Posts

PowerPoint Strategies – How to Create a Data-Driven Presentation

/in /by

StrategyDriven Business Communications Management Article |Powerpoint Strategy|PowerPoint Strategies – How to Create a Data-Driven PresentationPresenting information can be done in several different ways with high-end softwares and extensive tools on the internet. With the help of these infrastructures, design and the display gets full points. But do these highly-captivatingly prepared presentations actually pass the message through or just intrigue the audience? The answer is that even though most presentations make people and shareholders get in awe with it, but leave them with several questions and confusion. And when this happens, people either become displeased with your presentations or make diverse decisions about it.

Your presentations must not only be crystal clear and captivating but must come with highly supportive data. It’s true that finding supportive data that is also resourceful can include extensive research and take time, but many times it is needed and required. Other times, it can be a professional addition to the presentation that makes it knowledgeable. While there are several other benefits of a data-driven presentation, we believe that you may have grasped the idea by now. So let’s move onto how your presentations can be more data-driven than design replete:

Simplify the Grounds

Before placing your data and while constructing your designs, make sure to understand the space your ideas will take and make way for them. This means that you must build a presentation space that can include the data clearly without splitting it up in weird sentences or unrecognizable places. For inspiration on well-formatted presentations, you can view some samples online or get help from quality presentation design services with the know-how. If the result of the data and design combined comes out distorted or even slightly awkward, make sure to redesign it quickly.

Identify Your Purpose

Or the presentation’s purpose. Think about the exhibition as an entity that can speak for itself. For this, you have to identify and stay stern on the meaning of the presentation. Many times adding too much information into one presentation can confuse the preparer and make them transcend far away from the cause. For this reason, it’s best to write the ideas down first and craft the purpose efficiently to not stray away from it.

Highlight the Main Takeaways

Unlike an article or a pdf on the web, your presentation needs to be interactive and highly comprehendible. This is due to the fact that presentations are given in a set amount of time and should be mostly intuitive for attendees to understand the concept quickly and positively. For this reason, a data-driven presentation must have a thorough analysis of a point and must highlight the key facts for fast coherence. In the end, there should be an area for takeaways that is simple yet comprehensive enough.

Smarten the Data

Data is always in the raw form when collected and needs to be streamlined to create a natural flow from it. In a presentation, the data you collect needs to be distributed efficiently in tables and charts. For this reason, it needs to be divided, trimmed, and brushed up where needed to make sense out of it. In order to create a data-driven module, you need to filter the data to your audience’s liking and make it aim towards the purpose. You can start by first sorting out the data and place it in different categories. Then gradually add it to each slide by necessity.

Title Your Information Nicely

A data-focused presentation is never a bad idea that gives out copious information and supports the statements well. However, this data should be marked efficiently to create a sensible outlook. This should be done by careful titling the charts and graphs as well as written material. Always make short descriptions of your data to make it more comprehensive even for people who are far seated or enter the room late.
This also creates a uniform look to make the presentation proposal be seen through. Furthermore, try to look at ways presentations can be made more efficient by observing these tips https://www.skillsyouneed.com/present/presentation-tips.html.

Choose Charts Carefully

Charts and graphs in excel are impendent for showcasing data the right way. In addition to giving out written forms, it’s wise to choose visual charts that present data in simplified and intuitively understandable means. However, make sure that you choose the right kind of bar, line, or pie charts for the display of data. While bar and line charts are the most straightforward, pie charts can also be highly natural but only in certain situations.

Go in Depth

Making presentations that easily get through can be a skill in itself. It needs an eye to detail as well as an eye to the boundary. Talking about specifics, for a data-driven presentation, a slide can go more in-depth than any other aspects. To prove your point, don’t hesitate to include as much information as needed. Or hand out more data in the form of presentation flyers to make your point. Make all the data captivating enough that the audience doesn’t lose interest due to the length and help them go into detail to understand all technicalities.

Describe Developments

Each style of facts or statistics presentation comes with its specifications to be followed. Similarly, there are specific ways to make a data-driven presentation to make it engaging. In every piece of information, there is a part that has the biggest impact by being an amazing or fascinating fact. Likewise, you need to choose these development points where the information is going somewhere and highlight it from your data. This information can be anything that needs more attention to make it stand out.

