Posts

10 Key Points to Remember About Die Cutting Processes and Tools

/in /by

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article | 10 Key Points to Remember About Die Cutting Processes and ToolsBroadly speaking, die cutting is a machine process that allows you the opportunity to create something that has exactly the same shape and dimension every time, although that description doesn’t really do justice to how versatile the process can be.

When it comes to the die cutting tools needed for the job in hand you might want to see products from SBL, for instance, in order to get an idea of what is available and what is possible from a production point of view.

Here are some salient points to note about the die cutting process and the tools you are likely to be using.

Die cutting machines explained

Die cutting machines come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and that is appropriate when you consider that they are being tasked with creating all sorts of bespoke specifications themselves.

The digital age has seen the die cutting machine evolve and a distinct advantage offered by this sort of machinery is that it offers the ability to use a software program in order to browse previous templates and switch easily between them depending on what you want to create.

The die cutting process involves a multitude of cutting options –

Through Cutting

You might see through cutting also referred to as metal-to-metal die or through cutting and what it does is provide the ability to cut through every part of the product in one go.

The need for perforation

Another popular feature you will find on a modern die cutting machine is the option to perforate.

Perforating involves creating a number of punched-in holes that allow you to secure the die cut design in the right place on the chosen stock material.

A key feature is that although the design does not become completely separated from the relevant stock material it can still be detached with ease using the perforated lines.

Working with adhesive lined materials

Another specialist option that is possible with a die cutting machine is to use an option known as kiss cutting.

Kiss cutting allows the operator to cut a custom design through the face and adhesive layer but stopping short of cutting through the backing material layer. The end result is that the die cut design can then be easily removed from the backing layer, which remains intact.

When you need a fold line

It can often be the case that a design you are working on calls for a crease or fold to be applied and the creasing option on your machine should enable you to achieve this aim.

This is different from scoring in that you end up with material that has been reshaped to produce a bending bulge that faces inward between the two parallel stress points you have created.

The creasing process is helpful because it minimizes stress levels on the material when it is subsequently folded.

Leaving a good impression

When you need more than a fold line the answer will be to use a scoring feature.

You may not wish to make a cut that runs all the way through the material you are working on and scoring offers a solution to that requirement. It works by leaving a die impression, or alternatively, an indent or partial cut that is applied at one single chosen stress point.

Different types of die cutting options-

Flatbed for thicker materials

As you would expect from machinery that is designed to be as versatile as possible and offer a solution to many different manufacturing challenges there are several types of die cutting services that you can call upon.

Although commonly referred to as flatbed die cutting you might also see this service referred to as steel rule die cutting, and it is a process that involves using a flatbed die cutting press combined with a customized steel rule so that you can convert a material into the custom shape and design that you want.

You will find that a flatbed die cutting process will often be suggested when you are working with thicker materials.

Converting materials without dies

A digital die cutter offers the distinct advantage of faster production times and low manufacturing costs without compromising on precision or quality.

Using lasers that are guided and controlled by software on your computer the process can deploy blades and various tool bits so that all the necessary creases, cuts, and scores are applied as quickly and efficiently as possible.

When accuracy and precision is a key requisite

There will probably be tasks that you want to complete where a high degree of accuracy and precision is vital to the success of the production process.

Rotary die cutting provides that solution and the fabrication process involves using a cylindrical die that is mounted onto a rotary press to convert a material that could be flexible and delicate.

If you are looking for a die cutting service that delivers a high degree of accuracy that is combined with fine precision, a rotary die will help you achieve that aim and still perform well when tasked with high-volume production runs.

Working with many different materials

The world of manufacturing involves many unique and diverse production challenges and it also requires an ability to be able to work with a great variety of different materials.

The good news is that the die cutting process is perfectly capable of letting you work with all sorts of different materials such as plastic, paper, foam, various fabrics, wood and others besides.

As you would expect, the type of material that you need to work with will be key to the type of die cutting process that you follow in order to achieve the right outcome.

Versatility and customized capabilities aptly describe the die cutting machinery and tools that are at your disposal and it is highly likely that you will be able to find a manufacturing solution to the challenge you have been presented with once your design takes shape.

Many manufacturers would struggle to produce their products with being able to call upon their die cutter.

