, it is vital to define short, medium, and long-term objectives.

Why Employee Training is Key to Keeping Your Business Secure

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article | Why Employee Training is Key to Keeping Your Business SecureEmployee training should be central to all operations. Not only does it ensure that people are working to their full capacity and that protocols are followed, but it’s important for safety. And we’re not simply talking about the safety of the employees, but of the business as well. This is why businesses that don’t make this part a priority end up opening themselves up to so many risks. Let’s take a look at why employee training is key to keeping your business secure.

Poorly Trained Employees Make Mistakes

One of the biggest risks of having people who are not properly trained on your floor is that they’re more likely to make mistakes. This could be anything from mishandling a client’s information, or divulging important information to the wrong person. This is especially the case when it comes to IT. All it takes is for one mistake for your whole system to be compromised. The worst part is that most attacks are engineered to target employees and not the network itself.

This is why you will need to consider hiring some outside help to beef up your cybersecurity, update your team, and help you form your employees better. Managed IT services like Data Cube Systems can help you implement security measures. They also have a consulting team that can help you and your employees be more careful when exchanging information.

Poorly Trained Employees Put Themselves and Other Employees at Risk

If your goal is to limit the number of injuries on the floor, one of the best things you can do is invest heavily into training. If your employees have to handle dangerous machinery, you must make sure that they’re properly hired and trained by someone with enough expertise in your company.

Another issue with poorly trained employees is that they can end up injuring others or increasing the risk of accidents occurring. Some may not be aware of safety measures when moving around the shop floor. They might not know of the risks associated with working with certain chemical agents. This is why you need to not only train them, but make sure their formation is always up to date.

Employees Who Are Improperly Trained Could Lead to Violations

Proper training is also very important if you’re in a heavily regulated sector. We can think of sectors such as construction, but also others like the food business. Every year, thousands of restaurants get slapped with health violations, and in many cases, this is because of something an employee did. So, instead of taking unnecessary risks, make sure that you constantly update your employees on current and new regulations. Make sure that managers constantly monitor and remind employees. Also, make sure that they have an easy to access database that they can use if they forget something.

These are just some examples of how having improperly trained employees can be a liability for your business. So, make sure that you make training a focal point in your organization from now on and focus on both your managers and employees.

Choosing the Best Managed IT Services for Your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Choosing the Best Managed IT Services for Your BusinessNavigating information technology has become an inescapable part of every modern business, whether it is the size of an industry titan in Silicon Valley, an unassuming mom and pop shop, or anything in between. Some type of IT support is necessary, and if your business doesn’t have the luxury of on-site, tech-savvy support, you may have to outsource for managed IT services.

With a dense saturation of providers to choose from, here are the most important things to consider when seeking managed IT support for your business.

Do They Provide Sufficient Security?

Technologically oriented crime has increased at a staggering rate. Reports of industry giants suffering breaches show up frequently. To keep from being

impacted, you need to consider the standard of security your type of business requires both for your company’s safety and for your clients, vendors, and anyone else whose data you collect.

Can the provider be trusted with your company’s sensitive financial and personal information? Will they effectively encrypt your company’s network to ensure effective activity privacy and monitoring? Do they have a history of failing their customers in terms of data leaks, or are they vigilant in maintaining your protection?

Once you have found a provider that sufficiently meets these criteria, you’re one step closer to having quality managed IT support.

Are They Timely?

Tech emergencies can happen in an instant, and they can create havoc on your production and your systems quickly. In those moments, your company needs an IT service that can resolve the issue in a prompt and efficient manner.

When evaluating companies, ask yourself: Are they available at all hours of the day, every day of the year? If your services may be rendered at any given moment, so too should theirs. No company is immune from technological issues, hiccups, or potential digital attacks. Relying on the expertise of IT technicians whose services are available to you the moment you report an issue is of the utmost importance.

Although there is never a good time for a system glitch, technology often fails the people who use it at the most inopportune moments. Having an IT support team on standby who can resolve issues efficiently is key to maintaining a smooth business practice.

Are They Competent?

Pick the very best of the best that you can afford as a business proprietor. The experts on whom you depend should be exactly that: experts.

