Business Plus Baby

Image: Stokpic

Yep, that’s the estimated number of blogs there were online in September 2017. But more are created every day so you can bet that number has risen significantly. Let that number sink in for a moment, 440 million. That means over three percent of the world’s population has their own blog set up, running online. But, let’s put that into perspective a little here.

First, you have to realise that not every blog online is going to be successful. In fact, there are plenty of blog owners who are never going to get more than fifty followers and will never make a dime with their writing. There are many more who have no intention of being a success either because they just want to write about their thoughts and feelings. Don’t forget that in the beginning, a blog wasn’t a business tool. It was for people to connect with others and share what they were going through and for many people, that’s what a blog remains. And, of course, then there are business owners using their blog as a side product of the website. It’s not the main feature, but, it’s a useful add-on that can be a content dump.

Business owners who use their blog like this know that fresh content is one of the easiest ways to boost SEO. Adding content to a site is a great way to make sure that the search ranking is boost without the use of dangerous forms of SEO. Of course, content still needs to be of high quality and that’s also true for bloggers. But we’ll look into that a little further down.

For now, we need to think about that number. Even taking off the dead sites, the business owners, the people who are not taking blogging seriously, it’s still going to be in the high three hundred millions a least.

Of course, we can narrow that number a little further. And perhaps, this is where we should begin when considering how to make sure that your site stands out online in a sea of millions.

Choose A Niche Topic

Do you know the easiest way to get lost in the shuffle of blogs online? Don’t pick a topic, don’t pick a subject just write about anything and stuff it on your blog. You might think that you know lots of blogs that don’t seem to have a set topic or subject, and that could be true, but they may not be successful. If they are, they have found another way to stand out which we will also explore. But for now, let’s think about how to narrow a topic down. For instance, you might write about a parenting blog. Okay, but as harsh as it sounds there are millions of these and most don’t have any unique features. But they can if the topic is narrowed down. Maybe you are on the autistic spectrum? A blog on the subject of a mom or dad dealing with their autism while learning to be a parent could be a compelling read and will attract a target audience for sure.

Or, you might be writing about keeping a beautiful home. Rather than focusing on random style choices, you could focus on how to style your home in a way that is green friendly. Now, it is worth pointing out that you will still have a lot of competition in both these cases. There are plenty of blogs about decorating in a way that is eco-friendly. It’s just that the number is smaller than the typical design blogs.

Write What You Know

Image: Pixabay

It’s old advice, but it is still fairly useful. By writing what you know, we mean that you should write about something that you yourself have experience in. For instance, you might love to write about the movie industry and write about the news on different movies as they come out. The problem is that you’re competing against blogs run by people who have experience in this industry. They’ve worked in them and as such have contacts for exclusives. As well as this, they will be able to give their unique professional opinion on certain situations. You won’t be able to do this.

Blogs on business are often similar. You will find that plenty of business blogs that give advice to people who want to run a business actually have experience doing this themselves.

It’s all about having a professional advantage or some degree of experience on the matter that you are discussing. You don’t have to be an expert. You may just have some experience working in landscaping. If that’s the case, you could have a unique edge when setting up a blog on gardening.

Write In A Way That Is Exciting

You need to make sure that anything you release on your blog jumps off the page. If it’s boring, dull or mundane, then you are giving users every reason not to bother and instead pass onto the next blog. Dotcom Gains have some key info that you could use on how to effectively write a blog that is exciting. But it’s not just about what you write but rather how you write it. What tone do you use? Some bloggers are very formal, others quite jovial. Many won’t write anything in the first person, and others will speak directly to the reader engaging with random commentators. It’s all about the blog you want to run and what you think your audience will and won’t appreciate or respond to.

Expand Beyond The Blog

Finally, to give you the best chance at being successful, you should go beyond blogging. You need to give your readers more than this. Something that they can really connect to and a brand that they can follow. Make sure you setup every social media account that you can think of and of and use them all as much as possible. This is the best way to gain more attention for your blog and make sure that you’re not forgotten in the sea of other sites surrounding yours.

 

When you’re super busy trying to balance a successful business with a fulfilling family life you can sometimes start to put pressure on yourself. No entrepreneur is perfect and everybody is guilty of taking on too much at once. If you’ve started feeling the strain and you feel that there aren’t enough hours in the day anymore, take a step back and re-evaluate how you’re spending your precious time.