Why UX Is Essential for your Website

/in /by

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Why UX Is Essential for your Website

There are so many aspects that go into a successful website, but the user experience is undoubtedly one of the most important. When we’re looking to rank our websites, it’s easy to pay attention to what we think the search engines want and forget that it’s real-life humans who are actually going to be using our website.

Poor user experience can impact your website in many different ways. We’ve all been on a terrible website, which makes the simplest things so difficult, and it can be seriously irritating. However, frustrating your users is only one example of the many problems a poor user experience can cause.

Whether it’s conversion rates, ability to rank, or advertising costs, a poor UX can have serious consequences for your website. To find out if you need a UX revamp, get an audit from someone who offers affordable SEO services.

Ability to Rank

The reason so many people keep going to Google to get their information is because they trust it to give them the best results to answer their queries. If Google suddenly started sending you to websites with a poor UX, then it wouldn’t be long before you tried out a different search engine.

Consequently, Google does all it can to not send its users to websites with poor UX. There are many aspects that enter into Google’s algorithms, and some of them correlate closely with user experience.

For example, if your website doesn’t load properly, then people are going to leave your page without interacting with it, increasing your bounce rate. A high bounce rate signals to Google that users don’t find your page useful, and as a result, you’re less likely to rank well.

Conversion Rates

So, the chances are, you’re already getting less organic traffic because of a poor UX, but the problems don’t stop there.

Converting your website visitors into customers is about building a relationship, and if you have bad UX, this relationship is going to get off on the wrong foot. If you can’t put together a website that works for your users, why would they expect that your products can?

UX problems vary in size, but whether they’re having a small effect on your conversion rates or a big one, that’s money that you’re losing out on. Earning a sale is hard enough, so don’t let a UX problem make it even more difficult.

Advertising Costs

Whichever way you look at it, UX problems are going to make your advertising more expensive. If you’re judging it by cost per conversion, then you’re still going to be paying for the same amount of clicks, but as previously mentioned, you’re less likely to convert those clicks, bringing your cost up.

It’s possible a poor user experience can also mean you pay more for every click you get. Search engines use a quality score to judge how relevant your advert is, and a poor UX can lead to a lower quality score. This means Google is less likely to show your ad, and you can end up paying more when they do.

Whichever way you look at it, user experience is something you want to keep a close eye on, because it can make a huge difference to your website.

 

How Digital Marketing Impacts Business Growth

/in /by

There were an estimated 3.9 billion Internet users in 2017, according to data compiled by Statista. Indeed, the vast majority of people no longer get their information from traditional media, but instead search for information on the Internet using various devices, including desktop computers, tablets, and mobile devices.

If your business isn’t implementing the latest and most cutting-edge digital marketing methods (such as search engine optimization, content marketing, influencer marketing, and social media marketing), then you’ll lose out to business competitors who’re more adept at adopting — and harnessing — the best practices.

Listed below are some of the reasons why your company should adopt some of the latest digital marketing practices to stay ahead of the competition.

4 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Dynamic Digital Marketing Strategy

Google Search is the way of the future

Google’s search engine now represents 90.46% of the global search engine market, and the site receives over 63,000 searches each second on any given day. Even if your company has an official website, if it isn’t showing up on Google’s search results, you will be losing out in terms of revenue, customer acquisition, and business growth.

Coupled with the fact that Google’s search algorithm is getting better at understanding the nuances, intent, and context of its users’ searches means that it’s getting better at serving accurate and relevant results to its users.

But how do these developments impact your business? Well, for starters, if your site lacks the information that users are searching for, then Google is highly unlikely to rank your web pages in its search results. And even if your site is updated with the right business information and contains great content, if it isn’t optimized correctly, it’s not going to attain the rankings and traffic that will positively impact your business growth.

SEO helps drive traffic and conversions to your site

Now more than ever, a dynamic and cohesive SEO strategy is needed to keep your website positioned strategically on Google’s unpaid (or organic) search results. But what exactly is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. The discipline consists of multiple strategies, best practices, and actions that are utilized with the end goal of improving your website’s position on the search engine results pages (also known as SERPs). There are two types of SEO: on-page and off-page. The former consists of elements you can control on your site to improve your position on the SERPs, while the latter consists of actions done on other websites to boost your site’s position on the SERPs and overall authority.