The distinction between an amateur who treats your network like a test lab and a storied professional with a distinguished background in providing service to multiple clients seems obvious. However, if you are in the market for an IT provider, take the extra time to weed out the average from the elite. Your business may have oddly specific needs or a wide range of general needs, and it is essential that whomever you outsource your technological dilemmas to is thoroughly equipped and licensed to address these problems.

Do They Meet Your Standards?

You wouldn’t risk providing subpar or thoughtless work to the clients who have employed your services. Therefore, you shouldn’t settle for anything provided by a managed IT support team that wouldn’t meet your highest expectations. Your company deserves tech support that upholds the same standards that you do.

Once you have answered these questions, evaluated the options, and taken the time to vet a reliable provider, your business can grow without your time and attention being divided. You have a secure, efficient, and competent network of experts, and you may now tend to the vital needs of your business without fear of a crash or breach.

More Money With Less Work: The Game of Passive Income Explained

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Passive Income|More money with less work: the game of passive incomePassive income has proven to be one of the most effective strategies for all those seeking financial freedom. I being a very big believer of passive income have started several businesses that have provided me with financial freedom. I have gained all I have today through digital marketing and affiliate income. I have recently started a blog – www.SMTPServers.co on marketing automation where I do an affiliate for automation tools to increase my passive income.

The concept of passive income describes the generation of sales without having to work for it. But is that really possible? How does passive income work and which success factors need to be considered? What business ideas are possible?
In this guide to building a passive income stream, I have described the procedure step by step and given successful examples of passive income.

The problem: if you want to earn more, you have to work more

Make money without working for it. Don’t we all dream a little about it? The principle of passive income is described on the Internet on mostly dubious sites as a concept that enables money to be made without real labor – so to speak, become a millionaire overnight. But what is really there about the concept of passive income?

The origin of the idea of ??passive income is based on our supposedly inefficient use of labor. A self-employed craftsman who wants to double his turnover, but already works 50 hours a week, has a problem: His turnover increases proportionally to the work done. If he works less, he earns less. If he works more, he also earns more. The same applies to a freelance web designer. If she accepts four orders a month and is thus almost fully utilized, she can no longer increase her sales significantly without having to sit in front of the computer during the night.

Passive income: the theory

Anyone familiar with the concept of passive income will quickly notice that one has to break away from the basic pattern of work efficiency that we are familiar with. To put it more simply, if you want to earn more, you don’t necessarily have to work more.

By automating work steps, it is actually possible to achieve higher sales with little or possibly even no additional effort. Thanks to the success of the Internet and digitization, a large number of processes can be digitally mapped and thus automated. There are plenty of free autoresponder tools available online which you can use to automate your client interaction.

In addition, there is the enormous reach of the Internet, thanks to which, the potential customers from all over the world can reach us with just one click of the mouse.

The concept of passive income looks complicated at the first glance, but it is actually quite simple to implement. The following is an example of the four steps involved in building a passive income stream:

1. Step: Develop the product

A freelance web designer writes a book on the development of modern websites on vacation and needs three weeks to do so.

2. Step: Selling the product automatically

She self-publishes the book as a print edition and e-book on sales platforms such as Amazon & Co on the Internet. The books-on-demand provider takes over the entire book production.

3. Step: Generate passive income

With every book sold, she receives an author’s margin – for the next few years. All processes are automated, she has no work whatsoever.

4. Step: Regular product maintenance

A book about the development of modern websites should of course be revised regularly so that it remains up to date and is also sold frequently in the future. A little time must be invested in product maintenance.

These four levels are the basis of passive income. However, in order to be really successful, it is important to orientate yourself on the following success factors.

Success factors in passive income

In order to generate passive income, there are three factors to consider that are decisive for the success of passive income:

  • Digitization of the product
  • Automation of the processes
  • Distribution to an existing reach

With the concept of passive income it is necessary to create a product that can be reproduced without additional effort. Only in this way is it possible to decouple the relationship between workload and sales result. Digital products such as texts, e-books, images, videos or software have this property and are therefore ideally suited for use as a product for passive income.