Make an Intriguing Story

Lastly, when creating a data-driven presentation, you need to strategize your slides of graphs and charts in such a way that it becomes a fascinating story. Nothing can be more engaging than a show that has a story-like interface and a lesson at the end.

You can create a story-like streamlined structure of a presentation that builds as it moves along, and in the end, the purpose is clear, and there is something in it for everyone. Such a structure can help your data-filled presentation be appealing enough to make its purpose successful.

How to Maintain the Trust Of Your Customers

/in /by

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Trust|How to Maintain the Trust Of Your CustomersThere are many different aspects that contribute to a company’s overall success or failure. The strength of the idea, the execution of those ideas, and, yes, the trust that is held between the company and the customers. This last point is actually pretty underrated. It has such a big impact on a company’s success, yet the trust isn’t just given — it has to be earned, and it can also be lost, if the business isn’t careful. In this blog, we’re going to take a look at a few key ways that you keep the trust of your customers.

No Hidden Fees

Nobody likes to feel like they’re being ripped off, or they’re being cheated. There’s sometimes a temptation to add extra charges to a customer’s order, because it’ll ultimately benefit the bottom line. But let’s be realistic for a moment. While adding a last-minute charge will boost your profits on a short-term basis, it’ll hurt them on a long-term basis. That’s because it’ll cost you a customer, and maybe even earn you some bad reviews. People much prefer to know the true cost up front, so make sure that’s what they get.

Be Honest

Even the best companies in the world make mistakes. There’s no such thing as perfection, after all. There’s sometimes a temptation to run from our mistakes, and we can see why — it’s much easier to bury your head in the sand, rather than confront an issue. But it’s important to be honest with your customers if there’s an issue that affects them. If you experience a cyber security breach, then let the affected customers know as soon as possible. It’s part of the duty of care you have to the customers that have trusted you with their financial information and other sensitive details.

Keep Pushing Forward

When it comes to your customers, you don’t want them to just trust that you’re not going to screw them over. You want them to trust that you’re the best in town. It’s all good and well to have customers that have a positive impression of your intentions, but if they don’t trust your capabilities, then there’ll only be so far that you can go. As such, it’s important not to rest on your laurels. Instead, keep on pushing forward. Your customers might like what you’re doing right now, but they’ll only feel the same way in five years if you’re continuing to push forward.

Stay True

Ultimately, it’s all about staying honest — to your customers, yes, but also to yourself. What does your company stand for? What principles guide you through the future? If you keep these things at the forefront of your mind, then you’ll find that it’s much easier to retain the trust of your customers, since they’ll have no reason to doubt your intentions. You’ll be operating from a place of sincerity. And if people know that what they see is what they get, then they’ll have no reason to doubt what you’re saying and doing.

Boost Your Social Media Presence For Future Success

/in /by

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Boost Your Social Media Presence For Future Success

A profitable Social Media Marketing Strategy should help you achieve the objectives you have penned out for your business. For this, it has to be dynamic to adjust to the variations that occur in the media every day. And of course, you must contemplate every novelty and detail in terms of Social Networks in order to get the most out of them. Use these strategies across the board with your website to ultimately boost your SEO.

Use data from last year to inform this year’s strategy.

See the success (or failure) of the social media campaigns you created last year, as well as the activity and engagement across all of your platforms. What type of content resonated the most with your audience? What social media website seems to be growing faster? You can do this by conducting a social media audit. An audit keeps you informed of your social presence to see what works and what doesn’t. Based on the data reports from the previous year, you may want to change your publication time to reach your target audience more and get more engagement. Or, you may want to focus on Facebook more than Instagram due to a more consistent return on investment (ROI) on one platform versus the other. The point is to allow the data from last year to give you a better orientation for the new year. For a comprehensive overview of all your social media metrics in one place, you can visit Hootsuite Analytics.

StrategyDriven's Social Media Publication Timing Whitepaper

Look for inspiration in unconventional places.