If your business lacks the expertise to devise and implement a viable SEO strategy, then you’ll need to hire a great SEO specialist or outsource the task to a reputable digital marketing firm.

Content marketing drives profitable customer action

According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing “is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

The practices and objectives of content marketing are closely aligned with inbound marketing, which is a business methodology that aims to attract customers to products and services by serving them useful and actionable content at every stage of their journey to becoming loyal customers.

Great content comes in the form of blog posts, white papers, downloadable reports, videos, and other types of consumer media that prospective customers will need to educate themselves to make informed decisions—one of which is opting to become loyal customers and advocates of your brand.

An effective content marketing strategy will require the expertise of seasoned editors, writers, and content strategists. And these professionals will need to align their goals with those of SEO specialists to drive targeted traffic to your site and web assets. As with SEO, if your organization lacks the expertise or bandwidth to accommodate a content marketing strategy, then it’s best to hire specialists or outsource to the right digital marketing firm.

Social media marketing strengthens your brand

Billions of people around the world now use social media platforms to connect with others, reach out to brands, and consume media. Facebook—the world’s largest social media website—now attracts 2.41 billion monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2019, according to Statista. Facebook users harness this platform not just to connect with others in their circle, but also to discover and engage with brands and companies, and consume entertainment and other media.

Instagram, another popular social media site that deals with pictorial and video content sharing, has one billion monthly active users, making it the third most popular social media site after Facebook and YouTube. Considering the sheer number of eyeballs that can be found on these platforms, your brand or company cannot afford to remain anonymous on them.

A strong and engaging presence on social media can help your company achieve the following:

  • Boosted brand awareness
  • More inbound traffic
  • Improved conversion rates
  • Increased brand loyalty and authority
  • Improved search engine rankings

The immense rewards aside, social media marketing requires great ingenuity, creativity, and dedication to drive results. You’ll need to hire the right specialists or outsource the work to an awesome digital marketing or social media management company if you want this done right.

Other Business Benefits of Digital Marketing

Improves Lead Generation

A cohesive and dynamic digital marketing strategy that utilizes the right methodology and marketing methods will result in improved lead generation for your business. What’s more, most digital marketing methods are far cheaper than more traditional marketing outlets, such as buying ads in magazines or booking TV airtime for commercials. The rewards, on the other hand, are considerable, as you could potentially reach a global audience of thousands or even millions.

Improved Conversion Rates

If you’re using digital marketing to successfully guide your leads down the conversion funnel, the end result should be improved conversion rates. Another great thing about digital marketing is that you can use data and analytics tools — such as Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Kissmetrics — to better understand your website users. By objectively analyzing your traffic information, you can make adjustments to your conversion funnel and better understand what makes your target audience tick.

Building up Your Business the Right Way

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business | Entrepreneurship | Building up Your Business the Right WayMaking it past the first anniversary of your business is a huge achievement; all the hard work and long hours you put in will have paid off. However, the hard work shouldn’t stop there. As the owner of a business, you should constantly be striving to build, grow and improve your company because that is exactly what your competitors will be doing. In order to have the continued success of the previous year, you have to ensure that you are not just building your business up but that you are doing so the right way.

Become more visible online

Having a website and social media platforms might have got your name out there, but now is the time to start taking what you have and making it better. You can ensure the necessary growth your business wants by focusing on SEO strategies implemented by an experienced agency such as Pearl Digital Marketing. They will be able to conduct an audit of your website and make it optimized for search engines and large volumes of traffic. Increasing your visibility online will help you to outgrow your competition and appear on the first page of the SERPs which is a gold dust spot for many companies.

Work on goals for this year

All businesses need to have yearly goals. As you move into your second year of business, this is the perfect time to reassess the goals of last year. Did you meet them? Were they achievable? What have you learned from it? Without first assessing these, you cannot possibly move on to build up your business in the right way.

If the goal is to increase sales and make an even bigger profit, then you need to ensure that you have the means to do so. For example, if your product line is doubling in size, do you have the staff numbers to oversee this? Hiring more employees at this point will give you peace of mind that you will be able to cope.