The next step is to find sales processes that can be automated. After all, as a self-employed person, you don’t want to sell your book (if we go by above example) yourself, but rather be able to distribute it automatically without your direct involvement. The Internet serves as an excellent automated sales channel. The management consultant could sell his e-book fully automatically via his own website, with every process step being digitally mapped: from acquisition via online marketing to sales initiation on the website to payment processing and e-book download.

The automated sale of a digital product via your own website can already generate passive income, but this requires the implementation of appropriate online marketing measures, for example with Google AdWords or Facebook Ads . The creation of such campaigns costs time, money and is not an easy matter for the inexperienced. For this reason, the third success factor with passive income is the use of an existing range of potential customers. Internet marketplaces such as Amazon or Fotolia (selling photographs) are predestined for this: Millions of people can be reached through them without having to invest a cent in marketing.

Examples of passive income

But enough of the theory. The following examples are among the most widespread and most successful implementations of the passive income principle:

  • Becoming an author: Selling books and e-books
  • Selling photos and video clips: Success with online marketplace for photos
  • Templates and construction kits: passive income for web designers and developers
  • Successful through online advertising and affiliate income

Becoming an author: Selling books and e-books: Let’s be honest. Who wouldn’t want to publish a book? As part of the passive income, the self-employed now have the opportunity to make this dream come true. The main effort lies in the writing of the book, a reproduction is relatively cheap. E-books as digital goods can easily be multiplied. All processes are outsourced inexpensively through production and distribution via self-publishing, so that in the end the e-book and print version can be automatically sold via Amazon.

And for whom is the book concept suitable? Ultimately, it comes into question for all those who have accumulated special specialist knowledge in a field and can put this into words accordingly. Management consultants, web designers, doctors but also craftsmen with specialist knowledge and a good writing style can generate passive income in this way. The great thing about it, by publishing a book, you create a brand for yourself and position yourself as an expert in a certain area. This can lead to appearances in various media, which in turn strengthen your own brand and generate additional orders.

Sell photos and video clips: Success with online marketplace for photos: Photographers, cameramen or motion designers can take advantage of the digital properties of their products by selling them to a large number of different customers from all over the world instead of the usual one to just one customer. On online marketplaces for photographs and moving images, such as Fotolia or Shutterstock, artists can post their works and offer them for sale worldwide. Once you as a photographer have built up a certain portfolio with high-quality images, an attractive passive income can be generated.

Passive income for web designers and developers: Self-employed web designers and programmers are usually paid on an hourly basis. If you want to earn more, you have to acquire additional customers and do extra work. Fortunately, the concept of passive income is particularly suitable for the software industry. By developing website templates for well-known content management systems such as WordPress, TYPO3 or Joomla, a web designer can sell one-time work to a large number of customers. As a sales channel, he either uses his own website or uses marketplaces with an existing reach that have focused on the sale of website templates.

The programmer can also take advantage of marketplaces by bringing his developed WordPress plugins, Java classes or shop modules to the man there. But the development of Android or iOS apps and their sale via the respective app stores, possibly also as part of a freemium model, can generate attractive passive income with a corresponding added customer value.

Successful with online advertising and affiliate income: Are you an expert in a field and have unique knowledge? With the appropriate content and a little know-how in search engine optimization , you can find a source of passive income via your own website or blog by using advertising banners or for your visitorsPlace affiliate links on your website. In order to generate attractive income, the number of daily website visitors should be at least 1,000 – this is usually only possible after a year at the earliest. It is therefore important to show perseverance with this type of passive income.

Even college students can generate passive income.  Are you a college student?  Click here to learn about passive income opportunities for college students.

Get rich with passive income?

If you have understood the concept of passive income, it is best to get to work straight away. Because for a successful passive income stream some time and work will be necessary. The belief that passive income means turnover without work is therefore wrong. Especially at the beginning, a lot of energy has to be invested in the development of a product that has the properties necessary for passive income and also offers potential customers real benefits . Only when the product has been created and all processes have been automated can you at least lean back a little and hopefully celebrate your first successes.