On Top Of Your Organisation

The most creative and talented of people can still have scatterbrain qualities which can definitely hinder your work. You have important business deadlines to meet as well as doctors appointment to make, so let’s make sure you’re on top of everything. Keep your personal calendar up to date and never forget to schedule in upcoming meetings. Create alerts and alarms for yourself to stop yourself getting distracted by a new project. Focus on the most urgent tasks first and prioritise your workload whenever you can.

Ask The Experts

Stop spending hours pondering over things you’re not really sure about. We can’t be perfect at everything and if you need help with a project don’t be afraid to seek out an expert. Perhaps you need a hand designing your website design or developing a new idea. There are tonnes of companies like Magento which will save you precious time everyday. It’s not a sign of weakness to take on some extra help now and again. In the long-run you’ll be grateful and you’ll gain time to focus on other important aspects of your life.

Open Up Your Office Options

Think about when and where you are working. If you’re commuting to an office which is miles away from your home you might need to rethink your working location. Think of the wasted hours you spend travelling to jobs every single day. Try and work from home whenever you can. It’s not always feasible, but it will save you so much time if you can base a lot of your projects from the comfort of your own home. You shouldn’t feel guilty about wanting to make time for your family, so take every opportunity to work as close to home as you can so that you can sit down for dinner on time or pick the kids up from school for once.

Take A Break

The most effective way to boost your productivity is to take moments to relax. When you’ve been staring at a computer for several hours at a time your brain will start to shut down. Take frequent breaks away from your screen and you’ll return to your job with an energised attitude. Mix up your breaks too, so you’re getting the most out of them. Take a stroll in the park for your mid-morning pick me up and make a cup of tea in the afternoons to keep you refreshed for the rest of the day.

These small and simple tips will save you an abundance of time and will allow you to strike a healthy balance between your home and work life.

Image: Pexels

If there’s one thing a lot of people struggle with at work, it’s keeping productivity levels high all day. Most people either feel extremely groggy in the morning, or experience an afternoon slump that they find too difficult to shake off. If this sounds like you, then you need a few smart ways to keep your productivity levels high all day. Read on to find out how you can do this!

Exercise In The Morning

Start off by exercising in the morning. You don’t have to go to the gym for two hours; simply going for a quick run or HIIT session, anything that will help you to get the blood pumping, is a great way to release some endorphins and stay productive all day.

It also means you get this healthy habit out of the way, before you have time to think about it and make excuses later on.

Use Coffee Strategically

Many people rely on coffee to get them through the day, but using coffee is a bad idea unless you really need it. If you must use coffee, use it strategically. Don’t drink one cup after the other, because sooner or later, the effects will begin to wear off. If you can avoid using it every day, using it when you actually need it will help to make the biggest difference.

Image: Pexels

Invest In The Right Equipment To Help You

There are gadgets and things out there that can help you to keep your productivity levels high, depending on what type of job you work in and what you find your struggles are. For example, somebody at a desk job may find that a back brace to help them sit up straight is helpful in keeping them awake and feeling good. Other organizations find that anti-fatigue mats are perfect for employees who are on their feet most of the day. Figure out where your problems lie and then look into different pieces of equipment that could help.

Take Short, Regular Breaks

Taking short, regular breaks actually helps people to stay more productive throughout the day than simply working through – which can mean a steady decline in productivity. Plan out your work and breaks in blocks!

Set Yourself Deadlines And Track How Long Tasks Take You

Set yourself personal deadlines to get things finished. Apps like Rescuetime can help you to track how long things take you, which is helpful since many people struggle to estimate how long things actually take, and can’t work out where all of their time is going. Tasks like social media and email probably take up more of your time than you think.

Stop Multitasking

Multitasking actually slows you down. Pick one task and commit to it!

Look At Pretty Things

Studies have shown that looking at pretty things, like plants, candles, or flowers, can increase productivity up to 15%!

Minimize Your Interruptions

Finally, minimize your interruptions. Turn off notifications, avoid emails (especially early on in the day), and get as much real work done as possible before letting these things slow you down.

Run the day or the day will run you!

Moving into a consultancy career can seem a little daunting, and that’s especially the case when you’ll be juggling your budding career alongside family life around the home. As with any career, figuring out the best ways to strike a delicate balance between work obligations and your personal life is vital.

So what sort of things can you do to ensure that your new journey into consultancy is a smooth one? The Consultant Hub looks to provide you with some helpful advice that can benefit you in your new career.