Thank loyal customers

Focusing on the customers this year and how you can make their experience even better should take precedence above all else. After all, your customers are what have helped you survive over the last year, so be sure to thank them for their continued support. Send them an email offering a discount on your products or services as a way of thanking them for their loyal support. By thanking loyal customers, this way, you can be assured that through reviews and word-of-mouth, your business’ name will spread and all for the right reasons. This, in itself, brings about the prospect of new customers.

Make the most of networking

Networking is a fantastic way to build up your company without needing to spend as much money. But as your company grows, so should the number of contacts you have to hand. Building up a bigger network will bring about more opportunities that your business can benefit from such as making the most of new technologies and software or investing in discounted but high-quality equipment. There is no harm in having contacts with lots of businesses and professionals. They will appreciate it as much as you do. You can offer them something in return just as they can you.

Eight Tasks To Outsource When Running A Small Business

/in /by

All entrepreneurs should know how valuable time is. When you waste it, you put a strain on the entire business. Anyone starting a new venture understandably wants to be active in every aspect of the company. However, trying to do everything yourself, especially when you’re not qualified, is risky. Even if you avoid making mistakes, success will take longer and cost more to achieve. Because of this, every business should outsource. Not only is this cheaper, but it causes less hassle. With that in mind, here are eight tasks to outsource in small business.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneurship | Eight Tasks To Outsource When Running A Small Business

1. Employee Training

Outsourcing in business doesn’t have to mean giving up employees entirely. Certain tasks are much better performed in-house. However, if you insist on having employees, you must provide the proper training. Having inexperienced workers in your business can cause many problems. Untrained staff members are dangerous, but wasteful too. Thankfully, you can outsource the training of your team to an expert, which avoids any problems and ensures the task is done well.

2. Market Research

Before making any changes in business, you must conduct market research. After all, you don’t want the changes that you make to put current or potential customers off. Marketing research is also essential in learning about competitors and customers. While market research seems relatively simple, many businesses make mistakes that lead to incorrect results. Outsourcing to an expert is recommended because third-party companies can provide entirely objective data.

3. Receptionist Duties

Most people start a business to make a difference. Unfortunately, that will be difficult to do when you’re chained to a phone all day. The good news is, you can outsource many receptionist duties, including answering phone calls. Many answering services, like the Ivy answering service, offer value for money by providing you with experienced and professional virtual receptionists. What’s more, you aren’t stuck in a contract, so you can change the service to suit your needs.

4. Website Design

A website is a powerful digital marketing tool for any small business. Even if you don’t intend to sell online, you should still have a company website to connect with customers and raise brand awareness. Unless you have web design experts in-house, you must bring in professional help. The only problem worse than having no website is having an unprofessional one. Rather than choosing the first design company you find, therefore, you must research to find the best one.

5. Content Creation

No website in today’s market is complete without a blog. Most company websites use blogs to educate customers and clients about what the business does. Blog content can also optimize websites for search engines and attract more customers. The trouble is, producing and publishing content that converts will take time. For this reason, many companies outsource the task to freelancers. Although this isn’t free, the rewards of doing so far outweigh any expenses.

6. Inventory Management

All businesses typically begin with a small and manageable inventory. With so few units to keep track of, you can manage your stock on a simple spreadsheet. However, with any luck, your marketing campaigns will pay off. When that happens, the orders will multiply, which will make inventory management much harder. Rather than risk losing stock, you must minimize shrinkage by outsourcing this task. Doing so will reduce operating and staffing expenses, among others.

pasted image 0 8

7. Customer Support

Unless you’re sure you have enough time to handle customer support, you shouldn’t be doing it. Customer service is perhaps the most important aspect of business. After all, without loyal customers, your company wouldn’t stay afloat. Outsourcing customer support will ensure that you have access to any resources necessary to provide excellent service. Unlike in-house customer service, you will also have the capacity to expand quickly and support efficient growth.

8. Tax Planning

Money keeps the business world alive. While there are many reasons why a business might fail, all those reasons typically boil down to lack of capital. Because of this, you must take care with accounting tasks, like tax planning. Even a small mistake can cause huge problems for your business. Entrepreneurs can save money and hours every week by using an outsourced bookkeeper. What’s more, you will have peace of mind that your finances are in trained hands.

When done the right way, outsourcing in business will save money, time, and plenty of hassle. Rather than taking on every area of business yourself, you should hand over certain tasks to the experts. Hopefully, with the advice above, you have an idea of which tasks to start with.