But can real wealth be accumulated with the concept of passive income? In principle, this is certainly possible. A few, such as successful author Timothy Ferriss, who describes his approach in the book “The 4-Hour Week”, have made it to a successful entrepreneur with passive income. However, this remains the exception. The concept of passive income should not be considered the unprecedented Path to Wealth, but rather as a new, efficient tool for the self-employed, in which working time can be used more efficiently and in accordance with the current state of technology, so that more time remains for the important things in life.

Alternatives to passive income

Do you like the idea of passive income? In the following, I present two more concepts that make it possible to generate additional income with the same amount of work:

Passive income through growth

If you are already self-employed as a freelancer or business owner, you can generate additional income without any additional effort, given the corresponding order situation. By hiring employees , you can take on additional jobs that should earn you more than the new employees cost you. Growing your own company is therefore an attractive opportunity to receive passive income.

Generate passive income with seminars and lectures

Even if the concept of passive income is not entirely correct here: If you, as an expert on a certain topic, have a lot of know-how, then you should pass your knowledge on to others. You can reach a large number of customers at the same time through paid lectures or seminars, but you only have to do your work once. In addition, you strengthen your personal brand at the same time and can enforce higher hourly rates for individual orders.

And now let’s get down to work – I wish you every success in building your passive income stream!

About the Author

Aabhas Vijay is a seasoned entrepreneur and digital marketer, who loves to explore tricks and tips on how a business can use a free SMTP to automate most of the user interaction and increase his passive income.

3 Legal Tips Every Entrepreneur Must Know

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Legal Tips|3 Legal Tips Every Entrepreneur Must KnowEvery business faces the possibility of legal issues at one point in time or another. Did you know that the smallest companies in America with about 250 employees and less encounter legal issues the most? This highlights why business owners need to know all legal matters related to their business, to be on the safer side. How can you keep these issues to the bare minimum? Below are a few tips to help.

1. Be sure to document any agreements or contracts

As an entrepreneur, you may need to go into agreements with various professionals along the way, for example, contracting some independent service providers. For all such engagements, contracts will most likely be involved to set clear terms and conditions. In such cases, it’s advisable to have all contracts and agreements documented for future reference. For accuracy’s sake, be sure to contact a lawyer to assist you with your drafts so that your documents are well prepared, can be easily understood and enforced by law. Doing this will also help prevent any future misunderstandings.

2. Guard all your ideas and innovations

Being an entrepreneur mainly involves identifying problems and coming up with creative ways to solve such gaps. Even if your business idea already exists, there’s something that sets you apart from your competitors; whatever that differentiating factor is, you can protect it. All you need to do is speak with a lawyer and know how best to protect your ideas, designs, or creations. Your lawyer may suggest using the help of copyrights, trademarks, and many other forms of protection that will benefit you and your business.

3. Protect yourself, your business, and any other personal possessions

Starting up a business as a sole proprietor comes with many benefits, like your ability to enjoy the total profit. However, a sole proprietorship has less protection as compared to a limited liability company. Be sure to have a chat with your attorney for advice on what business choice would best suit you and be most beneficial to you. You may end up switching to a limited liability company and getting access to the required protection your assets will need. You can also protect your business and properties by ensuring you have all the necessary documents, such as your certificates, licenses, and permits. The type of business you’re running will determine the kinds of documents you’ll need to have. Your attorney can offer advice to help you know all the requirements of your type of business.

Similarly, taking care of personal injury within the office building must also be considered by entrepreneurs. There are many incidents that has been noticed regarding the personal injury of employees within the office premises, thus, read more about it if you are not aware of its legal consequences.

Another way to protect your business is by making sure you have the right insurance coverage. Workers’ compensation plus general liability insurance are good options to have. Lastly, be sure to conduct a safety and risk assessment for your business. It’ll help you ensure that your work premises, hardware, and business operations align with best practices. Additionally, contact capable personal injury attorneys whenever you experience any damages to your personal or business properties.

Starting a business comes with several legal rights and responsibilities, and sometimes it may come across as burdensome or even boring. Despite your take on this legal aspect of the business, the fact remains that the legal stuff is vital, so get all the assistance you can. Find yourself an attorney to handle all the legal issues to protect your business from any trouble.