Take stock and plan from early on

If you’re thinking about going into consultancy work, a good first step is to get a general plan of action in place so you’re ready to hit the ground running.

Things you should think about in the planning stage include:

• What skills my background gives me and why they’re useful in consultancy
• What unique service, benefit, or feature can I provide to clients
• What are possible distractions in my home and life that may affect my work
• How much should I charge to provide a good income

Once you’ve put some preparatory information together like this, you’ll be able to take your first well-prepared leap into consultancy work. It might even be worth writing a new CV that you put together specifically to emphasise your consultancy skillset. You can find out a little about how to do this by reading this article on how to tailor your CV for a consultancy role.

Good planning at the start will help make sure the start of your career isn’t as rocky as you might worry, which lets you push on to even greater success quicker while also causing less stress and impact on the home life.

Starting slow

That said, even with an extremely thorough plan in place, you don’t want to move too quickly and risk burning yourself out as you take on too large a workload too early.

Don’t worry if you start with just one or two clients to begin with. As time passes, more clients with materialise. The main thing to keep in mind, though, is effectively managing several workloads over a certain period.

That’s why it can be beneficial to start with only a few clients and build up over time. You can gradually increase the amount of clients you take on until you feel like you’ve struck the perfect balance between work and home life, and that you’re able to work as efficiently as possible for each of the clients alongside that.

To help you figure out the perfect workload for you, consider doing research on all possible clients, such as by checking their LinkedIn profile, to gauge business size and potential amount of work to be done. This will help you make informed decisions on how much work you’ll be doing at any one time.

A learning process

Your skills and experiences as a consultant aren’t set in stone either. Whatever industry you’re coming from, your background will give you a great starting point. However, what you learn and adapt to through the course of your consultancy career will help push you to new heights and be an even more effective consultant going forward.

As you spend more and more time as a consultant, perhaps you could consider revisiting the plan you made at the start of your career. You might realise that you’ve learned some new and very useful skills to use in your career, or that you’ve got enough of a reputation in the industry that you could push for additional high-profile clients within an industry which can take you to even greater successes as a consultant.

Image: PourquoiPas

Starting a new business is an exciting time. There’s a lot to look forward to and equally as much to prepare. To start up a business takes a special kind of person, someone passionate, prepared and hard working. It’s no walk in the park and there are some things that you will need to think about.

It may seem daunting, but once you’re up and running, selling your product or service and earning money it will all seem worth it.

1. Business name and product

If you’re thinking of starting a business, you will already have a product or service in mind. The name should reflect your product and should be different, catchy and easy to remember. There are millions of businesses in the world and you will need to express through your brand name what it is you do, as well as your unique selling point.

Think about who you will be targeting, if its alcohol you wouldn’t want to target children. Make sure that your target market is aware that your product or service is for them.

2. Business plan

You will need to make a business plan; it will be easier to explain your business to possible investors if you have a plan laid out. It will simplify each aspect of your business from the product to who you will be hiring to help with your start up.

You should lay out a five-year plan, taking into consideration the worst and best case scenarios. You will also need to write a pitch, this will be the first thing you say to people about your product – make sure to include your unique selling point in this. No one said being an entrepreneur would be easy.

3. Office and meeting space

Your product or service might mean that you need office space; you will need to look at a space that would be of benefit to you. However, your business might only be small, you may be able to just work from home.

This could save you money, but if you’re supplying to other businesses or have other investors, you may need to meet with them from time to time. In this instance, you might need to look at venue hiring in Nottingham, London or other places to ensure that your meetings are professional and not just in your living room.

4. Advertising

The world is full of advertising and this is the way that many businesses not only make money, but also make themselves known. You can’t expect to get any business if you don’t advertise it in some way.

For new and small business, one of the most popular methods is advertising through social media, as it won’t break the bank. If your product is, for example, a piece of cooking equipment, you might find that advertising through cooking magazines and websites will enhance your business. You need to ensure that your business is being seen by your target audience.

5. Making money

You might have an amazing product, but you need to show why you are the person to run this business. It might be your idea, but if you have little to no market knowledge, people won’t trust you or your product unless you have something to offer. You will need to express to your customers, and investors, that you’re the right person to make sure that your business succeeds.

A business can take a long time to fully form, you will need to be patient and persevere through all the difficult times that your business may face. You will be offering a product or service that no one else offers so it may be difficult, but it will be worth it.