We’ve already said it: a big part of social media marketing is keeping moving forward and coming up with new ideas to keep your channels up to date. The right way for creativity to flow is to look to others for inspiration. If your brand works significantly with imagery and innovative graphic solutions, you may want to look at a virtual photo booth that would translate well to your web page.

Take note of thought leaders and industry giants, but also strive to look outside of these grounds. Retailers generally have a large budget for social media and creative purposes, which allows them to try new things and push the boundaries. These brands also have a tangible product that they can showcase on their social channels. Brands like Everlane and Urban Outfitters are among the favorites. As of 2020, the top five social media trends are:

  1. Paid social networks
  2. Ambassador employee
  3. Training for social networks
  4. CEOs on social media
  5. Sales on social networks

Of course, not all of them will be the objectives of your company or brand. For example, social media sales work well in the financial industry, where advisors need to build long-term relationships with clients. But it may not work very well in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, which is less reliant on relationships between leads and sales professionals. However, these are ideas that you can use and rework to ensure that your brand is hitting the social targets that you dreamed of when you began.

5 Tips to Manage Your Finances Before a Recession

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Finance Article |Recession|5 Tips to Manage Your Finances Before a RecessionIn the global economy, there are always highs and lows. And when a country or the world is hit with a recession, it can be tough to survive. We can often tell when a recession is about to hit. However, we sometimes ignore the signs and then repent later. Ideally, your safeguarding should start the moment you get the hint that a recession is about to hit.
Here are five tactics to make your finances recession-proof:

1. Switch to a Frugal Lifestyle

We tend to spend more when we have more. But this lifestyle inflation is very dangerous in the long run, especially when the economy is hit with a recession. And developing a frugal lifestyle requires practice; it does not happen overnight. So, don’t wait for the next recession to occur. Instead, modify your lifestyle changes from today itself.
Observe your spending habits for a month. Identify the must-haves and the good-to-haves, and see where you can cut down your expenses. See the products which have cheaper alternatives, and see what you can replace. Gradually, you will become thrifty with your spending habits, and this habit shall be beneficial when the recession hits the economy.

2. Build an Emergency Fund

Savings is an integral part of personal finance management. No matter what, it is a necessity that you save a certain portion of your income every month and add it to your contingency fund. You may be tempted to use this fund during demanding times, but discipline yourself not to touch this fund unless there’s an actual emergency. Instead of using this fund for your regular expenses, you can opt for a credit line that offers flexible repayment options or a short term personal loan, depending on your requirements.

3. Pay Down Your Debt

The higher your debts, the more loss you will suffer during a recession. So before the recession hits, identify all your debts and try to consolidate them to pay them back. Most often, you may not have the liquidity or cash flows for repaying all the debt separately. Then you can choose a personal line of credit or a personal loan to help you get rid of your debt. This will help you save money in the long run with lower rates of interest too.

4. Hone New Skills

Instead of getting upset in a crisis, we should upgrade ourselves. If you see a recession coming up, diversify your knowledge base, and learn new skills that will help you earn income if you lose a job or if your business suffers losses. Several online learning platforms help learn new skills and add to your knowledge base.

5. Hedge Your Income Sources

When you have multiple income sources in a recession, it helps hedge your earnings and diversifies your risk of losses from a particular source of income. Be tactful while choosing multiple sources of income. You can study the recession-proof sectors, like education, medical, etc. and see how you can leverage these sectors based ontheir skills. You can even pull off some extra hours before a recession to make extra income in additional sectors. That way, your finances will remain secure due to risk diversification when a recession hits.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Lily TranLily Tran is a content writer, working for MoneyTap, who writes about all things Finance. Her passion for credit, debt, loan & investment drives her to help readers get an insight about everyday finance.

How to Turn Your Hobby into a Business

/in /by

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Turn Your Hobby into a Business|How to Turn Your Hobby into a BusinessTurning something you truly love and enjoy into a flourishing business that generates a constant flow of revenue can be an exciting and fulfilling experience. Perhaps you’re currently unemployed, you’re looking for a side hustle to increase your earnings, or you just want to leave your job and become the CEO of your life by building a thriving empire that generates Millions like the famous Dan Peña did. The good news is that you can turn something you do for fun into a thriving and sustainable business. But that will require thoughtful planning, commitment, skillful management, and a business mindset. Here are 6 practical tips to help you get started.

1. Set a Clear Goal

Choosing to build a business out of your hobby isn’t a goal. You’re looking forward to working on something you truly treasure, but do you want anything else from that business? Are you planning to run it part-time or full-time? Do you want to create an extra source of revenue? Or do you just want to challenge yourself?
Answer these questions and set expectations for your business. Clearly outlining your goals can help you remain committed to turning your hobby into a profitable business empire.

2. Do Thorough Research and Pick your niche

When you’re building a business out of something that you’re truly passionate about, it’s easy to get carried away and skip the research part. It happens all the time with entrepreneurs who are in love with a business idea. Don’t fall into that trap. Instead, do thorough market research to ensure your business idea isn’t making sense to you alone.

Market research involves you collecting as much information as possible regarding your target customers, asking the right questions, analyzing potential competitors, and discovering your target market. It also involves knowing how to monetize your products and/or services. Corona forced the would to go online and you could ride that wave and create a business line Dan Peña but with live events and video streaming on zoom leveraging new platforms like stream.club.

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurial Insights Newsletter

3. Examine Your Priorities and Look at the Big Picture

How will you integrate your business into your everyday life? Being able to perceive the big picture will help you spot and tap into new opportunities. Here are the questions you need to ask yourself:
Would turning something you do for fun into a revenue generator be exciting, fun, and fulfilling?
Would the business generate revenue that can sustain your current lifestyle?

Would this business be a key to your financial freedom?

What other benefits will you gain from this venture apart from the cash flow? Perhaps you want to create awareness and build an identity for your online business. If that’s the case, many online business coaches out there will help you reach a global audience and position yourself as an authority in your specific niche.
Does it have the potential for capital growth?

4. Come up with a Business Model

Developing a business model is an important part of building a successful revenue generator. It’s easy to identify a problem, get an idea, and embark on product or brand development right away. But if you don’t have a clear way to monetize your product and/or service, you’ll never turn your hobby into a long-term, sustainable business.

You must strive to know the amount of money that will go into developing your product or service, the appropriate pricing, and the amount your target consumer is willing to pay. You’ll also need to know how you’ll sell your product or service. You may opt for a one-time purchase or adopt a subscription model. Other options for selling your product include leasing, crowdsourcing, franchising, and ad-revenue. Next, choose a platform that suits your target customers, products/services, and pricing strategies. As an example: if you’re a podcast enthusiast, Supercast is the go-to platform for monetizing your podcast.

5. Develop a Business Strategy

You might be great at your hobby, but without a well thought out strategy, you’ll never turn it into a profitable business. Having a good strategy in place will help set your new business for success.

What do you want your business to achieve in the long-term? Your answer to this question must be captured in your business strategy. Other things worth incorporating in your strategy include your offerings, your long-term and short-term goals, your business values, your value propositions, your financial projections, and your marketing strategies.

6. Implement Your Strategy

Now that you have a business strategy, the next step is to put it into action. To implement your strategies, you must accompany each of the strategies laid down with specific action plans and the relevant steps to help you reach the intended destination on time.

You must come up with the right action plans and be ready to act in order to implement your business strategy successfully. And if the strategy isn’t bringing the desired results, be prepared to adjust it, or adopt a whole new strategy altogether. Be sure to take advantage of the latest technology to make your business strategy implementation a bit easy. For instance, if you’re building an online fitness business, incorporating Sutra software into your site will help you stay on top of your schedule, sell courses, and earn money from your fitness videos. What’s more, you can use sites like reach.live to host live fitness events. In fact, Sutrafit like McKenzie started teaching yoga on Reach.live during a crisis.

Conclusion

Turning something you do for fun into a profitable business is a fantastic way to make your life more exciting and satisfying. But you must follow the above steps to successfully turn your hobby into a reliable revenue generator.